by The Eurostar
Edulcore Cicciotto:
"So we're leaving tomorrow, Lorelei?" I ask my roommate when she washes the dishes after dinner.
"Tomorrow, Guido," she says, smiling at me softly.
"Tomorrow. We'll travel by ship, I presume?"
"No. We'll go by plane. The tour is slated to start in two days."
"By plane? And all the stuff, the tents, the vans?"
"Mr. Wong has sold everything, and new equipment is awaiting us in Mandelovia."
"Oh! I never imagined that circuses work that way."
"They don't, Sardella," says a voice behind me. It's Mr. Wong, the circus owner, who has just entered the van.
"Good morning," I say in a low tone.
"Morning. Circuses don't usually work that way, but we must leave America as soon as possible."
"Can I ask why?"
"Because things are changing in the government. Word on the street is that the research on metahumans has been put to a halt. A forced stop that has caused some political waves. And, since then, the police has been put on our tail again. I spent a lot of money a year ago, when the first major hunt for metahumans began, to keep the MCCA out of my circus. I don't want to go through all of that again, so we'll leave for some time."
"How long?"
"Weeks, months, years... who knows? Not until things settle down here. You see, Mr. Sardella, there are people in Washington and at Langley, I have heard, who are somehow relating this circus to the group of metas that took down the TriVext Citadel. I don't know if this is true, and I really don't want to know, but we'll leave tomorrow anyway."
"I have business that keeps me here in the U.S."
"Let me be clear, Guido: your group is quickly becoming the most important attraction of this circus. I have given you a place to rest, a job, a cover, when you arrived at my circus in Chicago, without asking who you were and why you wanted to work here. I think you owe me something. Remember, I don't want to know if you are the so-called Revolutionaries, and even if you are, I don't give a damn about it, but that's only until you work for me. Leave, and I will consider myself free to sell the information to whoever will pay for it. And don't even think of closing my mouth, because I have... 'friends' here to watch over me."
I look at him in the eyes without saying anything. "I'm sure you will stay with us. See you later, Sardella," Wong says, and leaves the van.
"Wow! I can't believe he thinks you are the Ghost! It's so absurd!" says Lorelei, laughing loudly.
Sometimes I believe she is the only one to not know my true identity.