“He could have put it nicer, but he wasn’t entirely wrong.” Without elaboration, Rai shook crumbs from his sleeves. 

Sao sat across from him, with a glass of ginger ale that he was sipping up, one miniscule drop at a time, which was as much as he could handle. His stomach felt as knotted as his head. He was puzzled by what he’d learned, what he hadn’t, and where they had ended up for lunch. Why had Rai decided to go for another burger?

“You mean, in his mission to expose…?”

“About a sister being a good indicator Cadoc’s legit. Damn rare to see Life Fountains, even mixed ones, with brothers or sisters. Hormonal cycles of a long-lived species, naturally don’t wanna make too many of them. Of course, we don’t account for stepsiblingsm or if one human parent happens to be an unfaithful human, but as a general pattern…” Rai poured out a carton of fries. “Want some?”

“No, thank you.”

Rai was known to gripe about the price of meals, so Sao was not entirely surprised to find them seated for lunch at the cheapest of the cheap. But he’d forgotten what a discordant experience Bluna Burger could be. All glossy tables and fake ferns, wall tiles in such a bold shade of lemon that Rai had his gloves off and nobody blinked at his inferior neon glow. Benches were nailed to the tables, and in turn nailed to the floor, so they weren’t carried off. As such the staff couldn’t be bothered by seating requests - visitors slotted into one of the fixed arrangements or took their business elsewhere.

Rai selected a table by the large storefront window, where they could view of a great tangle of slides, netting and tubes that made up a play area, and the children running in, through, out, and past it like a network of ants.

“Not hungry yet?” Rai rescued some fallen burger lettuce from the edges of his tray. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes. I had a big dinner the other day.” He wasn’t even sure if he’d eaten. “So you were saying - you think Kep’s come clean with us? That he’s right about Cadoc?”

“In that he’s not a Life Fountain. I don’t know about the rest.” He paused, chewed his lettuce, swallowed. ”They don't typically have more than one kid, and mixed couples tend to regret their first. Surprisingly astute observation from a guy who is so wrongheaded about Life Fountains otherwise.”

Sao lowered his eyes, watching children’s reflections in the glaze of the table. “I know. Life Fountains aren’t going to be taking over Central via pie-eating contests. But look at it from his perspective - those contests were all he knew - in his narrow worldview it probably looked like the cheaters were living charmed lives. All the accolades. All while making life even more difficult for human eaters.” Sao held up his hands in defense. “It doesn’t excuse his choices, of course. Obviously slinging poison was inevitably going to harm his fellow man.”

“Premeditated.” 

“Right. Shouldn’t he have been arrested, then…?”

“What we learned was enough to get patrol into gear, they’re keeping an eye on him for the time being.” Rai started trolling the pile for crispy fries. “Just in case he was responsible for Cadoc’s disappearance, we don’t want to have Kep clam up in jail, leaving Cadoc to waste away wherever he might be held.”

Sao tried not to think of Cadoc, thinning and disintegrating in a cell, in some unknown part of town. He found that his impressions of Cadoc were foggy to begin with - all he could conjure up was a skeleton, chained to a wall. He shuddered, and wondered if he really should eat something.

“The records prove him right, at least.”

“Sorry?”

“City records confirm Cadoc and his sister are human. Born - on the same day - somewhere called Upwater, an hour or two from Mainline. Parents are local. It said about as much on his fansite too.” Rai dug around for condiments, found a packet of mayonnaise and doused his fries. “It’s run by diehards. Like he’s some kind of rockstar - since his disappearance, they’ve been talking about mobilizing an army to go out and look for him. There's a rally in support of him tomorrow, though I’m not sure what they’re hoping to prove to whoever the kidnapper is. I thought Trae was fanatical, but some of these people are on another level.”

“The bane of celebrity. Anyone suspicious?”

“On his site? Not really. You won’t find dissidents of Cadoc posting on his fan forum, they’d be eaten alive. I just took a look to try to get a better idea of the guy, since I could barely even see his face during the match.” Rai frowned. “There doesn’t seem to be much to him, aside from being a consistent winner ever since he emerged, about a year ago. Maybe winning is all it takes to attract people, and keep your family close. As Kep said: it was his losing that drove his wife away.”

Outside a child shrieked with delight. The whole restaurant went silent. Sao felt vaguely envious.

"Cadoc doesn't have a lot of known connections, though." Rai chewed his way through more fries. “Either that or he's exceptionally good at preserving his privacy. He's really of the 'new generation'. Almost all of his interviews are conducted through online chat. The best insight I could get on Cadoc himself was from his Neovision video logs.”

“I’ve heard of those. I haven’t watched any, they feel invasive. But...”

“Don’t worry, they’re dry as hell. Just sits at his desk, answering questions. I’m sure he gets some crazy letters, but they’re vetted to the blandest crap. Your favorite foods, your dream vacation, and the like. Probably at the request of his corporate overlords. Although,” Another fry was ripped apart. “I was thinking you would get more out of these videos than I did. He seems like...” And another fry taken to pieces. “... your kind of person. Or rather, a person like you.”

“'Dry as hell'?”

“Not like that.” Rai ground his teeth on the excess salt of his lunch. “He just seems, I don’t know. Surprisingly talkative. Put together. Smart, considering--” He shook his head. “Forget it.”

Sao smiled. “A puzzle for me to find out on my own.”

“Yeah, HQ keeps telling me to give you more work.”

Rai finished off the fries while Sao sipped up a few more beads of ginger ale. He considered going up to the counter to order something more (table menus and waiters were too upscale for Bluna Burger) but before he made up his mind, Rai received a call, began arguing viciously with someone at HQ who did not like the implications of a past report, and they had to leave.

---

A bolt had come loose in the car’s engine, but Rai was not bothered. He sped up the highway, back toward the office, to the incessant jangle of metal. 

There was no radio or even the rumble of air conditioner for distraction. Ordinarily for Sao, such strenuous conditions would call for a nap, but Rai’s words sat like a beast on his chest. Your kind of a person. A person like you.

He pulled out his phone, located for Cadoc North’s immaculately organized video log channel and leaned very close to the small screen in hopes of picking up at least a fraction of the audio.

The most recent recording featured Cadoc, floppy-haired and green-eyed, sitting in a room with dark wood walls, windowless, perhaps a study. A standing lamp filled the backdrop with pale orange light, illuminating a plush velvet reading chair, and a stack of shipping boxes labelled ‘pasta’ that Sao nearly mistook for a bookshelf at first. 

“Good afternoon, everyone,” Cadoc said. “Sorry there wasn’t a video last week. Thank you for all the kind words and wishes before the quarter-finals. I think they really helped... we’re going to the semifinals.”

Although he had not seen much of Cadoc in person at the semifinals, this was not the first time Sao had gotten a look at his face. But it was certainly the most personal. In his home (or what Sao assumed was his home) Cadoc looked calmer than he did in interviews - a tiny smile, hands loose, voicing each word slowly but steadily, with almost exaggerated clarity. Sao already supposed that Cadoc was typically camera-shy. He had an air of over-preparedness, even over-predictability. It was hard to picture him stepping out line on his own whims, or anyone else’s. He was not the type to run off mid-day, to take a fruitless bribe, or lose a match. He offered little excitement besides knowing you were supporting the winning team. No wonder sponsors loved him. 

And no wonder Rai found him dry.

“Again, thank you very much for your support. We also appreciate the gifts. A few names I’d like to thank...”

Gazing into the distance, he listed off the names of several dozen fans, and two sponsors. Sao was mildly surprised. Cadoc did not appear to be reading from a cue. Perhapd he was just good at taking lines from the screen without staring directly into it, but it wasn’t beyond belief that he might have practiced, studied, and committed the names to memory. Then Cadoc reached under the table for another mild surprise. A bouquet of peach roses and lilies surfaced, held at arm’s length as if he were offering it back to the sender.

“One thing for next time. Please refrain from sending flowers. They’re… beautiful, so I wanted to show that I got these, let everyone see them because they really are impressive, but unfortunately I have a small allergy - nothing too serious - but I don’t want to start getting stuffy before the semifinals. Yep… Thanks for your understanding.”

The flowers were stowed away.

“Okay. So I said, I will be answering some questions from the fans. Like you.” Sao blinked. From just offscreen, a hand passed a piece of paper onto the desk. Presumably his sister’s. “Remember,” Cadoc said gently, hands still clasped in front of him, “frequently asked questions about how I entered the world of eating were largely covered in episode 8 with an additional segment in episode 13. If you’d like to discuss sponsorship, please see the show notes below. If you’d like to send your questions in, please also refer to the links below. Now, let’s begin.”

Cadoc began the segment by tilting his head down, almost imperceptibly, staying silent a bit too long, and finally, reeling out the question like a cautious fisherman, he read: ‘do you... have any pets?’ Answer: he did not.

Sao stifled laughter.

“You’re enjoying those things?” Rai drummed the wheel and stared down a stoplight as if he could intimidate it into changing faster. 

“Well, there’s some entertainment to be had.”

“I thought he would be more along your lines of humor.”

“Fair enough. You were right too, in that he’s dry. I don’t think he’s comfortable playing talk show host - I wonder if a sponsor goaded him into it. The way he reads these fan messages, like they’re academic journals. Cool, but at the same time not. Not in the right way for the situation.” Sao smiled. “But I can understand the appeal. It is adorably awkward. Wouldn’t you say?”

Rai said nothing but offered a strange sidelong look.

“Like absurdist comedy.”

“Right.”

The light turned green and Rai dropped the conversation and hit the gas. Meanwhile, Cadoc had just finished answering a question about the best places for desserts. A milk bar in the middle of Central, often frequented by bankers, and was incidentally one of his sponsors. Sao was a bit disappointed at such a common response, but Cadoc apologized and confided he was no connoisseur. “I mostly eat what I buy in bulk, and I don’t really go out much. It was like that before I started eating competitively too. There wasn’t enough money, back then... but it worked out.” 

Even in personal anecdotes, it was like he was narrating someone else’s story.

The next question was juicy, asking for details of any ‘special someones’ that Cadoc North might see fit to share his affections with. Cadoc read it as if he were simply being asked if he had a pet again.

“No, haven’t found the time for dating. I need the time to focus on the career. My type? I haven’t thought about it. A nice smile and a nice laugh. Clean. Good taste… in clothes.” Cadoc seemed confused as to if he’d made a joke or not, and forged on. “Someone who likes good food. Tall. I don’t want to say anything about looks. I don’t know yet. Maybe when I get some time off...”

Sao wondered how a relationship with someone like Cadoc might go. It was another aspect of the man that he couldn’t envision. All paths just led to the skeleton in the dungeon who would never have the chance to meet his tall princess with the nice laugh. 

“Before the next question, a quick message. Today’s video is sponsored…”

Sao scrolled away to browse some of the comments. Most, if not all of them were disparaging Cadoc’s sister and manager, Carme North. Slut. Bitch. Hag. Keeping him for yourself. Sao returned to the video and panned through. Miss North was not featured at all, except for her hand carrying the papers, if that was even her hand.

Another mundane question. “Have you been to the South Coast before…?” Cadoc read, spacing every word. “Well, for vacation when I was little, but I haven’t had the time…”

Back in the present, the brakes were slammed at a red light. The rattling bolt in the engine went wild. Sao brought the phone away from his face in a daze.

“It’s three o’ clock,” Rai said. “That Cadoc support rally is starting over at the convention center.”

“Do you think the abductor will be there?”

“Even if they are, they won't have Cadoc. Public gathering means cops will be present, not too appealing if you’re a kidnapper. Sounds like it’s just a bunch of worried fans.”

Sao flipped the phone over in his fingers, sending the screen dark. “Some of those fans had inflammatory messages for Miss North.”

“Probably means she’s doing her job right. Public comment sections always end up like that.” Gloved fingers drummed the wheel again. “Anything look particularly threatening? No - I guess that isn’t helpful. Any of them look knowledgeable enough to act on their threats?”

Sao reluctantly reopened the page on his phone.

They were over the short bridge that crossed Central harbor. Slender trees planted on the sidewalks and lines of stone-colored row houses slipped into view, signifying their approach to the office. 

“‘The b-word put cameras up at the door’,” Sao read. “‘Why are you letting her treat us like criminals?’ These people have been to his house?”

“The bane of celebrity,” Rai recited.

“Does he ever stick up for his sister?”

“Who knows. I got the feeling he would if she told him to.”

“She's his sister. The point is, she shouldn’t have to tell him...”

Rai blew a long stream of air out of his nose, preparing to deal with a witless child. “The video diary is just another marketing vehicle. I don’t need to have followed him long to know that he’s not the kind of guy who got big on controversy, unlike our pal Kep. Having someone of little consequence sponge up the negativity might even be better when it comes to Cadoc’s own image. Besides, you can’t stop those kinds of people - they won’t forgive, they’ll just ramp up the insults. Cadoc has no reason to try to draw hate on himself as well as his sister.”

“They’d hate him for defending his family.” Sao shook his head. “Really, this makes me more concerned that the sister is gone than Cadoc...”

“Look, people are-” Rai began, when his phone began to buzz. He tugged one glove off with gritted teeth and tapped the phone so he could see the caller. Frowning, he spat the glove onto his lap and answered. “I get it, you want me to review your file again. I got it the first time! I’m at lunch, if that’s a problem I’m almost back at the office already, so you can just--”

A squawk on the other end silenced him.

Then the brakes were smashed once again, flinging Sao’s face against the fountain of abuse that was the comment list. Rai listened intently to his caller’s full message, and hung up.

“Speak of the devil.” He whipped car around.

“Bad news?”

“We’ll find out. A vehicle matching the description Trae gave was spotted over by K Lake township. Just drove in and parked a short while ago.” Rai pressed the tortured engine back toward the bridge. “A vigilant neighbor, report says, but I guess they knew exactly who and what they were looking out for. The house where the car pulled up belongs to Carme North.”

“You’re kidding.” Sao pressed a hand to his face. “After all the panic, they simply made it home?”

“We’ll find out,” Rai said again.