The taxi arrived in front of Vincent and he opened the door.
"Where are you heading?" The driver asked, not looking around.
But Vincent could see the man, eyeing him through the mirror.
Vincent took out the card and showed it to the driver. "Here."
The driver glanced at it and nodded. "Slow or fast."
"Slow."
"Okay, boss. I will turn on the music."
"Do as you please." Vincent waved his hand and looked out of the window.
He then took out the phone and started texting to Hera.
[How is the practice?]
It took about 5 seconds and the reply ca.
[Getting better at it. I don’t have control of my past self but I am reaching that state.]
[Good to know. I was wondering if you would like to et with ?] Vincent asked.
[Now?]
[This week. I would like to treat you to dinner since you help a lot with job hunting. How about it?]
[Sure.] The reply ca imdiately.
Vincent smiled and typed. [I will call you on Friday for planning.]
He then closed the phone, humming the song from the radio.
He wondered what he should do in the hero’s cafe.
’Guess, I will know when I arrive there.’
Vincent was planning to slowly drive deeper into the world of heroes and villains. To achieve that he needed an outstanding record as a detective.
Look at Nathan for example. He was known as the best detective in the world and because of that his network was deep.
Vincent always saw the vision and he just needed to slowly climb the ladder like Nathan.
And soon, he will face the Chaos.
The car stopped at the strange looking building.
"I don’t know what kind of Cafe you are going into but this looks like a haunted house." The driver comnted.
"Guess, they don’t take off the Halloween decorations?" Vincent smiled and paid the driver.
The driver frowned with confusion. "Halloween?"
Vincent closed the door and looked up at the building in front of him. The building was three stories tall and built like a brick.
A very dark brick.
The front was covered in green vines and the wooden part that was sticking out were all rotting.
"Even if it is a hideout, it stands out from the rest." Vincent muttered and walked over to the entrance.
He grabbed the door handle and swung it open.
Imdiately he was greeted by the staircase. Vincent took a step back as the condition of the staircase and the exterior of the building was so different like comparing oil to water.
Beside the staircase was a sign, decorated with bold letters and lit up by the soft warmth light underneath.
[Forest Cafe.]
Vincent smiled at that and walked up the stairs.
He didn’t know the door to the first floor so he assud that the cafe was open on the second floor.
Kind of like Nathan’s building.
Vincent rubbed his chin. Who was the original? His guess was Nathan.
He climbed up the stairs and reached the second floor. This ti, the door was made of glass but he couldn’t fully see inside due to the cloudiness.
He opened the door and found himself in the plain office.
A table was placed on the left side and a young man with spiky hair. In his mouth was a lollipop and he was playing a video ga through his phone.
The bag under his eyes was dark and heavy, looking like a sign of sleep deprivation. And his pale arms showed Vincent that this man wasn’t an outdoor person.
Even if he went outside, it was probably at night ti.
’A tech junkie judging by his high tech looking phone.’ Vincent thought and went toward the table.
There wasn’t a chair for him to sit on.
He knocked on the table and the man looked up for a brief mont before dropping his eyes back to the phone screen.
Vincent smiled and his hand moved at a blurry speed. Grabbing the phone, he checked the ga.
It was a fighting ga which he didn’t understand. Just looking at the screen made him dizzy.
The young man stood up and tried to take back the phone but Vincent won’t let him do that.
"Not now. I just want to ask a question."
"Co on, man. Wait for five minutes."
"Nah, I know your type. You said five minutes and it takes about an hour." Vincent shook his head.
He was taller than the young man so there was no way he could reach the phone.
After many attempts, the young man sighed, gathering his breath.
He sat back on the chair.
"Man, you really need to work out. With just this and you are seeing stars." Vincent said.
"Exercise is not my specialty. Promise that you will give back the phone."
"I promise." Vincent said with seriousness. "You are used to being treated this way."
"My boss is a cruel woman." The young man complained. "Compared to your tactics, she just beat up until I can’t hold the phone anymore."
"That is... new." Vincent was lost for words. "Anyway, I ca here to have a coffee."
"Wait for a second." The young opened up the computer, waiting for the screen to finish loading.
"What is your na?" Vincent asked.
"Seo." The young man answered.
"Nice to et you, Seo. I am Vincent."
"I am calling this a good greeting." Seo said flatly.
The computer opened up and Seo typed his password. His finger moved very fast on the keyboard.
"In order to enter the cafe, you need the qualifications. You know about those?" Seo asked, looking up from the chair.
Vincent shook his head, swinging around Seo’s phone.
"Great, I will explain. The first step is finding the place."
"It isn’t that hard to find this place. And the building stands out from the rest so teenagers will co up here to investigate or do their stupid courage test."
"Tell that to the boss." Seo said, rubbing his cheeks.
Vincent smiled. "Guess you tried."
"Yes and it always ends with being a punching bag. Anyways, since you know about the first step, let’s move on to the second one. Do you have the understanding of what this place is all about?"
"Understanding?" Vincent tilted his head.
"Yeah, you know that I know that you know what or who this place is for right?" Seo said vaguely, simultaneously hiding the fact that this place is a hideout of superheroes and trying to investigate if Vincent knew about it.
"Stop being difficult about it, Seo. Yes, I know that this place is a hideout."
"Who told you that?"
"Is this part of the requirent?" Vincent asked.
"No but it is an unofficial one."
"Detective Jason." Vincent answered.
Seo nodded and typed the na into the computer. He looked into it and nodded. "He is the best detective in the Homicide Division. He has permission granted by Boulder."
"Is this enough right?" Vincent smiled.
"Not yet, we still have the most important requirent. Your rits."
"In the world of superheroes?"
"In everything." Seo corrected Vincent.
"Your na is Vincent. But there are too many people that have the sa na as you. So tell the specific thing about you. The one distant thing that tells that you are different from other Vincent."
"Junior Detective Nathan’s building. That Vincent."
As soon as the na Nathan left his mouth, Seo paused and looked up with wide eyes. There was a sparkle of excitent in it.
"Nathan? You know Nathan?"
"Of course, I am his protege." Vincent smacked his chest in a proud manner.
Since Seo showed him that he was very interested in Nathan, he planned to use that to his advantage.
"Check first." Vincent said.
Seo nodded and typed his information on the computer. He read through the file and stood up imdiately.
"Good to see you, Vincent. I am a huge fan of Nathan."
"I see. Well, if the situation is good, I will set up a eting with him."
"You can do that?"
"Of course, I can." Vincent lied with a smile.
Seo took out the card underneath the desk and gave it to Vincent. "Just show it to the person here next ti you visit, they will let you inside the cafe."
"Thanks." Vincent exchanged the card with Seo’s phone and walked toward the next door.
"Don’t forget about the eting." Seo said from behind.
Vincent waved back. "I won’t."
The affection point for Seo was completed. He gained a useful tech junkie who is very good at digging up information. And the possibility of what Seo could do with his computer was endless in his mind since he didn’t know the limit yet.
The mont he swung the door, the sll of bitter and earthly chocolate lingered in the air.
There was a hint of sour components as well as heaviness as well.
Vincent looked around.
There were many chairs scattered around but not many people.
A table tennis table was placed on the edge of the wall, screaming loneliness.
He also saw the billiards table.
Vincent looked around searching for sothing interesting.
He noticed a small group of people chatting in the far end of the cafe.
Vincent squinted his eyes and counted the heads.
Five heads.
Out of those five, one head was oddly similar to him. A blond hair, swinging around like a stupid idiot.
Although she was wearing a mask and a costu, Vincent’s eyes could penetrate and see through the body of her well.
All of that fitted for one na.
Dawnstar.
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