savetheearth | Text | Private and OTA

Private to Karl:

'There's a farm approximately 30 miles south of Locke that I believe we can use without being disturbed. Please bring a box of metal things you don't mind losing, a panel of bulletproof glass, and a large bag of sand.'

He includes an address and a time.

---

The website says the farm has been abandoned for fifteen years. When Cesar shows up on another day to see if any squatters have moved in, he finds graffiti on the side of the barn, a lot of overgrown grass, and a suitable sense of neglect that he mentally checks 'Find Location' off his to-do-list. The next time Cesar arrives is the Saturday they've agreed upon, and he's an hour early to get started setting up. He pulls his car up to a wide patch of hard-packed earth near the barn, and starts to unload.

By the time he's done he has an array of objects set up for testing use. Some of them make sense, like the metal coat hanger and with a stripped umbrella wire-tied to it. Others don't, like the set of cheap wind-chimes dangling from the back of a fold-out chair.

Unbothered by this, he moves the car further away when he's done and leans against its (somehow still immaculate) trunk to wait. He'll have his cellphone in his hand: why not find some idle way to pass the time?

---

[Phone Text, Open to All]

What's your favorite invention? If you can't think of one, name something you want to see made real.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

*There is a pause.*

Of course. 'When'.

I'm sorry. I mis-wrote.

If you don't believe this will work... obviously, I wouldn't like that, but if your faith isn't in this plan's stability, I should know. It's only fair, if I know... I'm risking everything for this.

*Another pause.*

This plan has a lot more variables out of our control than I'm comfortable with. There's too many chances for things to go wrong, from the moment it starts to the moment it ends.

On the other hand, I still haven't thought of any alternatives.

*There's so much more to it than that, but Cesar's mouth presses itself to a taut line, and he doesn't type them. They have two options: do nothing and let his brother be tortured and eventually killed, or do something and risk either success or both Moises and L's deaths. The burden of this choice bears down on him, and every scrap of himself not trying to support this weight is horribly aware of how low the chances of a good outcome are.*

I don't want you to feel guilty, of course. Know that it's my choice to risk everything for your brother's case... and that this is the best plan we have, so I'm backing it 100%. Maybe that will make up for your doubt.

*Cesar grinds the heel of one hand into that side's eye. Hard.*

That helps.

Good. I'm here to help. And not going anywhere in that regard, but you know that by now.

I do.

*He sends the message. Before either of them can start closing the conversation in ways he might not have the courage to return to, he adds,*

L, I would just like to confirm: you made an announcement about Espresso Yourself, recently, haven't you?

You're referring to the one I made following my coffee shop getting trashed by Albero's goons? Yes, that was definitely a thing.

If your store has already been attacked once by Albero's lackeys, then haven't you thought of the possibility that they might recognize you if they see you again?

It's not likely. They know that "L" is someone they're gunning for, but not that he's a shabby guy with bad hands. I've managed to keep my name and my face separate from each other, so far, even after the attack.

I see. You're effectively still an unknown to them, then.

Good.

Thank you for your concern, but it should really be OK... I've found nothing to suggest that they have linked L with more than the coffee shop. When they meet Alessandro Chiaramonte, interrogator, in person, they shouldn't have reason to believe that he's L.