No new actions eh? Shall I take that as we're good to go?
The following day, around sunrise, you and Esme head for the train station. You make no attempt to hide your actions, in fact you might be a bit overly loud. You talk about the library, openly hold your packs on your back, pass stories about your childhood in the mountains and other such things. You do your best to look utterly carefree and completely innocent of any wrongdoing. You think you do it pretty well, because none of the guards you pass flag you down or ask you your business. One gives you a sort of annoyed glare but that's it. He must want to be on vacation as well.
Even in the train car you don't break character, though you do quiet down. Esme spends the trip reading a novel and occasionally speaking with you about plans for hiking. Its not exactly coded speech but you can pick up the meaning behind otherwise casual conversation. "We'll camp this evening and then walk that old trail we used to in the morning. Less chance of running into any bears that way". That sort of thing. You mostly nod your way through it, since you're not certain how blatant or circumspect your words should be. You start to wonder about the exact nature of the "Watchers" you've heard about. Can one really be "sitting" here in a moving train car, listening in? You'll have to ask her about it later.
The path to the mountains is not a straight one; the train meanders back and forth, climbing the foothills and stopping at various small towns along the way. You even cross an enormous valley at one point, spanned only by the silver spiderweb of the rail bridge. You look at the great drop to the river at its bottom and wonder about the people that built the bridge. When you filter out the memories you've taken and view things through only your eyes, the world seems strange. Roads and rails and bridges spanning hundreds of miles: they seem impossible to be the work of men. They would take too long, too much effort, too many resources. Its like saying that men made these mountains; you have a hard time believing that so many could focus such effort towards a united goal. The men in your head seem to take it for granted though. Thinking about it makes you feel solipsistic, as through you cannot trust the world to be true.
You get dragged back out of your existential malaise when Esme finally closes her book and starts picking up her luggage. You follow her without asking anything: obviously you would know this station right? Its the one near where you grew up. The hike up into the mountains takes several hours, by the time Esme finally drops her pack and begins setting up her tent in a clearing the only light is from the moon. You follow her lead, start a fire, and set up your own tent. Only after doing this and then sitting in silence for a long time does she finally start speaking normally.
"I'd think that if anyone was watching us they'd be bored by now." She pokes the fire with a stick. "So. Our goal is about 2 miles north of here; a cliff that overlooks the road into that prison and the checkpoint. We can spend tomorrow observing their routes and such, then send in your spy on the third day. Sound good?"
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Topic: The Left-Hand Path (Read 118980 times)