The Illicitor's Code #1

004: The Safe City

As the van finally departed, Dim-Dim lay on the mattress, observing the only member of his brother's team whose name he didn't know. The man was slim, not too tall but not short either, and he was lazily lounging beside Dim-Dim on the mattress while texting on his cell phone with someone—looking bored. When Dim-Dim tried to find a weapon on the man's body, he glanced at Dim-Dim with his narrow eyes and said, "Say what you want, Kid."

"Nothing," Dim-Dim replied spontaneously.

The man scanned his face for a moment, and after that turned his head to Dim-Dim's older brother who was fast asleep on the mattress beside him. Then he looked at Dim-Dim again.

"You ain't look like your brother. Not even a little bit. You're also not as strong as him, even in bear form," he whispered. "Your superpowers are pretty useless, huh?"

Dim-Dim's cheeks flushed. But before he could think of something to reply, he heard his brother's hoarse voice.

"Leave my brother alone, Parenzee."

The man beside Dim-Dim just laughed silently, then continued typing on his cell phone. "Sleep, Damisch. You haven't slept in two days," he said without looking at Damian. After a minute or two, when Dim-Dim tried to force himself to sleep as the bottom of the van shook and rattled beneath him, the man suddenly turned to Dim-Dim again. "You know me, Kid? I'm Oriyan Parenzee. I'm said to be the fastest man in the world."

Dim-Dim opened his eyes and stared at the man, while Damian snorted in annoyance beside Oriyan. Damian then spoke to Dr. Valee who was sitting beside the driver. "Valee, make sure Parenzee doesn't bully my brother."

"Bully?"

"What is this? A fight between best friends?" asked Dr. Valee, and Oriyan laughed sarcastically.

"I only have one best friend. I don't know what you mean," Oriyan replied.

"A gun can't be count as a best friend, Parenzee," Damian said.

"I know. I mean, I only have one best friend: myself," Oriyan smiled. "Just me and my alter ego."

"Oh," Damian said hoarsely. "I should have known that you have two faces, Parenzee."

Charlotte Mew, who had been sleeping beside Damian, got up. Her facial expression, which was covered by a layer of pink beauty mask, was almost unreadable. "Oriyan, Damian, why the hell are you fighting?"

"Parenzee is bothering my little bro," Damian replied fiercely.

"I was just talking to him casually," Oriyan replied. "Right, buddy?" He elbowed Dim-Dim too hard that Dim-Dim squealed in pain, and his older brother immediately flared up

"Stop it, or I'll kick you out, damn it," Damian cursed, while Dim-Dim said panicky, "It's okay, it's okay, I'm fine."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Damian, you're being overly sensitive because you're tired and lack of sleep. We all know Oriyan is like that, he's... playful, but not malicious. Now get some rest before your friendship is ruined."

Damian stared at the woman for a moment with his red and watery eyes, then let out a frustrated sigh and closed his eyes.

"You too, Dim-Dim," Charlotte said softly, and Dim-Dim immediately closed his eyes like his older brother.

That night, he dreamt about monsters, his home that shattered by monsters, and his mom's dead body.

*****

By the next day, they had arrived at the Safe City built in what used to be the Pine Barrens forest in New Jersey.

Once inside the Safe City, the members of his brother's team of three Venators split up, while Damian accompanied Dim-Dim to help the young boy handle the registration in the first building from the entrance gate.

Besides the employees working behind the glass, the lobby of the building was almost empty, so Dim-Dim and Damian didn't need to wait in line.

His older brother approached the old lady behind the glass and showed her some property certificates and savings books. "What kind of housing can my brother get?" he asked.

"Please wait." The woman checked the land certificates, and then read the savings book and called the bank. When she finished, Dim-Dim's legs were already tingling from standing too long. "This is enough for a 2x2 meter room in an economy class apartment for six months, two weeks, and five days, Mr. Damisch," the old lady said.

"Six months?" Damian momentarily looked incredulous at what he was hearing. "Not even a year?"

The old woman nodded coldly. "That price is already calculated with a 50% discount for Venator. But if your brother is verified to have superpower that is considered useful, he can stay here for free, Mr. Damisch. You should let him take the verification test."

Damian bit the inside of his cheek, then snatched back the land certificate, and asked, "When is the next verification test?"

"Tomorrow morning at 7 am, Sir."

*****

"Damian, I don't get what freaks you out. What is it exactly?" Charlotte asked, as they were all having lunch at the Pine Barrens Save City Restaurant. At the large table were Dim-Dim, Charlotte, Damian, Dr. Valee, Oriyan, Clarinassa, and also the five-man Venators B-Class team who were previously sent to Huntsville. "Relax. We've got your back. All of us Venators will speak up for your brother. We'll testify that your little brother's power is great, right, guys?"

All the Venators on the other team nodded in agreement. "Of course, man. We're not gonna let your bro get kicked out of Save City and become monsters' snack."

Monsters' snack? Dim-Dim didn't even want to think about it.

"Or... he could be an Illicitor," Oriyan grinned. Dim-Dim had no idea what Illicitor meant, but Clarinassa who was sitting next to Oriyan suddenly raised her steak knife high and then stabbed it into the surface of the table that was only an inch away from Oriyan's hand, her eyes bulging with annoyance. "Clark," Oriyan said coldly, he hadn't even moved his hand when it happened. "I was f*cking joking."

"Funny," Clarinassa said, sarcastically. The woman noticed Dim-Dim's lingering gaze at her, and then smiled automatically. "Um... my food... was scattered near his hand, hehe," the woman explained with an awkward smile.

Dim-Dim nodded even though he could see there was no food scattered between Oriyan and Clarinassa. He was curious what an Illicitor was, but wasn't in the mood to ask since his stomach was very hungry and his mind was a bit floating that morning since he hadn't eaten yet. Besides, the bacon in front of him had a very appetizing aroma so he shoveled a large piece of bacon into his mouth.

Damian who was munching on his ham bread looked at Clarinassa and Oriyan with the corner of his eye, and said to the others, "I shouldn't tell you this but there's massive corruption in Safe City. They lost a lot of money so they want to make as much profit as possible. I overheard this when I was picking up the medals the other day."

"So they're gonna throw your brother out without a second thought over this," Oriyan concluded cheerfully. Clarinassa clearly looked like she wanted to strangle him now.

"It wouldn't be so if your brother could impress them," Charlotte said. "You can impress them, can't you, Dim?"

Dim-Dim, who was struggling to eat his bacon which was apparently a bit tough, hurriedly swallowed the food in his mouth and nodded.

"Nope. The thing is, my lil bro is pretty low-key. He won't be able to stand up for himself when they start grilling him with questions," Damian said grimly. The man helped Dim-Dim cut his tough bacon, and said without taking his gaze off Dim-Dim's plate, "Clary, stop looking at me like I'm some nasty type C monster."

Clarinassa, who was shocked at being caught, hurriedly neutralized her facial expression. "I just think you don't know your brother, Damian. He's smart. I know he'll handle himself," she said in a flat voice.

Dr. Valee raised his head from his soup. "Smart? Is he a prodigy? Genius enough to be a scientist? Then we might be able to get him to stay here for free! I'll talk to the Professor."

"No, he's definitely not a prodigy," Damian said.

Suddenly, Dim-Dim felt that his brother was sad because Dim-Dim was not a prodigy. "I'll turn into a bear, don't worry," he told Damian. "Or a one-horned rhinoceros. Or a Komodo dragon, Damian. Or a Sumatran tiger. Or an African elephant. They'd be impressed!"

All the Venators were momentarily very quiet as they stared at Dim-Dim, but Dim-Dim was just waiting for Damian's answer. But even Damian was silent with a grim face, and Dim-Dim only understood the reason when Oriyan opened his mouth.

"The thing is, there isn't a single animal on earth that can match those monsters, Dim-Dim," the Venator said. "Even the humans—who are clearly the apex species in the earth—get overwhelmed by the monsters. Tanks, weapons, bombs, not everyone has them. It's really a matter of time until all humans outside of Safe City become extinct."

*****

"I know you'll do great on your test, Dim-Dim," Clarinassa smiled at Dim-Dim as they laced up their shoes in the red-carpeted hallway leading to the Venator's rooms in their luxurious residence building near the creek. Clarinassa and her older brother happened to have rooms across from each other. "You can turn into any animal you want, but with a human brain. That should make you limitless."

Dim-Dim looked at Clarinassa and shook his head. "Oriyan Parenzee is probably right. No animal can match a monster, Ms. Clark. What should I do if they won't accept me to stay here free?"

"I'll give you all my savings so you can stay here," the woman said earnestly. "I won't let you—"

"Keep your money, Clary," Damian said, and the woman lifted her face and glared at Damian.

"I am sorry, but—do you have a problem with me, Damian Damish?" asked Clarinassa.

Damian shrugged and rolled his eyes, then pushed open the door to his room with a push of his shoulder and walked into his room without taking off his shoes. "Come on, Dim," he said to Dim-Dim, and Dim-Dim hurriedly put his shoes on the shoe rack and chased Damian into the room.

After closing the door behind him, Dim-Dim saw his brother watering the potted plants in front of the window that were already a bit wilted. The plants reinforced the natural ambience of the room with wooden floors, dark blue paneled walls, a bed with black sheets and a feather blanket colored of grass in spring-green color.

Dim-Dim carefully sat on the edge of the bed, and felt the bed swallow his buttocks gently. "I like this bed," Dim-Dim said, stroking the soft, clean blanket with his palm. "By the way, why do you hate her, Damian?"

"Who?" his brother asked hoarsely.

"Ms. Clark. She seems nice."

"Oh." Damian took a moment to pick one of the strawberries growing in the pot by the window, and went to wash it in the sink in the bathroom. "She's nice, but sometimes she gets too optimistic. That's a trait I hate," Damian replied hoarsely.

"Why?" asked Dim-Dim again, he can not understand. His eyes kept following where Damian went. "My teacher at school once told me that we should all be optimistic."

"The world is changing," Damian said shortly. The man come out from the bathroom and approached the hot water dispenser in the room, then grabbed a mug. "Do you want hot chocolate and a piece of strawberry, Dim?" he asked.

One hour later, after drinking a glass of thick and delicious hot chocolate made by his brother, Dim-Dim lay down on the bed. Just a few seconds after the side of his head touched the pillow, his consciousness was immediately drawn into the realm of dreams. He got a nice dream.

That night, he dreamed about home. He was at his home in Toronto, sleeping on his mother's lap while watching his father bandage a wound on the stomach of a black cat, Damian sleeping on the couch, when suddenly he heard a real soft knock on the bedroom door, followed by the sound of the door swung open, and his eyes immediately opened.

The room was dark. And the only light came from the bottom of the door that had just been closed again.

"I know you can't sleep," Clarinassa whispered. Her short figure was seen tiptoeing to hug Dim-Dim's tall and big brother.

Dim-Dim watched the scene, thinking it was another part of his dream, and fell asleep again.

*****

The next day, right at seven in the morning, Dim-Dim and the Venators who had been in Toronto with him the other day went to witness Dim-Dim's verification test as well as give their opinions on the superpowers Dim-Dim had.

But upon his arrival, Dim-Dim was instructed to walk alone to the testing hall, while the Venators were told to watch the test from a balcony at the top of the testing hall.