Icy

  "Number 100!" Number 12 opened the hidden door for him. "Welcome. I'm Number 20. Now only Number 5 is missing. Come and sit down with us."

  "Thank you." It smelled of garbage everywhere. Since he was on a garbage dump, or more precisely behind one, this was not surprising. Icy therefore decided to close his sense of smell. This was one of the advantages of not being fully human. He could block out unpleasant odors if necessary. Of course, this was not good in every situation, for example, when it came to poison, but here? If he didn't have to smell the garbage, he wouldn't.

  He quickly slipped past the other Shadow. Into the well-hidden technical room. There were four sleeping berths, a cooking station, a tiny bathroom, and plenty of screens in the main room. Vast quantities of screens framed in bronze showed the events on all Levels. Especially Level 3.

  Another person sat on an upholstered metal chair. That had to be Number 20. Icy had never seen this man before. Just like Number 12. The Shadow looked at him briefly but then turned back to the surveilnce shots.

  A brown leather jacket hung over another chair. It probably belonged to Number 12. Traces of bullet holes and strange scratch marks were visible on the leather. Icy sat down on one of the two other chairs in the room, looking at the jacket, while Number 12 closed the door.

  "The jacket belonged to another shadow. He died", murmured Number 20. "Was a friend of his, or something."

  "Friend?" Icy frowned. "We don't have friends."

  "Hm... And you are? Number 100? Or Number 5? I didn't listen earlier..." The other Shadow was still staring at the many screens as if he could keep an eye on them all at once.

  "Number 100. Hello", Icy introduced himself to the other Shadow.

  "Ah! The Wonder Boy!" Number 20 just nodded at him. "I'm gd. Number 20."

  "I know", Icy replied and looked at one of the screens that caught his attention. There the small shop that the boy ran was shown. Flo. A customer left smiling. She carried an old string of lights with her. "Has anything interesting happened yet?" he finally asked.

  Number 12, who had made himself a bck coffee in the meantime, sat back down in his chair. In the process, his jacket slipped off the backrest. Icy saved it for him. "Thank you. So far only one theft on the market here. Soldiers got the situation under control."

  "Otherwise everything is quiet", grumbled Number 12.

  The two looked very simir. Were they genetically brothers? Of course, all the Shadows were simir, but the two had the same nose, the same physique... "Signs of insurgents?"

  "No", replied Number 12, "But now that we're on the subject of terrorists, we'd better get to the point. We asked for you because you are considered to be particurly capable and discreet. Your file was spotless. No missteps, no malfunctions, no abnormalities. Unlike Number 5."

  "Number 5?" Icy stared again at the screen, which showed Flo's shop. Did he hope to see the boy? Would he leave the store?

  "Have you discovered anything? Should we request pictures from Minnie? Pictures from inside the store?" Immediately, Number 20 pressed one of the many buttons on the control panel in front of him. It was made of the same metal as the chairs. Round buttons, tiny mps... A red mp lit up, and then they saw what Minnie saw. She sat on a counter and watched as a pretty boy with purple hair checked old cables for broken spots.

  "Do we have sound?" asked Number 12.

  "Yes. Wait!" Number 20 pressed the next button, then they heard Minnie's voice. "You missed something, Flo."

  "Did I?" Flo frowned. "Where?"

  "The white cable. It has a tiny hole in the rubber."

  "Ah, thank you!" The boy reached for the cable he had just put aside and looked at it again. Number 20 turned off the sound.

  "A normal conversation", he mumbled.

  "Did you see anything there?" asked Number 12.

  Icy shook his head. "No. I've been thinking about... Sorry. The fact that I looked at this screen was a coincidence. What about Number 5?"

  "Probably one of the terrorists." Number 12 gnced briefly at the door that led out of the hidden rooms. Since nothing could be heard from there, he continued. "The Second Party must have allies under the Shadows. Number 5's file has gaps. His activities were not fully recorded. We watched him for a while. His behavior was quite conspicuous. Sneaks around, and mingles with the inhabitants of Level 3 in disguise. And that without such orders."

  "Inhabitants?" Icy wanted to roll his eyes. Number 5 was too careless.

  "Sellers on the market, private individuals. People who should not be near Shadows. We couldn't hear their conversations. If we had come closer, he would’ve noticed us. And there was background noise on the recordings of the matching surveilnce camera." Number 12 was looking at one of the screens. "Ah. He will be here any moment. I'll be brief. We need you to monitor him. That's why you're here. If you are successful, you may be able to switch to the seat of government. This city stinks. I will tell you more on occasion. He's at the door now."

  "I see", Icy muttered.

  sasi