Brand New Car

When Maitho entered the main hallway, he noticed Epona standing in front of the elevators. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu, knowing that he had been here with Charon earlier. As such, he began to wonder what exchange he might share with Epona. Hopefully, something that did not border on passive aggressiveness, or any form of aggressiveness for that matter.

She looked at him as he approached the doors. "Bevan still gettin' ready?"

"He's making last minute adjustments to his arsenal."

Epona didn't make a comment. Instead, she said, "'N' yer nae with him because o' Brigid?"

Maitho nodded. "If I am with him, then there better be someone else."

The doors opened and the duo entered the cabin. It wasn't until the elevator was moving up that Maitho realized that Epona and him were both standing against the back wall. The proximity between them had reduced, with less than a foot's distance between their shoulders. Yet he felt no discomfort in his position nor the need to raise up his defenses. Neither of the two seemed to make a move to widen it.

It was an odd feeling, but it was reassuring.

When the doors opened, Maitho exited into the car park. A flash of memory plunged into his consciousness. Before Epona could exit out into the underground parking, Maitho stopped her with a question. "Why didn't Brigid use the elevator last night? She could have made her way up to our floor."

Epona turned around, the glass door already half open. "Raiden had disabled it."

"How did she make her way out?"

"Dinnae be suspicious Maitho. There is another wey, bit tis nae fur ye tae see. 'N' if yer wondering aboot th' elevator, Jizo Imai took care of it."

"I wasn't suspicious. Just curious. But as for Jizo Imai, he's my building's landlord as well."

Epona nodded. "Figures. Every descendant gets a place tae stay. Most o' they places are owned by Jizo Imai."

"Is he a descendant as well?"

Another nod of confirmation. Maitho stored the information for later. As he was about to move, Epona stopped him with another question.

"Ye said ye wanted tae deal wi' this situation. Why?"

To his surprise, Maitho realized that he was actually relieved that someone had asked the question. He hadn't really paid a lot of attention to the revelations he was given since last night. At that moment, all he felt was the sudden urge to just go back to his apartment.

"I just want things to go back to how they were," said Maitho. "At least that's how I feel so far."

"Na anger? Na frustration?"

Maitho shook his head. "None."

"Even efter everything ye heard?" said Epona with a hint of annoyance in her voice, as though she expected Maitho to say something else. "We are prisoners in this situation. This is our lives fur, well, th' rest o' our lives. Which apparently, is going tae be a long one. We're lik' workers tae masters who hold our freedom."

Maitho shrugged. "That's the answer I can give you right now, despite how it sounds."

For a moment, Epna simply stood with her mouth agape. Eventually, she shook her head and faced the parking lot, as though she was seeking some answers there. She didn't make a move to leave. Maitho didn't do anything to encourage her. Perhaps there might be more to be said. If that were the case, then she needed to decide whether to say it or not.

She looked at him, eyes boring into his. "Nae even a wee bit annoyance?"

"For what?" said Maitho. "I get to live forever. I have an apartment I don't pay for. Good food. All I have to do is save people's lives." He noticed the pursing of her lips and brought his tone under control. "I don't know." After a pause, he added. "I haven't thought about it a lot."

Epona offered a small nod as acknowledgement. She exited into the parking lot. Maitho followed, keeping a few feet of distance between him and the woman. She was walking with her eyes on Quinn, but her pace was slow. It was as though heavy weights were tied around her legs. The car, on the other hand, looked as good as new.

"Where's Brigid?" said Maitho, looking around at the empty space.

In response, Epona pulled out her smartphone. She tapped the screen a few times and pressed the phone to her ear.

"I don't hear a ringtone," said Maitho, listening intently for the sound of a melody.

"How dae ye know tis nae on silent?"

"When she showed me her phone earlier, I didn't see the mute symbol."

Epona raised one of her eyebrows. "Yer quite observant."

Maitho didn't know what to say to that. Perhaps it was because he was never offered compliments many times in his life. He pursed his lips in an attempt at a grateful smile and opened the car's door. "You look great Quinn. You feeling better though?"

"Listening to you, I feel refueled." Quinn responded, his voice laced with his trademark joviality.

Maitho laughed at the pun. "Anything I can get you?"

"Your godly presence on my seat. Well, your descendant of godly presence anyways."

"No more questions. You are definitely better."

This time, the car laughed. It was a strange sound, like listening to someone from the other end of a call. Yet, it made Maitho feel appreciated. "Listen Quinn, I spoke to Brigid about this and she told me not to worry. I don't know what that means so I'm going to ask you."

"I'm all speakers." Maitho realized he would never get tired of Quinn's sense of humor.

"She isnae picking up her phone," said Epona.

"Go ahead and ask,' said Quinn.

Both spoke at the same time. Maitho looked at Epona. Then looked at Quinn. He realized that despite his curiosity about the leader of Celtic team, he still wanted to make sure that Quinn was going to be okay. "You will stand out in my area. You're, well, a good-looking model of a car."

"Why thank you. If today is Monday, maybe it's not so bad after all."

"The problem is that my area does not usually see this nice of a car. It isn't strange, but it might stand out too much. Plus Raiden isn't that stupid."

"Well, I see your concern and raise it with a solution. Step back, would you please dear?"

Maitho took a step back, closing the door's of the car.

Instantly, he noticed the transformation. The various parts of Quinn began to shift, fold, move and slide. It was like watching an advanced robotic species change its body into something. The door handle slid to the left by a few inches; the tire shrunk in diameter; the headlights moved apart from each other. There were all manner of transformations, all happening at the same time. When Maitho spotted one change, a dozen more had happened elsewhere on the car's body at the same time.

Eventually, the motions slowed to a stop. A few more parts made their final adjustments and finally, there was a click. Nothing more happened. Once, Quinn was the latest model of a sedan that the middle-class coveted. Now, he looked like a car that had escaped an assembly line some ten or so years ago.

The whole process might have taken less than ten seconds. At least, that was Maitho's best guess.

"Better?" said Quinn.

"I wouldn't say better," said Maitho. "Appropriate, more like."

"What can I say? I dress for the occasion."

"Seems like I am just on time. Or am I too late?" Bevan was walking towards them, holding a long object covered in a cloth.

"On time," said Maitho.

Bevan hesitated in front of him. He exhaled softly before speaking. "I could hide this in the pocket dimension. Brigid won't know it's there."

Maitho shook his head. "Don't get in trouble with her. If she notices it and does not like it, it's far better than if she discovers it was hidden and does not like it."

It almost seemed like Bevan was going to say something, but instead, nodded and moved towards the car's trunk. "Quinn, I need you to open—"

"My ass?"

"Well, if you put it that way," said Bevan, his face turning a shade of embarrassment.

The trunk opened. "You can put your things in me."

"Nae even half th' day is over Quinn." said Epona. She had called Brigid again.

"Looks like everyone's ready," a voice shouted out to them.

Brigid was walking towards them from the direction of the parking exit ramp.

"Where were you?" said Maitho.

"Talking to Charon," came the response.

"We shouldn't be involving him."

"Noted. We're leaving now."

Maitho shared a quick look with Epona before getting into the car. When they were all seated, Epona's phone began to ring. Everyone in the car turned to look at her.

She looked up. "It's Raiden."