Chapter 7 - Cohabitation

Luckily, in the end, the Collector didn't have to work all night.

The only problem to be solved was Eli's claim that he needed identification, money, money, or a place to live. He's so honest that the Collectors are speechless. But a man of this caliber must be included in the open, and the Collector is the only department that can quickly identify such a person. So Henry is ready to bring him back to the office. First, temporary collection of fingerprints and other information and preliminary confirmation that there is no criminal record are needed before arranging accommodation. You can put a guesthouse for Eli, or you can stay at the home of any colleague of the "collector" for now; it's all negotiable.

When Henry told Eli about this process, he worried that Eli would not cooperate. After all, this kind of "outside the world," a little bit of their temperament, is also very typical. I did not expect that Eli did not immediately oppose; I just looked at Middendorffi: "How are you going to arrange him?"

The colleague beside him said: "I'll send him home."

"Since he has already been tracked by the Red Moon twice, there may not be a third time." Eli said, "It's not safe to leave him alone."

Henry and his colleague looked at each other.

Although Eli was right, it was also something that the Collector needed to deal with internally. His colleague was about to go back and ask Middendorffi why he didn't go home at night, but now that Eli was being direct, he had to ask him, "What do you think, Mr Jones? Do you think Red Moon will attack Middendorffi again tonight?"

"Not necessarily." Eli returned, then turned to Middendorffi, "Since I can stay over, may I borrow your house?"

Henry wasn't too happy about Eli making up a room with Middendorffi; after all, Eli was still a relative stranger with such a high force value. If he had any ideas, how could Middendorffi resist?

But before Henry could interject, Middendorffi said, "It's okay."

Can what can ah! Henry hurriedly stopped the conversation: "Bear's house is a one-room household, and there is only a single bed; how can two big men squeeze in? Why don't Mr Jones stay at the guest house first, and Bear go to my house? I can also protect Bear's safety."

Middendorffi said, "I can skip the bed."

Henry: That's even more of a no-no!

"I don't have to sleep or use the bed." Eli said, "It's just temporary shelter, and I don't necessarily need it."

"The Collector was unlikely to let him wander the streets at night with a longsword. He went to "eliminate demons," which is fine; if the night patrol police found out, how can this be justified? If both sides started fighting at the drop of a hat, there might even be unnecessary sacrifices.

"Let's return to the office and do some preliminary procedures. Bear will also go along, and then we'll talk about Mr Jones' arrangements for tonight." Henry thought that he must persuade Middendorffi privately later, so with his mouth, he first muddled through the topic of borrowing and then started the vehicle.

The journey was active, and why Middendorffi did not go home at night was probed.

Middendorffi's answer is quite dry: "I like shopping."

A colleague asked: "What did you buy?"

"Nothing." Middendorffi said, "Just want to see more."

"Look at what?"

"Look at things I don't remember."

The "collector" people couldn't lecture him on this.

In the end, Henry said, "Bear, even if you want to look, don't stay up so late. See, the underground is gone, and it's inconvenient for you to go home, right? How unsafe."

Middendorffi didn't say anything, just a vague 'hmmm.'

Eli didn't engage in the conversation but watched Middendorffi throughout as if he were observing or as if he was looking for something to look at.

Sometimes, he locked eyes with him and sometimes looked away but never asked him what he was looking at, and Eli's haunting gaze was something Middendorffi was well adapted to.

***

As it turned out, this evening ended with Eli going to Middendorffi's house.

Henry couldn't persuade Middendorffi, and no matter what he said, Middendorffi's only answer was, "It's okay," and "I don't think he will." Henry had no choice but to respect the adult's decision. But he also told Middendorffi to call himself when there was a problem.

--though it might not be too late is all.

Henry dropped the two men off at Middendorffi's house, dropping off a folding bed from the flat. Before he left, he also reminded Middendorffi to stop watching videos on the Internet for now.

Middendorffi said, "Eli can beat back the Red Moon."

Henry got a little used to his unconditional bias in favor of Eli: "... Okay, then don't watch it when you're down."

Middendorffi nodded a little.

Henry glanced at Eli, standing by the window looking out, and added, "It seems like you and Mr. Jones hit it off right off the bat, and that's what called for you to trust him like that."

Middendorffi returned, "He saved me."

Henry thought, "I'm giving Eli moral pressure not to harm you, who's praising him to you, but all he could do was respond, "Yes, Mr Jones is awesome."

Finally, after a few more words, Henry left Middendorffi's house early in the morning.

Once the door was closed, only Middendorffi and Eli were left in the house. Both of them stood in pairs, several meters apart. They looked at each other for a few seconds, then Middendorffi suddenly said, "Sit down."

Eli, however, said, "I'd like to take a tour of your home."

"Sure, make yourself at home." Middendorffi finished as if he'd just remembered another sentence, "Something to drink?"

Eli looked at him, and something seemed to come into his eyes, "What do you have at your house?"

"Water." Middendorffi recalled for a moment, "And iced tea."

"Which one do you like?"

"... Pretty much."

"Give me the water then."

Middendorffi then goes to get the water. Taking a glass, he took most of it from the dispenser and brought it to Eli, who was now standing by his bed observing it. Took the water, didn't rush to drink it, but pointed to the bed and said, "What's the pattern?"

This said the colorful pattern of the four-piece bed set, and Middendorffi answered correctly, "Star Wars, a movie."

Eli looked over at him, "A film?"

"It's the story being broadcast on a big screen bigger than the one on the street just now." Middendorffi struggled to describe it, "Star Wars is about what happens in the universe between different races on various planets."

"Different races on other planets?"

"It's all in the human's imagination, and it's not there." Middendorffi finished and asked, "No water?"

Eli took a sip at that. It was colorless and tasteless, nothing to comment on, but he drank it and asked, "You're not drinking?"

Middendorffi returned, "I'm not thirsty."

Eli glanced at the glass in his hand and scanned the unmade bed, following up with, "So go ahead and tell me about your home."

Middendorffi nodded, and when he did, he gave him the same introduction.

Honestly, it was already the middle of the night, and it was quite a strange scene for two big men to drive around in a small house, explaining all kinds of electrical appliances, furniture, and so on. What's more, the one who spoke also had "complete amnesia," belonging to a dare to say, a dare to listen. However, these two talk thoughtfully, listen naturally, and do not think there is any problem. When the electronic cat's eye at the door was finished, it was two o'clock.

And Middendorffi seemed to think everything was fine; I was exhausted with the time. He stood near the door, waiting for Eli's next question.

Instead, Eli said, "Don't you rest at this late hour?"

Middendorffi was stunned for a moment before he seemed to remember to ask about it, "You rest tonight ..."

"Don't mind me, and I don't need to rest. The couch is big enough for me to sit on." Eli paused and added lightly, "You don't seem to have sat down much since you got back."

"I ... was sitting until then, and I'm not tired." Middendorffi twisted his head toward the wardrobe, "I'll go and wash up first, then."

Eli watched silently as he picked out his change of clothes one by one, went into the bathroom, and closed the door. Soon after, the sound of water running came out.

Eli looked toward the bathroom and gave a silent, imperceptible smile.

***

The night was uneventful.

In the morning, it was Henry who came to pick up again. He entered with breakfast and was relieved to see that Middendorffi and Eli were both well.

As the three of them sat together on the sofa eating breakfast, Henry stopped by to ask how they were resting, and Middendorffi casually replied that they were okay while Eli sniffed and commented, "Yeah? But you don't seem to move much in your sleep."

Eli was the one who meditated on the couch until dawn.

Middendorffi lurched her bite of the bun, then lowered her eyes and chewed the food in her mouth as if to finish something before answering. Next to him, Henry instead took a big gulp of soya milk before saying: ''Normal as can be, my sleep after I was so tired was also prolonged and immobile, similar to passing out. Yesterday, Bear and I ran a case all day and encountered something like that at night, and I guess it's also exhausting."

Middendorffi hadn't finished the bite in his mouth but gave an agreeable 'hmmm.'

Eli looked at him and took a slow sip of soya milk, hiding a somewhat meaningful look.

--Yesterday, he said, "I'm not very tired."

***

Eli went to the "collector" again, first to talk about the cooperation alone.

Middendorffi is taken to make a statement about Red Moon. Although last night he had already told the general experience, today he needs to be implemented into various text and video evidence; he also has to sign and fingerprints. Unfortunately, the first video call he made to Henry last night was recorded by Henry. So even though Middendorffi's description was sketchy, the Collector had accurate information about the Red Moon.

"Well?" Lupin stopped the video submitted by Henry and asked the other colleagues present, "Since Bear said that this object has suction power and can suddenly appear and disappear, do you think this 'red moon' could be related to the missing child case?"

"It's unlikely. This doesn't have a foreign language song and persuading parents." A colleague said, "Even if the 'thing' behind this video is capable of displaying different video content depending on the target of the arrest, how many of the missing people are babies? They can't even roll over, so how will they watch the video, understand it, and then see Red Moon?"

"If the Red Moon is captured or not, it has nothing to do with whether or not the target looks at the Red Moon itself ..."

Click!

Another colleague rushed in from outside the conference room, interrupting the discussion. He waved his mobile phone with a serious look on his face.

"Another child has gone missing, and this time, the surveillance captured the child's disappearance, along with that weird video!"