Leon sat on a bench outside the Academy, staring into the distance as far as he could. His vision became blurry as his eyes unfocused. In the weeks since he had been integrated, he felt constantly disoriented. Anger would fill him in calm environments; he couldn’t make sense of it. But slowly things were beginning to click inside of him. Everything he did came easier to him.

  He began to understand why CelTec was so hellbent on human experimentation. He felt powerful. If everyone could have this, then no one would have to suffer. He could be rich if he ignored the rest of the world and went to work for CelTec.

  Leon shook his head; it was a dark thought.

  “How did it go?” a voice called over to Leon. Chuck Thorne sat down next to him. He was wearing a grey suit that could have looked black if it hadn’t been blanketed by sunlight. He had on a shiny red tie that ran steadily down his shirt.

  Leon shrugged, looking back into the distance. “I find it very disorienting.”

  “I forgot about that,” Chuck Thorne said calmly as he chose his words carefully. “It took a couple of weeks before I got the hang of it. People forget that the Minds are adjusting to you just as much as you are adjusting to them. I’m sure you'll get the hang of it eventually.”

  Leon looked down between his feet, “I guess I just thought it would be different. So many people would do anything to get The Minds, but so few people have it. I guess I just assumed that it wouldn’t be me. I’m not even sure what to do with it.”

  Chuck Thorne looked over at him, frowning, “It's a blessing that's for sure, you’ll come to realize that soon.”

  “What about my friends?” Leon asked solemnly. “What will happen to them?”

  Chuck Thorne's smile faded into concern. “What do you mean?”

  Leon took a couple more seconds in contemplation, “Well, they don’t have The Minds, and I don’t know if they ever will. I can’t talk to them about any of this cause they won’t understand it. I didn’t even know what it was like until I got it for myself. I think my whole outlook on life has shifted.”

  Chuck Thorne sat there for a second before he put his arm around Leon. “I get what you're saying. I ended up losing some of my friends when I became Integrated. It's how you figure out who is there for you. My advice, if you are worried about it, just don’t tell them. What they don’t know can’t hurt them. Ralphie doesn’t need to know; he’s too focused on his own life. It will only upset him.” Chuck Thorne yawned, “Everything will be much richer now that you're Integrated. We are a tight-knit family, you know. I don’t even think you have truly begun to grasp it.”

  Leon nodded towards Chuck Thorne, taking in what he was saying.

  “I guess I just wish that Ralphie and my other friends could become Integrated. I wish they could understand.” Leon said.

  “Well, who knows, if I become president, that could be a possibility,” Chuck Thorne said with a gigantic smile. His teeth gleamed bright white as they reflected off the sun. “Regardless of what happens, I’ll always be in your corner. Let me show you something,” Chuck Thorne said, handing him his phone.

  A woman was lying down on a metal table with her eyes fluttering closed. She was dressed in a pale yellow gown that reached down to her ankles. Her arms were outstretched by her sides, and her hair was tangled behind her, trapped underneath her back. Next to the woman was a large screen that sat beside her. The screen listed an array of numbers. Leon thought that the woman had tensed up as a doctor walked into the room, even though she was unconscious. The doctor grabbed a set of wires from underneath the table the woman was lying on, as he connected them to her temples and then the monitor beside her.

  “What is this?” Leon asked in confusion, turning to Chuck Thorne.”

  “Just keep watching,” Chuck Thorne said, his eyes intent on the screen. The monitor flashed white for a second before there was a little boy sitting on a hospital bed. It then switched over to an old man, then to a young woman. The feed kept flipping between the different people. On the top right of the monitor was a black box that was filled with green text. The text was rolling down rapidly at a speed that was so fast Leon couldn’t make out anything that it was saying.

  Leon sat there watching the woman lie there as the monitor flipped through dozens of people, each time filling the black box with text before it would disappear. Leon couldn’t figure it out until it suddenly clicked. She was giving them medical diagnoses.

  Chuck Thorne spoke slightly startling Leon, “This woman has been volunteering to work with us for almost five years. When she came to us, she was distraught because her mother had died from a treatable disease, but she was misdiagnosed. So by the time they found out what was wrong with her, it was too late. We’ve helped this woman tap into part of The Minds. All these people are sick, and she is finding out why. With perfect accuracy, something we haven’t been able to do with the technology that we had. Only The Minds gave this woman the ability to rapidly treat people accurately. There is something beautiful about the merger between humans and technology. It's a pure symbiotic relationship that can flourish to create wonders this world has never seen. ”

  “She seems tense,” Leon said, intently watching the video.

  Chuck Thorne shrugged, “Augmenting The Minds of someone is not easy, and it's not always comfortable. It takes a toll on a person's body. But to her, it's worth it because without it she wouldn’t be able to do this.” The video stopped playing, and Chuck Thorne put his phone back into his pocket. Chuck Thorne then patted Leon on the shoulder a couple of times.

  “Hey, Chuck Thorne, I have to ask you. How do we know these people are volunteering to do this? Everyone knows that CelTec performs these illegal experiments and that they then hide from the media. How do we know that's not happening here?”

  Chuck Thorne let out a long sigh, massaging his temple, “I got The Minds around your age, maybe a little earlier. Then CelTec had a good leader, a man named Richard, whom I adored dearly. I had a friend who was close with his family, just like you with Ralphie. Richard knew about the problem of rogue CelTec employees who believed that they were superior. They would lead these awful experiments, as they didn’t consider people without The Minds human. But Richard was powerless; there were too many of them, and they were protected by each other. So, Richard did what he thought he had to. He let the public into CelTec; he showed them the greed, the corruption, and the pure power within CelTec.”

  “So what happened?” Leon asked

  Chuck Thorne gazed at Leon, “They slaughtered him. The public was so outraged by what they saw within CelTec that they called for his death. So he was assassinated. In broad daylight."

  “I had no idea. Why would you want to become the President then?” Leon asked worriedly.

  Chuck Thore pursed his lips, “Sometimes I worry about that, but I do not intend to go out like old man Richard. I have a plan that will hopefully reveal itself to you one day.” Chuck Thorne ruffled Leon's hair. “But now is not a good time for that.” Chuck Thorne, “We will have to stay in touch. I’m curious to see how you will grow your Minds. I think you could be very valuable to the world if you keep going on the path you are on right now. Don’t be afraid to call me for whatever you need.”

  The Studds' house was cozy with different kinds of knick-knacks. Everything that filled the house had some sort of color. Just inside the front door was the living room. It was wide open and dimly lit by various oddly shaped lamps. From the outside, it was easy to mistake the house for being small, but the inside was unmistakably large. Just to the right was a moderately sized metal staircase that hugged the wall before curling towards a balcony that held a bookcase. The bookcase touched the ceiling. A second set of stairs at the end of the balcony disappeared into the 3rd floor. It was raining outside, and the smell of wet grass filled the house through the cracks in the window. Mr and Mrs. Studd were both in the kitchen, rambling on while chopping vegetables. They heard the door promptly open and peered around the corner.

  “Ralphie?” Mrs. Studd exclaimed, running over to him and kissing him on the forehead. “Where is Sage? I thought she was going to come over for Dinner today.

  “She felt sick after we visited CelTec,” Ralphie braced for the inevitable.

  “Why did you go to CelTec?” Mr. Studd asked as he tried to blink away tears from the onion that he was holding.

  “Chuck Thorne showed us some of the evolution chambers.”

  Mrs. Studd smiled. She hated the thought of Ralphie going to that building but realized he was in good hands, “Chuck Thorne has always been so good to you and the rest of the boys. But, I tell you, it's unnatural for a company to be around that long.”

  Mr. Studd added, “I can’t remember a time without CelTec. But you want to know how many people I’ve known who are now Integrated. Only three in my entire life. Good friends of mine, too. I knew two of them from my childhood, and Chuck Thorne, obviously. Never saw the other two after they became Integrated. They all took up some jobs with CelTec, making good money.” Mrs. Studd began to set the table.

  “Sit down, Ralphie.” Mrs. Studd said as he had been anxiously standing during the conversation.

  He had been trying to weigh whether he should mention the attacker. He knew telling them directly would only rile them up, “How deep in CelTec is Chuck Thorne?” He asked.

  Mr. Studd looked over at him, a little puzzled. “What do you mean?” he asked.

  Ralphie hesitated for a second, “With all the things coming out about CelTec and all the experiments. How do we know he will do the right thing when no one else has?”

  Mr. Studd sat there for a second, “I never thought that he wouldn’t. That's just who he is. What's making you say all of this? Chuck Thorne has always been there for you.”

  Ralphie replied, “I know, but at some point, he is so involved in CelTec, why hasn’t he done more?”

  The entire time, Ralphie's mom had been coating celery with peanut butter, which she placed neatly on a wide plate. She looked up at Ralphie, concerned, “What happened?" she said, sensing something was off.

  Ralphie shook his head, realizing he had alerted them, “It's nothing.”

  “Ralphie, you need to tell us.” Mr. Studd looked concerned.

  Ralphie tried to explain it as calmly as possible to avoid escalating anything. “I bumped into someone who had me thinking.”

  “Who?” Mrs. Studd asked

  “What did he say?” Mr. Studd followed.

  “I didn’t get his name, but he said someone would betray me and that Chuck Thorne would have something to do with it. The weird thing is, I felt like I could trust him. I don’t know why. I didn’t even see him, I only heard his voice.” Ralphie braced for their reactions.

  Mr. Studds' eyebrows furrowed, “Chuck Thorne is a very sought-after man; you have to be careful someone might try to use you to get to him.”

  “Why did you not see what he looked like?” Mrs. Studd asked, concerned as she noticed the bruise on the side of Ralphie's face.

  Ralphie paused, wincing as he realized he was in too deep, “I was blindfolded.”

  “What do you mean you were blindfolded?” Mrs. Studd asked angrily. Mrs. Studd walked over to the phone and dialed the number.

  “Dad, what are you doing?” The phone line rang.

  Mr. Studd looked up at Ralphie, “Chuck Thorne needs to know about this.”

  “Wait, wait, just please hold on one second,” Ralphie said, frustrated. Mr. Studd held the phone away from his ear as it connected.

  “Cliff, are you there?” Chuck Thorne's voice could be heard in the distance.

  “Sorry, Chuck, I didn’t mean to call you.” Mr. Studd put the phone down, staring at Ralphie.

  “It would be concerning if it were true,” Mrs. Studd said, looking at Mr. Studd. “It's not out of the question.”

  “It is,” Mr. Studd said in defense. “I trust him more than anyone to help protect this family.

  “I would agree with you, if anything, you should tell him in person,” Mrs. Studd said, nodding.

  Ralphie sat there frustrated. “All I’m saying is the man didn’t seem to want to hurt me. There's no point in escalating when we don’t know anything.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “So you believe some random man who blindfolded you.” Mr. Studd questioned.

  Ralphie had to give it to him; that was a good point. “No, I don’t know what his goal was, but I don’t think we should rush to anything. It was something about the way he spoke; he kind of sounded like you, Dad.”

  Ralphie's Mom could sense the tension. “Ralphie, go grab Flippy, so we can think about what to do, plus he needs to be fed.”

  Ralphie grumbled, “Hey, where's Flippy at? FLIPPy… Flippy? Where is he?” He got up from his seat, “I’ll find him.”

  It had been a while since Ralphie had been back to his childhood home. Not much had changed except for the addition of photos that were hung up around the house. He made his way upstairs. Several photos were hung up against the brick wall that cornered the stairs. There was a photo of him and Leon that he had not seen in a long time. They were no older than fifteen. Ralphie smiled to himself as he reached the edge of the stairs where the bookshelf was.

  He thought it was interesting that he could see downstairs from the balcony and that the balcony was inside. He used to sit on that balcony for hours just listening to his parents talk. Sometimes they would watch television, and he would sit up there watching from above. Other times, they would debate the things in the news.

  They never argued with each other. He admired that about them. To them, fighting against each other seemed pointless over things that everyone was trying to solve. Ralphie looked over at all the books, admiring them. He used to spend hours reading them. All the books were worn down with an old smell of paper, something that seemed lost in the world. He recognized some new books that had not been there before; they were clean and free of dust.

  Ralphie made his way up to the 3rd floor. The third floor was a lot smaller, but it didn’t lose any of its character. Ralphie walked into his old room. “There you are,” he said out loud. Flippy's tail started wagging. He was an Australian shepherd mix with bright, wide eyes, curled up in a ball on a pillow. Ralphie sat down on the edge of the bed and began petting Flippy. Flippy stuck out his tongue.

  Weird, he thought. He barely recognized the room. Everything was clean and perfectly laid out. It was never dirty, but it was always a bit messy. He used to have a dartboard in his room that tore up the wall. The wall had since been painted over. Ralphie heard his name being called from downstairs. He ignored it, continuing to pet Flippy. Ralphie heard his name being called again.

  “Fine, fuck.” Ralphie picked up Flippy as he walked out of his room. On the way down, Ralphie noticed that one of the closets across from his room was slightly cracked open. He set Flippy down.

  “Go see what's going on, boy,” Flippy shot down the stairs like a little torpedo. Ralphie then opened the closet. On the 3rd shelf of the closet was a break-action handgun. Ralphie smiles, wondering why his dad kept this old relic. His dad had always called it a dreamcatcher. He had no idea why. The gun was made out of a deep red wood. It was slick and looked like it had been freshly polished. Ralphie's Dad had only fired it once at a tree when Ralphie was young. The only reason Ralphie remembered was that his mother had come running out of the house, yelling.

  Ralphie walked back down to the kitchen, his face mixed with surprise. Leon was sitting there, his back leaning up against the island as he talked to Ralphies parents.

  “He was in the area, I guess he has something to talk to you about.” Ralphie's dad exclaimed. In a lot of ways, Leon had grown up in this house like a brother.

  “Hey, Pops, why do you keep that old gun lying around? Mrs. Studd rolled her eyes. “I told you you needed to get rid of that thing.”

  “Oh, please, it is also old, and it barely works. It’s my dreamcatcher, and it has sentimental value.” Mr. Studd peered up at the clock. “It's getting late for me, I gotta wake up early for work tomorrow.” He headed upstairs.

  Mrs. Studd looked up from putting the last of the dishes away before telling Leon that it was good to see him and that he should come to stop by more before joining Mr. Studd upstairs. Ralphie smiled and then looked at Leon, “So what do you want to do?”

  “Grass at the park for old time's sake?”

  “That sounds good to me. Let me just grab a jacket, it just finished raining."

  There was still some residual moisture in the air from the rain, but it had dried out nicely. The park was lit up by several overhead lights spaced fifteen feet apart. It was a big park with a large open field and a play structure that was surrounded by trees. Leon and Ralphie sat down on one of the benches. The air was clean and fresh. The park looked much smaller than Ralphie remembered. Leon pulled out an oversized deck of cards. The cards were branded with a CelTec logo on the side and had a large interwoven stripe that ran across the face.

  Grass was simple. A player started their turn by drawing up to five cards. The game was divided into attack, defense, and grass pieces. Each grass piece was a digital card that would change its form based on how the game was being played. Putting all of the correct pieces together properly would form a picture that would end the game with the player having the least amount of cards declared the winner. Occasionally, the grass piece would become dynamic, changing the rules of the game. Leon went first, drawing cards to start his turn. He placed a defence card on the table. The image on the card was a little astronaut holding a shield. He then placed a grass piece. The grass piece started to bubble up before it simmered down, forming what looked like a metallic leaf.

  “Remember when we used to come here every week and play this?” His hands were slightly shaky. He licked his lips, trying to build up the courage to tell Ralphie he was now integrated.

  “Best of 7,” Ralphie replied, watching as Leon set down two grass pieces and an action card that turned Ralphie's leaf into part of a solid green ring. Leon slid the card over to his side of the table and watched as his three grass pieces merged to form part of a woven knot. Ralphie then drew his two cards, starting his turn.

  “I remember when I used to feel like this park expanded forever. It's still big, but it doesn’t quite hold the same gravity as it used to.” Leon watched as Ralphie formed the base of a tree.

  “Things change,” Ralphie replied.

  Ralphie placed down an action card, causing a loud snapping sound as part of Leon's Rings broke off before turning into dirt, which Ralphie placed under his tree. “How are things going?”

  Leon shrugged, “Hard, getting harder. It seems like things get harder the older we get. I wonder how my life will turn out with everything going on?. Who knows what things will look like in twenty years?” Leon pressed his face in his palm before placing down an action card. Ralphie's tree began to age. The leaves looked as if they were about to fall off. “Things used to be happier; they used to be brighter. The older you get, the better look you get of the world. People are getting left behind. I don’t want to be left behind.” Leo looked around the park. There was no one in sight.

  “No one is going to leave you behind,” Ralphie said, ignoring the tree.

  Leon looked at Ralphie, nervously, as he tried to build up more courage. But he couldn't; something was holding him back. Leon grabbed two new cards before saying, “All you see is these gaps between people. The world is getting bigger, and the divide between the Disconnected and the Integrated is growing. Most integrated won’t even associate themselves with the disconnected anymore.”

  Ralphie flipped two cards over. “It seems so much worse nowadays.” There was a soft creaking noise. Leon placed down two grass cards, further expanding his ring before looking up from the cards. There was a seesaw that was gently rocking in the wind. It hovered slightly tilted to one side.

  “What did you have to tell me?” Ralphie asked as he dragged his finger across the rough edge of the card.

  Leo hesitated before deflecting the question. “My life is going to change drastically. I’m scared where it's going to lead me.”

  The wind started to pick up a bit, cutting through the surrounding trees. “Do you remember when Petey's Dad died?” Ralphie asked.

  Leon nodded, “Ya, everything froze for a year or two. I can barely remember it.”

  “I remember that we were at school when they pulled him out and sent him home. I hardly saw him after that.”

  Ralphie placed another card down, “I think you have me beat.” He let out a long sigh. “Petey's dad was a funny guy. I miss him a lot, but we all bounced back, even Petey. It really twisted him, but he seems to be on a better path now.”

  “He's been sober for almost a year,” Leon said, smiling.

  “He has, and we were all proud of him. The point is, we’ve all come a long way since then.” Ralphie drew his two cards, placing down some defense before ending his turn. “We’ve all bounced back before. Moving forward is scary, but we help each other.”

  Ralphie rubbed his hands together. The cold was starting to get to him, “Here, I’ll tell you something I haven’t told anyone besides my parents. Yesterday, after I finished talking to Lily, I stayed at Trident for a while. When I left to go to my car, there was a man who blindfolded me and threw me to the ground. He told me not to trust anyone, especially Chuck Thorne. He also said something about puppets, which was weird because Lily mentioned them also. I don’t know what it means, but the next thing I remember, I was waking up face down in the dirt, and it was morning.

  “You haven’t told anyone?” The soft breeze was beginning to pick up the cards as they slid slightly across the table.

  “No, besides my parents, who wanted to go to Chuck Thorne, believing it was politically charged. The weird thing is, I kind of believe this attacker. Something about him seemed familiar. But I don’t even know where to start.”

  “I can see if Lily knows anything. If I find anything out, I will let you know.” Leon stole one of Ralphies grass pieces before the cards merged, growing the ring until they were all woven together.

  Raphie looked down at it, “It's an Infinity Knot, it is woven together so that there is no end or beginning; it represents infinity.”

  Leon began to collect all of the cards, cutting them into two halves, and then began shuffling them. The air in the park was unusually still. It was a quiet and peaceful night. The park felt alive among the dimly lit lights, empty swings, and play structures. Occasionally, regardless of the time, someone would walk through the park. A mystery as to why they were there. Perhaps they needed to clear their mind or couldn’t sleep. But despite the empty park, Leon’s heart rate elevated. He twitched uncomfortably.

  “Now what do you have to tell me?” Ralphie asked again.

  A loud, dull crack rang out, slicing through the air. The noise echoed throughout the park, bouncing around. Leon and Ralphie froze, not moving, unsure of the noise that had jolted out of their otherwise calm environment. The Neurons in Leon’s mind were firing, alerting his senses to the danger. The park had a subtle way of masking the direction of the noise.

  Darkness encapsulated every inch of the outside of the park. Ralphie swiveled his head carefully, staying as still as possible, unsure if the noise was directed at them. The shadows seemed to grow in size around Ralphie. His breath was short and fast-paced, elevating his heart rate to the point where he could feel his heart through his face and hear its rhythmic drum through his ears. Leon's breath was stuttering and shaky before The Minds corrected and slowed down his breath.

  “A gunshot,” Leon said, before a second noise rang out. This time, it felt closer as if it could shatter their eardrums. They took off running, and the cards they were holding fluttered toward the ground. Leon felt pins in his back. A clear thought formed that the danger was behind him. Leon and Ralphie ran into the trees, trampling over bushes. The leaves grabbed at their ankles as they ran through them. There's a distinct sound that is made when two people are running together. The sound is almost synchronized, going in the same direction at the same speed. As the wind whistled past Leon and Ralphie's ears, a third set of feet could be heard amongst their own. It was faster and was coming from a different direction, breaking up the rhythm of their running. Leon's mind became so focused on this third set of feet that he couldn’t even hear the sound of his running. The noise was getting closer, but Leon couldn’t pinpoint the direction. Until there was a loud smack in front of Leon as Ralphie ran into a large man wrapped in multiple layers of clothes and a mask covering his face. Within a split second, Leon lunged at the man, the front of Leon's elbow directly colliding with the man's temple. A gunshot let out beneath the man's clothes, followed by a ringing in Leon’s ears. The man let out a short, muffled cry on the ground, dazed from the blow. The small amount of light from the park softly covered the leaves in front of Leon. The leaves were shiny and glistening in a bright red splash of blood. Both Ralphie and the Man began to move as they climbed to their feet. Leon popped up first, Ralphie pulling him to his feet as they stumbled further into the darkness.

  “Are you ok?” Ralphie asked as Leon nodded, still disoriented from the loud gunshot. They hid in a nearby bush as they looked out into the darkness. It was quite apart from their own slow, heavy breathing. They sat there not moving their eye wide for any shadow that moved slightly. As they sat there, they heard the slow shuffling of a man moving within the darkness, steadily getting farther away. After a couple of minutes, loud sirens could be heard in the distance, steadily getting closer. Ralphie and Leon took off running towards the sounds of the sirens as the man stood on his knees. Ralphie looked back, trying to get a better glimpse of the man, but the man had disappeared into the shadows.

  “Who called the Blues?” Ralphie could see their lights poke through the trees, lighting up their surroundings. Ralphie and Leon came tumbling out of the trees, their faces relieved to see the Blues uniforms.

  The Blues were run by CelTec, as employees with The Minds were much more efficient at minimizing the risk of casualties. They were instructed to enforce the laws set by CelTecs' governing body without question. They were tasked with responding to emergencies, and their minds were designed to handle high-pressure situations. Their suits were designed in a dark blue color that refracted light. It made them look black under most light and practically invisible as they looked more like shadows than people. The design to absorb and diffract light allowed them to both stand out and disappear in most urban environments. Their cars were low to the ground and weighed almost nothing to increase maneuverability. They emitted the bright orange light specially equipped to reveal The Minds.

  Five Blues all climbed out of their cars. There was a Large CelTec patch that was encased in bold letters on each of the Blues' shoulders. The orange light imprinted wild patterns on the skin of one of the Blues, whose suit was transparent around his head and arms. His skin seemed as if it was bleeding through bright fluorescent Hexagons and diamonds that were etched into his skin. The pattern slowly faded from his face as they stepped away from their cars towards Ralphie and Leon.

  “This way,” Leon shouted toward the Commanding Blue. To Ralphie's shock, the Blues followed him. Their lights shone on the clear trail of broken and parted bushes and shrubs up until the area where the gunshot went off. The Blues flashlights were flipping between different settings. Usually, blood doesn't glow under most light, but the lights that the blues had were specially designed to track blood-spraying chemicals into the air, which allowed the blood to be seen.

  There was a large splatter of blood that gleamed a bright red amongst the different types of brush. The blood trailed off on the ground.

  “That's a lot of blood,” Leon said to Ralphie.

  After the Blues had the trail, two of the Blues were instructed to take Ralphie and Leon back to the car for questioning. As they walked back, the faint color of orange touched Ralphie's face. One of the Blues pointed his flashlight up at the trees as they walked. The arms of the trees reached out and extended over the sky as the blues peered upwards.

  One of the Blues grabbed Ralphie by the arm, startling him slightly.

  “We need to split you two up for questioning.” Ralphie saw one of the other Blues grab Leon by his arm, walking him in a different direction. “Why are you splitting us up?” Ralphie asked.

  “We just want to talk to both of you separately so we can try and get a full picture.” The Blue said as he saw Ralphie's confused look. The blue backed Ralphie up till his back rested against the colder metal of the Blue's car. The orange light was bright, blinding everything Ralphie looked at. “Just give me the rundown. Did you see what he looked like? What were you doing at the park, and do you have any idea as to who might want to hurt you?” Ralphie sat there for a moment, anxious. As far as he knew, there would have been no reason why someone would want to hurt him.

  Ralphie stuttered out, “We were just playing cards, no one knew we were here besides my parents. You don’t think it was a targeted attack, do you?”

  “It's unclear at the moment, but it is unlikely that you two would get shot at a park for no reason. Did you get a good look at him?” The Blue asked

  “Uhh, no, no, I wasn’t able to get a good look at him. He was wrapped in cloth, so I couldn't see his face.” There was a loud shout that came from the direction of the other car. Ralphie looked over, and Leon looked frustrated, talking with one of the Blues; they appeared to be in a heated argument. But as Ralphie's eyes adjusted to the lights, he noticed a fuzzy glow coming off of Leon. His skin was glowing; there were sharp diamonds that perforated throughout his skin. Ralphie sat there, stunned that Leon had The Minds. He was now one of the Integrated.