Dododex
ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 51: Hardcore Reader
Original Post Date: Apr 9, 2024
Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Liopleurodon, next chapter in Manta.
~
It was definitely a beautiful day outside. The birds were singing and the flowers were blooming. There wasn’t a cloud in sight. The sun was bright, but not too bright, and the clouds were there, but there weren’t too many.
Warren was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove down the highway. He was singing a little hum and was listening to the news on the radio. It seemed to be an announcement from the President.
“Dear citizens of the United Republic, I come to inform you of something absolutely tragic,” the President announced with a booming voice, “The seniors of Terran High, who were just about to graduate…”
“Have mysteriously disappeared approximately a week ago.”
Warren sighed and switched the radio channel. Good ol’ Guy surely didn’t know anything about the situation other than the fact that they disappeared.
Looking at his GPS, Warren could see that he was almost at his destination. A humble abode that was straight off the highway. It was right smack dab in the suburbs of Star City.
Warren made a turn off the freeway, and a few more minutes later he arrived at the home. It was not his, nor was it any of his coworker’s, but it was someone he wanted to question about the disappearances.
It was a man named Calem.
After that night where he investigated the enigmatic platform known as the “Dex”, the next day, Detective Darren had given him a file on Mr. Mo, the principal’s background. Apparently he was quite the illusive man, his father and mother were unknown, and he also had a wife who mysteriously disappeared. He had a son, but he had run away from home and was never found.
Because Mr. Mo had no family, there was only one person Warren could interrogate. People close to him, and Calem seemed to be one of them. Calem was part of the Terran High Alumni and had graduated from Terran High four years ago, all the way back in ‘23. He was well known for being a critic of literature and had read over 10,000 books in his lifetime. Apparently.
“He might be able to tell me more about what type of person Mr. Mo is, and, if there’s a chance, he might have even read Tales of Evolution and Survival itself if he was such a hardcore reader…” Warren thought.
As Warren approached the house in his vehicle, he spotted a police car parked outside. He squinted his eyes at the car, and then saw a woman with long blonde hair stepping out. It was Sam.
Warren’s car slowed to a halt, and Sam turned around. Sam stared into the window, and then furrowed her brow, putting her hand up and giving Warren the birdie. Warren groaned and rolled his eyes at the sight.
Warren parks the car near the curb and steps up, slamming the door behind him and trotting up to confront Sam. Sam was crossing her arms. She was still in a tank top and black sweatpants. There was a walkie-talkie attached to her tank top, and she was also wearing sunglasses on this warm day. She looked like she had just gotten off work.
“What do you think you’re doing here?” Sam spat.
“I think I should be asking YOU that,” Warren replied, tugging on his red tie. He adjusted his tuxedo. Sam looked at his tuxedo with amusement.
“Pshh, questioning. Why are you here, trying to score a buck with a hot babe or ‘somethin?”
“What the-” Warren began to turn red, “Absolutely NOT! That is outrageous! I’m ALSO here for questioning!”
“Questioning here too? Well that’s too bad, I’ve gotten here first bozo so SCRAM.”
“I don’t think so Sam. I’ve been planning this for a long time, and I’m not going to go away just because you said so.”
“Yeah you pulled it out of your ass last night I’m sure of it.”
“How’d you know- Wait, you didn’t hear that, I DID NOT!”
“Just go away and let the grown ups handle it, okay hon?”
“I didn’t know we were resorting to name calling now. I’m not a little kid Sam.”
Just then, someone cleared their throat. Warren and Sam turned to see a guy with blonde hair standing there crossing his arms. He was packing on quite a bit of muscle, and he had a nice tan along his body. He looked a bit like a surfer. Notably, his blonde hair was fading to black. He had a slim fit black shirt with the text, “READING IS COOL.”
“What are you two bums doing outside my house? Get out of here!” the man demanded, waving his arm away, “I didn’t pay for this humble abode in the suburbs, to have my personal property INVADED BY HOMELESS SQUATTERS.”
Warren blinked his eyes and put his hands in the air in surrender.
“W-Wait sir! There seems to be a misunderstanding, I’m not a bum… I’m just here to ask questions-”
Sam suddenly interjected and put her hand over Warren’s mouth.
“Don’t listen to this bum, he’s just an old fart whose bones are so brittle they’re fit to break,” Sam sneered. Warren pulled Sam’s hand off his mouth and continued to banter. Somewhere within that argument, both Warren and Sam managed to reveal why they were there. The man sighed and rubbed his face.
“Rick’s gone and now this happens… Whatever. I’m not taking sides here, so either you both come in to interrogate me, or no one will. Man you two sound like a grumpy old couple who hate each other,” the man said. Sam began to glare, scoffing at what he had to say, and Warren looked gloomy after what he said.
“Psh, just remove the grumpy old couple part and you’d be 100% accurate,” Sam said with hatred in her voice. Warren shuffled uncomfortably.
“Is that really how you feel about me?” Warren thought solemnly.
The man rolled his eyes, tapping his slipper impatiently on the sidewalk.
“Okay, are you going to question me, or am I going to have to shoo you away?”
“I’m not even going to bother. Just don’t question any of us,” Sam blurted, making her way back to her car. Warren leaned forward and quickly grabbed onto Sam’s hand.
“Wait… Sam,” Warren said. Sam turned around and looked at Warren with wide eyes, then at her hand.
“I know we hate each other, but… let’s just do this for our son, okay?” Warren pleaded. Sam frowned a bit, looking into Warren’s eyes. Warren could feel his heart thump.
“Fine. Okay, let’s go.”
The man smirked.
“Well, they say those old grumpy couples always make up to each other.”
“Shut up.”
The man walked up to the front door and went inside his home. Warren and Sam followed closely behind. Upon entering they were greeted with the fresh smell of papers. Warren looked to the left to see gigantic shelves that were absolutely packed with all sorts of books, from non-fiction, to fiction, from action to slice of life, from romance to fantasy, it was there.
“I guess he really is a hardcore reader,” Warren thought. As Warren’s eyes scanned the bookshelf, one caught his eye… The Obelisk. He could spot the author’s name on the spine: Moon.
“That’s the person I saw messaging on the Dex,” Warren realized with wide eyes.
The man cleared his throat and sat down on a rocking chair. Both Warren and Sam took a seat on the living room couch. There was a glass coffee table in front of Warren and Sam. Warren was staring at his reflection in the glass.
“I think we should introduce ourselves properly,” the man said, “I’m Calem.”
“Warren.”
“Sam,” Sam said matter-of-factly, “Okay I want to go first.”
“No, I will,” Warren argued, “I was the one who convinced you to stay.”
“That doesn’t mean jack, Warren! I’m the only reason we can even interrogate him right now!”
The two began bickering again, and Calem slammed his foot on the hardwood floor in anger. The two turned to him in fear.
“Shut up, your arguments drive me mad! Just rock paper scissors and the winner goes first!”
Sam and Warren turn to each other again, putting their hands out to play. The two squint their eyes at each other.
“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!”
Warren played rock, and Sam played scissors. Sam groaned.
“Best of 3.”
“Nope. Warren, you’re first.”
Warren turned to Calem and cleared his throat. He felt his face getting hot as Sam stared at him impatiently.
“So, um, do you know anyone related to the, uh, incident?”
Calem’s face dropped, and he looked at his feet with a frown and dull eyes.
“I do. My little brother Rick… I care about him a lot, you know. I was best buds with him. He became a hardcore reader just like me,” Calem said. He looked up at the chandelier, reminiscing, “Oh the days we’d get together under the big tree’s shade and read a good story… Good times.”
Warren looks up at Calem. He looked so sad.
“Poor dude,” Warren thought. He looked up at a picture frame on the wall. It was a picture of Calem and a boy who looked a little younger than him, and he also had blonde hair. That was probably Rick.
Sam suddenly slaps Warren.
SLAP!
“OW. What the heck?!” Warren barked.
“You’re not even asking important questions, you’re just putting our host down!” Sam scolded him.
“You know it’s against the law to hit someone…”
“It’s not illegal if they deserve it.”
“I don’t deserve it!”
Sam shut her eyes and turned to Calem.
“I’m sorry about what you’re going through, Calem, don’t worry, you’re not alone in this,” Sam reassured him, “We two are questioning you for the exact same reason. Our son was also caught up in this mess, and we just-”
Calem looked up and his face brightened. He pointed a finger at them and began to laugh.
“BA HA HA HA! I knew it, I knew you two were just an old grumpy couple!”
Sam sneered at Calem. Calem immediately stopped laughing, putting his finger down.
“Sorry. Um, why don’t you ask the next question?”
` “Okay, okay, has your little brother, Rick, been able to communicate with you at all after the disappearances?”
Calem shook his head.
“Nope. He wouldn’t have been able to, anyway. When I graduated, they made us put on these graduation robes. Even though they had pockets for SOME reason, they made us put our phones in lockers. Soooo, no. He has not been able to reach out to us.”
“Damn, I was thinking we could track them,” Sam cursed. Warren’s face lit up, an idea sprouting in his mind.
“Wait, we might be able to,” Warren thought, “There’s no way that ALL of them left their phones in their locker. At least one had to have taken their phone with them.”
Warren turned to Sam.
“Sam, is the crime scene still up?”
“Huh? Yeah, but don’t bother getting your hopes up. You’re just a sheriff. I’m not letting you in.”
“I guess I’ll go there next.”
Suddenly, the walkie-talkie that was clipped to Sam’s tank top began to buzz.
“Unit 6 do you copy? We’ve got reports of an assault downtown at the bar, I think you should go there and neutralize the situation now!”
Sam pressed a button on her walkie-talkie and barked back.
“And so what?! I’m in the middle of something!”
“Everyone else is still investigating Terran High! You are the closest unit to the bar, so YOU have to go. That’s an order!”
The walkie-talkie stopped crackling and Sam groaned. She got up from her seat and began to leave.
“Gotta go.”
Warren jumped up from his seat and began to run after her.
“Wait, let me come!”
Sam turned around with vigor on her face.
“No. You’re not. You’re just a sheriff.”
“Doesn’t matter, I won’t let you get-” Warren quickly cut his sentence off, trying to find the correct thing to say, “I won’t stand by and let innocent people get hurt. My last name isn’t Justice for no reason.”
Sam rolled her eyes.
“You’re so cheesy, ugh, fine, you can come. But don’t expect to ride shotgun, you’re going in the back. Like a prisoner, nyah hah hah!”
Sam laughed like a villain. and pranced out the door. Warren turned to Calem, and put a hand on his shoulder. He reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out, showing a contact list to Calem.
“Put your number here so we can talk later. I think we can figure out a lot if we work together.”
Calem looked up and smiled. He reached up and tapped his number on the dial.
“Heh, you’re right. You and that blonde lady are a funny duo, you two probably love each other more than you let on,” Calem snickered. Warren felt his other hand go numb.
“Sure,” he said woodenly. Calem finished typing, and he leaned back in his rocking chair.
“Well, good luck with whatever crime you gotta stop. Guess you two aren’t bums after all.”
“Thanks. See you soon, I s’pose.”
Warren walked out the door, and Calem peeked out the blinds of the window to see Warren clamber into the passenger seat of the police cruiser. Sam shoved him out, slamming the front door and locking it shut. The police cruiser began to drive off, and Warren put his arm out in dismay. Warren rushed into his own car and began to drive off after her.
Calem smiled, looking at the bookshelf which held his collection of stories. One book was noticeably gone from its spot.
“Where could you be, Rick? Where could you be…”