[ "Back in my day, 'Heathen' was where true enlightenment could be found. Now, only half that truth exists in these half-assed places." ]
This was the quote from the article we based our search off of. The quoter, a male, whoever it was, spoke on behalf of their own belief regarding the newly established religion in Melysia following the Filtering. The article was about gathering people's thoughts on the religion Menisism, an idea that worshipped an already-passed goddess known as MONA who had apparently brought Fractals to life. Menesism was established by A.X.A. when they took over as the governing power following the Filtering. The author had interviewed numerous people off the street on what they believed or didn't regarding Menesism, and our targeted quoter seemed to be the only one who had a view against the majority, even referring to the religion's activity as "half-assed."
The article was written by a journalist from Reagent Papers, so we went to its official building to see if we could find who was responsible for interviewing the quoter. Upon entering, Kyra immediately greeted the front desk receptionist.
"Hi, I'm Kyra Suthers, Second of the Upper Four in Melysia's military." She showed her ID. "We're performing an investigation under Overseer Azrael, so if you could, we'd like if you could provide some information regarding this article."
The receptionist was taken aback, clearly surprised to be suddenly confronted by military. She looked at what Kyra showed her, the article of interest. "Yes, what can I help you with concerning this article?"
"It says here that it was written by Journey Sanders of Reagent Papers. We know that the article was written three years ago, but we're wondering if Mr. Sanders still works with you?"
The receptionist reacted as if she recognized the name. "Actually, Journey went missing the same year he wrote that article. It was his last one."
We were all surprised by the news. "Missing?"
"Yes. The authorities were on the case for a year before putting it on hold due to no progress."
Kyra sighed because it felt like the investigation was getting nowhere. Then it hit her. "Wait. The one who uploaded the online video also went missing," she told us.
"Right… Do you think it's just a coincidence?" I asked her.
"I'm not sure." She turned back to the receptionist. "Do you happen to still have any notes or data used to write that article?"
The receptionist began typing on her computer, gaining access to a rabbit-hole of files. She was trying to track down any still-saved copies of Journey Sanders' documents.
"Oh!" She seemed to find something. "I have here two documents from Journey relating to that article. One contains a schedule with time slots for him and his group to interview people on the street. It also contains the address where he gathered his information. The other document is a list of all the names of the people he interviewed."
"Perfect!" Kyra took interest. "I need a copy of both of those documents."
The receptionist began printing out physical copies, and she handed them to us. The one with the list of names was two pages long, front and back. It contained first and last names, alongside what seemed to be shortened versions of the full quotes they'd said.
With everyone else, we left the building and stopped by a niche cafe where we could go over the documents ourselves. But before that, we ordered some drinks.
"Just a latte, please." My order was basic.
"Matcha latte with oat milk!" Kyra's was unique.
"Ah… Cherry lemonade?" Cynthia questioned her decision.
And Garren stood cautious, "Just some water please."
"Just water?" I asked. "Why don't you get a real drink?"
"I've heard rumors that sugar and caffeine can cause eczema flare-ups… I try my best to steer away from it."
"Damn… That sucks."
We sat down in the corner of the cafe with our drinks where Kyra pulled out the documents.
"All right. Let's find the quote with 'Heathen' in it." She began skimming through every quote. Eventually, on the second page, she found it. "'Heathen was where true enlightenment could be found.' I wonder what he meant by that."
I looked at the quote on the paper with her, sounding out the name written beside it.
"Henry Bautista."
"Looks like that's who's responsible for the quote, and who could possibly know about the Heathen we're looking for."
Once we were done with our drinks, we made our way to a specific A.X.A. building where we could continue our research. We were led by Kyra to a computer lab.
"Enter any full name into one of these computers and it unlocks an entire database of recorded information on their name." She typed 'Henry Bautista' into the slot and hit enter. Suddenly, a summary of his private information appeared in the output.
[ Henry Bautista ]
[ Gender: M ]
[ Age: 64 ]
[ Birthday: 07/29/2145 ]
[ Fractal: Candle ]
[ Fractal Details: Can light a small flame upon his right index finger as if it were a lighter. ]
Among the information provided, there was something in particular that stood out to all of us. Cynthia was the quickest to mention it. "He was born before the Filtering!"
We had all noticed it. It said he was born in 2145, while the Filtering had begun in 2160. It meant he lived through the Filtering from start to finish, which also meant that he witnessed A.X.A. move into governal power.
"Doesn't that mean he's lived through three different eras…?" Garren asked, fascinated. "Pre-Melysia, Filtering, and Modern Melysia."
There was a main connection being made in my head. "It all makes sense then. In the quote, he refers to 'Heathen' as being something from 'back in his day.' We know Heathen to have been a little-known location during the Filtering. 'Back in my day' might be referring to when he lived during the Filtering era. It all lines up…"
Kyra nodded along. "This might just be the most solid proof that Heathen did exist during the Filtering after all. We just need to find Henry and confirm that the place existed."
"And we need to determine from him where Heathen was, and what exactly it was."
Kyra further accessed his information by typing in some codes that granted her further access. We had exposed to ourselves his current address.
"He's across town. We can make it by nightfall."
We left the building and made our way over with our heads held high.