Soft snores echo through the meeting room.
Gary tunes his guitar, seated on the couch. Rudy is asleep beside him.
But the one snoring is William. Stretched out, bare feet resting on the desk. He looks so comfortable he doesn't seem to move an inch.
Someone enters through the door. It's Cinthia. She scans the room.
How pathetic.
After her disappointment, she walks toward Rudy.
"Hey…" she whispers. "Hey, Rudy…"
Nothing. He's comfortable in his dreams too.
Cinthia glances between Rudy and William, afraid to wake him, so she starts giving Rudy small kicks.
"Hey… why are you asleep at this hour?… Wake up," she keeps whispering.
Gary remains distracted with his guitar.
During Cinthia's failed attempts, the door bangs open.
It's Mío. She rushes in.
"Hey, princess! Wake up!"
She throws a notebook. It flies straight into William's face. She smiles, proud and triumphant, as Roy enters behind her.
Rudy wakes up immediately.
"So much violence… such manners…" William murmurs sleepily, not even sounding annoyed. "Good morning, kids…" he yawns.
"Good afternoon," Roy corrects him, arms crossed. "It's already noon."
"We've already registered twelve more!" Mío shouts, throwing another notebook at his face.
This time William catches it and reads the list.
While she scolds him, Cinthia glares at Rudy.
"You slept until this hour too? Did you tell William what happened yesterday?"
Rudy sits up, rubbing his eyes. Gary answers for him.
"Is there a problem if we sleep all day?"
"Who asked you, idiot?"
Rudy finishes stretching.
"When I got here, I found him sleeping. I decided not to bother him and wait until he woke up…"
Cinthia frowns.
"And?"
"It's contagious. It's very warm in here," he says casually.
Cinthia exhales, slightly irritated.
William raises his voice.
"Hey, Cinthia."
She turns.
"I think you were right…"
"About what?"
"It seems there are students who stopped coming. The number increases every day since the borders opened…"
"They disappeared?"
"Disappear… I don't know. Maybe… I don't think so…" he gestures unnecessarily.
"I don't think it's that," Roy adds. "Cinthia said Oliver vanished from the records, contacts, and other people's memories… The ones on the list simply stopped showing up…"
Cinthia sharpens her gaze.
"He was your best friend…"
Roy doesn't respond. He just looks away.
"Rudy and Gary remember him! The three of you always worked together when you arrived."
Roy fixes his eyes on them.
"Is that true?"
"Yep," Rudy answers, as if it were nothing.
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Did you ask?"
"How was I supposed to if I don't remember him?!"
"I thought I mentioned it," Gary says, using his hands as a pillow.
"You should have insisted!"
"Ngh… too much effort."
Roy takes a deep breath. He loses his patience.
"Wasn't it enough that they mentioned Oliver twice?" Cinthia reproaches.
"It's absurd to believe I had a friend and just don't remember him… This feels like a joke."
"Alright, everyone… calm down. We're here to resolve these inconsistencies," William says, serene as always. "To start, I'd like to know how it went for you two…"
He looks at Rudy and Cinthia.
Silence settles for a few seconds, as if they don't know where to begin.
Rudy speaks first.
"In short… your first target refuses to come."
"You're just going to say that?" Cinthia adds. "But if—"
"…there's no need to say more," Rudy interrupts, fixing his gaze on William.
William holds it. As if they're speaking through that alone. He's the first to relax.
"I see… then we'll have to think about how to convince him…"
Cinthia doesn't understand that moment. Something tightens inside her as she looks at Rudy. She can feel him watching her somehow, as if asking her not to say anything else.
Neither Roy nor Mío understand.
Roy is the most frustrated.
"I really hate it when you do this… it's like—"
"Yes, Roy… I'm hiding something from you," William interrupts. "And Rudy is hiding something from me," he smiles.
"Give me time to deal with him… I promise I'll bring him," Rudy says calmly.
"Fine…" William replies, satisfied. "I suppose you have your reasons…"
"Let's just say I want to try my methods before yours."
"What are you hiding from us?!" Roy interrupts.
William turns to him.
"If I tell you now, it'll be inconvenient for everyone… everyone in Nigella."
"Huh?"
"Your only job is to protect Mío at all costs. Do you understand?"
Roy can't refute it this time.
"I don't need protection!" Mío says defiantly.
"Are you sure? I think right now everyone hates us more than before," Gary adds, never stopping the noise from his guitar.
"And why did you bring the guitar? I told you not to," Roy scolds him.
"Huh? What's the point of keeping appearances now? After yesterday's spectacle, it's obvious they hate us."
"He's right, Roy. Let it go for now… We'll never get them to accept those from the other side if we don't let them be themselves first."
"Do you really plan to bring a lot of them?"
"A lot? All of them," William says calmly. "Maybe we can even hold a concert to bring them together. And leave behind so much unnecessary hatred."
"I'm in!" Mío and Gary say at the same time.
"A concert? What's that?" Roy asks.
Cinthia also looks curious at the word.
"You're going to love it," William smiles unsettlingly. "But first we need to bring everyone. Those from the other side, those who stopped attending. Even someone like Lía."
Cinthia frowns.
"What about her?"
"Well, according to the records, she didn't attend Nigella today."
"I thought she was just avoiding me… she never misses."
William's smile only widens.
A chill runs down Cinthia's spine. Without thinking, she starts running. She leaves the room, trailing behind a tense silence and several gazes fixed on the closing door.
Rudy glances sideways at William.
"You love this, don't you?"
Then he goes after her, unhurried.