A Tale of Two Masks

“Then I guess we have to meet now.”

The text from Summer appeared mere minutes after he had sent his own. She must have been waiting for him to reply. It made him feel a bit guilty, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Instead, he decided it was probably best to play along.

“Where do you want to meet?”

Again, her response to his question was almost instantaneous.

“The aquarium?” she offered. She didn’t seem to sure about it, judging by the question mark, but Ashton didn’t have any better ideas.

“Which One?” he asked, hoping she at least had a place in mind.

“Walter’s Waterview: See the Undersea Aquarium.”

Not only did she have a place in mind, she went into great detail describing it. It was an aquarium split into two parts, each marked by half of the name. Ashton did some quick research and found that you could pay to just enter one, or both in day and season passes. It was a bit pricey, but with his raise and lack of much else he needed to spend money on, it wouldn’t be a problem.

He imagined Summer would want to go to the latter half of the aquarium. Walter’s Waterview held numerous shows during the day, but the last of those shows would be ending in a few minutes. While they did have fish displayed, the majority of the reviews claimed it had little else to offer besides shows and the occasional cute souvenir.

See the Undersea, on the other hand, boasted of two underwater tunnels. He didn’t know what else there was since most of the reviews talked in length about the tunnels themselves. There didn’t seem to be too much in the way of souvenirs here, but Ashton had never cared about those things, and he doubted Summer would be particularly interested either.

By the time he arrived, Summer was already there, and handed him a pass. He noticed it was the more expensive pass that allowed access to both halves of the aquarium.

“You’ve never been to an aquarium, right?” she asked with a smile, “I thought it would be best for you to have the full experience. Well, most of it.”

So she did know the shows had all been closed for the night. “Thanks,” he said instead. He had been ready to pay for his own pass, but it was rude to turn down a gift, and there was no need to waste money when he didn’t need to.

They entered after a quick warning from the receptionist that they closed in just a few hours. Summer made a beeline for where the otter show would have been, pausing for a moment to examine the TV replays before searching the water beyond the glass for any signs of otter. Ashton could tell the moment when she spotted one as her face melted into a goofy little grin.

He trailed after her, unable to keep pace with her constant stopping and going, and they ended up at a souvenir counter. To his surprise, she examined the products very carefully before choosing an otter set and plopping a plush of an otter floating on its back into his hands.

“A souvenir!” she told him, before he could come up with any kind of refusal, “You otter take it!”

It took Ashton a moment to get the joke, and several more moments to formulate some kind of fitting reply. “I guess I have no otter choice.” It was the only thing he could think of, and he was certain his delivery was terrible.

Luckily, Summer seemed to like it as he heard a giggle escape before she smoothed over her expression into an ordinary smile. “That’s right,” she told him, “And you are very welcome.”

Not sure how he was supposed to continue the interaction, Ashton was relieved when she moved further into the aquarium, pausing to look at the various tanks embedded in the walls. He caught sight of one hosting a very lethargic looking electric eel. It seemed to snap awake as he looked at it. Ashton’s staredown with an electric eel was broken when Summer suddenly spoke.

“Did you hear about that one villain dying?” she asked, then quickly backtracked, “Sorry, that must be sensitive information for your company.”

This was going exactly as Ashton had expected. “I’m sure everyone has heard of it now,” he replied, “After that, I can’t see any villain aiming for those artifacts.”

“That one I had to deal with was dangerous too,” she recalled, “I am glad Shadow Phoenix was able to deal with it better.”

“I suppose that’s true,” Ashton agreed. His plan had been to distract her with facts she already knew. If that didn’t work, he would hint at the truth as much as his contract allowed and hope that was enough for her. With the way things were going maybe now would be a good time to see how she reacted to a hint. “I just can’t help but find it odd that he went out of his way to save you.”

Summer’s reaction was far from what Ashton had expected. Her face flashed with several emotions before setting on worry. Or was that fear?

“Ashton, did you tell that to anyone else?”

“What do you mean?” Did she know about the people sending those emails?

Summer dragged him deeper into the aquarium, checking for cameras, people, and any other threats of secrecy. He followed with his own mind jumping to conclusions before he forcefully shoved them down.

“There are rumors SI is hiding a big secret,” she whispered, “A secret about their villains. If they think you are onto them, you might be in danger.”

“Danger?” His confusion at her own conclusion hid the relief. She was only concerned about what SI might do. Luckily, that was something Ashton didn’t have to worry about. They already knew everything.

Summer looked like she was struggling to think of something else to say, but ended up just giving another warning. “Be careful.”

“I’ll be fine,” he assured her, “The most they will do if I find out their secrets is force me to sign some kind of nondisclosure agreement.”

Another speckling of truth, and hopefully something that would calm her. Ashton didn’t like the idea of Summer wasting her time and energy worrying over nothing.

She cracked a small smile. “I guess I had better be careful, too. Can’t let them catch me in the terror of contracts.”

Ashton smiled along with her, silently agreeing about the horror that contracts presented. Then again, having lived his whole life under some contract or another, he wasn’t sure what he would do without them.

The mood lightened, and Summer practically glowed when they entered the first tunnel. The blinding light and vivid colors were a bit much to take in, but Ashton had to admit it was beautiful. He preferred the deep contrast in the second tunnel. The arched glass marked off invisible sections between the various deep sea dangers, leaving this arch ending in more of a point than the perfect curve of the last.

The jellyfish floated along the current like an underwater balloon, glowing with a soft blue light. There was a squid with neon patterns that reminded Ashton of the traffic arrows construction crews used except for its pink hue. There was even an anglerfish waiting in a cave-like corner towards the end of the tunnel, ready for any unsuspecting prey that might follow its light.

In the end, they only left when they heard the warning reminding anyone who might still be inside of the aquarium’s closing time. The day had gone far differently than Ashton had expected, but not in a bad way. Spending time with Summer had become a bit more natural despite the endless secrets he had no choice but to keep. He even found himself looking fondly on their interactions as hero and villain.

Now all he had to do was figure out who was sending him all of those emails and what they really wanted. As if aware of his thoughts, his phone buzzed. He opened it to find another email.

“If you want to know who we are, convince SI to let you off your little leash for a private meeting. We look forward to meeting you face to face.”

For the first time, Ashton hesitated. Whoever these people were, he was confident Amos would make him meet them if he knew about this email. Was that something he was willing to risk? Was hiding it worth the repercussions once it was inevitably found? Ashton decided that this was a decision he would make in the morning. That way, if need be, he could show the CEO in person.