"What do you mean we are not alone? What do you mean there are others? Aliens? Answer me Benjamin, dammit! Who are among us?!"
James's indifferent facade had crumbled completely by now, but Benji remained calm and composed. His tone was even.
"Keep your voice down James, you would not want to attract unnecessary attention now would you? And please refrain from asking all these deep questions. Remember, you job is to know, witness and remember, just in case they get to me and my partner."
He took a sip of his cappuccino and chuckled.
"It's funny you know, the way this abnormal case is bringing us together. It is funny. I had never personally talked with this guy and when he invited me to his office, I was afraid because I thought I was in trouble. Turns out I was not, he was just as confused as I was. In the end, we worked to together and figured it out. Just like you and I are right now."
He sighed.
"You know even though my mind tells me otherwise, there is still this unsettling feeling that we have had this conversation before, just like how he and I have been holding meetings we do not even remember. At first i did not believe it. I thought he was toying with me, and this was just a prank... and quite frankly, he thought so too. But once we realized that i was not, the situation was infinitely more ...bleak. At the same time, a lot of things made sense."
He looked around and leaned in even closer. James followed suit.
"Listen James, I cannot tell you the name of this person for reasons I cannot disclose. Even i am not supposed to be a part of his investigation. It was just... fate. Let's put it like that. So please James, for your own safety, do not let me disclose his name no matter how many times we have, or have had this conversation. No matter how curious you are, you have to promise me this."
James pouted.
"You are demanding a lot of things Benjamin, but fine it does not seem like I have that much of a choice, do i? So fine I'll keep your little secret and I also will not ask the name of your accomplice. No matter how much I suspect him to be the murderer. But you have to tell me one thing Benjamin, and you have to tell me truth this time."
He looked at Benji dead in the eyes without blinking.
"Why exactly did you tell me this? Why me? Were there no other candidates you can trust? How about your friend, Madison?"
Benji's face turned dark and he was quiet for a few moments. He just shook his head and looked at James dejectedly.
"Listen James, no matter how much you think I told you is bullshit, its still true okay? I picked you because you were the only one i could fully trust, and simply because I don't like you. Do not get me wrong, I don't like the others as well, but they are not you, are they?"
James frowned.
"Meaning?"
Benji just grinned, making him look like a madman.
"It is true, Madison and i have known each other since high school, but we are not exactly friends. We never were. In fact, we never talked at all, until training days that is. Our relationship is complicated, but we are just strangers as you and I are. And the reason I did not choose her is because I have not moved on from her yet, you do not need to understand that for now. And so the complications we have, and the resentment i harbor for her might make it difficult. I hope you understand what I mean."
James was practically pink at this point. He cleared his throat and gestured for Benji to continue.
"As the other two, it is pretty embarrassing really. I am wary of that woman, Rose-Anne. I am also afraid that will keep on looking at something I should not be, the entire conversation. And I will definitely get a slap this time. As for Oliver, the answer is pretty obvious. He is too optimistic and he talks way too much. That i do not like at all."
If James was pink before, he was red this time, for whatever reason. It was so funny and too cute! Benji cleared all unnecessary nauseating thoughts from his mind and finished off what remained of his cupcake.
"I hope now I have eased all your concerns."
James took a very loud sip of his water and cleared his throat, again.
'Poor guy, he has been clearing his throat a lot. I hope he definitely has a flu.'
"Yeah it makes sense... it does. But I still have a feeling you are not telling me everything, are you, Benji?"
Now it was Benji's turn to clear his throat. He look at James dejectedly and sighed.
"Arghh fine, but the answer to that question is really not that big of a deal, but if our theory is true, it just might be the ultimate breakthrough we need in this investigation. You see, my partner and I suspect that the culprit is not only part of the military, but they are also a part of the General's cohort, the Command Center. That means they are closer to me and my partner than they are to you. They have more control over us.
Since your base does not have is remote and does not have a direct superior to bestow these revelations to you, you and your comrades are practically in the dark. So you do not pose that much of a threat, and the influence they will have on you will be minimal, if there will at all. So you are comparatively safe from all the attention. But still this is just a theory and so you are merely a test subject. That is why you cannot ask far too many questions..."
***
"I should be asking you the same question."
Even though James appeared calm, he was anything but. He was just as angry, frustrated and confused as Benji was. Well, even more angrier than the young soldier. But after seeing how sincerely confused Benji was, he calmed down a little. He sighed and snatched his journal back from Benji's hands. The young man flinched.
Jack rubbed his temples with a frown.
"So you really do not remember anything about these meetings?"
Benji shook his head.
"No sir. I honestly do not think these meetings too place though, how come there are no records of what happened during those meetings? I think sir my colleagues are playing a cruel prank on me, I've gotten used to it."
He looked at the young man somberly for a few moments and sighed.
"Listen Benjamin, no one, not even my assistant, has access to this journal. So I believe these meetings did take place, and somehow we do not remember. I have had suspicion of this before and this just vaguely confirms it. I do not know what I told you but I must have trusted you enough to meet you these amount of times.
Or maybe we only met once. Once after each time our memories were tempered with. So if that is the case, it means we must have stumbled into something we were not supposed to. And there is a chance that the evidence we had is gone now, but it trust in my intelligence, and yours too it seems. That means I had a contingency plan just in case something like this happened. Wouldn't you happen to know what that plan was Benjamin?"
Benji shook his head quietly. Jack looked at him somberly, disappointed even.
"Well that's a bummer..."
Benji cut him off before he could finish that sentence.
"But I know what I would have done."
Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, do tell."
Benji was silent for a few moments, and then spoke evenly.
"If what you say is true, that means it was not hard to deduce what would happen next once we were done with the meetings. So we must have indeed though of something. If it were me, I would have suggested the concept of a medium, a person who will oversee and witness the entire meeting and be our memories.
This person must be a person we are both well-acquainted with, but not on a deep or personal level, so as to not implicate the investigation, or whatever we were doing. But then, there is another tricky part as well. How do we know we are not the only ones who are implicated, and who are not? If so, then maybe must have had someone we were comparatively sure they were not influenced. Do you maybe, have someone in mind?"
James pondered something for a few moments and then shook his head slowly.
"No, not really. I am not really a trustworthy person and the only person I trust is my number one suspect right now. Because, then, I reasoned that maybe I could trust this person and they betrayed me. Which is why we are here right now.
Or maybe, everything happened the way I wanted it to. Maybe I had already suspected this person but I had my doubts, or i just simply lacked evidence and risked everything to obtain it. That brings me to the next question. Do you have someone in mind?"
Benji thought about this thoroughly and in the end, he simply shrugged.
"It depends on whether your prime suspect is currently stationed where. If they are here among us, then I might have someone in mind indeed..."
***
James lay on the cold floor of his room. He stared at the ceiling with a distant expression. The train hummed softly as it transversed the woods at an unfathomable speed. He was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard a subtle knock on the door. The knock got louder and louder and louder still, until it was unbearable.
"Alright, alright I am coming."
He slid the door to the side and was genuinely surprised when he saw Benji behind the door,
"Do you have a minute?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"Depends, what exactly do you want?"
Benji just shrugged.
"Your memories."
"I am not sure I follow."
He raised both eyebrows this time, trying to look genuinely confused, but it came out forced and he was sure Benji could see it too. But at that moment he heard another familiar voice from outside the door.
"Ahh cut the crap dammit! You know exactly why we are here."
He tilted his head to get a better look at the carrier of the voice and who he saw made his face as pale that of a ghost.
"M...Major Black!"