CHAIN LINKS - 1. A STEP FORWARD - A Story Inspired By The HardFork Series by japhofin8or

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· @japhofin8or · (edited)
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CHAIN LINKS - 1. A STEP FORWARD - A Story Inspired By The HardFork Series
<center>![step2.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUsDPfEAqW8aH7tLvyR3SXxUSxQmydyf3KH1QKXVypGRP/step2.jpg)
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![step.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQme5AL5ytKyKsCDrL6soBYNwJKkNcRcCfpw8BCJa9jP2KN/step.jpg)</center>
Donavon looked up from the lens in his hand and saw that Carla was finally coming toward him. She stayed behind at school so that she could talk to her Social Educations teacher about a project she was doing for the class. He slipped the lens into the inside pocket of his jacket and zipped it closed. He had shared the discovery of the lens with no one. It was partly selfishness; like the child that has a new toy that he doesn't want to share, but mostly it was suspicion. The lens had put his trust on high alert. He knew he knew something, but what? Until he had more answers than questions he figured it best not to extend his trust freely. 
"Sorry that took so long. I wasn't the only one with questions."
"That's fine. It's a good day for sitting and waiting." His tone mocked disdain and he smiled at the end to let her know it was not a big deal.
She made a pouty face and smiled back. " I don't have any time now to just hang out. I have to stop at the store and pick up the rolls then it's off to granny's for the weekly dinner. You want to come with, it'll be fun."
He knew that it would be anything but fun for him. He had gone with her a few times in the past and he always felt a kind of comfortable awkwardness. Her family liked him well enough and they got along well but the weekly dinner was a family thing with family talk that made him feel like an intruder. Kind of the same way that the lens made him feel like a stranger in a familiar place. He white lied his way out of it. "I wish I could. I have to go to the library and do some research for my project. Next time. Promise."
"Well at least we can hang out while you give me a ride. We have to stop by Schuman's so I can grab the rolls." He loved that they were always so comfortable together. She was his best friend. Had been since the sixth grade when she moved here. They were not burdened with the label of boyfriend/girlfriend but to all observers they were just that. To each other they were just best friends, which made not telling Carla about the lens that much harder. He said okay and the two started to walk toward his car. There was a man sitting at a bench near the entrance of the park reading a book and a sense of deja vu peaked at Donavon for a moment. Maybe he had seen him here before. He had been spending a lot of time walking and mapping the lies in the lens. The feeling was gone almost as soon as it came and they left the park, him behind her, noticing now how the loose strands of hair in her wad danced in the autumn breeze.
He smiled.
<br>
Donavon dropped Carla at her grandmother's house and headed back toward the park across from the school. He wanted to be sure he viewed all of surrounding buildings before he went to the next area of the city. He started in business and high traffic areas and was working his way down to residentials. He had been noticing a kind of pattern in the viewings. Places that had the highest concentrations of movement also had the biggest amounts of facades. Some were large; like the sign of the school name over the main doors which was replaced by a line of satellite dishes in the lens, some were as small as single bricks shielding cameras behind them. All of them, big and small, raised the same question in his mind. Why? 
He parked in the same spot he had vacated just over an hour ago and  walked back into the park. The same man was still sitting there, his book now in his lap, opened with the cover side facing upward. The man's glasses were in his hand now. As Donavon passed the man spoke to him.
"Hello." 
Donavon repeated the greeting back to him politely in reflex, more concerned with getting back to his purpose than chat.
The man took Donavon's volley and serviced back. "Lovely day, isn't it Donny?"
Donavon's heartbeat picked up a bit as the fingers of terror tickled the back of his neck slightly. He was nearly speechless as he turned toward the man now, uttering a single overly inquisitive "What?"
"I said lovely day. A bit breezy but nice in spite of it." The man was looking at Donavon and smiling as if there was nothing peculiar happening.
Donavon got his wits back about him. "You said my name! How do you know my name?" The inquisitve tone was still there but it was fueled now by hostility. Who was this man that had spoke his name as nonchalantly as if they were old friends.
"I did. I know a lot about you Donny. I know about your secret too. Meet me tonight at nine o'clock near the industrial complex. Park your car at the Schuman's about two blocks away and walk from there. I'll find you. I'll look a little different so don't be surprised. I'll explain more then." The man then closed his book and stood up. "Enjoy the weather, young man. It'll be winter before too long." With that the man turned and walked away leaving Donavon with new questions fighting old questions for dominance of his thoughts. He sat at the park for some time trying to focus on his original goal but in the end the man's greeting and subsequent invitation won his mind and he left the park.
<br>
Donavon pulled his car into the grocery store lot and locked it. He had not been to this area of the city with his lens yet. He had started near the center of town and the industrial complex was near the outskirts. The whole of that area was warehouses and storage units with small production companies housed throughout. It was mainly a hub for holding and shipping and eerily deserted at this time. Donavon was walking down Henderson Way when he noticed a figure emerge from between two buildings. He stopped short for a moment and then continued toward the shaded figure. It had to be the man he met earlier. It was him but he had altered his appearance. His suit had been replaced by worn jeans and a tattered jacket, his hair was longer now and he was wearing a backpack. Donavon was nearly to him when the man walked back into the alley he had come from. He turned into the alley and the man was standing by a row of dumpsters. The man spoke first.
"I wasn't sure if you would come. You'll be glad you did, I think." He spoke in a subdued voice, almost a whisper but not quite. He continued. " I've seen you out with that lens you carry looking  at the city. I know who you are because I made it a point to find out. Now I need to know what your interest is before we go any further."
Donavon thought about his answer for a moment before he offered it. He was not sure what his intentions were. He was walking through a whole different world than the one he had been part of just short weeks ago. "I want to know why there are so many things hidden. I want to know what their purpose is. I want to know if it is for our security. As far as intentions go that is it. I want to know why I'm living blindly. I want answers. Is it Central Finance? Is it The Twelve? Is it something else? I feel like I don't even know anything anymore. Everything I knew has been replaced by questions. Answers. That's what I want. Answers." His statement was more rant than summation and the man let him finish before he spoke again.
"I can show you answers. It'll be hard to understand at first but I'll show you if I can trust you. What if I were to tell you that your mother is influentual in the scheme of things? Or that your father was? What if I told you that you there was another whole world different from everything you knew", Donavon interupted "Ya think", the man continued "what if I told you all that? Would you still be so anxious to follow through?"
Donavon broke down what he had just heard. "What do you mean about my mother? or my father? and what world? Yes, I want to know. I need to know." He spoke urgently. 
The man offered up one more bit of dialogue. "Your mother is an enemy to everything I can show you. She is an enemy to freedoms. She invents, implements, and monitors how that world works. How it controls the people. Your father didn't like it. He had to get away from it. You're mother stands firm in the belief that the way of the CFS is the best way. She is wrong. They are wrong. I need you to understand that this is a dangerous Quest you're on and that people are dying on both sides to protect their interests. It may come to a point where you may have to silenced. One last time, Do you want to know the answers?"
Donavon did not hesitate his answer. "Yes."
"Then follow me and be prepared to have your thoughts and way of life changed forever." 
<br>
They walked in silence for a few minutes before Donavon asked "What do I call you? If you're going to change my whole world shouldn't we at least be on a first name basis?" 
"You can call me Glen." 
Silence again. They walked up to the gate of a large warehouse lot. Glen pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the gate. Once inside he relocked it. They walked along the side of a large warehouse and then Glen just stopped next to the wall. He pulled out the key again, put it against the wall and then walked through. Donavon stared, dumbstruck. He pulled the lens out of his pocket. Nothing. It was still just a wall. Glen came back through. 
"That won't work here. We've taken the technology and recoded it. Kind of a 'two can play that game' thing. Try these." Glen handed Donavon the glasses he had earlier at the park. Donavon put them on. Doors and windows and even vehicles appeared. Great, thought Donavon, more damn lies. 
"Come on."
Donavon followed Glen through the door.
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<center>![JAPH2.gif](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYZ6frCme2jBH5xp1JvBQuYuGFd2TJzeFfwcUzrYBYQUC/JAPH2.gif)</center>
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