"If Pochi is no longer in charge of Quinn's affairs, then someone else will need to take care of these things..." Zach said mid-sentence and glanced up at the second floor. Vertex 23S. The fastest update came with a phone call. Zach couldn't be disturbed at the moment, so Louise went to answer it, but now it seems that Louise is ready to come down and let Zach listen.
Zack walked toward the stairwell away from the person he was speaking to and finished his words, "The meaning that Quinn represents also needs to be borne by others. Why don't you each take what you need?"
Riley and Fiona exchanged looks. Zach didn't hear their replies and had already walked up the stairs and met Louise coming down.
"It's Ozzie Kozier," Louise informed the caller.
"I heard it." Zach responded simply. In fact, Zach doesn't want to have anything to do with Oz in any sense, because, ah, he said goodbye, so disconnected, some people will misunderstand him~
"Well..." Louise looked at Zach looking up with a strange expression on his face, "If there are two 'wives' outside..." Louise's title revealed her opinion of the two outside, "If they really want us. What should I do if someone takes it home?”
It's really ironic that Louise is worrying about other people's moral issues. Oh, Louise is so good, we don’t mock her, we mock the two outside.
Zach was also very speechless about this topic and curled his lips, "Old Hank's people, Old Hank's decision. Let them ask Old Hank for it."
"Oh~" Louise went down with peace of mind.
Entering the office, Zach picked up the phone and listened to the background sound on the receiver first. Ozkozier made the call in a very quiet environment and was still somewhat conscious, "You shouldn't have contacted me. It will Lutresembula doubts.”
"I know." Oz sounded calm, "But no matter what, he already knows how restless I am, so it doesn't matter."
Zach pursed his lips and said that Hamilton must have told Lutrecen that Oz went to Grande to say goodbye. Even if Hamilton could not know about Zach's communication with Oz using his mind, Lut The ability to read people's minds will certainly not be ignored.
Then, "Where are you?" Zach guessed there was a reason for Oz's call.
"Central." Oz paused, "If it were somewhere else, I don't think I need to tell you the specific city. But, this should be a city that you have a lot of emotions about."
Zach just thought it was Oz making a joke, so he responded with a joke, "With Zagar, you should understand that I have a lot of feelings for all places in the middle. I am just a butterfly, I fly everywhere ." It's talking about the various 'wonderful things' Toledo has accomplished in the Central Region and in the Secret Alliance. Joking, showing off and laughing at yourself. Zach's words are impeccable.
There was silence on the other side of the receiver for a moment, and then, "I'm in Moriarty Manor. Your former home, Zach."
Zach was quiet for a while and said, "Oh." Then, with a mocking tone, "It's so quiet over there. I thought it had become a tourist attraction and the management was very poor. Haha."
"No. On the contrary, this place is very popular with tourists. Especially after the manager here started telling a story outside of history, about the true origin of the abolition of slavery, the greatest process in human history, many people became attracted to it. Come visit." Oz paused again deliberately, "We are just closed for a rest today. The manager here is very tolerant and allowed me to come in and take a look."
Zach thought of the phone call that ended inexplicably. Remember, I'm looking for Mr. Toledo.
"Oh." Zach meant to say something interesting, but he had no idea and could only respond.
Oz's voice continued, "You know why I stopped in the middle."
Of course, it wasn't Zach who facilitated it, "James." Zach adjusted his mood.
"Well. The situation with Dale and James is very..." Oz was also at a loss for words, "Special. I can feel why Wes needs help."
"You can't solve it?" Zach was a little confused. The plan is to use Dale's situation in the middle to intercept Oz, who is going to the west, and give him a reason to stay in the middle.
We may have seen that Zach, after Wes's call, made Wes think that this was a chance for Oz to get close to General Lance and facilitated the result. But don’t forget that on the first day Zach returned to Barton, Louise told Zach the information about the phantom feedback from tracking Dale and James. Zach gave this in his mind when Oz came to say goodbye. Information, oh, a guy as smart as Oz would let it go
Even if Wes hadn't come to Zach for help, he himself would have found a reason to stop in the middle and step in to rescue the General's son. After that, we can compare it to the extreme situation that happened outside Barton Hospital and give Oz a reason not to return to the West at all. Of course, we won’t expand on this aspect here, but... When our perspective only stops at a small city, Patton, we should realize that this is just a sampling, and we should zoom in~
Anyway, without worrying about Oz's future actions, let's focus on the reason for Oz's call.
Zach thinks that the other party is just a human being, and Dell is just a contract professional no matter how 'smart' he is. If Wes and the general's men still have concerns about James' safety, Oz, the mind-reader, has no scruples at all. Any human being within his 'reading' range is okay for him. It’s a casual book, isn’t it? It should be easy to rescue James.
You can feel the discomfort on the other side of the receiver after being questioned, but Oz seems to have to admit that this job is more complicated than anyone expected, "It's not that I can't save James, it's that James himself wants to Don’t want to be rescued.”
"I..." Usually, Zach looks straight ahead when talking on the phone, and the person simulating the conversation is opposite him. Therefore, we can often see Zach holding the receiver and showing various actions and emotions, which can be regarded as Zach's personal 'compensation' behavior for the situation of not being able to see the communication partner on the phone. At this time, Zach's direct gaze began to drift, unsure of the focus on the chaos in the office, "I don't know what you are talking about." It was really not easy for Zach to admit this kind of thing.
"Believe me, I was the same at first. I didn't understand. But now." Oz probably shook his head, and there was a noise of the topic being rubbed against his skin, "I understand. James doesn't want to be rescued because he is hopeless. Obsession with medicine.”
"Please. Explain." Zach said please.
"First of all, James doesn't want us to hurt Dale. Humph." Oz's tone sounded sarcastic, "Wes told me a professional term to describe the psychology of the victim protecting the perpetrator. You Do you want to know what this kind of mentality is called?"
Stockholm Syndrome…
Tsk. really? Is James mentally fragile to this extent? impossible. We all know why James doesn't want to be saved
"Don't care." Zach was very direct, and then made the most correct guess based on Zach's knowledge of James, "Does James think Dell is... a victim?" To be more specific, " Victims of alien races?”
"Ha." Oz smiled, "I don't know if James is lucky or unlucky to meet you. You know him too well."
Zach really wanted to accept the compliment, but he just couldn't be happy. He had no choice but to retract his wandering gaze and fix it in a straight direction, "Tsk. I should have noticed it earlier." Zach... is he blaming himself? "Dale was very concerned about James' mental state on the way to the west. He also discussed with me the reasons why James had such contradictory behavior patterns towards foreign races. I just thought that Dale was very concerned about James's mental state when he encountered a situation that he did not understand. Stress reaction." Zach frowned. He recalled his continuous disappointment with Dell. Oh, it turned out that under that disappointment, it was Dell who was behind the scenes. "I should realize that Dell's kidnapping of James was not just It was James who was the political 'seed' for Barton to prepare for the Sabbat, because he understood James' psychology thoroughly."
There was a relaxed exhale from the receiver, and then, "I'm really going to miss talking to you." An unexpected digression, "Even when we're on the phone, our communication with you is so effective, like each other." Reading minds saved me countless explanations.”
Having missed a compliment, Zach didn't miss this one, "Thank you." But his mood didn't get better, "Have you contacted Dell?"
"I have been in contact." The answer was affirmative, "So I can say that your judgment is completely correct. Dell has completely controlled James. Physically and psychologically. They are now like two locks, locked together. .Even though I saw these two locks very clearly, I couldn't unlock them."
"You just said it first. Then continue." Zach frowned, he wanted to understand everything that happened over there.
"James, then, doesn't want us, or Dale, to hurt any humans."
This was much smoother. Zach thought for a while and surmised the situation, "Dale is using James' psychology to continuously hold human beings hostage. He uses creating more victims to deepen James's concept that he is a victim." "
"Yes." Oz seemed to be enjoying the conversation. After all, the content he read from a person's mind usually did not appear in the conversation. The little helplessness of mind readers. But for Zach, this exchange was so comfortable, "Dell even used his brother, the manager of Moriarty Manor." A little 'insignificant' information, "a man with glasses."
"Cold-blooded." Zach commented. It was at this time that Zach realized one thing. He had underestimated Dale. Zach is too comfortable (or accustomed) to watching a human being struggling in a worldview that he does not understand, and ignores the nature of this human being. true colors? This is Dell's true face. The killer who pushed Susan out of the window and then calmly entered Grande to try to find out where Daisy was. Dale doesn't act easily, does he? He observes, he judges, and then he acts.
"It can't be said that he is completely cold-blooded. His brother is still alive." Oz's tone began to calm down, "The phantom you entrusted has tried to save James several times along the way. Hmm, can you imagine the result? .”
Zach frowned, "I hope you have at least some idea of how to solve this situation."
"I don't have one, that's why I called." Oz paused, "Sometimes I'm so used to 'reading' people's thoughts to learn about their actions, and I forget that sometimes actions can In turn, it affects thinking. And you, this is what I know, you are a master at making people act against their thinking and manipulating people."
Wow, Oz is really gushing with praise.
"Thank you." Zach accepted the compliment directly, "And I guess that's why you were on the phone with me at Moriarty Manor?"
"Yes. I want to use this younger brother who was let go by Dale once to unlock the two locks that are held together. I need your advice."
"Say it." Zach said simply. It is necessary to save James. reason? Oh, Anthony's political template needs to be copied by someone to take over, so that this template can have meaning. James' life or death, well, we don't care. Whether Anthony can live peacefully under the control of the Sabbat for the next four years, we care, because he is Zach's true friend. When Zach leaves, let's leave something beautiful to this world.
"A 'good Samaritan' donated a lot of non-historical books to this brother with glasses." Oz joked with this point, "I just told you that he started telling tourists a story that is not in history, right?"
Zach nodded and said simply, "I sent it. On a whim."
"I guess the reason is what Dale said to you at the Sabbat." Mind reading is really convenient sometimes. If Zach's understanding of Dale is getting along, it is created by doing things together. For Oz, Maybe it was just a meeting, "Dale's father has been telling the story since they were children of a wealthy family that did not exist in any literature and was exterminated at the beginning of the slave movement."
"Yes." Zach frowned, "He said he didn't believe the story without any proof, and his brother was the opposite."
"Your temporary sentimentality led you to send proof of the existence of 'Toledo' to your brother who insisted on believing that there was no story. It is you, the only Toledo, who pays the last tribute to the human bloodline that once served you. Explain."
Zach pursed his lips and said, "Change the word." He said it was sentimental. Zach is self-aware, which is one of his few flaws. In the past, it was Benjamin who helped him get rid of these boring emotions.
"It can't be changed." Oz was also willful. "This is the fairest word I can think of. Everything else is derogatory to vampires."
Zach waved his hand in the air, "You continue."
"This brother with glasses is very smart. He has already identified 'Toledo' from the thirteen immortal surnames in those books. He already knows your existence, Zach. I don't need to tell you this."
"No, if I guess correctly, he called me." This led to Zach's question, "How did he know about Grande?"
"After his brother left his house, he didn't call the police or do anything stupid, he called a private investigator and looked into the name 'Dale Walker.' I said, this is a smart guy."
Zach didn't know what emotion to use, "'Dale Walker' is still on Grande's employee roster." But he couldn't say enough, after all, the call was hung up hastily, "I don't think he knows for sure. My identity.”
"But he confirmed that in the life trajectory left by his brother, Dale, he met a Toledo. He also confirmed that this was related to his brother suddenly kidnapping a person and appearing at his house. Dale stayed at his house. At that time, he revealed that he had read those books and took one away."
"This, you can say, is sentimental." Zach sensitively seized this opportunity, "Dale's temporary sentimentality towards his family exposed information that he did not need to expose."
"His only weakness. Zach." Oz reminded Zach, "Now both brothers know that the manor where they grew up belongs to a family that is immortal but was destroyed. The two brothers insist on completely opposite The belief. One, here, telling the story of Toledo to all tourists. The other, tying up James and escaping in this country. I am thinking, use this third lock to break open the two locks together. lock. What do you think?"
Zach is thinking, thinking, thinking…
"Do it. Use all the information available."
"receive."