Chapter Five Page Two, Bren and Frank, Otto's Pizza Place or The Pizzaria

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Frank parked. They were on the upper end of Downtown. Mary, Dani, Neil, and David weren’t even out on their respective adventures yet. There were plenty of other people about, though. Lots of them were inside of the pizza place. It was a place that was called Otto’s by a lot of people, but they didn’t know why. The sign out front just read Pizzaria.

            Frank and Bren found a table and sat down, they both ordered Coke’s and a medium pizza with pepperoni, and then Frank asked her what her favorite movies were.

            “I really liked that one Batman movie,” Bren said, “The one that just came out.”

            “Yeah,” Frank said. He’d seen it. He nodded to show his agreement that it was a good film.

            Bren sipped her Coke.

            “Were you into Batman comics and stuff when you were a kid?” Frank asked.

            “Yeah a little,” Bren said, “Mostly because my older brother was.”

            “You have an older brother?” Frank asked.

            “Yeah,” Bren said, “His name is Peter. He’s in the military.”

            “What branch?”

            “Army,” she said, “Didn’t you say your brother was in the navy?”

            “Yeah,” Frank said. He disguised his surprise that she’d remembered that. It had been an offhand comment when he’d made it. He took it as a sign that she was paying very close attention to him. This made him more nervous. Bren could see his face redden a bit.

            It was kind of off from the truth; Bren sometimes noticed things at random that other people missed. She didn’t have any particular ability to choose which small facts she learned. Just every now and then, she’d pick up on a small fact and would remember it for years. “How’s that working out for him?” She asked.

            “He likes it,” Frank said, “He’s a mechanic. What’s your brother do?”

            “Foot soldier kind of thing,” Bren said, “Shoots people I guess.”

            Frank chuckled nervously.

            “Sorry, I mean he’s an infantryman.”

            “Yeah,” Frank said, “I guess that’s what their job is. At the, uh, real, uh basic level.”

            “Not really,” Bren said, “He helps build housing for people who’ve lost their homes. It was a bad joke. I don’t know why I made it.”

            Frank didn’t know that Bren had done that on purpose. “So do you know anything else cool about stuff around here? Like, you mentioned the Red Keys. Uh, what about other stuff like that?”

            “Falling Rocks is the only known place where the four idol societies all have centers in the same place.”

            Frank looked thoughtful for a second, and said, “Are the Red Keys one of them?”

            “No,” Bren said, “The Red Keys all died out in the 1800’s, or, vanished, I guess I should say.

            “Creepy,” Frank said.

            “Yeah, they got replaced by the Scanners.”

            “Why are they called Scanners?”

            Bren shrugged.

            “Ha,” Frank said, “What are the other three?”

            “I’m not sure if I can tell you,” Bren said, “They’re supposed to be secrets. I really shouldn’t have mentioned the Scanners like that. Most people ‘round here know them as the Graveyard Club.”


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