Friends in Short Supply [Edelo, Natsumi]

Natsumi went really quiet when Edelo didn't answer. Fine. She just won't say anything now! She followed the man to the computer lab and sat down at the computer. She read what was on the screen and followed directions to get herself logged in. She was a "hunt and peck" typer, having to look from the screen to the keyboard for everything. It was a slow and drawn out process, and any advice Edelo gave would be followed, but not quickly. She had a hard time being able to find what she needed on the screen, and anything that wasn't straight forward stumped her. Finally, they made it to the search engine and she pecked in "Duvalier Group."

When different articles hit the screen, including the main site, Natsumi proved to be an impressively fast reader. She was horrible with computers, but a wiz with words. She ended up finding an article on Vastime and how the Duvalier responded. The public seemed to have a positive view of the company she hated. The next article talked more positivity, in how they helped fund different projects, build different things, and whatever other crap the Duvalier did for the public. As she read on, Natsumi's fist tightened and she leaned closer to the screen. She scrolled and scrolled, trying to find any piece of information, until finally "Claudia Duvalier."

"She's the owner..." Natsumi muttered, staring at this woman's picture. "I don't get it... She looks nice, and all this stuff says... Maybe she doesn't know? Not everyone knows, so..." Natsumi stopped talking and slid out of her chair. Saddened, confused, and frustrated, she hugged herself tightly, wrapping the dirty jacket around her. "It doesn't make any sense..." Natsumi eyed a sign that said "quiet in the library." At a quickened pace, she left the computer area and hurried toward the front door, barely whispering, "I ain't gettin' it. Somethin' ain't right."

Natsumi struggled under Edelo's grip the entire way out of the library. Though it would be more stressful for him, to any onlookers, it would be a teenager, likely his daughter, being walked out of the library for being in trouble or something. She kept trying to pull her shoulder away and walk faster, but he kept up with her. Once they were out of the library, he started talking again. In fact, he finally said more than like... two sentences to her since they had arrived at the library.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no... You listen here now. You listen to me," Natsumi suddenly turned back to him and pointed at his chest and then at herself. "I'm not making things up. You and everyone else are fools to believe anything good about them. It's a... a... what is that word..." She snapped her fingers a couple times, trying to think of the right phrasing. "It's fake... It's a front. Yeah, a front! The last fourteen years of my life are not something I dreamt up. It was real. It was my life."

Something about the way Natsumi was talking probably made it clear that she misunderstood something he said or assumed his actions and words were proof he did not believe her. Either way, there was a miscommunication going on here. She just seemed upset, almost on the verge of tears brought on by frustration.

"I am called Natsumi," she continued, her voice cracking from being upset. "I don't even know if that's real because it's what the scientists called me. Asakura is what I chose as my last name because it was on the top of some list I saw of doctors at one of the labs, and I could read it. So, hello, Edelo of the Van-dam-rakes. I'm me."