The Seeker's Game

The String

My fingertips brushed the cold smooth metal of the occupied cryro tanks. I had checked every truck, and only this one made me stop. It was not unusual for tanks leaving earth to not be counted, only those arriving. It was their planet of origin that would be counting these arrivals. Still, when I looked at the stacks of tanks here I felt my eyes narrow.
'How many did you say are supposed to be in this truck?' I asked the guide again.
'One hundred and forty, give or take. There have been a few souls who have requested to stay despite filling out a form to leave, yet the files have not transferred over.'
I pursed my lips, eyes scanning the stacks and counting in rough estimates as I listened to my guide.
'We have yet to fill out the deficit of roles in the logistics departments.'
'So it would seem.'
One hundred and seventy.
It was too early to make known my suspicions, but I didn't want to let this opportunity pass me by.
'I will be sending out some Seekers from my department to deliver some extra occupied cryro tanks, but because of our limited resources and time constraints we have not the time to properly fill out the papers. Therefore I will have to fill them out after, so would you please be able to inform me when you notice new additions to trucks from quadrant Delta?'
Roe looked at me quizzically, but the guide wasn't looking at him.
The guide nodded at me in complete trust and understanding. 'Certainly Seeker, I will make sure of this personally to ensure there is no angst.'
'You have my thanks.'
Issue resolved. Only time would prove if my suspicious were correct.
I didn't waste anymore time on other quadrants, I knew there wouldn't be any discrepancies when it came to closer quadrants. After I went through my procedural farewells of all the souls who helped me, I then left and headed straight for my motorbike.
Roe came up to me as I was putting on my helmet.
'Seeker I do not under why there was a conflict of truth in your speech earlier.'
'What conflict of truth are you speaking about?'
'We do not have any occupied cryro tanks in our stock, so why would we be delivering them?'
'Well.' I clipped the buckle under my chin. 'You shall soon see. If my theory is correct, we should have a but a string that will lead us to this resistance.'
He remained silent while I gunned my engine to life.
After a moment of thought, he nodded ascent. 'See you soon, Seeker.'
'And you too, Seeker.'
I tore out of the car park in an effort to get on the road as quick as possible. I much preferred a bike over a car any day. The loud roar of the engine left me no room to think. It was sometimes the only respite my mind got all day.
My home facility was not too far away, only about an estimated hour for most souls. It took me thirty minutes.
I had been pulled over more than a few times, but whenever I flashed the other Seekers my ID they seemed to pale slightly. I always managed a tight-lipped smile, apologising profusely saying that the chase for the human resistance left me with little time. Which was true. It worked every time.
The laid back nature of most Seekers got on my nerve, especially since souls were being successfully removed from their hosts. That meant the humans wouldn't die off over time like most souls mistakenly presumed, it meant their numbers would increase over time.
Something had to be done.
And judging from how all the other Seekers were acting, it was up to me to stop it.
The wind whipped at my leather jacket as I sped along the highway, overtaking other cars as I went. I had managed to register a number plate onto my bike which other Seekers could scan as I went by. My ID would pop up on their system, immediately granting me clearance for speeding. The ingenious idea hadn't occurred to me until a few weeks ago. Now I no longer had to worry about being pulled over every time I travelled from place to place.
At my home facility, I entered my room with a sigh. I hung up my jacket and helmet and collapsed onto my bed without even changing my clothes. Every day I seemed to grow more aggravated with the lack of evidence to support my claims. These humans were not stupid.
But today had been different. I had found my string. All I needed to do was follow it.
So far it was not enough to support my claim, but it was enough for me.
If I wasn't so meticulous there was no way for me to have earned the reputation that preceded me on the other planets.
Still, I felt a smirk beginning to arise. The humans wouldn't know what hit them. They would be snuffed out before the spark of their resistance could spread.
That night, I slept soundly.