ZERO (Complete)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

It was midday and Dane went downtown with Train and Cassie to eat. Stopping at a Vietnamese pho restaurant, the three were seated at a table near the back of the restaurant.

"I'm going to use the restroom," Cassie said.

Once she was gone, Dane removed his phone and messaged Mr. Camo.

"Bro, I'm telling you should put a password on that thing. It'd be terrible if it were to fall into the wrong hands."

"All good, we're speaking in code. See, I said, 'We arrived at the pizza parlour, we're looking at the menu to see what toppings are available. I'll let you know if they have the kind that everybody likes'."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"See, that's the point."

"How do you expect Mr. Camo to know what you're talking about?" Train asked.

"I'm not sure, we're about to find out."

"That's not how codes work. You both need the key to unlock the code."

"Mr. Camo just responded, he said, "Let me know what you decide to order. See, he's a hacker, he gets the gist of what I'm saying."

"Alright, but we may want communicate more complex information and that pizza code may not be able to convey all the information effectively."

"You guys know what you want?" Cassie asked, returning from the restroom.

"I think so," Dane said. "I'm going to get the vegetarian pho with a vegetarian spring roll. I wonder if I can get it with avocado."

"Vietnamese places usually don't have avocados," Train said.

"Some do. You just have to ask for it."

"Does she have a name for the kid yet?" Cassie asked.

"I don't know. Her name is Athena, which is Greek, so I think she wants some kind of Greek name to honour her heritage."

"Like Stephanos?" Train said. "Or Danopolous? What kind of name is Dane anyway? What is that, Dutch?"

"The Great Dane dog breed is German," Cassie said.

"Were you named after a dog?" Train said, laughing.

"You of all people shouldn't be talking about people's names, huh?" Dane snapped back. "Were you named after... a train?"

"Good one. That was one of your best ones."

The soups arrived, which seemed to silence everyone for a few minutes. Dane slurped up the soup broth with one hand while stuffing his mouth with a spring roll with the next.

"Hungry?" Cassie commented.

"I haven't eaten good food in a while... besides that lovely lasagna you made."

After finishing their meals, the trio left the restaurant and headed toward the nearest subway station, which was on the next block. There was one more stop that Train insisted on while they were in the city. In fact, it was one of the main reasons he had come on this trip.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Dane asked.

"This is something I have to do."

"Going to a neighbourhood is one thing, but a school? That has a whole other set of problems."

"I'm the boy's father. Trust me, it'll be fine."

The three exited the station and walked up to the school grounds where Train's son attended. There wasn't really much of a plan, Train just wanted to see his son and let him know that he loved him and that he was alright. A boy growing up without his father was hard enough, and Train didn't want to exacerbate the situation by having his son think he had abandoned him.