Vladimir Todorov - Archipelago N.Y. - Flynn

“Let’s see what you’re up to now, Perry boy!” Leo Van Zandt lowered his binoculars, rubbed his bloodshot eyes and glued them back to the viewfinder.

He had spent the last few days in his apartment, at the top of his father’s building, tracking every move Madison and Flynn Perry made. Leo had sworn to himself he would catch the cocky son-of-a-bitch doing something illegal… and this time, Leo wasn’t going to let Flynn get away… Leo couldn’t wait for that moment when he would deliver the scum boy to his father! Yes, he was going to prove to the great Marcus Van Zandt that he had been right all along… That he was capable of taking matters into his own hands!

He wasn’t alone in his mission. He and Madison had cooked up the plan together. In fact, she was the one who had suggested going back on Flynn Perry’s raft as bait. A decoy that would lead Flynn into a trap! And she was the one who had suggested they go after Duncan Roth, too… Madison had been so perceptive. She had picked up on Leo’s resentment toward Duncan right away… What if she could find some dirt on the Rottweiler himself? Working for Duncan she would be Leo’s eyes and ears on the ground… According to Madison, there were rumors circulating on the Lower Side about the man… People were saying that he was stealing from the scavenged supplies… that he allegedly had a small network of buddies who did all the dirty work for him… Madison would let him know if Duncan was lining his own pockets through his ring of Black Market profiteers.

Madison had also convinced Leo to stay away from her until the pairing… to keep his distance and leave everything in her hands. And so far, she was doing her job really well. No one suspected their little game…. But Leo had some reservations… Madison was now in close contact with the Perry boy… She had been very concerned about Flynn’s fate in the Trials… Perhaps a little bit too concerned, and Leo had noted that… Of course, Madison had reassured him, in more ways than one, that there was nothing to worry about… In fact, Leo had witnessed something the day before which had put his mind at rest. As usual, he had been spying on the pair and seen Madison throw punches at the Perry boy… Unfortunately, at that precise moment, Leo’s father had stormed into his apartment, wanting to discuss some trivial matters concerning the Departure Ceremony… and Leo had put away his binoculars… Later, when he found Madison and Perry, they were sitting far apart from each other, the Seeker heading back towards the Archipelago.

Leo chuckled at the memory of Madison hitting Flynn over the head… He zoomed in on them and adjusted his focus. There they were! He recognized their raft right away. Madison was standing on the platform… His eyes lingered over her tall, lean body until she bent down and disappeared from his viewfinder. Leo shifted his binoculars, and there she was again… Crouching at the edge of the raft, talking to Flynn Perry.

“C’mon Perry boy, do something stupid! Really, really stupid!” Leo muttered through his teeth. It looked like Flynn was stringing something together, constructed out of sheets of plastic and floating in the water next to him. Something that looked like a diving bell… Yes, Leo was sure it was a bell… Madison was handing Flynn some kind of a tool now. She got up again, walked away, and came back carrying a big rock. The weight for the bell… So far, nothing out of the ordinary, thought Leo. The Free Scavengers were obviously doing their drills… Leo needed more.

“And where exactly are you?” he muttered and shifted his binoculars away from the raft, slowly scanning the area around it. He stopped at a crooked sign with the words “TOXIC WASTE!” written on it with big letters. Right next to the sign, hung another one, saying “DO NOT ENTER!” The signs were old and rusty, the letters faded. Obviously, no one had been at this site for years.

“What is that place?” Leo pulled back a bit, revealing four gigantic smokestacks sticking out of the water, surrounded by a makeshift chain-link fence. He readjusted his zoom and pulled back farther. Flynn’s raft appeared to be all the way across the Hudson Bay.

“Aha! I know where you are!” Leo couldn’t contain his excitement and lowered his binoculars. The Power Plant… the submerged and completely off-limits nuclear power station! What were these two doing there? Had they gone on their own, or had Duncan Roth sent them? The man’s name made Leo’s face turn red with anger and hatred… That bastard never wasted an opportunity to humiliate him… especially in front of his father. But it seemed impossible for Leo to weaken Duncan’s hold over his dad. Until now that is, he thought… Leo prided himself on smelling trouble from a mile away… and he was certain something was up…

Leo lifted up his binoculars and looked through the lenses again. It took him a second to find the raft. Perry was gone, along with the diving bell. Madison was standing alone on the deck, a pigeon perched on her shoulder. A moment later, Perry’s head reappeared in the water. He heaved himself back on the raft, walked over to Madison and put his hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t touch my girl, you prick!” cried Leo, flinched and lost his focus on them. When he found them again, they seemed to be arguing. Madison looked angry and was waving her hands. She appeared to be shouting at the Perry boy. “That’s more like it,” Leo muttered to himself and stepped away from the window. His mind was made up now. Something was going on at the Power Plant… He had to get a closer look at this place. Sneak in, wait and when the divers were gone, he would check out the site. Leo quickly gathered his stuff and left the apartment.

“Don’t be silly, Flynn!” Madison was seriously annoyed now. “We’ve done what we were asked to do! It’s time to get out.”

“Just one quick look, alright! I need to see what’s down there.”

Flynn stood on his raft in front of Madison, dripping water all over the deck. He had just dragged the last diving bell underwater and tied it to the bottom of what was a semi-submerged chain link fence, doing exactly what Duncan had asked. The job was done. They could go home now. But something was bugging him… They had been bringing stuff here two days in a row, dumping it and going back for more… Where was it all going? Simply sitting at the bottom of the ocean? Flynn was struggling to make sense of it… Why would Duncan bring their scavenged supplies to this abandoned old place? There had to be logic behind that. Otherwise, it was just plain crazy!

While attaching the last diving bell, Flynn had taken a good look down below. He had seen the smokestack disappear into the darkness, and felt the need to dive deeper and find out more about the site! Now he was itching to go, but Madison was not having any of it.

“It says TOXIC, in case you can’t read!” she shouted, pointing at the rusty sign on the fence. “You want to get yourself poisoned? Seen anyone else diving around here…”

“Madison!”

“Besides, if Duncan finds out… we’re done! It’s over…”

“Madison!” Flynn placed his hands on her shoulders, to steady her and stop her waving her hands in his face. “I’ve been in the water a few times already! Nothing’s wrong with it. If there was… I’d be ill by now, right?”