Tubarão Adormecido/A New World

July 5th, 1998.

A rundown hotel in the middle of nowhere. Creaking stairs and molding books, nails sticking from the floorboards leading to the basement and dust covering shelves head to toe. Two maids and one person sitting idly at the counter of the hotel.

Shelves for keys, locked behind small cupboards. The man at the counter quaintly reading his book, flipping each page, some stained in oil.

One of the maids sitting idly on one of the old ripped up couches with a rat in her hands, slowly petting it with a bored expression melted on her face. The other made robotically cleaning what she could by herself, not even breaking a sweat in the hundred-degree weather.

The man at the counter sniffs to find a warm smell passing his nostrils.

"I hope that food is for us." He comments, flipping another page within his book.

"If you want it, buy it." The maid on the couch responds.

"We should be getting the food for free, we work here after all."

The maid who is cleaning spins around to look over to the man at the counter. "The cooks have no obligation to participate in cooking lunches for the staff of the 'Tubarão Adormecido Hotel' which was clearly stated by the head chef the exact day we were all employed so I would like to insist you to not complain anymore if you know of these rules."

"So the head chef creates the rules?"

"No, everyone who is the 'head' of anything within the hotel creates the rules for their own specific occupation."

"That doesn't make too much sense to me."

"Then why don't you ask that maso-bitch to cook you something?" The maid on the couch joins back in, throwing the rat in the air and catching it.

"Sorry, I'm not a sadist."

"Still kinda hot... kinda."

"Can't say I agree."

"Doesn't it get your rocks off even a bit? Like the face she ma-"

The man at the counter cuts her off, "Can we stop having this conversation please?"

"You know she prefers your bite the most." The maid on the couch starts chuckling while the man at the counter grits his teeth in embarrassment.

"What about the other cook?"

"She'll just kick your ass if you ask for food."

He leans back in his chair and sighs. "Fuck... why do I work here?"

"Hey! Alina, got anything else to say?"

"I don't need to say anything else, it is not necessary to keep this conversation going any longer if there is no conversation to be had at any point after you ha-"

"Okay, we get it!" The man at the counter interrupts Alina.

The front doors of the hotel open and two people enter. A tall man clad in purple wearing a peculiar mask matching the colors to his suit and a smaller man clad in black with a half-shaven head and cat-like eyes with a cold sapphire glare inspecting the hotel's lobby.

They move towards the counter and the man in purple drops a stack of money on top of it.

"We'll be staying for a while, we don't know how long so we'll pay you in advance, is that fine?" The man in purple speaks, moving his velvet gloves into his pockets.

The man at the counter counts the money swiftly and puts it into a register. "May I have your names?"

"My name is Nixon Driver..." Nixon motions to the man in black beside him. "And this is Seth Alpheus Hunt."

Seth gives a light bow to the man. "Alright... I'll be registering your names now and you will get your room number and key in just a few moments." The man swivels his chair to the other side of the counter and writes their names into one of the available rooms. The man looks back at them. "Just a quick question before I continue, you'll be sharing a room yes?"

Nixon nods slowly, Seth glances at the maids excitedly.

[Room 103]: Nixon Driver and Seth Alpheus Hunt.

The man spins around in his chair to the cupboards behind him and takes out the key for the room. "There are others in the hotel around you, so try and not disturb your neighbors okay?" The man says handing the key to Nixon.

"Damn he's tall..." The maid on the couch comments, hiding the rat behind her back.

Nixon nods at the man, leaving the counter to go into their room, Seth follows behind him giving a wink to Alina as they leave. Alina sighs and continues on with her work.

"Looks like that small guy has his eyes on Alina." The maid on the couch comments, leaning over the back of the couch she is sitting on.

"Everyone who comes here has their eyes on her, right Alina?"

Alina turns around to look at the man behind the counter again. "I don't understand why though... do you know?"

"Yeah, because you're hot."

"I don't feel particularly hot, though admittedly the weather has been quite scorching lately."

"No, I mean you're attractive. Like men wi- you know what, nevermind." He goes back to reading as Alina is left to ponder.

***

A crooked room, curtains blocking the sun from coming in coloring it into a greyish orange. Seth laying down in a dusty bed, his arms and legs sprawled across it like a starfish, yawning loudly like he's trying to get Nixon's attention.

Seth yawns again, Nixon continues to ignore him.

"Nix..."

"What?"

"So what do we do now?"

"Do what you want. Walk around, flirt with the staff or something, greet the other tenants, I don't very much care what you do just as long as you don't cause any excess trouble for us. We're already in deep shit anyway, don't need you making it worse."

"I don't make it worse."

"Oh... yes you do." Nixon spins around with sour expression, resting his hand on his mask sitting upon a small dresser. "Remember when I first met you?"

"Not recent enough, why would I do something troublesome now?"

"When we got to the border of Mexico, the first thing you did was provoke a gang of Mexicans because you were bored."

"No! Lies! It was because they were harassing a beautiful chocolate brown Latino girl and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity that was set out in front of me."

"You were bored."

"No, I was righteous."

"You were after her body from the start, how is that righteous?"

"How would you know?"

"Not like her screaming 'Si Papi' in the back of a gas station gave anything away huh?'

"Nothing like doubling down!" Seth jumps up into a seating position on the bed. "I was massaging her!" He points aggressively at Nixon.

"Bullshit, how do you massage someone in a bathroom for two hours. Her screaming of pleasure got so loud that we were told to never come back. Not to mention that it was the gas station owner's daughter."

Seth pauses for a moment to think. "You would do the same in my position if you were given the opportunity."

Nixon lets out a long sigh and turns to Seth, "Just don't cause any trouble. Only attack someone if you're defending yourself and never overdo it. We don't have enough medical supplies to service any of the 'normal' wounds you get often."

"I understand."

"Okay... I'm going to the kitchen to get some food, I'll see if they have your favorites there and come back."

"Right! Thanks!"

Nixon leaves his mask behind as he walks out the door, Seth watches quietly.

***

[Room 101]: Seth went to check if there was anyone there but he was met with deafening silence after knocking.

Seth tried asking around to see if anyone actually lived in Room 101 but he was either ignored or told that "Nobody is there if they tell us nobody is there." Seth figured that they had a privacy policy.

[Room 102]: Stumbling to the door half-naked, drunkenly propping herself on the half-open door with one arm and a bottle of whiskey in her other hand. A beautiful tan Brazilian woman with long wavy locks of black hair going down to her breast. Her eyes look Seth up and down and she gives a coy smile.

"My name is Seth Alpheus Hunt, I'm new to this hotel. I thought that it'd be nice to know the other tenants here since everything seems so... closely knit together if you will?"

"Yeah... we all know each other here. Except for 101. Nobody uses that place... I think." She pauses. "You're pretty cute."

"Sorry, I'll be taking that as the simple flattery of a drunk woman - I prefer drinking until drunk with someone, not drinking with somebody who already is."

"I see, I see... You're the manipulative type?"

Seth chuckles, hands in his pockets. "I told you my name, what's yours?"

"Eremita, call me Eremita. I prefer my nickname compared to my real name."

"Hermit huh?"

"You know Portuguese?"

"I know a lot of languages."

"Which ones?"

"Russian, English of course, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Portuguese." Seth gives a speculative expression and continues, "I also know a bit of Italian, but it's the weakest of the ones I know."

Eremita points to the left side of her forehead. "What's with the scar?"

Seth smiles, "Vietnam."

"The Vietnam war!?" Eremita gives a baffled expression.

"Yep."

"Is that why you know Vietnamese?"

"Yep."

"You look a bit too young to have been in the war, are you bullshitting me?"

"Nope."

***

[Room 104]: A man slightly taller than Seth opens the door with a solemn expression, his glasses barely hanging onto his face and greasy, long, tendrils of hair sticking to his forehead.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Seth Alpheus Hunt."

The man gives a blank stare, letting out a light sigh. "I'm Johan."

"Nice to meet you, Johan."

Johan awkwardly scratches his beard and clicks his tongue. "Are you gonna leave?"

***

[Room 105]: After knocking on the door, it cracks open. No response. Seth enters...