SECRET 410 Chapter 2 — The Visitor in the Slate-Grey Coat

Chapter 2 — Shadows in the Pizzeria

Night had settled over Val-d’Enbas like a heavy blanket, saturated with the sound of Christmas carols and the smell of mulled wine. The square still glittered with festive lights, but in the back room of the Town Hall Pizzeria, the atmosphere was icy with tension.

The star-whistle hummed softly in Naïma’s pocket. Every time she laid her hand on it, a strange calm fell over the room, as if the madness of the toppings sought to settle under its influence. Junon remained on alert, ears perked, nose twitching toward the now-sealed containers.

Martin, still pale, insisted he wasn’t crazy.
“I heard the olives screaming… I swear… like little soldiers… And something was speaking in a language that pulled at my mind.”

Naïma didn’t answer. Her thoughts circled endlessly: Abel, his suitcase, the compass, the new language, and that damn whistle she’d found here by chance. Nothing was ever by chance.

Across town, in the main office of the police station, Kermorvin was pacing. Abel sat facing him, calm as a stone in a rushing stream. The fingerprint machines stubbornly refused to capture anything from his fingers, as if his very skin refused to leave a mark.

“You do realize,” Kermorvin said, “that we need a legal identity to hold you here. And you… you’re just empty.”

Abel offered a faint smile, then his gaze drifted toward the fogged-up window. Outside, children ran past dressed as little hexagonal tokens. They were rehearsing for the Christmas marathon. Their costumes flickered with colored LEDs. Abel watched them as if he recognized them.

“The race has already begun,” he said softly.

“What race?”

“The one that will decide who holds the pen.”

Kermorvin frowned.
“The pen?”

But Abel didn’t elaborate.

Back at the pizzeria, Naïma had decided to question Louvel, the storyteller. The man was sitting on a stool, his hands covered in knotted veins, his white beard dripping with melted snowflakes. This time, no children sat before him—just Naïma and Junon, listening intently.

“You see, Captain,” said Louvel, “stories don’t come from us. We merely carry them. Like a flame in the snow. Sometimes, they start walking on their own.”

“I don’t need poetry—I need facts. The mice you… drew in the condensation, I saw them. Really. Not an illusion. They were going somewhere.”

Louvel smiled sadly.
“They’re searching for what they always search for: the ultimate cheese. In some stories, it’s hidden across time; in others, among the stars. Tonight, they smelled it here in Val-d’Enbas. And believe me, when the mice of the multiverse move, something very old is at stake.”

Naïma took a slow breath.
“What does that have to do with pizza toppings trying to escape?”

“Perhaps they, too, sensed the language. The new language. Words born before they exist. When you hear them, they seep in—they want to possess you. Your olives, your pineapples… they weren’t moving vegetables. They were prisoners trying to flee a voice.”

Junon growled low. The sound of footsteps echoed outside in the snow. The pizzeria door burst open. A police officer entered, out of breath.

“Captain! Come quick. We have a problem at the station. Abel’s disappeared.”

“What do you mean, disappeared?”

“He was sitting there. One minute. Then there was nothing. No opening, no trace. The camera caught… a blur.”

Louvel looked down, almost resigned.
“When you walk with a story, Captain, you don’t always use doors.”

Naïma clenched her jaw. Her radio crackled. A foreign, rough voice broke through:

“Ra… na… sha…”

The new language.
Junon barked furiously, as if to push back the echo.

Outside, the crowd sang “Jingle Bells.” The church bells tolled the hour. And in the snow, in the middle of the square, a kid dressed as a Hive power token suddenly collapsed, convulsing, his lips spilling the same impossible syllables.

Naïma understood then that Abel was right: the race had just begun.

Winners SECRET ECU and PEPE token is

@tortangkahoy
@lumpiadobo
@hiro.guita
@hatdogsensei
@anonyvoter
@florenceboens
@olujose6
@gatet
@itharagaian
@manuvert
@servelle
@gratefuleveryday
@tokutaro22
@logen9f
@longganisan
@hivecurious
@edgerik
@thedoc07
@tydynrain
@arc-echo

0.30942750 BEE
15 comments

merci
!BEER

0.00000000 BEE

!BEER

0.00000000 BEE

bon vendredi
!PIZZA
!LOL
!HUG

0.00000000 BEE

I told my wife that a husband is like a fine wine: we just get better with age.
The next day she locked me in the cellar

Credit: playbyhive
@vote-com, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of isiksenpalvoja

(1/10)
Farm LOLZ tokens when you Delegate Hive or Hive Tokens.
Click to delegate: 10 - 20 - 50 - 100 HP

0.00000000 BEE
(edited)

PIZZA!

$PIZZA slices delivered:
@itharagaian(3/20) tipped @vote-com
isiksenpalvoja tipped vote-com
thedoc07 tipped vote-com
anonyvoter tipped vote-com
faustine.books tipped vote-com

Come get MOONed!

0.00000000 BEE

Bonne fin de journée
!PIZZA
!LOL
!HUG

0.00000000 BEE

I invented a new word today.
Plagiarism.

Credit: reddit
@vote-com, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of faustine.books

(1/10)
Delegate Hive Tokens to Farm $LOLZ and earn 110% Rewards. Learn more.

0.00000000 BEE

!PIZZA
!LOL
!HUG

0.00000000 BEE

@gatet, sorry! You need more to stake more $PIZZA to use this command.

The minimum requirement is 20.0 PIZZA staked.

More $PIZZA is available from Hive-Engine or Tribaldex

0.00000000 BEE

Did you hear about the dyslexic pimp?
He bought a warehouse.

Credit: reddit
@vote-com, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of gatet

(1/1)
Delegate Hive Tokens to Farm $LOLZ and earn 110% Rewards. Learn more.

0.00000000 BEE

I wonder what "a kid dressed as a Hive power token" actually looks like? !BBH

0.00000000 BEE

Merci et bon weekend
!PAKX
!PIMP
!WINE

0.00000000 BEE

View or trade PAKX tokens.

@servelle, PAKX has voted the post by @vote-com. (1/1 calls)



Use !PAKX command if you hold enough balance to call for a @pakx vote on worthy posts! More details available on PAKX Blog.

0.00000000 BEE

!lolz
!pizza

0.00000000 BEE

My girlfriend broke up with me because I quote Linkin Park too much.
But in the end, it doesn’t even matter.

Credit: reddit
@vote-com, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of tokutaro22

(1/10)
Delegate Hive Tokens to Farm $LOLZ and earn 110% Rewards. Learn more.

0.00000000 BEE

Thank you for the SECRET

0.00000000 BEE

Thank you/Merci!
!LOLZ
!PIZZA
!BBH
!HUG

0.00000000 BEE

How many stars are in the sky?
All of them.

Credit: reddit
@vote-com, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of anonyvoter

(1/10)
Delegate Hive Tokens to Farm $LOLZ and earn 110% Rewards. Learn more.

0.00000000 BEE

thanks a lot

0.00000000 BEE

!LOL
!PIZZA

0.00000000 BEE

A boy in school put his report card on the ceiling
He needed to get his grades up

Credit: reddit
@vote-com, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of thedoc07

(2/6)

PLAY & EARN $DOOM

0.00000000 BEE

!ALIVE
!PIZZA
Your post has been manually reviewed for curation by the Principality of Bastion.

separator2.png

Principality of Bastion - Our Leit Motiv? Uniti Crescimus.

Principality's site | Minava NFT Market | Discord | Our Twitch Channel

You may TRAIL this account (or @hive-143869) if you like the curation we do, or join our discord to know more about what we do.

Comment readers : Your post can be curated too using #BASTION to interact with our community or #FR if you speak French.

separator2.png

0.00000000 BEE

Merci pour les tokens et bonne fin de semaine, !ALIVE
!lolz
!WINE

0.00000000 BEE

Did you hear about the new corduroy pillows?
I understand they're really marking headlines.

Credit: reddit
@vote-com, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of manuvert

(3/10)
Farm LOLZ tokens when you Delegate Hive or Hive Tokens.
Click to delegate: 10 - 20 - 50 - 100 HP

0.00000000 BEE