Weylo “The Saltiest Fan”'s Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

The resort brochure showed up wedged under a rock near the halfpipe, probably dropped by a tourist. Weylo picked it up with one crystalline leg and saw the photo on the front page: a gleaming trophy in a glass case, positioned at the center of their main lodge. The engraving was small but readable. Weylo's legs clicked faster across the hillside as they scuttled toward the resort. The Winter Sports Legacy Gallery stood three miles away, its glass walls reflecting the morning sun. Inside, tourists gathered around display cases while a guide gestured at the trophy Weylo had memorized eighteen years ago. The base inscription read "2006 Championship - Morgan Vale." Wrong name. Wrong story. Weylo pressed against the glass door, but a security guard stepped forward and shook his head. No pets allowed. Weylo tried the side entrance, then the loading dock, but each door stayed locked. Their salt body was already softening in the spring warmth. They couldn't stay much longer without risking dissolution. Weylo scraped a message into the concrete steps with their front leg before retreating: "Kendra Steele. 2006. Remember." The guard would sweep it away within an hour, but someone might see it first. Someone might ask questions. Back at the halfpipe, Weylo found a corkboard standing near the equipment store entrance. The Champion's Showcase displayed photographs of trophies with names beneath each one. Weylo climbed up the wooden easel legs and studied every image until they found it: Kendra's trophy, labeled with that same false name. The board was pinned to the wood with metal tacks. Weylo worked one loose with their crystalline leg, pulled the photograph free, and carried it down. They tucked it beneath the chalk powder at the landing spot, the only place where the truth was still visible. Tomorrow they would come back with their own photograph, the one they'd kept for eighteen years showing Kendra mid-rotation against the sky. They would pin it to that board themselves, even if it meant waiting until after dark when the guards went home. The resort could lie in their gallery, but not here. Not on this board where people from town would see it. Weylo pulled the magnifying glass from behind the equipment store counter where the staff kept lost items. They held it over the photograph they'd stolen from the board, studying every detail of the false nameplate beneath the trophy. Someone had crafted this lie carefully, using the same engraving style as the original. Weylo placed the glass on top of the photograph and left both items on the counter where the morning staff would find them. The manager would see the stolen photo. She would notice the magnifying glass positioned to highlight the name. She would have questions that couldn't be ignored. Weylo's body was melting faster now, leaving salt trails across the floor, but they had planted the seed. Someone with authority would look closely at that trophy now. Someone would start to wonder.