Numerology, Part 2

We finally arrived at a wooden building that was a perfect cube, painted white with black edges, windowsills, and doors. David explained it was the refectory, which he said was like a mess hall, only quieter. There was only one other car there, which was identical to David's and just as worn down. The building was surrounded by men that were mostly older than David, all wearing the same white shirt and black pants. Some of them were wearing black shawls, and one was wearing a blue shawl. They were conversing quietly, and they seemed not to notice that we had arrived. David led me into the refectory. My curiosity and hunger got the best of me: I was wary of where I was going, but I wanted lunch.

David and I sat with a few others who were wearing black shawls. I took it that they were David's friends from whatever this place was. They spoke softly, and smiled and moved slowly. Strangely, though, they introduced themselves with numbers instead of names.
"I'm 42."
"I'm 19."
"I'm 106, pleased to meet you."
I thought they were introducing themselves with their ages at first, but 106 was definitely younger than the other two. 19 was the first to ask David about my presence.
"So, 289, who's your friend that has graced us with his company?"
"This is my coworker from Alpine. I told you about him, didn't I?"
"Yes, you did. I looked forward to his arrival."
Apparently, I was expected. My mind was racing through so many possibilities as to why they expected me. Was David sent to recruit me for whatever this was? This warranted the question, who were they? Why were they wearing shawls?

106 excused himself and got up from the table. 42 pulled a small notepad and a pen from his pocket and began writing something, though I couldn't tell what it was. 19 turned his attention to me.
"I presume you have a name?"
"Kenton, but my friends call me Ken."
"May I call you Ken, then, Kenton?"
"Uh, sure. Why not?"
19 was too pleasant to scare me into silence. He glanced at 42, and then examined what he was writing. He nodded in what I thought was approval, but 42 was too focused to even see him. 42 was in a trance, it seemed.

106 returned with five platefuls of food, which he carried with the help of a much younger man whom he called 219. They were simple plastic plates, accompanied with five plastic cups and a pitcher of water. The food, however, was artistically beautiful. It was divided into fair portions of corn, bread, carrots, and fish, and was completed with a flawless red delicious apple. I was so hungry at that point that I didn't even realize this was probably the healthiest meal I had eaten in years. I dug straight in at first, but I looked around at the others in the refectory. They were eating methodically, as though there was some rhythm they followed. I also saw, for the first time, the walls of the building on the inside. They were also painted white, save for the large black pi symbol on the wall opposite the front door. David caught me staring at the symbol on the wall and smirked.
"We do have a sense of humor here."
"I'm sorry?"
"When they built the refectory and were designing it, they needed some symbol for the kitchen. Of course, what better symbol than pi?" He had a point.
"What do you mean 'they?'"
"The Order."
"You haven't told him?" 19 asked.

19 no longer gave me a false sense of security. They were wearing shawls. Their buildings were flawless and had symbols, even if the symbol was a pun. There was an Order. I feared I had been lured into a cult. David confirmed it.
"This is where I've been for the past year, Ken. The Order of Pythagoras."

I was speechless. I couldn't believe where I was or what David had done, but I did not want to show any disrespect for the others in the refectory, so my best response was silence. David invited me to join him for a walk so he could explain what had happened to him, how he had come to this place.

He guided me down a wooded trail far away from the refectory. It, too, was lined with beautiful flowers arranged on lattices. I was eager to get back to David's car and leave the dreadful place, even if it meant stealing the car. David, however, kept his arm around my shoulder, so I couldn't turn back at any point. I had no escape, and I hoped this was one of the closed trails leading to the highway.

David was trying to explain what he was doing there. He said he had discovered the monastery while he was hiking along that same road in the mountain when he discovered the side road. He was attracted by the same walls of flowers I saw on the way to the monastery. He had spoken to a man dressed in a white shirt and black pants and wearing a green shawl, although he was much older than the man we passed earlier. David said this man was "utterly tranquil, moving methodically from rose to rose and tulip to tulip." I remember this now only because I was listening carefully to every word he said, waiting for the moment where I had to make my break before he could kill me or knock me unconscious. That moment never came.

My conversion experience began on our way back on that trail. By the time we reached the refectory again, I was asking how long it would take before I could be fully initiated. David told me I would have to spend three days as an Initiate - living among the brothers, but not as a brother - starting at midnight of whatever day I chose to begin. Then, at exactly 3:23:53 AM on the fourth day - exactly 3.1415 hours past midnight, I would go through a ceremony where I would become a full member of the Order. I asked why the time had to be so precise, but he refused to answer. I would find out when it happened, I figured.