Polarized

Family Business

As the chatter died down, the lights dimmed, leaving only a strip of platform illuminated. A woman with a bobbed haircut walked onto the platform, wearing a headpiece with a microphone attached. As she spoke in the microphone, her voice echoed throughout the room:

"Welcome to HACF. My name is Sierra and I am Martin Halifax's wife. You may know me as the co-founder of Halifax Industries."

The crowd fell silent, and a moment later, she continued speaking:

"Our vision is a Cloudgate free of curses, one where magic-induced accidents are no longer an issue. But we aren't just looking to protect non aura-havers from curses. We are also dedicated to leading those unfortunate enough to be born with them to as much of a normal life as possible."

Normal? Unfortunate enough to be born with a curse? Skye thought. There's no such thing as normal. Everybody's different in their own ways. Also, not so long ago, being born with a "curse" was a good thing. People loved mages and looked up to them as heroes. Now these Halifax people are trying to hurt me only because I have an aura. It's messed up, really. 

Sierra paused. From her coat pocket she produced a syringe containing a clear liquid, and she held it up to the audience. "Here, we utilize shock tags to deal with aura curses, and this is how we tag our clients. We inject our solution into your left arm, or your right arm if you're left-handed. The solution will release a shock whenever your aura manifests, so as long as you have self control and avoid situations that trigger your curse, you have nothing to fear. Like any injection, our method of tagging only hurts for a moment, and it's more efficient than surgically implanting the device as other places do. However, the effects of our tags wear off after five months, so by then you'll have to return for a new dose."

Skye felt sick, but despite her silent protests, Sierra continued monologuing. Doesn't this lady know what she's saying?! Skye screamed, but silently. Doesn't she know what she's advocating for?!

"There are multiple studies backing up the effectiveness of tagging," Sierra continued. "According to a recent survey conducted by the Public Department of Cloudgate's Safety and Wellbeing, 81% of our clients reported a heightened sense of control over their curse since they received their injection, and 67% noted a significant decline of magic-induced outbursts from themselves. So if you think that we're forcing some cruel and unusual punishment onto you, think again. Consider all the people you'll protect by getting tagged."

Suddenly Skye needed to go to the bathroom. Maybe she could hide on the toilet, as pathetic as that sounded. For a moment she was tempted to push Sierra off the platform, scream about how cruel this whole system was, and make the crowd rebel, but then Skye remembered that she didn't have the guts to pull that off. Plus she genuinely needed to pee.

"I'm going to the bathroom. It's an emergency." Skye whispered to her mother. Though she wasn't sure if leaving her seat was against the rules, she knew she could slip by unnoticed. The door was near, the room was dark, and everybody was focused on Sierra's presentation.

"Alright, but be quick," Maia whispered back. "We don't want you to get in trouble for hiding."

Skye tiptoed to the door on the right-hand side of her chair. The door had a sign displaying the symbols for lobby, elevator, drinking fountain, restroom, and workroom, with arrows pointing right or left next to each symbol. Skye turned the doorknob with a shaky hand, revealing a corridor that split off in two directions. She went down the corridor on the left. At the end of it was what she thought was the bathroom door. Skye gave it a shove.

Shit. This isn't the bathroom.

Before her lay boxes and shelves with empty syringes and vials upon vials of clear liquid. The vials were being attended to by a dark-haired boy who looked to be around the same age as Ivan. But this boy wasn't just handling vials; he was firing off electric sparks. An aura-haver, Skye thought. A wielder of electricity.  

As the boy turned his head away from the vial he was holding, he glared at Skye, his purple eyes with tired dark circles under them turning into slits. "What are you doing here?" he asked, visibly annoyed. 

"I was looking for the bathroom and ended up here. Sorry," Skye said, embarrassed. 

But the boy remained hostile. "I don't care that you're sorry, just get out of here."

"Wait," Skye piped up, "Is that a lightning aura?"

"Just leave already, I don't have time for this nonsense!" the boy shot back. "Don't you see that I'm busy?!" 

"If you're actually an aura-haver, I won't tell any of the people here," Skye assured. "In fact, I have an ice aura. I don't see why you're hiding from me."  

"Doesn't matter, you're still cursed," The boy said coldly, spitting out the last word like a dead fly in his mouth. "You should be going over to the meeting room and getting yourself tagged."

"Speak for yourself," Skye retorted. "You're just as cursed as I am."

At this point the boy looked visibly irritated, his teeth clenched and his fists balled up besides him. "How about you leave me alone and let me do my damn job?!" He snapped. 

Skye backed out of the workroom. "Fine, I'm leaving!" She announced before she shut the door behind her.