The Swarm

ARC 3 - Part 10: The Ceremony

ARC 3: THE NANITE APOCALYPSE

PART TEN

The Ceremony

Zola did not have a ticket for the unveiling ceremony, that discouraged him a bit, until he remembered that the ceremony isn't what he came there for. He just needed to speak to Tshepo, and he hoped the guards at the door would understand if he told them that. 

He approached them, there were two men, standing at the door. They were both very intimidating. Like club bouncers, they were very huge and burly, and each carried a gun with them. 

With them was a tall, skinny woman wearing a white, beautiful dress. She was the one guiding the people on how to submit their tickets. There was a short, metallic bar next to them with a bright green screen, where people scanned their entry tickets. 

Zola stood behind two women who were scanned their tickets on the bright, green screen of the metallic bar. He recited what he needed to say over and over in his head hoping that the woman and the guards would understand. 

The two women scanned their tickets and the doors automatically opened for them, and they headed into the building. The woman smiled at them once they walked in. After the automatic doors shut behind them, the woman shouted, "Next!". 

Zola quickly walked towards her and as he got close to her, he got greeted by her friendly, smiling face, "Good day, sir. You can scan your ticket on the green screen on this ticket scanner. This is one of the latest Nanotech improvements.", She smiled at him.

"Oh, uh... I don't have a ticket... You see, I'm not really here for the ceremony...", Zola tried to explain.

The lady cocked her head to the side and furrowed her brows, "Oh, then why are you here? And why are you in line?"

"I just want to speak to Tshepo, Tshepo Mokhele, about something important. He's inside... May I?", He asked politely.

"Oh, I see. Do you have an appointment to speak to Tshepo, sir?"

"Well no..."

"I'm afraid we can't let you speak to him then, as you know, he is already CEO of NanoCorp, so you can't speak to him without booking an appointment."

"There is no time to make an appointment! I need to speak to him now!", Zola shouted, which alerted the two guards. They glared at him with a burning gaze that he felt burn through his skin. "Hey, sir! Is there a problem?", Asked one of the guards, the one on the left.

"No, sir. There is no problem. I just want to speak to Tshepo, it's very important!", Zola said.

"Well, if it is very important, then you should have made an appointment, sir.", The woman said.

"I know, I know! Just that it's something that just came up and I need to tell him about it, now!", Zola said.

"But I'm afraid you can't speak to him without an appointment or permit, sir. We don't work like that."

"Okay, fine! I get it, but can't you just ask him do come down here, please?", Zola said. He was so engaged with the woman and the guards that he was unaware of the long queue that had formed behind him. 

The people behind him soon began to complain, "Hey, what's taking you so long!?", One woman asked, frustrated. "Yeah, just give the girl your ticket already, damn it!", One grown man said from far behind. Murmurs of frustration began to grow from behind him.