Coded ambition

Fragment 9: Predicament, Part 1

It was another arduous day in life for Lysander. Time passed by very slowly and his mood grew gloomier by the day. Winter was slowly arriving in Cading and the cold crept up his body and heart in more than just one way.

He saw shadows and evil intentions at every corner and he could not shake the feeling that something was hunting him in a very subtle but dangerous way.

Since Natalie's death, he had not talked to anyone voluntarily. Only for business reasons and when Bea approached him, did he speak up. The paranoia became too much and he just wanted to stop thinking and to stop existing. There was nothing more he desired than to simply forget everything and everyone.

There was nothing he could do to bring Natalie back to life and this thought was killing him on the inside. Everything felt so useless since she left this world. Surely, they had spent a lot of time apart, but he always knew that she was alive, present in the same city as he. Now her very existence had found an end. Natalie was gone. Gone forever.

No matter how much he screamed and suffered internally, the agony in his heart did not fade. Cruelly, his life continued but so did his anguish.

Once again, his supervisor Frauster had ordered him into his office. Right away it was clear to Lyss that there was some bad news waiting for him. It was a matter of uttermost urgency, his supervisor had said, ending the call via holo-watch abruptly and without further explanations.

Laboriously, Lysander hoisted his heavy body and mind upstairs to the next floor, to the familiar unpleasant room on the left side at one of the ends of the second story. His hands got all sweaty and cold but Lyss managed to knock on Eduard Frauster's door, thinking the state of affairs could not get any worse than they already were. The familiar and unpleasant voice of the ex-military invited him to enter in a restrained and cold voice.

"Lysander. Take a seat", Eduard ordered his subordinate to sit down. His subordinate thanked him politely but also impassively.

"The rat is still trying to bite at our legs. You know what that means, right?", the bulky man told Lysander grumpily.

"Another leak?", Lyss asked, apathetically.

"You bet." Frustrated, Frauster placed his working laptop on the small guest table in front of Lysander. His subordinate tried to keep a poker face and read the Darknet post calmly and professionally, but he barely managed it. Beads of sweat sprinkled his forehead at the speed of five seconds. His heart began to beat faster, reminding him that he was still alive. The whole ordeal with the leak was not over yet.

"Only someone who works here now can know this", Lysander muttered, stunned by the details the person who posted the leak had.

"You didn't manage to sniff out the rat, Lysander. Do you have any idea by now who it could be?", Eduard Frauster confronted him bluntly.

Lyss folded his fingers nervously, then shook his head reluctantly. "Unfortunately, I don't."

"Then I highly recommend a time-out for you, Lysander." Eduard's eyes were looking down on the cowering man in front of him as if he considered him extremely pathetic. Luckily, his words did not convey the same message. "It's long overdue", Frauster claimed.

Lysander was afraid to ask but he saw no other way than to ask the dangerous question. "What type of time-out do you mean?"

"An 'I'm leaving my job entirely'-time-out", Frauster explained harshly but clearly. "You can't consider anything else when you read the direct threats in the post against you, don't you?"

Knowing that Eduard probably meant best, Lyss considered the possibility. Then he sighed. At first, he felt so much resistance in his mind but it crumbled to dust in seconds. He could not be bothered to deal with it further. Hating the very fact, Lysander had also thought about it already.