Unplugged: The Hidden World (#2, Unplugged Trilogy)

Chapter Thirty

Matthew

After hearing several knocks, I rush to the foyer and open the front door to come face to face with my mother. She shrugs apologetically and I suck in a breath, ordering my muscles not to stiffen.

"What do you want?"

"I'm supposed to take you to your new job..."

I groan and run a hand down my face. Is it too much to ask for a guy to get some sleep around here?

"Why did they send you here?" I hiss, staring her in the eyes. My eyes. She looks down uncomfortably and remains silent. Sighing, I slip into the heavy boots set by the door and follow my mother out into the hallway. As much as I hate the idea of working for my enemy, I can't forget the fact that I should be dead by now. Enna bought us some time, and that's better than anything I could have come up with. If only I knew what they were planning on doing to her...

"Matthew, please just hear me out." Mother twists her hands as she leads me towards the elevator, past examination rooms and bustling lab tables. I don't trust myself to speak, so I bite my lip in reply.

"I know that everything looks really bad, but you have to know that the people here are fighting for the good of everyone." I snort and pick up my speed. She catches up with me. "The Hidden Allies are only trying to help us! We'd be nowhere without them: modern civilization itself would crumble. If we want any form of normalcy to remain, then we have to help them build an army."

"Wait, hold on. An army?" I stop walking and stare straight ahead. "What's the threat? Human rights?"

"That's not funny, Matthew," she whispers.

"I'm serious! What do those things think they might lose against?" Victoria shrugs and looks uncomfortable, eyes hurriedly flicking from my face to the floor.

"Is it us?" I lower my voice to an almost silent whisper so the scientists and elite politicians roaming the aisles can't hear me. "Is it people on Earth?" Victoria bites her lip and shrugs slowly. Dread starts to press in on my heart.

"What do they want with Enna?" Victoria turns to talk away and I grab her arm, roughly pulling her back to me. "What do they want with Enna?"

"I overheard a conversation. For some reason, the Master is adamant that Enna has a power that must be turned to his side. He said that if she discovers it on her own and helps it grow, then it would spell the end of the Hidden Allies. The end to everything."

"Power?" My voice sounds odd, too thin, like from a stranger. "What power?" Victoria shrugs.

"I've told you all I know." She glances over her shoulder and we start walking toward the elevator again. "I could get in major trouble for talking to you like this."

"Of course. It's not like I deserve an explanation or anything."

"Matthew." We step into the elevator and it begins to descend. I notice the tears gathering in my mother's eyes even before they fall, and I exhale slowly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. You have to know that."

"Then why did you leave me?" I ask quietly. I force myself to stare upwards as we plummet through rock and stone. "You didn't have to stay with John. You could have left him. You could have rebelled. You could have done something!"

"That's what I'm sorry about," she replies, a hard edge to her voice. As shadows pass over her face, I notice the wrinkles breaking her skin. Perhaps she's not as different from me as I think.

The lift comes to an abrupt stop and I clear my voice to break the silence. My mother steps into a dreadfully familiar dark, wet hallway, leading me into the shadows. My breaths start to come out ragged, and she looks towards me as though she wants to comfort me but thinks better of it.

"What am I doing here?"

"The Master found out about your experiences with tunnel-digging. He wants you to help with maintenance."

Great. Fantastic. Amazing.

Our footsteps echo throughout the corridor, each one seeming to grow louder with my rising panic. After five agonizing minutes of walking, we turn another corner and, in the dark, I make out the light shape of a Grey. My legs stop working momentarily.

"It won't hurt you," my mother whispers in my ear. "You both have the same job."

Feeling both a coward and mentally unstable, I approach the creature. It turns its head to face me, bulging eyes reflecting everything it sees. Reflecting my fear. A pair of mops and buckets leans against a rocky wall.

"I'll come get you when you're done," Victoria mumbles, slowly backing away from me. I stiffly nod, shoving my hands into my pockets. And I take a step forward. Then another. Inch by inch, I progress down the hallway, closing in on the Grey.

Muscles tensing, heart throbbing, I lean down to grab a mop and bucket. The creature doesn't advance towards me, doesn't make any effort at a conversation... Nothing. Letting out a breath, I back away to a new patch of wall. I dip the mop into the bucket and pull it back out to find that it's covered in slime. In fact, the whole bucket is nearly overflowing with a pale, phlegm-like substance. Is this a joke?

I clear my throat, realizing what I must do.

"Hey, uh... you," I mutter, nodding towards the Grey. It turns and stares at me curiously. "What do I do?"

It continues to stare silently. I repeat the question slowly, trying my best to mime the words. Then, its bony fingers lift the mop and start to spread slime on the walls. To be clear, I point at my bucket then to the mop, then to the wall. The creature nods vigorously. Since when did maintenance mean rubbing slime on things?

Shrugging off my disgust, I dip the mop's end into the bucket and start Sliming the walls. The Grey slaves silently by my side.