Ranked

Prologue

From the large window bringing light into the dark office, the skyline was filled with mostly with white and blue building. It was commercially beautiful, but emitted a strange uneasy feeling. It was similar to that of the man dressed all in black facing away from the city. His leather swivel chair directed his vision towards an extremely narrow and long glass table. Coffee mugs were scattered along the surface, mixed with journals, sheets of notes, and hands with a strict grip on pens.

On the table, black print was embroidered, labeling the surface with 'The High Authorities'. Three women were sitting up, legs all crossed identically. In between each one of them, in a perfect pattern, were men sitting stiffly but behind the females. Everyone in the room had dark colors on, and everyone in the room had an expression of business plastered on their faces.

A slip of the transparent material opening the wall to see the city was cracked open. Yet no wind entered. The man sitting at the head of the table broke the silence. "This year we have a beautiful patch, this generation has been raised finely."

The people around the table simultaneously clapped in triumph, but left their serious expressions glued on.

"This year, the successors will be transported through E-Air, thanks to the funding of miss Rachel Coffmin."

Again, the room filled with a dignified applause as they all turned to face the female nodding her head on the right side of the table.

"This will be held on July 1st, as you all know. So far this is planned to happen perfectly on time since no mishaps have occurred, and that is thanks to none other than our fine accounts manager, Winston Barlington!"

Again, the group of workers smacked their hands together and leaned in to see the man sitting in the seat closest to the window on the right.

"I do believe everything will continue to run smoothly, it will take simply the continued efforts of this team. Please raise a hand and repeat after me as I read the board's vows." Each member lifted their right hand in unison. "As a member of this council..."

"As a member of this council..." the other members shot out in a monotone but genuine way.

"I shall respect all other members to therefore allow the city of E-Central to thrive under the direction of the highest form of authority..."

"I shall respect all other members to therefore allow the city of E-Central to thrive under the direction of the highest form of authority..." they repeated.

"Even if this board is dismembered, I vow to ensure all spoken agreements, ideas, and organizations created within these walls remain only heard of within these walls."

"Even if this board is dismembered, I vow to ensure all spoken agreements, ideas, and organizations created within these walls remain only heard of within these walls," they order back.

"Now, my good people, I have another meeting planned soon, so I must invite you back another time." The leader of the group stood and organized the sheets of paper he had scattered out in front of him into one neat pile. As he most likely expected, the other members quickly followed his lead and began to pack away their belongings.

As the workers followed each other one after the other through the office's wooden door, the leader of the council brought himself in front of a silver lever in the corner of the room. He gripped his hand on it and added pressure. Almost magically, the glass table fell into the floor and was quickly replaced with a large wooden work desk that slid from one of the side walls. Connected to this was a black swivel chair as well as two simple chairs on the other side of the desk used for visitors. Those seemed to disconnect from the desk as soon as it came to a halt.

The man strolled into the seat and as he fit his bottom into the chair, he rearranged the table top to fit his liking. He opened up the laptop in the center and begin typing. On his screen he commanded open a window, black with already typed out green text. He added more with the quick movement of his fingers as they clicked various keys, crawling over the keyboard like the legs of a spider.

There was a subtle knock, three consistent thumps emerged and then utter silence.

"Enter," the man's booming voice ordered.

After barely a second had passed, the door creaked open, and the top of a man's face peeked in. He then squeezed his full body through, widening the door as little as possible. His shoulders hunched uncomfortably and they inched himself to the center of the room. He held himself as small, standing across from him with greased back hair and awkwardly rectangular glasses.

"What do you want?" The man dressed in black sighed out comfortably.

The small man quivered. He gasped for a second seemingly preparing to speak, but rather kept quiet. He squeezed one of his hands with the other as beads of sweat began to gather on the roof of his eyebrows.

"Am I supposed to be guessing the reasoning for you standing here blowing out disgusting air into my office?"

"I- I- have a m- m- message for you, Sir," the small man stuttered.

"What?" His foggy blue eyes seemed to rapidly loose their color and shade into gray. It was clear by the drop of his facial interest that being interrupted was not something that he was pleased with.

The small man began tapping his right foot immensely, filling the silence with quick thumps. He slipped one of his hands from behind his back and used it to dig through his pocket. A rolled up Sticky Note surfaced with messy blue pen scribbled all over it. His hand vibrating more than it had been, reached out to pass it off.

The two of them rested silently as he read through the note. Tension built, he clenched his fist more with every word his eyes passed.

"I AM IN CHARGE YOU IMBECILE!" he roared after finishing. "The city is running perfectly well! The tests keep people in line! I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TESTS! I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING PEOPLE IN LINE! WHO DOES THIS CITY THINK THEY ARE? THEY THINK SOMEONE ELSE CAN JUST DO ALL OF WHAT I DO?"

"I- I- I know sir. I w- w - was simply reporting- I know y- y- you are the best ruler this city has seen."

The wind swirled into the inanimate office. The men remained there staring at each other, the man in authority sucking in the small man's gaze through intimidation.

The man brushed off a patch of lint on his arm and nodded curiously. He spun around in his chair, now facing the window.

"This note here categorizes this as just a rumor, though," the more authoritative man mumbled.

"Very true, sir. It is in no n- n -no way certain."

A grin rose along his face. "That means that this can be stopped before it becomes factual..."

"W- w- what are you saying?"

Again, silence filled the space between them. At one point the small man stretched his neck out slightly, leaning his head forward, nudging his boss to clarify his suspicious statement.

"Get out of my office," he demanded without a further explanation.

In a heart beat the small man twirled himself around and slid right through the exit as if there were a million dollars waiting for him on the outside.

As soon as he was left alone, the man reached his hand towards his phone apprehensively, and secured a grip around it. He lifted it, signaling a scratchy beep before his finger tips clicked the numbers on the dial pad. There was a ring, a pause, a ring, a pause, and a click.

"Hello?" the voice on the line began.

"Hey, Mark, I got problems with some people. I'm gonna need a favor."

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A/N: This is a new story that I've had been thinking about and finally decided to post it on Wattpad. I hope you guys like it, and feel free to comment on any mistakes or feedback. 

I would love it if you guys would vote and share this story to any of your friends! I will be posting every Friday (around 4:30 PM), so see you then!

-Harper <3