Dimday Red - Can of Worms

Part Two - The Emerald Room

The first thing that hit him was the conflicting smell; immaculate corporate furnishing and freshly spilled blood. As he opened his eyes, Cillian wished it wasn't his own, but the metallic flavor of the liquid running from his nose to his lips stated otherwise.

The fluorescent light that illuminated the windowless room made everything look greenish. Marble Eyes had enhanced vision attributes, but color gamut wasn't one of them. In most lighting conditions, they saw a mixture of monochromatic and heat sensitive images. They could even see heat through objects and walls, but not under fluorescent light. To him, it felt like the Emerald City of Oz in there.

He noticed there were no restrains, but he still couldn't move. "One of those guys is a Controller," he thought, examining the well-built woman and the skinny man in the cheap suit. The peculiar couple was siting across the blood-stained cherry-wood desk that separated him from them.

"Do you know what the problem is with you Enforcers?" asked the skinny man.

"No, but I am certain you will enlighten me!" said Cillian and as an unseen force slapped his face, he figured he should stop thinking out loud one of those days.

"You assume you are untouchable. You can go wherever you like, do whatever you please, with no consequence. You think you don't belong to the Corporations, although you work for them! You perceive to be better than the rest of us!" His tone was rising and his squeaky voice was pitching higher and higher like a kettle just before boil.

The husky woman patted her companion on the shoulder, and he retreated to his chair. It was obvious who the boss was in this operation. Was she the Controller? Cillian realized he couldn't fight his way out of this one.

"I suspect you have exceeded your limits, Mr. Brager" she spoke in a thick Slavic accent as she brushed her fingers through her military-short hair. They appeared to have more information about him than the other way around, and that made him uneasy. He tried to control his unrest and let her proceed.

"We realize the Apollo Syndicate sent you, although we are not sure why. Yet." There was no emotion in her voice. He heard sawing machines sound more human.

"The world has become an unstable place Mr. Brager." The skinny man had composed himself. "Do you believe anyone cares about order anymore? People claim that the Corporations are evil and controlling, but they are the ones keeping this Fireball alive. Everything would have ended decades ago if not for their management. Do you even remember what happened after the First Uprising? Who puts bread to your Enforcer table after all? You throw all that away, just to support an unscrupulous Syndicate? Where does your loyalty lie Mr. Brager?"

Eric stared into the man's eyes, the single thing in the room not tinted green. They were deep black pits buried in his overly facial chick bones. "I am sorry," he said, "so many questions... Can you please repeat the first one"?

He felt the skin around his neck tighten as if an invisible hand was slowly chocking him and realized his sole chance was to spend his onetime-out-of-jail card. He hoped this moment wouldn't come so soon, truth be told, that it wouldn't come at all, but now his best option was to dance with the Devil.

"If you don't mind, I would like to call upon protocol Omega." he said, putting some effort to get his voice out.

The mismatched duo fell silent. They looked at each other, then the man extended his index, as if to declare something, but the woman touched his shoulder again and he remained hushed. She took a miniature, screen-less mobile phone out of her skirt suit pocket, dialed a four digit number and waited. No one outside the Families used mobile phones anymore. The satellites from the Old Days were useless, reduced to space junk because of the heat, and a private low-orbit network had replaced them.

After a couple of seconds, she put the phone back in and almost succeeded in masking her annoyance. The pressure eased from Eric's throat and he knew the tables had turned.

"I didn't catch your names." he demanded.

"I am Mrs. Draga, this is Mr. Lock." she said. "On behalf of Helios, I apologize for the inconvenience. It appears your importance is higher than we estimated. Mr. Lock, please have someone help Mr. Brager clean up and escort him to the entrance."

As he regained movement of his limbs, Cillian noticed a single vein on Mr. Lock's forehead swelling, looking ready to burst. Controllers eventually died of brain hemorrhages, as Marble Eyes ended up losing their eyesight. Everyone had to pay the cost for living on this burning world and the Infernal, as ordinary people called mutants, were no exception.

Exiting the emerald tinted room, Cillian glimpsed at Mrs. Draga taking out her phone again. He guessed she would inform her Family and wondered how all this would escalate. No use for regrets now; he did what was necessary to survive. Just to spend another white night holding Meg in his arms.

Even if it was their last.