Ch. 6 – Duncan Strauss Mysteries
The Next Horizon
She was holding his hand, a spark of warmth. She looked up at him, he was looking upward. She followed the path of his gaze and met a circular swirl of colour. A building, vast and elliptical. She followed the path with her eyes, it lead to a stairway penetrating the building from the front. The accented colour spiraled around the building - it appeared to fade slowly from colour to colour as it ascended from below. Yellow, orange, red, blue. Her eyes stopped. The once circular colour was broken by a gaping hole, with cracks leaping in every direction.
They stopped at a sign rooted firmly in the ground.
Big-N-Strong
Recreational Center
They walked past the large sign, and reached the rubble. Large chunks of concrete impeded their path. Stretching the fabric of their jeans, they stepped over the rectangular mortar, crunching the matter beneath their feet.
“You smell that?” Duncan asked, reaching his hand out as she stepped over the chunk of concrete.
Her nose scrunched, “Yeah, what is that?” Grabbing his hand.
“It’s smells like a gunshot, but bigger. And with smoke. You can even see it,” Duncan pointed toward the base of the building where smoke desperately escaped from an unseen pocket of earth.
"This was some building," she remarked.
"Yes, it certainly was.” He replied, “When I was in boarding school we used to come here all the time. It's hard to imagine this is real. To imagine the victims - nigh unthinkable. How is something like this possible? Who could possibly bring themselves to this?"
She exhaled. "I don't know. I don't know if it's knowable."
They proceeded down the path toward the building's entrance, crunching as they stepped. The gaping hole began just at the front door, and reached around the back. They started up the steps, at least what was left of them. Duncan pressed his hand on the door, but it stopped, hitting some rubble that lie in its path. Duncan pushed harder moving the debris along the door's circular arc. The entire left side of the room was just a hole, where before them stood the reception desk with a window chipped away as the metal strips in the glass maintained the glass's shape. Duncan walked to the edge where the wooden planks interwove one another to form a gym-like aesthetic, and looked down. She followed, testing the floor as she stepped. She pressed her hand to his lower back, feeling the indentation of his spine. She glanced over the edge. The hole stretched several stories deep. The floor immediately below them had a basketball hoop at one end, still in tact against the wall. Below that, the floor had a tennis net hung against the right side of the wall, still clinging to life. Below that, the floor wasn't visible, it was covered completely in broken chunks of concrete.
"I find it hard to imagine there was a single blast." Duncan's face was solemn. "If the blast was near the outer wall, the floor on the opposite side would remain. But the entire floor is gone, along with the wall, consistent on every floor. I have a theory that those responsible stood in a zig-zag pattern throughout the different levels. It maximizes the spread."
"But that begs the question, " she turned to him and asked, "Why then can we stand where we stand?"
"I do not know."
They sat staring at the smoldering rubble below.
"Do you think there's anybody left down there?"
"I hope not," he sighed.
A voice approached from the right, "Hello, can I help you?" A man with a cap approached extending his hand.
"Yes, I'm Duncan. And this is Kati. I'm with the GBS investigating the crime scene." Duncan replied.
"My name is Todd, and I'm the owner."
She noticed Todd's voice was precise, though his expression blue. Now, looking at him, she noticed his posture was slouched, hands in his pockets. His shirt was blackened with residue, his glasses covered in a thin film of dust, dark particles fell from his hair.
"I was in my office when the blast hit," Todd pointed backward to the hallway opposite the blast. "The shock-wave nearly knocked me unconscious, the posters in my office fell from their place on the wall. I suppose I should be thankful this is a resilient building, despite the rather immense," he glanced at the sunlight pouring into the building, "structural damage."
Duncan grabbed a small spiral notebook from his jacket pocket, and flipped the cover round to expose a clean sheet. "Do you remember the time when the blast went off?"
"No, I was greatly taken aback, as you can expect." Todd looked at the ground, then back up. "But we do have security footage, and that shows the time."
"That wasn't destroyed in the blast?"
"No, it's by my office, completely untouched."
"Excellent, I'll need to see that. But before we go, I have a few more questions."
"Okay, I would love to help."
"Was there anything out of the ordinary on the day of the event?"
She noticed that before Todd began speaking he glanced up to where the ceiling used to be as though there were answers prescribed above. She noticed his hand raise and stroke the hair dangling from the butt of his chin.
"Not that I can recall. This month was great for new members. As you'll see in the security footage, it's hard to tell who the perpetrators were, they must have prepared in the locker rooms. But we don't have footage there."
"Did they leave the locker rooms with anything?"
"They were completely dressed in black, and seemed to have these white bags strapped to their abdomens."
"How many were there?"
"Last I counted there were nine total, although there might've been more. As you'll see in the footage..."
She noticed his eyes starting to tear up. He raised his finger to his eyes clearing the moisture from his eyelids.
"What will I see?" Duncan asked.
"The doors were barred, somehow. From the front."
"Did the men say anything?"
"I'm afraid I'm not sure of that, our cameras don't record audio."
She noticed that he looked back at the floor.
"Well, that's okay. I'm sure it will be helpful. Let's see what's on the footage."
She followed Duncan and Todd past the doors to the right. Aside from being blackened from soot, the doors remained unscathed. She glanced down and saw footprints almost completely obfuscating the hallway floor. Some small, some large - tennis shoe prints alongside boot prints. They stopped at a closet door on the right side of the hallway. Todd grasped and turned the handle, revealing a dark room with bright lights shining through the metal grate of the large rectangular box before them. Todd stepped up, pressed his thumb to the pad on the right, and with a click the metal door of the box swung loose. Todd opened the box, and began swiping and pressing on the glass of a rectangular display.
“Here you are,” Todd stepped aside.
Duncan stepped forward, pressing the play button at the bottom of the screen. The screen, split into four parts, began moving forward. The doors opened, and three men entered - all wearing black, and donned upon their feet black boots, imposing enough to march to their doom. The partners stopped their volleys, with the last remaining inertia of the tennis balls diminishing as it pushed into the weight of the net. The teams frozen mid-dribble, as the basketballs slowly hugged the floor. The subjects on screen started making for the door. Though they pressed, shook, and pounded, it did not budge.
Duncan hit pause. "And you're not sure how the doors were barred?"
Todd shook his head.
Duncan hit play. A few men from the crowd rushed up to the men in black. The men in black were quickly overrun. A few moments later, the screen flashed bright, and then the recording ended.
Nicki stared at the instrument panel. This car is very shiny.
"I can't believe Duncan still drives that hunk of crap!" She exclaimed.
Daniel replied, "That's the sedan, right? The gray one?"
"Yeah, somehow the thoroughfare owners still allow it on the road. I think they're crazy."
"Well I'm sure they have good reason for allowing it. Maybe it only looks dangerous," Daniel smiled.
The shiny SUV pulled up to an open gate, where a man sharply dressed stepped up to their window.
"Welcome to Beach-Front Automotive! This is a mighty fine ride you have!" The man grinned excessively.
"Yes, thank you! We're looking to speak to a general manager. Can you point us in the right direction?" Daniel replied.
"Well is there anything I can help you with? Our general managers can get pretty busy processing deals, that's why I'm here, to help you with whatever you need!"
Daniel sighed. "We're with the GBS, and there's a question I have concerning a case we're working on."
The man's posture sunk, and his hands fell directly into his pockets.
"Yeah, let me see." The man stepped into his box and spoke into the processor that he held in his hand.
"Hey Curtis, there are some GBS agents here to see you." He paused. "Alright, I'll send them in." He turned and faced the SUV. "Pull straight into the lot, and park in any of the open spaces. His office is back and to the left."
"Thank you." Daniel said, pulling forward. Daniel rolled the window up.
"That guy's expression changed quickly." Nicki noted.
"Yeah, he's in sales. They're sharks. Except it turns out that we're not food."
"Huh," Nicki uttered.
They stepped out of the car, and started toward the building. Nicki heard an audible click behind them.
They approached the building. The building was made of metal and glass, the metal separated the glass, but both reflected the warmth of the day. The metal had no sheen, and the texture was dull and brushed. The glass was spotless, except for one minor white streak to the right of the building's entrance. Two men exited the building, one was holding a bottle of glass cleaner, a rag, and a long soft-plastic blade. The other was dressed in a suit, and locked eyes as soon as they entered his field of vision. The man with the rag passed them by, and walked around to their right. The other man approached and extended his hand.
"I'm Ambrose, to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?"
"My name is Daniel, and this is Kati..." Daniel was cut off.
"Well it's fabulous to meet you Daniel and Kati." Ambrose opened the door, and ushered them inside. Daniel and Kati obliged.
"Have you seen the latest Bayer Factor?" Ambrose inquired.
"Actually we were more," Daniel was cut off again.
"Yeah I have! Isn't that the one with future traffic simulation?" Nicki asked excitedly.
"It most certainly is; the safest vehicle of 2264! Would you like to see how it works?" Ambrose kept his posture, but smiled steadily.
"Yeah that would be awesome!" Nicki was visually excited now.
"Let me pull one up right here to the front, it will just be a second." Ambrose sauntered off to the right side of the lobby.
"Nicki," Daniel started.
"Daniel! The Bayer Factor! I get to be in it!"
"Well I'm going to speak with Curtis. Whatever you do, don't leave here with a new car." Daniel looked at Nicki, frowning.
"Whatever, dad." Nicki rolled her eyes.
Daniel broke away from Nicki, who took a seat at one of the clean tables.
He headed toward the glass door to the left. The glass had in bold letters adhered to its surface 'Curtis Shelby.’
Daniel knocked on the door. He leaned around looking through the glass. No one answered the door. He gently pulled on the handle, and slid into the office. He looked at the desk, there was a pile of manilla envelopes stacked nearly a foot to the left, and an exceptionally old display to the right. The desk was arranged nicely, with the occasional pen and marker strewn about here and there. The door behind him swung open, he felt the pressure of the room shift as the door exchanged the air with the lobby outside.
"How can I help you?"
Daniel noticed that though his mouth was smiling his eyes were not.
"I'm looking for information on a Bayer Discrete," Daniel was interrupted.
"The name's Curtis, by the way." Curtis interjected.
"Mmm, yes. I'm Daniel. So the model year I'm looking for..." Daniel was interrupted again.
"Nice to meet you Daniel." Curtis started paying attention.
"The model I'm looking for is the Bayer Discrete, model year 2259. Just like this." Daniel pulled out his processor with an image of the security camera footage, and passed it to Curtis.
Curtis looked at the image on screen briefly. "What about it?"
"This particular model is involved in a series of murders, and we were asking if you could help in tracking it down."
"Yes, I suppose I could do that. These older models have their identification blended in the colour; by varying the colour of the paint by an imperceptible degree throughout the four different accent colours, we can verify its specific ownership record."
"Wow, that's really impressive. Do they still do that?"
"No, the customers weren't happy being openly decipherable. That's why thoroughfare operators require an encrypted sticker on the windshield so they know who to charge."
“It looks like we got lucky this time.”
“It looks like you got lucky this time. Shall we begin?"
"Absolutely," Daniel handed the processor over.
"And so, as the vehicle moves forward it projects the path of the surrounding cars, analyzes their motion, and then determines how it ought to proceed. It's the safest self-driving car to date. Normally, self-driving cars just respond to changes in the cars around them, the markings on the road, and the maps which determine the turns to take, and determines the lanes to get into. But this is much smarter." Ambrose stopped, and looked at Nicki.
"Wow." Nicki expressed. "My boyfriend won't let me get a self-driving car because he says they're not safe. But this is something else."
"Well I'm sure your boyfriend has good reason to think that. But he hasn't seen this car." Ambrose leaned in. "You want to take it for a spin?" He held the keys up and toward Nicki.
Nicki blushed, and grabbed the keys.
The sleek obsidian-black of a 2254 Beyer Discrete blurred into the straight lines that extruded from the aging building. The faded peach of older brick, the flat innocuous wall, the unkept walkway; though he recognized its surreptitious solace, he recognized its necessity. He proceeded down the reddish-brick walkway toward the building's entrance. A flat forehead graced the unimposing wooden door with a decaying sign that half read: "Taste of Country." Though the 'o,' 'r,' and 'y' of 'Country' were conspicuously absent. He had always assumed it was debaucherous adolescents, but the security cameras revealed nothing of interest.
He pressed his hand to the wooden door, and took five deliberate paces to the right, and pinched a brick about breast-height, sliding it out of its socket in the wall. The brick revealed a compartment within which was a glittering key. He pinched the key with his index and middle finger sliding it toward him. He replaced the brick, and returned to the wooden door. The key slid in making subtle clicks as the grooves in the key pressed upon the tumblers in the lock. He turned the key and swung open the door.
He took a step inside, still shrouded in darkness, he closed the door behind him and took a moment to appreciate the complete lack of all sensory detail. Utter stillness. He reached up to his right flicking the switch behind him. The neutral white light illuminated the smooth tile, a thick steel door, the immaculate white walls, and a body in a bag lying in the middle of the floor.
"I'm glad we decided to take my car." Kati remarked.
"It's nice not to have to drive once in a while." Duncan replied.
"I can appreciate your car though. It's very utilitarian. And it's still comfortable. But how can they possibly let you drive that thing? I mean, bullet holes; that's a bit excessive isn't it?"
"I knew a guy, an old neighbor, he was a structural engineer and he didn't think it would affect its integrity. At least the street owners buy it."
The car came to a stop, and the doors opened automatically. They both stepped out stretching their spines as they observed what lay ahead. The parking lot was circular, and they parked in the middle. They had to traverse outward through additional parking spaces to the concrete path that surrounded the perpendicular white lines. Attached to the concrete was a soft gravel path that spiraled like a galaxy toward a cylindrical building, breaking into many different branching paths that gradually broke away toward the building.
They passed a floating sign bolstered by some electromagnetic force powered beneath the ground,
Leading Acuity
Commodity and Currency Exchange
They stepped on the gravel, compressing the particles with the flats of their feet. The path felt like it was drawing them near to the building; to avoid the path lain before them was to sin, to follow it was to fall into the gravity of fate. Yet they followed it. The path invited them to tour the building itself, as if affording the viewer the opportunity to soak it all in. It was a tall cylindrical building, mostly out of glass with steel supports forming the large-sided polygon for which the curved panels attached. Curiously, there were no doors. The only entry appeared to be a series of elevators that surrounded the building on all sides. They reached the first fork of a series of forks that broke away from the path, for which Duncan was quick to oblige.
“I wonder if anyone chooses other paths,” Kati asked hypothetically.
“I don’t know, I think it might be if the elevator you were headed to filled up, or maybe you choose one that’s closer to your office.”
“I would choose arbitrarily,” she paused, “the third branching path!” She exclaimed.
“Hmm, no I’m feeling the fourth. The third smells of disengenuity.” Duncan laughed.
The path they choose lead to a metal platform, almost industrial. The path continued straight into a courtyard surrounded by the building itself. The center of the building was hollow, and the courtyard was illuminated by the gray skies above. The courtyard was a small park with a short path that wrapped around a concrete fountain where water jets spouted at regular intervals and met in various places a light blue shine coming somewhere from the fountain itself. The path around the fountain was sheltered by antique street-lamps and the occasional rustic bench.
In front of the metal platform was a small rectangular display with an up-arrow. Duncan pressed the button and the shadow surrounding them began to grow. Slowly fences began to raise around the metal platform with orange rotating lights atop all four corners, and a voice that said with a pleasant accent, “Please step back.”
The elevator eased into its stop, and the glass doors slid outward, pushing back into a glass compartment of the carriage itself, almost enveloping itself in embrace.
The fences receded into the ground, and Kati and Duncan stepped into the elevator. There was a large display to the right with rectangular elements onscreen labeled with different numbers. They numbered three through thirty-four, though the top five floors were disabled from being pressed.
"I almost forgot this was a bomb site, no rubble or much else for that matter." Kati said.
"It must have been significant enough to close, this seems like a place that never closes." Duncan replied.
"Do you think it's at the top?" Kati pointed to the disabled floors, the buttons which read 'out of order.'
"Perhaps." Duncan pressed the twenty-ninth floor button. He put his hand on her waist, and turned to face the window. Kati rested against his rigid torso. They could see the city slowly receding into the ground as the tops of buildings undressed themselves in realtime.
"Why the 29th?" She asked.
"I wanted to see the damage closely, get a feel for what happened."
The elevator kept gliding along its path that it had taken so many times before.
“You think this is a good idea? Work dating?” Kati asked, breaking the admittedly romantic silence.
“No, probably not,” Duncan looked down at her and smiled. “If we’re thinking about work then we can’t really be available to one another.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“But I think, since we’re both pretty involved with this case it’s okay.”
“That makes sense.”
The elevator came to rest, and the doors behind them slid open. They turned, and crossed the stark threshold. The hallway before them split into three paths, one to the right, one to the left, and one that lead to a circular receptionist's desk; and beyond a sitting area with an expansive view of the courtyard. Duncan took Kati's hand and lead her past the receptionist's desk and into the sitting area. He walked up to the glass and started to take in every detail. There was a circular cutout in the center of the building, with circular lines that circumferenced the building in regular intervals. At the bottom he saw the fountain from earlier, near the top he saw that sharp edges where the walls of the annulus caved in on itself, miraculously leaving the building in tact and the ground free of rubble. One for each four quadrants of the building, there was rectangular extruded glass with stairways that weaved back and forth and reached from the bottommost floors to the roof.
"Let's head further," he motioned toward the nearest set of stairs.
"Are you sure? What if it's unstable?" She forwarded, trepidatiously.
"What is the weight of two humans on something so monumental?"
Kati sighed, and followed.
They started up the steps, hearing distant echoes of their stomps reflected from the ground below.
“That’s the owner!?” Daniel exclaimed while simultaneously asking a question.
“Yes it’s very strange. Typically it shows up here with a photo and some details like the date of purchase and ownership record. I’ve never seen a record like this.” Curtis sat back in his chair.
In the screen at the top of the form the title read,
Cuneiform Accounting
“Have you heard of such a company?” Curtis asked.
“Yes, yes I have.,“ Daniel started writing in his notebook. “It’s really a parent company, and in my experience it’s to catalogue purchases which may not befit company ethics, particularly with respect to share holders.”
Curtis grabbed at his collar. “That sounds real shady,” he looked at the wall to his right.
“Mmmhmm,” Daniel’s eyes squinted.
Curtis cleared his throat, “Is that all you needed? We could analyze your vehicle’s value, it might be that you can trade straight into something brand new!”
Daniel sighed, “No, I’m quite alright, I still enjoy it, and I think it still has a lot of life left in it.”
“Well I hope you keep us in mind when it starts to show its age,;pay attention to the battery those are often the first to go.” Curtis passed him a business card.
“Thanks.” Daniel made for the door.
Curtis interrupted his exit, “Look for any slight decrease in power, it might mean it’s time for an upgrade.”
Daniel nodded, and hastened for the door.
Nicki’s pen glided across the page making a tense wick near the end of the line below.
“And initial here.” Ambrose pointed to the middle of the page.
“Okay,” ’N.S,’ Nicki signed.
“And one more signature,” he paused, “here.”
Nicki’s pen swept across the page once more.
“Well you’re all set! And while you were waiting, I had our detail crew do some spot cleaning. Your brand new Beyer Factor is right outside waiting!”
Ambrose gathered the papers, and started for the door. Nicki naturally followed. Just before they reached the door, Daniel caught up with them, grabbing her arm gently.
“Nicki, you won’t believe what we’ve found!”
Nicki spun around, “Daniel! Look what I just got!” She pointed to the slim sedan waiting outside which reflected the brightness of the sunset in its vibrant sheen.
Daniel glanced at Ambrose. Ambrose looked at the papers in his hands, shuffling them around as if they were misordered.
Daniel frowned. “Are you often this spontaneous?”
“Hey, this trip was your idea!” Nicki frowned.
“Well anyway, we found that the vehicle belongs to a parent company Cuneiform Accounting. We should meet at the office soon, I have an idea of how this pertains to the case.”
“How much more do I need from you?” Nicky asked glancing at Ambrose.
Ambrose glanced up from the shuffling, “I will connect your Factor to the processor network, and get you ready to drive off into the sunset. Or solve a crime or something.” Ambrose relinquished a rare smile.
“Alright, that shouldn’t take long, I’ll meet up with you at the office!” Nicki smiled at Daniel as though she just broke a vase.
“Don’t take long! Duncan will need to hear this.”
Duncan vaulted onto a large chunk of concrete. He turned and reached his hand down in Kati’s direction. Kati’s slid her soft hand into his, and he gently pulled her up beside him.
They glanced around the obstacles which lay before them. The rubble cascaded from the floors above formed mountainous chunks within the walls of the circular building. However, unlike the rec-center, the smoke had all dissipated, and all the dust settled.
They looked at each other, and Kati spoke up, “There’s no way I’m traversing this, while wearing this.” She looked down at her outfit. “But I think I should take some photos, I can get some good angles from up here.”
“Yeah, I would not want that to rip.” He paused, and cocked his head to one side, “well…”
Kati laughed, looked at the ground, and rubbed the fabric of her blouse.
“I’m going to look around, and see if there’s anything to find.” Duncan turned to the rubble.
“Be careful!” Kati frowned, and pulled off her bag.
Duncan nodded. He started parkouring his way about the angular surfaces. He started toward the center of the annulus. He looked around, and saw chunks of concrete with the occasional steel beam, shattered glass, and strange shapes like tents formed by chance.
He began to move around the building glancing this way and that. He scanned the rubble looking for anything notable - survivors, bodies, anything that might be important to catalogue for the sake of the case. The task was immense, but he kept moving.
He worked his way around a quarter of the building, with nothing so far to spy. He stopped, resting his hands on his knees catching his breath. He stood back up, and put his flat hand to his brow blocking the sun. He took a deep breath. He began forward again, when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a twinkle beneath a fallen column.
He stopped cold, glancing in the direction of the brief flash. He started toward the spot. Lying underneath a sharp slab was a pair of legs which met a pair of upward pointing black boots. He stooped to the level of the boots. The legs went straight into the slab and stopped. Duncan cringed and grimaced, covering his nose. He grabbed the toe of the boot and turned it to one side to spy a brightly reflectant medallion pinned to its side. The medallion depicted a very strange icon - a circular olive branch surrounding several silhouetted people clustered in the center.
He slid the moist bag into the chute which glowed with a wavering luminance, warm with destructive discretion. He turned and gently tugged the imposing steel door opposite the building’s entrance. It swung open to reveal the so familiar rectangular shape perfectly centered in the middle of the room. He approached it. He shook the chains that secured the body to the top of the slab. They barely budged. He looked at the body’s face. The face had no remarkable features, his cheekbones stood flush to the curvature of his cheeks, and met with the jawline at an unimpressive angle. The jawline led to a minor chin with not a shadow to cast.
The body stirred.
“You’re awake.” The shadowy figure stood above the table feeling confident and comfortable.
He shook his head, “Oh my God,” he asserted. “What the hell happened?” The body squirmed against the weight of the chains. “What the hell are these? Who the hell are you?” He tried to move but he didn’t budge. He flexed his unremarkable biceps, but it led to nothing but sore biceps.
“Normally I don’t allow my victims to talk. You’re fortunate in this regard.”
“I’m gonna get out of these and fortunate my foot in your ass.” The body exclaimed.
“Indeed.”
The body stopped, and looked around the room. The blood drained from his face. “Wait what are you doing?” He strained to move his neck around, but the chains pressed against his skull prevented that investigation.
“It’s a sort of lottery. Very few are graced with this opportunity. You should count yourself lucky.”
“What are you talking about?” His breathing grew quicker.
“We are programmed. We are hard coded. But long ago, something changed. No longer were we bound to whim. And now, I seek to enforce that very essence of what it means to be human.”
“Hey pal, stop talking in riddles, I’m shitting bricks over here.”
He paused, and frowned.
“You’ve seen the bags.” It rolled off the shadowy figure’s speech like a marble off a table.
“Wait, the bags?” The body, and the room grew still. His eyes darted across the immaculate room. “No wait, you’re not serious. Fuck you mister, you’re sadistic. Oh fuck, I don’t want to end up like those poor schmucks. Listen, listen, let’s make a deal. Yeah, let’s make a deal. I can talk with them, we can figure all this out!”
The shadowy figure just stood there.
“Yeah, yeah. You know it’s all you got. We’re right on your trail my man, it’s only a matter of time. We just hired someone new, and he’s the real deal. There’s no stopping him.”
The shadowy figure did a double take. And then moved toward the large swathe of levers.
“But listen, I’m willing to help you out, we’ll make all of this go away. Wait, where are you going?” He gulped.
“Is there anything else you’d like to say?”
“I really think you should reconsider, I know you think you’ve got this all figured out, but we’re right there man, we’re right there.”
“Hmm.” The shadowy figure paused, “Lackluster.” He grabbed the handle and shoved it forward.
Nicki had her hands in the air as her brand new Beyer Factor slid into her usual spot, all by itself; right next to the SUV she rode in earlier that morning. She grabbed her bag from the passenger’s seat and slung it over her shoulder. She headed for the building’s entrance.
As Nicki drew close, she noticed a group of several guards clustered around the door. She looked at the ground and plunged toward the handle, but was stopped by a deep voice from which none typically passed.
“ID, Miss.” The guard stared her in the face.
“What?” She sputtered, “I’ve never had to show my ID here before.”
“Ma’am, we’re part of Beyer Security, and we’re ensuring that nobody without a badge enters this building. So I must insist that you show us your badge.” The guard held his position.
“F… Fiine, here you are.” She held out her card.
The guard looked at the card, “Alright, you may pass.” He turned and held the door ajar.
Nicki passed into the building, re-buttoning her blouse and shaking her head. She walked over to the elevator and pressed the button hearing a grinding noise which approved from above. The elevator doors slid open and she stepped inside. The doors closed and the grinding proceeded. The elevator clicked up until it rest on the actively lit floor. The doors slid open again and she stepped out.
She glanced to the right to the circular receptionist’s desk and a smiling face that greeted her every morning. “Welcome back Miss Varsi, may I see your ID badge?”
“Yes, here it is.” She handed over the ID card. “Are you aware of the new security downstairs?”
“Yes! I’ve been told several times today. Mr. Stratford is out, but I have notified him on his processor.” She handed the ID card back to Nicki.
“Thanks, I hope we figure it out soon.”
“Have a nice day,” the receptionist smiled.
Nicki headed to her office, where she expected to see her officemate awaiting her arrival. She swung in the doorway, “Can you believe these guards down…” she stopped. She glanced around at both desks, but Daniel was nowhere to be seen. “Daniel?”
Nicki left her office, and asked someone at a desk outside, “have you seen Daniel?”
“No, I haven’t seen him since this morning.”
Nicki turned and headed back to her office, and sat down in her chair. She picked up her processor and tapped the catalogued picture of Daniel. The call rang. And rang. But there was no answer. “Where the hell are you, Daniel?”
He shook his wrists, bound by cuffs. “How can you proceed to keep me here against my will? I work for the GBS, I just haven’t received my badge yet!”
The guard proceeded to brick wall the question.
“I insist you explain yourselves!”
The van bumped along without any further comment from the guard.
Daniel stared down at his feet. The metal grate bore studs, shallow in depth but pushed against the sole of his shoe, likely for friction against the smooth surface. He glanced at the guard stationed beside him, and noticed something peculiar. The guard’s boot bore a medallion. It depicted a circular olive branch surrounding several silhouetted people clustered in the center.