Kuebiko - CH. 14

"Fear defeats more people than anything else in the world." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Melea's Partner - Unknown

"Come with me Finneas," I said, my fingernails dug into the faint arm. Blood streamed out of his nose. I slowly let some of the tension go, and some of the whiteness of the arm was overtaken by the sudden reoccurring blood flow.

"How long will he be unconscious?", he asked me and observed the color-change of the guy's arm as I let it fall on the deep-brown, dynamite-alike soil.

"About an hour or so," I replied. Before we stood up, there was a sudden look on Finneas face. A look I knew way too well. Oh no, no, poor Finneas. It was fear. He had the rotten, gross smell of fear all over him.

"We can't afford to feel fear. We can't even afford to think fear. So quit the look on your face," I hissed, and Finneas swallowed, but nodded and we both got up.

"You never told me how you became a part of this whole thing. Of the crew," he commenced a conversation that let me stop walking for a minute, as gruesome pictures filled my mind. Torture. Torture had been the reason.

I continued walking when I saw pity in his eyes, "let's just say that I have a reason to be here. Just like we all do. Isn't that right, gay gambler?"

All of us knew what had brought Finneas here. He was a typical gambler. The only difference was that even the slightest mention of it brought him to shut up. I hated to use it against him, but we were all here for a reason. And that reason wasn't friendship. Something as cruel as this should not interfere with ruining our Vision of something as precious as a friendship.

"The Boss says A2 wants to see you," he said all of the sudden, and I realized he still had one of his earphones plugged in, "A2?" I controlled my voice as I realized that my body was responding to the message not quite well. The Adrenaline streamed through my body as if it had been poured over me, sweat was produced and my heartbeat turned from 60 to 90 in a spare minute.

"You messed up," he went on, and I swallowed. Fear was stuck in my throat, begging me to run home, but I knew I couldn't. Don't. Give. In.

We arrived right outside the tall, wide building. It was a massive museum; the cream-coloured piers outside of the museum ranged all up to the second level of the building. The foyer was double the size of any other room – it was not just great in size, but also in illumination. The foyer was light up during the day like no other, too light up for my taste. But in respect to the darkness of the night, it was shut down.

I slipped my card through the swipe reader next to the small storeroom door. The light on it turned violet. Finneas opened the door.

This was another Dimension: it seemed as if we weren't in San Francisco anymore. We were in a virtual world. At least that's what it felt like every time I opened this door.

I called it the Dimension of Deception.

As far as the eye could see, each item, each thing, each person was dipped into a mysterious white. A clean white. Blocks of rooms were behind one another, the walls all see-through. In an organized and arranged manner, crew members and employees walked towards different sliding doors, swiping their cards, and entering different compartments. I had been here for long, but my fascination only grew each time I entered the small store room. Who could know that such an underappreciated room hid such a great mass of secrets. And one, that would reorganize us. One, that would revolutionize the world.

"He's in Room 034," Finneas nodded in my direction and I shook my head for a yes. I looked at the room labels. The bustle continued – though it always continued to be in a systematic and organized matter. Even though I had not found the room label yet, I recognized A2's face: the shiny, light hair. The hair, that deceived.

I swiped my card at the swipe reader and the door opened. A2 turned around and nodded in my direction, then onto the direction of the grey chair that I knew so well.

"Sit."

I quickly responded with a nod, and sat down on the elevated chair. The design, as most things in this dimension, deceived – it was not even the slightest bit comfortable. The usual process begun and continued for the next twenty minutes or so. I continued watching the bustle through the transparent walls. He took the needle out and nodded slowly, the eyes on the technology the outside world did not have a word for by now. It seemed to be a computer, but only came up after the entering of a password and the face ID of its owner. It disappeared when A2 logged out again.

"Your results are good," he murmured and turned around. I looked down at my finger, where my number reappeared shortly after the needle had been taken out.

"You gave us great results for today's job. He needed that portion. He knew too much anyway. So tell me," he leaned forward and I swallowed again. Don't give in, don't give in.

"Why were you not able to give us the expected results for your greatest job?", he leaned his head over to one side, "Mrs. Aldridge might be the key."

I had to clear my throat, as it suddenly became too dry to talk. I knew you could smell my fear. I stunk like fear.

"I am sorry to disappoint. I thought I weakened her enough to take her with me, but when I arrived she was gone."

"It was a risky tactic. You should have used a more common one. One you are more familiar with."

"I thought the sudden surprise would help," I interjected. A2 stood up and observed me with troubled eyes, "she has been in her business for years. It might be a possibility for her to be surprised by your sudden tactic change, but if you would have stuck with the old tactic we would have her by now. She was in a fight with her uncle's enemies already - they provide a perfect cover."

I challenged their tactics. And by challenging their tactics, I challenged them. And challenging them meant challenging my life.

"I'm sorry, I...," I swallowed, "I know I blew it," I whispered, with an undertone of fear. I hated myself for it. I wasn't supposed to feel fear. I wasn't supposed to feel anything. How do you turn off your own emotions? Easy, you numb them until they disappear by themselves.

"They are taking care of it now. Their A2 is going to observe her. He knows a chance when he sees it. He'll get her," he responded, and though his voice was calm, a sense of anger still disrupted the neutral tone of his voice. I nodded slowly. A2 turned around and logged into the version of a computer, "you can go now. Your duties won't be needed at the moment."

I nodded again, happy to finally get out of this cold, scary room, that was good at deceiving anyone but me.

"AG 6," I turned around and his mischievous smile promised no good, "I'll remember you."

I closed the door to my room as quiet as I possibly could. The slight wind coming through the window refreshed me somehow. It was still night, but the sun would rise soon.

I took off my jacket and threw it into the trash can. No one liked blood on their jacket. Especially blood from a dirty, old sac.

Suddenly, my trash can began to move. I groped through my jean pockets and realized that my phone had been in my jacket the entire time. I got my jacket out of the dirty trash bag and took my vibrating phone out, before I threw it in again and closed the top of the trash can.

"Hey," I whispered. I pressed speaker and began to change into more comfortable clothing, "hey," the soft sound of his voice vibrated through the phone.

"You're still up?," he went on, "you woke me up," I lied quickly. I was so used to lying that I wasn't a sin to me no more.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized, "It's fine! I always have trouble sleeping anyways."

"I know. I also sleep better when you're next to me," I smiled at his answer. We were both quiet for a moment, somehow just enjoying each other's company over the phone.

"So, we're still on for tomorrow? We can go somewhere else if you'd like?", he disrupted the silence, but I quickly interjected, "no, the diner is great."

"We haven't seen each other for so long. Feels weird, doesn't it?"

I sat down on my bed in my jogging pants and smiled a genuine smile, "I miss you too."

I heard a slight laughter through the phone, "try to get some more sleep, alright?"

"Alright."

"Okay. Goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow."

I crawled under my blanket. The sudden warmth made me tired. My feet turned numb, my entire body felt heavy. A sudden yawn interrupted my attempt to answer. I turned off the speaker chuckled slightly.

"Yes. Goodnight, Chase."

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Kuebiko - a state of exhaustion inspired by acts of senseless violence; moral exhaustion.