Chapter 18: The TVA
Click.
A searing gun muzzle pressed against Elias's forehead.
He let out a weary sigh. Claw had truly been the weakest link—he'd botched everything at the last moment. The situation had been clear: Cipher was cornered, her threats empty. She'd been gambling for a last-ditch edge, hoping to trick a confession or clue out of Claw.
But oh, how Claw had taken the bait…
She had no idea what was in the deposit box, no idea what Claw's "ultimate goal" might be. Then Claw practically handed it to her:
"An invitation letter! Could the box hold a letter from the TVA?!"
Such a rookie move, basically screaming, "Yes, you guessed it—that's what I'm after!"
Fields Medal mathematician's son—and this was the level of idiocy he'd shown?
Moments later, Cipher staged her surrender so she could retrieve the pistol hidden in her hair. Claw's meltdown sealed his doom.
"Go ahead. Pull the trigger."
Elias actually felt a dull boredom. Since his plan to break the stalemate had failed, there was no reason to linger in this collapsing scenario.
"You are, without doubt, the most reckless man I've ever met," Cipher said softly behind her hero mask.
"You pretend to be me, blow up half this bank… You show no fear of dying at all?"
"Let's not waste each other's time." Elias closed his eyes. Might as well die and wake up early.
"But I still want my question answered." He wet his lips, forcing a thin smile. "If you're gonna kill me anyway, can't you at least do me one kindness? Let me die knowing why."
Cipher kept the gun fixed on his forehead. "What exactly do you want to know?"
"I need to know if you and I share some kind of history," Elias said, meeting her gaze. "I can't explain it, but you must have encountered me before. There's some reason you refuse to blow me away—even though you shot Claw without blinking."
"Shoot me if you want—I won't resist. But at least let me die with that knowledge."
He peered straight into Cipher's eyes.
"Have we ever met before?"
"…"
"…"
Cipher, unwavering, lifted the muzzle slightly, returning his stare.
"No."
Bang!!!
The thunder of the gunshot, the acrid stench of gunpowder, the ear-splitting ring…
A razor-sharp pain lanced Elias's eardrum.
Wait—the ear?!
He blinked, realizing he hadn't returned to his bedroom. He was still crouched in the deposit-box chamber. The gun's barrel smoked, angled just a hair to the right. The bullet had torn through the top of his ear, embedding in the stone wall behind him. Blood trickled from his ruptured eardrum.
"You seriously still won't kill me?" Elias muttered, half incredulous. He'd done some messed-up things to her plan—she'd even shot Claw without a second thought. Yet she spared him once more. Strange…
If this were some old martial-arts drama, he'd guess this femme fatale had fallen for him. But that was clearly not the case.
"Go away," Cipher said in a hollow voice, lowering her pistol as she turned toward the deposit box. "Stop interfering."
She ignored the blood oozing from his ruined ear and began tinkering with the mechanical lock.
Elias remained silent. The seconds ticked by in tense stillness, until—
Click!
The overhead lights flickered back to life. The main power had been restored.
Bee-bee-beep! Bee-bee-beep!
Sirens screeched. Cipher slammed her fist on the still-unopened lock, letting out a frustrated sigh.
Elias stepped forward slowly.
"I just want to know—"
"You and your questions!!" Cipher snapped, spinning around with a glare. "We're out of time because you wasted it all!"
"One more, just one," he said, offering a sheepish grin and gesturing at the deposit box. "Is there really a TVA invitation in there?"
She didn't answer.
Bee-bee-beep! Bee-bee-beep!
Amid the piercing alarm, Cipher turned on her heel and sprinted through the blasted vault door into the darkness beyond, never looking back.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Another wave of brilliant white light swallowed the world, reducing everything to cinders in a scorching instant.
***
"Ugh…"
Elias exhaled, not bothering to open his eyes. He recognized the sensation of his body lying in bed, covers strangely heavy.
"Man…" he grunted to himself. "What on earth is that woman's game?"
He just couldn't puzzle it out. She gunned down Claw with zero hesitation but never quite finished Elias off. So contradictory…
He rubbed his lids, forcing away the memory. Between day-job stress and dream-world chaos, he couldn't catch a break. Couldn't his dream be more… relaxing?
"Guess I'll sleep," he murmured. He rolled over, drifting into a dreamless slumber for the rest of the night.
***
Elias arrived at the MH Cosmetics office. Before he could reach his department, a colleague from Production spotted him. "Morning, Mr. Crane—your Rhine Cat plush sample arrived. Thought I'd give you the first one."
They handed over a skillfully made plush—about the size of a soccer ball, with soft, high-quality fabric. It had every detail of the brand's new feline mascot, right down to a fluffy little tail.
"Nicely done," Elias said, genuinely impressed. "I'll drop this off with Ms. Harrington. Bring a few more copies to my office later, okay?"
The colleague nodded and hurried off.
"Hey! Mr. Crane," the receptionist called from her station, waving a small envelope. "A lady came by this morning, left an invitation for Ms. Harrington. Would you mind taking it up, too?"
"Sure," Elias said. He took the envelope—or more accurately, a folded, card-like invitation. The opening flap was sealed with a blob of red wax, embossed with an intricate emblem. The whole thing radiated a sense of refined elegance.
"A friend of Ms. Harrington getting married?" he mused, turning it over.
A freezing sense of shock rippled through him. He remembered Gavin's words at the bar:
"If something from your dream shows up in real life—that's when it's truly trouble."
Elias stared at the back of the dark red invitation. It had five bold golden letters printed across it:
"T.V.A?!"