"I'm here to see Miles Axlerod."
No sooner had the words left the blue Nissan's silver lips than the eyes of the nicely-polished Ford Edge behind the counter widened in shock.
"A-are you sure, miss?"
Lyra Leaf gave a slight nod of her hood, her piercing lime-green eyes never leaving the ocean of teal in the other's. She was well aware of the fact that Axlerod, formerly known as Sir, had likely not received many visits over the months following his infamous arrest, and she had well prepared herself for this moment.
"Trust me. I know exactly what I'm doing."
"May I see your identification?"
"Oh, yeah, sure," Lyra replied, whipping out the small rectangular card that carried her personal information. "Lyra Leaf, vice president of the Global Electric Vehicle Organization. I work for Nicole Tesla."
"Any... personal connections to Mr. Axlerod, Miss Leaf?" asked the Ford, scrawling something down on an official-looking form as she spoke.
"He was a part of the organization before his plan was found out." She inhaled sharply, changing the subject. "You seemed pretty surprised I've come to see him, any particular reason for that?"
"You're his first visitor. Not even his wife has paid him a visit. Ex-wife, I should say. Speaking of whom, I don't think anyone's got a clue to where she's been the past few months. I don't suppose you'd know anything of her whereabouts, miss?"
"Nope, not at all," Lyra lied.
"Well, I do hope she's all right."
Lyra smiled to herself, content with the knowledge that Laney Axlerod - who now preferred to be addressed by her maiden name of Parker - was indeed fine. It had cut into Lyra over time, knowing something that most of the public had been desperate to find out for months, and she was sure it would be harder still speaking to Miles about his betrayal of love for money. She had made up her mind long ago that she would find a way to ease into the subject whether he liked it or not, but she didn't want to become his next target should he ever manage to break free. The Nissan bit her lip, realizing she had been in silence for several moments.
The Ford must have seen a twinge of doubt in Lyra's flitting eyes. She leaned in closely, as closely as she could across the polished marble counter, close enough so that Lyra could feel her warm, pleasantly scented breath fogging up the charging hatch on the tip of her hood. Lyra gulped, unsure entirely of what was to come.
"Lyra Leaf, I am warning you, here and now. Miles Axlerod is extremely dangerous, and he's nothing now like what you likely remember. All those smiles, all that charm, all that shine and sparkle, it was all a cover-up, a facade. Don't take to heart a single word that comes out of his mouth. Honest, I've seen him these days. Don't you dare push anything the wrong way, don't you dare even try."
She pulled back and smiled warmly, in a way that made Lyra wonder if the Ford's sibilant monologue had been simply a figment of her own imagination. The Nissan took a deep breath, forcing herself to stare straight ahead.
"Now, darling, it's time you made your-"
"Yeah," Lyra interjected suddenly, fearing that if she kept the word in her mouth too long it would turn sour and she would work herself into a panic. "Yeah, I'll do it."
"Best follow me then. Come on, this way," replied the Ford, waving a tire in a beckoning gesture towards the Leaf as she began to drive away from her station, flipping the standing sign on the countertop from "Open For Service" to "Service Unavailable."
It was eerily silent as the Ford led the way for Lyra, lost in her own thoughts and worries, through a convoluted tangle of hallways and doors. She couldn't help noticing that they all looked mostly, if not exactly, the same. At least if Axlerod were to somehow escape, it wouldn't take much effort - or much time - for him to get lost. It was a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless, and so she took it.
Just when she started to think they were going around in endless circles, the Ford stopped, and Lyra behind her. "Here we are, miss, at least for me. I'm not allowed past this point, so it'll just be that first door on your right. Don't be afraid, there'll be a few inches of solid glass between you and him. Of course that means you won't be able to hear each other, so you'll need to use the phone system. Just a touch of the green button should start it up. It's all tires-free."
"Thanks," Lyra muttered, avoiding eye contact as she drove swiftly ahead, with not a single glance behind her.
Despite her best efforts to prepare herself for what she might see, even her wildest expectations were no match for the sight that met her eyes. She couldn't suppress the gasp that thankfully, Miles was unable to hear. As the Ford had instructed her to do, she drove over to the panel on the wall that controlled the phone, almost immediately spotting the dimly glowing green button. She pressed her tire to it lightly, releasing only when a faint buzzing signaled the link between them. She backed up until she was centered in front of the rectangular window positioned at eye level and took a shaky breath.
The Ford had been right in all respects. His once-dazzling blue eyes were bloodshot and streaked with slashes of gray, and if it was true that one's eyes are the window to their soul, all Lyra saw inside was pure, unbridled insanity. His breathing, distorted slightly by the crackle of the phone connection, was no more than a shallow, uneven series of gasps that sounded glaringly like choking sobs. He was still painted in green, although it was covered in at least a few layers of dust and grime, and had been peeled and scratched away in several places. Interestingly, Lyra noticed, the dirt appeared slightly fainter on both edges of his hood below his eyes, obviously washed thin by streams of tears. She wouldn't be surprised if he cried himself to sleep on a nightly basis. All four of his tires had evidently gone flat long ago, and it seemed to be causing him a great amount of pain.
"I'll forgive you for staring," he spat, his voice hoarse and fluctuating. "But don't expect much more from me than that."
"Miles, it's me. Don't you remember?" Lyra said softly, concealing any fear that remained in her voice with a gentle and soothing tone, speaking as if she were trying to comfort an injured animal.
"Vice President," Axlerod whispered, apparently finding it too difficult to speak. "Yes, I remember." He pulled closer to the window. "What of the others now? Nicole, the President, she's still there?"
Lyra nodded, resisting the urge to point out that Nicole Tesla's presence at the Global Electric Vehicle Organization was hardly a pleasure. Most Teslas, be they a Model S or a Roadster - of which Nicole was the latter - held a strong rivalry against Lyra's kind for a reason unknown to her, or any of GEVO's Leafs for that matter.
"What brought you here?"
The question punctuated a lengthy silence, stirring Lyra from the depths of her mind. Great. Exactly the question she hoped it wouldn't occur to him to ask. She rubbed a tire nervously on the ground, forcing herself to remain calm on the outside as her mind scrambled to find a viable excuse.
"Oh, umm... I was just, uh, wondering whether or not you might be interested in converting to electric for real? You know, if, well-"
"If they ever let me out. Which isn't likely."
"Yeah, that..."
"Promise you won't tell anyone?"
"It's just between you and me, I promise."
"I would."
Lyra's eyes widened. "Really?"
"I'd do anything!" he yelled abruptly, slamming his torn-up tire against the window in a fit of rage. Lyra scrambled back and shrieked. "Anything to get me out of here! Anything to make everyone believe that I'm really who I said I was! Because I've thought about it, I really have! Three months thinking about that and nothing else! Every single thing I've ever done wrong is screaming at me in my head, and it hurts... oh, Lyra, it hurts so badly... oh, please..."
His tire slid slowly down the window with a deafening screech, coming to rest on the floor as Miles leaned against the wall, sobbing dejectedly. Lyra felt a sudden pang of guilt somewhere deep inside her, squeezing her eyes tightly shut and feeling as if she might cry herself. She pressed her own tire gently to the window, where his had been just moments earlier. Overcome with a sudden desire to comfort him, she wanted to tell him that everything was going to be okay, that he could fix it all with time, that she knew exactly how he felt - all three of which would be lies. Instead she waited patiently, her tire against the glass, for him to calm down. Eventually his cries dwindled down into whimpers, and he took a slow, deep breath, meeting Lyra's gaze with his own.
"Lyra... I'm so sorry, but... Laney..." He shuddered as if the name burned merely to think about. "Where is she?"
"Oh..." Lyra had indeed been telling herself all this time that Laney would figure into the conversation somehow, but she couldn't have imagined that Miles would be the one to bring it up. "Miles, she's... disappeared. No one knows where she is. It's been months now. But I'm sure she's okay, they haven't found anything to be able to say she isn't-"
A look of severe dread crossed Miles' face. "Oh, no... No, no, she can't, she wouldn't..."
He trailed off there, leaving Lyra to ask the question she really had in mind. "You really loved her, didn't you?"
"Yes, Lyra. Yes, I did. Before everything went wrong, before any of that ever happened, we were together."
"How long had you known each other?"
"Since childhood. It wasn't just love, it was true friendship." He sighed despondently, blinking away the last of the tears from his eyes. "I never should have lied to her. Because all that money I could have made, wasnothing compared to what I already had, and what I could have kept had I not been such a greedy fool..." His eyes welled up with tears yet again, but this time the emotion within them was something entirely different: regret.
Lyra couldn't bite back her own tears this time. "She'd forgive you. And... and I-I'm sure she'll accept you for who you are."
He sniffled. "Engine and all?"
"Yes."
"You're very kind."
Lyra gave a bittersweet smile, a tear leaking out of the corner of her right eye.
"Lyra Lydia Leaf, if there's one thing you should know-"
"Hey, whoa, wait a sec. How do you know my middle name?"
He chose to leave her question unanswered. "If you're ever lucky enough to find love - a true, deep, unconditional and undying bond of friendship as well as romance - never, ever should you let it go. No matter if everyone else thinks badly of it, no matter if it should by all means be forbidden, don't you dare abandon it for anything."
"You really have changed."
"Well, three months locked up in a room with no company but myself and nothing to do but rethink my entire life, yes. I suppose I have."
"And I'm glad for that. But just one more question, alright?"
"Sure, anything."
"Are you planning revenge? Do you still want to get back at the world for how you were treated? Or is that all behind you now?"
"Revenge would be unnecessary, and not to mention useless. But I'm not the one in charge anymore, so the decision is no longer up to me."
"Wait, but... who is? I don't understand, what-"
"If I told you..." he whispered, staring straight into the Nissan's eyes, "...you wouldn't believe me."
Lyra gasped as she heard a loud warning tone, and the phone system shut itself off. Red letters scrolled across the screen saying, Your ten-minute visit has come to an end. Have a nice day. She punched the green button repeatedly, but there was no response. Giving Miles a final wave through the window and getting one in return, she opened the door and retraced her path to the doorway where she knew the Ford was waiting.
She was immediately met with the familiar sights and sounds of London's busy streets as she exited the building, a wave of chilly September air washing over her and making her shiver involuntarily. It was getting past the point where summer weather continued to linger on into the early days of fall, and to the point where the leaves bore a hint of yellow seeping into their usual green. Not wanting to enter the traffic just yet, Lyra paused for a few moments, making a mental note to herself to drive on the left side of the street instead of the right. Funny, she thought, that even though it had been a whole seven years and then some since she had left her longtime hometown of Bellevue, Washington, she was still getting used to some aspects of life. At least the Olympic Games would be held here next year, and that was something Lyra could happily look forward to.
Her gaze shifted to a single tire resting against a brick wall to her right. Moving closer, she realized that it wasn't just a tire - that an unfortunate car had somehow lost an entire wheel. The tire was considerably worn and flecked with dirt, but not enough for the inscription to be unreadable. It read Road Hug, Rack and Minion. She'd never heard of that particular brand before. Glancing behind her, Lyra noticed a pub by the name of Ye Left Turn Inn, which she passed on her daily commute to work, and which was known for, at times, being especially rowdy. Maybe that was where it happened.
With a sharp inhale, Lyra entered the stream of traffic and began making her way back to the small apartment building she called home. Better enjoy her off-day while it lasted.