CH 0

I walked slowly under the warm rays, while the guards behind me tried to usher me on. I have not felt sunlight in roughly eight months; it burnt pleasantly into my clothes and made my neck warm. The building in front of me looked amazingly polished, and as imposing and sterile as ever.

I couldn't help but glance around as I entered my friend's workspace. They had fixed it up so well that no trace of warfare could be found anywhere. Gentle white lights glowed overhead, illuminating the smooth surfaces where my best friend had worked for over half her life. A scanner lit up as I approached a second security clearance. I had been here several times before to visit her and to have coffee together. We'd always make the director furious, since we were drinking liquids right next to million-dollar machines.

My eyes instinctively squinted as I stepped into the room where she used to work, for the artificial lights glared in here. They had replaced the bullet-damaged machines with even better technology, no doubt in an attempt to compensate for my friend's absence. Her research had been important, well, important enough to warrant my transfer anyway. Sadly for them, I doubt I could match Zander's level of brilliance in this field. It's not a lack of self-confidence talking; I was simply not trained for this.

The supercomputer hummed softly and I could see my dreadful reflection in its surfaces. I scanned my eyes, logging into the system, and performed a preliminary system scan just to make sure that everything was in place. My other colleagues haven't arrived yet, so I leaned back motionlessly against the smooth white wall, staring blankly ahead.

I'll try not to think about how her life very possibly ended some thirty feet away from where I stood.