"Bailey Gilande worked admin up in Highrise. That's a lot of privileged info."
Celebrated archivist and top administrative consultant Bailey Gilande sat hunched over a terminal in the archival building, flicking through her messages. Her dark, canny eyes gave the heading of each message a once over and quickly passed over it. Most of the things administration sent her these days weren't really worth consideration. Bailey yawned softly, covering her mouth with slender fingers, then bent closer to her monitor.
'Proposal for a walking bridge from Goldwalk to Fairview…' she thought, opening the message and reading it in full. This had caught her attention for the simple fact that it was such an obvious move. It seemed like an excellent idea to Bailey. Hesitation on an obvious poll meant that there had to be some kind of drawback, and they wanted her to find it.
She selected 'reply' and left the terminal running as she got to her feet. She slid on a pair of slippers and bustled over to the elevator, which would take her into the archives proper.
She hummed under her breath as she ascended, staring out the glass windows into the brilliant lilac sky.
The archives were slowly being converted into digital files to be stored in huge databanks, but most of them were still on outdated drives, or even paper depending on how old they were.
When Bailey reached the storage warehouse, she stepped out of the elevator and picked her way through the many shelves containing everything that had ever been recorded about the fair city of Cloudbank.
After a few moment's she'd found what she was looking for. It was always easy to locate information for Bailey. She'd compiled most of it herself and overseen its storage here. This was her kingdom.
'It's such an obvious decision… why wasn't it done sooner… There might have been some sort of obstacle, a building malfunction, unsuitable conditions, some kind of flaw…' she thought, rifling through files.
She was jolted from her work suddenly when there was a slightly timid call from behind her.
"Miss Gilande?"
Bailey spun around to see her secretary, Daphnis, clutching a gilt envelope and looking a little anxious. Anyone who'd worked for Bailey Gilande knew that she didn't like to be disturbed while she was busy, and that she became quite snappy when she was.
"What is it?" she said approaching the man.
"An envelope, miss." he said, holding it out.
"I can see that. What's inside?" she replied, slightly vexed.
"I-It was addressed to you, miss. I thought it would be improper to open it…"
"Hmm. Well, I suppose so. Thank you, Daphnis. Will that be all?"
"Yes miss."
Daphnis trotted away quickly leaving Bailey to her letter. She opened it with dextrous fingers and unfolded the paper within.
It was an invitation.
'Archivist Bailey Gilande, you are cordially invited to this private banquet in honour of Cloudbank's most devoted servants."
Bailey's eyes lingered on the word 'banquet'. As much as she preferred to keep to herself, she loved food. Especially if it was good. And free. And made specially, in her honour.
She tucked the letter back into the envelope, then continued with her search of the archives. When she'd found what she was looking for, she went back to the elevator and opened the letter again.
The location was nearby, and when she checked her schedule on the terminal, the date was set on an evening that she wasn't particularly busy.
She pondered over the pros and cons of attending the event while she pored over her files. By the next morning, she'd decided that the Bridge was a good idea, and so was the banquet.
The days leading up to the event went by quickly. Bailey had little to look forward to in her quiet, historical world, and awaiting this rare outing sped up time nicely. So it seemed like only moments had passed between the time she'd acquired the letter to the time she'd just finished tucking her pet elf-owl Oda into the folds of her dress; the little bird was attending as her guest to provide her some comfort.
She left the archives soundlessly, as was her custom, sealing them up tight and double-checking the locks. She could never be too careful with her precious files.
She'd sent Daphnis home early, who'd been a little too happy about it, and set everything in order for the following day. Satisfied with her work, Bailey began her trip through Cloudbank to the banquet hall, her invitation tucked safely into her breast pocket.
Sitting in the back of a taxi cab, Bailey mused over the approaching evening, stroking Oda gently with the tip of her gloved finger.
She hadn't been particularly surprised to receive the invitation, once she knew what it was. She was certainly one of Cloudbank's most devoted servants, having practically stitched its history together from scratch. The present couldn't be adequately shaped without taking the past into account, after all. Bailey's work certainly merited some sort of celebration.
She wondered who else would be there. Perhaps Ms. Niola Chein? She was such a diligent, zealous woman, and she'd accomplished much in her career. But her area of influence was centred on Goldwalk, not Cloudbank in its entirety… Perhaps Ms. Lillian Platt? Chairwoman of the OVC, inventor of the current terminal model. Bailey was pleased with Lillian's work, and the two of them were currently collaborating on the effort of digitizing the archives for easier access (Though, privately, Bailey would always love the physical records herself). Or perhaps Grant Kendrell… the most devoted administrator ever to grace Cloudbank. Fair, judicious and quite intelligent, Grant had been one of the admins who'd put forth the idea of letting her run the city archives in the first place.
Bailey smiled to herself as the cab pulled up to the curb. She payed the driver and stepped out into the street, pulling the invitation from her breast pocket and checking the address. She looked up to find that she'd arrived directly in front of the building; it was a large marble affair with grecian columns and a motto in the old language over the huge oaken doors.
Something about the building felt oddly off to Bailey. There were no lights decorating the outside, or even greeters. Nothing to suggest there was an event taking place inside.
'It's private of course, but even so… it looks terribly chilly.'
Nevertheless, it was the correct address. Bailey mounted the few stone steps to the door and heaved it open. Inside was a huge, echoing hallway carpeted in soft blue. A single chandelier lit the place, casting bluish light down upon Bailey's small, singular figure.
She was alone.
She wandered tentatively down the hall, looking around and feeling quite subdued by the deep silence around her. She was beginning to worry when she spotted a sign at the end of the hall reading 'Banquet Hall' with a glowing blue arrow pointing to the right. Bailey sighed in relief and hurried down the right passage. She sniffed the air, expecting the smell of food, but the air simply smelled rather dusty. She frowned. There really was something off about all of this. Cuddling Oda a little tighter to her chest, she sped up.
When she finally arrived at another huge wooden door with a loaf of bread engraved across it, she lugged it open to reveal a dining hall as huge, echoing, and empty as the rest of the place.
Bailey stood in the doorway, staring. She was standing at the beginning of a long, stone-paved aisle with rows upon rows of long mahogany tables lined up on either side; not a single one was occupied. The door behind her slowly slid shut and closed with a loud thud that reverberated through the chamber, accentuating its vacancy.
Bailey scrutinized her invite, anxiety making her heart rate increase. She was definitely in the right building, and according to the information on the letter she wasn't early, late, or mistaken. Had the banquet been canceled and she simply hadn't been informed? Was this some sort of cruel joke?
Bailey hesitated for the longest time, then finally spoke up.
"Hello?"
"Hello."
Bailey nearly jumped out of her skin when a sonorous male voice responded to her own.
There, at the end of the hall, four silhouettes came into view, illuminated partially by a glowing blue something.
"I am Bailey Gilande, head of the Archives of Cloudbank, and I demand to know what is going on here!" cried Bailey indignantly. She would have stormed down the aisle to confront the four strangers, but something -possibly fear- kept her rooted to the spot. Oda peeped nervously.
"I'm glad you made it, Ms. Gilande. We've been expecting you."
Bailey suddenly recognized the voice.
"Grant? What––" but her voice faltered as a sudden movement caught her eye, and something huge and brilliantly turquoise came hurtling through the air towards her.
She let out a soft "oh!" as it stuck fast in her diaphragm, then she toppled backwards onto the flagstones.
The Camerata approached her body.
"It's a shame," said Grant softly, peering down at Bailey, "She was a genius."
"In death, she'll… do more for Cloudbank than she ever had in life…" replied Royce, just as softly.
"Oh! Look!" cried Sybil, pointing excitedly to Bailey's chest. Just above the sword, a tiny, fluffy brown lump was wriggling and peeping anxiously.
Asher stooped and extricated the tiny bird from the woman's dress.
"Looks like an owl. You did say she owned a bird, right Gra–– ow!" the owl in question had just bitten Asher's finger, causing him to let it go. It soared up into the rafters, peeping loudly in terror.
"Shit–– Look at this!" yelped Asher, holding up his bleeding finger so the others could see.
"You were handling it rather roughly." sniffed Sybil.
Asher scowled and pressed the wound to his lips.
"We'll bandage it when we return home." said Grant patiently.
Royce was inspecting the Transistor.
"Alright… It's time we left."
Grant carefully knelt down and lifted Bailey's corpse into his arms. As he did so, Royce took the handle of the Transistor.
A second later, there wasn't a soul in the building, except for Oda, who peeped mournfully from the rafters.