A/N: Only one more exam to go! And with luck, I'll pass all five from these past two weeks :D I should probably learn right now for the last one, but A, I promised a chapter on Tuesday, and B, my mind's still scrambled from the exam earlier today, so I needed to do something different anyway. Have fun! Oh, and something a little more sci-fi-ish ahead.
Chapter 8: Internal Affairs
It's been a few days since the two detectives paid us a visit, and it hasn't been pretty. Barrymore's actions on the 'mission' didn't go unnoticed with his higher-ups in this ominous company the G-Man works for. I had to stay back each time they brought him in for questioning, and each time he came back with a bigger raincloud over his face.
I hadn't known they were so strict about their missions. It's like a job, really. Which annoys me to no end. Granted, the benefits are great, but I'm an engineer, not a superspy. I don't need the thrill of near-death-experiences to enjoy life.
Now, four days after the incident, they are finally going to question me. I'm so not looking forward to it. The G-Man even came by to accompany me, but his presence doesn't do much to calm my nerves. He takes me to a room in the loft I wasn't allowed in before. The white-painted room is naked, save for the pedestal in the middle.
"Don't... worry, Mr. Gerthson. The Elders don't... bite," he assures me when he sees my doubtful look. "They do... demand respect, but... you have nothing... to fear. Your... mission allows way more... leeway than your butler's."
He crosses the distance to the pedestal, but I stay back at the door, trying to process what he just told me.
"Who are the Elders?"
He looks at me over his shoulder. "Essentially, you can... think of them as... some sort of... Internal Affairs Division for my... employer's company."
His measured and broken cadence of his voice are really starting to piss me off, but that might be because I'm about to meet some crazy powerful people and I just can't deal with him right now.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" I ask, my stubborn streak flaring.
G-Man, probably used to unwilling assets, only chuckles. "You'll see... soon enough."
He lays his hand on the pedestal which scans the hand print and accepts it with a green flash. A loud rumble goes through the room and the walls start groaning in protest.
Following common sense, I try to leave the room, but the instant my foot leaves the ground to back out, I lose balance and crash into the floor ass first. When I tilt my head back, I can only see the door getting farther and farther away. It's almost as if the pedestal tries to suck me in. I scramble back on all fours in some kind of twisted crab walk, but to no avail.
"Struggle is... an illusion, Mr. Gerthson."
With that said, I reach the pedestal. As I've somehow come to expect, everything turns black and the familiar feeling of being stuck on a rack pitches in.
I hate dimension hopping.
When I wake up, I can't open my eyes wide, only enough to see that my hands and feet are strapped with leather cuffs to a wire seat, reminding me a little of an electric chair.
"Don't worry, we're not going to fry you," a loud voice booms, "the restraints are solely to keep you from harming yourself. Interdimensional travel isn't a very gentle process, I'm afraid."
You don't say.
The voice itself however, although almost painfully loud, has a rather pleasant ring to it and an accent I can't place. Remotely French, maybe? Ugh, I don't know. At least I know it's a female voice, an attractive one at that, so I've got this going for me, which is nice.
I shake my head to get rid of the webbing clouding my brain and force my eyes open. The only light source of the room, a naked light bulb, is burning brightly over my head, dipping the better part of the room in darkness.
A sudden whirring noise makes me look around to figure out where the sound comes from until I'm pressed into the seat as the whole contraption abruptly starts accelerating.
When the chair stops again, the leather cuffs fall off with a clunk, having been held together by strong magnets only.
"They look like a kinkier version of those magnetic healing bracelets or what they're called. I never liked the original. And I definitely don't like this version," I say and rub my wrists gingerly.
"True, true. But as I said, they are necessary, even if they are an inconvenience, especially if the traveler is resisting," The same voice as before says. She sounds almost apologetically.
"I think I would feel better already if you just showed yourself."
"As you wish." I can even hear the shrug that accompanies that.
A row of neon lights flicker alive, the cold light revealing the person behind the bodiless voice I've been hearing.
A woman walks up to the chair, takes my hand and pulls me up with impressive ease. When I stand again, I finally take in the woman before me.
About thirty years old, this woman could easily pass as a Snow White double if not for the soft tan instead of milky white skin. And maybe the hair is a little short for that role, but that's probably just me.
"Thank you," she says with barely hidden mirth.
"Err… you're welcome… for what again?"
Now she's outright grinning. "For comparing me to Snow White, it's one of my favorite fairy tales."
"Oh, did I say that out loud? Shoot, I didn't realize," I mutter as I feel a furious blush creeping up my face.
The woman bites her lip, I'd guess to hide her amusement. "No, Jonathan. We can read minds."
I think if I get any redder, tomatoes will start greeting me as a kinsman.
"Erm, yeah… good to know. Now… I think I have an appointment here? Combusted terrorist, New York, Castle Universe?"
"Yes. We know," I hear, and it's followed by a chuckle.
"Course you do," I grumble. "No offense, but I imagined the Elders to be a bit…"
"Older?" she asks and raises an eyebrow when I nod sheepishly. "Well, time is a rather odd thing in this meta dimension. I am here since before the pyramids of Giza were built."
My eyes get big as saucers. What the…? "You look good for your age." is out of my mouth before I can think of stopping it.
Another chuckle. "Thank you. That's always nice to hear. I'm Cassandra, by the way. I will lead the investigation in your mission's case."
"And what are you trying to find out?" I ask.
In answer, Cassandra gives me a smile. "The truth."
A short one, maybe the next will already be a bit longer, the one after that at the latest, though.
