The compact black watch on his arm showed the minute hand quivering towards the top. Fredo took a deep breath and sighed, staving off a mighty yawn. His timepiece’s battery was running out, and he didn’t have any spare, which boded poorly for his timekeeping today.
Mechanical technology had been mostly abandoned
hundreds of years ago, shortly after the rise of magical energy integration, which had solely revolutionised the way people lived. Instead
of wasting limited resources on powering the world around them, now everything
could be run by a plentiful, easily renewable source and as a result, the
need for mechanics withered. However, as one would expect, the Nomag community resisted this change,
and took it upon themselves to keep the integrated tech out of their lives
wherever they could. While the traditional mechanical skills and methods could
still be learned, nearly all considered it outdated and unnecessary and thus it
dwindled, kept alive by only a few die hard Nomag groups who passed the
knowledge on, even learning a few new tricks across the years.
What that ultimately meant was that
finding batteries to power his antique watch was an incredibly expensive affair
for Fredo. The last he purchased from a Nijer trader for over 500 Sterling, but
he thought it would last more than the two years it had. Nevertheless,
according to the office clock it was just past nine a.m. now, and yet he had
only read through half of Susan’s reports. A junior colleague had just dumped
another eleven next to the unread pile.
Something however had been beckoning for
his attention all morning, a previous engagement he had seen fit to plan prior
to the news of Rogan’s return. That in itself messed his plans; the task of
informing the office had been thrust upon him by Susan, and it was the last
thing he really wanted to do. Whatever dalliances he had arranged though, he
knew this was ultimately more important. He couldn’t leave his colleagues
hanging when they deserved to know just as much as he did so he stood up, walked
past the sodden, scorched memorial where the espresso machine once stood and placed
himself just a couple of metres from the department boardroom. He cleared his
throat.
“Excuse me, if I could have your
attention for a moment.” He spoke calmly, but with distinction. The man never
had trouble directing peoples interest his way. “I’m going to keep this brief
because I know as little about it as you shortly will.
“There is no doubt that you’re all
anticipating some big development this morning, which is why most of you were
brought in hours before the start of your shifts. However, the nature of the
situation is far greater than many of you would have guessed. There is no easy
way to say this, but there have been unconfirmed reports brought to Crutch’s
attention in the early hours of the day, that suggest Rogan may be alive.”
While not the panicked shuffling and
murmuring that he had been expecting, there was still a semi synchronised gasp
from the floor. Not leaving them any time to absorb the scope of the news,
Fredo jumped straight back in.
“It’s a very serious situation as you
can imagine, and is being dealt with in a very carefully plotted manner. I urge
you not to panic, nor to leak this incredibly sensitive information and risk
inciting a needless panic. We will be given our orders shortly, so until then
just keep yourselves focused on whatever you have to do.”
Fredo surveyed the department. Familiar
faces were painted with fear and confusion while some more estranged colleagues
looked over to him as if expecting more updates. As for himself, he didn’t know
what to think. It seemed ridiculous that somebody could come back from the
dead, it went against everything that science had taught him.
“Rogan reincarnated himself, is that it?
That’s impossible!” Came a shout from the furthest end of the room, near Susan’s
office.
“I’m afraid I’m not the one to ask about
that, I’m as baffled as you are. The only thing I know for sure is that it will
inevitably fall to us to protect the citizens of Natalos sometime soon. When
that time comes, we need to be prepared, so until then, remain calm as best as
you can, help each other out and focus on whatever you’re given.”
It was a speech full of typically
cack-handed phrases, but considering he knew only what Susan had told him, it
really was the best he could do. Fredo nodded politely and stepped back before
making a beeline to the office exit. As he slunk away, he hoped nobody would
give chase with questions he knew he couldn’t answer.
Taking another look at his watch, he
noted that the time was now dead on nine o’clock.
“Perfect.” He said.
“What is?” Came the response, completely
throwing him off his plan.
Fredo turned to where the voice came
from, and saw Susan standing in the corridor, just stepping out of the lift
looking a bit frazzled.
‘Damnit!’
Fredo thought, but instantly flashed his smile and took steps towards her.
“Oh, nothing,” Came the words, masking
his true reaction. “I just realised that I’ve already been in work for a few
hours when I was only meant to start at 8. It’s gonna be a long day!”
Susan took a few seconds to analyse him.
“Nothing ever bothers you, does it?”
Fredo shrugged. “We’ll find a way
through this. We did before.”
“This
is serious Fredo.” Susan responded, unconvinced.
He sensed a bitter undertone in her
voice.
“He’s not just a murderer, he’s a brain
washing, mass murdering cult leader who just rose from the dead!”
“I’m not disputing the fact that he’s a
dangerous guy, of course I know that.” Fredo put his arm on her shoulder. “Just
think about it though. We’ve got the heads up on him this time, right? He won’t
have years to build up his army, which is how he got so far before. We’ll
probably take him down before he’s even had dinner. That and you know they
never found his body when he died last time.”
“I wish I was that confident.” Susan
looked away.
“You’ve got a lot on your plate. Plus
you don’t exactly have your usual backup.”
“Well, when the coffee machine tries to
kill you, I can’t help but think that’s a sign to lay off the caffeine.” She
let loose a little smirk. “Besides, I haven’t got time for one right now.”
“How come?”
“I… can’t tell you.”
Immediately, Fredo’s thoughts began to
race around inside his head. The two of them were close enough that Susan had
always been able to share things with him, it’s one of the things he liked
about her so much. In fact, not several minutes ago she had told him about
Rogan coming back before anyone else in the office and now, all of a sudden, he
was not privy to something?
“Is it serious?” His arm dropped to his
side.
“It’s confidential.” She paused,
deliberating something. “I can’t elaborate, I wish I could but I can’t. I’ve
informed Crutch that you are going to assume my responsibilities until I
return-“
“Woah, wait a second. You’re heading out somewhere?”
Silence. Fredo lowered his voice,
speaking with real concern now.
“Can’t you at least tell me if it’s
dangerous?”
“I’ve already said too much.” Susan took
a step back, and only a blind man could have missed the worried look on her
face. “Please look after everyone until I come back. I won’t be long.”
She rapidly turned on her heel and
headed back down the corridor towards the elevator. Fredo was trying to piece
everything he could together, but there was too much going on for him to think
straight. He checked his watch briefly, noting he was already a few minutes
late for his meeting and cursed himself for not having enough time to confront
her. He resisted running after Susan, instead settling for raising his voice in
the empty place where they stood.
“Susan!”
She had already pushed the button for
the elevator, but she turned around to face him just as the doors opened.
“Please, look after yourself. I love
you.”
It was all he could think to say to her
at that moment, and as the doors closed in front of her, he swore he didn’t
even see her react. Fredo felt like kicking himself.
There was no time to ponder over this. He
was far too late already, so for the time being he pushed everything that had
just happened to the very furthest reaches of his mind and moved on. He picked
up the pace as he strode down a side corridor and took a right through an unlocked
door. A couple of signs on the doors on the left hand side indicated that they
were the toilets, but it was the unmarked doorway further on from all of those
which he intended to enter. Fredo took a few seconds to observe either end of
the area where he stood, finally accepting he was alone before stepping quietly
inside.
The room was bare and unglamorous which
was to be expected, particularly as it was simply storage for the janitorial
staff. A couple of unused mops, paper towels and toilet rolls were stacked
clumsily on a wire shelving unit on one side of the room, and just behind them
stood a shadowy figure roughly as tall as him.
“You’re late.” The voice announced
coolly.
“I’m sorry, I know we don’t have much
time here.” Fredo replied.
The mysterious person stepped out from
their hiding place and into the dull, blue light of the room. Hands resting
against her slender hips, beautiful white hair trailing down her shoulders and a
serious pouty face greeted him. “Then let’s get started.”
“Definitely.” Fredo took a few steps
towards her. “We have a lot of
catching up to do.”
