by Nathan Lunn
“Hello? Arturo? Can you hear me okay?” Ellie spoke, putting a kind lilt into her voice. Arturo Jefferson’s voice, the celebrity she had booked to give a concert set complemented with her viola skills toward the tail end of the event, piped into her ear, his deep baritone voice serving to calm her down.
“Hearing you loud and clear, sweetheart. My connection may be a little weak, I got all the windows open in my convoy. It’s pretty hot where I am.”
Ellie grabbed a file to her left and started poring through it. “That’s fine, I can hear you quite alright. Whereabouts are you?”
“Just over the Gulf of Mexico, there seems to be some sort of tropical storm brewing,” he replied, his voice dropping a little in volume as he spoke.
“That won’t intervene with our timings, I hope? You’ll be here by the end?” Ellie’s fingers gripped the sofa as she awaited his reply.
There was a pause as Arturo conferred with the people in his car, and then he replied, “Yep. We’re due in at the normal time we agreed upon. Have your guys set things up as per my instructions? I’ve got some pretty specific requests…”
“Yes, yes, we have no worries there – my men are getting the lighting and pyrotechnics prepared. Seems like a bigger crowd than we had anticipated though–”
“That’ll be thanks to me, honey,” Arturo dipped again, and Ellie stood. “I’ve been promoting our union all over the Commlink systems, seems like a large user response for you and me working together.” Ellie paced the small office, scratching at the glass of the aquarium, and tapping to get the attention of the fish.
“Ah, don’t worry about not informing us, we have adapted for the fluctuating numbers,” she continued, trying to keep the tone light still. Arturo paid it no attention, laughing at the increased amounts of event goers.
“Yeah, people are going fucking crazy for us,” he chuckled.
Ellie tensed, gripped the top of the aquarium and pulled it down, loosing a muted scream as she did so. The fish disappeared as the water flashed against the floor, flooding to the desks and sofas, and dropping down the stairs in chlorinated drips. She tapped her temple, unmuting the call, and curtly spoke to Arturo, ending the connection as fast as she could, “Right, keep my men updated with your location.”
“Pleasure doing business, sweetie,” he replied, and a beep ended the call. Stamping on the glass shards littering the floor, she ran out of the office, yelling to her men to clear up the mess. Her dress was ripped towards the ankles, and she only noticed after a few steps into the street, growling with a renewed anger at her misfortune.
Stomping towards her with targeted intent was an irritated woman, dressed in comfortable loose-fitting clothing, hands as flared as her nostrils and hair pinned behind her head. She was busy yelling at Ellie, alternating between pointing at the houses and pointing directly at her, finger straight and accusative. Ellie managed to catch only the later parts of the rant as she grew closer to her.
“... and if you think I am going to stand by and allow you vultures to pick apart at the corpse of this town, you are sorely mistaken. My mother, along with the rest of these residents, deserve better than what you offer, and you need to make good on your promises!”
Ellie yelled back at her, snapped beyond any facade of politeness, “What is this screaming for? I have had enough, I am busy and now I need to get myself a new dress, out of the way please.” Attempting to push past, the woman stopped her in her tracks by planting her feet in the ground.
“Did you even listen to what I said? I asked you a direct question and you just skirted around it, now would you please tell me, how you think this is okay to do to these residents, and why you think I am just going to sit by and let it happen?”
“I really don’t care, direct your questions towards my men, out of my way now,” Ellie replied, a low growl slipping between her words. She pointed towards the armed men behind her, who had bristled at the shouting – they now moved forward to Ellie’s side, their faceless masks staring unnervingly at the woman. She took a step backwards, found her footing and started yelling again, twice as ferocious as the previous time.
“Oh, of course, sic your men on me. Classic, I mean, one small issue and you’ll send in the muscle to do the work for you! I know how you Croft fuckers operate, and trust me–”
“Detain her,” Ellie stood back and waved her hand at the woman. The guards rushed forward, gripping both her arms to pin them by her side, twisting her hand to squeeze out the weapon she had started to pull from her clothing so that it clattered to the floor. “Oh, I see. Good thing the obvious threat to our event was stopped before she could cause any further harm.” She leaned in to the struggling woman, gloating in her voice. “Terrorism will not be acceptable, not here or anywhere. We’ll see to it that you’re sorted right.” The woman, a flash of fear slipping into her eyes, doubled down on her anger, spitting into Ellie’s face. An outraged scream escaped her lips, and she slapped the woman across the face, striking her in her place. She leaned down, grabbed the weapon, and handed it to the guards. “Keep her fresh for me when I come back. Take her to the office and detain her there. I will deal with you when the event is over.” The guards dragged the woman away, screaming profanities until they slipped a gloved hand over her mouth and pulled her in the flooded mobile office. Two guards who remained with Ellie started to run detail, said, “We apologise, Ma’am, we would have thought the original security checks had spotted her.”
“Just make sure there is no more, can we do that?”
The guard nodded, adding, “Guests are starting to pour in now, but we can pull up some extra protective drones to survey the area for anything uncouth. Would you like us to call in an extra security detail, post them in the upper rooms of the houses?” Ellie nodded, tapping at her temple to call her family’s emergency tailors, requesting a new dress to be designed, printed and shipped within the hour, threatening that failure would result in their business moving elsewhere.
Once the dress had arrived, and she had changed into it, discarding the old one without a second thought, she moved towards the event square once more, noticing with surprise at the banner, and its tautness; the corners were all stuck up, pulled far into the houses and over the top windows, and Ellie was satisfied with it. She had regrouped with her second coming of guards, and the guests had started to arrive. A cacophony of sharply dressed individuals milled around the event square, bites of food politely chewed in their mouths, a glass of fizz bubbling in their hand. The rage of current fashion was clear if you took just one look at the event goers – embroidered lapels with family crests, and tightly pulled dresses dotted with precious jewels – Ellie was wearing the latter, her jade coloured dress studded with refined rubies for contrast. The few men and women she networked with had all complimented her on both her choice of outfit and party planning skills, mentioning how lovely the place was looking. She took the compliments in her stride, offhandedly mentioning how nice the whole area could look with the right funding, and moved on before an answer was given, to the next person, ready to repeat the same process and accumulate more funders for their planning.
Piping their reports into her commlink, she could keep a close eye on the guard detail posted in the houses, their sights trained around the square and surrounding block by the top windows. A subdued buzz from the high-flying drones could be sounded in the instances between the civil chatter, a reassuring reminder that there was someone watching over her. Confirmation had been made that the woman was detained and in waiting, and there had been no further sights of terrorist attacks. Choosing to loosen up, she went to the stage to make her monologue, and subsequent toast. A sharply-dressed man shifted out of her way, as she grabbed her ceremonial drink, outlined separately to the others with its unique colouring. Freshly fizzing, she lifted it aloft and moved onto the stage cleared underneath a flagstand, tapping her temple to activate her connection with the speakers placed around the square.
“Hello all!” Ellie
spoke clearly, affecting a kind smile across her face as she watched over the listening crowd. Waiting for the visitors to quieten down, she began her speech:
“Hello, yes, thank you for coming to our Renovations and Revocations Event, sponsored by the Croft Administering Aid Foundation. I am, of course, your host, Ellie Croft.” A small pause for applause, and a second round of warming smiles. “This lovely event was put together by my team, and I must thank them all, as well as all of you, for turning up and giving your support. We are making a real change with the removal of this legislation, and all of the subsidiary companies owned by the CAAF are going to see some great bonuses from the new laws.” She pointed towards the housefronts surrounding the square, spotless and clean.
“As you can already see, these future households are made of the best materials, giving the premier experience every man and woman’s household should contain. Our residents will be of the highest calibre, and if you mingle for the rest of this event, you can meet some of them and have a talk about what their lives are like in the new and improved households.” She waved her hand at the chosen individuals dotted near the food table and doorways. Looking to the back of the square where the news teams had posted up, and the photographers drones were flying (minute but flashing none-the-less), she addressed them fully.
“Of course, the press is welcome to any questions and comments, but please make sure you confirm with my publishing team before talking to me, or any of my representatives. Us Crofts are always so happy to talk to you lovely people of the news, so thank you to you all for coming down.” She raised her glass – the camera drones fizzed with an unusually loud presence, their flashing lights blinding her for a moment – and started to talk, spotting her own personal drone convoy dipping down from the sky to a house on the edge of the event square, nearby to the tight entry banner. Raising her voice to draw the attention back from her crowd, she lifted her drink and spoke.
“So, I hope you can all dig deep into your pockets for this change, and for your change.” A ripple of laughter ran around the square. “And, enjoy the complimentary drinks and food.” Holding her glass aloft, she finished with, “To the future!” As the amassed crowd cheered, Ellie disconnected from the speakers; her lead guard’s voice, urgent and worried, rolled into her ears.
“Ma’am! We have apprehended three targets bunkered in one of the southern houses. Drone intelligence alerted us of their position, and we have managed to subdue them and remove them to a safe location as you wished.” Moving off the stage, drink in hand, Ellie speed-walked towards the mobile office. Another guard added, causing her to quicken her pace:
“Oh, and Ma’am? They were equally armed…”
30
Their plan had not gone as they had hoped in the slightest, due mainly in part to the inclusion of the extra bodyguards and drone detailing. Douglass, though hanging back from the event area at a safer distance, had only accounted for the four original bodyguards, who (as he had been informed) were to stay around Ellie’s self at all times. Unbeknownst to him and the rest of the crew, the reveal of an aggressive woman had resulted in a doubling of security, and the calling of the personal drone group – before long, the drones had scouted out the crew hunkered down in a close-by house that had avoided renovation, and had alerted the extra stationed bodyguards of their location. Moving efficiently and silently, so as not to alert the guests, the bodyguard team had infiltrated the house and subdued the group with a fast-acting, slow-lasting invisible gas which rendered them all awake but inert. Helplessly, Kye, Eddie and Julie watched as their own bodies were dragged from the dank house, down the dingy alleyway past muted cheers and applause, before being piled into the wet, flooded mobile office with a distinct lack of grace and decorum. Kye looked around quickly through the limits of his eyesight before the guards slipped a thick cotton blindfold over his brow – in the short time he was able to make out a little in the dingy lighting: a cracked glass dish with a slow drip of water to his left, opposite the door; a cleared desk and monitor in front; his two colleagues to his side kneeling on the bright white rug tickling through his knees; and a third figure, cowering beside him, coughing through a gag but just out of his sight. After the blindfold, he felt a dull click against his cybernetic arm – it went limp and slapped against his side, the fingertips brushing the carpet uselessly. He panicked – whatever they had placed onto his arm had rendered it inert.
Relinquished of their weapons before they had regained motion, and subdued from any form of movement with a warning bark from their jailers, all three of them had been adequately restrained. Pacing in front, weapons trained at all times, were four of the new-force bodyguards, whom Kye had just heard informing Ellie Croft of their capture. A pang rang through his heart as he heard the click of dismembered weaponry, and the subsequent clatter of the discarded limbs in front of him, splashing in the water and rendering them useless. The thick blindfold felt claustrophobic, and he could hear similar panicked breathing from his colleagues; Douglass had fallen silent since their capture, his commlink connection entirely disconnected as the rest of them had.
Kye hissed to his side, hoping to catch Eddie. “Activate it now!” He heard nothing from his colleague. As the guards fell equally quiet, the dripping of the water was the only thing left to hear, a constant patter of never-ending drops spelling out the inevitable flooding of the constrained room they were trapped in. A flooding of light to his right side dripped in past the blindfold as the office door opened.
Ellie Croft sauntered into the mobile office, flicking a switch by the door to turn the lights on, then pivoting and closing the door behind her, sealing them in together once more. Filled glass in hand, she was lifted by a guard over the expansive puddle of water to the dry area next to her desk. Leaning back against it, Ellie whistled, and the guards lifted the first blindfold from the woman next to Kye.
“Let’s start with you, shall we?” Ellie asked her, expecting no real response as she was gagged at the mouth – glaring up at Ellie, blotchy purple bruises ringing her right eye and neck, the woman was silent. “We’ve apprehended your friends here as well, as you can see.” The woman kept her eyes trained on her attacker. “There’s nothing more you can do. So why don’t you explain what your plan was?” She looked at the gag and laughed, mirthlessly, motioning at the guard to take it off. “Many apologies. How about now? Are you the one responsible for attacking the rest of my family?” The woman stayed silent, spitting to the dry area of the floor they were kneeling on.
Kye took the lull to hiss at Eddie once more, pushing him to no effect, though quiet enough for them to evade the notice of the guards, “Activate it already.”
Eddie replied this time, silencing him immediately. “Not now, the guards.”
Ellie glared at them, having missed their interaction entirely. She ignored it and waved again – the guard moved to punch the woman, striking her to the ground with a moan – impatient, Ellie then raised her voice. “You. You tried to get into our event and kill me, is that right? You and your friends here?”
The woman raised her voice back, hoarse from the rough gag, as she raised her head, meeting the eye of her tormentor.
“You’re damn right I was going to kill you! But, I didn’t need their help, I don’t even know these people!”
Kye and the rest of the group snapped around, blinded but not deaf, as they immediately recognised the voice. “Clara?” Their voices mashed together as they exclaimed in unison.
Clara, looking over for the first time, recognised the group after a moment, shouting in equal surprise and worry, Ellie and the guards completely ignored. “I can’t believe you guys are here!”
They returned with similar enthusiasm, Kye letting his words slip from his mouth: “Fucking hell!” A shriek pierced his ears, stunning him even through the dark, and a punch landed square across his jaw. He reeled from the pain, bowling over as another punch landed in his stomach. Fighting the urge to vomit, he struggled and straightened ba
ck up – his blindfold was ripped from his face, and the light streamed into his pupils. The group gasped as they noticed each other’s conditions – Kye immediately took note of his arm’s newest addition, a small golden metal pyramid hanging off the surface like a feeding limpet, glowing as it sucked the light from the inside with hunger. Ellie, standing defiantly at the head of the office, started to yell at them all, removing any pretence of secrecy.
“That’s enough! I don’t care if you know each other, or don’t – you have ruined my event, ruined my family and threatened my health! It’s bad enough you have to delay our first plans, and now you’re ruining this one!” She waved her hands madly, throwing splashes of fizzing liquid into the pools below.
Kye caught his recently found breath in his throat, looking over to Eddie with pleading eyes. Stern with concentration, Eddie ignored him.
Gesturing first at the office around her, then at the glass in her hand, Ellie added to her point. “All of this! Ruined, just ruined for the sake of nothing!”
Clara, finding her voice once more, screamed back at the woman, having no restraint in her anger, “Ridiculous! The people you see as under you, writhing around like worms beneath your petulant boots, and you stamp them out, without a second thought to their health or lives. You didn’t care for my mother’s health, and I don’t give two shits about yours!”
Ellie reacted violently, throwing the glass with force into the puddle – it exploded, leaking shards with the aquarium’s previous eruption, the liquid blending with the pools of water and dissolving beneath the guards’ feet. Kye roared an inexhaustible rage, as two of the four guards rushed forward to push him back to his knees; at the same time the two remaining guards crossed the small office and began beating ruthlessly on Clara, landing kicks and punches across the softer parts of her body until she was a shivering and screaming mess, sliding around on the floor like a strangled boa constrictor. Julie’s screams of anguish mingled with Ellie’s insensitive laughter, and Kye’s bellowing voice, the same repeating word over and over again as though he had gone mad: