Chat With the Boss

"See something interesting?" A grainy voice calls out to us. I look up to see a medium build boss. He wears a white, short sleeve work shirt with a tie. " Are you reporters?" He asks us. " We're nothing of the sort." I assure him. " You still don't have clearance to be here." He says as he attempts to yank us off the ground. Olivia quickly opens up her palm and fires a couple of hearts into his chest. The boss immediately unhands us. " I'm sorry, but it's just not safe for you to be here." He says warmly. "Where should we go?" Olivia asks. "I'll take you to my office. We can talk." The boss turns and ushers us to follow. I lean to Olivia. " Has that ever worked that well before?" "No, but I'm not complaining." She replies. The boss leads us down the catwalk and to a break room on the ground floor. "Ta da!" He shouts with his arms outstretched in the center of the room. Olivia and I look on in bewilderment. Maybe he is joking. I mean there are tables and a coffee maker. There's even a time clock. "This is your office?" Olivia asks. "Oh yeah. So much better than my dinky old office. Much more space." "Won't everyone be pissed?" I ask.  " I don't see why they would. They don't eat, they don't sleep, so I might as well take full advantage of this space." "Did you just say they don't eat or sleep?" I inquire. " Yeah or pretty much any other body function."  The boss walks over to the coffee maker. " You guys want coffee? I'm gonna make coffee." I rush over to the coffee maker. " How does the work?" I ask, trying to pry deeper. " It's easy. First you fill the pitcher with water then -" "No, I mean how do they survive without food or sleep?" The boss laughs to himself. "Fuck if I know." Olivia chimes in. " We're very confused. People need to sleep and eat."  "But they're not people." He says bluntly. The boss continues to fill the pitcher with water as if that was nothing. "Now, how do you guys want your coffee?"

The Factory

The sounds of the marching workers grow fainter. It' enough to drive us forward though, and if we can not catch up with them? No problem.  We would just be right back were we started. But we keep going along the old, gravel path kicking stones here and there as we walk. One can almost here the clop clop of horse hoofs.  An ancient memory that still seems nearby on this dusty trail. The trail makes a wide turn and goes up a steep hill. At the very top of this hill is a massive gothic factory.  It's color is charcoal black. All of the small windows are cracked and broken. There are several chimneys that puff thick, black smoke into the sky. " This looks like a welcoming place." I say to Olivia as I open the creaky gate leading up to the factory. We carefully open the front door. It's loud squeaking is hushed by the sounds of buzzing, sawing, and hammering. As soon as we step foot in the factory, there is a narrow, metal ladder. We climb to the top to find ourselves on a catwalk that overlooks all the workers. Some are welding, some are machinists. All are toiling away. " I don't think I could ever do that." I tell Olivia. " You mean you don't want to? Or you physically can't?" She asks. " Both. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for anyone who can do this day after day..." " But?" She says trying to pull words out of my mouth. " But its so physically demanding. I don't know. Maybe I'm just lazy." Olivia shakes me. "Snap out of if. You're right they probably are under appreciated, but that doesn't make you lazy because you would never consider doing that line of work." I nod my head and continue to stare at the workers. " Besides..." She continues. "If you really want to go down that road you could say we are under appreciated." I turn my head to Olivia. She smiles with her eyes, knowing that I have her full attention now. "We have seen a lot of weird shit. No one will ever be able to fully comprehend that. Even if we were to somehow fully explain everything." She states. "You're right." "But that's ok. You know why?" "Because in those situations I like to think of Christopher Walken's character in Seven Psychopaths. You know what line I'm thinking of?" I grin. "Yeah I do. "Fuck 'em."

Sounds of Marching

A loud stomping, marching noise can be heard  nearby. The parading sound of an invading army perhaps? "Do you think they're coming this way?" Olivia asks. "They're probably on a nearby road, but we should move anyways." We jolt up from the rock and take cover in the the thick of the forest. We soon find out that we are not running away from the marching sounds, but rather towards it. The forest thins out. We are now ahead of the marchers. I look down the trail and can faintly see the army. Out of time, and having now where to hide, Olivia and I lay down in the mud. We are pretty low to the ground, so as long as they don't look to the side, we are clear. The marching is ever so close now. I lift my head up slightly. Just enough that I can see. I realize they are not an army at all. They are some sort of workers. They all wear yellow safety vests. " What kind of union makes their workers march in unison?" Olivia whispers. " I don't know, but they're not human." "What?" "Look closely at them?" I tell her. The workers have square, box like figures. Almost as if they were made out of bricks, and their skin is bright yellow. After the workers pass us completely, I wait for a moment before picking myself and Olivia off the ground. I walk out onto the path, and look down the long trail road. I then turn to Olivia. "Let's see where they're going."

Muddy Shoes and Tired Feet

I rest on a rock and scrape the mud off my shoes. " I'm surprised they let us go." I say to Olivia. "What do you mean?" " They locked me up, but then they left. It was like something a cheesy villain does out of a B movie." Olivia sits down next to me. "You weren't a threat." She exclaims. I take a slight offense at that. "They knew the best way to get to you was to leave you alone for a while." She continues. " What about you? You could have been a threat?" Olivia shakes her head. "No, they knew I wouldn't follow because I would go back for you." I look down at my feet. My shoes are still caked in mud. " Did you figure this out yourself?" I ask. "Yep." Olivia rests her head on my shoulder. "What do you want to do now?" She asks. "Honestly, I just want to rest for a while." "I was hoping you'd say that."

The Guiding Light

It's a dewy morning out on the peninsula. Our boat is still crashed against the rocks. " You think it's fixable?" Olivia asks. " Probably, I wouldn't know the first thing about it though." The  light from the house shines through the fog. I squint my eyes. One could probably see that for miles. " Where did they go?" I ask. "They wanted to follow the guiding light."  "The guiding light?" Olivia points to the ocean. There, I faintly see the light stretching out into the horizon. I stare at the wreckage and wonder how we can get there. " I have no clue how to fix it." I reiterate. "That's ok." She says, looking out into the ocean. " Really?" Olivia nods, still looking off into the distance. " Yeah, maybe that path is not for us." Olivia turns and begins walking towards the land.  " Where you going?" I  shout out to her. "It's a place you'll like."  I carefully follow her along the rocky peninsula. Some of the stones start to shift under our feet. But we make it back to the land without any scrapes or bruises. All we have to do is walk slowly.  It was actually nice to go from the slimy, slippery rocks to the muddy soil. Never thought I would welcome mud so much. " Well, here it is." Olivia says in a melancholic tone. "What's wrong?" I ask. "This is the tree that brought us here." It is the same tree. It's branches still lean towards the ocean. Except now it is bare and dark black from the rain. There is but one leaf on the tree. I pick it off the branch and it crumbles in my palm immediately. Olivia looks down in disappointment. " All I wanted to do was show you something pretty." I lift her face gently and take off her mask. I look deep into her saddened eyes. "You did. You always do. Thank you."

Blinding Light

The main room of the lighthouse is fully illuminated. The light is so bright it appears white. Olivia and I cover our eyes and look away. "What is that?" I shout.  "I think they used the diamond for a light." "What?" "Yeah, they were talking about using it." The light is so bright that I have to turn my back completely. " Did they know it would be this bright?" I ask. " No, I think it was just something that they wanted to try." I feel for the stair railing. " I don't  think we should be in here." I say. " I agree. I feel like  my retinas will burst into flames." I extend my arm out to Olivia. " Take my hand."
"Where are you?" " Follow my voice." I instruct her. My eyes are closed tightly. I can hear her footsteps nearing.  "You're almost there." I shout to her. I feel a hand on my arm. I grab her tightly and pull her in. "I don't want to open my eyes till I'm at least halfway down the stairs." She insists. Ironically, that is most likely the safest advice right now.

Breakout

The bars don't exist, yet they do. They appear to me as transparent objects. Slightly more visible than a holographic image. I try and touch them. They are not solid objects, but an intense pressure keeps my hands from running through them. Olivia walks into the room. She holds a T.V. dinner plate. "I brought some food." She says to me. "What is it?" I ask. She cringes as she glances at the barely thawed food. " It's edible." She replies. She walks over to my cell and places the food on the floor. She pushes the tray and it slides under tiny opening in my cell. Unfortunately, she pushes the tray just a little too hard and it slides under the cot. "Sorry." She shouts out. I reach under the cot and grab a biscuit. " That's ok. I have a feeling this is the only thing on there that I should be eating." I take a bite out of the biscuit. " How does it taste?" Olivia asks. I shrug. " 'Bout what one would expect from a T.V. dinner." I take another bite and try to enjoy this cold biscuit as best I can. " So, you can see the bars ,right?" I ask. Olivia nods. "Barely."  " I can  barely see them too, but they're there." "You ready to leave?" She asks me. " I was ready the minuet I entered."  "Then let's go." "How?" " Just walk through," She says simply and casually. " I can't just do that." I insist, while staring at the bars. " Yes you can." "There is some sort of force field pushing me back."  Olivia looks me directly in the eye. "I'm sure there is, but you staying in your cell will only make the bars stronger." "Then what do I do?" I ask.  Olivia puts her arm through the bars. " Take my hand." She tells me. I stand in awestruck for a moment, admiring her ability to force her arm into my cell. "Hurry up. This kinda hurts." She shouts. I grab hold of her arm. It felt like time was slowing down as I began my exit. There was a pressure entering my body and pulling me to the floor. However, the more I was out, the better I began to feel. Until, eventually I was completely out of the cell, and the heavy pressure left my body. Olivia takes a deep breath. " I told you you could get out."