DEVIMAYNA 2980 - Book One - Chapter 4

Hello you! If you haven't read the previous chapters, I suggest you do that first otherwise this might make no sense at all (if you want, of course. Enjoy :D

With a soft muted rumble and a brief gust of wind, the takeoff of the OWV-19 ensued shortly afterwards. Josiak in the small, cramped cockpit, and the rest of us in the passengers' seats only a thin wall away, we strapped in and prepared for a short flight, thanks to jet's incredulously high speeds. Rhiannon assured me that without considering storms and any other potential antagonizing conditions, arrival at the station could be achieved in a mere matter of minutes. And, according to her after I inquired, using things like teleportation devices was far too dangerous for something as large and complex as our craft. To be honest, this last piece of information was definitely a little bit of a letdown. I had been secretly looking forward to such an event.

Seated stiffly in my chair, I was trying to make the most out of the free time given me, beginning to review the inbox on my computer. Most were simple cheesy Congratulations sent by automatic messaging-bots from several other government divisions, one such example reading as follows:

To: Officer Darcy Windy Marsalis, KFMD

From: Kartov Economic Inquiries Division (KEID)

Subject: Congratulations

We congratulate you on your new position and hope that this reaches you well. It is always a privilege to be able to serve our beloved president Kedia Massetchew in our day-to-day lives with our efficient work force and our exuberant lust for innovation and prosperity for all. It is our duty as inhabitants of the City of Kartov to perform our best in order to keep our home functioning and safe. We trust that you will be an instrumental asset in maintaining the excellence of our wonderful leader's society, and we look forward to watching your progress. Thank you for your service. Sending our best regards to you.

- Kartov Economic Inquiries Division (KEID)

May Your Every Word and Action Extol Her Eminence!

I let out a quiet, humorless chuckle at the irony of the lines.

Beloved. Efficient. Prosperity for all. Functioning. Heck, the word safe was somehow even utilized here. There was no place for Kartov and safe in the same sentence, unless there was a phrase emphasizing strong contradiction somewhere in between. It's like the pure-born and their problems didn't even exist to the leaders. Even with my elevated lifestyle, it wasn't hard to see an issue with the city - anyone who's ever stepped outside would.

As I directed the messages towards the digital trash bin with my cursor, a small ding was heard from above, followed by the click of a green light over the seats and an artificial voice emitting from the jet's speakers.

"Steady altitude achieved. Free movement now available."

The clamp locks on our seatbelts lifted, and behind me, I heard both my fellow crewmates pull back their straps and stand up. One of them, who I recognized by the long dirty-blonde hair that now hung over my face to be Rhiannon Whitlock, leaned over my shoulder to look down at the computer screen.

"So Darcy, tell Winoa what division you were a part of before."

I suppose we can be on first name terms now...

I shut the laptop quickly, setting it back in its open case. Out of genuine interest in my new partners, my answer came quick, eager for some conversation. "KMRID - Messages and Radiowaves Interception Division. I worked in the communications towers at the top of the KCMC. My task was to sort through stray signals and connect them to their intended targets. I also monitored the messages themselves for information the government might find... interesting. Fairly tame job." My countenance dimmed again as I blew some of her golden locks out from my vision, and I scooted forward ever so slightly, a bit uncomfortable with the cramped physical propinquity.

"See, Winnie? Boring job! You need to stop complaining about this one." Rhiannon circled around to rest on a chair in front of me, leaning over the back of it to face my way. It was impossible to not become immediately captivated by her bright, neat smile, and the way her bright green eyes glowed in the light of the early morning skylight as she pulled her hair out of the low ponytail. She really was thoroughly charming. It was almost scary how quickly she was growing on me. I waited on her next questions.

"So then. I take it you've never been outside the walls?"

"Never."

"Of course. Excited?"

"Not particularly hyped, but I'm always up for a change of scenery. Anything must be better than a drab gray cubicle." I was lying. I greatly enjoyed the familiar comfort of my old office.

"Well, don't you worry. I'll show you the ropes, I've been here nearly a year now." Her hand strayed over to her chest to flick her badge proudly. "There is a lot more action than paperwork, and I much prefer that over the reverse."

"Any person would," came my personally dishonest muttered response. Ignoring that, however, I was a little surprised by her previous comment. Younger people rarely stayed in the same job for more than a few months. For her sake, I hoped she hadn't already reached her career stop. If only I knew what number her birth pod was...

She nodded. "Right. And the great thing is, because there's no one out there to engage in conflict against Kartov, most of our missions are just repairing and keeping tabs on stations, like the one we're going to now. Meaning it isn't very serious or risky, and it's a whole lot of fun. Jo says that's the only reason me and Winoa are still here, we're pretty useless at this whole thing if I'm being honest. Speaking of which... Winnie, get out of the corner, stop sulking. Come here."

Winoa, the third girl, stalked over to stand next to Rhiannon. The latter set her hand on the former's shoulder, proclaiming, "Her and I have been partners for quite a while, she joined the KFMD around the same time I did. And currently, she's a little upset that she's missing out on an event for this, don't mind her. It's the fourteenth, y'know."

Winoa chuckled and shoved the blonde's hand away. "Don't dismiss me like that. I don't care, there's always next year." Though, her disappointed, slouched posture would seem to disagree.

She looked down at where I sat to address me. "So, then, you're Darcy Marsalis, eh? I know who you are."

My composure grew uneasy at this statement. "Huh?"

"We get our alcohol from the same dealer. Scramble... Chrome? He tells me a good amount about his customers."

If I'm being completely honest, I didn't know what to react to first. Winoa shouldn't go around talking about purchasing illegal goods. I also was slightly taken aback by the statement He tells me a good amount about his customers. Caught off guard and frankly quite embarrassed by the look Rhiannon was giving me, I spoke nothing in return, but simply hit the girl's unbothered gaze with an equally deadpan stare.

Rhiannon lightly shoved her friend, ending the apprehensive tension with a shocked, reproving glare. "Winoa Nyx Madden!" she hissed, "you cannot talk about that stuff here! You know better. You'll get in trouble - there's always extra surveillance inside the jets..."

"Psh, as if anyone actually cares."

"Still!"

Both went silent, as if to see what I had to say about it, but were met with no interaction whatsoever. I had averted my eyes to the closed window beside me, unbuckling my seatbelt, choosing ignoring the others' words, eager to move on from the topic.

I scooted my briefcase over with my metal-cleated boot, raising myself up. A halting feeling of anticipation welled up inside me as I realized that I was about to see the outside world for the very first time. I slid open the window cover to get my first look outside of Kartov, and instantly my brows fell again.

"Oh... uh... wow..."

I had previously conjured an image in my mind of what the wider world might look like. Of course, maps were not made available to the public in the metropolis, presumably in order to help quench any thoughts of leaving, meaning that what lay beyond was a complete mystery. But whatever I had imagined was far different from what I was seeing now.

"Grimmer than you thought it'd be?" Rhiannon offered, her voice losing a bit of enthusiasm.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, much grimmer."

The smog indefinitely hanging over the state we had left behind was replaced by swarming, angry purple stormclouds, lightning crackling and branching across the sky. The ground, in contrast, was a truly unimpressive, disappointing blur of gray and dead-brown. A few strange things I saw shooting up from the soil I supposed were what I'd heard some O.E. officers mention sparingly before, trees. These had none of the fabled leaves on their branches, and just looked like tall, looming beams of wood (a fairly rare, expensive luxury in the city). Off in the distance were some massive rocky pyramids I identified as mountains, with snow to cap the tops. Aside from these, and some bodies of violently swelling greenish brown water we passed over, nothing stood out much, though every now and then, a few ruins of what looked like large gatherings of buildings could be seen. This grabbed my attention quickly, but there was really nothing more to them. Could this actually be all there was? A barren, lifeless wasteland? Interest receding, I averted my gaze, sliding the window cover back over the reinforced glass.

Rhiannon turned back to me, an almost apologetic expression on her face. "Do... do you know how long's it been like that?" she asked me timidly. World history would be a foreign concept to her as a Kartov citizen, and she looked like she felt almost stupid asking. "No one I've asked so far on these missions has ever had an answer."

Winoa laughed bitterly, interrupting. "I doubt anyone knows, Rhi. Nothing looks like it's supposed to anymore. And what it looked like formerly, your guess is as good as mine. I think it's probably always been a little depressing."

"There's no way that's true," retorted Rhiannon. "Surely it looked at least somewhat nice before... y'know... whatever happened that made it like this."

Both looked now to me, as if expecting some kind of input. Leaning back upon the wall and shifting uncomfortably, I presented my own opinion. "I would have to agree with Whitlock. Humanity has probably been the ugliest thing this world has ever seen. Everything gross you've ever encountered was certifiably someone else's fault. That's what I think of it."

Winoa nodded solemnly, giving Rhiannon a knowing look I couldn't interpret, before they turned back to me.

I shrugged, reaching for my laptop again, feeling uneasy. I didn't like their stares. And for a reason I couldn't understand, it made me feel like speaking more. "Not that I'm like, a pessimist, I like people, I guess, we just, y'know, do bad stuff... uh... well, I sit - would sit - in a cubicle for fifteen hours a day. I had a lot of time to think - about, y'know, that kind of stuff..."

I slowly trailed off, feeling myself dying inside at their unmoving eyes, blinking slowly and full of question.

Why did I even say anything.

Winoa grimaced, and it seemed she was choosing to ignore the majority of my awkward rambling, thank goodness. "Fifteen hours a day? Yikes. I would jump out of this jet right now if I found out I had to work in the MRID. You are a victim." For some strange reason, this remark irked me immensely.

Rhiannon appeared very uncomfortable at this statement as well, but certainly not in the same way. "Winnie... you shouldn't say things like that... not after..." She swallowed hard.

The other girl let out a little gasp, then a nervous, apologetic expression crossed her features. "Right, sorry."

I thought back to my second conversation with Rhiannon yesterday. What was the name... Tank...

With a soft pressurized hiss, the door to the cockpit slid open, and Josiak stepped through, clutching a warm beverage in his gloved hands. He stood next to a chair near the front of the passengers cabin.

"I've set up the autopilot, we should be arriving within thirty minutes, taking storms into consideration. Factly, I think we're crossin' through one right now. Right bad weather I saw on the radar."

We three sat back in our seats and opened our window covers again. The dark clouds above were all too familiar, and the jet was going so fast the rain bounced right off the surface and continued downwards. Nevertheless, even with the conveniently soundproof wall of metal between us and the elements, it would be impossible to not notice the obnoxious sound of the pelting shower. Vision was very limited, as the waterdrops constantly spattering on the glass significantly blurred the view.

Grinning stupidly over at Josiak, Winoa flipped a switch on the wall, drawing back said glass, stepping out of the way quickly. Instantly her seat was drenched, and the captain turned back, alarmed, to see her attempting to push her arm through the hole to the outside.

"Madden, get your hand back on that switch, immediately! You put your arm out there, it'll come clear off, we're goin' way too fast for that!"

She did as he ordered, snickering quietly. "Yes sir."

Rhiannon shot a glare back at her friend, but I found the situation slightly comical. Nevertheless, I mentally scolded the girl, giving her all sorts of unflattering titles. I inwardly thoroughly echoed Josiak's earlier statement, wondering how Winoa even got into her current position.

Must have some sort of crazy bribing skills, was her conclusion. Relatively common among these government agents...

Josiak sat himself down next to me, interrupting my musings, offering a half-hearted smile. "Hey, Marsalis." I could tell from my peripheral vision he was desperately trying to make eye contact. "You... uh... see the outside yet?" I wasn't sure why he'd asked this. He'd just seen me open my window cover.

I did not even give him a single glance, and, in a most indiscreet manner, shifted over to the edge of my seat opposite to him. I made sure my face betrayed absolutely no emotion as I responded. "I did. Not everything you told me it'd be when I was little."

The usually stoic captain pursed his lips, looking down at his awkwardly fidgeting hands.