Mind/Evolution

"We want no issues nor are we seeking conflict," the woman to the right spoke. She had blonde hair in a ponytail and sported a standard black suit with a black cap and red Nolan-50 emblem. These people weren't in the other one we visited but she also had metal on her ears just like him. 

"We only want you to state your business. The two of you are the only ones who do not register in our system. You lack light. State your business." she commanded as her partner stood firm to her side. 

Where is Dr. Vex? Our reasoning is tied to him. Why are we here? Why did we continue to follow him when he never explained himself? All he gave me was a notebook. Daiya and I stayed quiet for a moment as the crowd of people surged around us, indifferent and oblivious as always. No noise emitted from the atmosphere nor our bodies and were only separated by a few steps. Everyone walked and floated around us, as if we existed in another timeline. And with that, nobody dared to move.

"We don't know. We came here with someone and as soon as we find an exit to below ground, we will leave. Do you happen to know where the exit is?" I asked as I started to reach for the notebook in my inside pocket-

"Don't move. Only citizens above ground are allowed to pass through Nolan. How did you get here and who did you come with? Only those with high amounts of light concentration are permitted above ground. State your business," the woman started to inch closer towards us and seemed to notice me fidgeting in my suit. I can't explain why I felt the need to clutch on to it tighter. 

"What is in your pocket? No items are allowed to be brought within Nolan-50 from any other region under any circumstance. All citizens must carry sufficient identification that can be tracked through our system. Two rules have already been violated. Final opportunity to state your business-"

"We already told you we don't know. How many times do we have to say it?" Daiya waivered, I saw her rub her shoulders again. In saying that, she never let go of her fingers. Something tight lodged my throat, restraining my ability to breathe. 

"Very well, it is understood what position you have taken. You have your reasons for your haste and secrecy, so one cannot fault me for my subsequent actions, correct?" she uttered. 

I noticed that no longer was there anyone around us and the red wasteland had become vacant. Her steps reverberated against the silence of the city, forming puddles upon the ground that reflected her lifeless stare. Only us and the bright, yellow windows shone off the metallic red buildings that surrounded us. 

  I found myself once again relying on the nature of others to save me and wondering all the same at what did I do to end up here. How many choices of mine were the cause of me being put in this situation? Is this what change brought? I feared the answer wasn't simple and tried to push the thought deep inside my mind.

 I grabbed my hand to stop the shaking, the sheer presence of this woman and the man next to her let me know this was different than the last guards who came after us. 

"Open,"

Daiya breathed as her chest cratered, leaving it gaping and dripping with blood. In her hand, she formed her heart into a weapon as long as a sword but with the same trigger points of a gun. It had a scope attached on top with a large clip on the bottom.

"Stay behind me," Daiya told me as she stepped in front to shield me from the two guards standing in front of us. My breathing became tighter and tighter, as if the air was being sucked out of the space. I looked up and could see the iridescent golden sky closing in on us. I could only wonder why Dr. Vex would leave us at a time like this. 

"Why should she do that? She is equally as guilty as you are," the woman snarked, "You broke two laws. Entering without identification and the carrying of foreign items. We asked to state your business. You did not. It strikes me as odd that you were able to reach above ground, especially to Nolan-50, a high-density light zone without a single trace of light-"

Daiya released two shots from her gun that lasered in a b-line towards the womans face. The man jumped in front of them and put his hands up, which created a transparent barrier that made them clank hopelessly to the ground without touching the bullets.

"What the fu-"

"You don't even want to resolve this civilly, do you? Do you even know why you're here?" she paused, using her finger to create 3D holographic map of the city. It looked endless.

It revealed what we saw, the buildings lined up in columned fashion with a single street dividing the middle. But underneath showed a bottom half of the city and behind thousands and thousands of columns, there was a tube that connected to the underground space. "I presume you wanted to go here, no?" she pointed, "It seriously is not wise to do things haphazardly or without a plan. Another man was captured and found near the tube leading down to below ground. White hair, grey suit, around 500 years of age. Sound fam-"

Before she could finish, Daiya let off another round of bullets endlessly in their direction that was met once again with the reflective screen from the man next to her, stopping and made them fall to the ground once more. The bullets laid there lifelessly. Instantly, the woman appeared directly in front of us. She dislodged the gun from Daiya's hand and knocked it to ground. She attempted to throw a punch that Daiya parried but followed it with a direct kick to the stomach that sent her flying into a building 200 meters away.

Daiya put her life on the line for me and I stood back and watched and did nothing once again. Why? Why? Why was I here? What was all of this for? It feels like I'm caught in a circular loop with no escape route, doomed to fail, and bonded to my ineptitude. Is this the reward of change?

When she turned around to look at me, she simply just stared and turned her back to me and headed in the direction of Daiya. With those cold eyes, there wasn't interest or fear, simply indifference. I wasn't a threat. I was helpless once again. 

"You," she spoke without turning around and picked up Daiya's blood-spattered gun, "Follow me," 

I trudged along, as if it was a command I couldn't refuse and followed her to the building where Daiya had been smashed into. She laid there amongst the rubble of the infrastructure and I noticed she was bleeding all over and was spilling across the glitching metal. I couldn't help but look down to avert my gaze, and with the ringing that blasted through my brain, I hadn't realized that the streets were no longer empty. People were walking, and flying, and floating next to and above us like before, not even stopping to stare at the massive hole in the wall. Did we even exist to them, or did what just happened even occur at all? Only recently had I started to question the oddity of their indifference. And why it was this way.

"Ughhhh," Daiya moaned, struggling to move. The woman removed the scrap off of Daiya's body and ran a finger across her face, leaving a streak of blood etched on its side. She inspected it, gazing upon her finger and lifted it to her nose. "Hm? This is odd. It's red, like these buildings and it smells like them in addition to that. What is this? Better yet, who are you? Why your types are so important to the government, I don't know. I just follow orders. It could've been much easier. Well, they'll handle you both below ground. Hope your trip to Nolan-50 was worth it."

The woman drew a square with her finger in midair, and flicked it towards me, then Daiya, trapping us in a translucent rectangular that expanded to encase our entire bodies. As I pressed my face against the screen of light, all I heard was white noise buzzing in my ear. 

The last image I saw was the woman clasping her hands together against the backdrop of the never-ending red sea of buildings before everything turned pitch black.

A single thought persisted through my mind:

Something had to change. I had to become stronger.

***