MF1.0 - 47 - The Outside World

Don’t shoot the humans. Don’t deny your nature, shoot them. Do you want to get banished to the tech division? It’s where I belong, and Jones is nice. Come on, you want to be able to shoot things, just don’t pull the trigger now. Give in, give in, it’ll feel good. Are you really going to listen to… I’m the smart on here remember? We’re genii, we’re both the smart one. Both? You know what I mean… ‘Yo, newb, you ok?’ The gun was heavy in Stef’s hands, the paper target at the end of the range was shredded, with varying degrees of accuracy. Arcade machines weren’t really useful in teaching a person how to shoot a real gun, and it didn’t help that it was lighter than she had expected. She managed to pull herself out of “kill all humans” mode and looked up. ‘Shouldn’t this thing have a silencer on it?’ ‘It’s a personal choice.’ She put the gun down. ‘I think I need to eat. Didn’t really have breakfast.’ He smiled. ‘I know a good place.’ ‘I was just going to…’ ‘Is the world doing the spinning thing?’ She stared at him, then gave a slight nod. ‘It’s a first day thing.’ He jerked his head at the other recruits in the room. ‘I’ll try not to give you a hard time about it, you’ll feel better with some air.’ He closed his eyes and his training uniform disappeared, replaced with casual clothes. ‘You gonna wear that outside?’ Run. Run away now. ‘The mirror’s going to fall soon, don’t you want a chance to breathe first?’ Wait, what? Smile. Normal people smile. She hoped her forced smile didn’t resemble that of a serial killer. ‘Sure. Outside. Good idea.’ She followed him down the hall, into the lift and to the ground floor. The lobby was small, the colour scheme was blue – this was expected. The potted plants through her for a loop, as did the secretary. ‘Signing out, recruits?’ ‘Hey Natalie, yes,’ Curt said as he accepted the clipboard. The secretary gave her a smile. ‘Good morning Stephanie, welcome to the Agency.’ ‘Stef,’ she corrected on autopilot. She dated and signed the form on the clipboard. ‘Do I ask the…’ ‘No,’ Natalie said, ‘I’m not an Agent, of a similar nature though. Have a good time.’ ‘Come on newb!’ Curt called from the door. She blinked as she stepped into the sunlight, and for some reason, half-expected the building to disappear when she turned back. It didn’t, and she followed Curt through the throngs of morning commuters and shoppers. She looked up into the bright sun, but couldn’t see the zeppelin, it had faded, or was just hiding beyond sight again. People bustled past her as though she didn’t exist. The world kept spinning and she felt the urge to run back into the Agency. Strange, considering that a little while ago, her urge had been to run home. She curled her toes inside her sneakers, feeling the mundane reality of shoes calmed her somewhat. It stopped the world spinning, just a little, just enough for her to walk. After seeing the zeppelin, and listening to Ryan talk, she had expected to see more ghosts, to see them walking through people on their own, personal funerary marches. Wisps of memory and dream, remnants of a dead world. Maybe even Mela. Not that she had any idea what the Beast’s Beauty looked like. The beast…he deserved a happy ending – that of, course, was assuming happy endings existed. She tried to keep up with Curt, but kept stopping, looking around, trying to see the city with new eyes, expecting to see things she hadn’t seen before. It was disappointingly normal – maybe all of the differences were more evident at night. ‘How do you know about the mirror?’ she asked as she finally managed to pace him. ‘Let’s just say only chased tail with tails.’ ‘That doesn’t explain anything. Just says you’re not entirely normal.’ He stopped walking, and stared down at her. ‘I am only going to say this once,’ he hissed. Cliché alert… ‘I am as normal as they come. The tainted blood in my veins is not my fault. I cannot be blamed for the sins of the father. Grandfather. Whatever. That had nothing to do with me. I didn’t ask to be born into…’ He cleared his throat. ‘At least Red has the fire thing, it’s annoying, I didn’t get anything useful, just see things a bit easier.’ Her imaginary Spyder-sense was going berserk. ‘I saw a zeppelin this morning,’ she said to try and remove some of the tension from the air. ‘Always kind of had a thing for zeppelins. I think it’s got something to do with Indiana Jones…’ He stared at her for a moment, then his shoulders slumped and the air of threat disappeared. ‘When you start seeing the big stuff, it means it’s close. Saw a ship sail past my window this morning.’ He looked up at the sky. ‘So, foodstuffs then?’ Sure thing, Solst-ass scum. Another fake smile. ‘That’s why we’re out here, right?’