Snow White huffed at Warden's answer, glaring at him irritably. "You're telling me we're going to meet the dude that owns this whole…" She paused, looking up at the towering spiral building, which, even now that she stood at its roots, seemed endless. "...thing?" She mumbled awkwardly, unsure of what to call it.
They had been standing at the entrance for a while after Warden suggested they wait for the heavy traffic to stop, once everyone at the docks had returned to work and the halls inside were generally more empty. So, she had quite enough time to examine it from a closer perspective, one, which unfortunately did little in regards to helping her understand what it even was.
Pipes awkwardly sticking out of it only to reconnect with it higher up, cranes and platforms all around with vessels flying in full of cargo or taking off without any. Steel and concrete covered the rest, with weird, obviously rushed patchwork nearly every few meters up the exterior, with some of those few her eyes could see still being heated up to the point of melting. When looking at it, she felt as if more than a dozen architects and builders had all worked on it separately with no idea what the others were doing, only coming together to argue on the day they started building it.
She looked away, to the other spires all across the horizon. Hopefully, they would be somewhat more refined in their construction, but she highly doubted it.
Warden followed her look with interest, but said nothing on that. "Yeah, Director 445. He's… an asshole, really, but there's a chance he might have a lead" He explained, as he held his hand close to his face, carefully examining the fading green ring on his middle finger.
"Running a place like this, I can imagine…" Snow White murmured, mostly to herself, and threw her backpack on the ground, sitting on it like a short stool. "Why did these guys care who you were seeing, though? You could have been lying" She said indifferently, picking up a pebble and bringing it closer to examine it.
It was a tiny piece of concrete that had been wedged off the platform, but it seemed to have been made smooth over time. Carefully, she lined up the shot and with a swift motion, she swung her arm, throwing the pebble forward.
It hopped three times before sinking.
"The Director of each tower is…, well, kinda like kings? Go a bit deeper inland, and you'll see the workers making shrines for Director 002" Warden replied lazily, though his uncertainty on how to answer was the reason he spoke slowly. What he said in this place and about it was important, especially now that he has already had a run-in with the Blacks.
"So if they messed us up, they might have been… what, Fired? Imprisoned? Killed?" Snow White took a small leather strap from her backpack and started playing with it in the most absentminded way possible. There wasn't much to it, but the feeling of something moving around in her hands made her feel less bored, so she always kept something small for situations like these.
Warden shrugged, "I don't remember 445 executing people, but don't think he's above torture," He said, glancing to his right where the entrance airlocks were, still open and full of people. No Blacks on sight, so they were relatively off the hook for now.
"The guys in Black uniforms are the police essentially, right?" Snow White brought the strap between her index and middle finger.
Warden nodded.
"Why would you torture or kill your own enforcement? This way you either run out or turn them against you" She moved the strap over her thumb, then down to her pinky.
"Well," He said, placing his ring on his palm, "They get paid rich and in quite imaginatively ways, but are also punished as such".
"An incentive and deterrent" With a quick turn, she flipped her hand and the strap fell on her palm.
"Let's call it that, yeah," He said, pushing off the wall.
The crowd surrounding them on the platform near the entrance had grown thin, with only a few Blacks and a few other irrelevant, to them, workers remaining on their posts. The rest had gone back inside for work or to their ships for taking off. Few outsiders spent much time here, considering that there is no real reason for anyone to do that, and many deterrents exist.
"We should be going" Warden nudged the girl, who had taken her jacket off and tied the sleeves around her waist before swinging her backpack over her shoulder. She seemed to be sweating and considering that the light source of this world was rather close, it only made sense.
Snow White was quick to catch up on the fact that Warden was the only one in sight that had not taken any measures to cool himself off. The Blacks' uniforms were thin, with enough holes in their arms and legs for them to take in some air, and she had already taken off as much of her clothing as she could, staying with only a sleeveless shirt she usually kept for insulation. Home wasn't exactly a warm place. "Aren't you hot, dude?" She complained, feeling her skin burn up just by looking at him.
He glanced back at her, then down at himself, "I am, but it's better I keep this on for now" Warden replied, pulling his backpack's straps a bit higher.
She didn't argue much about it, if only because that was not their most grave concern at the time.
Approaching the four Blacks that stood guard at the entrance immediately made her tense up, and a feeling of uneasiness spread throughout her body. Standing in pairs of two on each side of the large Airlock, the Blacks were seemed to be as crude as the world they guard, with gruff faces, untended facial hair and smoke smudges on most parts of their skin that was exposed, save for their heads. Even their eyes seemed like they had been treated roughly, with black lines underneath them and red spots around the white part.
Said eyes snapped in their direction, like guard dogs at the sight of a visitor. First, they spotted Warden, whose considerably larger figure drew the attention away from Snow White and the perfectly visible crossbow that was dangling from the edge of her backpack.
They all moved simultaneously, spreading out in a blockade of muscle once the two strangers had reached their checkpoint. "State your name and the purpose of your visit" Said one of the two standing in the back, a man whose natural blond hair had turned brown from the dirt, as the barrel of his rifle turned to Warden.
Snow White took a tiny step back, though she tucked her hands into the pockets of her pants, trying her best to remain calm, or at least present herself as if she were.
"Warden, and this is Snow White. We're visiting Director 445 for some personal business" Warden answered calmly, with the polite tone the cashier back at her hometown's grocery store had, one that worked only to those that wouldn't bother looking past it. In reality, or at least from the perspective she had, Snow White could see that he was tense as well, with both thumbs tucked through and under his belt, and his fingers curled up around it.
It took her a few moments to realize why he would be cautious, when he seemed to be nonchalant and aggressive with the previous bunch, though the answer came in rather quickly after Warden spoke.
These were veterans, with quite a few years of experience on their backs, compared to what she now realized were newbies back at the food stand. They moved around them with the stride of men who had been standing on that Airlock for half their lives, and that meant Warden would not simply get them through by simply mentioning the Director again.
And as expected, the Blacks looked at each other in confusion. Considering what Warden had told her about the Directors in this factory world, their confusion was rational. Why would two randoms want, and have the audacity, to claim a meeting with the Director of their facility?
"You..." One of them spat on the ground.
His comrade interrupted him abruptly, approaching forward while yelling, "You dare claim Warden's name, you punk? Get out of my fucking sight or I'll shoot you on the spot!" It might have been her imagination, but his bald head was turning gleaming red while he did so.
They're not upset about the Director? They… know him?
Snow White's attention now fully turned to Warden, who stood adamantly against the four Blacks. More questions for a time with less danger…
Unfazed, he glanced at the Black who was now furiously holding his weapon, barely keeping it lowered as he stood in their path.
"I am Warden…" He paused, then chuckled, "and you'll regret shooting me"
"Warden was a little kid"
"Thirteen years ago, yes I was, and you probably still had hair on your head"
Silence, though she wished it was of the comfortable kind.
"Prove it" The furthest one in the back, and seemingly the oldest of the bunch, with even his mustache being a dark shade of grey.
For a second, Warden stood perfectly still, staring down the man that spoke last.
Snow White's heart started beating faster, as she glared at him, yelling inside her own mind for him to do something. Or had he forgotten that they had guns aimed at their heads?
"So?" They once again probed him, though this time their heads had leaned further into the sights of their weapons.
Do something! If they know your stupid ass then why don't you just show them who you are! Come on, move!
As if her mental cries had been heard, Warden moved his right arm a bit lower, dragging his belt downwards just enough for the top of his pants to follow as well.
Curious, she leaned forward to see what he was there.
The grand reveal was a large, gruesome scar on the edge of his pelvis. Like a spiderweb, his skin tissue had spread outward, covering the wound with a layer of new skin that was quite deformed. On top of the scar however, just a few millimeters above, a mark had been branded on the skin for… some reason. It was exactly the same as the brand on the Blacks' uniforms and on everything else she had seen on this world so far.
"Why is that there?" Snow White's thoughts slipped right out of her mouth, though nobody other than herself seemed to have noticed.
Shocked, the Blacks all took a step away from Warden, examining him suspiciously.
"Now, once again, I need to go see the Director about something personal of this girl right here. Can you please just let us in?" He said, raising his belt back up.
The eldest of the blacks tapped his comrade in the front on the back, "Let him in" He said, returning to his post by the Airlock with a look full of memories and… well, that was all Snow White could read off him. They all seemed to know who he was, yet only one recognized that scar and the brand he showed. Maybe they were old friends when Warden was a kid? He wasn't that old anyway, so how did he-
"You coming?" Warden called from up ahead.
While she was occupied asking questions to herself, the steel Airlocks had been drawn aside by whatever mechanisms laid behind the walls, allowing them entrance into the tower.
Awkwardly, she greeted the Blacks with a nod and trotted over to Warden's side.
The Airlock behind them was sealed shut and they were left alone in a dim hallway. It was short, barely a dozen meters and rather wide, though utterly bare and repulsing in the eye, almost straight out of a horror movie, with markings carved out into the steel walls and dried out bloodstains on many points on the floor and the base of the walls.
The spaced-out lights hanging from the walls by a cord didn't help create any welcoming feeling either, with their bright, white light and the small spots of shadow between each one of them.
"Stay near me… the inside is as hospitable as it seems" Warden said, with enough sarcasm that would warrant a physical reaction if the circumstances were any different.
"I- can see that" She replied cautiously, following him through the hallway. They mostly stuck close to the center, where bloodstains were not as prevalent and the light shone better, "Mind telling me what that was about?" She asked after a few seconds, when the silence had already begun to feel unbearable, "Outside, I mean".
"Nothing important" He shrugged the question off.
She scoffed, "You'll say that about every question I ask, aren't you?"
A faint smile lifted the edge of his lip, "Maybe. Maybe not"
"Then just tell me, you insufferable old man!" She jokingly pushed him, barely managing however to move him in the slightest.
The moment her hands touched against his back, a loud buzzer violently tore the silence out of the hallway, screeching for a second before a mechanical voice announced, "No physical contact or aggression within the Tower!"
The buzzer's echo wore off and she was left standing there, hands on her ears and a spinning head. It took some effort to stand straight when she raised her eyes, and the ringing inside her ears did not seem to want to stop.
"This place is as fun as it has always been" Warden mumbled and bent forward a bit and looked her in the eyes, "You okay?" He asked, without laying a finger on her however.
Snow White simply nodded, straightening herself up. "I'm guessing this means you've been here before" She said, making a signal with her hand to tell him that she was good to go once again. The ringing hadn't left yet, but she could manage until it did.
"Answering both this and your previous question, I've been here before around thirteen years ago. There was an attack, got a bullet right in the pelvis, but their doctor fixed me up, and since their a corporation, they brand the effects of their products for advertisement" Warden explained in brief, wasting little to no time going into the juicy details Snow White was really interested in.
"You seem to be a big deal, though, meeting the Director, them treating you like a…" The word escaped her mind for a moment, and she trailed off.
"A hero?"
She looked up, "I would say legend, but that works too"
He shrugged, "I'm neither, at least not to them"
They reached the door, and a small yellow light blinked above it twice before the Airlocks started to be drawn to the side.
"They think I fought to save them, and their whole… company" Warden continued, and as the light from the widening gap met his face, Snow White saw a cold look and a frown. "They still seem to believe that… so let's keep it like that".
Eventually, a loud metallic clang signified that the Airlock had been fully opened. The powerful lights of the inside blinded her for a moment, forcing her to shut her eyes and blink to make the burning feeling go away.
Once she managed to look up again, a sense of shock made her stop.
To say that she had never, in her life or dreams, seen something similar to the sight she had in front of her was an understatement, and describing it feels like an equally monumental task as moving.
A sea of people, no, whole oceans of people dressed in different coloured jumpsuits marched left and right in a hurry, riding up elevators and stairs. Where were they going? Up… to the millions of circular platforms, like rings, acting like floors with a hole in their center. How many of these there were, she could not count, but no matter how high she looked, heads, hands and feet were visible on every single one of them.
Where the rest of the floors should have been, in that empty space in the middle of each ring, a giant glass tube, infused with some sort of light, lit up each floor. It moved around within its glass confinement, like a fish in a water tank, though other than its seemingly aetherial movements, it did not seem to do anything else.
"It's not alive, it's some fancy gas they've cooked up. It saves them energy on lights" Warden explained, "As we agreed, Rule number one, you can look, but don't let them see any reaction" He said and went silent again.
When they started moving, with Warden guiding them, she felt his hand gently lie on her backpack, trying not to add too much wait on her. Considering the crowd they were about to dive into, she didn't say anything about that.
Her attention, once again, fell on the bizarre environment around her.
Within a moment of walking out of the airlock, the two of them were lost in the waves of workers moving to and from their working stations up above. Even through the ceaseless talking between the countless people around her, she could clearly hear machines work rigidly on the floors over her head, smashing and breaking and moving and putting things together… whatever they were producing in this place, they were doing it in numbers school had never taught her about.
She didn't get the chance to see much more before they, and the rest of the crowd, were led into one of the hundreds of elevators on the side of the tower. The light from the center of the floor shone less brightly now that they were further away from it, making it impossible to see through the heads and bodies of the workers.
"Come on! Move inside, go to your stations, you all know where they are, so don't stall!" The loud voice of a woman sounded over the chatter, like a siren, warning them to rush into the elevator.
Warden quickly pulled her to the side, where they stood, crammed against a poorly lit corner, "Stay close to me and keep on your feet" He said, turning his back to the workers that were amassing inside the elevator. It was long enough to fit most of them inside, but guessing from the yelling outside, the guards would not let the elevator go without all of them inside.
When did we even get inside? I can't even see where we are.
The rattling of soles against the metal floor and the endless muttering of the workers drilled into her head as she stood there, semi-sat against the wall of the elevator. Warden rubbed his hand on her shoulder, and instinctively, she leaned into it like it was the only thing keeping her grounded into this world. Without saying a single word, he lowered his hand again, letting his palm rest on her.
"I said move inside!" The same Black yelled from the entrance of the elevator, though neither of them could see to whom.
Like a heated needle, her words pierced her eardrums, sending Snow White onto the floor, struggling to stay put and not get trampled by the dozens of workers who were desperately trying to get away from the threats of the guards.
"No! He's too tired, he can't work!" A child's voice rang through the cacophony of noises, passing through the myriads of invasive sounds, clearing her senses.
Snow White looked up. Warden had made to move, but he wouldn't be fast enough.
There.
Through the workers, beyond them, she saw a boy stand with his frail and shaking legs in front of the two Blacks.
"Kid, get the fuck inside, or we'll drag both of you to the docks!" The Blacks barked, brandishing their automatic weapons like they had been drying to finally try them out.
A sense of clarity touched her mind, with that second she was given, Snow White jolted away from her corner, dashing desperately through the workers. Her arms and legs moving with the coordination and grace of a hunter, sprinting through a dense forest to claim its prey.
The last worker stumbled out of her way and the scene in front of her became crystal clear. An old man fell onto the ground with a kid around her age, tall and sickly, standing up to the pair of hungry dogs that blocked their path.
There was nothing to think about, nor did she have the ability to. Her body was lighter than air, her hands faster than her thoughts, and before she could even bring herself to do it, Snow White was standing on the flank of the Blacks, crossbow draw at the height of their ribs. One move and the first one would be dying from internal bleeding within the next twenty minutes.
What will I do about the second one?
Maybe if she could-
"Don't!" Warden's voice boomed like thunder on her rear, though her body did not allow her to turn. Whatever was happening, that clarity in her mind, she could not waste it on Warden. This was the only shot she had.
As he emerged from the crowd of silent, now cautious workers, Warden took a few steps to reach her. Standing by her side, her turned to the Blacks, "Apologies for the interruption" He said, ever so calmly.
What?
The female Black instantly turned to his position, wasting the fleeting element of surprise they had. With a condescending glance, the guard spat, "Take your brat and go or I'll tell the Director you had an accident on your way to his office".
Snow White's finger weighed heavy on the trigger, and every muscle in her body screamed at her to take the shot.
"Scum like her don't deserve mercy" They called out.
"Oh, that would be a tragedy…" Warden took a gentle step forward, "For you in particular" His voice deepened, and another step was taken. "You have both a lack of workers and one of the investments. Should you harm either of us, not only would your Director lose a business partner, which he desperately needs, but you would also cost him a precious tool, which is hard to come by these days" His words were slow, yet abrupt and with each one, he took a step, until he stood face to face with the woman, who now held her weapon lowered to the ground.
"We're doing very well" She growled, "And nobody will know anything unless I report it" She made to push him back with the bulk of her weapon, but the blow did little to nothing in terms of removing Warden from her.
"We both know there are cameras, and that you cannot stop me from heading the Director, so… how about you play nice and escort them both back to their beds? They'll get a good rest and work tomorrow. I'll even put in a good word to the Director for you" Warden gave her a smile dripping with the sarcasm of a man who had just tasted victory without even fighting.
Snow White hadn't realized it, but she had lowered her crossbow and simply observed as Warden turned to the kid behind him, "You ok?" He asked, receiving a simple nod in response.
For a moment, both her and the key glanced at each other, a gaze of fear and confusion met that of instinct and action.
"Fine" The guard scoffed, stepping away from him, "Their bunks are on 340, you take them there".
Warden walked back to Snow White, tapping her on the shoulder, "Quick thinking, nice" He said, placing his hand on the crossbow, lowering it gently, "But we should be going now'.
"What about them?" She protested as she hangs the crossbow from the side of her backpack once more.
Warden glanced to his side, where a few workers had already taken in the boy and old man in their group, eventually drawing them into the elevator. "They'll be fine, you did your part" He smiled at her before walking back into the elevator, where she followed as well.
This time, the small sea of workers parted in their wake until they had returned to their corner. After that, everyone remained either perfectly still or silent, save for the few workers that were still tending to the man and the boy.
Warden insisted they did not speak while they were still in the elevator, whispering to her that they would probably talk about what happened when they got a break from people. So, she sat in the corner once again, though this time she shut her eyes and did her best to not allow the noises coming in to frustrate her again.
No matter from what perspective she looked at it, there was nothing she could think of that would explain what had happened back there. She had gone hunting before, once almost being eaten alive by wild animals, but… even in that life or death situation, she hadn't reacted that quickly, or with that kind of precision.
Well, I was younger back then, I suppose. I've gotten better, dad said it himself.
There was no point in thinking it over anyway. She acted when she had to act and stalled enough for Warden to reach her and resolve the situation… or at least, that's how it turned out. Warden didn't even cross her mind during all of that.
"Hey!" A young voice called from the front of the elevator.
It was the kid!
"Yeah?" Warden replied cautiously, without moving from the protective position he had taken in front of Snow White.
"Thanks a bunch," He said, then sat down again. Snow White couldn't see him from the floor she was sitting on, though his voice told her enough. It was high-pitched, though not enough to belong to a child, since it did seem like it was getting rougher… maybe he was a teenager, that would explain it.
She didn't keep track of how long it took for the elevator to take them up to the top. The minutes got lost in the endless fading in and out of the lights placed around the shaft as they passed them at high speeds. Only once did that weird trance failed, even for a little while, when the elevator slowly ground to a halt.
The buzzer announced with an empty, mechanical voice, "Floor-" a pause occurred, the doors slid open with the dry screeching of metal on metal, "Three Hundred and-" another pause interrupted as three triangles lit up over the door: one Green, one Blue and an Orange one. "Forty. All employees belonging to the stations of floor 340, please step off" The announcement finished, and with a click the buzzer's voice died.
Most of the workers, grouped together in teams with those wearing jumpsuits of the same colour as them, walked out of the elevator, with Blue leading and Orange being last.
"Well" Warden sighed, looking around in the spacious elevator, "That went horribly well" He stretched, letting himself sit on the floor with his back against the wall as he stretched his legs.
Snow White didn't have the energy to turn her head to look at him, so she just glanced in his direction. "What?" She asked, yawning.
"We almost got killed, but everyone got out safely, so… Horribly well" He shrugged, allowing gravity to pull his head back against the wall of the elevator.
"Ah" She nodded.
There was more she wanted to say, much more, but her heart was not beating, it had stopped as her mind rushed to a hundred more thoughts she could not keep track of. All she felt able to do was sit there, in the corner of the elevator and stare at the doors, hoping her heart would let her speak.
"Focus on the elevator. It's going at a soft, steady speed, keep your ears and mind on the clicking…" Warden said, placing his hand on the floor.
Snow White let her head slide to the left and looked at him, "What?"
"You feel off, your heart isn't well… allow the rhythm to help it beat," He said and reached to her, taking her hand and lowering it onto the floor.
"Wh-" She wasn't fast enough to finish the sentence, not faster than the soothing feeling that shivered up her arm, towards her chest. The rattling sound of the ascending elevator pulsed through her as if the inanimate beating of metal attempted to get her heart to move again.
Warden chuckled and sat down again, "I had the same reaction when I first stepped into something like that. The adrenaline keeps you on edge, but when it wears off, you realize… you almost got killed..." He said though she could not see what he was doing or if he had moved.
Her eyes remained glued to the ceiling and her hand on the floor as she controlled her breathing.
"Or…" He paused again, "or that you almost killed someone yourself".
Her eyes fell onto him, "I wasn't going to pull the trigger"
Warden had stood up once again, walking towards the large panel with buttons on the other end of the elevator, "You weren't even in control of yourself, how do you know what you would or wouldn't do?" He said, pressing one of them.
She didn't reply, just wrapped her arms around her knees and sat there.
"Thought so," He said, taking a step away from the board, "Wanna know what the thing is, about situations like this?" Warden turned to the side, looking at her, as the doors of the elevator opened and the announcer declared that they had reached the top floor of the tower.
Snow White brought herself to her feet with sluggish movements, "What?" She asked hesitantly as she made her way to Warden.
"You never actually pulled the trigger. You weren't in control, yes, and for that exact reason you can safely assume that when it came down to killing someone… you wouldn't" He explained, resting his hand on her shoulder, "There isn't much more to it, trust me".
With those words, they were already making their way through the top floor, probably towards the Director's office, as Warden had said they would. "Look," She said, politely pushing his hand off her shoulder, "I appreciate the positivity, but let's focus".
Warden merely nodded and continued on their way.
As expected, even by her limited knowledge of this world, the top floor was vastly different from either the base or floor 340. Where pipes, machinery, and a poor excuse of safety measures took up most of the rest of the tower, up there she felt like a palace had been built atop the world. Black Marble floors with gold veins injected into it, creating the illusion of radiant roots travelling underneath their feet.
Blood-red carpets slithered towards various directions in serpentine shapes, like rivers of red, guiding the guests to wherever they might please to go.
As difficult as it may have been to draw her eyes from the ground, Snow White was not disappointed when she did so. Around the carpets, planted artificially into the Black Marble, trees of Glass sprouted from the gold veins of the floor, extending their translucent branches over the paths and the red rivers, shattering the light coming from above into a million and one rainbows, which in their own turn illuminated the entire floor.
Higher above was… "What is this?" She leaned to her right, whispering to Warden.
A fiery orb floated right above them, as if it hung from the top of the ceiling, casting its powerful light onto the Glass trees and everything else. A burning eye watching over anyone who could have made it this far up.
"A fake sun" Warden replied abruptly, without even looking at it, his gaze drawn at the back of the floor, at something she could not see.
Snow White frowned, "Wait, aren't suns supposed to be massive? And, well, not exist?" She asked, drawing her gaze away from it. Looking at it for too long brought pain to her eyes and made her head spin as if she had a hangover.
Warden finally turned to look at her, though not without casting a glance at whatever he was looking for every once in a while. "One, yes, real ones are massive, and no, they do exist. Two worlds around the center of the Veil have a sun, and unlike every other world, they house six different planets each… which is why most believe the key to Earth is there" He explained, pointing at the fake sun above them.
"And we're not there… why?" Snow White asked.
Warden shrugged, "Everyone has searched every part of those worlds. If it was, it would have been found already" He said, slowing down their pace before discretely pointing at the silver gilded door at the end of the path they were following. "Now, if he addresses you, speak freely but make sure not to say too much… he didn't get where he was by playing fair" Warden whispered just as they were approaching the six-armed guards at the door.
They, however, were not Blacks. There was no uniform or jumpsuit, these ones doned steel plated armor with little to no gaps between each plate and held large, bulking guns that could rip through any piece of cover… or human part, within a fraction of a second. With this armory and the kind of trigger discipline, they seemed to have, anything that could possibly pose a threat would be riddled with holes within moments after firing.
"Halt!" One of them commanded.
Warden nodded and they both stopped a few meters away from them.
"State your purpose!"
"We're here to visit the Director" He replied, standing perfectly still with both his arms slightly extended outwards to show that he was both unarmed and not looking for trouble.
Snow Whit caught up quickly, and followed suit.
"No shit, what do you want him for?" Barked a third one, jerking the end of his gun just a little higher.
"Personal business, tell him Warden wants to see him. He'll remember me" Warden nodded, pairing that with a pleasant smile that was sure to piss off the guards.
And of course, it did.
They all collectively grimaced, showing them, without words, that they would be absolutely thrilled to blast their heads open without much more of a conversation. Their boss, however, must have been less of a homicidal gunhead, because despite all that, one of them pressed a large white button on the intercom by the door and brought himself closer to it. The machine itself was an ornate little box on the wall, just a bit to the right from the door, with its sides lined with gold and two white marble statues.
"You have someone named Warden waiting at the door. He's with a little girl as well…" He paused, bringing his ear closer to the earpiece. After two seconds of no response, he spoke again, "What should we do, sir?"
This time, a barely audible crackle was heard from the other side and a high-pitched voice replied, "Just one second and they can come in!"
The intercom buzzed and the line was cute, leaving the guard with his finger hovering over the button in frustration, "You heard him" He sighed, turning to face his men first, then the unwanted visitors once again with as much energy as his annoyance could master.
One of the others approached their leader, placing a hand on his shoulder with as much compassion as he could, "You can wait here until h-" He tried to speak, but was interrupted almost immediately by the door to the office slamming open behind him. All four of them snapped to the new arrival's direction, though none raised their weapons as the rather short man in the yellow suit skipped past them. His armed escort of two-eyed at the guards, grinning at them with the satisfaction of a kid causing trouble.
With both hands in the pockets of his suit, he walked with a straight back and head raised high with pride. "They can go in, the Director would love to see him" He stated in the same tone as before, though now Snow White noticed the self-complacency of a man who thought the world could not harm him behind his words. It was a very specific aura that these people gave out, one that she was familiar with, although on a lesser level as that of… well, whatever this creep's deal was.
Warden merely glanced at the guards, who nodded irritably before stepping aside, leaving the way to the half-open door with no obstructions. "Don't take too long, he's a busy man" Said one of them as they strolled past, and for once, Snow White thanked Warden because he simply walked past them.
As they entered, turned briefly to shut the door behind them, only to be surprised that despite its size it was relatively light and easy to push. So, with a quick thrust of her arms, it swung shut, leaving them inside the office, with the pulsating yet constant light of the fake sun on their right.
She had not expected much from this office, considering how anything else looked like in this tower, but alas, this was one of the few moments that she was proven wrong faster than she could form a biased opinion.
In massive contrast to the extravagance of the top floor just outside that door, the office had the simplicity of the sky bundle together with the complexity of position of the man who owned it. Underneath her feet, as if they were transparent, the tiles portrayed the darkness of the night sky, but… "What is this?" She whispered, unable to raise her voice to directly ask Warden.
She didn't need to, however, for she had read the answer in a long-forgotten book that was still laying under her bed at home.
They were stars… millions of sparkling dots in the night sky, some clustered together in swirling masses so far yet so large that the human mind was unable to comprehend them.
The floor, the walls and even the ceiling were covered in them, yet she knew that they were not painted over, because they actually moved through the office, unguided and with no principle or order behind their motion.
"Hey, Warden?" She asked, still under the influence of absolute awe.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think Earth's sky has tars?"
"I…" He paused, moved out of her field of vision before speaking again, "We have to go, now" Warden exclaimed, running over to her.
"What? Why, weren't we going to talk to the Director?" She asked in utter confusion as she was forced to snap out of her daydreaming.
Warden said nothing as he made for the door, where he put his ear on the door, trying to see if the guards had heard anything.
"Will you te-" She began, but cut off herself once she had made it near the office where Warden had stopped. In front of her, lying motionless on the floor was the body of a man in a glimmering silver suit that was now stained with a deep, thick red. No weapon to be saw, but the hole in his suit was most definitely that of a knife. "Is this…?"
"The Director" Warden confirmed.
She stood still, perfectly so, shut her eyes and took a long, deep breath. Then, she opened them again, "We have to go"