The interviewer finished off his "rapid-fire" round with a couple of less genuine questions. I tried my best to answer as normally as possible. When Flin released his breath, I also released mine.
The interviewer, think his name was Devin or Dave or something, had a fearful look in his eyes. I tried to show that I was no threat by changing my expression so that my eyes would have a gentle element to them and my smile was warmer. But, he obviously didn't give a shit about my facade. He breathed in a lot of air and asked his 'serious questions, "Mr. Grey, would you please tell the country more about the Evolution Games this year?"
I faced the camera and started to explain the details, "Well, this year is our most successful year. By that, I mean over twenty thousand applicants have already registered!"
He nodded his head, "Yes! I've seen the signs all over the internet. 'Twenty thousand credits' for just participating in the preliminaries." He looked at me with changed eyes, "How much would that have cost for you, Mr. Grey?"
For fuck's sake, this is another one of those media people. Reporters, interviewers, and a bunch of other random bastards want me to slip up on where I got all of my money. The government knows that I didn't just earn fifty-trillion credits in one night, but they have no proof to convict me on any charges. So they put up an incentive to catch me to all the new outlets. The families that were robbed on that fateful day put up a fight, but tell me something that can't be solved with money? Well, money won the legal side of things, but the other side was taken care of with...some tough love.
I led this interviewer down the rabbit hole that I had formulated a decade ago. "The twenty thousand plus the seventeen percent we took off any transport to the inner sector came to a grand total of just under twenty billion credits."
The interviewer then asked, "My, my! That is quite a lot of money to spend, Mr. Grey!"
No shit, sherlock. "Of course. But, we at Grey Corp. want to make things more accessible to people who want to take a chance in the Evolution Games."
"But, won't this act of generosity affect your style of living?"
"My style of living or my bank account?" The interviewer's face blushed red. "Listen Dug...or whatever the hell your name is, I will worry about my finances, and you can worry about whether you can still keep your job or not." I pushed myself off the chair and straightened my tie. I looked into the camera one last time and said, "If you're going to participate in the Evolution Games, be prepared for a couple of changes."
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Vincent POV:
"What a badass," Bill said without thinking. He quickly corrected himself, "I mean, he's still a monster, but..."
George and I looked at him in an accepting manner. Bill eventually calmed down. The windows stopped showing the interview and were replaced by the drab concrete walls. Suddenly there was a resounding sound throughout the bullet train. It was the operator. "Alright you sewer rats, get ready to see the inner sector! The only chance you'll ever get to see it!"
We all stood up and took a step back to see the entire window. The rough concrete was illuminated from the outside light. We were getting close. Abruptly, the concrete slabs changed into intricate murals filled with a myriad of colors, geometric shapes, and graffiti. As we passed those pictures on the wall, we entered a world of blinding light.
Bill and George were amazed in unison, "Woah!" The inner sector opened up to us. The bullet train was on a large ramp and was supported by tall, majestic pillars. We could see some of the inner sectors from the height which we entered at. There were shiny, white skyscrapers that dotted the landscape. Righ under them were hundreds of thousands of houses, villas, and mansions. To us, the roads looked like they were paved in gold. Water fountains were galore; they sprinkled long trails of water that created beautiful, arching rainbows over entire neighborhoods. The way the sun hit the sector was just incredible. My own eyes widened when I witnessed the miracles of the inner sector. The air right below us contained hundreds of flying robots that were delivering mail, scanning for injustice, or waiting in case of medical urgency. One would never die to anything other than old age if they lived in the inner sector. Amazing, simply amazing. I thought about this for a while. To think that every city in the country has a place like this.
The bullet train raced past the environment and slowed down on a descending ramp. From here, we could see Ceandor Island. It wasn't actually an island that was surrounded by the ocean contrary to popular beliefs. It was a humongous man-made island that was isolated from the inner sector by a huge body of water that surrounded it. It could easily fit twenty thousand candidates.
The train passed around the island, giving us a better look. There were different habitats that were maintained inside miniature domes existing inside the major dome which encompassed the entire city. Forests, jungles, deserts filled with sand and ice, temperate climates, and many more sub-habitats were present. It felt as if the world could be traveled through without stepping out of one's backyard. Oh! yeah. The inner sector also had massive backyards for their houses.
The train began to decrease in speed so much that we started to see the scenery distinctly slow. There was an announcement for the three of us, "We're going to arrive at the destination in about six or so minutes." The operator seemed to be bored of us, so he didn't bother insulting us.
Six minutes flew past in a jiffy. The bullet train came to a smooth stop. We could see the clear difference between our broken-down station and the station in front of us. Actually, I couldn't even bring myself to call it a simple station. The floors were made of white quartz that glittered in the sun. The walls were covered in expensive tapestry or paintings. There was no trash or little insight; the small, flat-cylinder-shaped robots were scrubbing the already shiny floors. I could probably lick every inch of that floor and not get any illness. That was a weird analogy.
The twins and I got up from our seats and walked towards the front of the bus. We passed by the operator who was staring straight ahead to dodge our stern gazes. As I walked out, he called out to us. "Hey, you little rats!" he softened his voice, "Be careful."
He shut the door to the bullet train and rolled off. He all gave each other confused looks. Well, that was an unexpected development.
The station was even more breathtaking when I was actually in it. The smell of roses protruded into my nose. I relaxed a little taking in the new and fascinating environment around me. The twins looked like they were doing the same. There was only one person in the station; there was an old lady wearing a large sun hat that had a purple flower on it. George walked up to her and tried to ask her a question, "Hello there Ma'am! Would you be so kind to point us in the direction of the registration desk for the Evolution Games?"
The woman looked up at George with a benevolent face, but her words betrayed her innocence. Her brows furrowed when she a George, and she said, "You smell like shit! Get the hell away from me you stupid insect!"
George jumped in surprise. He then raised his hands in surrender and walked back to us. "Well, I tried. Now, we've got to ask around a little."
I shook my head in disagreement, "Just follow me, I know where it is."
The twins looked at me in disbelief. "Then, why didn't you say so? It could have saved me from that wench over there."
"I wanted you to understand that the people aren't as nice as the scenery, so don't make the same mistake again." They both shook their head in agreement. I noticed just now that they were a few inches taller than me. Regardless, I began to follow my own compass with them trailing right behind me.