It had been a day since the operation in New Zina. I'd been laying in my bed, bored in my dorm, waiting for the next call I could receive for another mission. I hadn't realized it until now that my sanity seemed to depend on doing what made me feel useful. As a Fractless, there was only so much I could do to provide my worth, so I yearned for any chance I could get at it. One taste of war, and another taste of an exclusive mission like New Zina's, and those two were enough alone to get me hooked on the desire for more.
My phone then rang, and just like every other time, I picked it up with excitement and curiosity, ready to be told to attend another debrief.
"Klyson. Come to my suite."
It was Enzo. I sighed of disappointment that it wasn't for a mission, but took it back immediately. I was being invited over by First, a privilege that not everyone had.
"What for?" I asked.
"Look at the calendar, brother. It's Friday."
I made my way over to the Upper Four HQ just as the sky began to dim. Nighttime was approaching.
"Hey Klyson!" The guard at the front greeted me. It was the same one who'd helped me get into the building the very first time.
"Hey man. Just here to see Enzo again."
"Mr. Cartier? You sure are a lucky guy."
I was permitted entry, and was guided through security as per usual. Then I stepped into the elevator, rising up to the top with the hums playing as we passed each floor. Finally, I'd arrived to Enzo's penthouse suite. I stepped off the elevator and onto the velvet carpet, walking through the hall until I entered the main lounge where Enzo sat at his desk, gazing out the window at downtown Melysia's skyline. On his desk were two glasses each filled with whiskey.
As I approached, he said nothing. It was the first time he'd been silent upon my entry. Usually he'd make a remark as soon as he noticed me enter the room. But this time, he just waited. It wasn't until I walked up next to him that he looked at me, picked up his glass, and raised for a cheers. I picked up my glass and clinked his, drinking in unison with him. He then finally spoke.
"You can be funny sometimes, you know?"
"What do you mean by that?"
Enzo scoffed under his breath. "The way you worried about me for the New Zina mission. Even reducing me down to the level of Sixth and Ninth."
I got embarrassed. "I'm sorry… At the time I just thought 20 Angels was too little. I was worried."
"About First? Worried about me, First?" He emphasized the title. "If you couldn't tell, even 20 Angels was overkill."
I thought back on the moment I'd looked out the window and saw that absolute destruction had unfolded on the frontlines of New Zina's border. That was all the work of just 20 Angels, Enzo's Angels.
"How did you do that? How did you manage to take down border patrol with only 10% of their men…?" I asked.
Enzo looked me in the eyes with seriousness. "You need to stop questioning and just begin to accept. The fact that I'm First should answer enough."
"But still, how…?"
Annoyed, he sighed. "Overestimation. You overestimate the enemy's abilities by at least a hundredfold. You believe that they're capable of things they actually aren't. It puts you ten steps ahead of them, because then you expect the worst. But when it all goes down, they're actually so much weaker than you anticipated. The ride is smooth from there."
"That's interesting…"
"It works every time. The outcome of the battle always depends on the standard I set for my opponent, but they never ever meet my standards. My standards are that they're strong, but every single one of them are weak. It gets boring."
"I can't imagine how much experience you've had in the field to think this way."
"Of course you can, I'm First. Not Sixth, and not Ninth. Don't you dare compare me to those lowly ants ever again."
"I'm sorry, Enzo. I was just concerned at the time. Sixth and Ninth were both caught off guard and it resulted in their deaths. I guess it was just my trauma speaking…"
"Then get that trauma out of here." Enzo took another sip. "It's a sign of weakness. Sixth and Ninth were both weak, that's why they died."
I took the words personally. "Hey, don't talk about them like that. They weren't weak. In fact, they were stronger than I'd ever be with those Fractals—"
"Blah, blah, blah!" He interrupted me. "Here you go again, Klyson. Again with this. Ants don't belong on a high pedestal!"
I continued to be defensive, in honor of my fallen comrades. "I don't care what you believe, Enzo. It's fact that they were strong! They weren't weak!"
"Then why are they dead?" He looked me dead in the eye. "If they were so strong, then why are they dead?"
"It's not fair to put it that way. They were caught off-guard."
"At the end of the war, you, Emanuel, and Cynthia were all caught off guard. Are any of you dead?"
I hesitated to respond, knowing I'd fall into his trap no matter what.
"The world works in favor of the strong, Klyson. The strong don't need to do anything to survive. The weak die in our place so that we can live and flourish. That's why we're alive."
I began to become heated. I was coming to realize that Enzo had a complete lack of empathy.
"Stop being so closed-minded, Enzo!" I suddenly yelled at him. "I get that you're the strongest, but it doesn't mean everyone around you suddenly becomes weak! You have to give credit where it's due! People can still be strong even if they aren't at your level!"
He looked at me in silence for a moment, seemingly shocked. But then his face cracked, and he burst out into laughter.
"Huh?" I was unsettled. "Why are you laughing? This is serious."
"But I can't take you seriously when you're trying so hard to defend people who are dead!" He continued to laugh. "Dead, Klyson. Dead! That alone says enough about those people! You can't correlate the terms 'strong' and 'dead'!"
My face was heating up.
"You understand too little, Klyson. That's what makes this funny. You act all high-and-mighty as if you understand the reality of things, but you don't! I do! I've been reigning at the top for years! I know how things work around here! Throughout all my time looking down on people, I've picked-up on patterns, been revealed truths, and never ever do things go in favor for the weak. Haven't you learned anything in history class? That's what the Filtering was for: to filter out the weak from the strong!"
"You're a fucking dick, Enzo!"
"And what about it?" He stood up from his chair, now leveled eye-to-eye with me. "Your friends Sixth and Ninth died because they were weak, and that's the truth! I'm even putting it into simpler terms for you, but you're still choosing to deny!"
"Shut up! Fuck you!" I couldn't contain my anger anymore. I whipped my glass to the floor, shattering it completely. Whiskey splattered everywhere among the glass shards surrounding our feet. "You're an arrogant prick with no sense of humanity! I can't believe I ever looked-up to you!" I turned around and began to walk away. I couldn't handle being in the same room as Enzo anymore. His beliefs were a complete turn-around from mine.
I heard Enzo scoffing behind me. "You'll understand eventually, Klyson. Once you've made your way up the ladder, it'll all make sense to you."
I ignored him. I had no more words left to say to him. I was done listening to his flawed ideals. I got into the elevator and exhaled, trying to keep my composure.
"Floor?" The guard in the elevator asked me.
I looked at the list of buttons. 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1, were the options. It made me ponder if any of the other Upper Four on the other floors thought the same way as Enzo. Then, the number 4 stood out to me. I remembered it was Kyra's floor. Knowing how friendly she was upfront, I wondered if she too had a mindset like Enzo since she was also in the Upper Four. I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that all of the Upper Four were like him, especially since I'd always respected them. I needed reassurance for my thoughts.
"Fourth floor, please."