Chapter 6

The office hummed with its normal din of docility. Underneath the chatter, clacking keys and hollow laughter, electrical currents pulsed through the room. Ezra stared at his monitor as the tower booted. He could almost feel the static charge building on the screen. His hands hovered over the keyboard, but his mind had already wandered.

Flashes of Natalie, and the blood flowed freely through his body. Her soft fingers grazing his skin. The smell of her neck. The smooth sound of her words, despite her clunky grammar. A sigh slipped out of his nostrils.

His memories scrolled along, the bar, Arlo. He was fuzzy, as much a dream as anyone else. An opened door, a path forward perhaps. A way to leave behind the eternal slog, the hollow repetition of it all.

He felt a different future, even if he couldn't quite see it. The corners of his lips lifted just a bit as the sensation of his quaking body returned.

Ezra blinked, then focused on the login screen's flashing cursor. Precise in its track of time, even if for Ezra one day was the same as any other.

"Earth to Ezra."

Lydia's voice snapped him back to the present.

"Hey," he said quietly. "I'm here."

"I swear, something's going on with you," she said. "Are you sure you're not dating someone?"

There was a smirk on her face, she wanted to be right. Ezra's mind brought back the sensation of lying there, looking up at those crystalline eyes. True blue, and dying for more.

"You don't have to tell me," she could see the rapture on his face. "I just, gosh, Ezra. My heart broke knowing how hard you'd take it, after Bethany-"

And just like that, a blackness hit.

There could have been hours of stasis, or not even a second. Who knows how long it did last or how long it could have lasted, but it was broken only by the trill of his desk phone.

"I'll talk to you later," he said as he lifted the receiver. "Calloway here."

Mr. Milburn would like to see you

The shrill voice of the boss' secretary pierced his ears as Lydia walked away.

"Tell him I'm on my way."

Ezra hung up the receiver, pushed back from his desk, and straightened the collar of his shirt.

He could feel the clamminess of his palms as he touched the button for 27. His distorted image bounced back at him from the brass lined walls. An internal reflection that lasted the upward ride of twenty-two floors.

When he stepped into the executive corridor, the carpet changed. Thicker, quieter. As though even the floor understood whose feet walked upon it.

Mr. Millburn's secretary was looking up blankly. She had no tasks to occupy herself with, so she sat there collecting a salary with contentment.

"Mr. Calloway," she said with a polite nod. "Go on in. He's expecting you."

Ezra gave her a small smile, tapped once on the wood-paneled door, and turned the handle before anyone could tell him not to.

It wasn't often that Ezra had to come up here, he usually managed to float around unnoticed, but the first thing that always hit him was the emptiness of it all. The vast space contrasted with the city beneath it, where the cramped hordes constantly crushed themselves under their own weight. It was a space meant to convey success, comfortable only for those whose outcomes matched. Equal parts warning and inspiration.

Mr. Millburn didn't look up as Ezra entered, he was fixated on his phone. His expression unreadable in a practiced way, a week-one lesson in executive school. He wore a double windsor, neatly tucked inside a wide collar. Every hair on his head stayed right where he wanted it. The creases on his sleeves precisely pressed. No single pixel of his appearance was uncurrated.

"Calloway," Ezra's name left his lips riding the wave of an already present out-breath. It wasn't worth the effort to give it its own air. "Take a seat."

With a faint squeak from the overstuffed leather chair, Ezra lowered himself. He was grateful no handshake was offered, his palms even sweatier now.

Millburn thumbed the lock button and placed his phone screen-down on the desk. "You've been with us a long time," he said, as though Ezra might not know.

Ezra nodded once, unsure if he was meant to reply.

"Even through some very…" Milburn mulled over his next words. "Some very challenging circumstances for you."

That all too familiar pit began rising in Ezra's stomach.

"Well, sir. I've always felt the best way to get past something is to keep going."

He didn't realize the words were even forming until after he had said them, keep going.

"We value people who understand the work. Understand the rhythm of things. Not everyone does."

The words hovered, neither warm nor cold. They simply were.

Millburn leaned back, folding his hands. "We have reason to believe there are leaks from your department."

Ezra blinked. "Sir?"

Ezra could see clearly the way Voss's eyes widened at the mention of Mutual Life.

"We need someone we can trust keeping an eye on all the happenings down on five."

There was a pause, brief but real.

"I haven't seen anything that would suggest."

"Of course not," Millburn said dismissively. "Right now you're only seeing what we show you. We'd like to show you more, we think there's more you can do for us."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"We're creating a new position, a new department, one whose task is to make sure our work stays inside the company."

The air between them grew thick. Ezra's mind raced.

"We'd like you to head it."

Millburn's eyes finally rested on Ezra's with slight squint on his right side. There were no safe thoughts, Millburn could read it all.

Ezra's lips parted slightly, but no answer came out.

Millburn didn't need one. He pulled out a folder that had been buried under a stack of papers. "This is a new contract, take a look. Let me know by the end of the week."

Ezra stood slowly. "Yes, sir."

"Close the door behind you."

As he returned to floor five, the elevator doors opened with a dull chime. It barely escaped before being drowned out by the incoming buzz of the hive.

Ezra walked back to his cubicle without telling his legs what to do. He could feel them drag, like wading through hip high water. It already felt like part of the past.

He sat down, rewoke the tower. Windows arose and disappeared as all the bloat returned to an active state. It's not as though he read every warning, but when one such window came and went bearing a message his brain knew to be new, Ezra's attention sharpened.

He refreshed the page. Nothing. He missed its meaning. The blinking cursor jumped, just once, then resumed its rhythm.

Ezra leaned back in his chair. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the card.

ARLO VOSS

Attorney at Law

No Case Too Strange

The words "too strange" stayed dead center in his focus. It was all too strange for him now.

Might want to talk soon, when are you free?

Send. Lock. Back to work.