When Vessa woke there was the taste of oranges on her tongue, and the smell of smoke in her room. She sat up and stared at the door. It was still dark, and the desk called to her. She needed to read the information on the child. Vessa still didn’t know the schedule or if there were body doubles, and there had been something on health issues. The file felt like it was burning her skin through the temporal pocket. She worked herself up to reading as the room lightened.
She was still debating with herself when there was a knock at the door and the room was fully lit by starlight. The decision was made, but Vessa still had time to read it before the big speech when the child was to die.
The Umbaan rep was there with his usual smile, though his eyes were almost soft; instead of the normal sharpness that gave his friendliness away as false.
“Good morning Vessa.” He said, and she almost smiled back at him.
“Good morning.” Vessa said, not sure where the almost trusting feeling was coming from.
“Is all going well?” He asked, as if he knew information. Were his lips curved with the knowing of something?
“I am completing all my assignments.” She said, and he nodded, his smile widening.
Male 544: 89%
Vessa checked, but her number was 98%. She brought it up to 100.
“That is good. If there’s anything you need, let me know.” He said as he gestured for her to walk to the dining hall.
“I will.” Vessa said and then kept a frown from her face. What was happening? She wondered as she ate and he talked about the city and the assignments for the day. As he handed her the layout of the Imperial Spire. A copy was in her file, so it didn’t take long for her to memorize.
She’d be working as a messenger for the next weeks, interchanging between the Imperial building and the Port until the speech. She’d only be killing two people today, but she needed to be exact on when.
Vessa finally left, having finished breakfast and needing to arrive at the Imperial Spire on time. She wondered if she hadn’t been on a timetable if the Umbaan rep would have kept her all day.
She kept wondering as she got onto a shuttle full of people and children. Being pushed in as Vessa stopped, staring at a little girl held in her father’s arms. Vessa didn’t think anyone noticed, but she crammed herself in as far away as possible and tried to look normal. Tried to focus on the shuttle’s movement and compare it to the one other shuttle she’d been on.
By the time the Imperial Spire was called, Vessa was more than ready to leave. She got off onto a platform similar to the balcony that gave Vessa her first view of the city, though it lacked the rivets that allowed for different spaceships to dock. Vessa glanced out to see all Spires shining before heading in.
She gave her new pass with the same ID as the Ports to the man in a dark brown and magenta uniform with a key pin on the right collar and shield on the left. He gave her pass back and Vessa walked past the detectors. Passed the double doors into halls with magenta, red, orange, and green stripes on the walls. Many of the people were in uniforms of a combination of the colors with dark brown as a base color that united them, that and the pins. Everyone had a key pin on the right collar, though she couldn’t make out all the pins on the left.
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It was weird. She supposed the transit workers had uniforms, but other than that and maybe a few others, uniforms were rare. No one cared as long as the assignments were completed. Vessa knew she shouldn’t be gawking, but couldn’t help it.
There was a huge tree and key on the wall behind the men and women at the welcoming desk, in dark green with a brown circle around it, and the rest of the colors took the remaining wall space.
“Newbies.” A man said as he passed her with a friend and Vessa realized she had stopped in the middle of the entrance. Her eyes felt assaulted by everything, but she did need to focus. Vessa walked up to the desk with a blush.
The woman handed Vessa magenta clothes with brown outlining without Vessa saying a word.
“Dress in this and put your civilian clothes in the cubby number on your badge. You will dress back and hand these in before you will be permitted to leave. If you leave with them on you will be tracked down and brought back with a penalty to be added to your record. Sign these forms that say you understand all that I have told you.” The woman said and Vessa signed the papers. The woman took the papers back and pointed to a door with the outline of a woman.
“In there and come back when you’re done.”
Vessa was dressed in the magenta uniform with brown stitching on each collar: a key on the right and an envelope on the left.
“You did not come in with any electronics, but I have to tell you that if at any point you have anything that could be construed as tech; you will be interrogated by the Imperial Intelligence Agency and held in the building for two imperial months. Sign these saying you understand.” The woman said and Vessa signed again. Five more spiels and Vessa was off to deliver sealed envelopes and boxes.
Vessa found her targets amidst all the numbers before two hours went by, but had to wait for the precise time indicated by the Umbaan rep to kill them. She kept looking at the many clocks around the building as Vessa was grateful for the lack of children and wondered about the Umbaan rep’s strange behavior.
She still had no clue as she changed and handed her clothes back to a different woman before signing another set of papers and walking out to be patted down by a guard. No doubt because of the two Vessa had killed, both of which had moved further than they should have been able to. However, there was nothing on her to show she had anything to do with their deaths. Except her assignment book, which showed blank pages when the guard opened it.
Vessa was still confused as the Umbaan rep greeted her at the Umbaan building. He was the same as the morning, and Vessa continued to be more open than warranted. It troubled her all the way into her sleep.