Felicio

Breaking Under the Ooze

Stephanie

Gina was babbling beside me. We were hunched in a small room, down in the darkest depths of the building. The wiry man with the thin lips, the man who had haunted my nightmares, came and went intermittently. Gina kept asking to see her parents, but the man merely smiled at us. I tried to keep my mind even and steady, tried to think about what Peter would do if he were here, but it was difficult. I'd never been in a situation like this before. The Shaw corporation had a way of getting rid of bodies. I didn't know if I would be able to escape them now, but I hoped that my disappearance would put a spotlight on them. They had done so many things wrong. It was time for them to pay for it all.

“Be quiet. It's not helping,” I snapped. Gina was on the verge of breaking down. She was getting on my nerves.

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,” she said. I shook my head.

“You have to be strong Gina. We can get through this, but we have to be strong. Our parents are going to come for us eventually. People are going to know that we're missing. For all the influence this company has, they're not going to be able to keep this news quiet for long. All we have to do is be strong. I know it's not easy. I'm close to freaking out myself, but we have to hold it together.”

“I can't Stephanie. I can't. I wish I'd never have listened to her,” she wailed. Tears streamed down her face. I felt a great deal of pity for her, but fear flashed through my mind.

“Don't say her name,” I whispered. Gina looked at me quizzically. “You don't think they have ears in here?” I said. That had to be why they kept us together. There was no need to interrogate us if we would share everything we knew willingly. But I wasn't going to give them anything. They'd never learn that I knew Felicio, but I damn sure hoped that Peter was on his way. I wasn't sure how long I could last.

The door opened and the man walked in. He had his hands clasped behind his back and had his usual inscrutable look on his face. I'd come to know this man well, over the past few days. He kept himself clean, and when he spoke every word was chosen with deliberation. I was sure that he was watching us most of the time as well, and didn't think it was a coincidence that he entered just after Gina mentioned 'her'.

“How are you two girls doing today?” he asked. He always asked that.

“We're fine,” I replied, forcing myself to keep my head held high. The man seemed amused when he looked at Gina. She looked despondent. Her head hung down, hair falling around her face.

“I can see that,” he said. “Now then, are you two girls going to tell me who sent you? I can see that they have trained you will. I have to admit it is surprising that we weren't able to pick up on the fact that you were spies. I suppose even the masters do falter on occasion. But you must know that what you are doing is international espionage, and it's not looked upon favorably by the authorities. You two girls are going to be in a lot of trouble, and I doubt that your employers will reward your failure.”

“We're not spies!” Gina said, her voice trembling with emotion. I tried to glance at her, to give her an encouraging look, to make her know that we were in this together, but she didn't look towards me.

“You can say that as vehemently as you wish, but it doesn't change the facts my dear. Just admit that you were caught. You lost the game and now you have to suffer the consequences.” He clapped his hands and the door opened. A tray was wheeled in, covered with a white cloth. The assistant didn't look at us. Maybe it was the only way he could bury his conscience, if there was anyone with a conscious in this building. He left the tray. Michael pulled the cloth off. There were two syringes, filled with yellow liquid, either side of something in a plastic container. It was black and solid, almost like jelly.

“You are aware of course that we work on a number of things here at the Shaw Institute, many things are designed to enrich humanity, but there are occasions when we make destructive things, like this, for example. This was a very fine discovery by one of our most noted scientists. It's a poison that clots the blood and turns it into this substance here,” he said, showcasing the black jelly. “It's rather painful of course, and there is no cure. It works far too fast for anything to cure it. The blood expands in the veins and in the hearts, making the blood vessels burst all over your body. I saw it happen to an unfortunate soul once. It was quite disturbing, especially when it reached his eyes. I'll always remember that scream,” he said, then picked up one of the syringes and looked at Gina.

I knew that she would break even before she spoke, but it didn't take long for the words to leave her mouth in one breathless rush. “It was Ariel Blake, the reporter. She put me up to it. She said that she wanted to bring the corporation down. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I'm so sorry,” she said, pleading with him to not use that horrible instrument of death. It was impossible to be angry with her. The man turned to me and stepped forward.

“And who are you working for?” he asked. I'd never thought much about death before. It seemed like something that was going to happen a long way away in the future, after I'd lived my life and done everything I had set out to do. Suddenly that all seemed like a childish dream. Maybe this was the moment when I became an adult and realized that my life wasn't necessarily going to last for as long as I wanted it to. The needle gleamed in the light, and the yellow liquid made my stomach churn. I didn't want to give up Peter, I couldn't, but was it worth the price of death? My throat ran dry as he approached me and I could feel my will breaking. I wanted to hold on, to be strong, to be a hero, but I was so young. My parents...how would they cope? I wanted to see them again. I wanted to live! The words were ready on my tongue. One more step and I would have given everything up. I would have told them about Peter, about Felicio, and I hated myself for it.

That step never came. The door opened again and the man was called away. As he left he muttered something about interfering cops. I breathed a sigh of relief. The syringes had been left on the table. Gina sobbed.

“Don't worry Gina, it's going to be okay,” I said. Gina shook her head and wailed. “They're not going to stop until we're dead. They can't let us out of here after this,” she said. I hadn't want to say it out loud, but the thought had been in my mind ever since we had been brought into this room. That man would extract everything of use that he could for us, and we could do nothing to stop him. I valiantly struggled at my restraints and tried to move my chair around, trying anything I could to break free, but it was hopeless.

“Gina, we have to try,” I said. Gina moaned incoherently. She had been broken. How much time did I have left?

Ariel

I felt helpless. I'd placed Gina in danger and there was nothing I could do to save her. I had been convinced that I was going to uncover all the secrets of the Shaw corporation, but I had been naive. They had been keeping these secrets for decades. Who was I to think that I could unravel them? Now a girl was in danger, all because of me. Felicio was out there somewhere, trying to look for them, but could he stand a chance against the corporation? He was just one man, an impressive man, but one man nonetheless. I wanted to believe in heroes, but my life had made it difficult.

I was sitting in my office, poring over all the files I had on the Shaw corporation. Most of the reports I had against them were hearsay and rumors. Most of the court cases brought against them had been settled with non-disclosure agreements, so I wasn't going to make any headway there. It was just so goddamn frustrating that this behemoth could be in control of the city.

I heard a noise outside my office and called out, thinking that it was the editor. There was no reply. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Quickly, I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down a note, then placed it in a drawer. I looked towards the exit and started to make my way towards it. Maybe it was just paranoia, but I didn't want to risk anything when it came to dealing with that company. I had to get out of here, retreat somewhere safe, somewhere they wouldn't know it was me.

When I got to the door, I felt a hand on my shoulder, pulling me back. I jabbed out an arm. My fist landed against something hard. Then I felt my jaw crack. The taste of blood filled my mouth. I slumped down and fell to the floor. Everything went black.

When my eyes opened, my vision was blurred and my head groggy. I tried to move my arms, but they were unresponsive. My chest burned every time I breathed and my jaw ached.

“Thank you for your information,” a voice said. A man's voice.

“So you'll let me go now? I don't know anything else, honestly.” Oh my God. It was Gina. She'd sold me out...no, I couldn't be angry at her. It was them. The corporation.

“Oh, of course I'll let you go,” the voice said. Gina breathed a sigh of relief. My vision cleared and I saw a tray in front of me with two syringes and black ooze on it. The man leaned under the tray and pulled something else. Gina looked across at me, and then looked away in shame. I wanted to tell her that I didn't blame her. This was all my fault. I should never have involved her in this in the first place. My desperation had caused this girl so much pain. The man moved behind her. Gina looked at peace, like she believed she was actually going to get free. Foolish girl. The man placed the knife against her throat and sliced her open. Gina looked shocked, almost as though she couldn't believe it had happened. Crimson blood poured down her neck, and her head slumped forward. The other girl was screaming. I remained silent as the life slipped out of Gina's young body.

“Now then, which one of you is going to talk next,” the man said. I clenched my teeth, vowing that I wasn't going to give him anything.