Walls

24

It had been a few days ever since the incident at Acute Inc had gone all over the news. Acute's publicists and media liaisons had had a violent few days trying to deal with the whole thing.

After Jonah and Nathan had been arrested, Abbie and Elias had made sure to return a new Corolla to the owner, James Garret, whom they 'burrowed' the car from - Abbie did not want to make it sound like she stole the car.

Abbie and Elias had taken a few days off on the pretext of having to rest. They had visited Suresh at one of their very own hospitals. Elias had gone as far as to promise to air-condition Suresh's apartment so that he did not have to work at the office on his off-days.

Now that she thought about it, Elias had been acting a little bit different after getting his memory back, and Abbie had started to wonder if he was considering calling off the engagement.

They were at his penthouse which Abbie had moved into before the engagement. Elias was leaning against a glass railing along the edge of the balcony, wearing a towel around his waist.

His smooth olive skin glistened in the sun, and Abbie could still not believe that she had finally gotten engaged to the man of her dreams.

She watched his eyes travel the length of the city below them, taking in all the aspects that his new and heightened senses could.

She walked over to him, hugging him from behind, "It's good to be back, right?"

Elias hummed, reaching out to bring her to his side so that he can run an arm around her. She leaned into his touch naturally. He smelled of fresh cologne, and Abbie liked it.

"What is bothering you?" she asked, leaning back to look into his eyes.

He sighed, his eyes still trained on an exotic car that was buzzing loudly through the street below them, "Well, I was thinking about Acute Inc."

Abbie nodded. After Elias' memory had returned, he had proceeded to tell Abbie about the secret piece of land that he had previously kept a secret.

It had belonged to his father for a long time, and Acute Inc had then been a secret corporation that Elias' father had kept running to build the Acute-X chips. He had been diagnosed with dementia and wanted a way to enhance his memory. The operation had taken life at the hidden piece of land that ran through the center of Angelora.

They had mined titanium there, which is an integral part of the chip. Elias had promised that the mining is no longer illegal but had to be kept secret at least until they had launched the chip. He did not trust those in Angelora to not lust after a strip of land right at the center of the city, and rich in titanium.

When his father had passed away, Elias had taken over the company and registered it legally. He had promised himself to continue to develop Acute-X for those dealing with similar conditions like his father.

After a long beat, Abbie turned back to stare at the car on the street that had caught Elias' eye, "What about Acute Inc?"

"It's dangerous. Vulnerable. It's never gonna be secure enough."

Abbie nodded. She knew it was vulnerable. She had done the best that she can do to secure it- but Jonah had still managed to break into it.

"But for what it's worth, all that this crazy experience taught me was that the higher our walls are, the more it is vulnerable at the hands of those who want to get through them just for the thrill of it. They'll find reasons to justify what they do."

Elias chuckled, turning to look at her, "That was philosophical. But what do you suggest we do? Strip all the walls and let anyone in?"

Abbie laughed, "Don't be ridiculous. I'll run out of a job!" she proceeded to wrap her hands around him, pulling him closer, "But I'm sure that we'll figure out some way. We always do."

Elias planted a kiss on the top of her head, "Yeah, we always do."