Plasmatropolis

Chapter Seven - Words of Power

"Please don't think of this as an interrogation." David said, sitting in the seat opposite to Ingressus.

The Voltaris had been kept in the east wing of the BPO headquarters overnight for what had been called 'questioning'. He was not restrained, and he'd been compliant, but he still felt as if he had been arrested and thrown into a jail cell, and was moved to a single-lamp-lit room where David would extract every drop of information from his mind. He'd been provided a sheet of notepad paper to write his answers on, since David had a more limited understanding of sign language.

"Give me a nod when you're ready."

Ingressus didn't feel like stalling any longer, and he gave a short, sure nod.

"What happened on the journey to the Voltaris base?"

Ingressus wrote down his answer in neat handwriting. We drove to Omeleto and K's house in the Suburbs to spend the night. Most of the travel was uneventful.

David waited for him to finish writing before asking the next question.

"What did you find inside the base?"

It was a large, former military base. We didn't see much inside apart from the room where Tygren and Thalleous were talking.

A few more back-and-forths later, where he answered each question as truthfully as he could, David reached the end of his list.

"Are you Yttrikus?"

After hesitating for a moment, he wrote down; I used to be.

Ingressus set the pen down, and passed the paper to David. The human stapelled the answers to his sheet of questions, then nodded to Ingressus.

"You may leave. Achillean is undergoing his own questioning and may take some time."

Thank you. He signed.

The locking mechanism of the door clicked, and he pushed it open, leaving David to read over his answers. Outside was a young human wearing a mask, and they waved, signing hello. Ingressus waved back.

"Hi." He signed in return. "What are you here for?"

"I was waiting for David." The human signed. "You must be Ingressus."

"Yeah, that's me. Your name?"

"Most people call me Derp."

The Voltaris walked down the way he came, and he was surprised when the human followed.

"Well, nice to meet you, Derp."

Derp nodded in acknowledgement, and he took the lead, directing Ingressus to the lobby.

"So, are you just visiting?" Ingressus asked.

"No, I live here. I just completed the basic training for BPO agents." Derp seemed to smile under his mask. "I can't wait to go on my first mission!"

Ingressus was surprised. "Congratulations."

"Thanks."

The two arrived at the hallway to the lobby, and Derp waved Ingressus goodbye.

"Good luck with everything, Ingressus."

"You too."

*****

Ria watched the television, alone in her little hideout. She dwelled in a hollowed out residence under a bridge in the Suburbs, a great distance away from the base in which her father both lived and held meetings in. Since she was a gang member and by association, a criminal, she could not live in a normal household, but this place was good enough for her. It certainly provided her alone time whenever she needed it.