Shades of Red

Part 1, Chapter 5

I immediately check my surroundings and see that I'm back in the Sim room.

Or at least I think I am.

Sitting on the simulated seat, I flap around like a maniac, trying to escape the seat that I've been strapped in rather tightly.

A man in about his mid 20s walks around me with a glare in his eyes. He pauses, before five terrifying words slip from his tongue.

"Are you inciting a rebellion?"

"What?" I ask, confused. "No, don't be silly, why would I do such a thing?"

"There have been rumours of an uprising, have you heard about that?"

An uprising? Here? What idiot could ramble about something as morbid as that?

"What's an uprising?" I ask stupidly

But I'm all too familiar with the concept of uprisings. There was one not too long ago, in the Red embassy. 2 people were executed because of it.

"A version of what happened in the Red District, except on a larger scale." he asks incredulously  "Have you not been watching the news?"

"Not really." I say. "I've been a good girl and do my homework as soon as I get home." I say innocently.

"Well, now you know." The man says.

I keep my face as straight as possible in front of the man.

"Don't worry, this happens to all the 17's." He says, almost too sweet for an interrogator. "You haven't been singled out."

I let go of a breath I wasn't even aware that I was holding. I make myself seem a little more relaxed.

The man suddenly jerks from his kinder demeanour into the brutal man he was.

"I noticed that you and your little friend Ryan were pulled away by the mayor after the speech." He snarls. "What did he want with you two."

"He just wanted to check up on me." I say smoothly. "He wanted to see that I was coping with being 17."

Technically, not a lie.

"And how are you coping?" He asks

"I'm doing fine." I say.

I notice a feeling of release within my body, my limbs being free from the suffocating feeling of the cuffs.

I can tell he wants to ask me more questions, but he leaves me be. Annoyed, he lets me go free, but not before stopping me first.

He grabs my arm and pulls me close.

"Good job, kid." He says. "I can tell that you're going to be very good at this."

"Good at what?" I ask, interested

"This whole interrogation process." He answers. #It happens every time you come back from a galaxy.#

He's telling me this through mindlink?

This must be serious, confidential information.

#Really?# I ask

#Yes. But you'll get me every time. And Ryan's next on my agenda. Make sure you tell him what you said.#

#I appreciate your help, but, why are you telling me this?#

He replies swiftly and stealthily, like he's running out of time. He sets up the next round of interrogation as I slowly get up from the chair I was sitting on.