Invincible

Chapter 12 - Private #0831

"The Commander has summoned you to his meeting room," Trish says as she takes my tray. "Would you like me to escort you?"

"That would be great, thanks." I type, the translator working much faster. Being without the ability to communicate for just a day has been hard. I've taught Trish basic signs, but It's not the same.

"Alright, follow me then." Trish holds the door for me with one hand, and puts the food tray down with the other.

This is my first proper time exploring further than the window to the right of my door. I miss the freedom I had before I was old enough to worry about turning seventeen.

Trish walks slowly, taking her time to show me everything that happens to be on the route she chose to take.

"Is the Commander expecting us soon?" I ask, not wanting to be late to the first meeting.

"Not at all. He wanted me to give you a tour of the house as quickly as I could. I'm to give you a proper tour later." Trish answers. She stoops to get a tray laid in front of another door. Her back cracks a little, and I feel sorry for the poor woman.

We continue the walk in near silence, Trish talking only to point out important parts of the house. From what I've gathered, the house is very old, but has been redone since the war. The Commander really loves displaying his status, mostly with pictures of the missions that made him the Commander of Earth. Some of the ornaments on the small tables are from the original Luvah planet. A few are from the time before Luvah started expanding their empire.

"Alright, I'm going to the kitchen, but you will need to carry on to the negative third floor." Trish says, stopping at what looks like a cupboard.

"What do you mean the negative third floor?" I ask, wondering how a house can have a negative amount of floors. I know of basements, but to have more than one floor under the house.

"When the Commander first renovated the house, he had some more secure floors put in under the building to protect assets." Trish says, opening the cupboard.

Inside is a fancy elevator with glass walls. I can see the inner workings as I step inside, and all the plants that have started growing despite the darkness.

"The Luvah really value plant life, so they built their homes to accommodate all the plant species." Trish presses a few buttons, the elevator closes and starts moving down.

It's kinda scary watching the parts of the building move past. The glass could break at any second, and I don't know what would happen if it did. If, vines twisted around the elevator mechanisms, locking them into place.

"Alright, here is my floor, you keep going down." Trish leaves, and the loss of her presence is more surprising than I thought it would be.

Being on my own is fine, but being on my own, about to face the most feared Commander is no fine. I have no clue what is waiting for me behind the elevator doors.

A small ding rings out as the elevator moves underground. The open chute still allows light, but instead of walls, I see dirt. Packed in tightly, but not disturbing the ecosystem that thrives.

"You have arrived at floor N3. Please wait for approval to enter." A robotic voice, similar to the one from my translator, echoes through the elevator.

The silence that follows is eerie. I'm just waiting, wondering what the hell is down here that needs approval. Maybe hell itself, for all I know.

"Approval granted. Please wait to be collected."

The doors slide open, and whatever I was expecting, this is not it. Clean, stark white walls. A tiled floor so polished I can see my reflection in it. White LED lights, giving the hallway a cold look.

"#0831, please follow me."

I turn to look in the direction of the voice, and it shocks me to the core to see a human. He has no collar, no chip or any form of Luvah technology. He waits patiently, dark eyes watching me from behind a fringe of blond hair. Those dark eyes flick from the translator, to my face, them back to the device that never leaves my side.

"Who are you?" I ask. He's wearing the uniform of a human soldier, two triangle shaped stripes on his shoulder.

"I am Corporal Blasian. My job is to take you to the Commander, please follow me." He turns and walks away, taking the chance that I will follow him.

I do the only logical thing left to do. I follow Corporal Blasian down the stark hall. The tiles are cold through my house shoes. The chilling feeling slithers from the floor, up my legs, and settles on my spine.

He keeps a fast pace, Corporal Blasian. Only once does he check over his shoulder, and that was after a junction. We seem to be the only people down here, aside from cleaning robots. That explains why the tiles reflect even the smudge of ink on my hand.

"What am I doing down here?" I ask, running just a little to keep up. Running and typing is hard. I'm so focused on not slipping, that I almost miss his answer.

"The Commander would like to talk to you." He answers. His answers seem to be coming from a script of ready-prepared responses.

"You're not going to be any help, are you?" I ask. I don't really expect him to answer, but he stops.

"Well, you'll find out for yourself in a minute." He says, and opens an almost invisible door.