The World Of Steam

25

The bags were ripped off of our heads and we found ourselves tied to chairs in a small, empty room, four grey, stone, windowless walls surrounding us. There was a single, weak light bulb hanging from the ceiling, covering most of the room in dark shadow that refused to disperse, almost overpowering the light. Not one tiny sound from the war outside was heard, meaning that no one would hear a cry for help. No one knew where we were, no one knew that we were missing. The police force that had hired me most likely thought that I was deep undercover in some place, not phased by my disappearance. I was not important to them anymore now that there was a war going on. The force now had much bigger problems to deal with, not bothering to try and figure out where I had gone to. We were held hostage by psychopathic troops that murdered anyone that dared to question their authority. It was not a room, it was a prison cell, and we were the prisoners. Overall, the cell had a menacing aura all over it, but I did not allow it to intimidate me. I did not want to begin to think about what they wanted to do to me. I just had to grit my teeth and get through the ordeal that I had been unfortunately put in. I had already come this far, I could not let anything break me now. My burden had to be carried straight to the end without any faults. Jennix squinted and blinked hard as the room was revealed to her, the dim light being too much for her eyes. Blinking a couple of times more, she allowed her eyesight to adjust to its surroundings and stared straight ahead at our kidnapper, not seeming the slightest bit shocked that she had been kidnapped. If I had to say, she looked slightly annoyed. The Black Mark leader stood in front of us, his white, old and scuffed trench coat standing out against all of the blackness like a light. He looked down at his hostages. Shadow covered the top half of his gas mask, but I refused to be intimidated by him.

"What are you both trying to do?" Was the first thing that he asked us.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"We have been following you for the last couple of days. You started a goddamn war, not to mention the live execution of the king."

"You think that I started this? How? I'm just a detective."

"And what about you?" He asked Jennix.

"Leave her out of this." I suddenly defended her. "She's just a woman that was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Hmph." The Black Mark leader reached into his coat and took out a long and large test tube. The cure itself. "If you are just a detective, then what were you doing carrying this around?"

"That is none of your business."

"Oh, believe me, everything is my business. What even is this? Some chemical weapon that you are going to use? Something that will prolong the gas?"

"Oh, I see where this is going. You think that we're terrorists? I have just told you, I am a goddamn detective."

"Then what do you need this – I'm guessing formula – for?"

"That is just something I concocted, a test, if you will."

"For what? The cure to the gas?" He asked jokingly. I tilted my head and The Black Mark leader straightened out slightly. I imagined that his smile had dropped behind his gas mask. "You're joking." He said, not a hint of humour in his voice.

"Not in the slightest."

"Wait – you actually want to – stop the gas?"

"Life expectancies are quite short in a city such as this."

The Black Mark leader stared at both of us, almost as though he was contemplating some course of action. He reached into his coat and drew out a dagger. He walked up to us and cut away at our bonds, freeing us. We both stood up and The Black Mark leader handed me the cure back. I took it and put it back into my coat. "I'm sure that you will find more of a use for it than I will."

Jennix did not say anything and then suddenly realised. She blinked. "Wait – you are actually the good guys?"

He looked at her. "Of course. I've told you before, this organisation is here to stop the terrorists, not to prolong war. We don't work for the monarchy, we don't even work for the government. We just want to stop everyone from living in fear."

"But, you're search and destroy troops. You specialise in killings."

The leader shrugged. "If you don't stop at killing one murderer then the amount of murders goes down by a bunch."

"That explanation is kind of warped."

"Hmm." He said simply.

"I suppose that I should thank you for not killing us then."

The Black Mark leader nodded. "You're welcome. If either of you ever need us, we are at your disposal. Karzen Codix is the name."

"Much appreciated." I answered. Karzen gestured with his head.

"Come, let me escort you out, because otherwise you will be shot on sight for seemingly trying to escape."

We made our way through the organisation and managed to get to the door without getting a single bullet lodged into our chests. Karzen handed me a small device with a single button on it. "If you ever get into any trouble, just press that and we will be on our way. Like I said, we are at your disposal at any time. Oh, and do us a favour."

"And that is?" I asked.

"Don't die."