Right Back After This

Episode 35

Riz sits in an empty room for hours.

The flash of a moment, so quick he could barely process what was happening, replays in his head over and over. The guards had burst in, and he was pulled apart from Ares, too numb and empty with guilt to really care who saw what. He wonders if, somehow, someone snuck a camera into that room, filmed it. It would be undeniable proof of something not quite true, but true enough it didn't matter.

Details stick: he never caught anyone's eye. He wasn't sure how many guards there were- five, seven?- but none looked once at him.

Ares was yelling immediately. It was mainly demands- 'get your hands off of me', 'let go of me', alongside desperate pleas for understanding framed as outrage. 'You can't do this to me', 'I'm in charge here', 'what is going on? What is going on?'

Riz was told to stay. He took that to mean stay silent, too. Ares was dragged out of the room, but where they took him wasn't clear. Through the fans downstairs? Unlikely. Riz had heard them screaming, heard the sounds of general disorder rise and rise and rise, and then the guards had come, but he didn't hear the screaming worsen soon after Ares had left; in fact, he could hear the voices disappearing. As they faded, it sounded like people were demanding things of other people who couldn't answer their questions.

Riz is alone with the fact that his plan has worked, and now he has to face the consequences.

If Ares had listened to reason earlier, Riz tries to tell himself, he would've been okay. If Riz wasn't in this position by twisted arm, maybe it wouldn't have mattered so much. If the fate of his home planet hadn't ridden entirely on this, he might've been less terrified.

He cries anyway. It doesn't matter if there was another way: this is where he is, now.

Colian comes into the room maybe half an hour after the downstairs goes completely silent. Riz hasn't said a word. Who knows what mic feeds are up, being listened to. Probably none, if they're smart, but he was warned. And he's following all instructions right now.

Colian silently motions for him to stand. He shakes his head with a smirk, but Riz doesn't feel like he's gotten away with something mischievous- he feels like a piece of shit. Colian pats him down and takes the microphone out of his pocket. He turns it off, takes off the battery cover, removes part of the insides, and leaves them on the table. He examines the light on Riz's face and nods. His grip on Riz's jaw is soft, even when he's performing his role perfectly.

"Check," he says, laying a finger to his lips for Riz's benefit. He has an earpiece in, and he points to it; he stops, listening, for a moment. Riz can't wait to tell him how badly he didn't want to do this. And how he'll have to pretend it was an accident.

Colian gives a thumbs up, before pressing a button on his earpiece. "We are good," he tells someone on the other end.

He crosses his arms, leans against the desk in the very spot Ares did. Riz points to his mouth, and Colian shakes his head, pointing at his earpiece again. He mouths words Riz would understand anyway. 'They are still listening.'

He then smirks again, mouthing words that Riz assumes are, 'good job.'

Riz shakes his head. Why would Colian assume this is what he wanted? Did he think, somehow, that Riz just wanted to fuck things up as efficiently as possible? Because he did that. He fucked things up.

It's not over yet. The whole point of this was to keep Riz here, in Saccharine, and if they burn him out over this-

The door bursts open. Riz has never seen Sonja's mouth in such a pinched line. "Alright, Riz, you have approximately ten minutes before Paloma gets off the phone and screams at everyone to tell me what actually fucking happened here and to help me scrape this flaming wreckage back together."