Terminal (Terminal trilogy #1)

7: Goner

"Next elevator up and we're clear," I said to Blake, once I had made sure Kell was out of sight. "We might as well walk to Pride though at this point. It's probably just ten minutes up from here."

"There's a chance something ridiculous could happen during that period of time that would drive us off our path."

"Sure, but Pride's pretty cool."

"Are you planning something? Can you save it until I'm gone? Really, if you have business to attend to, go ahead, just give me instructions and send me on my way."

"You need me to get through security."

"Yeah, like you so expertly managed to do back there," Blake said, "Sorry, that was rude. I know you're trying."

"Fine. We'll be lazy about this. Have to pass through Pride either ways."

Lust was actually more annexed off of the main hall than some of the other floors, contained behind a single uninteresting door farther down the hall. This close to the city the inter-level passage was delightfully complete, with working, non-florescent lights and a decisively square shape. Every two hundred feet or so, however, was still an ugly grey maintenance hatch.

A few tiring loops up from the security checkpoint was the next stop on the elevator line, which we got onto.

"What is Pride anyway? I've heard it mentioned a lot."

"Where everyone lives and most people work. It's a huge city."

"So that leaves..." Blake was counting on his fingers. "Sloth above that, right?"

"No, there isn't a Sloth."

"Sort of design flaw then, isn't it? Having a theme and not sticking to it?"

"There used to be."

"You know, I do love having things explained to me. It's really one of my favorite things, especially when I'm hearing about all these things."

"You're leaving by the end of today anyway, so do you really need to know?"

He shrugged. "It's sort of fun."

"Pride's a giant city with a fake sky, so try not to stand out by gaping at it. We need to walk around the outer perimeter, and from there... I don't usually have trouble getting to Earth. Hell's security is pretty lax, and there's usually no one guarding it."

"How long will it be?"

"Oh, let's just savor the minutes."

We proceeded to do so by standing in utter silence for the remainder of the ride. For what ended up being a slightly messier journey than I had anticipated, Blake and I hadn't really bonded, had we? He was nice enough to me, but there was clearly a resentful and embarrassed-by-me edge to him beneath his stutter and quick smile.

Rude kid. Wouldn't miss him.

The atrium that the elevator arrived at was wholly a breath of fresh air from the mess of architecture that was lower Hell. It reminded me a lot of a train station, all green steel and windows, with many small shops along the edges and middle. Cafe tables were strewn in one section to the side, providing a good view of the entrance to the lower levels as well as the city outside.

From here you couldn't see much of the city, just a few off white buildings. Of course, when it came to Pride, once you'd see one building you'd seen them all. Barring the central square, of course.

"Jesus," Blake said the moment we entered the city proper.

"Don't gawk," I mumbled. People were in no way going to notice him, but I kept up the insistence that maybe they might, just to make sure he felt like he needed me. He didn't really, but what was I bringing him to Earth for anyway? My own self satisfaction?