Before It Happens

Chapter VI

    “Let me just boot it up.” Killian said, tapping the screen of the computer as Ash and Oswald looked on, impatient and unsatisfied with how slowly the relatively new laptop was running.

    “So the card,” Ash said, turning the aforementioned plastic square over in his hand, “Did you buy it at the same time as the other one?” The question was directed at Oswald, but Ash had no doubt that Killian would speak for him. They had grown close, recently. Somehow Killian’s chipper and respectful disposition had won over Oswald’s quiet and withdrawn heart. Who would have ever imagined.

    “Yes.” The voice was the unmistakable tone of Oswald’s voice. Even as he bent over the table, watching the computer closely as it opened up to a home screen. ON the display was an image of the four of them on their first day as a crew, sitting in a meeting room and wearing formal clothes. Even Killian’s hair was brushed back, his angled face looking so sharp that it could cut a diamond. It was the thing that tugged on Ash’s chest-- it was saddening that they had been so hopeful so recently, but only one day in they had already suffered a falling out. Ash did love the team quite a lot, and seeing them in such discord only acted to make him feel a bit melancholy.

    But Ash was getting so caught up in contemplation that he had almost forgotten to reply to Oswald. “Then maybe it was a defective batch.” He said, putting the chip down on the table, his arm brushing Killian’s as he stood back up and looked at Oswald.

    “Possibly.” Oswald answered briefly, but not without a minute shake of his head.

    Killian interrupted any response Ash might have formulated. “Look, I’ve got good news. Computer’s working, so--” he stopped himself once he noticed that the card was on the desk. He slid it into a small slot in the side of the computer, rapping his nails on the desk as it loaded. “Give it a minute to import. The footage will show better if we play it off the hard drive than off the card.”

    Seeing as Ash knew little about video and video production outside of some fancy terms he used time and time again, he just trusted that Killian knew what he was doing and nodded his head, crossing his arms and pulling up a chair, which he promptly sat down on and put a hand on Killian’s shoulder for balance as he leaned forward and watched the screen, a small loading bar periodically jerking forward.

    “So, ah-” It was Killian again. “So Mr. Ash, I never got to ask you.” A pause. “Why are you a reporter?”

    A good question. He sure as well wished he could answer it. There had been a lot of things that led up to Ash’s career: a childhood of being fascinated by current events, a position on the morning announcements in high school, a major in broadcast journalism- everything kind of just fell into the direction of reporting. Ash had never really had strong feelings for or against it, ultimately. It wasn’t what Killian wanted to hear. It wasn’t even what Ash wanted to say. So he responded by leaning back in his chair and allowing his hand to slip from Killian’s shoulder.

    “My parents said I talked to much, so I decided I’d get paid to do so and my parents would eat their words.”

    Killian chuckled. “Really?”

    Ash nodded confidently. “Absolutely.”

    There was silence, then a series of quick clicks and double clicks, than a video player showed up on the screen.

    “You ready?” Killian said.

    “Ready.” Oswald and Ash replied in unison.

    The video played, and they could only watch.

    It began as Christopher had described: Them talking, walking into the lobby, Killian’s debriefing. Then the camera was up, and they were following Ash to the mayor. As they drew closer, however, some of the audio skipped-- the pitter patter of feet became a pit-pat-p-p-pat. Ash stopped in front of him, and the entire image froze for seconds on the jittery frame of Ash looking directly at the old man, the audio reducing to static and occasional voice fragments of their conversations. Finally, the computer crashed, flicking off only after the image skipped to the old man’s surprised face after the mention of Seraph’s name.