The Marked People

Cry for the Past

Indigo

Demon and I sit in the back of the car as we drive. I'm moving around so much these days I'm starting to lose count of the number of different beds I've slept in. Briefly, I half wonder if Aradonious is curious as to why Lexi Emerson hasn't checked in with him. Then again perhaps he thinks I'm laying low, making sure Phoenix has no reason to tie him to me.

I never thought I'd get caught up in corporate espionage, and quite frankly, I'm not sure what I would prefer, having half of New Horizons out to kill me, or pretend to work for Aradonious.

I understand the mask is to shield our identities, but I'm getting annoyed by it. Couldn't they tint the car windows? Besides if anyone looked in and saw a car full of red masked people, I think that would raise more suspicions than anything else.

I tap the mask with my finger, the strong mesh grating beneath my touch, "So how long do we wear these for?"

I've always been able to read Demon, but now with his mask, I've only got his voice to go off. "Not long. Just until we get somewhere safe."

"Seriously though, these make us look like villains or something, wouldn't it be easier to blend in if we took them off?"

Demon shakes his head and points out the window, "It's not for the people around us. See those?"

We drive by a huge office building and he motions to the cameras, "New Horizons is very good at figuring out how to have eyes everywhere, why do you think we know so much about Aradonious? The masks will help digitally conceal out faces, giving off fake projections for the cameras to pick up, even through the tinted windows."

"Then why make it red, surely the colour has nothing to do with the tech built into the mask?" I ask.

"No, the Red mask is also our symbol. Trust me, once all this is over, this will be what people remember."

It's another half hour before we pull up and climb out. We're near the industrial side of the city in a place I don't recognise. Demon and the other humans who accompanied us are already walking off to what appears to be a manufacturing factory and I quickly follow.

Instead of going through the factory one of them opens a door that leads down into the lower levels. Concrete lines the walls as we descend and I wish for the forest. It's been so long since I've climbed a tree, since I've seen anything other than the brick and metal buildings of cities.

"The factory is just a front, better to hide us," Demon explains while the humming of machines vibrates down through the walls.

I'm not interested in how they're managed to keep themselves hidden from both the authorities and the rest of New Horizons. I have no doubt Winter has several secret places like this.

We enter what appears to be the main room. Computers line the walls some displaying schematics while others are hooked up to cameras around the city, as well as security footage of the factory we're beneath.

A few people monitor the screens but otherwise it's largely empty. I was expecting.... more. "Where is everyone and where is Winter?"

Demon nods to a screen that shows a map of the city with small dots representing what I can only guess is a squad as they move through the streets. "We have several sites like this throughout the city as well as set up in various other cities. Most of our people remains within the facilities run by New Horizons, we don't want to make them suspicious by moving too many people."

Lies and deceit within the organisation. Sounds more like the company politics Aradonious loves to play. More and more I'm wishing Phoenix and I had stayed away from New Horizons. It's just as chaotic as the rest of the world.