Immortal

Nobody Listens to the Humanologists

                                               In which a Tina Goldstein- like situation occurs

Agent Freya Altra'pua strode down the halls, her green coat billowing out behind her. With each step, she grew stronger. More determined. And more absolutely, bloody terrified.

Ahead of her were two guards, in golden uniforms with spiky helmets, their long, golden swords barring her entrance. Ahead of that was a huge building made of gold- not unlike the bridge she was currently walking on. And inside that...were possibilities. 

"Freya Altra'pua, special reporting duty," she waved her ID at the guards, hoping this was all it took. Her pulse quickened. She knew one of them, Lexi. Never a big fan of hers- argued against orders, constantly rebelled- anyway. Now was not a good time to bring it up.

"Special reporting? You? Altra'pua, I know you're nostalgic, but-" the first guard, Lexi started.

"I have important information," Freya interrupted.

"We all do," the second guard said dryly.

"More important," Freya insisted. Nobody had listened to the Humanologists when she worked there. But maybe a fresh look at things would help? After all, she made all of their jobs possible. Freya raised herself up to her full height and stared the second guard in the eye. 

The second guard sighed. "Lexi, let her through."

"Let her through?" Lexi argued. "She doesn't have a silver coat anymore! No coat, no entry!"

"I know that look. Let her through," the second guard repeated, and with a sigh, Lexi lowered her sword and waved her hand across the knobby golden gate.

It swung open.

Freya bravely took a step forward. She felt all eyes turn to her, the green-coated, worse-than-stranger- but it matter not. This was more important. She walked past tall figures in silver coats and towards the end of the room. She immediately could tell that's where Easton was- his metallic purple coat in a sea of silver stood out almost as much as she did.

"Sir." she stopped right in front of Magistrate and Commander Easton. Same hair, disapproving smile, crinkled eyes- you know, everything a Magistrate, the leader of this whole operation, is supposed to have. Everything I don't, Freya thought bitterly to herself- but again, now was not the time to sulk.

"Altra'pua ." he greeted, although it was anything from friendly. Quite neutral, actually- but he had always been that way. "I thought I dismissed you."

"You did, Sir. I have important information that I believe hasn't been called to your attention."

Easton gave a long, holier-than-thou sigh. While she hated his attitude, if he was willing to listen- that was all that mattered.

"What? What threat could it possibly be now? Did another musical make way too much money? Oo! Or does Justin Bieber have a secret twin?"

"Er- no, sir. It's the recent pandemic."

"CoVID-19?" The excitement immediately dropped out of Easton's voice. "Pish posh. They'll be fine." he began walking away, back to his office.

"Sir-" Freya pushed herself through the crowd around him. "Sir, the CoVID-19 poses a serious threat to humans-"

"Of course it does. They'll scream, be afraid, die, and then it will all be over. As it always is. Remember 1918? Man, that was a fun year." Easton chuckled, the sound an immortal watching life slip by as if it were water.

"But Sir," Freya said desperately. "Isn't our job to help humans? To guide them?"

"To guide, not shelter. They are capable of handling this on their own."

"With all due respect-"

He cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Okay, cut to the case. Altra'pua, you are very smart. Probably one of the best field agents we have." This was a nice thought, although Freya still didn't recall him listening to her department while she worked under him.

Freya nodded eagerly. "Exactly! I mean, thank you, sir, but-"

"So, if you think it's worth your time, I'll give it a shot. Tell me, Altra'pua," he said, looking into her eyes for the first time. "What makes this case- this case- worth it? What makes it more important than all their ridiculous wars, terrorism, hate, Pirates of the Caribbean 6? Tell me- I want an answer! Why is it more important than famine, corruption, and misogyny? Is CoVID worth more than poverty, or xenophobia?

Freya looked down. "There are people sick, dying-"

"No! There are people sick and dying everywhere, of much, much worse things than a bad cold. Why is this problem more important than all the thousands of other things wrong with this stupid planet we've been assigned to? Hm?"

"I mean.... They're afraid." Freya said to Easton's shoes. "Millions of humans are afraid of something that most likely won't leave lasting damage. And isn't that our job? Our real job, I mean- to show humans that what they are scared of isn't so bad after all?" Freya inhaled, then exhaled. She could do this. "You were human once. Don't you remember what it was like to be..." she looked up. His face was frozen in a solid, angry line. Oopies daisies. Rule number one about Easton- never, ever mention him being human.  

"Fear is a part of life." He began walking again, faster than she could keep up.

"No!" Freya grabbed his sleeve. "Don't you want to help?"

Easton turned back to her, cold grey eyes pushing her into the ground. "No. Humans are on their own this time."