The Portum (Undergoing Rewrite)

Part One

What did people do when they found their parent lying on the floor? I felt choked by my tears, my world was turned upside down. Desperately, I tapped my watch, contacting my mother, a few moments later she answered my call, stuttering as tears fell down my face, I managed to utter out the words, "Dad...  Blood... Everywhere... Help... Me..." My mother replied quickly told me she was coming right away. On the other end of the call, I could hear her heels on the the pavement of the streets.  3 minutes later she was here, she must have ran to make it so quickly, I heard the front door slam open and her calling out for me, the basement door opened and she rushed down the stairs, before running to my side, she turned me away and hugged me as we both cried.

My mother contacted the government as they were the ones who normally dealt with this sort of thing, men in suits and black coats came to our house and taped off the basement, it was declared a crime scene.

The next few days were a blur, I was allowed the week off school due to the circumstances, I barely left my room, my mum busied herself with work so she didn't have to think about dad, but he was all I thought about. One question kept appearing in my head, what happened to my father?

The need to figure out what happened to make someone murder my father. I stopped crying, showered and got ready, I put on a sleek jumpsuit that was supposed to be work for my PE lessons at the academy. I tied my strawberry blonde hair up in a rushed ponytail. I took a quick glance in the mirror, after my shower my eyes were no longer red from crying, I sighed and turned away, I looked so much like my mother and had a mixture of my father's hair and my mother's eyes.

I closed my door and strode out to the hallway, Hera called out from the ceiling speakers, "Rose, have a great day! Don't forget to tell your father to cook dinner!" I gulped, realising Hera hadn't been informed about my dad, I decided to fix that later, before slipping out of the door, my backpack on my shoulders.

  We still hadn't heard anything from the investigators, it felt as though they weren't even trying to find out what happened. The answers I needed were going to come from one of two people. My mother, or the Chancellor.

The outside always took my breath away, the cave like ceilings were hidden by artificial lights, the acs were working as usual, though the air sometimes felt difficult to breathe in. Looking down on the Portum was the sky,produced by the computers at GH, to fool us into a false sense of homeliness. I rolled my eyes, thinking for the first time in my life, that the "rulers and protectors of society" were simple men and women who craved power. I had little to any free will nowadays, my thoughts didn't belong to me. If something wasn't done the Portum way, it wasn't right.

I shook my head, my hand flying to cover my mouth, the grief was making me think things. Deep down, I knew they were true.
I couldn't risk stepping out of line, for my mother's sake and my own.

I hoped the government would be too busy to be keeping check on my thoughts today, I just had to hope that much.

I headed towards tunnel 1, which lead to the central part of The Portum. As I stepped into the tunnel, my watch beeped, with a strange sound I had never heard before but there was a good chance I knew what it was. Without bothering to check my watch, I carried on walking. My backpack hit against my back occasionally but I paid it no mind.  Tunnel 1 was large but well lit. The "Hopeless" lined the sides of the tunnel, mumbling to themselves and staring blankly ahead. They were mindless shells of themselves, having lost their sanity from having their thoughts stolen. The hopeless were becoming more and more common.

I grit my teeth, it wasn't fair to punish people for what they think, I thought. "Shoot!" I muttered, realising I had to get my thoughts under control, the whole thing with my dad must have set something off within me, I felt an urge for freedom and I wanted answers for my father.

Eventually I reached the end of the tunnel, it opened up into a large hole, lit by industrial lights and shops were dotted along the streets, in the middle of it all stood The Tower, where my mother and the government worked. It seemed daunting, with all the glass panes and modern architecture towering above everything. 

I took a step towards the building, something in me stopped myself, doubting whether I could confront the investigation leaders and find out what happened, "Oh for goodness sake, I can do this.." I muttered, carrying on walking.

I stepped into the spinning glass door and walked inside, everything was polished to perfection. The marble floor gleamed under the artificial lights on the ceiling; people were darting left and right, the reception was packed with people. After weaving my way through the crowd, I got to the receptionist's counter, the countertop was a white marble. Behind the countertop sat a computer, which was similar to a hologram, but it had a touch screen.

The reception flickered her gaze away from her computer and looked at me, she looked me up and down with a look of confusion and a little disgust. I grit my teeth, thinking she was a little snobby, "I'm terribly sorry miss, and are you lost?" The receptionist had a calm voice. I shook my head, "I'm not lost, I'm here to speak to my mother Lila Evans, please could you tell here I'm here and it is very urgent?" I remained calm, trying to stop my thoughts from wondering and becoming 'bad thoughts'.

The receptionist nodded and tapped her computer, she scrolled through something before clicking on my mother's name, a video-call started up. A few seconds later my mother answered, "Yes? What is it?" The receptionist seemed polite and professional when she spoke, "Mrs Evans, your daughter is here to see you, and she says it is urgent, may I send her up?"

My mother sighed, pinching the bridge on her nose and she thought; I had a strong feeling she was going to say no. I already that if I was going to find her office by myself, it just seemed appropriate to ask first. My watch made that strange noise again, briefly letting out a buzz again, I knew the rules of the thoughts. Three bad thoughts and you were sent to be checked by a doctor, I had one chance left, I needed to be careful.

My mother eventually answered, "Tell her I'm busy at the moment and I will see her at dinner." Before my mother finished her sentence, I had pivoted and walked off quietly, not wanting to speak to the receptionist anymore.

I tried to see past the sea of businessmen and women in the lobby, but it was very difficult, due to my short size. Jumping seemed pointless. I weaved and dodged through the crowd and people, before somehow ending up in front of the glass lifts.

Wondering how to get in, I spotted a fingerprint scanner; luckily I did have access to the lift that led to my mother's office, but it was for emergencies only. Well, I thought, this is an emergency after all.

I pressed my thumb against the scanner and the doors opened with a ping, I slipped inside, hoping people were too pre-occupied to pay attention to a gi like me. To my left, I pressed the top floor and the lift shifted, it started to go up. I leant again the glass wall, absentmindedly playing with my hair, I always hated lifts, and they made me feel a little claustrophobic. A few minutes later the lift opened on the top floor. The lift opened to a red carpet that leads toward the chancellor's office. I walked, as quietly as I could. The walls were decorated with pieces of art, so old they were starting to turn warp and become different colours.

My mother's office came into sight, just to the left of the chancellor's. I pivoted and stopped outside the glass walls, there were all frosted so no one could see in. I raised my hand to use the handle which used fingerprints, but I paused, knowing my mother wouldn't be pleased about my interruption but it was important. So I used the scanner and the door swung open quietly, I stepped inside, closing the door behind me.