The Sapphire Pass: All-Father

Guardian

James ran toward the city center. Despite his superior speed he hadn't caught up to Ophelia yet. Though it was possible she already passed through and headed back toward her apartment, but the path doubled back on itself so her would have seen her.

She'd left his office around noon and the sun was starting to skim the roof tops of the buildings. He hung his head, defeatedly. She wouldn't run for three hours. She could probably reach the city center in twenty minutes and the journey from his office in less than that.

He started to walk back the way he'd come once he reached the center and saw no signs that anyone had been there when he heard a pack of dogs barking. Lower life forms weren't effected by the white the same way humans were. Yet with their caregivers now incapacitated they were somehow able to survive. Thrive even. They didn't play games or manipulate, they were pure and adapted quickly to ever changing surroundings.

He didn't pause as the sound of the dogs got closer because they never posed any threat to him. In fact, every time he came into contact with any animal they always fled. He scanned the city trying to see what they were chasing but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. As he continued on his way, most of the dogs went quiet except one, that was soon followed by a crash.

That stopped him in his tracks. It was nearby and he saw a small plume of white dust floating through the air, pulled up and away by the heavy wind caused by all the tall buildings. He stopped and listened for a moment. He had to be careful if an entire building was going to fall, he had to be ready to move out of the way in the event it caused a domino effect.

If it was far enough away though, he would be interested in watching it. He heard some of the ruling families talk about watching entire cities come down from a single building and said it was actually quite fascinating. If nothing else, it might break up some of the monotony of the day.

He slowly walked toward the noise but heard no further noise except the lone barking dog, though he saw several running out from a building down a side street. Some of them were covered in dust and one of them was limping quite badly. He tilted his head to one side as they ran past, completely disregarding him.

Could there be a rebel in that building?

It was something he hadn't considered at first because they rarely came out during the day. He pulled a small white cloth from his pocket and wrapped it around his nose and mouth, crouching as he crept forward. If a rebel was the cause, it wouldn't do him any good to be recognized.

If he was lucky enough to fool, them he could capture and then interrogate them, if they were alone. It would be the only upside to his day. Especially after breaking his promise to go running with Ophelia.

Why should he even care? She was a human.

She was human, who didn't treat him like everyone else did. She was a human who was genuinely interested in the things he showed her. Who was appreciative of all the small things. Didn't politely fake a laugh at his jokes. Damn.

She was human, but she was different. He didn't want to care, yet he did.

He sighed as he peeked his head into the building, "Hello?" he whispered quietly.

The position of the sun didn't give ideal lighting to his surroundings, and would likely only get worse in a few hours as it began to sink behind the tall buildings.

He crept up to the first floor, opting to take the back stairwell which looked to be considerably safe, and not encumbered by overgrown flora. Many of the doors stood open. There was no doubt a rebel had been here scavenging for something.

When he listened quietly and heard nothing, he checked each apartment, quickly and thoroughly. Finding no signs that anyone had been there, at least not on that floor. There were about 20 apartments on each floor and this building had at least 30 floors still remaining. It only took half an hour to check the first one because the floor was still covered in a layer of dirt that suggested that even animals hadn't come through this floor lately.