truck first. She eases her body next to mine, but I don’t feel any warmth coming from her.
Dennis steps out seconds later and marches towards the building. He holds the door for Carmen to walk in first. She coughs when the crisp air inside hits her lungs. I continue observing Dennis without moving. He finally turns to me. “Why’d you come to the arena?”
The amount of guilt I feel can’t be explained. “Where is this coming from?”
“That’s answering a question with a question. Why’d you come?”
“To make Spencer strong enough to take on Helios.”
“Was that all?” Dennis huffs air through his nose and a small smile breaks on his face. “No matter what happens, never lose who you are.” Is that fatherly advice? Would he still feel that way if he knew I hated everything about big corporations like his and wanted to destroy it?
Dennis pulls me inside. He coughs, like Carmen. The air in here is much cleaner than outside, but we haven’t entered the actual building yet.
A loud vent under our feet activates. Carmen gasps as the cape around her waist is pulled into the tiny squares. She holds on tightly until the vent turns off.
An ugly pale face projects against the door that dryly and mechanically articulates, “Welcome to the Anthony Colt Federal Building. Please breathe onto the overhead devices. Make two short breaths and one long breath for optimal readings.”
Three small microphone-looking devices lower from the ceiling. We pull them to our faces and follow the instructions. Our results appear over the ugly man or woman’s face. Carmen and Dennis both show ninety-two percent. Three white masks drop in front of us as the voice continues, “To eliminate the city’s smog from your lungs, please breathe into the masks heavily prior to entering the building. This is an uncontaminated area, and we take pride in keeping it that way. Thank you.” As they inhale, the face turns to me and asks, “Why aren’t you breathing?”
“My results say one hundred percent.”
“That’s impossible. What did you do, enter in a bubble? Just breathe.” I raise my eyebrows, and the attendant begins typing on a keyboard. “What the hell? Mike, come here and look at this blind kid.”
Dennis dashes over to me once his results reach one hundred percent and slams the mask against my face. “I’m sure he didn’t breathe on the measurement properly. Give us a second.” My results remain at one hundred percent, but Dennis leaves the mask for a bit then says, “Okay. We’re going now.”
As we enter the building with marble floors and busy military officials rushing between the hallways, I tease, “Was that your way of staying low key? You probably brought more unwarranted attention with that hysterical move.”
“Yeah. Probably. Let’s go.” He rushes to the elevators at the far end of the building.
The interior seems more massive than Dennis’ skyscraper because of the open space in the center. There are small, round lights on the high ceiling that illuminate the floor below. The ground is burgundy and the walls are white. The symbol on the black welcome counter is Spencer’s tattoo.
Dennis rushes pass a man and woman in blue suits that are saluting “Senator Colt.”
Dad swipes his key-card for the elevator to open. Then, he pushes us in the doors and plants his fist on the button for the twenty-second floor. Right before the elevator reaches the top, he pulls the stop button.
Turning back to us, he commands, “Carmen wait directly outside of the elevator door. Stand on the left side, not the right. Which side did I just say?”
“Left side, Mr. Colt.”
“Excellent. And you. I want you to do one thing for me.”
“Nothing,” I answer.
“How’d you know?”
“That’s the only thing anyone would request from me so desperately.”
“Good. Stand in the center of the room. But understand something, if they begin charging you, I want you to grab Carmen and run. You can’t access
Dennis steps out seconds later and marches towards the building. He holds the door for Carmen to walk in first. She coughs when the crisp air inside hits her lungs. I continue observing Dennis without moving. He finally turns to me. “Why’d you come to the arena?”
The amount of guilt I feel can’t be explained. “Where is this coming from?”
“That’s answering a question with a question. Why’d you come?”
“To make Spencer strong enough to take on Helios.”
“Was that all?” Dennis huffs air through his nose and a small smile breaks on his face. “No matter what happens, never lose who you are.” Is that fatherly advice? Would he still feel that way if he knew I hated everything about big corporations like his and wanted to destroy it?
Dennis pulls me inside. He coughs, like Carmen. The air in here is much cleaner than outside, but we haven’t entered the actual building yet.
A loud vent under our feet activates. Carmen gasps as the cape around her waist is pulled into the tiny squares. She holds on tightly until the vent turns off.
An ugly pale face projects against the door that dryly and mechanically articulates, “Welcome to the Anthony Colt Federal Building. Please breathe onto the overhead devices. Make two short breaths and one long breath for optimal readings.”
Three small microphone-looking devices lower from the ceiling. We pull them to our faces and follow the instructions. Our results appear over the ugly man or woman’s face. Carmen and Dennis both show ninety-two percent. Three white masks drop in front of us as the voice continues, “To eliminate the city’s smog from your lungs, please breathe into the masks heavily prior to entering the building. This is an uncontaminated area, and we take pride in keeping it that way. Thank you.” As they inhale, the face turns to me and asks, “Why aren’t you breathing?”
“My results say one hundred percent.”
“That’s impossible. What did you do, enter in a bubble? Just breathe.” I raise my eyebrows, and the attendant begins typing on a keyboard. “What the hell? Mike, come here and look at this blind kid.”
Dennis dashes over to me once his results reach one hundred percent and slams the mask against my face. “I’m sure he didn’t breathe on the measurement properly. Give us a second.” My results remain at one hundred percent, but Dennis leaves the mask for a bit then says, “Okay. We’re going now.”
As we enter the building with marble floors and busy military officials rushing between the hallways, I tease, “Was that your way of staying low key? You probably brought more unwarranted attention with that hysterical move.”
“Yeah. Probably. Let’s go.” He rushes to the elevators at the far end of the building.
The interior seems more massive than Dennis’ skyscraper because of the open space in the center. There are small, round lights on the high ceiling that illuminate the floor below. The ground is burgundy and the walls are white. The symbol on the black welcome counter is Spencer’s tattoo.
Dennis rushes pass a man and woman in blue suits that are saluting “Senator Colt.”
Dad swipes his key-card for the elevator to open. Then, he pushes us in the doors and plants his fist on the button for the twenty-second floor. Right before the elevator reaches the top, he pulls the stop button.
Turning back to us, he commands, “Carmen wait directly outside of the elevator door. Stand on the left side, not the right. Which side did I just say?”
“Left side, Mr. Colt.”
“Excellent. And you. I want you to do one thing for me.”
“Nothing,” I answer.
“How’d you know?”
“That’s the only thing anyone would request from me so desperately.”
“Good. Stand in the center of the room. But understand something, if they begin charging you, I want you to grab Carmen and run. You can’t access
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