feel as if they don’t belong.”
“I feel like that nearly everywhere,” she said. “Is this protocol normal?”
“For a secure building? Sure. I think it’d be weird if we were just told to head on up somewhere.”
They waited on the couch for a time, as employees, dressed in variations of the business-casual she’d seen so often in the marketplace, passed by on the way to their cars.
Presently, a woman in a skirt suit with thick legs and spiky short hair approached. Like the security guard and everyone else who’d walked past, she appeared to be a human.
“Hi, I’m Margaret? I’m here to take you down.”
Everyone shook hands.
“We were expecting Dr. Marks,” Rick said.
She nodded and gave a smile only slightly warmer than the one the man at the desk had for them. It was broad, but never reached her eyes. Eve decided she didn’t like her.
“I’m only supposed to bring you down,” Margaret said, “but I expect he’s already here. The meeting’s about to start.”
Rick glanced at Eve. He looked modestly uncomfortable about this arrangement and appeared to be looking for permission to proceed. She felt similarly discomfited, but was still more curious than concerned. She gave him a tiny nod.
“Sure, of course,” he said to their host. “Lead on.”
Dee buzzed along as they walked, either unnoticed or ignored by everyone else: surprising only in that Marks had invited her as well. Rick opened his shirt pocket and made a silent waving gesture he’d trained the pixie to recognize. She flew into the pocket and settled in. He closed his light jacket to disguise the tiny bulge she made.
Rick shrugged, as if to say I don’t know how this happened but I own a pixie now . Eve nearly laughed.
Margaret brought them to a bank of elevators, choosing a specific one that required she wave a plastic card over a panel with a red light before the door would open. Eve noted with some curiosity that the other elevators didn’t have any kind of panel. It was perhaps unsurprising, then, that their elevator went down instead of up.
“Whoa,” Rick said. “Didn’t expect that.”
“Yes, the sub-levels can be a shock,” Margaret said. “It’s where we do the things that aren’t in the company brochures. Most people here never get a chance to see this part of the facility.”
“What sort of things?” Eve asked.
“Oh well… I shouldn’t say. I assumed… never mind, don’t mind me. I’m just supposed to bring you to the room.”
“Sounds ominous,” Rick said.
“Wasn’t supposed to, sorry. It’s an ordinary old conference room.”
“Not the room part, the other part.”
“I didn’t mean to imply anything terrible. It’s the clientele that’s the secret, if you understand my meaning.”
The elevator stopped and dinged, announcing their arrival at sub-level C, and the doors slid open.
Ahead of them was a long corridor, well lit and not particularly unpleasant-looking save for the part where it was underground and starved of any natural lighting.
It reminded Eve of a crypt: a very bright crypt, but a crypt nonetheless.
Rick seemed to be sharing in her unease.
“Tell me again where we’re going?” he asked.
“Oh, just down to the end of the hall. Come on.”
Margaret led them out of the elevator. They followed, reluctantly, and perhaps only because no other options were presented.
“I know,” Margaret said as they walked, “the first time I came down here I was a little creeped out. We tried to brighten it up, but I think there’s only so much you can do. We put some plants in the hall a couple of times, but they kept dying and that just made it worse. It’s like the body can sense when it’s below the ground. It’s always chilly too. Do you feel it?”
“I do,” Eve said. “It’s unpleasant.”
“I know. But, you know, you get used to it.”
“Tell me, do a lot of people work down
“I feel like that nearly everywhere,” she said. “Is this protocol normal?”
“For a secure building? Sure. I think it’d be weird if we were just told to head on up somewhere.”
They waited on the couch for a time, as employees, dressed in variations of the business-casual she’d seen so often in the marketplace, passed by on the way to their cars.
Presently, a woman in a skirt suit with thick legs and spiky short hair approached. Like the security guard and everyone else who’d walked past, she appeared to be a human.
“Hi, I’m Margaret? I’m here to take you down.”
Everyone shook hands.
“We were expecting Dr. Marks,” Rick said.
She nodded and gave a smile only slightly warmer than the one the man at the desk had for them. It was broad, but never reached her eyes. Eve decided she didn’t like her.
“I’m only supposed to bring you down,” Margaret said, “but I expect he’s already here. The meeting’s about to start.”
Rick glanced at Eve. He looked modestly uncomfortable about this arrangement and appeared to be looking for permission to proceed. She felt similarly discomfited, but was still more curious than concerned. She gave him a tiny nod.
“Sure, of course,” he said to their host. “Lead on.”
Dee buzzed along as they walked, either unnoticed or ignored by everyone else: surprising only in that Marks had invited her as well. Rick opened his shirt pocket and made a silent waving gesture he’d trained the pixie to recognize. She flew into the pocket and settled in. He closed his light jacket to disguise the tiny bulge she made.
Rick shrugged, as if to say I don’t know how this happened but I own a pixie now . Eve nearly laughed.
Margaret brought them to a bank of elevators, choosing a specific one that required she wave a plastic card over a panel with a red light before the door would open. Eve noted with some curiosity that the other elevators didn’t have any kind of panel. It was perhaps unsurprising, then, that their elevator went down instead of up.
“Whoa,” Rick said. “Didn’t expect that.”
“Yes, the sub-levels can be a shock,” Margaret said. “It’s where we do the things that aren’t in the company brochures. Most people here never get a chance to see this part of the facility.”
“What sort of things?” Eve asked.
“Oh well… I shouldn’t say. I assumed… never mind, don’t mind me. I’m just supposed to bring you to the room.”
“Sounds ominous,” Rick said.
“Wasn’t supposed to, sorry. It’s an ordinary old conference room.”
“Not the room part, the other part.”
“I didn’t mean to imply anything terrible. It’s the clientele that’s the secret, if you understand my meaning.”
The elevator stopped and dinged, announcing their arrival at sub-level C, and the doors slid open.
Ahead of them was a long corridor, well lit and not particularly unpleasant-looking save for the part where it was underground and starved of any natural lighting.
It reminded Eve of a crypt: a very bright crypt, but a crypt nonetheless.
Rick seemed to be sharing in her unease.
“Tell me again where we’re going?” he asked.
“Oh, just down to the end of the hall. Come on.”
Margaret led them out of the elevator. They followed, reluctantly, and perhaps only because no other options were presented.
“I know,” Margaret said as they walked, “the first time I came down here I was a little creeped out. We tried to brighten it up, but I think there’s only so much you can do. We put some plants in the hall a couple of times, but they kept dying and that just made it worse. It’s like the body can sense when it’s below the ground. It’s always chilly too. Do you feel it?”
“I do,” Eve said. “It’s unpleasant.”
“I know. But, you know, you get used to it.”
“Tell me, do a lot of people work down
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