The Building, part 7, the end

The two guards walked toward me. They weren’t in a hurry, they seemed more to be coming over to hear a news update. I kept forgetting that I looked just like one of them now, and they couldn’t tell I was an intruder. I also thought about how easily one of them had earlier killed one of his coworkers in my home, and knew I had to tread carefully or risk the same fate.

As they ambled over to me, I decided to confidently point at one of them, then point to the lift. He simply nodded and walked past me, onto the lift. He closed the gate and apparently knew exactly where to go, as I saw him pushing a button and going down.The other guard turned and walked back to resume his pacing around the grand lobby. I decided to try talking to him without betraying my identity.

“How is he today?” I asked.

The guard looked at me and said nothing and at first, I thought I had already given myself away. Then he shook his head and said, “Don’t know. Haven’t seen him yet.”

“Should I go in and check on him then?” I asked. I wondered if my curiosity would eventually get me killed.

“Be my guest. Just don’t forget what happened to Cyphil.” Of course, I had no idea what had happened to Cyphil, and figured it would be better not to know.

I approached the large, ornate office doors and gave a courtesy knock as I pushed one open. I peeked my head in and looked at the man I’d been wondering about for over a year.

Nephilous Krimm stood looking out a window on the opposite side of the office, and I still had no idea how there were windows in this eye-covered building. He turned to look at me and gave me the same smile I’d seen him give the crowd months ago.

“Yes?” he said with a kind tone of voice.

“We — “ I began, unsure of what to say. “We just haven’t seen you all day and I wanted to be sure you’re alright, sir.”

His warm smile didn’t change as he answered. “Yes, thank you for checking. But please never interrupt me uninvited again. This is your first and last warning,” still with the unbroken smile.

“Yes, sir, I apologize,” I said.

“No need to apologize, just don’t let it happen again.”

I turned to leave, disappointed that I didn’t get any more insight about…any of this, when he said, “You must be one of the new ones, huh?”

“Uh, yes sir,” I said, as it was not a lie.

“What’s your name?” he asked. His smile seemed warm and sincere, but I also couldn’t help but wonder if this was some sort of test.

“My old name?” I asked, totally guessing at what sort of answer he wanted, also guessing that they changed or lost names in this place.

“Good,” he smiled again. “Just making sure.”

I went to leave again when he said, “One last thing. Now that you’re here, you’ve got me thinking…I could use some decompression. Come on up.”

I had noticed a spiral staircase that went up to the ceiling, presumably to the 86th floor. That must be where he lives, in the penthouse. He turned to walk up the stairs and I didn’t know what decompression meant, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. It seemed like all the other workers were somewhat brainwashed and did whatever he wanted, and I didn’t want to be another one. However, the combination of my curiosity and fear of what would happen if I resisted drove me to follow him up the stairs.

What I found was, unsurprisingly, the nicest apartment I’d ever seen.

Krimm led me up the stairs and through the kitchen, presumably to his bedroom, but I never found out. I apparently was going too slowly through the kitchen, looking around and soaking it all in, and he walked back toward me.

“Look,” he said, with no more warmth in his tone. “Something has been off about you from the start. Do you need to go through orientation again?” Once again, I didn’t want to know what orientation entailed.

“No sir,” I replied.

He stared at me a second longer, then approached me and reached for my mask, to lift it up. But I grabbed his wrist. Quickly, without thinking, I pulled a small knife out of my belt with my other hand and rammed it under his armpit. He was so shocked it took a few seconds for him to react. He inhaled sharply, gasping for air. His eyes stared far away, and the strength slowly left his legs.

Nephilous Krimm began to say nonsensical things as he died. “With…hair? …Not on this…basket.” He fell to his knees. Blood ran down his side and onto his pants.

I was somewhat shocked too.

I have no idea what drove me to pull the minion’s knife from his belt and kill the most powerful man in the city, but it felt like the right thing to do. He had become too powerful and needed to be stopped.

My curiosity drove me to dig through Krimm’s pockets and see what I could find. I still wanted to know so much more. But both his front pockets were empty, and then I noticed it. The chain of a necklace lay around his neck. It had risen up above his collar when he had fallen onto his side. I reached down and pulled it out of his shirt, and on the end was a jewel colored like I’d never seen before. It was a rich hue, and it wasn’t just one color that could be described. As I rotated it, the hue changed. It was unbelievable.

I pulled it over his head and examined the jewel closer. Then I put it over my own head.

And suddenly I saw.

in a way that transcends words, I could see everything. All the eyes of this massive building were somehow routed to my brain, and I could process and comprehend it all.

I saw my minions coming and going and I had perfect control of them all, the way a pianist has perfect, individual control of each of her fingers.

And I liked it.

The End. 

e

Day 14 of 100 days of blogging

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