Monday morning arrived with the thick golden haze of carbon emissions I had grown accustomed to seeing. Outside the apartment building’s entrance was the familiar Nova waiting for me on the side of the road. Through the tinted glass I spotted the faint outline of Thomas in the driver’s seat holding a cup of what can be assumed to be coffee. He didn’t look at me when I lightly rapped my knuckles on the glass window. Instead, he pressed a button to open the door without turning his head and took a sip of his coffee when I entered.The brown polymer cup he held had an aethereal plumage of steam wafting out of the small opening in the lid. I shook my head in disbelief when I saw how terrible he looked; normally his hair would be combed back and would wear an impeccable suit and tie, but instead today his hair suffered from bed head and his shirt was not buttoned up right while his tie was not tightened properly. Before I could say anything, he grumbled something vaguely resembling a greeting and proceeded to rapidly press on the accelerator before I had even attached the seatbelt. When we arrived in the clinic over an hour later, Thomas looked to me and instructed me to open the clinic up, I only knew how to turn on the lights but to set everything up was something I did not know how to do and when I told Thomas this he only responded with the shortest temper I have seen from him in years. “Michael,” he grumbled while rubbing the sleep out his eyes. “I will tell you what’s going on when everyone gets here, for now just set the clinic up but do not open the front doors, I don’t want to hear any arguments!”

Eventually, Thorsten and Benji soon walked in together and both were laughing about something. “-and then he goes up to the officer and lights the joint and his whole face catches on fire!” they both broke down into a fit of laughter. They both greeted me when they saw me sitting at the table by myself, I proceeded to inform them about Thomas’ bad mood. Their expressions soured when they knew I was serious, both men quizzically asked why he was in a bad state but I regretfully held no answers. After another ten minutes later with no sign of Thomas ever since he entered his office, Anna entered the breakroom and likewise I informed her of the boss’s situation and orders.

Thomas finally walked in the breakroom after being in his office for the last half hour only now he looked far more presentable but his face still wore a tired and exhausted expression; his tie had been properly tightened and his hair was poorly combed yet still much more professional to look at than before even if only for a moment. His shirt was properly tucked into his pants though its professional appearance would be ruined by the unironed shirt. We stopped and turned to face him as he began to speak. “Alright, now that everyone is here I can- “

“Wait,” Benji interrupted. “Where’s Jerome, shouldn’t we wait for him to show up?

“That’s what I wanted to talk about. In case you were wondering about this,” he said, gesturing to his tired expression. “This is the result of a police investigation. For the last two years, Jerome has been stealing medical supplies from our supply room and selling them to the Los Chicos Vengativos gang and has been taking tools and prosthetics from work to make a little money on the side.” Benji and Thorsten both wore expressions of frustration and shock.

“For the last eighteen hours I have been in Metropol’s headquarters answering questions non-stop about what I know about him, providing character references et cetera.”

Benji shook his head in disbelief. “Hang on, how did the Police find this out?”

“Early Saturday, the police conducted a raid on a possible Amphetamine lab and Jerome was there doing some work on the gang leader using our tools and products. Which is why we are going to be going over this entire clinic centimetre by centimetre and take a complete inventory of everything to find out what is missing and declare it to the police. Anna, I want you to reschedule everyone we had today.”

The hours that followed after that meeting had consisted of Thorsten and I taking stock of our spare parts in the store room and what products. Thomas had instructed Anna to create an inventory list of what we should have and to go through the clinic's financial records to count the cost of our losses. Benji took inventory on our tools whilst Thorsten assisted me in the claustrophobic storeroom.

“I cannot believe he did that.” He would frequently repeat. “I thought I knew the guy pretty well, but to get in bed with the Los Chicos Vengativos like that is something I didn't see coming.”

“Well, they caught him, with our tools and prosthetic limbs and what not. He obviously got cocky and was careless.” I said sternly.

Thirty minutes later we had finished our stocktake of the storeroom. We handed a clipboard Thorsten and I used for writing down what was still there and how many we had for Thomas for him to look over.. By the end of the day Thomas sat in his office for almost an hour asking not to be disturbed and for us not to leave until he came out. Everybody had taken to reclining on the operating chairs and stared blankly at the television screens plastered on the opposing wall, nobody spoke while we watched quietly. I had occupied my time with going on my accounts and chatting with Uriels95 over social media.

Uriels95: Dude are you okay that’s horrible was anything stolen?

S1lass: Yeah im fine, this happened on the weekend I only found out like 6 hours ago. My brother is going over records to see how much we lost. Im kinda worried about him

Uriels95: fuck dude that sucks especially from someone you trusted

S1lass: I got a feeling he’ll be like this for a while.

Uriels95: I mean I wouldn’t even know what to say to the guy if I ever saw his face if he did that to me. Probably excommunicate him or something.

S1lass: Until he comes out of his office the rest of us are stuck watching a rerun of Lakonia.

Uriels95: sick bro, which episode are you on cuz I got the whole series on holodisk

S1lass: The one where Osmund asks Jensen if she can be a surrogate mother and she flat out rejects him

Uriels95: Yeah that scene is brutal to watch. Legit felt sad for Osmond cuz he is lonely and she is meant to be his friend.

Beyond the door frame the distinct sound of hissing hydraulics told me Thomas had left his office, he appeared in the door frame a moment later holding a folder in his hand, his eyes were drooping and he barely spoke above a grumble and his frustrations had not been tempered. I straightened up when I saw him as did Thorsten and Benji when I cleared my throat to get their attention. “I’ve gone over everything you guys collected and I have forwarded it to Metropol HQ. Good news is we aren’t missing much so it doesn’t hurt us financially. So go home everyone, I’ll take care of this and can one of you give Michael a lift home, I don’t want him to use the public transport.”

Benji volunteered to take me in his pickup truck after I told him I resided in Sanctuary Hills, as it turned out he lived in a much poorer part of town around where I lived. His truck was significantly larger than that of Thomas’s car and it was far less impressive. The pickup, a Jufuka Kyojin possessed a truly unflattering rustic brown paint job that had assisted in the vehicle’s purpose of being utilitarian whilst its heightened suspension made the vehicle look taller than it actually was and if it wasn’t for the side step located underneath the door panel, I would have struggled to climb up into it. The cabin’s inside was no less impressive, the fabric chairs had looked worn while tears were noticeable in some areas. The floorspace on the passenger’s side of the car had been littered with the packaging from fast food outlets, some looked recent while others looked like they had been there for quite some time. I watched as Benji started the ignition and the whole dashboard was promptly brought to life in a display of bright blue that lit up the cabin, the guttural roar of the engine starting to life was significantly louder than Thomas’s car. I am certain that even while idle the engine was making a whistling sound. My hands flew to cover my ears when they were subjected to an ear-splitting volume of what can hardly be music but instead it was tuneless and uncoordinated drumming mixed with illegible screaming. The noise quietened however the ringing in my ears persisted for some time after I removed my hands from protecting the sensitive organs from overloading stimuli; Benji’s face blushed bright red as he apologised whilst turning the volume down. He reached over to the dashboard and turned the knob to change the radio station. He asked if I had any preference, I told him the frequency of a channel I frequently enjoy listening to, a channel dedicated to covering current topics constantly. When Benji tuned in on the radio frequency I specified the hosts were in the middle of a conversation about the results of the U.N.S.K’s weapons testing on Lua. A bomb’s explosion with such force that it created tectonic activity strong enough to shake their base dangerously.

“Would you believe for the first time in Lua’s estimated 4.3 billion years, has experienced its first magnitude seven-point three moon-quake? “The lead host explained. His voice titillating with excitement over the news

“The whole moon shook and it nearly damn well shook the rivets out of their base. I doubt the crew of the Folketts Palass, which when translated means: Palace of the People, won’t be making the same mistake again!” The host said, chuckling.

Driving through the traffic in broad daylight showed that traffic on the main highway was as equally congested as it was during the evening. Benji recklessly swerved in and out through the lanes at a pace that had me holding onto the arm rest with a vice-like grip. He took a sharp turn into the off-ramp into Sanctuary hills that made me yelp in surprise causing my heart to race even more so than before. We rounded the corner to where I instructed Benji to turn and our inertia made it feel as though we would roll over before we could successfully turn into the street. He slammed on the brakes which almost made me hit my head on the dashboard when we finally came to a complete stop. Stepping out of his Ute, Benji said his goodbyes and I watched him drive off dangerously down the road, then sharply turned right; even while out sight I could still make out the sound of his turbocharged engine for another minute or so even though he had to have been over three blocks away by now.

I spent the five years since leaving high school roaming this hallway at around the same time yet for some unbeknownst reason today it had felt alien to me to traverse the hallway in the late afternoon. I opened the front door and sat down on the couch. Before my mum walked in the door from work, I had taken the time to empty out the garbage and neatly organise the pile of junk that mum had intended to get rid of before I moved on to chatting online with my friends. Uriels95; a man the same age as who I knew on a first name basis asked me about the footage of the Barrier Cannons I saw last night. Admittedly I told him it was cool to watch, his region of the barrier was always the focal point of a mythical attack. Unlike other parts of the barrier, this part of it was relegated to a few overconfident individuals who used to think they could conquer the human kingdoms before meeting their inevitable end at the hands of human engineering and ionised plasma.

Hours after the sun had settled beyond the horizon I started to worry about mum, she hadn’t returned home and she was rarely this late in the past. Through the walls I heard muffled footsteps approaching the front door.

Finally, about time!

I approached the door and as I drew closer it swung open with my mother holding a large pizza box. She closed the door using her foot and instructed me to set the table which I complied to. She sat the large cardboard square in the centre of the table as I drew closer holding the plates in one hand with napkins in the other. From underneath the table she pulled out a large bottle of soda and set it next to the pizza box, instinctively I grabbed the glasses. “What’s all this? What’s the occasion?” I asked with excitement.

My mother smiled when she looked at me “Just glad to see you working with your brother and earning a good income” She opened up the bottle and proceeded to pour the liquid into two separate glass cups, she carefully withdrew the bottle as the froth drew close to the top of the rim and risked spilling out on the table.

I inhaled the enticing scent of the food and could recognise the taste: Margherita with anchovies, just how I liked them. Taking the large steaming slices out of the box and consuming the pizza I marvelled at the mixed taste of garlic and stretchy cheese had mixed with the saltiness of the anchovies to create a unique blend of flavours desirable to my palate. We never spoke throughout the course of the meal nor did we speak when we slowly sipped on our soda. The only exchange of sounds being the hissing of the bubbles coming alive within the concoction. Throughout the course of our dinner I sensed mum was uneasy about something, she gave no clear indication what was bothering her but my rational thought process started to think that something was not adding up. Turning up late with no explanation, sure she said she went out for pizza but it wouldn’t have taken that long to order it, wait, then get back home. No, she was late for a different reason, even her explanation for the food didn’t add up. I watched as she put the plates in the sink and while disposing the box into the recycler, her movements were unenthused and her gaze seemed to be distant. I wondered if this had something to do with getting rid of the old memories. As if getting rid of them brought a sense of unease and betrayal to a man she once loved over a decade ago.

The next day I awoke with less sleep much to my dismay, before I went to bed, Thomas had written a message to me to ask that I take the public transport to work. I was not remotely disappointed or inconvenienced for I had understood his reasoning for this request but to my surprise, the bus and monorail system wasn’t as congested as what I had known it to be, instead I discovered it to be tolerable in terms of density, the grime and scrawling’s of hoodlum teenagers that marked the carriages glossy white panels was just an eyesore for the graffiti was nothing more than mere scribblings written in red marker ink or just crudely drawn genitalia. When the monorail finally pulled into my stop: Amaro park station, I sighed with relief to get off the carriage, it was as though being driven in my brother’s sport’s car had spoiled me to the idea of cleanliness and seeing the public transport in such a dismal state had only become more obvious.

In the office Thomas had offered me his apologies and explained his reasoning which had come as no surprise that he was tired, I told him of my understanding and Thomas was grateful for that. Work resumed and I assisted Benji in programming a new optical implant for a customer; a small part of me felt like voicing my objections however with stronger judgement I repressed the urge to voice my objections over the procedure.

“What do you think?” Benji asked.

“huh? Oh, sorry I sort of got distracted.”

He chuckled slightly. “You are lucky our patient is out; he’d worry if he knew you weren’t paying attention.”

My embarrassment manifested itself in blushing.

“I asked you what product should we install, the customer gave us what he wanted and wanted us to decide, so I am asking you: Which optical implant should we install?”

I thought hard, dammit why did I have to be in this position? I remember reading the product catalogue and the specifications for each product. I remembered the customer saying he wanted something with high picture quality, high zoom quality and the ability to scan faces and act as his neurological phone. I remembered reading about a military grade Amarian optical implant used by its sharpshooters.

“The Zeta Railshot, it has everything he needs and it comes with an infrared scanner!”

Benji nodded in acknowledgement before instructing me to get one from the store room, the small box was bland white cardboard with only the name of the product written in black, I opened it up to check the contents and to my relief and disgust the spherical white implant with a cable extending one inch away like a tail was safely wrapped up in transparent plastic. The implant rolled around in the box as I walked. Benji had already configured the client’s socket to accommodate the implant. I tore off the plastic wrapping with ease and handed the implant to Benji and he gave it a visual inspection before proceeding to install it. I brought a small container of lubricant and placed it on the table, Benji dipped his finger in it and coated the porcelain sphere before connecting the optical wiring and gently pushing the eye into place. The pupil dilated and contracted in rapid succession before it emitted a warm orange glow. On the diagnostic screen a progress bar loaded up before a menu of options appeared. Throughout the previous week Benji had given me a crash course in programming, more specifically he taught me how to use the diagnostic screen to install and debug software. Anything more complex and I would call him over to fix it himself. The progress bar filled up steadily as the operating software was uploaded into the synthetic eye, immediately a colour chart replaced the progress bar asking for a colour to be chosen for the iris and I matched the client’s bright brown eye as closely as I could before initialising it and setting the machine to wake up the customer from his technologically induced coma. Benji had pushed me aside to double check my work to catch out any mistakes I made, thankfully he found none.

“Michael!”

I twisted my head around when I heard someone howl my name, it sounded like it was Thomas in his office. “Yeah, Tom?” I responded.

“Michael, can you get in here please? Quickly!” he shouted. I noticed that there was a hint of worry in his voice. I stood up to go to his office while Benji looked as confused as I did. Panic and anxiety welled up at the forefront of my head as I dreaded I had done something wrong and I was going to get chewed out for it, each step toward his office felt like I was marching to meet my end at the hands of my raging brother. Inside his office he was hunched over his desk looking at the phone, his eyes told me was concerned and his voice shook when he asked me to close the door behind me.

“Alright mum, Michael is here, what is it?” he asked.

I breathed out with relief, my heart still pounded in my head like tribal drums, my worry for my skin got replaced by worry for my mother but I stood relieved nevertheless.

“B-boys!? Listen to me, I have proof this time” Mum spoke with her shaky nervous voice.

“Mum? What is going on, what proof are you talking about? Wait a second are… are you talking about some kind of invasion from the elves and dragons and shit? Mum, have you done anything illegal??”

“My sons, listen to me, it doesn’t matter what I did. You need to get out of the city right now! Get out and head as far away from the Barrier as possible.” She genuinely sounded scared, this did not sound like the woman I knew and loved. In Thomas’s eyes I could see he was having the same dreaded thoughts as I was.

I leaned closer to the phone “Mum, what is going on, does this have anything to do with you being late last night?” In the corner of my eyes, I noticed Thomas looking toward me, his gaze of confusion was strong enough to make me sense it through my skin.

“No!” she shouted. “No, just listen to me, don’t go back to the apartment, just get out while you still can. In the Internal Security boardroom they said it was imminent, they had satellite photos and everything!”

“Gods above, mum! Do you realise that you saw classified material, do you know how many years you’ll get!?”

Through the walls, Thorsten’s voice carried through the walls, he shouted for everyone to get to the break room with a sense of urgency in his voice; Thomas rolled his eyes in frustration and groaned loudly. He looked over toward me and gestured for me to check out what was going on, and I left while he and mother continued arguing whilst my colleagues had all gathered in the breakroom huddled around Thorsten’s tablet device. I saw Anna gasp as she covered her mouth, Benji said a curse word but had drawn it out longer from shock. As I drew closer to catch a glimpse of his tablet, the screen displayed live camera footage of one of the plasma cannons atop the Barrier. The footage was of partially lower quality to give it a mild blur but the overall picture was clear enough: the cannon whose perspective we were observing saw a sparse savannah directly in front of the barrier before transitioning into green knolls and a horizon spanning green and yellow thicket. The corner of the screen had basic information which had caught my attention: Cannon 43C. Sanctuary Hills, Zone B. Detecting multiple signals 247 meters from Barrier.

“Sanctuary hills?” I blurted out. “Th-that’s where I live!”

At first the camera footage didn’t seem so out of the ordinary until I noticed shapes starting to emerge from the thicket and calmly approach the Barrier. The barrels on both sides began to warm up emitting their ethereal blue glow and began to aim directly towards the approaching magical creatures that dared to test our mighty defences. In my head, alarm bells were ringing, wondering if this is what my mother was referring to on the phone. It didn’t look like much. I counted roughly ten and the cannons were already issuing their verbal warnings. Another hundred metres and they would be stepping into the killzone. “Look!” Thorsten shouted as he pointed toward the thicket once more, another group of ten appeared, then more started emerging from the thicket and to my bemused horror this massive gathering didn’t consist of one species but almost all of them: Satyrs’ Nagas, Centaurs, all four elven tribes were gathered as well however, there was one species appearance who managed to steal all the attention and actually made everyone in the breakroom worried…Dragons.

The towering reptiles walked alongside their smaller comrades approaching the barrier before stopping just short of entering the Killzone. Each and everyone of them stood still in a line, none dared to take another step forward. Suddenly I began to feel short of breath and my heart began to beat in my chest, the rhythmic thumping calmed me down as I watched the footage in front of me; Thorsten swiped the screen to switch camera which to everyone’s combined shock was seeing the exact same thing as before, Thorsten changed camera again and like before, the live feed displayed a myriad of creatures standing still just outside the Killzone of the plasma cannons. We were positive these were different cameras; the background changed each time but it was almost eerie how identical each camera view was.

“What the fuck are they all doing there? They’re just standing, waiting… there must be thousands!” Benji noted.

As if to respond to Benji’s observation they immediately bolted towards the barrier, all of them ran straight into the Killzone; the dragons had taken to the skies for aerial support. The massive full-frontal assault was met with swift and fiery hot plasma raining down on the creatures while plasma bolts from other cannons can be seen entering the field of vision.

“Whoa holy shit!” I exclaimed with my mouth agape.

Our eyes were wide as plates glued to the live feed of the cannons cut down the creatures swiftly; however it did nothing to deter their numbers as hundreds more were flooding from the thickets and into the cannons.

“Thomas, you may want to see this!”