THE MOMENT
"...I have gotten rusty, haven't I?" The albino girl with short, silver hair wiggled her fingers and stared at them with interest while Claude wondered how she was even awake. She took in enough tranquilizer to kill an elephant but she seemed lucid, even if she was easily distracted. They were in a sealed room in an abandoned warehouse. Claude was dropping her off when she stirred and he wasn't sure what to do.
It was one thing if she didn't wake up from the drugs someone else slipped her, that was a blame he could push on to other parties if he tried. Claude had never killed anyone and he definitely didn't want to start with a 14-year-old girl. She looked up at him as soon as he decided to try and slip out of the room.
"Hello!" she said. "You must be my captor, what's your name?" she asked with a broad smile.
"C-Claude..," he said. He had the presence of mind to consider whether he should give her his real name or not. Unfortunately, he did not have the faculties to make up a name on the spot.
"It's a pleasure to be here, Claude," the girl said. "You may call me Chroma. So, Claude, what's the next step? It's been so long since I played any game. Do I just escape now, or do I need to wait for something?"
Claude knew that he had a gun strapped to his back. He knew that they were on the third floor and that each floor had a half dozen armed guards. He did not know why this albino girl was special enough to warrant all that manpower. But, he did know that something in her voice hinted that she wouldn't have any trouble escaping. She had a confidence about her since she woke up, as if she knew something Claude didn't. Something told him her secret was better than his.
"You can try to escape...," Claude shrugged. "I won't try to stop you, but the guards on every floor might," he said.
"Nonsense," Chroma said. The girl raised her hand and wiggled her fingers at the air but nothing happened. "Right, I suppose it wouldn't be much of a game if I could do that," she said to herself. "Plan B, I suppose." Chroma stopped wiggling her fingers, then reached forward as if to pluck a flower petal from the air. Again, nothing happened.
"You," she looked at Claude suddenly. "You're my guard, does that mean you have my equipment?" she asked. He shook his head.
"I don't have anything!" he said. "Look!" He reached into his pockets and turned them out. "What's that?" he was concerned when a card-sized pane of glass fell out of his pocket and onto the white tile floor.
"That's my node!" Chroma said. She knelt down to retrieve it. Claude tilted his head and furrowed his brow.
"How…?" he asked aloud. "I didn't take that from you…,"
"Of course not," Chroma giggled. "You're just an -," she interrupted herself then looked at him closer.
"You know you didn't take it?" she asked. "Interesting," she added as she looked him up and down. "Tell me about yourself, Claude. How did you end up in this unsavory line of work?" Claude shrugged.
"You know how it is. Life doesn't always go according to plan," he replied.
"Oh?" Chroma smiled. "What plans didn't work out?"
"What do you mean?" Claude asked.
"You're here because something didn't work out? What was that? What hopes and dreams did you have before kidnapping little girls?"
"I…" Claude hesitated. Then he looked at her with colder eyes. "I don't gotta tell you my life story," he said. Chroma nodded.
"That's correct, you don't," she said. "I already know it. Your favorite number is 54. No matter how hard you try to think, this warehouse is your only memory. As far as you know, you probably feel like you just woke up but you've been doing this forever. Guarding a different prisoner every time, but they always escape." Claude stared at Chroma. He was too scared to admit she was right, but he also felt like he didn't have to.
“Who are you?” Claude asked. He needed some concrete answers to try and make sense of things again. “If you know so much, how did my boss kidnap you?” Claude’s only hope was to remind her of where she was; but, Chroma giggled.
“No one kidnapped me,” she said.
“Then, what? You just magically woke up in our care?” he asked. Claude didn’t like the thoughts her line of questioning brought and was trying to reassert their roles; he was the guard, she was his prisoner. But, he didn’t expect her to nod.
“Something like that,” she said. “To me...,” Chroma gestured at the dusty, dilapidated warehouse around them. “...this is just a game. We’re in the AlterNet, but it’s been some time since I last played,” she said.
“Missy...,” Claude said with his voice full of condescension. “...if this is a game you’ve got a messed up version of fun,” he placed his large hand on her shoulder and shook his head. “Who wants to get kidnapped?” Chroma giggled again and reached up to grab his wrist.
“Being kidnapped is just the set up,” she said. Then, she squeezed his wrist. “The fun part is escaping,” she said as he began to yell. “Violently.”