(Viewpoint: Roum)
Silence falls suddenly.
Not a real silence.
A forced silence.
Heavy.
As if the air itself had been ordered to be silent.
I feel their presence all around us.
I don't watch them.
I stare at the translucent ground beneath my feet, where red lines grow slowly, in rhythm with my heart.
Ela doesn't let go of my hand.
"You know very well that it is forbidden to flee from authority," the metallic voice screeched.
I recognize that stamp now.
Not human.
Not completely machine-like either.
– Give me your card, I'm going to check this exit permit
I feel Ela stiffen.
"We don't have any," she replied calmly.
A while.
Then a sharp sound.
One click.
– Invalid answer.
The pressure around us is increasing.
Space contracts.
The incomplete structures are drawing closer, as if the Dome were closing its fingers around us.
I feel something wrapping itself around my wrists.
Invisible.
But real.
– Ela… I murmured.
"Don't speak," she whispered.
Too late.
A force suddenly pulls me towards them.
My body is carried away without resistance
My stomach is churning.
I am pressed against a cold, vertical surface.
Not a wall.
An interface.
Ela is next to me.
Also immobilized.
– Status: non-compliant units, the voice announces.
– Arrest in progress.
– confirmed external individual.
My heart is pounding against my chest.
"Why? We didn't do anything," I murmured.
– ROOM! Stop, ordered Ela
– rejection by the authority of placement in a temporary containment zone.
I feel a surge of energy passing through me, my body weakens and gives way.
I am electrocuted.
I don't even have time to scream.
When I regain consciousness, I don't know how much time has passed.
There is no longer a corridor.
No more visible dome.
Just a narrow room, with opaque, pale grey walls.
No direct light.
Just a diffuse brightness, without an identifiable source.
I am sitting.
No.
I was lying on the floor.
Like an object that has been placed there while waiting to decide what to do with it.
Ela is in front of me.
Her short hair clung slightly to her face, her face was sweaty as if she hadn't stopped thinking.
"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"Yes," she murmured. "And you?"
I nod, unsure.
– Where are we?
She looks around her.
- I don't know .
I swallow.
–.....
– What are they going to do to us?
Ela doesn't respond.
She lowers her eyes to her hands.
The lines of his uniform pulsed faintly.
How am I supposed to know?
A dull thud resonates above us.
Like a mechanism that is unlocked reluctantly.
A different voice is rising.
– Seriously… you're going too far.
I suddenly raise my head.
That voice…
It is not metallic.
Not cold.
She is lively.
Slightly annoyed.
"You're not being very nice, you're going to make me lose another ten minutes of my cycle," she continued.
The wall in front of us cracks with light.
Then it opens.
A figure appears.
Pink hair.
Courts.
Very thin.
His uniform is different.
Darker.
Covered with purple lines
She looks at us as if she is assessing us with a single glance.
"Wow," she murmured. "To the point of getting locked up."
Ela immediately sat up.
– Beta-2.
The girl smiled askance.
– go back up, you are free.
She gestures with her hand.
The invisible bonds around us suddenly dissipate.
I almost fell forward.
"Hey, easy there, new guy," she said. "Don't hurt yourself."
"Okay…" I stammered, "thank you."
She sighs.
– it's not me you should be saying that "thank you" to because someone very high up pressed a button they shouldn't have, only you.
She turns to Ela.
– And you are being punished because you are always attracting trouble.
– It's not—
– Yes, Beta-2 cut. Absolutely.
A new noise rang out behind her.
Voices.
Distant.
In a hurry.
"We don't have much time," she continued. "Officially, you were about to be transferred."
"Transferred where?" I asked.
She looks me straight in the eyes.
– You ask too many questions, when will you come back?
My stomach clenches.
- Sorry
I grabbed Ela's wrist and went back up with her.
Beta-2 activates something on his wrist.
A purple symbol is flashing.
– we're not going
Ela approaches her and whispers something that I couldn't hear.
Beta-2 shrugs and turns to look at me again.
– it was for him.
I look away.
– I didn't do anything.
"Exactly," she said with a strange smile.
The room had disappeared around us; we were already moving through the corridors.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Just follow me," Beta-2 replied.
She adjusted her interface and continued.
– you are no longer allowed to approach the center.
I feel Ela's hand close around mine.
The world is changing.
The light is becoming too bright.
Then everything stops.
I'm still breathing.
I'm still here.