Torsten’s just sold his soul. But will he find Derek by doing so? I suppose we’ll find out later, ’cause I sure don’t know.

Word Count: 6,892

It was pitch black again. I couldn’t see anything, but a deep, male voice from beyond asked if I would turn on the lights. I didn’t know where the light switch was, so I flicked on the flashlight within my glasses. A small plume of brightness illuminated the room, and I saw a casually dressed man standing in front of a desk. He looked like a foreign embassy, and he may as well have been that. He looked at me and pointed to my left; the light switch was right next to me; I flipped it and the room brightened up even further.

It was evident the polish that had gone into this space – literally. The entire room was coated in some reflective veneer. The walls, the floors, the ceilings; they looked like mirrors. The room extended on in all directions endlessly. Infinite copies of myself and the embassy filled an infinite room.

Each copy of the man looked straight at me. “I had a feeling you’d be here soon.”

“You did, did you? Did you know I’d be looking for my squad member? He’s been gone for two days. Care to explain that, sir?”

He crossed his arms firmly and shook his head no. “Now, now. Let’s not be hasty, boy. I don’t know anything about your little buddy. I wanted to talk to you!”

“What?” I said, in slight disbelief. I hoped he’d interpreted that shock as pride and not as fear – I could sense that, given the chance, he would step on me. Turn me to dust. I straightened up. “What did you want to talk to me about? An introduction would be nice before you ask me any questions.” I took a step forward, to be friendly. He and his army of clones took a step back.

“I’m sure your familiar with our parent company, Inland. Inland has been in a bit of trouble recently.”

“If you want me to help you out, I’m not doing jack shit until you tell me what’s happened to Derek.”

“Derek?”

“My missing squad member.”

“Ah, right. Well, I can’t just give information away for free. Information, you see, is a commodity. Like other commodities, it has a price. What price are you willing to pay to know about Derek?” I said nothing. I had nothing to pay and wasn’t going to let this scum blackmail me to find Derek. “Nothing, eh? Then I suppose there’s not much to talk about in that regard. So, like I was saying, Inland’s got some troubles. We think you can help out.”

“And why would I do that?” I said, beginning to sway back and forth, approaching the man slowly so he wouldn’t notice.

“Well, if I told you your job depended on it, you’d help out, right? I guess you could head back to the surface, though. If you want. I hear it’s pretty nice up there when you don’t have a job. Welfare should feed you, clothe you, for a while. I’m sure that you’ll never be miserable, Vincent Torsten.”

He knew why I’d come down here, and he was using that against me. I knew now that I’d never get the information I needed about Derek unless I conceded to him. At the very least, I knew he’d been taken – that he didn’t just leave of his own free will. If anything, this man was suspect. If he wasn’t, he was just using my fear and his knowledge to get me to do whatever he wanted. And it was working.

I looked at him, wide-eyed and desperate. Everyone working for Inland knew who I was; that strange man who went underground. In all of Inland, I am one of six others over the course of history who have come down from the surface into the mines. That meant higher-ups at Inland usually thought two things about me: That I was dedicated, and that I was insane. I wasn’t surprised that some fruit loop from Inland would want to get me to do their dirty work, but if that was what it took to find Derek, so be it. I and my clones looked at him, square in the eye, from a distance of about two feet away. I’d shuffled my way to him and he hadn’t even noticed.
“You do anything to anybody down here, and I swear that the next object my chisels strike will be your head.”

That scared him a bit. Good, I thought. The man needed a little fear in him. He needed to feel like I felt, he needed to sympathize with my position. His little office was too cushy for his own good; Inland treated him properly. The rest of us, living in the enclaves, we were their scum – and even then, it was still better than on the surface. Now that I had the man’s attention, I made sure that I could keep it.

“Look,” I said. “I don’t want to help you. But I’m going to, because I’m kind, and because I know you’re not taking advantage of me. I’m sure you won’t mind if I do my own research while I’m running your errands. No harm, no foul. I’d like to talk to Maiya, as well. I want her to come with me. She’s a nice person, isn’t she?”

“You bet she is. She agreed to bring you here. Now, if that’s all you have to say, I’ll bring out some papers for you to fill out. Don’t worry too much, it’s nothing crazy – just a standard promotion form.”

“I’m getting paid more for this?” Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all, I thought. I’d get extra pay, and eventually find Derek. Hopefully I’d be able to retain the pay after all was said and done.

“Something like that,” the man said. “I’d just sign the forms, if I were you.” He reached into the air and pulled down a stack of glass sheets, then tossed them my way. They slid through the air as if across a table, and stopped right before hitting my face. I aggressively snatched them and began reading over the text, scrolling through each individual document., reading the fine print that would seal my fate. After reading them, I still didn’t know what I was in for, or for what purpose I would be doing these tasks. None of them were outlined in the documents, and their purpose was not stated. I was as clueless about the job after signing the documents as I was beforehand.

When I handed back the files, he smiled with joy. “Great! Then, with that settled, I think we can begin.” His face then became stern – far more serious than he had been during the rest of the conversation – and for the first time he stepped behind his desk and began rummaging through digital documents. “Someone hasn’t been doing their job right in the purification plant. I need you to go there and deal with him. Here,” he tossed me a device with The Leaf imprinted upon it, “you’ll need that. Don’t ever loose it.”

As he continued on, telling me about my task, I immediately discovered what had happened to Derek. As I looked down at the strange instrument in my hand, The Leaf’s green glow reflecting off of my face, I realized that I could not possibly fathom what I was getting myself into, and who this man truly was. Like the infinite copies of our bodies reflecting off of the office walls, I would never be able to fully comprehend the purpose of my new job – and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to.