Tarnished

"Wow! Isn't this incredible!" cried Oxy as she ran into the room with Alu close behind. AG followed them but paused when he saw Sulfi hesitantly walk through the doors. She seemed lost in a completely different world so he left her and went with the others to search for what resources they could find. He continued his scavenging but found himself, pausing his tasks, checking on her his shoulder.

She sat in the abandoned waiting room, clutching the greening heart shaped locket around her neck, she rubbed it with her index finger and began humming. A lullaby. One that her mom had sung to her and one that she had sung to her own child. That was before they lost everything. She began the second chorus before trying her best to hit the highest note. The note was sharp and came out scratchy because of her parched voice. She winced at the discordant sound. She hadn't heard that song in years, hadn’t heard music in years either.

She felt stick to her stomach. The kind of sickness that sprouts from your stomach and grows until you are sick with worry. She could smell the bile. It was odd to be in this room again. The last time she had been there was over a decade ago when her mother gave birth to her youngest sibling. It was hard to believe that was when all the troubles started. She found it ironic that her journey brought her back here. A low chuckle escaped her lips as she tapped her foot, waiting for the others to be done with tending their stitches. Scuff marks along the wall, no antiseptic scent left. Abandoned monitors and half-ripped health magazines scattered around. A large fracture ran through the middle of the room spreading along the floor, skeletal branches of an oak tree. Chairs were askew. Some were sitting straight whilst a few were scattered around the room, with missing limbs. A loud scratchy record began playing in the background causing her to jump from her seat, grabbing the spear that she had put beside her. "Watch it!" she cried, her fear sour in her mouth.

"Sorry," called out one of her companions from behind the half wall. What was that word called again? She squinted her eyes, rubbing the ache of stress across her her forehead. She traced the bridge of the nose and again rubbed her forehead. The office space where the lady would sit... what was it called, the ... receptionist. Sorry called out the voice again.

She rolled her eyes. Still didn't know how these children survived on their own. She still considered them children even if they were only seven years younger than her. "Watch where you stick your fingers, AG. Something may bite it."

"Ha, ha. You know I have a name and it’s not AG." No words were spoken. Just the sound of a trumpet and saxophone reminding them that they were here. "Is that jazz?"

"I can't remember... Jazz sounds so foreign, sleepy... but painfully egotistical too. It's making my ears hurt." She huffed. They need not to be waiting here. Playing music like this was going to surely draw deadly attention. "We should turn it off. Playing it is asking for trouble." She folded her arms across her chest and let out a huff.

AG was persistent. "Wanna dance?"

She paused at his upbeat smile and outstretched hand beckoning her to get up from her chair. Her companion arched his eyebrow as he wiggled his fingers at her. "I don't dance." She sunk further into the chair and crossed her arms as if to broadcast to him that she was simply not interested.

He pouted. "That's not true. I saw you dance at the ball."

She kicked her feet up into the air and further sank into the chair. "What you saw was a version of myself that doesn't exist anymore. She's dead. Gone. Kaput."

AG took a seat beside her. "I remember her, Rosa-"

"Not my name," she sang back to him as she waggled a finger. "It'll be better once Oxy and Alu are out of there."

Her companion let out a sigh. She had forgotten how cold it was in here. The temperature of the air hadn't phased her prior to this moment. That was until she saw the air like dragon's breath in all those fantastical stories. "You should cover your mouth. There could be diseases here."

Silence fell in between them as the record came to a halt. AG shifted uncomfortably, rubbing his hands together, before crossing his left ankle over his right knee. "So what did happen to Rosalin? Care to share with the class?"

"What class?"

AG chuckled. "No need to be sharp, Captain. Just an honest question."

She huffed.

"Fine, if you don't want to answer THAT question. Tell me why you haven't let go of that necklace."

Hazel eyes glanced down to the locket she clutched. It had been with her for over a decade. Her mother had given it to her. It had been passed down from generation to generation as a reminder of their family. Mom. Roots. Affairs of the heart were their speciality and her family had specialized in these affairs since the beginning of recorded time. From match-making to medicine, it was a tangled web of professions and love affairs often complicated but utterly simple too at the same time. "It.... It was from my mom. She gave it to me a few months before the sickness in the twenties. Back then everything seemed great. We had our first female president and then all of a sudden..." She snapped her fingers. "This disease came and, set everything on fire like a match being struck, it was almost instantaneous. But then, the sickness passed and we thought we were good. Safe. That was until we realized the sickness was far more dangerous and unpredictable than the actual disease. It was an affliction of the mind... A sickness of society that stayed within us."

"Doesn't history recall those as the Great Era."

She smirked. "History is always penned by the victors. That's one interpretation. An ironic name I think for that time period as it was the period with the largest social issues that the human race has ever faced. I... I remember the last dance. The last party. The chandelier sparkled like the light shimmering off the white foamy waves. The champagne poured ridiculously almost giving Gatsby a run for his money. The nights were scandalous, filled with scarlets and deep violets. It all changed when the Great stormed the party." She spat. Venom starting to drip in every word she uttered. "Liberator they called him and my family fought for him. They even rose to betray the royal family at the time as they had become power hungry.. It was... unfortunate because Richard was nice...." She remembered him vividly in her mind. Bright blue eyes, crooked but kind smile. Inviting and intellectual look about him. Smart but too trusting. "Traitor we called him later after he broke all his promises and took everything away from the people. He became very much like the people he sought to overthrow. Funny how sickness can topple the greatest regimes in the snap of a finger." She forcefully stuck her spear into the ground; however, it didn't have as hard a hit that he had once predicted. It should have been louder but he was too enamored with her movements and passion. He watched as she stood up from her chair and walked towards the brick of a computer before silencing the sound by removing the power chord.

"I was.... listening... to that." Awkwardly added AG before he realized it was better to be silent.

"People tried to stop him and y'know the rest of the story. Now the human race rummages around like scavengers fighting these robotic, mechanical monsters and trying to survive with their resources that are already slim thanks to the Great. And the superbeings he created... are just a political ploy at making the greater population feel like they are safe. While they are all happily tucked away in their beautiful stainless steel towers behind that stone wall. They don't see what's become of the rest of the world. A barren wasteland thanks to their plundering. And anytime someone stands up against them, they crush them and destroy all hope. Humanity stripped ..."

Clutching the necklace, she turned back to AG. "But this necklace ... locket.. represents so much more. It's the human side of us. The heart... The emotions that we had once banished in fear that they would consume us. I can't let it happen to anyone else. I will destroy anyone who opposes me. I will murder the false God and his heretical following."

AG clutched his spear as he eyed his companion. She could see the look that he was giving her. He looked at her if she was the villain and out of line. But AG ... AG was foolish too, she thought. She sighed, AG opened his mouth and then shut it almost immediately. The action was something she was glad about. She didn't have more time for stupidity.

"What happens if emotions consume you?"

"It won't."

"How do you know?" Silence. "You can't play god either."

"I'll play it until the time deems otherwise." She paused when the door opened revealing Alu. "Ah there you are. Let's go, we're only a day's march from the capitol."

As the others left the room, AG's eyes drifted downwards. This time, he felt sick to his stomach as he realized what the spear had crashed into. A punctured doll was crushed into the crack below. It had an empty hole were the heart or stomach once was. He bent down, lowering himself to his knees, and gently scooped up the doll. Cradling it in his hand, he eyed the doll momentarily before closing his hand and closing his eyes.

He had a bad feeling about this. And a bad feeling about who Sulfi was about to become. The girl he once shared a dance with was no more. Revenge had reared its ugly head and consumed her. Transforming her completely into this creature called Sulfi. A cold blooded killer who spared only people she deemed valuable. If it hadn't been for the bond she shared with Alu, surely he and Oxy would have been killed by now. He did wonder. If she did kill him, would she even feel bad about it? Or would he just be a casualty to solve a necessary problem? He didn't want to answer the question but knew which one he would be.

Besides she couldn't even remember his real name. Well to be fair- she could but she didn't remember who he was. Richard was still alive even if he was called AG's now.

He'd have to take her down even if it pained him.

He felt it was the right thing to do and he knew it. He rubbed his forehead, the headache, the tightness was more prewent. Yes, he knew what he needed to do.