Thursday, October 29
The Harrison Tower was a block away from the United Corporate Bank Center building. Consisting of steel, concrete and mirrored glass, the structure stretched nearly seven hundred feet into the sky. It housed commercial offices, shops, a restaurant, museum, and tonight—a perfect and safe distance from which to observe the spectacular demise of the UBC Center.
At a quarter to one in the morning, Kallie and Swag bundled in their warmest winter wear, stood outside the side of the towering building. Though winter wasn't slated to start for almost another two months, the temperature had dropped thirty degrees from yesterday's high of fifty-nine. It was the first freeze of the fall season. She watched Swag punch numbers into a keypad, unlocking the door and shutting off the alarm system. She wondered only briefly how he'd come about obtaining the codes to do so, ultimately figuring it was related to either his remembering ability or the power and influence of A.I.
They entered the well-lit building, making sure to angle themselves away from cameras not seen, but surely there. Quietly he led her onto the elevator where he punched the call button taking them up to the roof. They kept their heads lowered. The elevator camera was buried somewhere in the ceiling. Swag hadn't spoken in over an hour, or more specifically, not since she'd told him about her call to the fire department. By that time he'd already gone over the plan to enter the Harrison Tower, so she couldn't be sure if his silence was due to him being upset over what she'd done or simply because presently he had more pressing matters to consider. Outwardly, other than not speaking, he hadn't shown any signs of being angry or upset. In fact, he seemed rather indifferent to the news, as if her calling in the bomb threat had made no difference one way or the other.
The elevator didn't actually open onto the roof, but to the floor below it. Once on the floor, they moved quickly to the stairwell. The stairs led to a large storage area at the end of which was a door that opened to the roof. Walking through the storage area, she could tell that someone had been in here recently, evidently rummaging through the building's Christmas decorations. A mixture of green and tinsel wreaths and fake Christmas trees were lying amongst long snaky holiday signage and boxes of ornaments. She smelled hints of frankincense intermingling with the static smells of the plastic foliage.
Outside, the thick cold was made nearly visible by a bulbous full harvest moon, which sat prominently near the western edge of the cloudless sky. The frosty air slapped furiously against Kallie's face, quickly distancing itself from the temporary warmth of the building. She followed Swag to a spot between two large rectangular air vents, and then sat down as he did, Indian-style.
“What now?” she asked.
“We wait.”
She flipped up her coat collar. “On what?”
“You'll see,” Swag said.
She brought her knees up to her chest, scrunching her head below the top of her coat. For the longest time, neither spoke. Eventually, she lifted her head and turned toward him. “I wanted to save lives.”
“Excuse me,” he said as if he hadn't heard her.
She straightened up, looking at him squarely. “I called in the bomb threat because I wanted to save lives. Innocent people need not die.”
He stared off into the distance. “What's makes you think they would have?”
“Nothing, I guess. I just didn't want to take the chance.”
He nodded his head indifferently.
She opened her mouth to speak, but paused at a sound coming from somewhere near the door they'd come through. Someone else was stepping out onto the roof.
Swag brought a single finger to his lips, silencing her. He got to his knees and crawled to the edge of the air vent. He peered around it and then turned back at her, silently mouthing, “It's time.” He motioned for her to crawl next to him. She did so, slowly and quietly.
It was Gerald Principe. He walked to the edge of the roof facing the UCB Center and stepped onto the ledge. He held his hands up to the sky and began chanting.
“What's he doing?” Kallie asked.
Swag shushed her. “Wait here.” He stood up and walked to the ledge. “It is as it was before,” he said to Principe's back.
Principe turned around. “So it is. It was only at this moment that I saw.”
“It's the strangeness of the ability,” Swag said. “So you know who I am.”
“I do,” Principe said. “And does she?”
“Not fully,” Swag said.
“What do you intend to do?” Principe asked.
“Rule,” Swag answered. “With her.”
“It's not possible,” Principe said. “She can't be trusted. She'll deceive you as before.”
“Not as before,” Swag said.
“Can I join you?”
Swag inched closer to the ledge. “We'll see. But first open the gate.”
Principe lowered his head compliantly and started chanting.
Kallie approached from behind, looking from one to the other. Speechless, she suddenly felt like an outsider, having heard the faintness of a conversation that made little sense to her. Then she heard something else, a thunderous roar from the heavens. She looked up. The sky, moon-bright and cloudless a few moments ago, had darkened tremendously as a gray fog had rolled in out of nowhere, covering up the moon. “Look,” Kallie said, finding her voice and pointing toward the sky.
Swag looked up and a wicked smile crossed his face. Principe continued chanting.
“What's happening?” Kallie screamed.
Swag ignored her and looked intently at Principe who was now laughing mechanically and screaming a concoction of sounds that meshed noisily with the thunderous reverberation. Then he looked up at the heavens and began shouting in an unrecognizable language. He held up a cell phone and wildly pressed a couple of keys. Within seconds, a deafening grumble came from the direction of the UCB Center, rolling heavily over them. The Harrison Tower trembled. The three of them looked toward the UCB Center. The top of it had been blown into the ethers, shooting explosive fire in all directions. Even here, Kallie could feel the intensified heat pricking her skin as the light from the explosion reflected off the glass of the Harrison Tower, bouncing gorgeous shades of red and orange all around them.
Kallie's gaze went from the sky, which now seemed to be pulling away from itself, to the sight of Swag pushing Principe off the roof. Feeling weak-kneed, her body wavered backward and her eyes rolled to the back of her head, offering her only a glimpse of the strange creatures pouring from the sky's split.
She fainted dead away.
Swag stood unmoving. He was pleased.