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Jade

Judging by their shifting and jumpy poise, Steven and Perl were uncomfortable.

Who could blame them?

The factory was still mostly operated by humans, one of the few remaining in the city.

These same workers were giving them murderous stares.

Jade shuddered as one of them stepped forward towards them. He was stopped by a fellow worker who grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

They walked deeper and between massive machinery, and Jade studied the workers. From their torn and mismatched clothing, they obviously lived in the slums.

The same man who tried to step forwards earlier pushed his way in front of Jade, who stopped in surprise.

"What else do ye want?"

He spat the words like venom, his expression just as venomous.

"Ye took everything from us. It's yer fault we have to live like shit, and it's yer fault we gotta be so poor. What else do ye want? Ye want to take away our shitty jobs? Our lives? Ye here to arrest us?"

Jade felt a lump rise in her throat. She tried to swallow, it felt like every eye in the building was on her, studying her, waiting to see her reaction. She took a breath.

"The CCPC is not your enemy." She squeaked. Realizing this, Jade cleared her throat and spoke again, louder and clearer. "The CCPC is NOT your enemy. Our aim is to help you not hurt you."

Another man stepped forwards.

"Yeah thath not what Reeve thaid. Thath not what we're theeing."

Jade was trying her best to remain calm. She shrugged indifferently.

"I do not know who this Reeve person is, but whoever he or she is, they were misinformed. Our goal is to preserve peace and security so people can have a happy life."

She immediately realized her mistake and winced. What happy life? These people barely had anything to wear and eat.

Jade was saved from his snappy and obviously angry reply by Perl, who put her hand on Jade's shoulder, squeezing lightly.

"Back to work, all of you."

A voice purred from above, and everyone froze. A woman, neatly dressed in dark green FlexaWear clothing, was staring at them from a platform over their heads.

The workers went back to their jobs without the smallest grumble.

The woman, who was barely visible, pointed a finger to the four of them.

"Marcus, bring them up," she called to the man who had brought them into the factory. And she vanished.

°°°°°°°°

Marcus took them up some stairs and past more machines and wary workers, although they seemed to be better dressed, friendlier and unfortunately less in number.

'It's like this factory has formed a society by itself,' Jade thought. 'A lower working class under a higher class. I bet they also get paid less for the same job.'

The injustice bothered Jade, and she made a silent oath to herself. She would urge the CCPC to investigate further, even if they were underfunded. These people deserved to live the peace and security the CCPC claimed it provided.

"So. Marcus," Perl said, trying to break the silence. "You seem high ranking here.

Marcus nodded. "I wouldn't call it a 'rank'. But yes. My family, the Firelamps, has had good relations with the factory owners for many years. It also means I can read and write, even if I'm not the best at it."

He sounded proud at the last part. 'As he should,' Jade thought, and she felt surprised for having such strong thoughts about someone they barely knew.

"Marcus Firelamp. Has a nice ring to it."

Marcus smiled at that, but didn't speak again until they reached the room a few minutes later.

He led them to a large room, made from the same dark brick material as the rest of the factory. It took about a quarter of the upper floor, which was quite a lot of valuable space. The room had a fingerprint scanner door, which looked foreign and outlandish in the traditional factory.

Steven raised his eyebrows sarcastically at Marcus. "I thought fingerprint scanners were unsafe."

Marcus narrowed his eyes at Steven, the cybernetic eye glinting, and he spoke through gritted teeth.

"She does what she wants, and we can't do anything against her wishes even if we wanted to. She orders, and we obey."

Steven snorted. "Sounds like slavery with extra steps."

"Were you in our position, you'd do anything to feed your family. Especially in a city where the police doesn't give a shit about the people."

That stunned Steven into silence, and Marcus turned back to the door. He pressed a button next to the scanner.

Nothing happened, but he waited like this was normal.

Jade opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it as the massive silver door slid upwards, showing the woman on the other side. She tilted her head, and a cascade of long, flowing blond hair tumbled over her shoulder. Jade was immediately jealous.

While Jade wasn't bad looking herself, the woman was just gorgeous. She had coffee colored skin that was somehow emphasized by her blond hair. Her eyes were a strange shade of dark red and her nose was slightly upturned.

She stepped aside. No one made a move.

Perl was opening and closing her mouth like a fish gasping for oxygen, and Jade stifled a smile, knowing for sure it wasn't from the factory's machines.

The woman looked at each of them slowly, through half closed eyelids. She smiled lazily when they didn't move, and she waved Marcus away.

"You may leave, Marcus."

Steven broke the silence by nodding at Marcus and smirking. "Shame. I think Marcus and we were becoming good friends."

Marcus gave Steven a sarcastic smile, then nodded curtly at Perl and Jade.

"Good luck," he whispered.

Marcus turned on his heel and walked away.

Jade had a feeling he was glad to leave.

°°°°°°°°

She led them into the room, lavishly furnished with everything modern and fancy in the market.

Knowing how most people of Cilyber were faring economically, Jade guessed these expensive furniture brands made most of their income from citizens like this woman.

However, the room had a bland white and light blue theme. The furniture looked hard and uncomfortable. The woman, already sitting at a large, transparent rectangle desk, looked cold and unwelcoming.

"Take a seat," she said with her silky smooth voice, motioning to three chairs placed facing her desk as if she was expecting them. The chairs were narrow and short, meaning she would be looking down on them. And by the way she was studying their reaction, with an almost malicious smile, that was her intention. To make them feel inferior and vulnerable.

"Thank you. We'll stand," came Steven's cold response. Jade was glad he had kept his wit when he lost his ability to think clearly.

Jade stepped forwards. "We don't intend to stay long. We just have a few questions for you. I'm Jade, these are Steven and Perl."

If the woman was disappointed by their cool response, she didn't show it.

"My name is Cily Ruby," she said, pronouncing her name as Cye-lee. The same lazy smile danced on her lips.

"A-after the city?" Asked Perl, not making eye contact.

"You can say that," replied Cily, smiling wider. "Is that why you're here? To discuss names? Why were you called Perl?"

Perl stepped forwards as well, her eyes brightening up. "Perl was a programming language most used in-"

Steven cleared his throat, and again Jade was glad. He was getting back to his old self.

Perl stepped back, blushing when Cily gave her a quick wink. Jade's jealousy was instantly transformed into hatred. It was clear this woman enjoyed manipulating others using her beauty and charm.

"Mrs Ruby," Steven started, interrupted almost immediately by her.

"Miss Ruby, please. I'm a widow. And I prefer Miss, or Mistress. Madame works as well."

Jade wondered what happened to her husband. Probably not an accident.

"Miss Ruby," Steven continued, obviously beginning to lose his nerve.

Jade glanced at Perl, who was looking at the floor, then at Steven, whose knuckles were white from clenching his fists too hard.

Something snapped inside of Jade, and she realized she had to keep her friends calm if they wanted answers.

Jade locked eyes with the snaky woman. Cily stared right back, and Jade could almost see the beautiful red eyes slitted like a snake's. She fought back the urge to shudder.

"Steven. I'll take it from here."

He didn't move at first.

"Steven," she said more insistently, and he stepped back reluctantly.

Jade tilted her head, and tapped her PortaZone. "Miss Ruby, please be aware that I will be recording this interview for certain safety issues. I am about to ask you a few questions concerning the recent sabotaging at a factory. While we are confident you and your and people had nothing to do with it-"

"And why would you be so sure about that?"

"Is that a confession? Note that what you say can be used against you, especially in recording."

"Fair enough. You sure do know how to do your job. Go on."

"Thank you. Another point worth mentioning is that in the case where a lie is detected, for our PortaZones are equipped with lie detectors, further suspicion will be cast on you. Now that all police protocol has been followed, do you agree to fully cooperate with us?"

"It doesn't look like I have a choice. You look like you're waiting for any opportunity to arrest me."

'She's trying to make us look bad on recording,' Jade thought, and she made a mental note to be more careful.

"Unless you've done anything wrong, we have no reason to. Let's begin. Was 'Ruby's CyberScreens' operating on the day of the sabotage, yesterday?"

"Yes."

"Were you present here personally?"

"No."

"Where were you then?"

"At my sister's. Her arm was malfunctioning and she couldn't afford to fix it, so she needed my experience and expertise."

"Why doesn't your sister have a share in the company? And how did you know how to fix the arm yourself?"

"This company belonged to my late husband. I wasn't always rich."

"What did you work as before getting married?"

She clenched her jaw. "I thought this interview was about the sabotage, not my personal life."

Steven stepped forwards, and Jade got the message. She let Steven take his turn.

"Were any workers missing yesterday?" he asked.

"Not that I am aware of. And trust me, I would know."

"Have any of your machines, resources, or storage been recently harmed?"

"No."

Steven looked at Perl and nodded.

Perl paused, put on a straight face, and pulled out her blaster.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damn this was loooong.

I usually don't like writing long chapters, they tend to get tedious halfway.

Let it slide this time, okay? *slides over a handful of Credits*

Thanks for coming!

#CilyberSaturday