John Krygelski - The Aegis Solution

Pierce indulged in a self-satisfied chuckle as she relished her remembrance of the event.

Elias waited for her to stop before asking, “Did she go?”

“No. She decided not to go, but made it quite clear to me that it was her own decision and had nothing to do with what I’d said. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Walden is not to the point where there is any value to having engineering experience in our cohort. At some point, perhaps, but not now.”

“I see.”

Leaning forward and resting her slender arms on the table, she continued once more, “Our careers are not all that define us. Any avocations? Hobbies?”

Recognizing the opportunity to provide the Manager with a suitable answer, Elias knew that if he told her his lifelong hobbies were woodworking and furniture making, he would suddenly find himself on the “right” list; but he simply said, “I’m afraid not. After a long day of crunching numbers, all I wanted to do was go home and watch cable.”

Another momentary flicker of distaste flashed on her face before Pierce responded, “Very well.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh, nothing to be sorry about,” she remarked airily. “But to change the subject, I understand, as you referenced a moment ago, that you had an altercation with our not-so-friendly neighbors after you arrived.”

“I did.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she proceeded. “Apparently, they are not a particularly conscientious bunch, and many people who enter Aegis make it all the way to our front door, so to speak, without encountering them. You are the first who has and arrived to describe it. If I may ask, how did you manage to elude them?”

“As I told Rogan and Johnson, I guess I was lucky. I don’t think they were in position to really ambush me. They saw me. I saw them. It was immediately obvious they weren’t intending to offer me herbal tea or a fine glass of wine, so I ran.”

Pierce was not completely certain Elias’ last comment was sarcastic, so she dampened her momentary irritation and persisted, “You just ran away from them?”

Reading her correctly, Elias answered, “I did omit this earlier. My one off-work activity was running marathons. I found that it was a great way to get the clutter out of my head. I actually planned my vacations so that I would be in various cities during their runs.”

“Marathons! Really?” Her entire body language changed as she asked excitedly, “Did you ever run the Boston?”

Elias nodded. “The Boston and the New York.”

“Well, no wonder you were able to lose them. I doubt that they are runners.”

“It was fairly easy to cause them to give up,” Elias acknowledged.

The woman they called the Manager paused, her eyes diverting to the blank wall behind Elias, her mental processes so transparent they might as well have been scrolling across her forehead as she stared. The moment of decision came quickly, followed by the first sincere expression to appear on her face, a slight look of sadness.

“Well,” Pierce began, her voice subdued, “do you have any questions for me?”

Deciding to maintain his gullible demeanor, Elias replied, “I do. Has there been a relatively recent arrival by the name of Eric Stone?”

“Eric Stone, no.”

Since her answer came so quickly, Elias was tempted to ask her if she was certain, but thought better of it. He had already decided that Stone would not have lingered in Walden.

“In that case, no. I don’t have any other questions, at least that I can think of right now. I’m sure I’ll have plenty for you later.”

At his last comment, her eyes flitted away from his. “Very well, then.”

She stood and said, “Please come with me.”

Rising and fetching his suitcase, he then followed her to the door through which she had entered. He was not surprised to find Rogan and Johnson waiting there. As he and the Manager joined them, Elias almost did not notice the slight shake of her head as Pierce made eye contact with Rogan.

She turned to Elias. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Charon.”

“Thank you,” he answered, milking his manufactured image. “I’m looking forward to staying in Walden.”

More prepared this time, her gaze remained steadily on his face. The faux smile once again curving her mouth but leaving the rest of her face neutral. “Yes. Well, have a good day.”

With that, she turned and walked back into the meeting room, closing the door behind her.

“That way,” Rogan indicated.

As Elias followed them, he decided to engage in small talk. “She seems very nice.”

Johnson nodded. “She is. She’s a good manager for us.”

They led him down one of the curving hallways perpendicular to the first corridor. He was now traveling on one of the concentric circles right outside the hub of Aegis.

“Do you both like it here?”

“It’s fine,” Rogan answered.

“Yeah, I do,” Johnson said.

Neither of their responses indicated any interest in continuing the conversation, and Elias was certain he knew why. His suspicions were quickly confirmed when they reached another blockade in the hallway. He saw that this one had a steel plate barred to the center.

Apparently, this border to Walden was not as elaborate as the first Elias had seen and included no cameras on the other side, as Johnson hurriedly peeked through three different peepholes, making certain there was no one lurking. After he gave an “all clear” sign to Rogan, the other man lifted the heavy bar from the steel door.

“Where are we going?” Elias asked innocently.

Rogan leaned the bar against the wall and turned to his visitor. “I’m afraid we are escorting you out of Walden.”

“Out?” Elias exclaimed, mustering some degree of shock in his voice. “But why?”

“The Manager decided.”

“Come on, now. I like it here. Oh, it’s because I’m an accountant, isn’t it?”

Rogan simply shrugged and said, “It’s up to the Manager. That’s all we know.”

With that, he gripped the handle on the door and swung it open. Johnson stepped through and checked the hallway more thoroughly. He turned back to Elias. “You have a clear route. It looks okay out here. Follow this hallway to the next main corridor, then turn left. You’ll find another group there.”

“Another group! But I don’t….”

Rogan held up his hand to stop Elias. “Look, Mr. Charon. It’s nothing personal, all right? Just please don’t argue.”

Elias decided he had played out his act as far as it should go.

“All right.”

He stepped through the opening and paused. Johnson rejoined Rogan on the Walden side of the opening, and they promptly closed the door. The sound of the bar being dropped back into place punctuated the finality of the decision.

Charon began his walk down this hallway, mentally adding the new facts he had gained from his interlude with the people of Walden to his picture of Aegis. His pistol still in his right pocket, he carried the suitcase with his left hand and kept a closer vigil on his surroundings. He did not want to be blindsided again, knowing that he could not count on the fleeting apparition to rescue him a second time.

As he slowly proceeded, his mind composed a narrative of his findings thus far. He had suspected that Aegis would, in some ways, become a microcosm of society. That was obvious and inevitable. But which society was the question. Would it be a mini-version of the society he had just left? Or something else? An answer was beginning to formulate in his mind, but he knew he needed more information before a final conclusion could be gleaned.

Approaching the first “spoke” corridor since departing Walden, Elias slowed his pace. Determined to avoid another ambush at this intersection, he quietly placed his suitcase on the floor several yards back and drew his pistol, flipping the safety to the off position. He bent his arm, holding his gun at shoulder height and pointed toward the ceiling, and then moved forward while hugging close to the wall. When he arrived at the corner, he took the next step rapidly, half spinning into a shooter’s stance and quickly sweeping the corridor for threats from either direction. It was empty.