Alex was left alone for the next two days. He still got food, but that was left at the door. The portions were smaller and the it didn't taste as good. After eating he was still hungry. The door opened and the smell of hot food reached him, spices, grilled meats, vegetables, and freshly baked bread. He turned over as his stomach growled. It wasn't the man holding the tray, it was a woman, also dressed in a black suit. She placed the tray on the table and Alex saw the portions were generous. He was salivating, but he lay his head back on the pillow. He didn't feel like playing this game anymore. "Mister Crimson, your food is getting cold." "What do you care?" "As the company representative, it's my duty to make sure you are being cared for." "Right, that's why I'm in this cell." "You have to understand, we can't have you moving about after what you took part in." "I didn't do anything!" He was standing, hands balled into fist. "Mister Crimson," she said, her voice soothing, "Please come sit. We can discuss it while you eat." Alex looked at the food on the table, but sat down on the bed. "What's the point? You've already decided I'm a criminal." "I haven't decided anything, Mister Crimson." "Yeah? well that other guy sure seemed like he'd made up his mind. He only listened to what he wanted to hear. I don't see why i can expect you to be any different." "You can believe me when I tell you I am not him. He has been removed from your case because it is clear he has some bias against you. I simply want to listen to your side of the story." "Then go listen to the recordings. I'm done repeating myself for your amusement." She sighed. "Please don't be so difficult. I just want to understand why you turned against the company after it provided for you all these years." "There! you're doing it. You don't care what I said, you decided I'm guilty." The look she gave me as she stood was pure disappointment. He didn't care. After the way he'd been treated they could keep their disappointment. After a moment of silence she shook her head. "I wish you had cooperated. All I wanted was for us to talk and get to the bottom of it. Now I will have to turn to more expedient methods." She picked up the tray. "You won't want to eat this now." Then she left. He had no idea what she meant by that, and he didn't care. He'd rather go hungry than play along. There had been stories, circulating among employees, especially when one of them stopped showing up all of a sudden. Of how it always seem to be the trouble makers who left like that. of how the company had people who's job was to look for them and make sure the didn't do any damage to the company. He'd even heard rumors of cells housing those trouble makers. That the company had the power to make anyone disappear. He'd dismissed all of them. Yes, the companies were powerful, but they couldn't do something like that. Of course trouble makers left, he'd told himself and his coworkers, they weren't happy here so they had gone to find a company that was a better fit. The company didn't have to do anything drastic. And now, here he was. In one of those cells he didn't believe existed. This couldn't be legal, he told himself. After all, only the government had the power to determine if someone was a criminal, to imprison them. But what if no one knew he was gone? if the government didn't know something was wrong, it couldn't do anything. The government wouldn't come poking into a company that hadn't stepped out of bounds. He thought about it. Was there anyone who could report him missing? Not his parents, nor his siblings. They had written him off a long time ago. his grandparents would, but they lived light years away, and he didn't contact them as often as he should have. it could be years before they realize something was wrong. How about his friends here? Those within the company would just believe what they were told, as he had countless time. Those at the bar? Would an alien be willing to put his neck on the line for a human? Specially one they hadn't seen in months? he hadn't gone there once since Jack entered his life. No, none of them would wonder what had happened to him, and he couldn't blame them. the door opened and instead of the man, or woman, two guards entered. They grabbed him and dragged him out. Alex tried to resist, but they were much stronger than he was. The corridor was white. featureless walls and floors. featureless doors at regular intervals, he stopped counting at twenty. Where they all cells? did they all have someone in them? They turned a corner and one of the doors was open. The room they entered was different. No bed or table. A chair in the center, surrounded by computers, screens and devices Alex didn't recognize. He fought against the guards as they forced him in the chair. Once in his body tensed, and he couldn't move it. The woman entered the room accompanied by a man in a medical uniform. He tried to follow where she went, but his eyes wouldn't move. She disappeared to the side. "So," the man said, "What do you need from him?" "Everything he knows about Tristan. What part he played in planning and executing it." "He was part of it? He doesn't look the type." "Most of the work was done from his apartment and his ID was the trigger. He was part of it." She reappeared in his field of vision. "You should have talked to me, Mister Crimson. This is going to be far more unpleasant." Pain coursed through his body. He wanted to scream, but nothing came out. When it stopped, it was so sudden he wasn't certain it had happened. he clearly remembered feeling pain, but now he was fine. "Well?" she said. "Nothing significant on the first pass. He has thought of someone matching the description, but nothing relating to the attack." "Alright, continue." The pain returned. White flame under his skin, electricity in his teeth, daggers in his toes. Then the pain was gone. He thought he should be exhausted, but he felt fine. The door opened and she entered the room. "Anything new? it's been seven hours." "No. I've done two runs, each deeper, and nothing." "How deep can you go?" "I can go all the way through his subconscious, but I'm thinking the memories might have been removed." "Memories can be removed?" "Sure, it's the same principle as accessing them, but add some chemical agents and you can make them vanish." "No. we need to know what he knows. keep digging." The pain was back. He didn't know how long it lasted. he had no notion of time when he was in pain. But when it ended, that time he lost consciousness. When he woke up, Alex was back in his cell. He didn't move, he hurt everywhere, and he didn't want to see what state he was in. When he heard a tray slide on the floor he realized he was hungry, he felt like he hadn't eaten in days. The tray was at the door, so he had to move. He caught sight of his bruised body, and wondered what was done to him. How far had they gone to get answers he didn't have? Why he didn't remember any of that? Why wasn't he any more angry? He devoured the food, and was hungrier when he was done. He never stopped being hungry, they never brought him enough food to sate his hunger. He also didn't see anyone after that. the food was slid in from a slit at the bottom of the door, and the tray picked up the same way. He never considered not putting the tray back, in case they decided he wasn't getting food without it. At some point, he started counting the days. the only way he had to tell them apart was by the meals. there were no clock in his cell, and no external light. He had counted three months and twelve days when the door opened. He hadn't had breakfast yet, so was still on his bed. He turned his head only enough to see it was a man, not one he'd seen before, but in the same black suit. He then looked at the ceiling again and waited for his food. He heard the man sit at the table, but Alex didn't move. "Mister Crimson, I need you to sit with me." Alex didn't move. "Mister Crimson, if you want to leave, there are forms I need you to sign, and I prefer we do this sitting." Alex didn't react immediately, it took him time to realize what the man had said. He turned his head and studied him. he had black hair, cut short, he was clean shaven with a slight jowl. The man looked back at him, probably studying him in return. Alex knew he was thin now. His hunger had become such a constant he barely noticed it anymore. His hair was longer and he needed to shave. "Mister Crimson," the man said again, his tone still neutral. "You are being released. Once you've signed these forms, you are free to go." Alex wondered if this was a trick. Had they decided to question him again, after all these months? had they seen he'd given up and decided this was the right time to come back? He knew he'd do anything to leave. He'd agree to what ever they wanted, he'd tell them whatever story they wanted to hear. He had to get out. He moved slowly when he finally got off the bed and joined the man at the table. His shirt hung loosely on his back, and he had to hold his pants up with a hand. The man placed a datapad on the table and pushed it to Alex. "This is an acknowledgment that you are taking back your position as a company coercionist." Alex scrolled through the legal document, not reading it. at the bottom he put his signature. The man brought up the next document on the datapad. "This one acknowledges that you are retaking your apartment, as well as your belongings." Alex signed without reading it. "This last one," the man said, putting the datapad back before Alex, "indicates that you acknowledges that what happened here is a company secret, and that you are not to talk about it, with anyone. If you do, you will be terminated." Alex had scrolled through the large file while the man talked and had been about to sign it when the man finished talking. Alex looked at him, unable to hide the fear. They would kill him over this. "You'll lose your job," the man said, exasperation slipping in his tone. "Please, what kind of company do you think we are? We don't kill people." Alex wasn't sure he believed him. He didn't know if he'd ever believe anything a company representative told him. "If I don't sign it?" His voice was raw, he hadn't said a word since being questioned. "I'm afraid all three need to be signed for you to be released." Alex thought about it for a moment. Was he going to tell anyone what had been done to him? would anyone believe him if he did? Did it matter? he wanted to leave. he'd been willing to lie to accomplish that. If he slipped and they killed him, at least he'd be away from this room. He signed it. The man smiled and took the datapad. "Good, if you'll follow me." Alex did, but the man had to slow his pace. It didn't take long for Alex to become winded. He hadn't walked this much in months. he hadn't had anything to exercise with in his cell, so for the first two week he paced. After that he didn't see the point. he wasn't going to leave, so why bother. Now he was paying the price. The thought the man was taking him to a room to kill him occurred to him once, but he found he didn't care. he was out of that room, that was all that mattered. The corridor was long, with many turns. Alex lost track of them by the time they reached the elevator and went up it. It was more corridors once they stepped out of it. After more turns than he could keep track of, they reached a door. The man opened it and Alex saw daylight, pavement, heard the sounds of vehicles. He took a step forward then stopped. "It's alright, Mister Crimson, you can go. You're free. Just remember, you're expected at your desk on Monday." Alex nodded and crossed the threshold. "Wait?" he croaked and turned. "What day is it?" "It's Thursday, of course," the man replied before closing the door. Alex stood there, looking at the closed door for a time. He was at the base of a tall building, in an alley. This was the back, the loading docks along the wall. two trucks were back to them. He shuffled around to the front, curious to find out where he'd been kept all this time. he stopped as he left the alley, the sun shining on him, warming him. He had to close his eyes, he'd forgotten how bright it was. How could anyone stand it. Even with the sun at his back his eyes watered. The people he walked by took one look at him and then looked ahead of them, giving him a wide berth. Alex had no doubt he looked like a beggar. The front of the building had no name on it, that didn't surprise him, none of them had, but he still recognized it, by the shape of the entrance and the lobby he could see beyond the glass front. This was Luminex. he'd been held inside the company he had worked for all his life. For a moment he thought he'd throw up, but he forced the bile down and headed home. Maybe once there he'd discover it had all been a dream, a long nightmare, and Jack would be waiting for him.