Major Hart walked past the office doors, barely glancing at the plaques set into wood, not needing them to be able to tell where he was and exactly where he was heading. Some were glass, some wood, and some metal, but he passed each one, purpose in his stride as he counted each arch on his left, until he finally came to a halt in front of a particularly large mahogany door at the end of the corridor. He stopped, frowning at his own actions — not sure why on earth he was going it, and the complete idiocy of doing it anyway, despite all the risks and ways that it would go wrong. It wasn't even particularly worth it, more of a way to satisfy his curiosity rather than having any true benefit. But he heaved a sigh, knowing that the manner he carried would bound to land him in trouble one day or another. He knocked on the door, three times, and stood back to wait.
Silence. There was no reply, but he still waited for a good couple of seconds more, before trying the handle, almost wishing that it was locked, but it opened without struggle. Only swinging open with a slight creak, Major Hart held his breath, stepping into the grand office, making sure to shut the door closed behind him. Carpet muffled the sound of his steps as he came up to the table, the little plate in gold decorating the desk almost covered by the papers lying on top of it. But it did nothing to hide the letters underneath.
"General Tsar." He muttered, as if saying the name would make it more real — the fact that he was breaking into the leader of the military's office without permission. Trespass, he thought to himself, that would land me in a tight spot. I'm not sure if I would be able to withstand a drop in rank.
He moved to the back corner of the room, and might he say, it definitely was a big room. Like his position, the ceilings seemed to stretch into the sky, shaped like a dome that curved around to the sides, decorated with elegant gold sculptures and an ancient painting splashed colour onto it — pictures that depicted something that no-one could decode. Focusing his gaze back to ground level, he couldn't help but notice the five shelves of books, old and new, stacked in row upon row, filled to the brim. Some still had bookmarks attached, whereas some were missing from their positions, found splayed on the General's desk, messy notes scattered around them. Major Hart could only guess that they were about battle strategies of history that was relevant to what was happening today and could possibly guide the army to avoid mistakes written deep into the lines of the past.
He snapped himself back to attention, realising that he'd let himself wander away from what was necessary, and looked back at the metal cabinet in front of him — back to the seven shelves that could possibly hold all the secrets to everyone registered int he military. He frowned, realising how many files he would have to go through, but thankfully, the drawers were labelled, and considering how there was also an identical cabinet next to him, he felt very thankful that the General at least found the time to organise his cabinet rather than his desk. Hart pulled on the fourth drawer, figuring the one that read: 'Other Persons Disregarding Command' seemed like the most concrete one to start off. Only a few files sat there, most being about the military officers of the enemy line and the others concerning things about Servants. He flipped through that drawer immediately, seeing as there were only twelve files in total, all neatly stacked in alphabetical order. Not much to go on, and no hints to Pro One.
He reckoned that due to the fact that Pro One did have a personal dorm and Maid, she had to retain some sort of ranking, but which seemed to be lower than that of Commissioned Officers, yet higher than Soldiers and Servants. She had some sort of unique status that the Major couldn't quite put his finger on, which irritated him quite a bit.
Another drawer this time — Commissioned officers (General and Senior). He made the quickest scan through that one, going straight to the H and C sections, then making a double check at the front and back. But again, nothing came up. Moving onto the next, it wasn't long before he had checked through all of the most obvious-looking ones.
YOU ARE READING
Gears (NaNoWriMo 2017) (#1 Below the Machines)
Science Fiction"When I awoke, all I could see was the white ceiling. The blinding light seared into my mind and made me squint. But I couldn't see them anymore. The thoughts that floated in my mind were not of my own. My mind was empty, like a blank slate, all thi...
