Purgatory

Chapter 29

Four armored men escorted Cole and me to the medical ward upon our arrival.  They remained close to us to prevent our path from straying, and we were forced forward with their directional guidance.  I looked over at Cole briefly in hopes that maybe he knew what was possibly going on, but he just gave me a faint shrug in return.

The armor of the escorts looked far sturdier than the suits of a guardian and looked to be capable of withstanding more than what Purgatory trained us for.  Their helmets still covered their faces completely, but instead of a full visor they had more of a T shape.  Each man carried a PA beam rifle in their hands, and a stockier looking hand cannon strapped to their backs.  None of them were equipped with blades, and rather carried pistols strapped to their legs.

We walked through the entrance of the medical ward somehow avoiding ever running into a single person in Purgatory.  I figured Cole and I would be led to some room to sit and do nothing for thirty minutes, but instead we were taken through the winding and confusing corridors and past possibly over a hundred different doors and climbed a couple of stairways.  Eventually we stopped in front of a door marked with a single red horizontal line, and one of the men in armor removed his glove to press his hand against the door panel.  Faint red light emanated like circuitry from where his hand touched the white door, and the door opened.

Two of the men followed us inside while the other two took post at the door.  The interior was modern, but held more of a surface feel with colored walls and tiled floors.  But it was only another hallway that only led to another hallway that led to another one.  At one point we passed through a corridor where one wall was completely made of a very thick glass that looked down upon the recreational ward’s entryway.

The halls in this section were bustling with armored men and women as well as scientists or perhaps medical doctors in white coats that hurried to their destination.  I tried to look at them as they passed by, and eventually I determined that most, if not all, never entered Purgatory like I did.  No one seemed to have the ports in the backs of their necks or held any noticeable scarring on their heads.  Their eyes were completely normal, as well, holding beautiful shades of colors I had come to miss.  They diverted their eyes from us as we walked past as if they wished to ignore our presence.  Some would quicken their pace to pass by us faster.

We finally stopped at another door marked with a red horizontal line, and the lead escort routinely placed his hand upon the door panel to open it.  Within moments we were in what appeared to be an office space.  Surface paraphernalia littered the inlaid shelves with books, family portraits, and little knick knacks.  Colonel Sullens sat behind a desk looking over a file on his desktop screen before looking up at us.

“Take a seat,” he said to us as he motioned to the two leather seats in front of him.  The remaining armored escorts stood behind us as we sat down at the colonel’s desk hesitantly.  The leather squeaked beneath my weight, and my hands trailed over the rigid dyed skin.  I didn’t know how to take what I was seeing and experiencing, and I looked back over at Cole who sat stiffly in his seat.

“Good to see you again, Guardian Atherton,” Colonel Sullens greeted before nodding to me.  “Observer Diederich.”

“Sir,” I replied, and nodded back to him.

“If you wouldn’t mind plugging in,” the colonel said as the armored men approached us.  They held out USB chords that connected to the ground, and I accepted it with uncertainty only after I saw Cole do it first.  He plugged in and looked at me with a nod that told me to comply, and I did so.

“Good,” said Sullens.  “Now as your syncing, I’ll go ahead and do the talking bit.  You’ve come across a major find.  Did Guardian Koen make it?”