Rendered

1: THE GUARDIAN

CHAPTER 1

Finn

Finn wondered how people managed to look so good at five in the morning. It never worked for him.

Trying to pull himself together,  he struggled into his uniform, straightening the stiff collar out and running a hand through his hair. Though he didn’t see the point. It always managed to stick out at the most unruly angles. He looked into the slightly distorted mirror propped against the wall, and almost wished he hadn’t. He looked awful. Dark bags rested beneath his eyes, and he looked as miserable as ever. He tried for a smile, but it just looked like he was grimacing. His eye caught on the empty bed on the opposite side of the room, and he sighed.

Ever since Plebeius had disappeared, he hadn’t been able to get his spirits up. Even though the Guardian had been a pain in the neck, he had been the closest thing Finn had to a brother, to family, and now he was gone. Sighing, he pushed those thoughts away - he had better stop dawdling or he would be late for the meeting.

He wondered what they wanted from him. He was definitely going to be reprimanded. He knew that he had done a frightfully terrible job on his last mission - his emotions had gotten in the way. He continuously cursed himself over that. He had stopped a senior Guardian from shooting down a citizen who had been telling her daughter about the Forbidden Days.

A Guardian can never let his feelings get the better of him when dealing with people. That was the first and foremost rule, and if he couldn’t been able to obey that, how could he ever be as good of a Guardian as Plebeius had been?

He got up from the bed and walked to the door, which opened automatically in response.  He made his way through the maze of long corridors. He still hadn't quite gotten the hang of them, and would occasionally get lost and spend hours trying to find his way back to his apartment. He admitted he wasn’t the best at navigating.

He didn't waste any time exploring today. One simply couldn't arrive late for a meeting with the Head Guardian. He passed the malfunctioning elevator and sighed. It had been that way ever since he had moved into the Guardians’ accommodations ten months ago. Stairs it is, he thought.

The numerous flights of stairs left him wheezing, as he panted and tried to catch his breath. Outside, a shuttle was already waiting for him - gleaming in the sunlight, silent and waiting.

Finn took a breath. Those were only used by the senior most Guardians and high citizens. This meeting seemed to be awfully important. At the same time, a knot of worry appeared in his stomach. This appointment definitely wasn’t going to  appreciate his amazing Guardianship skills, and who knew what news the Head would give him?

The moment he pulled the door shut, the automation kicked into action and the hovercar jolted up off the ground. Finn busied himself with staring out the window, watching as the tops of the Skyscrapers grew smaller and smaller until they were nothing but white blotches on the dirty gray landscape. He could see the Headquarters in the distance. He sighed, wondering what was in store for him.

***

Finn stepped out of the hovercar and looked up, wondering exactly how many floors the Headquarters had. It stretched up as far as he could see, and even though it was quite impressive, it just disgusted him. The building was in perfect condition, sleek white - almost sparkling - and it stood out in comparison to the surrounding buildings because of one thing: they were all dilapidated and in disrepair.  People had inked graffiti all over them, and they looked on the verge of crumbling. The Guardians, whose job was simply to take care of the Cassiopeia, to guard it, were failing to do their job.

As usual.

Shaking his head, he entered the Headquarters. A small device was attached to the door. Finn squatted a bit to bring it to eye level, and let it scan his retina.The machine buzzed quietly, and the lock clicked. Then a calm computerized voice was heard, vaguely feminine. Voice sample required. It bounced off the walls of the empty hallway, so Finn was unable to pinpoint it to a specific location.