Infiltrating Harmony

Infiltrating Harmony Part 17

I was late for work again.

    By the time I arrived at HARMONY Headquarters, every vocation was already at their desks, clacking away at whatever it was that half this place did.

    Upon entering the building, I walked past Berlin's desk and greeted her by pursing my lips. She smiled, and I entered the elevator, kicking myself. Why was that so awkward?  I thought.

    I reached my desk and took a seat, turning on my computer. The vocation that was my cubicle-partner greeted me, and I pleasantly greeted him back. I was going to try to make this day as normal as possible. I was getting tired of this undercover stuff.

    Suddenly, I got a message on my communicator. It read: INFORMANT WILL GIVE YOU INFORMATION. WAIT FOR NOTE. It was from Officer Wright.

    I looked around at the vocations around me, and wondered who the informant was. Suddenly, a vocation in a full suit walked by, dropping a sticky  note on my desk. The sticky note read: BATHROOM. FIVE MINUTES.

    For five minutes, I pretty much did nothing. I realized that my job didn't really entail much, other than occasionally talking to a vocation about their problems... but there were none today.

    After five minutes, I marched towards the bathroom. Before entering, I looked over my shoulder a couple of times. No one seemed to be looking or caring, so I walked in. The vocation who had dropped the note on my desk was standing at the sink, his hands grasping the counter... staring into the mirror.

    I stood next to him and started to pretend to wash my hands, looking in the mirror at him. "So I've heard you have some information for me."

    "That depends... you Monty Chapman?" asked the robot.

    "The one and only," I replied.

    "Perfect," the vocation said.

    "So what have you got for me?"

    "I really only know two things. One, the attack is going to happen tomorrow night at precisely 8 p.m."

    "Great, thanks," I said. "What's the second thing?"

    The vocation leaned over and grabbed a handful of paper towels from the dispenser. He started to dry them, which I thought was odd, due to the fact that they were metal. "The second thing I know... and this is inevitable... is that Destruction will prevail."

    I only had time for my eyes to widen before his hand was on the back of my head and slamming my face into the mirror before me. The mirror and my face exploded, sending shards of glass and drops of blood flying in all directions.

    "Shit!" I screamed, and fell to the floor like a ragdoll. The vocation wasn't done, however. He grabbed the back of my shirt and started to drag me towards one of the stalls. I predicted what was about to happen.

    "Oh no!" I said. "I am going nowhere near that toilet!"

    I started to resist, but the robot was too strong. I was knelt in front of the toilet, the vocation ready to plunge my head in.

    "Wai -" I started to say, but I was pushed into the water for the first time. Water filled my mouth, and as I was brought up I desperately gasped for air.

    "We've tried to beat you," started the vocation. "We've drugged you and put you on a train... all in the hope that we would scare you into not meddling in our business. Now, I'm being forced to drown you in a toilet bowl. A toilet bowl, man! Are you stupid, or just stubborn?"

    "Most likely stupid," I said, and my head was plunged into the toilet again. Being brought back up, I started to retch and once again tried to get away from the robot, but he was once again too strong.

    "Is this cause really worth fighting for?" asked the vocation. "Is it really worth all of this?"

    I thought about all the civilians who used HARMONY, and the leaders of The Bounty Officers. Most prevalent in my mind at that moment was Berlin, and how Vocation 13 and Officer Burton had killed her father. This was about more than just that golden liquid. Not to sound too cheesy, but now... now this was personal.

    "Yes!" I screamed.

    The vocation pushed with more force than he ever had, and my head was plunged under, for what I feared was going to be the last time. I screamed into the water, pushing with all my muscle to try to get this brute off of me. But I couldn't. This truly was the end.

    When I first joined the force, I fantasized about going out in a gunfight or while defusing a bomb... in a noble way. I have to admit, on the long list of acceptable ways to die for me, being drowned in a toilet was not one of them. I started to lose consciousness.

    Suddenly, I heard the muffled shot of a blaster. The vocation's grip started to get looser. Another blast sounded, and the vocation let go completely. I pushed myself out of the water, practically screeching as my lungs searched for air. I rolled over, lying on the floor. I was okay.

    I looked to see who my savior was, and standing over the now dead vocation was Berlin Lewis, a smoking blaster in her hands.

    "Berlin!" I gasped. I pulled myself to my feet using the toilet and walked over to her. I was so happy to see her, I didn't care about anything else. I bent down to kiss her, but she stopped me.

    "You were just in the toilet," she said.

    "Oh... right," I said, and backed away.

    She smiled. "I'm just kidding."

    She pulled me in and kissed me. A vocation walked into the bathroom with a newspaper and left with an "Ope... shit." We pulled away, and looked at each other.

    "How did you know what was happening?" I asked.

    "I went to your desk to talk to you," she replied. "You weren't there, and after searching all over the building this was the last place that you would've been. Trust me, I didn't want to come in here."

    I pointed at her blaster. "And that?"

    "After you left yesterday I realized that I was mixed up in some pretty seedy stuff." She raised the blaster, gesturing towards it. "Thought I'd protect myself."

    "Good idea," I said.

    She looked at the vocation who lay on the floor. "What are we going to do about him?"

    "I have no idea."