Fitting in with the general popular office aesthetics especially for the silver city, the majority of the supreme skyscraper's interior color palette is made of simple whites or other gray shades, a clean and simplistic approach. This is the style that nearly all employees of the company interact with on their day to day, from scientist interns to executives part of the highest board. At the end of the day, regardless of the company's own unique image –for it certainly had one given its history of leaders– its headquarters were any other office headquarters and so its aesthetic was inoffensive, familiar, gentle on the eyes.
That said, the very top floor of the skyscraper, the room above all others in the city, is the one floor whose interior contrasts such cleanliness with an unabashedly royal golden palette, furthermore the walls weren't a simple fill but had an intricate design of fragmented patterns using darker lines, not conforming to a single tone. Diamond shapes made in these patterns emit the light that mostly fills the room, though due to its localization to specific points, it doesn't perfectly illuminate the space. To help, window screens line along the walls to provide cyan light, providing more light with an additional color. Out the window, the only silver towers to be seen are further in the distance, for none stand at its side, for the top is open and alone.
Similarly unconventional, the room did not resemble a typical office, even that for an executive, but rather better matched that of an observatory given its immense size and dome ceiling. The room had several platforms providing multiple floors within this single space, not covering the entire radius but rather allowing for balconies to face the floor, with each higher platform receding slightly to form a sort of staircase pattern. On those platforms are various white tables and odd machinery, benches emitting holograms of blueprints and scraps of random devices littered about. While it was the executive office above all, it felt more like a workshop or laboratory, as physical tools were littered around tables like microscopes and welding equipment.
This room is truly huge, and yet for as extravagant as it is, only one employee occupies it, residing on the tallest platform, which happens to thus be the smallest, only about the size of a reasonable office. That platform only has a single desk, a long curved table with an elegant golden design, one that compliments the frame of the floating chair supporting the white leather cushions that supports that one employee: the amber haired woman. A window screen stretches along the wall behind her, shading the back of her chair and head with cyan, though her face is toned green by the three curved holographic screens which absorb her full attention. For she sits in total silence, still dressed in that deceptively formal suit, her mind typing silently as her green gaze flickers between the screens. Each screen houses so many windows simultaneously that the view is a mess, mixing calendars, emails, message logs, blueprints, diagrams, text documents, and many spreadsheets all together, yet it's necessary for her to properly multitask, for it'd be far too much to get through sequentially.
So much of the executive office is remarkable but furthermore fun, the strangely placed surgeon bed on the lower platforms, the pile of silver metal tentacles protruding from a bin beside a table, there's so much to interact with yet the one employee only interacts with the screens she carries everywhere. She's so small in such a large room, her presence insignificant in a space that demands for more, relatively hollow.
After what'd be hours of such menial tasks, Dana releases a heavy sigh before the window directly at the center vanishes, and she then turns to the right edge before panning her gaze left as all the windows are closed by her sight. Upon fixing her stare on the left edge, the three screens are fully empty, displaying only their simple green backgrounds which vanish too as the monitors are closed in its entirety, snuffing out the green light.
She faces forward again, sitting in silence, contemplating to herself. She then kicks back, prompting her chair to drive backwards enough for her to have the space to lift herself out of the seat, grounding herself before stretching her arms.
She turns around to face the window with a dreary frown, free from work yet exhausted enough that she can't express joy.
Her day isn't exactly over yet though as she turns back to face the table before she strolls around, strolling to the balcony's edge, every footstep echoing. Upon reaching the platform's end, a portion of the floor beneath her feet is detached and begins descending, revealing itself to be a hidden elevation pad that carries her past the other platforms below, leading her directly to the base floor. She doesn't face back at the platforms she passes but instead fixes her stare at the opposite end from the balcony, where a darker frame denotes the exit door. The descent is slow, smooth, tedious.
Upon approaching the base floor within a couple feet, Dana casually walks off prematurely, causing the pad to suspend in place as she just lands with a thud though her knees don't bend to absorb the impact. She instead continues to stroll off as the pad then begins ascending back towards the way it came, leaving her to approach the frame within which the wall vaporizes, revealing a bright white elevator shaft with another platform waiting for her. Upon stepping in, the open frame is closed by a golden cloud, solidifying the enclosure, and with that the room is left totally empty, the only sound being the nearly silent hum emitting from behind the door for just a moment before fading to silence.
Whereas that office was mostly silent, reasonable given its purpose as a professional productivity space, the same isn't the case in this other space where booming heavy metal music blasts, the instrumentals visceral to match the rage of the voice that screams such that lyrics are impossible to identify.
Despite such aggressive music, the space it occupies is a relatively tame bar, its walls silver which emit light evenly across the interior, though a mix of cyan light breathes through the open door. Most of the large bar space is decorated with small brown tables, the materials resembling wood albeit artificial, similar to the accompanying chairs. Some of those tables are occupied by small groups, though some are taken by lone customers, all of them drinking out of frosted glassy bottles augmented with cyan holographic glyphs and a ring to indicate the remaining liquid volume. While the bar is occupied, most of the tables are empty, and those who do inhabit it are quiet, enough that they're practically inaudible over the music.
At the end of the room is a single long bar table accompanied with a row of stools, and on the other end is an equally long shelf with that same artificial wood, displaying a vast array of bottles shaped and sized differently. Only a few customers are seated at this bar, some of whom are in small groups as two men in business suits chatter by the middle. One of those men raises his hand and calls out to the bartender, indicated by the only man on the opposite side of the bar, currently at the far end, an older man in a dark blue suit with a dark gray tie. He's clearly old given his bald, wrinkly head, though he quickly notices the request, glancing over at the two businessmen.
He then faces forward to the man he's currently serving, one who's also old with a similarly wrinkled bald head, though he seems even older as his face is physically frail, his skin seemingly sunken into his cheeks. Most of his body is however covered in the brown overcoat over the black jumpsuit, dressed comparatively casually. He watches the bartender place down a cup in front of him, sliding it over before then strolling off to attend to the other customers, leaving that older man alone.
Briefly observing the bartender, Ekitai returns his attention to the cup provided to him, one of several that crowd the bar table in front of him, although they're all empty with only gentle residues left behind as one has strange bright green droplets left. He lets out a soft sigh to instead stare at the new cup, this one filled with an odd black liquid. He keeps his arms to the side just to observe it briefly, his yellow gaze studying it for a moment, his eyebrow raised.
After waiting around long enough, he raises his hand and reaches to the cup, curling his bony fingers around. He raises it and bends forward to gently place his dried lips on the edge, then he tilts the cup to let the liquid slowly pour into his mouth. The instant after contact, his eyes explode wide and he pulls the cup away from him, slamming it back on the table and coughing, sticking his tongue out in disgust to the sour taste.
He swallows to refresh his tongue, though needs to cough again just to rid the unbearable sting. He chuffs and glares at the cup with an initial hostility, though that expression softens before then snorting to himself as if finding humor in the situation. He releases a sigh before reaching for the cup again, though he pauses, and instead retracts his hand. Instead of leaving it at his side, he instead digs it into his overcoat's inside pocket, finagling for a moment as he raises his head with shifting eyebrows before finally pulling his hand out to reveal a small transparent flask carrying a strange yet signature purple liquid. He immediately lowers the flask below the table and turns to face the bartender guiltily.
That turn proves that the bartender is occupied, pouring liquid into a cup from the bottles in his hands, similar to the many others on the long shelf. One of the businessmen already has a cup in his hands, but waits for his companion to receive his own, also watching the bartender work.
Confirming the distraction, Ekitai returns his gaze to the cup and lifts his flask, gently placing the edge by the opening, for it lacks a physical lid, against the lip of the cup. He then lowers the flask, enough that the purple liquid pours out and into the cup, mixing with the black liquid in such a way that they blend to form a dark purple mixture. In doing so, the liquid itself rises, the cyan holographic indicator ring rising to match, and so Ekitai lifts the flask up to stop right before it overflows.
Glancing at the flask which is about halfway full, Ekitai stashes it back inside his overcoat's inner pockets, and after a brief blue flash appears from inside his coat, he pulls his hand back out all as his gaze remains on the cup.
After having mixed the drink, Ekitai takes a deep breath of courage before wrapping his hands around the cup, lifting it once more –albeit more carefully as to avoid spillage– and takes a sip. He quickly then pulls the cup away from his mouth, still somewhat repulsed by the taste, though nowhere as vehemently. In fact, he keeps it raised in his hands, staring at it, huffing to himself in amusement to the concoction which brings a faint smile, though it quickly then washes into a somber frown.
He then returns the cup to his mouth and takes a swig, drinking a larger amount, seeming to bear it more easily. Though right as he is about to go in for another, his wrist holding the cup projects a small holographic screen with a gray border, the shape of a message bubble which catches his attention curiously. Below that appears another message bubble though larger, pushing up the first bubble to face him directly.
After glancing at the screens, Ekitai sighs softly before the screens then vanish, leaving him to face the cup once more with a somber frown. He then chugs the remainder in a single go, gulping down, the movements of his throat visible.
Depleting the cup swiftly, Ekitai places the empty container back on the table before throwing his legs around the stool and standing up. The flaps of his overcoat drape down around his legs, and he strolls off towards the open door as the bartender takes notice after serving the two men. The bartender just watches in silence as the old customer takes his leave, eventually covering the open door with his silhouette, blocking the cyan light.
Being exposed to the cyan sunlight greater as it shades his entire body, Ekitai winces at first though adjusts quickly, raising his head to gaze up towards the deepening tone indicative of the approaching evening, bleeding between the silver skyscrapers towering over him between which the traffic moves, not as intensely as it once did, not as intensely as it once felt.
Shifting his attention, Ekitai pivots right and strolls down to a parking lot beside the bar, oversized for the time as only a few sparse pods occupy it, all parked as they're only slightly raised from the black top, all of them silent.
That is except for one of the pods which emits a gentle passive hum, the black SUV which is raised just slightly higher, about half a foot from the ground.
Upon detection, Ekitai sighs to himself before strolling towards that pod, placing his hands in the pockets of his overcoat, letting the city breeze play against his coat as he has no hairs for it to ruffle. His head tilts down slightly in contemplation, rolling his shoulders to readjust his coat, ready for the day to end as he keeps his back to the bar and moves forwards.
Bleeding through the entire surface of one of the wide apartment walls is the deep cyan sunlight of the evening, an approach towards sunset. That cyan overpowers any other light within the interior of the space although in truth the sparse yellow lights are already dimmed, resulting in that blue shade splashed over the pink leather sofa chair that hovers beside a small circular table top beside a hovering luminescent sphere that lingers above the pink haired woman seated on that sofa chair. Kokei however has dressed differently in a more casual oversized hoodie with a deep pink bottom half and white upper half decorated with colorful decals resembling cartoonish sprinkles colored pink, purple, blue, and green. She still has her white knee socks and shoes, her feet dangling just over the pink fur rug, and accompanying her on the table is a transparent mug with a fair brown liquid that is tea, the mug half full. Next to that mug is the same small purse she had earlier, just sitting by the edge. She does not seem to entertain herself with anything else, no screens, no physical activity, rather she just lounges in place, her body so clearly fatigued by how it just slumps.
She turns her head to gaze around her apartment, raising her head forward towards the group of white sofas boxing a rectangular table, decorated with tall pink flowers behind said sofas similar to Snapdragons. Her head slowly pans to the left, glancing at the other sofas lined up side by side facing a white table, but in the center is a space separated by a square border of white tables beneath cabinets, though there are openings on each side as well as space for the refrigerator box beside a long black table, and beyond the box is a back room with rows of white tables along the walls along with shelves.
Her head continues to turn to the left side of the house to set her eyes on the distant wooden dinner table that divides two columns of three white seats beneath a floating silver chandelier. In front of the dining room is another square of sofas in front of a long white table with additional Snapdragon-like flowers. That brings her tour back to herself, frowning in solitude beneath the wooden ceiling. She glances over to the mug beside her which she reaches towards just as suddenly a black pod races right behind her through the window screen, nearly blackening the whole apartment for a moment as it blocks the sun. Its roar can also be heard due to how close it soars, warranting Kokei's attention as she turns her head to the door on her right. She then slips out of her chair, landing on her feet to saunter her way over to the door, leaving the cup of tea behind yet she snatches her purse off the table to sling it over her shoulder.
While that transparent mug half full of tea remains in place, Kokei approaches the door which vaporizes on her presence, allowing her outside where the bellowing hum of a pod ruptures the tranquil silence the apartment had been dwelling in.
Exiting through the open door, Kokei stands beside walls of bushes lined up against the silver exterior of her cubic home. In front of the bushes is a soothing garden of rich pink flowers dancing in the evening breeze in front of a lawn of short grass, that lawn divided by a silver lane wide enough for two pods to fit, enough for the one currently hovering over the edge of the front lawn to land over. That pod has a larger body akin to an SUV with a sleek black body, lacking visible windows as it instead seems to have one smooth shell, a deep growl as a passive hum emitting off its body as it slowly drifts forward over the lane in a gentle descent.
As the pod slowly creeps up the driveway, Kokei strolls down the lawn, letting the door behind her materialize back once again. She walks across the driveway to approach the pod's right side as it comes to a complete stop, hovering just about a foot off the ground. As she makes her way to the vehicle, the right front door bursts into a cloud, leaving it open for her to step to its side and peer within to find the sleek black interior with leather seats, and already sitting on the other front seat on the left side is the woman in the blazer with the green surgeon cuffs, her amber bangs tucked to the sides of her face to allow her light green eyes to gaze back. Dana then nudges her head, silently signaling Kokei to slip into the pod through the open door, after which she turns her head to find the back of the interior which has a long bench where on the left side sits the senile bald man in the brown overcoat who nods to her.
Kokei nods back to Ekitai as the door she entered through materializes shut, and almost immediately the pod begins to drive backwards with a gentle ascension, the hum gradually growing. Still quiet, Kokei just adjusts her position to more comfortably slump in her seat before turning her head to face the window screen to her side, watching the world seem to spin as the pod rotates, allowing for a quick view of the silver city.
After turning the other way, the SUV pod pulls forward with gradual acceleration, the hum becoming a growl that becomes a roar as it soars off into the city towards the rest of the glowing blue river of traffic sparsely glimmering the city's skies, driving away from the block tower of silver cubes two by two, each level separated by canopies that being their lawns.
Her head tilted as if to try nestling it against the leather cushion, Kokei stares out the side window as Dana keeps her focus ahead to the main windshield screen. She chooses to keep to herself, staring out aimlessly at the skylines from high above, the roar of the pod dampening in her mind. In fact, whereas Dana remains wide awake, Kokei's eyes begin to weigh down on her, the exhaustion finally catching up as she blinks slowly. Each proceeding blink is longer than the last until there's one more that she simply doesn't open her eyes shortly after, falling into a nap ever so quickly, as though she was waiting to be able to.
Dana glances at her to confirm her restful state before returning her focus ahead, letting out an exhausted sigh as she knows she'd not be spared such pleasures for she had to be the one to bring them home.
Above the regular city traffic in the form of the blue glowing matrix of lanes both horizontal and vertical that weaves between the silver towers is a separate lane which the black pod drives along, disconnected from the rest of the metropolis. That upper lane naturally moves far faster, for home was far from this district of the city.
In fact, the pod passes many districts of the city in a brief span, passing over a region with skyscrapers notably taller than the apartment complex, with fancier curves that resemble a trident or double helix, though the tallest of them all is the simple rectangular tower whose two halves are conjoined by a block of densely packed pillars. The pod rises above that tower too, above the city itself for all the high rises sit beneath. In the distance behind all the towers, the sun gradually sets, hiding behind the buildings that split its light like a fence.
For in truth the destination isn't even within that city, as eventually the pod races high over docks that function as the shoreline between the silver civilization and the sea that extends far longer, the buildings scattered about being far shorter as there's no towering skyscrapers along the edge. Beyond this point there's no other traffic below either, and the pods along this lane are far fewer than earlier, leaving the traffic sparser. The sun itself is no longer visible, the only mark being its cyan light emitting from beyond the horizon though in twilight even that shrinks back against the darkening blue sky.
Eventually deep enough into the ocean and there's nothing in all directions but the same plane of water below, no landmarks to instill the sense of a dense community, no differing shapes and heights, for the only sense of direction is the subtle flow of the waves that can hardly be registered from the pod's height, now being the only one driving this lonesome highway. The sky has transitioned completely to night with no remnants of sunlight remaining, however there is not complete darkness as there are twinkling white stars scattered over the canvas among streaks of blue and purple nebulae, although they're not a proper point of reference in travel as they don't move at all relative to the pod.
Deeper into the night, among the stars and nebulas of the sky is now a far larger presence in the form of the white moon, shimmering on its own perhaps not to the sun's extent but it does dash the sea with white streaks. The pod races through one just as it reaches the end of the sea where it races over a slim beach that resides next to a thick dark green forest, the trees dense enough that there's no visible ground. However the trees are still far lower than the pod, therefore appearing like grass anyways.
Within the forest is its own waves, though not as many densely packed but rather vastly larger in the form of hills, rising and lowering, the trees covering over as while the trees do not vary drastically in height they do reach greater altitudes at the peaks of the hills, albeit still greatly below the pod that soars beneath the moonlight.
However those pulls from the ground are not limited to short, rounded hills, but more intense mountains the deeper into the forest the pod journeys, mountains that are in fact similar heights to the skyscrapers while being greatly wider. While the trees do cover the mountains where they can, some have rocky sides too steep for any to grow, for they aren't made smoothly but rather many have jagged shapes. Like the high rises, they vary in height and shape, some being spikes in that they have a generally conal shape while others are long ranges like gigantic walls that carve through the forest. However, similarly to the towers, they do not reach nearly as high as the pod, not very close either.
At the very least the more inland that the pod drives, the taller the mountains are, where just like the sea there can be found nothing in all directions but the forest as it stretches to the horizon from all angles. However the pod is not lost, for it approaches a sierra where a notable cluster resides, all of them towering over the mountains that surround, however in the center of the cluster is one defined against the rest for its colossal scale renders the others at its feet the same respect as the hills. Not only is its base magnitudes wider than the rest, but it reaches a height great enough that the tip is not green nor gray, as while a mid section of its body is indeed rocky due to a steepness too great, its peak is a frosty white. In fact it's the only mountain amongst the forest to have a white peak, pure as the moon shining down on it. It's so tall in fact that as opposed to all other mountains, this one nearly reaches as high as the pod, which drives directly towards it though at a gradual deceleration.
While the pod still drives higher than the peak, it does begin a smooth descent coupled with its reduction in speed, its destination clearly determined, though the mountain itself from the outside doesn't seem much of a destination at least for a time like this. Though it's not the exterior that's the true endpoint, as once the pod nears the mountain's surface, all the sudden an aperture carves itself into the snow and rocks in the shape of a diamond, seemingly incinerating the ground above to allow a pure white light to pass through, gleaming like a beacon that draws the pod in.
Through that aperture the pod gently glides in, entering a strange huge room like a hangar with smooth white walls emitting their own light, the floor made of the same material. A hidden fortress within the natural body of a mountain, and this was simply the entrance, one the SUV gradually approaches the surface of with a growling hum, the only sound in the entire hangar, and in fact the black vehicle is the only construct occupying the whole space as it's otherwise empty, allowing it to be parked virtually anywhere, however it does pull forward to approach one of the walls as above it the diamond door shuts as it's enclosed by a solidifying cloud. The pod drifts low to about a foot off the ground where it continues to glide across the clean white floor, eventually reaching closer to the wall where it comes to an absolute stop about thirty feet ahead. After stopping, the pod rests in place for a couple seconds at a calm hum before silencing altogether.
Inside the dark vehicle, Dana at the driver's helm lets out a fatigued sigh as the two front doors dematerialize simultaneously along with the door to the seat behind her. The whoosh of the door's opening pulls Kokei out of her nap, forcing her back awake with a groggy groan, stretching both of her arms with a yawn as Dana slips out of her seat. Behind the two of them, Ekitai just slides out of his seat with little contention, slotting his hands back in his pockets to stand beside Dana who turns to Kokei to watch her wearily throw herself out of the passenger seat.
Promptly all three doors close back up as Kokei drags herself in front of the pod to circle up with the other two, Dana being the one to lead them on towards the wall they parked near. Kokei rubs her eyes with both hands, though blurring her vision as she blinks a few times to refocus so she can then follow alongside Ekitai who isn't nearly as visibly drained. He glances at her and flashes a hint of concern in his yellow eyes though she keeps her head forward, her body slouched.
The both of them follow Dana to the wall which opens up a decently wide doorway, nearly wide enough for a pod to be driven through, leading into a shaft with an elevation pad made of polished stone same as the shaft, both large enough for at least a pod to fit with the potential for multiple. However since it's now simply used for three passengers, the elevator's lavish space only serves to dominate them in additionally oversized arrangements, pushing onto them the sense of alienation as this fortress feels perhaps too grand to be their home.
Both Kokei and Ekitai wander deeper in the elevation pad as Dana lingers by the door to allow the holographic panel to trigger by her hand, allowing her to make a few quick presses before the panel vanishes and the door resolidifies before the pad begins to descend with a hum. As Ekitai just stands in place, slowly panning around to pass the time, Kokei leans her back against the barrier over the wall before placing her head against it to rest, desperate for any short gains of charge. Dana, similar to Ekitai, just stands in place with her hands at her side, glancing at the two of them before sighing at Kokei's sorry state.
The walls of the shaft they drop down do suddenly change from the polished stone into an ominously dark gunmetal material where they start passing several floors in quick succession each lit dimly with red lights, their decoration difficult to determine from the quick fall though one of the larger stories seems to have holographic racks against the walls storing what appear to be firearms with traditional handles and triggers, but those rooms are passed pretty quickly. Eventually the walls change again to a bright white akin to the hangar, passing floors several stories tall with multiple doorways leading to their own rooms, and below that are other rooms with darker gray corridors.
However the pad does begin to ultimately decelerate, entering another portion of the shaft where the walls are white, and that's when it comes to a gentle stop in front of a few corridors extending in all directions, though it's the one directly in front of Dana that is taken by her, directly leading Ekitai who follows promptly as well as Kokei who groans before peeling herself off the wall to follow, still not fully awake.
They exit the elevation pad, entering a short white corridor lit decently, enough at least to irritate Kokei's eyes as she blinks repeatedly. Dana doesn't show much reaction though as she leads them to the end of the corridor, which leads into the familiar large lounge room populated with several white couches along the curved walls separated by a row of tables, other sofa chairs scattered about as well. Whereas the solid, glossy walls of the lounge are white similarly colored to the soft fur rug, the entire right wall is a window screen to display the outside forest at night, the moon still up among the stars above the mountains and hills that rest below, still low despite the lounge being situated beneath this mountain's peak. At the far left corner of the lounge is a short step up to a curved doorway leading to another space, though Ekitai has already found his home as he slumps onto one of the sofas, not properly seating himself but instead throwing himself straight as if it were his bed. Across from him, Kokei drags herself to the other row of sofas to toss herself lazily, similarly not properly sitting upright but instead laying on the cushions to comfort herself. She yawns as she stretches her arms, for it's uncertain if she'd truly manage to stay conscious for much longer, constantly on the edge to passing out entirely.
However Dana just strolls ahead of the two of them, the only one between the three who couldn't properly rest on the drive yet also the only one now still with tasks to keep her up, tasks awaiting her behind the arched doorway past the step she climbs up, to which Kokei glances over to her just as she departs.
While Kokei and Ekitai lounge on their sofas, Dana enters the white kitchen room as she walks beside a long white table counter along the center which has two elevations down the long ends, the taller one by a few inches supported up by a black bar. Littering the table are several plates and cups, some in stacks and others just scattered aimlessly.
On her left side is parallel row of table tops over cabinets that result in the tables being entirely solid, the cabinets featuring not physical handles but rather flat semicircular panels, these cabinets also featured against the walls ahead and to the right, though there is a gap in the right wall to allow for a wide arched doorway leading into another room that has an other long white table albeit with a long integrated gray plate down the center.
Against the walls of this other room are more cabinets with those same handle panels albeit the brown cabinets are more than twice as tall. She passes that as well as a gray plate integrated into the lower half of the central table, the black bar past it integrating a long gray strip with a central silver panel, the plate about the size of a typical kitchen sink. She reaches the end of that counter and walks around, passing the far face of the kitchen which in the center of the cabinets has a longer dark metal block without the cabinet panels but instead a long panel like a bar. The countertop above that darker block is also black, which is where a handful of pots and pans, none of which having physical handles, sits on which identifies that portion of the counter to be a stove, the block beneath it therefore being an oven. Behind the stove against the wall is a tall frame whose edges meet with the stove, as tall as a mirror screen that sits to the right by the room's corner, the top of the frame featuring an overhead black bar protruding forward whereas the wall inside the frame is filled as a gray metallic plate.
However Dana walks past even that, instead rounding to the wall where the passage into the other room is, for that isn't the only gap between cabinets as there's another closer to the corner by the mirror, specifically a tall white box with a rounded rectangular panel where a handle may be, the device resembling a refrigerator. It was this device that Dana finally comes to a stop in front of, placing her hand on the panel which triggers the projection of a bright green holographic screen in front of her displaying an inventory grid with column menu buttons along the side, helping to designate the full storage populated with small icons similar to what would be found at a grocery store: icons of lettuce pieces together, slabs of meat, jars of red and white sauce, and long loaves of bread. Her eyes sharpen in deep meditation over her options, getting a decent reading of the inventory before she turns her head over to the oven and stove beside her, assessing her options by once again facing the screen.
A decision comes to mind though one she herself doesn't show much enthusiasm as she just groans before pressing on a few of the grid slots before then waving her hand over the screen, allowing it to vanish, after which she takes a step to the side before a blue light projects from the panel although directed for the long counter in the middle. After a couple seconds the light flashes away before immediately reigniting, then away then reigniting, repeating several times before flashing away one more time. She turns around and ambles towards that central countertop, her image reflected in the mirror against the wall next to her.
Back in the lounge room, Ekitai lays on his stomach despite that not being the best for breathing, perhaps explaining his quick uncomfortable breaths. He tilts himself to his side with grunts, the toils of finding the perfect position, needing to yank on his overcoat so it doesn't get caught up and bunch folds together.
On the other side of the table in front of that sofa is the other one that Kokei lies on, adjusting herself to lay on her back, using the armrest of the couch as a pillow to rest her head. She just gazes blankly at the white ceiling above her for a few moments before her eyes flare and a holographic screen projects in front of her face, angled down to face directly at her. She stares up at the screens with weak eyes struggling to remain open, the Connect's current app open to a social media application appearing as some forum site where there's a vertical log of various word-based posts that she begins scrolling down through, some of them accompanied by images. A few of the images for just the second they're on screen are various angled shots of huge flaming hills in the middle of intersections, other ones being mass gatherings of people on the street.
She focuses more on the text of each post, reading one as: 'if they're going to fly out all the bodies, why even burn them in the middle of the city everywhere? It's disgusting seeing these everywhere I go, it makes the city feel like Earth 83', followed below by another reading: 'Man they act raised the rent by double what the hell, how am i even supposed to afford this i gotta find somewhere else.'
Turning his body to not just stare directly at the couch, Ekitai faces Kokei though on his side, but it's enough for him to get a decent glance at his friend's activities. He peers keenly on interest to the screen, trying to get a good angle though he's only able to catch a narrow sliver of the screen's face.
He is at least able to notice the inconsistency of the scrolling, as Kokei speeds through a horde of posts before dramatically slowing down on a few, one of those having an image attached which can just barely be recognized from this angle: an image taken of the interior of what appears to be some shopping mall given the many stores along the balcony strip, though it's entirely desolate of activity, only the lights being active but nobody illuminated. She particularly lingers on that photo enough to have the app focus on it, bringing the image to the forefront by enlarging its size and dimming the rest of the interface, letting her just silently stare at it with a frown.
Ekitai's focus shifts yet again upon the sudden emergence of Dana through the kitchen entrance, forcing him to disgruntledly pull himself off the couch onto a proper sitting position so he can then stand up as she gazes at the two of them in a silent request for their presence. While Kokei didn't notice the initial entrance, the excessive grunting from her friend forces her attention to pivot as well, first to him but she follows the context to find Dana waiting for them by the door.
Her eyes widen in surprise as her screen promptly vanishes, letting her sit up and swerve to have her feet swing back on the floor, grounding herself to stand up. She pulls down on her hoodie a bit as Ekitai begins approaching Dana which she promptly does too. After observing the two following her, Dana turns around and walks back into the kitchen, the two not too far behind as they leave the lounge.
Inside the kitchen, Dana continues leading the two onwards as she turns to the right to approach the other doorway leading into the room with the other table. As Kokei and Ekitai follow, Kokei notices a pot on the stove that wasn't present before, a taller one too which still emits gentle steam from immediate use. There's also an empty bowl beside the stove with some red sauce dripping on the rim, and next to that is a large knife just sitting on the table top next to a pair of shears.
Only for a few seconds can Kokei make this observation before she leaves the kitchen, being guided to the next room where she returns her gaze ahead, finding that on the long table is now four white plates each already full of penne pasta doused lightly in red sauce with sprinkled cheese and other seasonings, but also scattered on the plates are chives among peas and small chunks of pork. Each plate is already accompanied by a transparent cup filled with water as well as a fork and knife, all four sets placed at the vertices of a box such that there's two on each side close together. In the center is a large metal bowl full of additional pasta already mixed with the sauce, vegetables and meat, easy for additional servings if so desired.
Dana paces down the right of the table, walking up to the further set before making a sitting motion in front of it which triggers a blue flash behind her that summons a white chair positioned perfectly for her to be seated on.
Both Ekitai and Kokei instead stroll along the left of the table, Kokei passing Ekitai to reach the further set where she then takes a seat and is administered a chair, leaving Ekitai the adjacent set for him to seat himself by, also granted a chair.
All three of them seated, they each glance over to the fourth set beside Dana which seems to have been made extra as there's nobody else, though they don't question it but instead return their gazes to their food as they each pick up their forks and dig in. Ekitai is quick to begin scooping up his plate, bending forward to draw his fork into his mouth without dropping any whereas Kokei more intently pokes her fork into the plate, first stabbing through two pieces of penne before then stabbing again into one chunk of pork, and once satisfied she brings the fork to her mouth for a bite. Dana however lags slower than the other two, making sure to plunge her fork into one piece of penne, then a chunk of chicken, and then a couple peas before taking a bite, making sure to get all ingredients at once.
The three of them silently eat through their dinner at various rates, occasionally sipping from their cups of water which Ekitai does most frequently to more easily carry his food down. In fact he takes in too many scoops at once that he nearly begins choking, coughing on reflex before grabbing his cup and taking a few gulps before placing it back down and beating his chest. He resumes eating right after at the exact same pace, not seeming to have learned any lessons, but the other two don't pay too much mind as though they're well used to those occurrences.
After taking another bite and clearing her fork, Dana lingers her fork over her plate though doesn't immediately go for another plunge, but rather seems to be in thought. She then instead raises her head to the two in front of her before finally asking, "So…how was everyone's day?" Before even letting anyone answer, she interrupts herself with a quick apology: "Oh- sorry I couldn't really whip up anything better for tonight, and sorry for picking you both later than usual today, I had a pretty full schedule today and the meetings kept going and going…."
After taking another sip of water, Ekitai shakes his head to assure: "Don't worry about it, besides I had a lot I needed to do. I never actually got much time in the city on my own before I ran into all of you so I'm enjoying the catch up time."
Kokei doesn't raise her head though to respond in a voice not as upbeat, "Actually…about that. You uh…probably don't need to start taking me there anymore, so it's fine."
Both Dana and Ekitai turn to face her in perplexion, Dana being the one to poke delicately: "Uhm…wait sorry why?"
Kokei's gaze just lingers on her plate as she remains silent for a few moments before sighing to then reveal with her head still low, "I uh…don't have a job anymore I guess, I just got the news today. At the very least they didn't fire me for something bad I did…I guess they were just making some sweeps to clean up. Nothing personal."
Immediately both Dana and Ekitai join her in a downcast expression, Dana frowning as she miserably apologizes, "Oh dear…I'm so sorry Kokei…."
However Kokei doesn't react much to that sympathy, just releasing a huff before repeating, "Like I said, it wasn't anything personal. A bunch of us were getting kicked out today. Oh well, Alina said she'd help me with job hunting, but I'm not really sure she knows where to go. I'll probably just spend all of tomorrow finding any listings I can, back to those days I guess."
Frowning from the sheer anguish in her friend's voice, Dana shakes her head before offering in hopes to gladden: "Wait wait no you don't need to do that, come on you know me, I can find you somewhere way easily! Besides I'm sure I can find plenty of roles with your skillset and if I just tell them that's where you are then they'll let you in, or ooh I could always make you my assistant hehe that'd be fun."
Though almost immediately after pronouncing this grand offer, Dana's eyes widen and she clenches her teeth, lowering her head as she recalls shamefully, "Oh wait…hmm actually I just remembered right now we're working through major restructuring, we decided to freeze any hirings for the time being so I guess I can't really introduce you now. I mean we're not even sure what to do with most of our employees since we're currently mixing all the teams so it's probably not the most fun time to get started…."
She does at least raise her head to optimistically raincheck, "But hey, once we do get everything sorted out, I'm sure I can find a place for you! I mean I appreciate you not asking me for money like ever, but you can lean on me a bit, use me a bit, I won't see you as shallow don't worry."
After the wild rollercoaster of promises to grievances, Kokei has little to react to as though she had foresaw the bitterly disappointing resolution of the initial offer from the beginning, or she at least prepared herself well for it. Her gaze doesn't shift as she still just stares at her pasta, her fork in hand which she begins using to play with her food, not stabbing into it yet but just twirling the fork around which causes the surrounding pasta to be spun around like a tornado. Her response is spoken in a low volume, for all she can mutter is: "I see…take the time you need, I understand. I'll still just do applications tomorrow since it's not like there's anything else for me to do."
Considering the weak tone proving that there was little encouragement drawn from the ideas presented, Dana frowns before letting out a deep sigh, acknowledging defeat. In that acknowledgement, Kokei stabs the pasta with her fork and draws it to her mouth, resuming her meal, as though expecting there to be little else to speak of for this topic.
While Kokei continues to eat, Ekitai just awkwardly sits beside her, the weight of her drowning soul having soured his appetite. He tries to reinvigorate it, putting his eyes back on his pasta and carrying the fork over his plate once again, though Dana turns towards him to then ask, "So, did you do anything interesting today? I assume it's more fun than just sitting in corporate meetings all day, but then again I think just doing nothing is more fun than that."
Taken aback by the direct question, Ekitai frowns a bit in disappointment over not being able to resume his meal, but he lets it past with a huff before shaking his head to casually mention, "I mean I didn't do all that much today, mostly just meeting up with old acquaintances, the kind you're all probably sick of meeting now. Underground criminal activities and whatnot, so the very opposite of your corporate business, or the exact same depending on who. Could go either way."
"Huh…interesting….," Dana notes as she delicately plunges her fork into the pasta to take in a bite. She takes a minor sip of water after to more quickly wash the food down before exploring with a hint of intrigue, "So any cool little insider information you all pass around? Big plans? I know a lot of people are concerned about the copious security vulnerabilities in all fronts whether digital or physical, and I'm not, it's not just the executives who would know that to be an issue. Nobody's talking about pulling a heist on my building though, right?"
A nervous chuckle passes from Ekitai from what is starting to feel like grilling, and he shakes his head before assuring, "Nobody's gunning for you, you're safe. I mean and besides whatever plants they might be thinking of for whatever they want to do is just fanatic ideas that won't go anywhere, they're basically like a cult. I mean yeah they more or less are a cult to be honest, they just worship themselves. A circle jerk cult if you will. But it's honestly nothing to pay attention to, they're all low to the ground, they'll never pull off anything major."
Surprised by the scale of vocality the old man has on the subject when she was expecting him to also give a blanket response, Dana is even more intrigued by not only what is said but what seems to not be said. Her eyes sharpen in that suspicious curiosity, which Ekitai catches before his eyes quickly divert back to his food, and he decides to scoop another batch of pasta to take a bite as if making his own departure from the short conversation.
Noticing that quick resolution, Dana nods her head and comments, "Well that's…something, I didn't think you'd be so critical. Well I guess if you're finding all this information right here in Versepolis then they are at least going in some right direction, but I'll take your word for it, I haven't really been a part of that world for a long time now. And I'm fine staying out."
With that she resumes eating her food, all three of them ending their conversations to just focus on their meals. Not a word spoken to each other, minimal eye contact even, they just repeatedly drag portions from their plate whether it be in scoops, generally random stabs or more calculated selections. It doesn't take long for them to all finish either, Kokei being the first to finish her meal and water, then following is Dana, and after a decent remainder of time Ekitai eventually catches up to the finish line with one more swoop of pork bits and downing the rest of his water to wash it down. He leans backwards and moans in satisfaction as Kokei's chair slides backwards and she stands to her feet, glancing around before sheepishly asking, "Is there anything we need to do now or can we head for bed? It's just…been a bit of a long day is all."
Dana raises her head to meet Kokei's gaze, and she smiles gently before nodding to permit, "Of course, I think we're all going to catch up." She then lowers her gaze to the bowl of additional pasta that was surprisingly untouched, and she sighs upon determining, "I guess we'll have leftovers, I'll take some for my lunch tomorrow." She pushes her chair back and stands up to her feet which Ekitai recognizes to be a signal for the end of the meal. However his eyes linger over the one plate that is still full of food for it hasn't been touched, and he frowns upon the sight, querying back to Dana, "You're trying tonight again? I thought he hasn't taken any of them, why are you still bothering?"
Dana notes the subject of his doubts, turning to face the plate as well which she steps over towards before placing the accompanying fork on the plate itself, leaving the handle dangling over as to not get mixed with the sauce. She grabs the plate with one hand by the bottom and picks up the cup of water in the other, facing Ekitai again to answer, "Well maybe today will be different, who knows, but I can't just give up. He needs someone to at least check up on him…even if I can't tell if he registers."
She then nudges her head to guide, "Come, or actually Kokei can you help put the leftovers away for me? Sorry!"
Despite her fatigue clearly drawn on her face, Kokei nods and picks up the bowl of pasta with both hands, complying simply: "Of course, I got it."
Dana smiles gently before strolling down the dining room towards the kitchen, leading Kokei and Ekitai who leave their own dishes on the table, not paying much mind to swift cleanup, especially as the plates are of course not completely clean since there's still residue of the sauce and a few lingering peas or chives especially on Ekitai's plate. At the very least the cups seem to all be emptied, only leaving faint liquid residues on the edges, though those are transparent.
Then again those few dishes left out are hardly a concern when compared to the sight of the kitchen, as upon reentry Dana is reminded of the great surplus of wandering plates and cups laying over every table surface, their ages unknown. She winces in shame to her own slothfulness, especially knowing that this wasn't just her own personal house or any random home, but the fortress of her friend's old team, in many ways a sacred temple, one they may be descreating with this mess. They were invited to this base that has in a way become their new home, the one replacing the house of the one who invited them, that house having been demolished along with all its decades of history. At the very least that history was majorly only his own, but in this new home which is not only far larger but greater equipped, there is a shared legacy resonating, not only of those still inhabiting the space but those long gone. Through that lens, there should perhaps be greater delicacy to how they carry themselves, yet in the stressful schedule they endure there's little time to clean, and so at best they can only hope their situation is understandable if it were to be noticed either by the living or the past.
After watching Kokei step up to the fridge, holding the bowl up to which the panel shines a light over the bowl before consuming it, Dana glances at her hands to remind herself that she's not free either, even if that may be a particularly weak excuse to leave the kitchen in its state.
Regardless of whether or not her reasons are adequate, she just pushes through with a sigh and continues towards the lounge, climbing down the steps as Kokei and Ekitai do behind her, both now equally free with their hands.
From the kitchen doorway, the three walk through the lounge room, passing all the empty sofas either lined up or scattered in their own corners. Dana leads despite carrying the most, though she shows no struggle in balancing the cup and plate, in fact that's not a task she even needs to be consciously focused on. Ekitai glances at the wide window screen, gazing up at the bright full moon in the sky, dominating over the green landscape so far below, the same world as the bustling silver city and yet for as far as the eye can see there's no civilization.
They pass through the short corridor back to the wide elevator shaft, which they board one by one, able to spread out decently given the width of the platform.
Dana lingers by the edge where the holographic panel projects in front of her, though both of her hands are still occupied by the dinnerware, and before she can take an alternative action Ekitai approaches her from the side and taps on the buttons himself, letting the screen ultimately vanish and for the elevation platform to begin descending once again. Dana glances over to Ekitai who nods to her before turning around and wandering off, or at least as much as he can in an ultimately confined space.
As the walls around them change color, flashing into other open rooms not their current destination, Kokei leans against the barrier as Dana just stares at the ground, her own reflection cast onto the platform. She frowns to that reflection, her posture slightly slouched from exhaustion, like her body struggling to keep itself standing up.
From behind, Ekitai just gazes at Dana's drained state with a frown, his eyes lingering between her frown and the food in her hands that she carries even though judging by his apprehensive gaze he finds the chore to likely bear no fruit. He however remains silent, and instead lowers his gaze to his right wrist as he pulls his sleeve down with his left hand, staring down at the device bolted onto his body, casting a reminder in his dreary yellow eyes. He contemplates, just blankly staring, considering what connections now this device houses, what it relates him to. Though ultimately he grabs the cuff of his sleeve and pulls it over his wrist, once more hiding the device from himself, and letting both hands fall to his side. There's a sense of shame in his eyes, but he tries to distract himself by glancing at Kokei, though finding her to be more or less in a daze.
Ultimately the pad decelerates once again, slowing down upon the emergence of another large floor composed of multiple stories of circular bridges against the cylindrical wall, each level hosting a variety of closed doors spaced out decently. The pad continues to drop until reaching the bottom of the area as defined by the complete coverage of the white fur carpet, the center of the floor housing multiple groups of white sofas, each surrounding a table. Along the cylindrical base walls are five doors spread out evenly, each of them oddly being colored uniquely instead of following the same grayscale aesthetic, the colors of green, purple, red, azure blue, and sky blue in the order of left to right. The three exit the elevation pad, immediately diverging ways as Kokei splits off to approach the purple door. She yawns with the stretch of her arms before wishing, "Goodnight everyone," to which Dana wishes back gently, "Goodnight Kokei." Both her and Ekitai walk together past the cluster of sofas while Kokei reaches the purple door that vaporizes to let her enter the well lit room, the door closing behind her soon after.
At first it seems Ekitai and Dana have the same destination, but the closer they approach the far wall, they begin to drift apart as Dana approaches the azure blue door whereas Ekitai approaches the sky blue one. Their divergence reaches its height when they reach their individual doors, which is where Ekitai glances at Dana to caution, "Well don't get your hopes up too high now. Eventually you should just spare yourself the effort, especially when you have to go back up every time just to put it away, you can see the pattern."
Sighing in reluctant acknowledgement, Dana simply wishes without proper response: "Goodnight Ekitai, see you tomorrow."
Comprehending the lack of a debate to that callout, Ekitai just casually faces forward again and echoes, "Goodnight yourself," before taking another step towards the sky blue door to trigger its opening which lets him step inside. The door closes back up behind him, leaving Dana as the only presence out in the lobby, just standing in front of the azure door yet paused before entry. She does directly face the door, the cup and plate in hand, everything she needs, yet she stalls.
Dana's light green eyes just stare hollow at the azure door, frowning at the unfortunate truth of Ekitai's statement which has planted doubt within her. She lowers her head in contemplation, though is reminded of the meal she already brought with her, and so she pushes her doubts out with a huff before taking another step forward, letting the door open in her presence.
She enters a dark room with white walls unlit with a window screen on the far side, displaying a view of the nightly mountainous forest, nebulas and stars present in the black sky. Also on the wall is a projection of a full body mirror, and around all walls of the room are a collection of contraptions beneath individual hardwood plaques. She pans around at the collection, one of the items being a tool appearing most similar to a hockey stick, the handle made of a material like carbon fiber with the blade being made of frosty crystal, the plaque above it reading in golden text: '12 / 26 / 2851.' There are many more of these souvenirs plastered over the walls, as well as on shelves attached to said walls, the ones stored there being typically smaller like what weirdly resembles a disco ball in terms of its tiled exterior, those shelves above closed white cabinets. One of those shelves sits above a long white table at the corner beside her, accompanied by a hovering chair.
Her attention ultimately is brought directly forward to that wall with the window screen, as beneath it is a long floating bed, a bed not vacant as currently there is one man laying on it, seeming to be in deep sleep, for how long was unclear. He's however dressed vastly differently than the other three, not in casual or formal clothing but rather a tight body suit made of a bright azure woven fabric with a texture similar to kevlar though with additional white leather pads on his outer thighs and the underside of his forearms extended to his palm as well as around his ribs below a black leather pad. The suit isn't made completely of soft material though as he has black boots adorned that reach up to his knee caps, both of them fitted with frosty crystal plates on the shins and feet strangely enough, that same black material present on the upper side of his forearms which covers his back hand as well, and on the knuckles of both hands are frosty crystals though cut far smaller. He also has a golden belt around his waist made of the same material as a pauldron of sorts sitting on his shoulders which are long enough to cover his upper arms though they seem flexible enough to not stick out, his shoulder blades ornamented with more frosty crystals cut in obelisks. In fact on his chest is an obelisk though not made of a physical material but instead a gentle azure light, one from which a network of glowing wires originates from which weaves all around his suit whether it be to his arms, around his breasts, or down his abdomen continuing past the belt and down the thighs. In fact, without any lighting from the room itself nor the window screen, the glow of the streams is the primary light source of the space, giving it a deep blue hue.
Furthermore he doesn't directly lay on the white surface of the mattress but instead a black cape woven together by a material resembling chainmail albeit far smaller for a tighter link, also a part of a hood that rests below the only part of his body that's exposed: the head.
Frowning at the sight of the man, Dana slowly places both the cup and plate on the corner table to keep it nearby though understanding the body to still be idle. She then slowly saunters towards him, walking along the left side of the bed as she silently observes the face of the man, a Latino of similar age to her though slightly younger, a cape of his own black nearly reaching his shoulders.
However, upon closer examination the man does not appear to be asleep, but rather hauntingly his eyes are still wide open as though in terror, his expression not in rest but a morbid dread. From his black pupils to the edge of his azure eyes are stars which gently glow, albeit relatively dim.
The man is laid more leaning to the left side of the bed though not completely at its edge, enough in fact for Dana to sit at the edge beside the man's chest, then turn around to face him.
Though while the man's eyes are open, he doesn't seem to be awake, lacking any reaction to the new presence. Not only does he fail to hear or see her, but he fails to register touch as Dana gently places her hand on his chest, covering the obelisk insignia for a moment. Almost immediately as she makes contact, she can feel a dramatically rapid heartbeat, an anomaly for a man who seems to be more or less in a slumber, and yet Dana shows no shock to the heartbeat but instead a somber frown as though she's observed this behavior already, many times.
She removes her hand from his chest, letting the insignia glow once again, but she pivots herself towards him, raising one leg to lay it on the bed, placing her hand beside his to get a better consistent gaze on him.
Staring at those wide, terrorized eyes, Dana just sighs gently before murmuring in a near whisper, "It'd be nice for you to join us for dinner sometime…I mean I know you typically don't eat to begin with but still…I think it'd be nice for everyone including you. At least it'd let you talk to someone other than just hearing from me every night which is probably getting tiring if you can hear me ...." She turns back to face the meal she left on the table, reaching full admission that it'd go to waste as she utters, "I know it's not my best work but…I tried. I'm sorry I've been trashing your kitchen…I'll clean it up eventually, I will, I promise." She turns her head back to him with a frown before justifying, "It's just…well nowadays after work there's not much time to do anything. Heh…even ten years into this job and I still get thrown a curve, we've had some pretty hard times sure but…well now they're all counting on me to basically reshape the entire company. Which I guess you technically did too but…I don't know…there's no time."
She glances away with her head low, staring at the man's open hand beside her own as she recounts, "Honestly I get why you were always so busy, between this job and hero work I don't know how you kept up with any of it. I mean…I still wish we talked more…I know you got a whole lot busier when your fun adventures weren't just in the city but you were flying all over the Superverse, but still…I guess I kind of missed the old grounded missions we had together."
She sighs before raising her head up to then mention, "Oh yeah, I guess for a little while you won't be alone during the day, they uh…laid Kokei off from her work…so for some time she's probably just going to stay back here with you. Honestly I've been trying really hard to avoid those mass layoffs, everyone today in all the departments was telling me to do it, just wipe the slate clean and start fresh. But…people aren't just a thing you do that to…throw out and replace like worn batteries…. I don't get how they can advise that so casually, they don't even think about it."
She again shifts her gaze back to the man before more excitedly declaring, "But I'm hopeful I can get Kokei a job after this all blows over, heh maybe even as an assistant, you know, pay it forward, continue the cycle, do what you did for me. Besides, I assume you'd never want to be my assistant, though it would be a little bit funny."
Her enthusiasm dips to a frown though as her head lowers, and more somberly she reflects, "It'd just…be really nice if you were here with us, now would be a really good time to have you. I mean after you were gone the first time I had a lot to deal with and you weren't there so I had to manage without you but…come on you're here now…but you're not at the same time ...."
Her sorrowful eyes linger back to his wide ones, and she gently sighs before extending her open hand forward to his neck, gently caressing its side as she sympathizes, "I don't know what he did to you…I wish I knew how to break you out of it, but nothing worked. I just wish I could've been there with you…after all this time I kept telling you again and again we'd be by your side, I'd be by your side…and the one time it really matters I wasn't there. You were alone again…and there was no way for me to help…. As a teammate and friend I-...." Her hand slips off his neck, sliding down his chest before returning to her side as her head lowers down to gaze at their hands close together.
"I'm sorry," Dana whispers before she slips off of the bed herself, turning around to walk back to the corner desk where she picks up the cup and plate once again. She takes one more glance back at the bed, back at the man's haunted eyes, and with a frown she turns away and strolls back through the opening door.
All the light from the lobby for just a moment floods into the room, blasting it with a white luminescence as Dana steadily ambles away with the man's meal in hand, untouched. However, that light doesn't last forever, as only a few seconds after its entry, the door once again closes shut from the emission of particles over the frame that solidify to enclose the bedroom, returning it back to a state of darkness.
The only presence left in fact is the man still laying on the bed, his eyes wide to face the ceiling, his lips parted in fright, frozen in horror as his eyes just dimly glow passively in stasis, awake but paralyzed.
What thoughts race in his head can't be deciphered for certain, but if he were to be conscious, only the most horrific experience could place him in this state. An overwhelming overload of terror that shuts his body's function, his only ability to receive but not react, unable to fight back.