Blue. Cullen couldn't stop thinking of blue. It was the color of the sea and the sky! Isn't that weird?
It also happened to be the color of the flame atop the Abomination that Cullen and Adam were fighting. But as Cullen stared into it, the flame seemed to get more and more strange. It took the forms of people, places, and familiar shapes that Cullen couldn't seem to grasp.
"Cullen!"
He turned around and saw Darron standing in a doorway.
"C'mon, we need to hurry!"
Cullen paused for a moment, then he remembered.
'That's right! We have an important mission today.'
He followed Darron through the door, leaving everything else behind.
On the other side, they emerged from a building and onto the street. A black van was waiting for them past the busy sidewalk. Char sat in the driver's seat, hitting the wheel impatiently.
Darron got in the passenger's seat, and Cullen entered the back, where Arbor lay comfortably.
"Finally, Cullen," Arbor groaned. "What took you so long?"
"I was just getting ready."
Today was an important day. They were about to carry out a mission that could retire all four of them if it succeeded. As Char drove, the details started to come back to Cullen.
'We are headed to the luxury district, specifically a building that belongs to the Anti-Depression Drug Company. The ADDC is one of the major suppliers of pills and also one of the most secure places in the city. But we recently got news of a few stockholders smuggling drugs out of there, which opens an opportunity for us. Typically, with all the Gifted there, it would be impossible to steal anything, but it's already being done undercover.'
All of their information came from a different group, but they were the ones carrying out the mission. As a result, most of the profits would be theirs.
Arbor suddenly took out a pair of clothes from under the seat and handed them to Cullen.
"Get dressed."
As Cullen was changing, Arbor pulled out a notepad.
The plan was for Cullen to act as an intern, then sneak into the lower levels and let everyone else in. It was the easiest and safest way to do things, considering that brute force would get them all killed.
"Your name is Drake Salid, a 19-year-old boy who got this opportunity through his father. We'll give you a keycard with access to the places you need to go. Don't interact with anyone, don't even look at another person. If you see a Gifted, act natural."
Thump!
The van rolled over something but didn't slow down.
"The area that holds the stolen pills is right next to where you'll let us in, so we should be able to pull this off before anyone notices. After, we'll bring everything to the client who gave us the info. That's our only job."
The plan was created by someone else, which Cullen found to be a little suspicious. But there was no reason for anyone to set them up.
They slowly came to a stop, prompting Cullen to look out the window.
"We're a few blocks away from the building," Darron said. "Don't wanna drop you off too close; you'll have to walk the rest."
"Good luck!" Char added as he left the van.
A strange smell of perfume immediately hit Cullen when he got out. He glanced at a woman passing by, dressed from head to toe in clothes Cullen could never afford.
'I forgot about this part of the city. Haven't been here in years… which was a good thing up until now.'
Everyone was rich, every store was expensive, and even the sidewalks looked different. Cullen felt nervous just walking in this area, but he didn't receive any strange looks.
'Oh, right. I'm in a suit.'
He began to stroll down the street, taking his time to look through every window to blend in.
'The hell is an air fryer?'
Bump.
Cullen felt something hit his side and almost jumped in panic. Turning around, he saw a small child on the ground.
"Watch where you're going, Lily!" A man next to her scolded. "I'm sorry, sir."
The kid got up and brushed herself off. Looking at both of their clothes, Cullen could tell they weren't from around here.
'Is this why they're apologizing to me?'
"Don't worry, it's fine," Cullen responded.
He quickly walked past them, trying to avoid drawing any attention.
'If I had bumped into a rich guy on the street, I would probably have the same reaction. But could someone actually get mad at that?'
A few minutes later, the ADDC building came into view. It had a large base and shrank as it grew into the sky. The pills were produced and packaged elsewhere, but they passed through this building for inspection before distribution. This all happened on the lower floors. The higher floors were for stockholders and business meetings, or in other words, where Cullen should absolutely not go.
"CULLEN!" A familiar voice came from behind.
Cullen spun around, but no one was there. Everyone on the street acted like they hadn't heard anything.
'Who was that? My imagination? But I swear I know that voice…'
Cullen shrugged it off and continued towards the building. A revolving door guarded by two men led into a small lobby, where a few people were waiting.
'The garage I'm supposed to unlock is on the first basement floor. The elevator is in the room behind the receptionist.'
Cullen casually walked up to the two guards and held up his ID.
They didn't even glance at him.
He paused for a second, then continued inside.
'What's the point of them anyway?'
The receptionist was a young woman who immediately looked Cullen up and down.
"I'm an intern here," Cullen said, showing his ID to the girl.
She carefully examined for a few seconds, then stared at him with an unimpressed expression.
"Do you know where to go?"
Cullen let out a sigh.
"Yes, thank you."
He made his way past her and through the door, successfully infiltrating the ADDC.
'Almost done.'
To his right were a few elevators, and to his left a large room filled with people and computers. Cullen tried not to look in that direction, pressing the button and keeping his head down.
'Hurry up, damnit.'
He would enter the middle elevator, which was currently descending.
Floor 6.
Floor 5.
Floor 4.
Floor 3.
Floor 2.
"SHIT! FUCK!"
Cullen heard screaming, slowly getting louder.
"WHERE THE HELL IS HE?"
Floor 1.
'Maybe I should mov-'
Ding!
The doors opened, revealing a furious man. Actually, Cullen didn't even have a word to describe the current state he was in. He had black, slicked-back hair, a formal suit, and a red face.
"YOU!"
He pointed to Cullen.
"Me?"
"YOU'RE AN INTERN?"
"…"
"Yea…" Cullen warily said.
"GET IN HERE. NOW!"
He was speechless.
'What the hell is this guy on?'
"Actually, I need to go-"
"NOW!"
Cullen immediately put his head down and scurried into the elevator. He watched the man reach for the control and click… 35? Floor 35? Cullen felt like he was going to pass out.
After ascending a few floors, the man seemed to have calmed down a little, but Cullen still didn't have the courage to talk.
'What do I do? This couldn't have gone more wrong!'
The man turned to Cullen and stared at him.
"What's your name?" he said through gritted teeth.
"C- Drake."
"Okay, Drake. I'm Adam."
Something flashed through Cullen's eyes, but quickly vanished.
"Here's what's happening: I'm supposed to give a critical presentation today, but my useless assistant is nowhere to be seen. I could do it myself, but that's seen as unprofessional and lazy. So all I need you to do is click to the next slide whenever I look at you. Don't say a word; be a robot. Can you handle that, Drake?"
Cullen nodded. "Yes, Adam."
Adam's eye twitched, and he looked at Cullen like he wanted to rip him apart.
"My name is Alex! God, you're all useless! Can't even listen to one thing!"
'But…'
Cullen decided not to push it. A few awkward moments later, he and Alex finally arrived at floor 35.
The door opened, revealing a hallway with glass walls. Behind them were a few rooms, each considerably smaller than the ones on floor 1.
'The building shrinks as it rises, that's why there's much less space here. How many floors are there in total?'
Alex led Cullen to a room with three people waiting patiently in their seats.
'That's not too bad…'
But instead of entering, he walked right by it. There was only one room past them, and it did not look good.
Twenty, no, thirty angry men sat facing a screen. Each one was dressed exactly the same as Alex, making Cullen wonder if he was a Gifted who could clone himself. But the people in the room were considerably older.
"This could be your big moment. Don't do anything special, though. You don't want the stockholders making you their laughingstock. Even the owner of the ADDC is in there."
Cullen almost shed a tear.