The ceiling within the grand hall was larger than most in existence within the Underworld, yet it seemed to be closing down on Adrienne as if lowering like the roof of a great stone elevator. Adrienne glanced up inspecting the intricacies of the gable, painted with colorful images of a surface world that existed long ago. Flowers of purple and heather blossomed beneath the image of a golden sunset that shone down sparkling across a sea of blue that seemed sprawling in the distance. It was beautiful, yet the beauty provided no solace for her. She was privileged to be standing beneath the arch of this ornate place, but she also knew she was only here because she was the wife of an Enforcer, an important man in the military police force, and this was his funeral.
As Adrienne continued to gaze upon the colorful mural, another time in her life when she was not in such a privileged place flashed before her memory, the time of her father’s funeral. Though her father did well monetarily, the Unified Territories was driven by class and Adrienne’s father was not worthy of the privileges of a higher class. His service was held in a much more modest space than this, a room that was designed for a simple last look before the body was disposed of. She remembered that final kiss upon the cheek of the man she worshipped who also adored her in ways that no other man possibly could. The kiss was simple yet awash in the tears that fell from her eyes onto the old man’s forehead. There was time only for that one simple kiss before the body withdrew into the wall and a door closed forever separating her from him. She knew that his body as all are was expelled to the surface, to decompose in the caustic atmosphere. The same would happen to her husband, though his rising to the surface would be much more elegant.
Adrienne raised a hand to her eye, feeling the first tear of the day beginning. It was for her father, not for her husband. The tear did not come, however, and so she dropped her hand back to her waist to join the other in the holding of her husband’s badge wrapped in black cloth. As she lowered her head to look forward again, her blazing mop of red hair swept down across her shoulders dropping to just short of the neckline of her dress. Before her at the front of the room her husband lay lifeless upon a raised platform with a black robe draped across his body leaving only his face exposed. His hair was jet black, perfectly positioned across his pale forehead as it always had been. Somehow his face had survived the collapse, yet Adrienne knew that beneath the black robe little remained of the body she was so accustomed to. She loved him. She did not question this in the wandering of her thoughts. Still though, she could not summon a tear. In the silence of others praying around her, she slipped back into thought to wonder why.
Within her memory, Eric Ainsworth stood tall and proud before her. He was the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes upon, perfect black hair that always fell directly into place with little primping, skin pale and tight accenting a statuesque frame. With him, she enjoyed a love affair that was fueled by a passion she had not previously known existed within her. He brought out the best in her, and at times she had wondered if what he brought out was actually the bad in her. He sparked something from inside that was uncharacteristic of the simple and quiet Adrienne Aimes. So when the proposal came, she was elated, a changed woman. Though she was always the kind that preferred to be taken care of by her father, she leapt forward into a life of being taken care of by this charismatic and fiery man.
‘Perhaps that’s it,’ she thought. Eric lit a fuse within her. Though she mourned his loss and grieved the simple fact that she would never feel the passion burning as their bodies connected again, he had changed her in other ways. Yes, she had been taken care of by him, followed his every wish and stood by his side at every Enforcer event, quietly inside her was a stronger woman bursting through the timid one.
Adrienne was pulled back from her reminiscence as the priest began to speak once more, breaking the silence of the room. “Adrienne Ainsworth,” he began. “Wife of Eric Ainsworth. You may take your last moment.”
All eyes in the room were on Adrienne. She knew this. They were behind her, and it was a full room of mourners and hipocrits waiting to see tears. She had none to give though, and as the strong woman she had become, she would not embelish the moment with fake emotion. Adrienne stepped forward, slowly climbing up the three stairs to the alter where her husband’s body lay upon the platform. Low walls had risen up around him at the completion of the moment of prayer, beginning to box him into the vessel that would carry him upwards. Standing before him, she gazed down into the box before leaning forward. Her hands slipped inside the walls, touching the cloth of the robe. She could feel that what was beneath the robe was not his arm, yet whatever synthetic it was, it was positioned to appear as though his body was whole. The sensation made her gasp, her stomach churn a bit. As she took in a breath to combat the nausea, she completed her lean forward by placing a kiss upon his cheek. She then quietly dropped the badge wrapped in black cloth into the box beside the synthetic body. She didn’t want it.
Rising up, she took a final glance at his face. It was still beautiful, though she knew his damage was extensive. “Love you,” she whispered. “Always will.”
With a step back, she turned away returning down the stairs to the front of the room, to her spot at the front. Without so much as a glance at the other eyes within the room, she turned back to face forward as music began to play. It filled the hall as the priest's voice rang out again.
“Now we return you, Eric Ainsworth,” the priest’s voice shouted loudly, though the echo in the hall needed no strength behind the voice. “Back to where life began.”
The platform began to rise slowly as the music softened. She could no longer see her husband’s face and knew she would not see it again.
“Back to the surface, back to where life began,” the priest continued.
As the platform approached the ornate ceiling, the mural parted with a small opening just large enough for the platform to slip inside. Adrienne watched as the box holding her husband’s remains vanished into the ceiling. The platform stopped just inside the opening, pausing for a moment, and then began lowering back down. The box was no longer on the platform. She could see its bottom still rising from within the space in the ceiling until the opening began to close once more. As the platform touched back down on the alter and the opening in the ceiling shut tight, Eric Ainsworth was gone, his body on a short trip to the surface of the Earth.
“You alright?”
Adrienne turned abruptly at the sound of Anton Tremain’s voice. The older man who was a dear friend as well as her employer had slipped quietly up to her side. “I’m fine,” she returned. “I’ll be OK.” As she gazed into his eyes, she could see his concern clearly painted in a compassionate look. She loved him too, not in the way she loved her husband, but it was strong. Reaching out, she took him in her arms and allowed him to hug her. It was more for him than her. She knew he needed to feel her pain and a hug was as much as she could give.
“I’m worried about you,” he whispered in her ear.
Releasing him, she leaned back, glancing around the room at the people that were beginning to break away from where they stood. Many of them would want to pay their respects to her. She huffed with this realization. “Don’t worry,” she whispered low to Tremain. I’ll see you at the office tomorrow."
Though he shot her a surprised glance she broke back in before allowing him to speak again. “I’d rather be there than home,” she said. Looking away, she finished her conversation with him and prepared to greet the other mourners in the room. She knew that was her duty, her final duty as an Enforcer’s wife.
#
Dr. Anton Tremain sat back in the chair within the dimly lit lounge, his old friend of many years visiting from Boston across from him. Raising his glass to his lips, he took a sip of the alcoholic beverage and enjoyed its refreshing coolness. “She didn’t shed so much as one tear, John,” he said.
John Hayes leaned forward. “She’s an amazing woman, Ant. She’s no longer that young innocent you brought on as your assistant. She’s stronger now.”
“I know where you’re going with that.” Anton lowered his glass back to rest on the table. “Adrienne knows everything I do, except the work you and I do together along with Andrew. That’s dangerous knowledge.”
“Yes it is, but we need someone like her. Someone strong to pull it all together.” John clapped his hands accentuating his words before leaning back.
“I’ll think about it.” Tremain quickly closed the questioning. “How are things coming on your side of the territories? In Boston.”
John glanced around before answering. Anton knew that dark secrets required caution so was not surprised by the move. “The transportation commission sniffed around for a bit,” John replied. “New guidance system,” he continued with a smirk. “It was fairly simple to pull that off.”
Anton smiled his agreement with the ruse. He knew the truth of what was being built at John’s company; Velocity One. “Shuttlecraft?”
“Two actually. Our numbers are growing. We'll need the space.”
“How are we going to test the device?”
“I have two pilots already chosen, one will be the tester.” John glanced over his shoulder once more before continuing. “He’s from here actually. The Beaumont Orphanage; he’s an orphan like me. He acts like he has very little to live for, yet he’s not reckless at all. He cares more than he lets on, I can see that in him.”
“Sounds like an Interesting character.” Anton reached forward to his glass for another sip of his cocktail. “The right pilot for a unique job. I look forward to meeting him.”
“His name is Alec. Alec Grissom.”