The Rise Of The Consortium

People stopped circling. She stood far from the swirl behind a lifeless tree, searching for her mother. The swirl still looked blurry, no one to be easily distinguished. She felt a hand on her left shoulder. Feeling surprised she jumped and looked back, only to find Kner in his grey fine suit, musing at the silver swirl glowing. He slowly took Rio's hand.

"Shall we proceed?" he asked with a smug smile on his face. He turned his head towards the swirl. Her eyes followed there. Before thinking about what to answer, she felt she was slowly being tagged along with him. She was walking with him towards the swirl. But she didn't feel like she was walking. The ground beneath her feet felt empty. The closer she walked towards the swirl, it looked the same. After many more steps, she felt she was quite close to it. But still, it looked the same. It didn't grow bigger. She peeped into the swirl which looked empty. The center of the swirl seemed to swallow everything around it.

She didn't feel his hands with her anymore. Searching for his hand, she looked back. He was walking away from her.

"Kner, where are you going?" Rio called him who was walking away backward. She looked into the swirl and felt a force that seemed to pull her inside.

"Kner, what am I doing here? Why are you going?" she called him frantically, but he only smiled. She looked into the swirl once again and felt to be moving ahead only.

"Kner, don't leave me. Why am I here? Kner, please don't go. Please. NO. " she screamed as the swirl slowly pulled her inside. She tried moving her feet backward, but as if stuck to the ground, she couldn't move a bit. Instead, she was getting pulled deeper into the swirl. She looked around her for some help, and a figure standing behind froze her wits.

"Mom?" she gaped looking at her mother's stony face. She was looking at her, but she showed no sign of happiness.

"Mom, look where I am standing." she broke down pointing at the swirl. "Why am I here? Why it's pulling me like this?" She reached out for her mother's hands but upon touching, it faded away. Her mother turned her head towards her hand. It was lost as the reflection gets lost when something drops in the water. She looked at Rio in a way that made her feel as if she did something wrong, although she couldn't understand what was going on. She looked back into the swirl as she was pulled even deeper.

"Mom, please. Please get me out of here. Please." she looked at her mother but she showed no sign of worry. She thought of holding her hand but then remembered how the other one disappeared as she touched. The vibration of the swirl intensified her cries. Before she could say one more word, she saw herself being thrown into the swirl. She tried calling her mother, but her voice had left her body. All she could see was the other arm of her mother stretched towards the swirl. The face of her mother looked even more merciless.

The tears froze on her skin as she fell into the swirl. Everything around her looked cloudy. The insides of her mind felt bubbling and she felt it would burst at any moment. More tears rolled out of her eyes and froze as soon as it rolled out of it.

A few moments later she didn't feel like falling anymore. She felt she was stuffed into something. Then she realized she was lying with her face downside. She found it too hard to raise herself from the ground. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to get up. All she could do was sit crouched. Her head still ached from pain and keeping her eyes closed was the best thing she could do.

But the growing smell of the smoke made her curious. She opened her eyes slowly to look around her. She was glad to be in a place with dim light. She was sitting on something that looked like a heap of white sand. That was the only thing she could see around her. Everything else looked clouded. She grabbed a handful of sand to look at it closely. It looked glittery as she turned around her fist.

She then saw something red appear from her fist. She threw all the sand to lay her palm flat. Some of the sand stay stuck to her skin. Slowly each particle of the sand turned into a red dot. Many more red dots started appearing on her palm and started flowing down her hand.

She panicked as she saw more blood oozing from her hand. She looked at her other palm which also looked red. She felt something trickle down her skin. She wiped her hand over her face to find more blood. She looked all over her body to see it being slowly covered in it. She was horrified to see this much amount of blood. It made her scream till her ears could no longer listen to anything else.

Rio felt her head was going numb as she tried waking up. She found herself on the floor. She just fell rolling from her bed. She got up suddenly to look at her hands. She sighed in relief to find it fine. She took many deep breaths to calm down her heart. Suddenly she sensed a burning smell. She looked around to see what was burning. She caught sight of a glowing red object near her monitor. Her worker ID was burning being stuck to the monitor. She forgot to pull it out before dozing off.

She pulled it out immediately but it was so hot she dropped it on the floor. She got her fingers burnt. She winced from the pain but looked at her card to that scared her. It got destroyed. There was no sign of information on it anymore. Her heart was twisted now that it meant only one thing. She lost her job. Along with the money she had with her.

Tears rolled out of her eyes as she sat there looking at the burnt object. Closing her eyes, things were visible in a flashback. Whether that was a dream or something that would be real, she thought about it. Will Kner do that to her? Take her to such a dangerous place and leave her like that? And also her mother, who would push her inside that swirl, without a thought? She looked at her fingers that just got burnt. In her dreams she also got her hands injured. Not only her hands but her whole body.

But she can't lose all her money like that. She has to get it anyway. She decided to get a new card instead. Why a card? Why not the device they put it on their wrist and call it a palm reader? She must get that if she gets back her money. She got up to get ready.

After cleaning up herself, she lightly brushed her hair looking at the mirror. She looked at her hair thoughtfully. It looked the same pale lilac the way it used to be ever since she first saw those. Sometimes it was difficult to keep long hair, so she shortened them up to shoulder, just to relieve her neck. Tying those in a ponytail, she saw a cut mark on a side of her neck. She got shivers just by touching the area. She recalled when she received the cut. Just when the image came up in her mind, the door of her bathroom was knocked.

"Rio, come out quick. The other bathroom's tap is not working." her mother shouted from the other side. Rio looked at her mirror once again and put away all her belongings in their places.

"Just come out! There's no time to think." her mother shouted again, knocking on the door.

Rio opened the door trying not to look at her mother's face. Her shoulder knocked with her mother's and she had to look at her face anyway. "Can't you walk?" her mother said annoyingly. Rio was still trying hard to forget the bad dream. But it was hard not to think her mother would do to her like that. Her mother closed the door with a bang, muttering something like 'this is what happens when you wake up late'.

She searched for her backpack and found it lying in the living room near the sofa. She looked around her house and thought she still had a lot to do. She thought of taking a break in the middle of her work when there would be not much demand to come back to her home to clean her mother's room that was left out the previous day.

She felt her throat extremely dried. She went to the kitchen to find a glass. She couldn't remember suddenly where she had kept those. After furious searching for about a few minutes, she found those on the top shelf. She felt irritated with herself as to why those were kept in such an inaccessible place.

She opened the tap to fill her glass with water. She looked at it meditative and saw that it didn't look quite clear. Water must look clear. But why isn't this? She slowly tilted her glass and poured everything in the basin. Then she brought it closer after emptying. The bottom of the glass looked murky. Tilting the glass from one side to the other, she saw it glittering. Her hand stopped moving. Her mind took her to the image of the sand in her hands where after a few moments everything turned into blood. Feeling as if that was going to happen again, she dropped her glass that crashed on the floor. Her heart pounded so fast she could hear it. Her hands were in midair.

"What do you think you're doing?" Rio was shocked to hear her mother from the back. She looked at her and the mess on the floor muttered something under her breath and walked away, rolling her eyes. Rio saw as her mother walked to her room. After a few moments, she stopped on her way and turned around to look at Rio.

"You're supposed to give me money as soon as you get it. Since you're not capable of keeping it, give it to me now."

Rio's heart sank. She just saw her ID being destroyed and here her mother wanted some money. She thought of giving it to her but forgot due to her work. What should she tell her? She can't tell her mother the truth right away. She thought of getting a palm reader as soon as she gets out of her house and would get back the money to her.

"I haven't got it yet. I'd give it to you soon." Her mother stared at her face for a few moments and then went back to her room. Rio held her breath all that time. She frowned looking at the mess she made in the morning. Taking a deep breath, she carefully picked up the glass pieces.

She decided to go to the money exchange center to get help. She headed to the street five to go to the cafe. Behind it, there would be the exchange center. It won't take much time to get there as she would have to get into the street that comes next. As she was about to enter into the street, she paused on her way and looked at the park on the opposite.

Is it worth going there? What help would I possibly get? They might ask me for the card. But it's burnt. Then they would tell me to look at the worker's office for some help. It's better if I go there instead.

She looked back at the cafe and started walking towards street number two. It was the street of the offices. Every single office was located there. She might get some help at least from anyone. It would be nearest if she goes the way opposite to the way everyone drives. But then she would be made to walk as per the rule.

Such a waste of time. And I wonder who made such a rule. One has to cross three streets to reach there but one can't go back and reach there crossing two streets. How awful! Nevermind, I can still walk.

Clenching her teeth, she walked mindlessly. She didn't know what was going to happen and the mere thought of it filled her mind with worry. That made her walk even faster.

Traffic ahead made her stop on her way. She looked around to see whether she has reached yet. She found she was about to cross the street five. Feeling horrified, she slowly moved towards the sidewalk and looked around. There were very few drivers around. She wondered if she should turn back to just enter the street or take another full circle. The other way would waste her time while this one is risky.

She thought she can simply walk into the street if she walks slowly. Taking a curve doesn't mean walking backward actually. Also, there is traffic ahead. Probably no one is going to notice. Thinking about it, she took a curve and walk into the trees that were lined up sideways. She walked a few meters till she was deep enough into the street.

Then she walked out of the trees, dusting herself. Her hands looked glittered. All her thoughts shifted towards the dream she saw in the morning. A shiver ran at the back of her neck. She waited to see it turn into tiny red dots. She waited there to see her hand full of blood. But it didn't. She waited there until an ambulance broke her thoughtful stance. She shook her head and said to herself, "I'm getting late".

She looked up to find herself in front of the office of the worker's association. Her hands started getting cold. She suddenly forgot why she had come there.

Then a voice inside her head spoke, "Why am I wasting my time? This is it. I just have to get a new card or device whatever and then get out of here. It's that simple."

Yeah, it's that simple. But what if I'm denied? What I would do then? And what if they charged me for ruining the card?

"I'll just do whatever I feel is right."

What kind of answer is that? She felt irritated just to stand there like that and being glanced by people. She took a deep breath and walked towards the building. Meanwhile, her mind was battling against two ideas. If she didn't get the help she would either walk out of the office without much help and get help from the shops or she would go home and tell all the truth to her mother. The idea of telling anything her mother froze her mind. No matter what happens, she can't tell a thing to her. Who knows what would happen?

As soon as she put her step inside the building, she saw a huge line of people waiting at one side. She peeped ahead to see where it ended. Just then she saw a girl waving her hands in Rio. She stood in the middle of the queue. Rio was confused for a moment. She didn't know the girl and she didn't know why she was waving at her. So she just smiled and looked away.

She found a cabin that looked like a help center. There was a monitor but there was no one standing. Just when she walked towards it, the girl waving at her came running, calling her name. "Miss Tarnilier, please wait." Rio turned around to see the girl running towards her, mumbling something. "Thank you so much," said the girl breathing heavily.

"How do you know my name?" asked Rio. She noticed the girl had pale mint green hair which reached till the shoulder. She was dressed in a hoodie and trousers.

"Hello, I'm Tenirie. I've known you since my college days." she introduced herself. "It's really difficult to get work these days and we've seen you do many. So we want to know how you got. I mean the work."

Rio felt dazed for a while. So this girl is asking her how did she get work. It took her a moment to think of something. In reality, she forgot how she got work after graduation. All she could remember is the last few days.

" I don't know what to say, but I think you just have to ask for it." Rio waited to come up with more things to tell. *Honestly I don't remember how I got my first work." To be honest, she couldn't even remember what was the first job.

" I understand. Many forget about it. Who knows maybe I might forget as well." Tenirie said with a smile. " Part of the problem is asking. The institute wants us to do an internship as if the learning wasn't enough. Then the companies want us to have a work ID and here I know I won't be getting one." her face turned sad.

Rio leaned closer towards her ear and whispered, "No matter what, don't ever do an internship at any companies owned by the Manings." and she stood straight, looking around her to make sure no one was listening to them. In return, the girl motioned her slightly to bend again to say something. "None of us are interested to work there at all. This is the reason why we want to wait all day to get our cards." Tenirie spoke slowly. Rio felt satisfied. At least many were fed up with the Manings.

The girl spoke again, "Everyone is aware of what they're doing and also everyone knows you're closer to them." she spoke confidently to which Rio felt a bit unexpected. Of course, everyone knows. After all, to everyone, I'm the girlfriend of the Chairman's eldest son which in reality is not. "I just hope you could do something. " Tenirie spoke hesitatingly. Even if she would want to help the girl, she possibly can't. Neither her mother likes her to be closer to him nor his parents. Also, he doesn't speak to her anymore. Rio's throat tightened at that thought.

" Have you considered using the help desk?" asked Rio. "No. I don't know if that works," said Tenirie, looking at the monitor thoughtfully. "I wonder if anything works here."

"I think I'm gonna use that." declared Rio. "If I come out of there with a device, I'll let you know. All of you can get it." Rio said as she saw the girl's eyes shining with happiness.

Rio smiled back and walked towards the glowing monitor. She remembered something on her way and turned back to look at the girl who was going back to the queue to stand at her spot. Rio quickly walked not trying to catch anyone's attention. Tenirie felt someone approaching her and paused on her way. She turned back to look at Rio, who was walking towards her catching her breath. "I forgot to tell you one thing," Rio said breathing heavily. "Just get there one by one. We don't want anyone else to know about it." Tenirie nodded.

Options were flashing on the screen and from the looks of it, Rio immediately recognized it to be the one that fluttered a lot. The options would come faster that one has to choose quickly. Whatever happens, has to be borne by the user itself.

She regretted coming there as she loathed such operating systems. She prayed to get the options right. She started swiping across the screen to get help about what to do with her burnt card. It prompted her to place her card to check. After a few moments, it flashed on the screen with the result that can't be fixed. The chip is destroyed. The system is unable to read. She swiped to read about what that meant.

She felt her heart stopped beating as she read that as the chip is destroyed, all the memory is lost as well. A surge of fear, as well as shock, crashed in her mind. Suddenly the screen flashed with a question of whether she wants to issue a new palm reader or not. Tears welled up in her eyes as she didn't have any idea that such a tiny incident would turn out to be so disastrous. What is she supposed to do now that everything is gone? Tearfully she tapped on the new palm reader option.

A watch-like device popped out of a drawer. She sobbed hard as counted how many things she had in her card she used a lot. Plus money. Her eyes went wide. Does that mean her money is lost as well? She quickly searched for a familiar option but nothing was found. Feeling frustrated, she picked up her new device and looked around to make sure no one watched her crying.

She hid her face and stood in a corner to process what just happened. Her card was burnt. The monitor of the worker's association can't recognize her. Also, it said that identity is lost. With this new device, no one is going to know that it's her. Life is going to be much like a new civilian in the city. But she does have proof that she is a citizen of the Termist city.

She looked at the device in her hand then at the monitor which showed the congratulatory message on getting the device. Hoping to get the identification on her device so that she doesn't have to make everyone remind that it's her, she tapped on the screen.

Of course, the screen instructed her to put in the device on her wrist to which after putting it on her left, it got fixed on its own. Rio felt it was placed in the wrong place, she tried unfastening her device but it was found to be stuck. At that time the screen flashed with a sound saying the device is fixed for the user's safety.

Does that mean she could never get her hands free? She could already feel discomfort on her skin. It felt disgusting not to be able to move that thing an inch. What if it itched her skin? She gritted her teeth as the timer was going to stop.

She swiped further to fill all the information. Her name, place of address, occupation, place of graduation, she filled out without any pause. Then the page landed on the proofs. It asked every single proof it could. Proof of identity, proof of residency, proof of graduation.

She had everything in her ID. She remembered that it asks you only one time, the proofs. Then one can forget about it. She might get the basic ones. But what about the proof of graduation? The institute hadn't issued yet, stating one needs the successful completion of the internship to get the exam passing certificate. Her face scrunched up as every single word of the grumpy head of the exam board was audible.

Who made that rule anyway? She tapped on the skip option as the timer was going to end again. She can't afford to get a time's up warning, else she would have to do it all over again. The screen showed her it is possible to fill up the rest of the form anytime.

Then it quickly changed into a page asking her the unique code that confirms the user is issuing the device from their parent's permission. Her mind went blank. What is the thing with the codes? Another incident with the codes that happened the previous day gave her head a mild shock. She couldn't remember what exactly happened after that. All she remembered was that her head was slammed on the table. But what was after that?

She was frustrated as the timer was going to end yet again. She suddenly skipped the part that flashed with a warning. 'Doing this might affect the information provided. Continue?' She quickly read the note under the warning window that wrote the device name format would be NewUserXXX depending on the number of such unregistered users. This username would be across all the platforms. Workplaces, chatrooms, shopping arenas, offices, etc.

Wasn't it the whole story? Now no one knows you who you are because you don't have the proof anymore. That was the worst ever nightmare one could ever get in the city of Termist.