The Rise Of The Consortium

The coffee shop was cold but comfortable. Outside was raining. Rio made it in time to reach the exchange center just before it started raining. The person in charge of exchange was pleased to see her at that time. She always believed Rio to be the hardest working one in the whole of Termist. Wherever any machine went wrong, she was the punctual one to reach and fix that. Luckily, she only had to fix the user interactive machine. But she found Rio to be deprived of energy and before she could think of anything, Rio slid on the floor. She quickly rushed to her and caught her before she could fall.

"I'm sorry. " Rio tried to get up supporting herself on the wall. The exchanger helped her to sit on a chair inside.

"Do you need something?" the exchanger had a look of concern and genuine worry. She thought this happening as a rare occurrence. Rio was always fit and healthy for work. But if she was there that day to get something to change then she had to repair the machine first. How she could persuade her to do that first in such condition?

"I need to exchange something for food." Rio wanted to get to work as soon as possible. She reminded herself to save some money for her mother.

"I could, but I'm having a problem with this machine." the exchanger decided to tell the truth instead of making any other excuse. Rio took a deep breath and felt she still had some energy to just look at the machine. She had her tools in her bag. Pulling them out, she observed that the machine had caught some white dust behind the panel.

"Maybe this dust is blocking the machine," Rio said, gently brushing the dust.

"One thing I haven't understood yet." the exchanger raised her brows in curiosity. "How can you clean it without catching getting allergy?" she had noted the reaction one gets when one mistakenly touches those dust. They always feel sleepy, can't understand any problem when it would be there right in front of them and get overly impulsive. And how could she forget the incidents where residents go the 'Smoke Swirl' unaccompanied in the middle of the night?

"Does that happen all the time?" Rio couldn't believe that she always had reached to her workplace just to clean those dust that no one else can.

"I know that is hard, but if we started getting these, the most important work would get stagnated." that was a fact. People not being able to exchange their money from one form to another would lead to a greater crisis. Many would create chaos that would lead to the disturbance of the whole Katokzeim.

Rio didn't say anything. She dusted the machine and sprayed a colorless liquid to make sure it wouldn't catch more dust for a long time. When the machine started working, she got half of her money for recreation changed into food that she hoped would last for another week until she got more salary. Just as she was about to leave, the exchanger funded her 15 coins for her food. Rio's worker ID notified her.

"Don't you have your Palm Reader?" the exchanger referred to the system where people got to read whatever they wanted right from their palm, through a beam of light.

"I don't have one." Rio lied dusting off her hands. She never knew she could have such things in her life. No one told her about it. How does one get that?

"How do you not have it? It's very important for everyone!" the exchanger thought that except Rio no one lived in Termist city without it.

Rio had her eyes outside the cafe, looking at the downpour. It was significantly lesser than the time when she got into the cafe. She had ordered some basic bread and a hot drink. She deliberately chose a window seat not to feel tempted by delicious cakes and desserts. Her mind was still on the salary of 15 coins for foods. She wondered if she hadn't reached there, she would've to come here anyway. That was the first time where she got a little more salary for her work. She thought to give that to her mother first.

Suddenly her thoughts wandered towards Kner when a black car passed outside. If she had been the source of stress in his life, why had he been so reluctant to talk about it? Wasn't he the one to avoid all questions about life? Had she been aware of such problems with rich families, she would've left him much before. Not to forget he was the one to stick around. She was happy with her work. And her mother had no problems. Somehow she felt it all started with him. He was the one to disrupt her life. He has to confront her.

Finally, the rain was over and she got up to reach her workplace. She pulled her ID to check if she had got any more work that day. The mending at a diner, another at a coffee shop she hated and then at a clothing store. She would be at home, she thought to herself and would sleep enough.

She was happy that she was reaching her workplace on time. But her mind was still on the event in the Manings residence. From two days she had been listening that people had questions about her upbringing and about her mother's illness. Rio's involvement with islanders wasn't important at that time. She really never needed to know anything about her life from her mother. About how her life was in childhood or her school life, she never asked anything. She was surprised that she never felt the need to know. Most of the time her mother would be away from home. She also didn't know where. She had to know about everything.

Slowly her thoughts helped reach her to the printing press shop. Sometimes people prefer to read things through physical media and that was the only place to get prints. The published products were not only for Katokzeim but also for Moritzeim, the neighboring lands, where it's demand was higher than anything else. And sometimes there were some exports to Zolzeim despite its strict no- export rules.

The guard screen asked her to fill her credentials and allowed her in the building. Her work was on the third floor, to check the giant printing machine that printed magazines. She hoped not to find those with dust she saw in the exchange counter. But turned out, she had to clean those dust just because no one was able to do that, in fear of dangerous disease. The area was cleaned and emptied out of useful things for her to work in ease. She sprayed the same liquid she applied at the exchange counter. Also, there were some screws falling out of the back panel of the machine. After fixing everything, she put lubricant in case that too was needed. Thinking her work in that building was over, she was about to leave when her ID vibrated and upon checking, she found that she still had to fix the automatic roller cart and also the main electrical switchboard of the whole building. Feeling lost, she stomped her feet and headed back to her location with a deep breath. On her way, she heard a familiar voice in the office behind the switchboard. Unmistakably It was her friend Meilae. A petite active figure, always her mind on her tip of the tongue, could anyone believe that she has the soul of a wise old man? A woman in her twenties, anyone could say that she has a lot to do if given a chance. She might even be the chairman of Katokzeim, but she clearly denied giving the excuse of her discovered comfort zone in the media industry. She would rather paint flaws in glittery colors than actually be the authoritarian power. Rio was happy to have such a friend in her life. She always had something to solve in a minute. Most of the time those being completely illogical.

"Now if we don't release this by midnight, we won't ever get any perfect time." Rio never witnessed such a compelling urgent voice of her. But she was happy at least Meilae found her piece of peace among the chaos. While finishing up with the roller carts, her mind posed a question about the so-so-detailed news about her life. Why there were such news in the first place? Why anyone would be interested in those news? And who was behind it? Maybe Meilae has some information. Her life is partly ruined due to such disturbing pieces since her college graduation. Why anyone would want to things like this with her?

A woman with a cute plump figure in a trouser and jacket stormed out of the office busy in a call. Maybe she was leaving the building. Leaving her work in midway, Rio rushed to stop Meilae who was still talking.

"Hey, I want to talk--"

"About your news?" Meilae knew what Rio wanted to know"----No, Mr. Berms. It's my friend. Yes. Talk to you later."

And she took a deep breath to continue talking to Rio.

"I know you want to know everything. In fact, I've got some news."

"So shall we talk now?"

"No. As you can see I'm really busy. What about tomorrow at the cafe near the garden square?"

Rio had no idea about her schedule but she was ready to sign up for anything just to know things. "Ok then. In the evening as usual?"

"Yes. And don't forget to stock up some energy for tomorrow. WholeTermist is going to need you."

"What? Why?"

"It's going to be our day. There might be a small rally and some crashes. So better be prepared. Bye."

Rio's eyes went wide in thoughts of Meilae creating chaos in the city. Is she going really brewing up a rally? Being a journalist with ambitious dreams wasn't a bad thing but somehow Rio felt scared at the future possibilities of her best friend. She thought finishing her tasks to get back to her bed was the best idea for the current moment.