"You're desensitised… The world isn't how it used to be, nor as you think it to be…" Mikka contemplated what the man had told her, but not all of what he said made sense to her. She reached into her pocket, checking the device was still snug and safe. For now she just had to stay obscure, unknown. Can't be too difficult, she thought. The line leading was getting shorter. She judged about 20 minutes before the suits invited her into their interrogation room. Mikka's family were in front of her, but each of them was more interested in what was about to happen than what she had stashed in her pockets. Several people in the line ahead were discussing the events that had unfolded earlier, as though trying to get their story straight. A good way to avoid notice. As she searched the expressions of those around her, Mikka grew more and more distracted. As she searched the face of each person around her, something moved in the corner of her vision. It wasn't the movement of anything in her surroundings, but rather the surroundings themselves, as though the floor and walls hid their true nature when gazed at directly. She had to fight the urge to search out these fluctuations in her vision, because any nervous behaviour would attract attention. The more she fought the urge to look, the more her vision seemed taunt her. A dark, metallic colour was seeping into the white walls and cream coloured tiles of the shopping centre. A chill ran down her spine, and she felt goose bumps on her arms. "Nor as you think it to be…" Mikka shut her eyes, wrapped her coat tighter about her body, and tried to shut out the cold. There were no vents near her, and the shopping centre was normally heated at this time of year to keep out the winter cold. She opened her eyes to see the line before her gone; she would be the next one they talked to. Fear welled up from somewhere deep inside, knotting her stomach and making her feel ill. There was a harsh shout from somewhere behind the door in front of her and the nearest suit stepped forward and grabbed her arm. She winced again. Cold seemed to radiate from him hand, piercing straight to the bone. "Your time has come." There were four suits stand around the room, and another sitting at the table in front of her. The one sitting across from her was different. His expression was awkward, as though he had no control over his facial muscles. His pallid skin hung loosely from his skull and his dark eyes seemed to retreat back into his head. In fact, he seemed to radiate an inhuman aura. It was as though he was something else, some kind of creature, wearing a human-shaped costume. "Your name?" "Mikka… Mikka Tiernan." "Well Miss Tiernan… I'd like you to tell me what you know about the incident today." His voice was calm but had an eerie air to it. Mikka felt his dark eyes studying her as she gathered her thoughts. Felt the eyes staring into her, trying to find a weakness. "I don't really know anything. I mean, I saw what happened but it's not like I know who he was or anything." "Who?" "Well… The guy you were chasing of course," she suddenly felt as though she was revealing something without realising. "Is there a reason my parents aren't here? I'm supposed to have a guardian with me aren't I? I'm only 16." "There is no need for a guardian here. All of these meetings are conducted one on one to prevent you… altering… your story." As the man spoke his hands reached below the table, pulling something from the floor. A large black laptop with some kind of camera was now between her and the interrogator. He busied himself with the keyboard for a few minutes, adjusted the lens of the camera, and began to speak again. "Miss Tiernan, tell me what you know of Callum." "Who?" "Well… The man we pursued this afternoon of course." The corners of the man's mouth twitched a little, pulling up and out across his face. A smile, or at least a parody of one, now stretched across his face. The cold burrowed deeper into her body as she stared into his eyes. Once again Mikka caught movement in the corner of her eye. Before she could stop herself her eyes shot left and lost track of whatever had changed. She turned back toward the man before her and blinked, but when her eyes opened she was not looking at the man, or the table, or even the room she was sitting in. Images assaulted her vision, flashing images that she couldn't register. She fought to close her eyes, but something in her mind wouldn't let her, something was happening to her. As fast as the images had appeared, they were gone and she was once again sitting in the room, facing her interrogator. He hadn't moved. The same inhuman smile was stretched across his face, the same piercing dark eyes. The man leaned forward in his chair, shadows extending down his face. "Now," he sneered at her in a low tone, "we'd like for you to cooperate with our investigation, Miss Tiernan." Her gaze was fixed on the abyss of his eyes, and the longer she stared the more the world seemed to fall apart around her. Where previously she had seen brief glimpses of colour and movement at the edge of her vision, now she saw definite shapes, and it was expanding. The pastel colours of the room in the shopping centre were being torn away by the dark metal colour she'd seen before. The bright room she had been sitting in was now akin to a dungeon or cellar, dank and rusted. Instead of bright halogen globes, there were fluorescent bars across the ceiling, which seemed to accentuate the darkness that was building in the corners of the room. As she continued to stare at the man, he too began to deteriorate. His suit peeled away and was replaced by some form of plating, like an armoured suit with a dark red emblem over his heart. His skin grew paler, and she noticed various small pipes and wires piercing exposed areas of his skin. Finally the shadows around his face melted away. She was no longer staring at a face, but a mask. Where his lower jaw had been, there was now a large pipe connecting to a dark face plate which seemed to cover most of his head. His left eye was a red lens, which spun backward and forward, focussing on her face which was now torn between horror and disgust. Only his right eye remained. Still buried far back in his head. Still just as dark, just as piercing. It sparkled slightly, as though he was amused by her reaction to his appearance. One of his gauntleted hands slammed down on the table, denting the metal slightly. "Now Miss Tiernan," he spoke in a muffled, almost computerised voice, "I want you to tell me about Callum… About the device in your pocket… And everything he's told you about the Configuration…" Somewhere in her thoughts she heard Callum's voice... "You're desensitised... The world isn't how it used to be, nor as you think it to be..." Tristan ;-)