Within a translucent red border, a flat holographic screen displays a text document in the center of a few smaller widget screens providing graphs and charts, all of which are projected to hover above the glossy white table. The document remains close to the man studying it, dressed in a formal gray suit groomed well like his black hair in a bun, silent and focused, with that being the only holographic projection over the oval-shaped table that centers not only that man but another three dressed in similarly fashioned suits, those three suits colored darker navy blue.
Those three men sit on their black Executive-style chairs bound in leather, waiting for the man to read through the document. One of them has a straight posture to show attentiveness, of African descent with short black hair, his beard thicker. Beside him is a man slightly shorter, European with blonde wavy hair, who doesn't carry himself as strictly for he instead reclines in his seat leisurely. Across from both of them is the third man, the tallest of the group with a lanky shape, his hair a light brown color same as his beard which is a bit patchy, his posture relaxed though not as casual as the blonde man.
The four reside within a meeting room with clean, lit white walls smoothly curved though with a visibly darker segment for the closed door. All the three men in navy blue suits have the courtesy to remain silent, though the blonde man doesn't appear entirely attentive anyways, in fact he slouches in his chair while facing towards the wall. While the three of them have the same colored shirts and jackets, their ties differ as the blonde man has a blue tie, whereas the man beside him wears orange and the one across wears a frost color. The blonde man reaches for his tie to begin fidgeting with it, but that's when the man reading the document finally raises his head and determines in a familiar voice, "Much of this proposal is sound, though I have one curiosity: I'm surprised with the volume of proposed joint teams, you do know special clearance is required to work with our groups, right?"
At last, all three men snap to attention, including the blonde man who faces away from the long window screen along the wall of the meeting room, displaying the metropolis of silver towers diverse in shapes and sizes from simple thin blades to extravagant forms such as a distant trident. The towers almost blend amongst the white sky that spans to the horizon, occluding any of the natural blue as well as the cyan supersun, and from that white sky falls a gentle shower of snow. In fact, the only major contrast of the whites is the blue of the traffic river that flows through the city's blocks, and in the distance are beacons of traffic emerging from and entering those clouds.
No longer needing to entertain himself with passive watching, the blonde man faces towards the end of the table, attentive to the present discussion. It's not him though but the man beside him who, already having focused on the man in gray, answers with a confident smile: "We're lucky to still retain a solid workforce equipped with clearances, and on top of that, many of the others have been training and applying for their own. Especially with the newest shifts, at least the teams under our department have been prioritizing those a lot more, so it all works out neatly."
Across from him, the tallest of the men leans forward and chimes in, "Brandon's right, though you are right that we're pretty aggressively partnering up, a lot's been changing around here. We've been in and out of constant meetings, putting a lot more focus on collaboration at least for our team, but I mean hey it's good that our team still exists in the first place."
Choosing to recline back against his seat, the blonde man remarks casually to his coworker, "Oh come on Brundan, you know they wouldn't just get rid of us." He then turns to the man scanning the document before ultimately supporting, "But yeah, meetings have kind of eaten our schedules for the past week or so, but oh well, things move fast. We're seeing a lot of new faces, it's kind of relaxing to talk to someone familiar again. Getting back in action with you guys is a pretty big deal to us, especially with the kinds of things we've achieved in the past, your people's speed at mobilizing our designs into practice is unmatched and there's no better need for it than now. So it's good to see you again."
A sigh emits from the mouth of the man, lowering his hands which guides the document down in front of his crimson tie. His samely colored starry eyes focus on the blonde man with the turn of his head, and he places a smile on himself before reciprocating: "I appreciate it Jackal, likewise. I'm still getting used to," upon which he swivels in his chair to glance at a sixth chair at the table beside him, however this one's empty, and staring at it brings a frown to his face as well as dampens the mood of his voice, "...doing this myself."
All three of the men turn to face that same chair, frowning at the understanding of the insinuation. Brundan sighs before consoling, "I'm sorry for what happened Dexter, even with all that's happened, it still hasn't made it any easier for all the friends and family we've lost…. It sucks to know that no matter how good things go from here, that's still something we'll need to deal with for the rest of our lives."
His eyes first trained on Brundan, Dexter's head lowers and turns back to the chair in a contemplative frown, the weight of the recent loss still just as heavy as the moment of its occurrence. His soft, red eyes just sit on that chair unoccupied beside him, leaving the room silent for a moment.
He then raises his head to the window screen past the chair, staring at the silver city in white, the graceful snowfall over the lively blue traffic, a city still standing, still lively. He just stares in silence at the window, ultimately releasing a gentle sigh before turning back to face the three men.
From that mournful mouth arises a more optimistic tone from the man who reminds, "Well, at least it's not all lost, there's still work we can do." He raises his hands which raises the holographic document, glancing back down at said document before waving his hand.
At the bottom of the document is a line above which additional text is currently being inscribed: a signature with a distinctive green glow. Upon its emergence, the edges of the document flash green, and upon raising his head back to the group, Dexter determines confidently, "I've signed the deal, we're equipped to handle our end and I trust that you will with yours."
A smile gleams from Jackal as he swings his arm and exclaims, "Right on! Good to have you guys back, I'll admit we were worried that all those pullouts the past few weeks would make it hard to regain anyone's trust, this means a lot. A lot of restructuring has been going on here but you can trust that we're practically ready, we might even have a backlog of things to share once things are underway. Like you said, at least what we're doing will save and protect the people we still have."
Dexter frowns for a brief moment as if finding a disheartening error in that assertion, though he switches back to a calm neutrality and nods his head as the document collapses into a single line down the center that then vanishes, leaving his hands free before sympathizing, "Everything's been constantly changing, we at the office understand, I'm sure everyone does. But at least now I'll have some good news to report back, I'm sure Tahon's been eager to get back to working with you guys, I'm worried he'll defect sometime."
A chuckle breaks off Brandon who shakes his head and mentions in banter, "I think H.R's been on overtime with a headache, at least hold him off for a couple more weeks."
Jackal reclines back and retorts, "At least it's overtime working through good updates, I'm sure the change of direction makes it more bearable. Especially now with this, we're really on a gold streak, it's like we're blessed."
Brandon turns to him and tilts his head from side to side before referencing, "Well, I mean you're not wrong exactly. We're being led by heroes, our founder was the greatest, I don't know if there is a better blessing out there."
Dexter's passive smile flattens subtly, his casual expression sharpening upon watching Jackal nod and agree, "Right on, right on, it's sort of cheesy but I won't lie that I haven't felt so motivated about this work in a long time. I've been replaying that speech, you can't say it doesn't strike hard. It's still wild knowing we were here on damage control while he was fighting for us, and now we can finally push back too. I mean he was my childhood hero and now I can actually do something too, you know?"
That flat mouth curves to a slight frown as Dexter's muscles loosen into a contemplative somber, his eyes sliding off Jackal and to the table, a sense of regret in his starry gaze. He continues to listen to the conversation when Brundan jumps in with a chuckle before turning to Dexter and returns the discussion to its focal matter, "Well let's get back to it, so anyways, we'll make sure to relay the news back, many of our teams will also be excited to pair back with yours. We're happy we were able to get this sorted in such a short manner, and thank you for flying out here. I can't imagine spending half the day in a pod just to run to and from meetings."
Dexter shakes his head and refreshes his face to return his passive smile as his chair slides backwards, allowing him the space to stand up while reasoning, "Well, they pay me well just to drive around in a pod and talk to people, from that perspective I think this is a decent gig."
Reading the conclusion of the meeting, the three other men push their chairs back and stand up, first being Brandon who huffs with a smile and accepts, "When you put it that way, that doesn't sound like the worst thing. It might even sound more appealing than screaming internally at screens all day."
After Brundan rises to his feet, Jackal faces Brandon before querying, "But even if that means not playing with The Ring?"
Brandon clicks his tongue, caught in contemplation, lowering his head in deep thought as Jackal stands up last, stepping to the side to allow the chair to slide itself against the table. He then turns to Brandon who sways his head from side to side, caught in conflict which he admits: "Okay, maybe I'd need to think on that for a bit."
Brundan chuckles at that admission, placing his hands in his pockets and leaning back before debating, "Well he's lucky to be allowed to play with it all day, I'd be more than happy to get outside the office more."
Jackal and Brandon both laugh at that counterpoint, standing in front of Dexter who just stares back at them with a subtle smile, though one that's flattening with each passing second. It bends the other way as his gaze is pulled back to the chair beside him, recalling the types of interactions he'd no longer be able to have, like the very one playing out right before him.
Brandon then suddenly reminds himself of the task even at its completion, and returning to a more serious demeanor, he extends his hand towards Dexter who faces back at him with a soft smile to receive: "But we're all glad to have you guys working with us again, even already there's a lot of findings and designs we'd be happy to share as soon as we can get these groups going."
Dexter nods and receives that hand with his own in a firm shake, reflecting back in solid sincerity: "It's good to find a partnership with you once more too, it's at least something we can bring back. We'll do our best to provide the resources you need, there's been restructuring back in office too that'll prioritize these breeds of missions. I'm sure the results of this partnership will begin showing soon, which reminds me: I'd recommend keeping yourself alert as we'll likely be reaching out soon, expect it within a few hours."
The handshake dissolves, allowing Dexter to then stroll towards the closed door, and upon nearing the grayed border, said border then evaporates into a dispersing cloud to present an exit into a white corridor. He walks through the door just as Jackal turns to him and exclaims, "See you around, Dexter!"
Stopping partially through the door, Dexter turns back and nods his head before repaying, "Likewise."
With that, he turns around and paces out of the door, leaving the opening to discharge a cloud that solidifies the barrier once more, enclosing the meeting room with the three men left inside, watching the guest's departure.
Jackal lets out a heavy sigh before being the first to acknowledge, "We're going to have to get back to work, aren't we?"
Brundan grunts to that fact, raising his head to the ceiling and groaning, "I guess let's get back to it."
Brandon waves his hand and begins strolling towards the door himself, playfully discounting, "Oh come on, we haven't done much today, let's at least try getting some pushes in."
Brundan is first to follow, ultimately agreeing: "You're right, we're falling behind a bit, I have to finish that one set."
Jackal is last to chase after the two in hasty steps, catching up to them while reluctantly accepting, "I guess there's nothing else to do but that, fun. I can't figure out this one thing and I wish I could just give it to Padge but I'm pretty sure I'm already pushing him," as the door vaporizes with a distinct whoosh.
Leaving the meeting room through the dispersing cloud, Brundan leads Brandon followed by Jackal into a corridor they turn into, lining up one behind the other to provide space for two men speaking to each other while both carry holographic screens by their hands, one of them explaining: "I do still think the next project we line up should be the sensor visualizer, we could honestly hand it off to just one person, it shouldn't be that big."
"I'll check with the schedule since we do have a queue already so I'm not sure if we can just push stuff to the top like that, but I'll see. It mostly depends if we can find someone who can take it on," responds the other man after they pass Jackal, who takes a glimpse of them. He sets his sights ahead just as Brundan reaches the end of the hallway, opening up into a larger room from which dampened chatter emits from. Brandon and Jackal strafe to Brundan's side in advantage of the wider space, entering the fairly open office room large enough for about eight other employees to be seated at, most of the desks being along the edges with the holographic screens against the walls, and those walls behind project wide windows of the outside silver city in white, the colors almost blending into the hard surface seamlessly. Within the room is an additional square of desks that form an inner box in the room, allowing for several more workers to be seated, with a few openings to allow entry into the middle. At the center of the room is an open space surrounded by couches to face a man currently interfacing with a larger hologram of what appears to be a large canister, and behind him against the wall is a huge screen visualizing various graphs and data. Most of the chatter emanates from that center, though there's some between coworkers at the desks.
The three men approach the left corner of the room where three empty seats hover between other coworkers, Brundan being the first to reach his seat being the one closest to the hallway, letting him sit down and swivel to face the wall before his two holographic screens project full of windows with various websites and text editors open. Two of the coworkers on the adjacent wall of the corner –who also wear deep blue suits– swivel to face the three men, one of whom sporting a goatee with short hair asks, "How did it go?"
Brandon reaches the middle seat while Jackal continues on to the furthest, though both of them face the two men, Brandon being the one to answer with a smile, "Hey Jerem, it went perfectly actually, looks like we're getting everyone back. Honestly even I'm surprised with our streak, I would've figured someone would turn us down eventually."
The man beside Jerem, who has a leaner body shape with short brown hair, raises his hand to make a thumbs up gesture before complimenting, "Hell yeah, that's great! Man, you guys have really been in and out of meetings all week haven't you?"
Brandon places both of his hands on his chair's back but remains standing to face the two as Jackal leans against the table beside his chair and assures, "We're more than fine with it, it's at least a lot easier to get through than the meetings a couple weeks back. Sorry we haven't done much on the project, how's that going Teper?"
The leaner man named Teper reclines in his chair with a sigh before admitting, "It is a bit heavy without you three, I can't lie. But hey, we're managing, and once you guys get through this gauntlet I'm sure we'll reach our delivery cleanly. I was going to ask Brundan if he could check some of the platform interfacing though, I'm not really the best guy for this."
That name call alone pulls Brundan's attention, peeling his eyes off his screens, swiveling to face the two coworkers before asking innocently for clarity, "What's up?"
Jerem waves to Brundan upon noticing his entry into the conversation before he elaborates, "Well it's nothing too urgent and we can probably step around it for a while, it's just that we're not really sure how to clean up the interface and we figured it'd be nice if you could take a look at some point. But like I said, we can get around it, you guys can focus on your other stuff and meetings for now and we'll hold the fort."
"You can send me some shots and I can try taking a look at it on my off time, but yeah I don't think I can do much until next week," Brundan admits as a man approaches the corner from the other side of the room, shorter than Jackal though older and with a clean black stubble. Upon passing the hallway's exit, that man calls: "You're all done with your last meeting I take it," which spins Brundan's attention around.
Jackal and Brandon both turn to the approaching man, as do Teper and Jerem, letting Brandon answer as he ultimately sits down: "Hey Staphan, haven't seen you all morning. But yeah we just got out of it a minute ago."
Staphan nods and reaches Brundan's side, stopping by the table and folding his arms over his chest while explaining, "I had meetings of my own too, mostly in the department, boss's still going through some work after they got Vince back. So how did the meeting go? Good things I'd hope?"
As two holographic screens project over Brandon's portion of the desk, Brundan nods and confirms, "We got the deal, and honestly that was one of the briefer meetings. I can't even take too much of the credit and say we're negotiating really hard, sure there's some little bumps we smooth out here and there but for the most part they all seem eager to get back with us even after the meltdown so recent."
Jerem smirks leans forward before reasoning, "Well not to take away from any of your hard work, but we did get a bit of a name boost live on basically every online device in the Superverse from the top, we got a bit of a miracle."
Next to him, Teper shrugs his shoulders and wonders: "Did they kind of save our asses with the greatest deus ex machina to ever happen? Maybe? Is it insane that this company was founded by the thought-long-dead hero of this world and Superverse and is even now being run by another hero fighting monsters in other worlds? Probably. But will I complain about it? Hell no."
Staphan chuckles and shakes his head, glancing at Teper to admit, "Yeah well, this place has always moved pretty hectically, if anything this explains a lot. I feel a bit silly buying into that whole story about Rohan moving remote, and I guess now all those rumors about Dana being an absent leader makes a bit more sense. But to see they've been fighting for us like that, and now they're giving us the means to fight too, I didn't even get into this industry for any real noble causes honestly but damn it's something special. Anyways, it's good to hear that things are moving swimmingly, keep up the good work. I've heard that deployment's been going well too, looks like what we're doing here is making a real difference out there."
Still standing up, leaning against his desk without having awakened any of his screens, Jackal nods towards Staphan and agrees, "Right on, right on!"
Staphan then turns to face Jerem before playfully reprimanding, "But when I say that, that doesn't mean you need to live in the office and work every waking minute, you're burning the overtime budget single handedly."
Called out, Jerem chuckles nervously and waves his hand before justifying albeit in a guilty voice, "I mean maybe I'm staying back a little longer but I'm just trying to keep up with our schedule and deliveries, one's coming up in a couple weeks."
A sigh exits Staphan's mouth with another head shake before he more gently reminds, "Just make sure to take breaks, this isn't something to burn yourself out on. Besides, you need to relax a bit so you can enjoy what's going on."
Jerem extends his arm towards Staphan and gestures a thumbs up before assuring, "I understand, got it. Hopefully Layal hasn't said anything about it."
"You're lucky she hasn't," Staphan remarks, before then turning his gaze back to Brundan. He congratulates in a lighter tone, "But anyways, good work on these meetings, and let's keep this streak going to the end. I will say now though we've been hearing interests from groups we haven't even worked with before, even a few requests to meet."
An exhausted sigh leaves Brundan and he sinks into his chair, both Brandon and Jackal perking up to the news. Brundan takes a glimpse at his screen before returning his gaze back to Staphan to then request, "Can we at least get another group to take some of the meetings? I do need to get some work done on our current project, we can't leave Jerem and Teper on their own forever. And I won't lie, it's getting a bit fatiguing."
Staphan hums to himself in contemplation for a few moments before unfolding his arms to his side. He turns his head to pan his gaze around the room, amongst the many coworkers few of whom along the inner box desk perk their heads up in curiosity upon the glance though retreat their gazes back to their screens to continue their work.
He ultimately returns his gaze back to Brundan before deciding, "I'll try to get another group put together to take on next week and maybe have you two alternate meetings beyond that, I understand we're a bit stretched with all that's been happening so quickly. Does that work?"
Brundan lets out a sigh, though now of relief which trails a smile and nod, confirming more optimistically: "That's perfect, thank you. We just need to get this deliverable ready."
Staphan nods back empathetically and understands, "I appreciate all the work you've been doing, all of you. Right now we're in that awkward spot of racing to keep up with what we're doing, but we'll get a hold of it soon, I have a few interviews to run later today actually so they're trying to get our numbers back up, hopefully once we start bringing in more hands we won't need to stress you guys out."
Brandon smiles at that news, chiming in with a snark: "That's good to hear, but please this time don't assign Jackal to mentor them, it always ends with me having to handle them myself."
Next to him, Jackal stares down and waves both hands before arguing, "Hey come on, you know I was in the middle of that whole deal where I had to fly out basically every day! It's not like I was just neglecting them."
"Okay gentlemen, let's reign ourselves in," Staphan swiftly shuts down before Brandon can have the chance at a rebuttal, and both turn back to face the man speaking.
Shaking his head, Staphan compromises: "I'll make sure to be mindful of what you're each doing when assigning mentorship, you have my word. Now if we're all clear, I have a one o'clock I need to get to, I'll hear from you later."
All five of the coworkers nod and wave to him, Brundan reflecting, "See you later," after which Staphan nods, turns around, and strolls off away from the corner, leaving the five to idle for a moment before Teper and Jerem spin back to face their screens and continue their work.
Brundan and Brandon both turn to face their own screens too, yet they're simultaneously consumed in abrupt shock and glance at each other as Jackal is the one to exclaim after projecting a small watch-sized screen over his hand, "Wait, it's nearly one! We haven't gotten lunch yet!"
As Jackal closes his watch screen, Brundan sighs in defeat and raises his head to the ceiling, murmuring in conflict: "I mean we haven't had the time to do any work on the project…but…."
Behind him, Jerem sighs and swivels his chair to face Brundan to empathize, "You need food, it's all good man, besides you haven't taken your lunch break."
Brundan, still staring at the ceiling, lets out another sigh and reconciles, "I know…grah I feel bad but," while Brandon already closes both of his screens and slides his chair back.
Jackal pushes himself off the table's edge and strolls over past Brandon –who stands up– before patting Brundan's shoulder and comforting, "It's not like we've been doing nothing all day, come on we deserve it. Let's just grab a bite from Space Square and head back, honestly it probably won't even take an hour since the worst of the lines have passed."
Brandon walks past Brundan and pats his shoulder too, finally prompting Brundan to close his screens, push his chair back, and stand up. He turns to face Teper and Jerem to apologize, "Sorry about this-."
"It's no big deal, really. Go on, get your Johns," Teper interjects to reassure him, shutting down his apology. Brundan releases a weighty breath, nods, and turns around to follow after his coworkers, leaving the room to enter the hallway.
Teper and Jerem both spin back to return their focus to their screens, continuing to write text documents on one screen while reading and referencing articles and graphs on the other. Their screens, while projections, are practically opaque in that their focus can remain exclusively on their work, undistracted by the window right behind their screens displaying the city. While the snowfall is visible from the window, there's utter silence reasonably so, the flakes drifting down quietly and gently in mass numbers down to the distant streets impossible to glance at due to the volume of skyscrapers populating the blocks, covering the horizon as pillars between the blue trails of traffic flowing in each direction around each building.
While this view is silent inside the office, the view isn't too dissimilar from the genuine view outside. What does differ however is that sound, for in truth there are whistling winds amongst the whooshes from the many pods composing the particles of the river. On the roofs of those pods are thin white blankets of accumulating snow, and hundreds and hundreds of feet below that very traffic there can be found that same white film on the roads and walkways of the city's floor.
These surfaces are uneven, covered in tracks sinking the film, for hundreds of pedestrians walk over faster than the snow can fill each pit. New pits are imprinted in patterns of the shoes worn by those pedestrians, many of them boots fitting for the weather, some high to the knees, others with fur lining, others made of leather, many variations of footwear all keeping the snow away though in truth the snow is only perhaps a couple inches tall, nothing sinking anyone's legs.
The vast majority of pedestrians are dressed in long pants, whether be jeans or sweatpants, with many adults in dress pants to complement their formalwear. These longer pants are paired with hoodies and jackets, fashionable articles for the final season while also providing warmth to combat the current snowfall. Some of them walk below holographic disks functioning as umbrellas to protect their head from any contact, though most aren't as evasive and simply allow their heads and shoulders to absorb the flakes. There are exceptions to the general dress code as there are scattered citizens strangely in shorts and shirts, unbothered by the cold as if warmed by another source.
The streets aren't nearly as dense as they were a month ago, yet they aren't barren as they were a couple weeks ago either. There's enough space for most wayfarers to weave through the crowd, but there is a crowd to begin with, chatter between friends and families all over the many streets interweaving the city.
One of the chattering groups is a set of three men dressed in black wool overcoats, reaching down to the knees, mostly covering the navy blue dress pants. Their coats are held together not by physical buttons or zippers but rather seamlessly attached, covering most of their torso though the triangular gap reveals their navy blue suit jacket over their tie and shirt. In the center walks Brundan, with Brandon to his right and Jackal to his left. Brundan and Brandon walk with their hands at their side whereas Jackal keeps his in his coat's pockets, raising his head in passive curiosity. His eyes sharpen to peer through the snow, his attention locked in place at a sight above and ahead.
That sight is a projection on the side of a silver tower, a holographic advertisement presenting not what one would view as a typical commercial product as the billboard depicts a crowd of people standing in the street, all of them made of shining silver like statues, with a caption in bold text: "Be the city," with smaller text below: "Apply for citizenship today."
That billboard is among many others plastered on the many skyscrapers surrounding the open plaza which Jackal's gaze pans down to, finding that they've reached Space Square as best identified by the ring of spherical bleachers facing the collection of food truck pods scattered about the plaza, all of which surrounds the central diamond-shaped memorial where the five golden statues stand in heroic poses. Like the streets, the plaza isn't nearly as bustling as it once was but it's nowhere near empty, for the bleachers are still admirably full and most of the food trucks have brief lines.
The three men walk between the closest two spherical bleachers whose backs are colored blue though there's a hollow half facing towards the center that houses the rows of seats at a gradual elevation, accessible by white stairs at the edges. They pass those bleachers, continuing on towards the center of the plaza, where Brandon and Jackal both glance at the other billboards surrounding the open field whereas Brundan focuses on a yellow food truck pod in the square, leading the other two towards it. While he's the only one to face the direction of movement, Jackal hums to himself before wondering, "How much easier did they make citizenship applications? I swear I don't think I've ever seen an influx like this ever in my life."
Also gazing aimlessly at the various billboards, Brandon shrugs his shoulders and estimates, "I don't think there's been one like this in a hundred years or so, honestly. I mean citizenship isn't the hardest to get if you were from the Core, but I certainly don't think they moved this fast before. But they have a lot of spots to fill so I'm sure they're working overtime."
Jackal chuckles and shakes his head before briefly retorting, "Who isn't?"
As the three walk past other pedestrians who are either on their way to the exit or merely crossing to the other side of the plaza, Jackal pans his gaze back down to the truck pods they're approaching, contemplating to himself with a curious stare for a moment before observing, "I have noticed a few new food trucks around here, maybe we could try something different. Or are you guys too fixed on your faith for Johns Johns?"
Brundan clicks his tongue and sighs before excusing, "We're running a little late today, so I'd rather we just stick to the usual for now."
Jackal chuckles and turns to face Brundan before he snides, "Guess I was right."
Brundan huffs and glances at Jackal before compromising, "We can try it when we aren't being flooded with meetings, that way we can actually enjoy it. We should be more clear next week, there'll be a better time then."
Jackal removes his right hand from his pocket to wave it and accept, "Yeah yeah, I'll hold you to it."
Without a long wait, the three men stop and raise their heads, having arrived to the side of the yellow truck pod hovering just slightly off the ground, identified by bold text on the exterior reading 'JOHNS JOHNS' next to an icon of a cheery cartoon man in a white beard and red cap. On the other side of the sign is an open window exposing a small kitchen within the truck composed of white counters full of small curved trays among other utensils and ingredients, though that view becomes obscured by a man in a bomber jacket with a fur collar who asks, What can I get you all?"
Next to him is a holographic menu displaying a list of the options which Jackal glances at, but without even needing to, Brundan immediately answers: "I'll get a Deluxe Johns, thanks. Brandon?"
Next to him, Brandon also doesn't need to inspect the menu to arrive at his answer: "One Meaty Johns please."
Both Brundan and Brandon then turn to Jackal who's the last to answer, the only one to be analyzing the menu. Brandon's eyebrow raises in perplexity before he notes, "There's nothing new on the menu, just get what you usually get."
Jackal tilts his head to the side and contemplates, "I know…I'm just seeing if there's anything…that I haven't had in a while…."
Brundan stares at Jackal before asserting in a demanding voice, "Jackal."
Jackal waves both hands to calm, "Okay okay, I got it." He then raises his head up to the man in the window to order, "One Chili Johns."
The man in the window nods his head and repeats, "Okay so one Deluxe Johns, one Meaty Johns, and one Chili Johns?"
Brundan nods his head and confirms, "That's right, thanks. I'll pay the credits."
The man nods and turns around, leaving off to prepare the order, leaving Brundan to turn around to face Jackal before reprimanding, "You always order the same thing, why stall?"
Jackal shrugs his shoulders and argues, "I never know if I want to try something different, be adventurous."
Brandon sighs before stating, "But you never do," followed by him shaking his head.
Jackal raises one finger to contend, "Well wait a moment, I did get the '45 Johns' that one time, so that was something different."
"And you hated it," Brandon reminds him promptly.
"Well yeah, it wasn't good, that's why I haven't had it since. But I still tried it," Jackal debates back.
Again, not long of a wait is needed before the man handling the truck returns to the window, and in both of his hands is an open-boxed silver tray each carrying a hot dog, one of them topped with grilled onions, peppers, and mushrooms whereas the other has a notably thicker sausage with flakes of bacon. He extends his arms out of the window, allowing Brandon to grab the tray with the thicker sausage and Brundan to grab the other.
After they bring the tray to themselves, the man turns around and grabs a third tray to present out of the window, this one's hot dog topped with chili over which is melted cheese and bits of onion. Jackal reaches his hands out to grab this last tray, and after securing it to his side, he nods to the man as Brundan verbally appreciates, "Thanks."
The man nods and reciprocates, "Thanks for coming by, see you again!"
The transaction now complete, the three men pivot and exit the line, carrying their meal. Brandon faces Brundan before asking, "Would it be better to just start heading back now, and we can eat on the way?"
Jackal shakes his head and answers first despite not being directed at, "We're still on break, they give us an hour."
Brundan tilts his head from side to side before answering Brandon, "Jackal's right, we've been working all day, they give us these breaks for a reason. It won't be long anyways, I already see a good amount of spots."
"Right on," Jackal remarks with a smile, clearly relieved to retain his much desired break after meetings since the morning. The three then face forwards, approaching the nearest bleachers where they find free space on the bottom bench, allowing them seats without needing to traverse the stairs. On their approach, as Brundan and Jackal keep their trays in their hands though Brandon lifts his hot dog towards his mouth to begin his meal early, the ground subtly shakes which catches Brandon off guard so much so that he stumbles forward and drops his hot dog on the ground, wincing in pain and exclaiming, "Shit!"
Brundan and Jackal turn to him and follow his sight to the dropped dog, but just as Jackal asks, "Did you trip or-," he too feels a proceeding quake much more violent, causing him and Brundan to stumble along with many of the other pedestrians in the plaza. Jackal squares his stance as Brundan struggles to maintain his own stability, glancing around and concerning, "I didn't see anything about an earthquake today."
The rumbling that emits from the ground grows louder as pedestrians near the food trucks grip the walls to balance themselves, confused and worried shouts thrown around the Square. An unforeseen earthquake becomes much more when from that rumbling ground all over the plaza emerge countless black roots, some of them penetrating the trucks, leading to a sudden spike in screaming as people stop trying to stand their ground and instead sprint away aimlessly, though their screams are matched with the immediate ethereal growling of the roots, awakened already. Every second, more roots rise, reaching tens of feet in seconds, thick as forest trees, same as their branches, all growling, their slimy bodies absolute black but for the white caustics that pulsate like veins. That same panic is induced within the three men, as Jackal springs to shout: "FOLLOW ME!" before sprinting in a pivot away from the bleacher, dropping his tray without a second thought which Brundan and Brandon do too, following after him without question. Down the line they sprint, the light above them is cut off by the growth of a branch directly over them which Brandon glances up to for just a moment, but faces forward again to strafe to the right as another root rises from the ground right ahead of him, prompting Brundan to shout: "BRANDON!" Jackal glances back to confirm Brandon's safety, stumbling for a moment but catching his footing.
While there's relief in finding Brandon safe, that glance back reveals to Jackal a horrifying sight, for the roots by the center of the plaza begin to secrete smaller twigs, twigs that bend autonomously to push the body those arms are a part of, pulling out the tall black heads whose only feature is the single mouth in the center that begins to unhinge, revealing its spiral of radiating teeth, already hungry. All over the plaza, countless monsters push their humanoid yet extraterrestrial bodies out of the pulsating roots, all as in the distance those branches spread out of the plaza at exceeding heights, constantly splitting apart to many more that plunge themselves into the tall silver skyscrapers, spreading over the city rapidly, penetrating through towers to the next beyond.
As a few of those monsters push their bodies enough to finally spill out and drop on the floor, Jackal can't bear more sight, facing forward again to lead his friends as those human screams become mixed with alien shrieks, grating to the ears. The three men sprint towards the end of the plaza, their backs turned to the horde accumulating in the Square, rising to their feet before immediately lunging and charging at all the citizens closest to them, their mouths unhinging and their clawed hands reaching.
No matter how fast the three run, the roots grow past them, smothering the Square in a web that expands disorderly, covering the sky's white light as harsh shadows are cast over them, and all they can do is run.
That's all anyone can do: run away, frantic, helpless, desperate. If a body stands, it runs, it runs as quickly as it can. The only bodies that remain standing still are the five clad in gold on the diamond platform, their heroic poses shadowed by the nest growing above, their sculpted faces harder to inspect without light.
In the center stands the one masked man, his cape caught in a majestic flowing frame, the pencil insignia carved into his chest puffed out, standing in the center of the spreading massacre.