The Explosion

There are two people sitting on opposite sides of a table. One of them does not have red hair. The other does not have blue eyes. They're talking. Here, I'll turn the sound on. There we go.

"You do know why you're in here, right?" The one without red hair asks, gently, politely.

The one who does not have red hair stays quiet. There is nothing for them to say, not really.

"I don't."

The one without red hair is surprised that the one without blue eyes has admitted that they do not know something. The one without blue eyes keeps talking, and the one without red hair slips back into uncomfortable silence. They like the silence. They like not having any of their secrets buzzing around outside of them, like an uncontrollable swarm of rabbits. Then they remember that the one without blue eyes is talking, and they try to listen.

"Will you tell me what happened, just before you got here?"

The one without red hair thinks it might be okay to say something, just this once. "I was in a car."

"Good, that's good!" The one without blue eyes's expression perks up, "What was in the car?"

"I was."

"I bet." The one without blue eyes almost laughs.

The one without red hair slips back into that comfortable silence again. They like the silence quite a bit. It's like a blanket made of silk, but much thicker, the kind that brings all those uncomfortab;e thoughts to the surface. They like it that way, so they can retreat from the thoughts and hide in the murky depths of different fantasies.

"Tell me a bit about the car ride." The one without blue eyes leans on their elbow.

The one without red hair is cross at them for interrupting the silence, so they just stare at him, like a cat. Not glaring. Staring.

"Okay..." The one without blue eyes pulls a taser out of his bag and sets it on the table, "Please tell me about the car ride."

The one without red hair suddenly decides that silence can be found in other places. "It was quiet and very cold. The... um, the windows were all rolled up, and there wasn't any air inside."

"There wasn't any air?"

"No air, no sound, nope."

The one without blue eyes taps the tazer, smiling, "Okay, that's good. We're making progress. Do you remember what happened just before the car?"

"Not really. Lots of bright lights. Metal. Someone was doing something with metal, I think, and then they were opening the car door."

"Okay, okay, it was good of them to open the door for you. That was nice of them."

The one without red hair nods, as if they're not sure whether or not that's the right thing to do. "It was... It was nice of them. Not the noise, though. It wasn't nice of any of them to be noisy."

"No, no, maybe not." The one without blue eyes smiles again, a nice smile, "And what about before that?"

"Before that, there was... An explosion, I think."

The one without blue eyes nods for them to go on. Don't worry, they don't have to write anything down on a notepad or anything, we're recording this. It's okay. Are you worried? Thought so. You're new here, not used to it yet. Don't worry at all. They'll both be okay.

"The explosion was..." The one without red hair isn't sure what word to use to describe it, "Loud."

"What did you do after the explosion?"

"I was looking for other people, No, no, right after the explosion... I was looking at my hand," The one without red hair lifts their hand, which is wrapped up in bandages like a lost sunset that's been bound to this realm by paints.

"Why were you looking for people?"

"They were shouting. I wanted them to stop shouting."

The one without blue eyes seems to keep a neutral expression, "Why did you want them to stop shouting?"

"Because things were too loud. Everything was too loud. My breathing was too loud. Everything."

"Okay..." The one without blue eyes glances up at the camera we're watching this through, "Okay, this is good. What were you thinking during the explosion?"

"I wasn't."

"Alright, okay. What were you doing just before the explosion?"

"I was... looking at some wires, in the... in the electrics."

"The electrics?"

"Where a friend of mine told me to go. They called it the electrics. There was a wall covered in red... no, yeah, red wires."

The one without blue eyes puts a hand over their mouth, "What was your friend's name?"

The one without red hair decides to stay quiet this time. The one without blue eyes doesn't need to go after their friend, too. They want their friend to stay safe, far away from here.

"What was your friend's name?" The one without blue eyes repeats, picking up the taser lazily.

"It was... um, it was..." The one without red hair would like not to get tazed, "Their name is Cherie. Cherie Afton."

"Good! That's great! Now, do you know why Cherie told you to go to electrics?"

"Because they said something about staying safe."

"Do you think Cherie set the explosion?"

"No, they're... They're terrible with things like that."

"So they knew about it, at least?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. You're doing good. Where were you and Cherie before you went to electrical?"

"The control room. They were watching the monitors."

"What were you doing?"

"Sweeping up the bits of a glass I'd dropped." The one without red hair has an unsure edge to their voice.

"That was responsible of you. Did they tell you what they'd seen on the monitors?"

"No. They just told me to go to electrical."

"And you obeyed without thinking?"

The one without red hair shrugs, "I trust them."

"Mm-hmm... Alright, okay. I think that's good enough for today." The one without blue eyes smiles gently, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

The one without red hair nods. I'd best go get them now, eh? Alright. You just stay here, and I'll be right back. You're left in the monitor room alone while I walk off with a pair of handcuffs. You seem to still be watching the one without red hair. What's going on in your head? Pity? Curiosity?

The one without red hair turns to look at the camera.

They know who set the explosion. They know you did it. They know everything.