Escapism

^{Rie sat as she always did at the secluded corner of the small cafe she frequented, usually on Thursday and Fridays, bathed in the dull orange glow of the hall light. She had been there for nearly three hours, and her awkwardly small table was already littered with the same number of large iced long blacks and tattered napkins.}

^{She’d been coming here for two years now to study, and each time she passed down the hallway lined with stuffed bookshelves she felt smug about what an incredibly good find this place was. Her spot was almost never taken, which she felt was insanely good luck, but she wasn’t going to complain, and the people who came and went always appeared peculiar and somehow different. She wasn’t sure why, but she accepted it and cherished it. She was introverted, after all, and she was happy to let things be and soak in her environment, appreciative it was always there for her when she needed some time to herself.}

^{Things had been hard lately, and she’d considered running away. Exam stress, coupled with the standard feuds she was having with her parents at home, meant that she would do anything to be independent and outside of the house. She was tired of her life. School was difficult and she found it hard mixing with people her age. So she came here to escape the life she disliked, in the hope of a taste of independence.}

^{On this particular day visiting the cafe, she hadn’t started settling into her work before noticing an urgency to the people who came and went. They wore quirky clothing, and looked different, but they all seemed to be hurrying towards the back of the cafe, and not to or from something else. The bathroom was a different direction, so she was extra curious where they were headed.}

^{She was reluctant to deviate from her usual routine, especially seeing as she had exams coming up, but she couldn’t help give in to the curiosity. She decided to lie to herself, convince herself, that she needed the break, if only to get up and get another coffee to get her through to the evening.}

^{Waiting for three women dressed in oddly coloured gowns to rush by, she decided to follow them down a narrow hallway where sign clearly dangled at head height, saying, “EMPLOYEES ONLY.” The three women had vanished around a corner, but she pursued with hurrying footsteps eager to see what the fuss was about, sparing only a brief glance over her shoulder to check her intrusion was unseen.}

^{Rounding a corner with cracked wall plaster, the hallway choked with old wooden crates, Rie was suddenly confronted with a dead end and a painting which was turned on its side. It was by Felix Vallotton, painted sometime in the 19th century she knew, and it was titled Le Mesonge. Her mother was an art historian, and she recalled seeing this painting recently. Why the painting was here, forgotten, and upturned, she had no idea.}

^{Her brain ticked over for a good while, trying to process the oddities occurring at the back of the cafe she’d frequented for years - it was surreal, bizarre, and curious. The women were just here - she saw them - and there wasn’t anywhere else they could have possibly gone.}

^{She was just starting to come to grips with the insanity before an athletic woman with wild ebony hair and a voluminous lavender robe bumped into her from behind and then walked right through the painting, vanishing.}

^{“Excuse me!” she shouted after the woman, first and foremost ready to dispense her ire on the rude treatment. How dare she be so careless. Without a thought she hurried after the woman and, like her passed clean through the body of the man in the painting.}

^{Bubbling with anger, Rie found herself chasing the woman along a descending stuffy tunnel which had been carved out of the bedrock. Before long she’d lost her in the crowds of oddly dressed people, much like she’d been seeing the last few weeks, all headed the same direction - away from her and deeper and down the tunnel - who appeared to be joining this tunnel from dozens of other smaller shafts along the way.}

^{She tried to catch her breath as she was bustled down the tunnel by the crowds, dumbstruck and utterly confused - even a little concerned for her safety now. She hated tight spaces, and this tunnel wasn’t the most spacious place she’d ever been, although there was plenty of light being thrown onto the surroundings from glass lanterns hanging on the ceiling with tiny buzzing creatures of luminescent blue.}

^{Eventually the tunnel opened out and her gaze was met with the most magnificent sight of an underground city sprawling across a huge valley below. The city was punctuated by hundreds of stone spires and what looked like thousands of glowing lights, similar in colour to those in the tunnel before. She glimpsed what she thought were people flying between buildings too, some in multicoloured groups wearing robes, others whizzing by at tremendous speeds.}

^{All the tunnels had now converged on a much wider descending slope that wound its way into the belly of the city some distance below, and Rie found herself simply too curious to turn back and question what was happening. This was a welcome distraction. Some people took off from the path and glided into the city, but she noticed that not everyone was capable of flying.}

^{The wide gravel path eventually met the walls of the city which shot up out of the dark bedrock like vast crumbling cliffs, then it passed through a complicated gate which was covered across its entirety with all manner of geometric locks. At the very top of the gate was a beautifully polished gold plaque that read FREYROCK.}

^{“Serious security for the place,” Rie thought to herself after passing through the shadow of the gate. “What the heck is this place that needs anything even remotely fortified?”}

^{The waft of cooking bread caressed her nostrils as she walked now through what must have been a residential sector of sorts, dissected by a long and wide road and deep into the city itself. On either side of the road, low thatched houses had been stacked up with the dark bedrock bricks to make modest and fine homes, some with wooden doors and windows, others more like cave dwellings. Those, she noticed, were preferred by a stouter denizen of the city, most of which had beards or braided locks of hair and smoked pipes.}

^{Beyond the houses, buildings grew in height and complexity, some maintaining the dark essence of the land around, others taking on a paler glow from a different rock - those seeming to be administrative buildings, maybe, Rie seeing human-like folk clad in pure white robes holding stacks of books and scrolls.}

^{Suddenly, without warning, an arm grabbed Rie’s forearm so hard that she yelped out in pain. She was being dragged down one of the side streets which was covered near entirely in shadow from the towering buildings on either side.}

^{“Just where the heck do you think you’ve been?” came the testy and desperate voice of her abductor. “A human has crossed the boundary and the city’s going absolutely crazy!”}

^{Rie was surprised to see he was a stout man, smaller than her even, though he was much meatier and had a pinched, mousy face and curled greasy locks of hair. Around his neck was a shiny silver rectangle with a wax seal stamped with the letters F.I.B. then, embossed into the metal, Agent Herb Crauxhat.}

^{She wasn’t about to out herself, given that whatever it was she’d done in the cafe was clearly a broach of whatever protocol this mysterious city had, and she wasn’t going to throw away a perfectly good opportunity to escape her parents and her studies. “I uh, heard, yeah. I just came from that way. Where the humans are, I mean.”}

^{“Oh. Really?” Herb snorted, a little shocked and confused. “Why were you out there?”}

^{She had to scramble for an excuse that seemed likely to absolve her from any specifics without being too ambiguous that she wouldn’t blend in properly with whoever this person thought she was. “Uh, I can’t say. Special mission. You wouldn’t know about it.”}

^{Herb frowned, pinching his already hawkish face even more. “You can’t say, Violet?” he spat, clearly bristling. “You can’t bloody say? After what, ten years of partnership? Since when have you started keeping secrets from me? Absolutely ridiculous.” He crossed his arms and shot a look past Rie back to the busy street beyond.}

^{“Violet? I don’t get you,” was all she could muster. Herb snapped his beady-eyed gaze back at her then jabbed a thick sausage-like finger into her chest. It prodded a piece of stamped metal very much like Herb’s. How hadn’t she seen it before? She frowned, took it between thumb and forefinger, then read the tag:}

^{F.I.B., then, embossed in the same way, Agent Violet Elhoasa.}

^{“You’re acting really weird, Violet. Really weird. What did they do to you out there?”}

^{A long silence passed while she figured out what to say. “Sorry, it’s been a long day,” she sighed eventually. Her hands curled around the garment she wore, fussing with the billowing swathes of a silken lavender robe.}

^{Herb sighed with her and his features softened. “Look, I know it’s hard out there. So I’ve heard, anyway. Either way, we have to get back to headquarters to help with the search. Apparently the breach means the other networks have been immediately closed until we find the intruder. No trade. No reinforcements for the war. Everything is locked down.”}

^{Herb gently guided Rie back to the street and they walked for another fifteen minutes in silence, Rie following just behind trying to keep up as they traversed sprawling plazas, a bazaar, and a series of rooftop walkways which appeared to only service F.I.B. agents, various shaded doorways requiring them to present their badges to a guard. She couldn’t tell if she was disoriented in this new place - this new world - but it felt vaguely like they were headed back in the same direction of the portal she came in through, though she was probably much lower down in the immense subterranean cavern than the cafe.}

^{They eventually came to a thick obsidian tower. Rie recalled seeing the immense cylindrical building from the path coming down; she’d marveled at the geometric gold patterns which adorned it, and noted how it spanned the entire height of the cavern, from city floor all the way into the dark stalactites above.}

^{Rie and Herb now stood in the heart of the tower which was abuzz with activity. Everywhere she looked people in robes were running around, crossing the huge lobby into one of the dozen or so adjoining side hallways. Everything was cast in the same blue luminescent glow she’d seen on the descent into Freyrock.}

^{Herb led her through the barrage of people to the back of the lobby where they were required to flash their passes once more, entering into a hallway that had a large golden plaque that read, “FREYROCK INVESTIGATION BUREAU. AGENTS ONLY.” This was strange and exciting for Rie. She’d never so much as left her small town, let alone swap identities with someone and end up in a huge underground city. What was her assignment here? Who were the people that inhabited this world?}

^{After cutting back and forth through a network of other tunnels, Herb had brought Rie to what looked like a lift lobby, confronted by a row of ten obsidian doors, all gilded with the same geometric designs she’s seen throughout the city. Every now and then the doors would glide upwards and people would come or go from the dimly lit cubicles inside.}

^{Rie leaned over to Herb and raised her voice above the noise of the room, “Why are we here?”}

^{Herb looked puzzled at the question and, stalling for time, he straightened out his own worn brown robe. “We need to go somewhere,” was all he said before he took her arm rather firmly and whisked her into one of the freshly opened cubicles.}

^{“Ouch, you’re hurting me!” She yelped as she was basically dragged inside the cramped, musty room.}

^{“Sit down,” Herb said, pointing a finger at a comfortable looking chair that had seatbelts on it.}

^{“Why should I do anything you tell me to, Herb? Where the heck are you taking me?”}

^{“Just strap in. I’ll tell you everything soon.” He strapped himself in to a chair opposite her and adopted a statue-like face, just staring at the wall behind Rie.}

^{Conforming, Rie strapped herself in with a huff. The capsule began to hum and then without warning, it was weightless, as if she’d been fired out of a cannon straight into the air. The experience only lasted for maybe 5 seconds, but she felt slightly giddy and a little excited by the feeling. She smiled slightly to herself as they stopped, looking over to Herb who was completely stone-faced still. “Why’s he so damn serious, this man?” she thought to herself.}

^{Herb unstrapped mechanically then stood at the door which glided open once more. As it did, Rie realised it wasn’t possible to see through to the other side. There was only a shimmering layer of silver, like mercury. With a frown on his face, Herb gestured to the portal for Rie to step through, which she did reluctantly.}

^{The cafe. She was back in the hallway where she was rudely jostled by the passing lady - the same one with the lavender robe. In the exact same spot. Why, though?}

^{Before she could consider it further, Herb joined her - allegedly through the wall itself - with a rather smug look on his face. “You thought you could just sneak into Freyrock, did you?”}

^{The question stumped her for a moment. Sneaking in wasn’t truly her intention - she wasn’t infiltrating it or causing trouble; she was just curious. “How did you know?” she said plainly to him.}

^{“I’ve known Violet for ten years, my dear. I’d know if she was kidnapped by someone else —” he was cut off immediately.}

^{“Kidnapped? I never kidnapped anyone, you idiot! I was happily enjoying my coffee, studying, and I was knocked over by some woman in this hallway! You can’t blame me for following her when she walked through a painting!”}

^{Herb was frowning pensively now, chin lifted, listening to every word. It was the first time his features had softened. “Oh, is that so?” he offered bluntly.}

^{“Yes, that is so,” Rie snapped back.}

^{He observed her quietly for a long while, a hand wringing his chin in the most annoying way possible before offering, “I believe you. And well, you don’t look like a criminal mastermind to be honest. Probably just an honest mistake after bumping into Violet when she was coming back. Messes with the way of things, when we touch humans.”}

^{Rie was frowning in puzzlement as she listened to Herb. “When we touch humans?”}

^{“Anyway, here’s what we’re going to do,” Herb went on with a light wave of his meaty hand. “You’re already wanted at Freyrock, but they probably won’t catch on for a while. Not unless I told them. Which I won’t. If you show me your world.” He shuffled a little sheepishly at the gall of his own words.}

^{“Show you my world? What, this world?” she gestured around the hallway randomly, as if this signified the entirety of earth.}

^{“Mhmm,” Herb nodded, planting his hands on his waist now and straightening up.}

^{“So you want to be an intruder here, against the orders of your F.I.B - whatever that is - but you’ll do it by blackmailing me?”}

^{Herb shuffled uncomfortably again. “Well, uh, when you put it like that…” He gulped. “Look, I know you don’t want to stay here either - I’ve seen it in your files. And I’ve always wanted to see this world. I’ve worked on earth relations for ten bloody years,” he spat energetically. “Ten. Damn. Years. The least you think they’d do was let me explore it a bit! I can’t go back now, either. They’ll punish me too for not recognising you as an intruder sooner. I’d lose my job!”}

^{Rie actually felt a bit sorry for this person she’d already crossed a secret city with. Presumably locked away in that subterranean world doing who knows what. He was unpleasant at times, but she saw a softer side to him she thought she might even enjoy.}

^{What was there to lose, anyway, by helping him out? She wanted to escape her crazy life, and he wanted to escape his. It would be a trade. A switch. And no one would ever know.}

^{“Fine,” she conceded with a sigh. “We’ll switch. I’ll take a day to show you anywhere you want in my town - though bear in mind it’s probably nowhere near as exciting as you think it is. But in exchange, I want you to tell me how to survive in your world undetected. I want to be Violet Elhoasa.}

^{“Deal.” Herb thrust his meaty hand out to find Rie’s and they shook on their lie.}