In the underground station, departing from its bay, the train slowly enters through a dark tunnel that escorts the rails uphill. As it steadily ascends, the narrow dim unveils, accelerating towards the gloomy skies, the city reveals itself before the destination reaches the skies, almost touching the clouds in the troposphere. Crowded with spires and buildings that rest underneath the train's supporting platform, heavy fog sets in motion and brushes the train, unaware of what passengers will see through their window. There are large amounts of skyscrapers that reside next to the rails on both sides, but only its bare silhouette is being traced with the fog that blocks it. Within eight kilometers from the ground up, and the fog begins to clear, exhibits the blue ocean that swallows the lands, as once the province of Canada, Ontario, now sunken deep in the uninhabitable.
Land that is scarce, the remains of humanity created their own cities to dominate the sea. Bridges connect major cities in the country like a spider's web. Nature inside Ontario would be a concept, unless sailing through the outer borders to view the uncertain. Ensuring safety is one aspect, but could they really retain the foundation for this long?
Boarding the train, Eugene views the floor with his elbows resting on his thighs. As rumbling noises fill the space, and nothing but murmurs clutter from other passengers, he talks to himself and questions about animals. He speaks in a quiet, confusing speech that Audra noticed, "Have I ever seen a bird?" He was curious and filled himself with inquiries, "I've heard stories that people wake up to the sound of howls from these creatures when the sun rises."
Audra interrupts him, "You've never seen a bird before?"
Eugene glances over her, "No. From stories that my mother told me, they were one of the most important creatures in the world."
"They don't howl. They whistle."
Astonished, he was quizzing Audra on birds, "But... Why do they whistle? And how?"
"I couldn't tell you. If my parents were around, I would have asked them."
"Right."
Eugene was slightly disappointed. Audra gave him an insight on these birds, "However... What made them special was that they could fly."
"What's new?" He groans, "They only fly and make noises, but I don't see its importance."
"Um... One must imagine flying, and humans can't do that. And..." She stopped to think and half of her head was viewing the window behind her before answering, "One must imagine being free like them."
Confused on this, Eugene did not add a comment on it, and let Audra continue on with her conversation. Despite this confused look, he is still open with what she has to say. "I've heard they don't just whistle." Audra says, "They make more than one sound. My mother told me they can 'chirp', or they can make croaking noises like... a frog?"
"What's a croaking noise?" Eugene replied, "And what even is a frog?"
"Probably some made up creature in a bedtime story."
"So why are they special?"
"They were the reason to look forward to."
Audra's face began to frown when all she could see beneath her was the vast ocean. She couldn't help but let out a sigh. "It's a relief to see a bird in your life." She says, "But they don't belong here. They belong to the mountains where others may be."
"I didn't know they existed."
"And that is your fun fact. They are beautiful. Set them free if you ever were to see one."
Eugene could not wrap his head around it. A bird that coexists with humanity, and should he ever see one, he must let that go as Audra mentioned. He sways his head to look at the floor once more, pondering the idea of catching one, while Audra proceeds to stare out the window, where the clouds pass by.
As moments passed, Theo received a buzzing noise in his right pocket, where he quickly took a flip phone out. He reveals it, and was sent a text message. As he skims through, he lightly smiles. Eugene glanced over him and asked, "What are you smiling for?"
"Smiling for?" Theo looks over to Eugene, "Well it seems that something had stirred up a drama in The Underworld."
Eugene was confused, "Just state what's happening."
"Our next assignment..." Theo on his flip phone, begins to relay quietly and shows Eugene a message from The Underworld, "Is a special one. This is something important that The Underworld had tasked us to investigate."
Audra stopped staring at the window and she pointed out to Theo, "Is it just us? That's a huge responsibility on our shoulders for the organization to rely on us."
Theo answers her, slowly conveying concerns in his speech, "Nope, it's worse than that. Many are involved. Apparently it's come to a point where its auditors had to verify transactions in the past few weeks."
"That explains why our payments are on hold. What caused it?"
Audra gestures to Theo to hand over his phone. Theo hands it over to her and adds more about the situation, "A lot of the killings have not been verified yet. There's a speculation people pretend to be the targets. They say it's a movement caused by one person."
Hearing this, Audra replies, "Bullshit. There must be a group that's behind all this, not just one person."
"Well... at least we got something to do."
The text reads:
In recent events, we have received a report from The Crows that the tasks people had assigned to, or partake in, the targets are still alive. This morning, a past assignment we gave to one of our Executioners, the target had remained alive, despite The Crows having confirmation of the target's status labeled deceased a few days ago. How they are still roaming the city, questions the entire organization. Because of this, we are to hold off any payments from [10/04/2059] until [30/04/2059]. Additionally, our suspicions are raised when The Crows have spotted a woman in the upper area of Toronto, last seen this afternoon. This task is open to all who wish to investigate this further. If proven to be the cause of our mishap, do not question further, and continue what you are told to do.
-- The Underworld
Eugene was amused, "A lot of Executioners for this one huh?"
Theo responded, "Might as well join them. Right?"
"Tread lightly on it."
"But it's best if we hurry." Theo got his phone back and placed it back in his pocket.
Eugene's eyes were widened, suddenly being aware of his surroundings, something caught his attention. Without looking directly, and across from him, there was a man in the corner of his right eye, who seemed to eavesdrop on the group's conversation. This man kept staring at them, unphased, yet he was interested in what else they would add. Audra was looking directly at him, and with a hint of annoyance, she confronted him. "Do you need something?" She says, "Clearly you were staring at us."
The rest of the group looked at him. The man lightly smiled and replied, "Interesting conversation. Perhaps you know something that we don't."
Theo was weirded out, "Who's 'we' in this? And who's speaking?"
The man ignores and speaks, "As I was saying, perhaps you know something about... a woman?"
Audra was slightly worried and confronted him once again, "And what if we know about this... woman? What will you do?"
The man kept smiling, "Then there is something that must be done. A private talk between us wouldn't hurt. Do you accept that offer?"
Eugene was composed, the rest were nervous about what this mysterious person was signaling. Realizing what this man wanted, he knew that he had to do something quick before things started to escalate. The garment this man was wearing was completely covered in gray, the coat he wore was black, and had a formal uniform that was wrinkled. As this man kept moving to keep himself comfortable on his seat, the coat moved slightly to the left, and he noticed that the uniform's chest pocket had engraved the letters 'F.G'. Deep inside, he was furious, but he must contain that emotion. He lays back with his arms crossed, calling him out, "So why are you in our way, Tolstoy?"
Both Theo and Audra turned their heads to Eugene with a surprised look before staring at the man. "Orders." Tolstoy broke this mysterious character as he mentions his motive, "Orders to carry out."