The freeze effect at seven in the morning

It was later that morning. All the effects of the freeze blast have worn off by this time. Will finishes scraping up the last of the residue from the freeze venom. It’s impossible to leave it laying anywhere because of the horrid smell.

Furthermore, the blast had been uncontrolled, so it had covered most of his allotted space. He finishes the last of it and dumps it in the can. However he still feels ruffled from the encounter. They obviously had the wrong guy, but it didn’t matter now.

After he finishes cleaning, he locks up, and drives to work. It is a short trip because he doesn’t need to leave the zone today. Indeed, that would have required more extensive planning. Furthermore, it was getting worse. It seemed more restrictions were added regularly these days.

The freeze effect at seven in the morning

He parks his machine in his assigned space and prepares to enter the building. He didn’t like data entry. All his working life he had been an electrician, until the takeover. Now he did data entry. The trades were the machines now. They did their own work and design.

Under the oversight of the custodians, of course. Everything was done under the oversight of the custodians now. It was the highest law of the land.

Will stops at the door for the scan. His retinas are scanned. And immediately he feels a pinch in his brain. Afterward, he feels profoundly relieved. Once again, he is free of what they seek. Eight hours later Will is sure he will lose his mind as he leaves the office. After the scan, of course.

Will is not a thief. Nor is he a threat to anyone or himself. He got the raid and the subsequent freeze blast this morning because he walked to work the day before instead of using the machine. He broke out of the prescribed routine. The custodians were serious about the routine. Deviations were irregular.

Custodians

Will bristles at the thought of the custodians. Their name for themselves, not his. However, he stops his thoughts from continuing down this path. Lest they somehow be picked out in the next scan. The scans were a part of all existence now.

It seems all the years mankind had been searching for life in the cosmos, it had been right here with us all along. In fact an entire century had passed since they first arrived. It was a fluke of nature. A genetic design in their evolution. An evolution into beings that are invisible in our light spectrum. A natural and perfect camouflage.

Will arrives back to his allotted space. Three finders are waiting for him. The finders are the custodian enforcers, also the freeze blast assholes. Will isn’t happy to see them and doesn’t prevent the thoughts from forming. Let them see it on their scans. Furthermore, he still feels rankled from the wake and freeze this morning.

Freeze effect

An alarm sounds on the device one of the finders is holding. Will watches the being look squarely at him. His skin crawls and he stares back, intent on facing this thing. He was toast now anyway. No one ever comes back when the finders have been sent to, find.

Will grips the wheel of the machine tightly. He was in it now. Either he fights or disappears. Maybe both. He has mere seconds to decide. The machine is free of the grid. He is an electrician after all. It’s possible to flee. The finders close in. Will turns the key…

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The freeze effect