THE MOMENT
Glenda was nervous even before she stepped into the forbidden forest. The sun was setting and faint evening light wasn't enough to pierce the dense canopy, but the chill was nice. A not-quite wolf-like howl rose and fell in the distance as she waited. She was anxious enough to feel scared, though, she hoped there was nothing to be frightened of within the forest.
"Ms. Glenda Zephyrwing," a voice spoke in front of her before she saw anything. The breeze grew still; but, she noticed white particles gathering into a cloud. "Follow me, please, Ms. Zephyrwing," the voice said and the cloud drifted away from her. Glenda followed but chose to keep her guard up instead of asking questions. She didn't know who invited her to the forest, nor why it was forbidden. But, she did not want to get surprised again. It'd taken all her training to keep calm when the feminine voice startled her at first and now she made sure to keep extra alert as they walked deeper into the darkness.
She followed in silence for almost 10 minutes, then the white dust cloud floated through a small opening between trees. Glenda wasn't sure she would fit and searched for a way to go around but the rest of the trees grew together forming an impenetrable wall. She looked left and right but the small opening was the only way in. To confirm that was her path the white cloud floated out again.
"This way, Ms. Zephyrwing," the voice said.
"Okay," she nodded. She didn't like the thought of being trapped in a tight place, even for a second, but it was necessary. The cloud drifted through again, and she crouched to follow through. She rushed through as quick as she could and luckily the passage was little more than a thick wall. Her leg and arm pushed through one side before her other leg left the forest behind.
"No!" she recognized the white room as a prison, even if she wasn't sure it was the same room she'd been in before. She turned to try and leave again; but, the gap had sealed itself leaving only a smooth, white glowing wall.
"What's going on!?" she demanded from the cloud. "Who are you!?" The particles swirled and coalesced into a humanoid shape and in moments became a blonde woman wearing a starry housedress.
"Hello, Ms. Zephyrwing," the woman smiled broadly. Her voice sounded friendlier than on the trip there. "My name is Andie and I was asked by my boss to bring you here."
"You're an A.I.? Who's your boss??" Glenda asked. The woman exuded friendliness and at the very least Glenda walked into the room herself instead of being abducted. She was willing to hope it was a different situation than the previous time she found herself in a room like that.
"That would be me," a new voice spoke up. Glenda recognized it instantly; but, didn't relax right away. A portly man in a Hawaiian shirt emerged from a portal to join them. "thank you, Andie," he nodded at the blonde A.I. "Give us some time alone," he said.
"You got it, Mr. Ozone," Andie smiled and walked out of the room through her own portal.
"What the hell's all this for?" Glenda asked. Ozone was chosen to be the coach of her roller derby team and he did not need to go to these lengths to chat with her, they'd seen each other that morning. He was a mercenary merchant and Glenda knew better than to lower her guard around him. She trusted that he didn't have any ill will toward her; but, he would definitely take payment to develop some.
"For your safety and my reputation," Ozone answered. He seemed to realize that Glenda was still stiff and he took several steps back to give her space.
"You and Tamara are putting me in a real bind with this contract I made with Io," he said. Io was the boss of Glenda's boss and she was the one that commissioned Ozone to coach the team. "I was told the whole squad was on board; but, that doesn't seem to be the case."
"Tamara too...?" Glenda asked. It wasn't hard to guess what he was talking about. He was hired to train a team of Unique Souls; but, not all of them were Unique yet. After she discovered what the process was, Glenda had been putting it off as much as possible. She planned to leave the team, by any means, if she was forced to go through with it; but so far she'd been lucky just by dragging her feet. Of course, she did it all on her own.
When she was abducted, she was tipped off that her team was hiding things from her. She continued her duties as little as she could while she found out what that was; but, she assumed the other four members were in on it.
"Yeah," Ozone nodded. "I already talked to her, so it's your turn," he said. "I get the feeling that you're not willing to go along with becoming a Unique Soul, is that right?" he asked.
"I'm not going to murder a million people, especially not my Zeros," Glenda shook her head. She was glad to learn Tamara wasn't that hardened either. Though, maybe now she was if Ozone convinced her. Whatever he said, she wasn't going to let him change her mind too.
"And, that's a problem," Ozone nodded. "According to the contract, I'm coaching Alpha Squad, a team of Unique Souls, for the match. If I don't deliver Unique Souls to that match, I've failed the contract," he said.
"That's not your fault!" Glenda said. "Io promised you something she didn't have! She forfeited the deal first!"
"Yeh," Ozone shrugged. "But, I don't get paid that way. It's better for me if I just enforce it as is" he added.
"You can't force me to do it!" Glenda shook her head. She knew that much at least. The horrible process had to be consensual at all levels for everyone involved, even if they didn't know exactly what they were consenting to.
"There are loopholes of course," Ozone chuckled. "Io can absolutely force it if she really felt the need; but, that's why we're here," he gestured at the white room around them. "I've got a few loopholes of my own I can put to work; if you're willing to go along with my plan."
"Where is this?" Glenda asked since he brought it up. She changed topics just to get a little more time to think. "Is this why the forest is forbidden?"
"This is a White room, it's like a pocket universe where we can chat without anyone eavesdropping. Io has no idea you're here; but, I got special permission to open it in the forbidden forest, to double up on privacy. The forest is owned by Chroma Corp.; it's a fae preserve and forbidden to outsiders in general." His answer convinced Glenda to trust him a little more, at least to hear him out and consider his plan. But, she had an unbreakable stipulation.
"I'm not killing a single person," Glenda shook her head.
"I know my business, trust me," Ozone nodded. "You won't have to."