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Maddox and I both shook our heads.
She answered in a hushed tone reserved for libraries and movie theaters. “Oh, you’ll see a lot of inspiration throughout the Center taken from the glass ruins. Our founder, Nicholas Irons, was said to have been the one who built those ruins before they were swallowed up by the sea. The main area he had made into a theatre, so that even those without money to buy tickets could still see the show. A theatre of glass, the material strengthened through Marvel magic so that it was sturdy as concrete.
“It’s why many of the ruins still stand to this day, even though fish swim above and around them. Joining the Center will give you access to some of the ruins. It’s a wonderful meditative spot. The atrium is currently restricted to only higher ranking officials at the moment, but the rest of the ruins is open.”
Maddox gave a curious grunt.
“Really?” I asked, this being new to me. Maybe they’d started adding more perks to up recruitment numbers? Yes, there were plenty of unhinged people who didn’t need the cover of this “betterment” bullshit to join the sick and twisted shit lurking just underneath this polished marble veneer, but there were many, many others who had become aware of what was happening and would never get tangled up in this web. Documentaries had been made, people had come out and spoken about it, protests had been organized, and yet, still, no one could shut this place down.
“Oh yes, I love taking some time to reflect in the Glass Atrium. It’s only for us, though. Are you two thinking of bettering yourselves today?”
She cocked her head, the smile twitching. Her hands were behind her back, and something about her still whispering unsettled me. I glanced at my watch. Ten minutes left.
“Yes,” I answered definitively. “We are.”
“Great, let me take you to our Welcoming Center. We can get your betterment process started there.” She walked around us and through the library door, back out into the bleached white hall. Maddox gave me a look that appeared slightly worried, eyebrows drawn together on a face I barely recognized. I noticed a flicker of blue scales pop on his forehead.
Shit. Maybe we didn’t even have ten minutes.
I had to think fast. I remembered my short time walking these halls. Remembered a specific room that none of the initiates were ever allowed to enter. Maybe… “Can we see the Ruby Room?” It was a room that was said to not only hold the world’s largest slab of ruby in existence but was also rumored to contain the portal that took all the Center members to where the real cult would meet. It was why no one but actual Crimson Ring members were allowed in.
Macy and Madds both stopped to turn and look at me, confused at how I knew about that room.
“I did some googling,” I said. Macy didn’t seem entirely convinced. Those unsettling green gemlike eyes seemed to drill directly through my core. I maintained my composure and kept the lie going. “I think it would really help us both to see it. I’ve heard people walk out of there feeling reborn into their better selves.”
“That’s true, but…” She hesitated. Another Center employee walked past us, wearing the same all-black uniform and looking at Macy as if he wondered if she needed help. I noticed her pass a subtle nod to him, and he continued walking, his shoes tapping against the floor the only sound echoing in the wide hallway.
“We really need this,” Maddox pleaded, sounding very much like a lost puppy. So completely opposite to the gravelly and dominating presence he normally had. This ice dragon had so many sides to him it fascinated me.
“I guess maybe I can give you both a few minutes in the Ruby Room.” She turned, hands still tight behind her back. I noticed a red-and-black swirl tattoo creeping out from under the sleeve of her jacket. “This way.”
And that’s when multiple things happened that caused the situation to go from hopeful to shitshow.
The first to kick it off was a loud explosion that rocked the building.
The second was our illusions dropping, leaving us as two adult men wearing cheap wigs and masks over our faces.
The third was Macy running directly at us, shouting for help.
“The fuck was that?” Maddox shouted as he let loose a stream of ice from his open hand, the floor becoming coated in slippery ice. Macy didn’t stand a chance. Quite literally, she went tumbling, falling face-first and sliding to a stop at our feet. Something white and rectangular fell from her pocket and slid a few inches away from her. She struggled to get up, her shoulder looking like it might be injured, but Maddox was already running down the hall toward the explosion, mask and wig discarded, and he was shouting at me to follow.
