Atticus

Atticus , 27 works at the Fleet Management system as a senior Operations official . He stays alone in his apartment with a few plants that need to be watered everyday . The apartment is outside the district . The district is where all the companies are located , everyday millions of people who stay outside the district commute to the office and back top their houses and so on forth . Atticus is also one among of the millions participating in the rituals . A hundred blocks that goes beyond the horizon housed the millions . Atticus has been so punctual that he was awarded numerous disciplinary awards so early on his career . He had a keen sense of detail and knew instinctively how things in the office worked .

One such Day

As Atticus dwindles away his time away in a concrete building , he is called upon to inspect a factory in which the fleets are houses . There was an e-mail at 8:00 PM last night intimating a security breach in one of the factories — about 500 miles from the headquarters . So Atticus gets up in the morning and gets in his ride-wagon and speeds to the location . It was more of an away time than a matter of concern , which was well known to Atticus . A security breach happened all the time , well at least once a month . It could be a homeless man who has entered to while away the night or a racoon in search of food . Nonetheless it had to be attended to . All he had to do was to punch in the security code , scan for damages and report it to the senior office of the region . Simple protocol usually . It was around noon that he finally reached the factory . He carried his lunch as usual and gulped it along the way . But the surprise that awaited him was something he has never encountered . As he parked his vehicle and slowly entered the building , the lights were all off — highly suspicious since this was Category A — Location — Meaning a theft or damage occurred once in 5 years . As he made his way into the building with his company given magnum flashlight , he started to notice a number of gaps in between the vehicles . Atticus looked back at the door for a good few seconds as he was sure that there must have been damages . He again turned back at the gaps to scan for information . The building must have housed a good few hundred vehicles ( estimate in the range of 500 vehicles ) . And now according to his calculations at least 50 of them have to be missing . He knew better to call his friend Chris now than to solve the case by himself or report it to the head of security in the Headquarters . Any information that was to be given to the headquarters need to be thorough and lately there has been a bit of a negligence in the main building ,as there has been talk of corporate change set to happen .

Within half an hour , Chris had arrived at the scene of crime . Hello Chris welcomed Atticus .

Hello Atticus , said Chris quickly getting into the thick of things . Sensing things were a little heated up .

Chris , hey man look at this . There is at least a fleet of 50 vehicles missing .

Ok I will have a look at the scene , see if I can get any fingerprints or some ID cards . Chris got his torch light on and went searching for some clues which could be interesting .

Meanwhile Atticus was looking around himself to see if he can get any clues . But he limited the perimeter . Let the pro do the big work . Chris was audible for a while , as they caught up on certain things . But soon he became inaudible . The lights were not particularly bright that day . He tried analyzing were Chris ought to be . But soon gave up and got lost in his own trail and thoughts . A few minutes went on and suddenly he felt the presence of something that he deeply remembered . It was an otherworldly presence , a presence he saw when he was very young

The memory was always a disturbing and inconclusive one . Nothing could be made of it , but just bits and pieces . He could vaguely remember that a child being carried away by that presence . The footsteps grew louder and he somehow caught a glimpse of what resembled a security guard .

Hey ! Shouted Atticus at the Guard . The guard just continued running not paying any attention to him . Atticus chased him for a while and suddenly came to a halt . He stood there in disbelief . The guard just passed through a vehicle as if he were a ghost . Atticus was bemused and it surely confirmed his belief it was the same presence he had seen when he was a kid . After a few seconds of disbelief he continued his chase , going in mazes . Unable to find the guard or his friend , took a moments rest to catch his breath . As he made his was back to the entrance now , to his left he was shocked to see his friend unconscious