A cold day

It was a cold day.

I pressed my body onwards against the cold, dry wind that scratched at my flaking skin as I held on tightly to my overcoat. I passed an exhaust vent as it gave a disappointed sigh of soot mixed with warm smoke. The brief warmth found acceptance amongst my chilled nerves, and the sudden burst of energy pushed me further towards the dark, slim, and angular monolith of a building that was my corporation. I looked up into the sky and saw the eerie green glow of the hexagonal logo beyond the thick layer of smog. As I neared the building’s wall, and it looked as if I was about to walk into it, an extremely concealed doorway slid open and when I stepped through, it took its original place and vanished without a trace.

I walked along the narrow hallway, which was lined with thin hexagonal monoliths that emitted the same eerie green light through the hexagonal vents at their top. More of the same green light raced to and fro on the cold, hard metal floor as I walked past. The AI receptionist gave me its usual warm greeting, and I walked into my personal lift. The centralized AI flickered into life in the form of a hologram, as the door slid shit with a slight hiss.

“Good morning sir. You have one scheduled meeting with the Chairman Konrad

of Nightshade Corporation at 11:30 to 1:30 in Conference Chamber Number One. Your skin’s levels of hydration are lower than normal, and so is your body temperature. Would you like some medication, sir?”

“No, thank you. It’s just the wind outside.”

“Outdoor wind speed is at 49 mph, and humidly is at 20%. Pollution levels are high as usual, and outdoor activities are strongly recommended against.”

“No shit.”

“Is there anything more I can help you with sir?”

“No, thank you” I said as I stepped out of the lift and into my office.

This conference with Chairman Konrad could only spell trouble, as the tensions between our respective corporations were at an all time high, I thought to myself as I trudged towards Conference Room Number One.

The concealed door slid open in a hiss, and there he was, slouching on the Executive’s chair, Chairman Konrad himself. His face bore his trademark smugness, and he took a sharp glance in my general direction.

“Chairman Hex.” He muttered, “Long time no see.”

“Long time no see indeed, Chairman Konrad.” I replied, “What is it that you want to discuss with me at such short notice?”

“Ah. Ever so dull and straight to the point, how very boring.”

“Alright. I’ll play your little game. Go on, what do you want?”

“Oh, nothing much really.” He said in a more serious tone. “It’s just that the tensions between our corporations have reached an alarming level since… the Incident.”

The very mention of the Incident sent chills down my spine as I recalled the events that occurred.

“Go on, what do you propose?”

Konrad leaned in towards me and said:

“I propose the merging of our two respective corporations.”

Something wasn’t right.

“Now, now, there is no need to be alarmed, you will get a fair share of the profits that our merged corporation reaps, and we will share the seat of Chairman. No tricks. Just a fair deal, but if one of us happens to… ever so unfortunately expire,

all the profits and holdings of the expired will be transferred to the other. “

While Konrad went through the minute details of the contract he had set up on his holotab, I saw a flicker in the air at the corner of my eye.

“Here. The paperwork has been all sorted out. Now, you just have to sign at the bottom here, and voilà, the legal side of the merging will be complete.”

“Chairman Konrad, are we alone in this room?”

“Yes, why?” He said in a well-faked tone of perplex.

A flicker of fear raced across his face, and all was clear.

An assassin cloaked with a middle-end invisibility field was standing behind me, biding his time until I finished signing Konrad’s contract, then kill me with a swift snap of my neck. Konrad will then have the documents that state HexCorp as a part of Nightshade Corporation, and solely bask within the profits reaped by the two corporations. A smart move on the chessboard of corporate conquest, but not smart enough.

“Because I don’t hate anything more than a crowd.”

I splashed my cup of boiling tea at the assassin’s face, and he gave a sharp shriek of pain. I grabbed his head and smashed it down onto the metal table, leaving a visor-shaped dent. Red started to saturate through the assassin’s spandex suit, and a head shaped object started to form. Chairman Konrad stood up and started to back away from me and towards the windows. I elbowed the assassin’s neck, breaking it and his cloaking device, revealing a figure clad in Black Skull amour.

One down, one to go.

Click.

I looked up and saw Konrad pointing a hand cannon directly at my face.

“Goodnight, Hex.” He said with a sneer as he pulled the trigger.

I held up the dead body of the assassin in front of me, and I felt the heavy thud of the bullet hitting his chest. Konrad fired more rounds at me as I slowly advanced, waiting for my chance to strike.

Click. Click. Click.

“Goddammit.” I heard Konrad mutter.

My retractable ice shard launcher clicked into place in my hand as I slowly walked towards the trembling form of Konrad, who was trying frantically to reload his hand cannon. I pointed the cold, hard barrel of the launcher directly at his heart, and pulled the trigger.

A flow of triple-filtered water flowed into the sub zero chamber of the launcher, instantly forming into an ultrathin, ultradurable shard of ice bearing the shape of a refined needle. A concentrated burst of hypercompressed supercooled nitrogen pushed the shard at 900 miles per hour down the frictionless barrel of the launcher, through the shivering pectoral muscles of Chairman Konrad Kruse, and the pericardium, myocardium and endocardium of his heart. His still beating heart continuously pushed blood through the microscopic hole through itself, where it slowly clotted within his pericardium, obstructing the movement of his cardiac muscles, and cutting off the flow of dissolved oxygen to the rest of his asphyxiating body.

“How very unfortunate.” I say with a sense of irony, towards Konrad’s fear choked face, which steadily took on a dark shade of purple. “How very unfortunate.”

I stand there admiring my handiwork – a traceless murder which would be mistaken as a heart attack, as there was no bullet wound or bullet to be found within his corpse due to the miniscule size of the wound and the ice shard either fully passing through his body or melting down within it.

I suddenly feel a cold stream of wind flow through the hole punctured through the window by the ice shard. My nerves started to retract at the sudden burst of coldness, and my skin started to flake at the continuous scratching of the wind once more.

It was a cold day.