Chapter Five - Ozma
Eight hours later, Hadiyah and her team are unable to find the answers that they need to find. Deep down she hopes that another team has already figured it out but her team is the best. She knew if her team didn’t have anything, no one did.
“I’m just going to say it,” Makis says aloud, “If we don’t have anything by now, I’m pretty sure whoever did this works at UPC.”
“Makis,” Hadiyah tries to say calmly, “I highly doubt that someone at this corporation would be up to this. I’m sure there are teams that are checking each employee and I’m sure that they won’t find anything.” Hadiyah has worked at the Portal Company for well over ten years and has nothing but respect for the company and its people.
“Then it’s a natural portal user,” Makis adds.
“Don’t be ridiculous, none exists,” Hadiyah says.
“Do we really know that for sure? Remember the scrolls? They say that one existed back in the 1200’s. Maybe Vane got their hands on another one,” Makis persists.
Frustrated, even more so now, Hadiyah says, “Listen, can we please get back to work, I’m sure there is a reason, a reasonable one, as to why this happened.”
There’s only been one record of a natural portal user and that’s been dismissed as false. A natural portal user is one who can tap into time and the darkness of empty space and be able to teleport themselves freely. This magic aspect of teleportation helped to shape the UPC to what it is today.
Dr. Russell Anazk was the one who found the scrolls on a natural portal user and used the information that he found to start up the UPC. Many believe he is the sole person to start the corporation which leaves his partner in the shadows at times. However, this is perfectly fine for Ozma who runs the entire operation. Dr. Anzak is the brains and Ozma is the one in charge.
Not much history is known about these two people. Both Anzak and Ozma grew up on the planet Vid. Anazk and Ozma both met in high school yet their relationship is and has always been strictly professional. Both are very cunning people while Anazk will use his education to get what he wants, Ozma goes about it by any means necessary.
“Hey Charis,” Samir calls over to the twenty-three year old, “I think I have something.”
“Really?!” she exclaims and then quickly covers her mouth, knowing that she spoke a tad too loudly.
“Look here,” he explains as Charis leans over to look at his computer screen, “These blockers were created and they bore a signature on them. It’s faint and not all of the blockers have them, but it’s there. Past couple of hours I’ve been trying to break this one block that has a signature on it.”
“Samir, that’s just a waste of time, sorry to tell you, but why would someone leave their ID on a blocker?”
“Why would anyone check for an ID on a blocker, especially when it’s sporadic? I mean we have people checking on employee files for that.”
“Right, so it’s a dead end. If that ID matched anyone working here, we would have already known about it,” Charis says, returning to her own computer.
“Unless the record on the employee is inaccessible, right?”
“Samir, let it go,”
“I haven’t gotten to—-“ Samir is finally interrupted by Hadiyah.
“Flirt on your own time, Samir, we have a crisis here.”
“Miss Hadiyah, I think I have something,” Samir slowly speaks as Charis sighs.
He starts off by saying the same thing he told Charis , by the end of the conversation, he hasn’t been able to convince anyone, until he zooms in on the blocker on his computer screen. “Now you see here, there’s an ID code.” He then reads, “UPCID1.”
Hadiyah stammers, “That—that’s not possible. Someone has to be using her ID code. Either way, we need to report this.” She heads over to her personal station and picks up the phone. “This is Hadiyah in section 46 and I need to speak to Ozma right away. We have information on the current situation.”
She hangs up the phone and walks towards the door, “Good work everyone, and take tomorrow off and I’ll see you all the following day. Samir, with me please.”
Samir quickly gets up and follows Hadiyah out into the hallway.
Makis takes this opportunity to talk to Charis, “So how about dinner tonight?”
Charis sighs and gathers her things.
“Come on, a meeting with the big boss, Samir is going to be there for a while,” Makis persists.
“When did I ever say I was interested in you or Samilr?”
As the rest of the team heads out, Hadiyah and Samir are walking on a very clean and shiny white marble floor.
The Universal Portal Company has over one hundred levels that reach into the sky and far below underground. Ozma’s office is on the top floor and the only way to reach it is by elevator that is at the very end of every hall way. The only way to get to the top floor is to call in and then again while inside the elevator.
It takes several minutes before the large wood-color doors open. Hadiyah enters and presses a small button on the elevator as Samir follows.
A young male voice comes over the speaker, “Can I help you?”
“This is Hadiyah to see Ozma.”
A camera in the corner of the elevator zooms in, “And the person with you is…?”
“Samir. He’s the one that discovered a few things that we need to discuss with Ozma.”
The doors close and the elevator begins its trip to the top floor.
“Okay, Samir, don’t say anything until I say or if Ozma asks you a question, got it?”
“Yes.”
“Is this your first time meeting Ozma? Hadiyah asks, seeing that Samir looks nervous.
“Yes.”
“Just do what I say and this should be over within an hour or so.”
“How many times have you met her?” Samir asks, trying to calm his nerves in the process.
“Only two and this is the first time as a supervisor.”
“What if it’s her that caused this? I mean, we could actually be in trouble here,” Samir worries.
“Trust me, I’ve been with this company for a long time and I honestly don’t believe that she’s the one behind it. We work at an honest corporation,” Hadiyah reassures.
The elevator stops and there is a ‘bing’ noise as the doors open. Ahead of the two is a small reception area with a small wooden desk. A few file cabinets can be seen but the biggest notable thing is the windows. Instead of walls, the entire waiting room allows for anyone to look out and view parts of the city and the desert.
“Wow,” Samir says allowed.
“You must be Hadiyah and Samir,” a very young man says, who sits behind the desk. He’s a temp at the UPC and is also paid a lot less than all the other employees. One reason for this is because his skin is very dark blue, which means he and his parents are not from Zerron.
“Please give me a moment,” the young man says, as he gets up and walks to a set of large wooden double doors.
“Just remember what I told you and you’ll be fine,” Hadiyah repeats.
“I know,” Samir says, while looking out the window. The sky is a mix of yellow and orange that matches the sands. At times it’s hard to figure out where the sands stop and the sky begins.
A few minutes later, the young man reappears, “Ozma will see you both now.”
Samir gulps a giant pocket of air as he follows Hadiyah into Ozma’s office.
Unlike the waiting room, the windows in Ozma’s office are covered by red and black satin drapes, making the office feel dark and cold. It’s small walk from the double doors to Ozma’s desk, where she is currently sitting. Her long black hair matches the black drapes and even though Zerron is a hot planet, her complexion is pale.
Ozma doesn’t stand as the two reach her desk. There are no other chairs in the room and the two are forced to stand, making Samir even more uncomfortable.
“Tell me what you have found out, please,” Ozma speaks in a soft yet demanding tone.
“Samir here discovered a few things that we believe might help us out with this investigation,” Hadiyah begins. “The planet that was mostly affected is called Earth, in the Milky Way. It’s an underdeveloped planet and has been marked as off limits. Shortly after the portals started to open up, several robots started to walk through. We believe, at least I do, is that the robots were the BOX series, similar to those found here. Also, a man-made portal was used during the attack and shortly after the robots retreated. We believe that who or whatever the robots were after went through that man-made portal.”
“Do you know the destination of that man-made portal?” Ozma asks.
“No we do not. The potion used wasn’t bought or made by Vane. I believe whoever used this potion to create the portal made it themselves,” she answers.
“I need you to find out where that portal ended up. Don’t bother me until you do,” Ozma says, as she turns her chair around to face the covered window.
“There’s more, Miss,” Hadiyah says. “We found an ID in one of the blockers.”
“Is that something your department does?”
“No, but Samir took it upon himself to look deeper into why the attack happened.”
“Let me guess,” Ozma says without looking at the two, “It was ID UPCID1, right?”
“Yes it was.”
“Do you think someone at the Universal Portal Company is doing something illegal?”
“No Miss, I don’t.”
Ozma turns around and looks at Samir, her dark eyes seem to look deep into his soul, “And what do you think?”
Samir is at a loss of words and finally speaks once Hadiyah nudges him. “Ye—yes I do. It’s either that or someone is setting you and the UPC up.”
Behind Ozma, in a corner of her office stands a robot, similar to the ones that attacked Earth. It slowly moves from its hidden position in the dark and without a word from Ozma, it fires a beam of light, striking Hadiyah. Her body falls to the floor with a sick thud sound.
Samir steps back, in shock to see his supervisor on the floor, dead for all he knows. He looks up at Ozma, his brown eyes swelling in tears as his eyes lock onto Ozma’s.
Within his mind he can hear Ozma’s voice speaking to him, telling what he needs to do, “Hadiyah was promoted to another department and you and your employees will never see her again. You are in charge now and you will find out the destination of that man-made portal. You will start your work immediately. Neither the UPC or I had anything to do with the attack; it was Vane that was conducting experiments on uncharted worlds.”
Samir nods, and to the untrained eye, a piece of him is missing, dead, if you will. He turns and walks out of the office. He heads back to his work station to start on his assignment from Ozma.
