Cube

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room. Amir's room had the only view of the ocean, the only blue anyone in the cube was privledged enough to see. All of her life, Yves was only familiar with the sanitized monotony of the cube. It seemed never ending, with large white tiles and cylindircal fluorescent lights acting as her sky. Her room was a seventy-five square foot cubby hole in Side A of the cube, next to her neighbors and co-workers Miranda and Oscar.

Amir's room was a far cry from what Yves had grown accustomed to. A large, spacious area greeted Yves as the door slid open. A breeze of salty sea air tickled her nostrils, which starteled her. Not a single vis-sim in the recreational codex could've mimicked the sensation she gained from smelling the ocean air for the first time. If she wasn't partially scared shitless, a tear would've formed in her eye.

"Welcome," Amir began. "I figured I would show you what the fruits of your labor can bear. This is the Master Suite."

Yves couldn't speak. She had heard rumors of a "Master Suite" all her life, but she never thought that it could be real. Work, work, work, then die. That was all Yves knew. It's all she grew up around. Seeing her mother, father and two older brothers all suffer the same fate gave her no reason to be hopeful about a better life here. All she had left was her younger sister, Grace. Her little sunflower of a sister. The cube was absolute. And it had no reason to be fair. But somehow, Amir shattered all of that for her.

"I grew up on Side D," He said, walking slowly toward a white bookcase filled with white books. He picked up one of the books and stared at it longingly. "Just like you, I had no hope. No prospect for the future."

Amir sat the book down on the white desk next to the bookcase. His hand slowly caressed the desk as he began his pacing. Back and forth, back and forth, like the pendulum of a grandfather clock.

"I didn't believe in anything. But then I met Nebuchadnezzar, and he showed me another way. Why are we here? Why do we struggle? Why does it feel like our work has no true purpose? He had the answers to everything. No special book, no secret phrase. Just a simple shift in mindset."

Amir gestured toward a couple of chairs that sat in the corner of the room. Yves slowly walked over and sat down, still completely unnerved by the presence of a Side Master. She shouldn't be here. Side Masters don't interact with lowly workers, they usually stay in their rooms and review productivity charts. A Side Master even thinking of coming down and meeting with Yves was unthinkable. And yet here she was, in the Master Suite no less. Whatever Amir had for her couldn't be anything she'd want.

"W-what was the shift?" Yves said through chattering teeth.

"Are you cold? Let me fix that."

Amir snapped his fingers, causing the window to shut. He pressed a button on his chair, and the white panel above his head slowly lowered two mugs between the two of them. It was a sweet smell, unlike the nutrition packs Yves drank in-between shifts. Amir nodded towards the other mug as he sipped from the one he picked up. "If I was going to poison you, I wouldn't do it this way."

Yves reluctantly drank from the mug, quickly coughing as the piping hot fluid stung her tongue and throat. Amir chuckled as he sat his mug down. He pressed another button and a second panel dropped down with a white boxed shaped jug on it.

"Milk. It'll cool it down."

Yves poured the milk into the mug, watching as the deep brown drink gradually became lighter. The sweet smell was still there, but the heat began to wane. She sipped again, smiling as she was finally able to taste the savory drink. "What is this?"

"A taste of true freedom."

Yves scowled a bit, hoping for a real answer. But she figured that was as real as it gets with a Side Master. This was her first time actually interacting with one, and it was more pleasant than she thought it would be.

"Hot chocolate. It's a drink I love having on days like this."

Yves nodded and returned to drinking. Amir folded his hands as he continued speaking.

"You, according to all my recent reports, are the most productive worker in Side A. That is very valuable to me. And we can't afford to lose such an important person to this operation. So I'm here to offer you what Nebuchadnezzar offered me before I became a Side Master."

"And what would that be?"

"Immortality."

Yves almost choked on her drink. There was no way he was serious. Bewilderment and confusion clouded her mind as she processed what he was actually saying. This was something her family would've killed for, had they lived to see. Yves could take this. It would get her out of Side A for good. Give her something to live for. A way to save Grace.

"What do I have to do for it?" Yves asked.

Amir stared deeply into her eyes before answering. "Kill your sister."

The tears flowed. Not for herself, not even for Grace. But for the life she was about to give up. She wiped the tears away from her face, standing up to shake Amir's hand. Maybe this way, she could change the cube for the better. Maybe she could prevent others from having to do what she was about to do. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

The cube was absolute. And Yves was no different from anyone else.