Stillness. No light flooded into my eyes. I only heard the roar of water crashing down. Hot steam dissipated throughout the chamber, until everything was shrouded in its pale obscurity. It reminded me of last summer when the water main in the remains of some forgotten town exploded. For hours it rained down its filthy contents over the motorcade as we waited for nightfall. That was back when we were much more careful about when we moved from place to place. But now, when I opened my eyes and looked down I saw the water ran clear. I had somehow forgotten the serenity of the chamber in the tempest of my memories. I looked up at Vera who remained seated before the spout.

She was now thoroughly soaked. With her left hand, she ran her fingers through her locks of mildly disheveled hair. The moisture had made it a dark brown. I continued to watch her for a while, although something about it made me feel feverish. It seemed, wrong? Intrusive was more like it. I gathered my things and decided to returned later when she wasn’t preoccupied with her hygiene.

“Alright, well I can see that this is a bad time for you, I’ll just be-”

“No!” her voice echoed out over the water. There was more authority than before.  My feet shuffled toward the door. “No you stay, we’re not done yet…”

I couldn’t help but oblige. I got down to my knees and sat in place. She continued to smooth out her hair for another few minutes. We exchanged no words during that time. I made sure to keep my head down. Every once and a while though I could sense her stealing glances at me. Finally, she flopped to the floor on her back. The force of the impact scared the shit out of me. I dropped my stuff and shot to my feet.

She had her head cocked toward me with a calm expression on her face. The water continued to rain down onto her stomach, where it simply rolled off in tremendous streams.

“I thought of a question…”

“Oh...really?”

Again she laughed.

“Come, sit, relax...you seem so...tense” she cooed. I could tell she was trying to make me nervous. She had gotten it into her head that I was here for her benefit, but so far I had nothing to make a case for her life. Sure, she didn’t seem aggressive in here, but what was she like outside the facility? Did she have a quick temper? Did she attack human settlements? I needed to know more. Treble would be no help, nor would any of his lackeys. I needed to provoke her. It was risky. She could suddenly decide I’m not worth it. Cinna’s remark from earlier came to mind. Images of my viscera scattered over the basin were all I could see.

“Anyway, I wanted to know if I’m your first…”

“First? First what?”

“Dammit, come here!” she cried out. The annoyed tone was evident. She reached out her left hand and held it level at the outer rim’s ledge. What did she expect from me? To just step on? That was not gonna happen. Even if she didn’t mean to hurt me the chances that I would escape unscathed were pretty slim. I had seen a male pick up a truck once just to look at it, only to completely rip the thing in two. They were just too large. I had a feeling she didn’t quite understand how powerful she was. So I shook my head. She frowned and motioned for me with one of her fingers.

“Come, I don’t want to move and I still can’t hear you all the way over there.”

“I...just don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Come on, I’ll not ask again!”

“You’re not afraid of getting gassed? You know the rule…”

She turned her head back to the ceiling and began to shout to no one in particular. “Look I’m not hurting him, don’t kill me I promise he’ll be safe so just remain calm!” When she was done she turned back to me. “There? That’s about all I can do, now climb on!”

“Its just that…”

“Uggggh!” Her eyes rolled. “Listen, are you worried about being hurt? Trust me, i’ve handled you little things before, I will not crush you or drop you or anything like that understood?”

I nodded in reply.

“Good, now come on. You have to trust me!”

Everything in my head told me not to do it. This was a terrible idea. An awful idea. This should mean certain death. It was a hand not unlike this one that brought that building down on my father. It was hand like this that nearly threw the truck I was in back during the flight from St. Louis.

Yet, now I was at the threshold of progress. Never had I been so indecisive. With some effort, I took a few steps toward her.

Her eyes grew wider with anticipation. I, however, could not tear my gaze from the colossal fingers in front of me. There it was, just five feet from me now. Each step I took was a heavy footfall closer to what felt like certain doom. Yet, still something indescribable, something surreal, something beyond my own comprehension compelled me onward. Then there was flesh underfoot. The soft tips of her fingers which had only slightly begun to prune from the downpour. I walked uneasily over the, the slender stretch of each finger, each acting as a separate pathway onto the much large plane of her palm.

The actual walk itself occurred quickly. She kept me betwixt her eyes as I continued. Then out of nowhere my knees gave out. I collapsed onto my hands just as I reached the upper half of her palm. It was enough for her though.

There was a tug at my entrails. The air around me blurred for a moment and my head spun. When I finally managed to roll onto my back I saw that she had brought me closer. Now, her torso rested against the right wall. She held me out about level with her shoulders. Thus I stared up into the dark reaches of her pupils. Though I wasn’t watching, I could feel her satisfied smirk reappear.

“Like I was saying...Am I your first?”

“First...subject?”

“More or less, have you done this before with someone else of my...stature?”

“No, you’re the first...anywhere.”

Vera didn’t seem pleased by this. She pouted. Her mouth twisted into an quivering grimace. I couldn’t tell if she was angry or just ashamed.

“Ohh…” was all she said. Now that I was closer her voice struck me with such intensity that I could feel it vibrate in my bones.

It was to me again. Where should I go next. I needed to pry something out of her. Something worthwhile. Something that wouldn’t leave a sneer on the Constable’s face.

“Vera…”

“Yes?”

“How many people have you killed?”

I immediately regretted my question. There was a burst of rage in her eyes that quickly passed down her neck into her chest and then out through her arms. Beneath me her hand shook slightly. All of a sudden I could see the shadow of her looming fingers passing over my own. In an instant I spun around. Each of her towering digits had started to close in. This was it. I was certain my death was at hand. No pun intended.

My head felt light and my legs felt like lead. I collapsed. I didn’t know what to do, I was done for. Hopeless. I couldn’t even scream. The horrible reality of it all was that I was going to bear witness to it all. Every grim detail. Already I felt my ribs crack, my spine shatter, and my innards burst.

“Enough…” That was all she said, and indeed it was enough of an answer for me.

Then, her fingers stopped. It was about this time I realized I hadn’t been breathing. Gasping for breath I flattened myself out on her hand. With my neck bending backward I peered (down?) at her looming face. It wasn’t as angry as before. Her lips then began to move.

“Do you think I’d kill you?”

Something in my gut told me she most definitely would. Some might say she already had. I couldn’t question her attitude, but I had my doubts about her intentions. There was something significant hidden behind those blue eyes. Something crawling around in her brain that I hadn’t quite nailed down yet. She suspected my ineptitude and she was right to do so. But now, here I sat, at the mercy of a being who, according to all physical evidence, was and may always be, a killer of men. Yet, somehow, there came about an unexplainable miracle where she chose not to end my life for my impudence. Now, I waited, still in hand, to deliver a verdict on whether or not my life was actually in jeopardy.

“No…”

Whether it was her own sense of self-preservation, or perhaps the nagging loneliness that made my words true is still a mystery to me now.

The intercom cut in. Still, I couldn’t make out a word they said. Vera seemed to understand though. Her hand flattened out completely, and I, still struggling for air, sat plainly upon it.

Anger returned as she directed her attention back to the ceiling.

“I said he’s fine! Look for yourselves” she bellowed as she pointed to me with her other hand. God, what was to become of my work now.

There was no response over the speaker. Vera scowled. She shifted herself up against the wall a bit further, bringing me up as she went. Now she sat flat on the ground once more. I, in the meantime, had just finished setting myself back into a regular breathing rhythm.

“Why not?” she finally asked. I shook my head. In a flawed attempt to mask the panic in my voice I replied with with a half-hearted squeak.

“Its...my turn”

She snickered. In all, the flash of emotion that had taken a hold of her seemed to have vanished completely. With a compliant nod she urged me to continue.

“Go on…”

“Ok… uhhh let’s see”

“Did I scare you too much?” she asked with a wink.

“No I just...well”

“Come on...don’t hurt yourself. They’ll blame me for it.”

“Alright, just give me a second to catch my breath…”

“Hmph, I’ve got time…”

I needed to ask something a little less inciting. Although, I was beginning to wonder if her sudden surge of anger was just her toying with me again. She liked to do that. I had a pretty good feeling this would not be the last time either.

But, that’s another matter. Focus, I needed to focus. Perhaps there was something more general I could ask. Something more innocent, or perhaps something less personal.

“I actually have been wondering something…” I eventually began. “What exactly do you call yourselves?” She stared at me with a strange, confused look on her face. “I mean, do you think of yourselves as...well human?”

For a while she just stared.

“What is it?” I said, mostly just to break the silence.

“Well, what do you mean?”

“I mean, I call myself a human. All the “little people” identify as human. Do you go by just...what giants? Titans? Colossi? Are you humans too? I mean...you must be!”

“We…” she stopped and looked away. It was as if she had never considered it before. Something about it was greatly foreign to her. “...we don’t call ourselves anything.”

“But then what are you?”

“I’m...I’m just Vera” she said. Of all my questions thus far this was the first that seemed to actually pierce her shell of immodesty.

“I don’t understand…”

Those two gigantic eyes wheeled back onto me. There was some invisible, paralyzing force in them. It was enough to tell me that I had made some progress.

“Its not really for you to understand.”

“I see, well, do you want to talk about it?”

“No…” The force of her voice and breathe in that one little word was enough to send me sprawling on my back. It was a powerful no, not angry, but powerful.

It was about this time the water cut off. Likewise, it was also about this time that I noticed I was soaking wet. With a few twists of my hands I wrung out the lower half of my shirt. Vera’s knees began to sway back and forth. Looking up at her, I noticed she was deep in thought. No doubt searching for the right question as I had been not a few minutes before.

“Do you really think you can win?”

I had to give it to her. She was conjuring up some difficult questions. Naturally any human still with a little hope in their hearts would say yes. I’d liked to think I was one of them, but speaking with her was beginning to change all that. Now, you’re probably thinking that it was because I thought she was a sociopath. A murderer. Someone who didn’t mind snuffing out a few hundred lives here or there. But, I can honestly say that was not the reason at all. I had spoken with psychopaths. I have seen disregard for human life before and I tell you she was not like them. She had feelings. She had emotions and she did care, about….well something, perhaps someone. That was what scared me the most. She wasn’t crazy. That led me to believe that most of them probably weren’t. It was something else, something far more sinister. She knew and recognized the pain of humankind. She simply thought herself too far above that. They all did. I suppose I came to this realization after my first visit, that night when I dreamt of a dead planet. They WERE all too human about it. One after the next. In many ways I thought that spelled doom for us all. But it also gave me a new hope. One that I knew would be difficult to realize.

“Hello? You still there?”

Damn. How long had I been sitting there? I suppose I needed to come up with an answer. I had my own questions I wanted to get to after all.

“I suppose it's possible.”

“But what do YOU think?” she quickly countered.

“Now? Well, yes...yes I think we can.”

“Good”

“Good?”

She smiled. “Yes...good. Go ahead, it’s your turn”

“Ok, now, I want an honest answer here. No passing alright?”

“We’ll see…”

I tried to stand. Both of my arms swept back behind me and pushed me off the surface of her palm. It took me a second, but I managed to place my feet in just the right positions.

“Ok, were you, Vera, or any other of your kind ever small, humans I mean? Were you like us?”

The same concerned look fell over her. Her left arm reached up and grabbed her right shoulder. Thousands of beads of water rolled down her skin, forming tiny rivers that warped around a few freckles and bruises. I hadn’t noticed them before. Although I was no expert on injuries I could tell they were fresh. The question was...what caused them? Given her current psych profile it was unlikely they were self inflicted. Likewise they were too small. Nothing she could’ve done without the aid of some tool or enormous needle of sorts.

“Like you? We were never like you. We’re more different than you think. That’s all I have to say…”

God, that only left me with more questions. Looks like I had to wait. My ankles strained as I tried to keep my balance on her hand. Perhaps it was best I just took a seat. I plopped back down onto her palm and adjusted my legs.

“Its warm in here…”

I looked blankly at her. Well, she wasn't’ wrong.

“Isn’t it always?”

“Not at night”

“Ah, I figured as much. I can see what…”

“It won’t matter…” Vera groaned. I didn’t know how to respond. Giving her too much luxury was something we could not afford. She was a prisoner after all, and a costly one that.

“Ellis?”

“Yes,”

“How long are you here?”

“Today? Well it could be-”

“No, here! In this...whatever you call it. Camp? Base?”

“Ahh, well, I guess that depends how long you’re here…”

That didn’t seem right to say. Vera knew she was on death row, but it still felt wrong to bring it up. Unlike her, I wasn’t a fan of playing with emotions.

“I wonder how long that will be…”

She was careful to not phrase it as a question. Good for her. I wanted to answer but I didn’t know. I had a horrible feeling that no matter my testimony they would execute her. I guess I’d have to wait and see.

“Well I’ve got another few questions for you.”

“Go on.”

“If you were to get out, what would you do?”

“Do you mean if I was released or if I escaped?”

“Let’s say both…”

She flew into her answer right away. Clearly she had been thinking about this for some time.

“If I were to be released...I’d go somewhere far away. Probably. Somewhere away from you little things and the others…”

“So, you wouldn’t return to your own people?”

“Trust me there’s not much to return to”

The mystery grew deeper. What the hell was going on? I couldn’t tell! I needed more answers and from the looks of the light outside, my time was almost up.

“If I were to escape, well...perhaps that question is better left unanswered.” She gave me a casual smile. Somehow it was much more terrifying than her usual sinister smirk.

“Ahh, ok well then…”

“Oh don’t be so nervous. Really, you’re much more fun when you’re trying to act brave…”

My throat went dry. I tried to swallow but something prevented me. She would be the death of me yet. Whether physically or emotionally.

“Ahh, who am I kidding, you’re always fun!” she cheered.

Well, at least it seemed unlikely that she would be disposing of me in the near future.

“Actually, I have another question...just something I’ve been thinking about.”

“Yes?” I replied sheepishly.

“So, are you some high-ranking official type? Is that how you got in here and how you got me warm water?”

“No I’m….no one really.”

“Reaaally?” she mused. At first I thought she was surprised. Then, I thought she was being sarcastic in an attempt to further belittle me. But then, finally it occured to me that she didn’t really have a concept of a hierarchy. If you saw me as I was then, you wouldn’t have even thought I was educated. My clothes were far too baggy. My hair, dirty and unkept. The weariness in my extremities and the bags under my eyes would’ve suggested that I worked the nightshift down at the gardens. To me, it seemed painfully obvious that I was by no means a ranked officer. She had just...well assumed.

“But they’ll listen to you?”

“Sometimes, it depends…” I went on. “I can only get away with so much.”

She chuckled softly under her breath.

“Now what’s so funny?”

“Nothing its just...that’s exactly what they told me when I first got here.”

“I suppose that is a bit ironic.”

“Don’t you find it odd?”

“I mean, I guess...but I’m use to be told stuff like that.”

“Let me ask you this…”

“But it's my turn!”

“I don’t care, rules should be broken. Besides I grow tired of this game.”

A few tendrils of her wet hair felt down and stuck to her cheek. She brushed them aside and for once, I could see her whole face from top to bottom, side to side, no curtain of hair masking any corner.

“Fine, what is it?”

“Well, you’re pretty thin...how often are they feeding you?” she said. She bounced her hand up once, causing me to fly up into the air briefly. Although I only was suspended a couple feet, the landing was hard enough to knock the wind out of me.

“I uhhhaa” I tried to say between gasps.

“Sorry”

Finally I regained my breath. Peering up again I managed to wheeze out a reply.

“Is..that...concern I hear?”

“Oh don’t be an ass. Answer the question. As I said before I like you, that means I’m entitled to pity you a little…”

“Alright, uhh well. I’d guess usually twice a day…”

“Like me?”

“Well food’s tight and…”

“Ok, just curious”

There she went again cutting me off. It was starting to get on my nerves. But, there wasn’t much I could do about it.

“What?” I enquired.

“Nothing, it's just...nothing”

It was about this time that I noticed the sun had already begun to disappear behind the distant hills. The distorted light seeping in through the chamber played along both our bodies just the same. Big and small, the light curved around us. Vera caught me staring out at the fading rays.

“You have to go?”

“I’m afraid so…”

She frowned. I wanted to say more...to ask more! Yet, even though the questions now danced in my skull I knew it was time to return. She knew it too. Immediately she brought her hand back down next to the outer platform. The journey was quick and made me feel like I had died and the sprung back to life drunk on the liquors of hell.

It took some doing, but I managed to stumble off her palm back onto solid ground. When my sight was clear again I looked up at her. Her gaze was set forward and her hands went about collecting her soaked hair. After wringing it out she let it lay over one shoulder. She didn’t look particularly solemn...just bored.

I walked out. Once I was back in the old atrium I found Cinna waiting for me. As soon as our eyes met he pounced.

“My boy! That was incredible. I’ve never seen anything like. I must say I got pretty scared in there for ya. Just as the others, oh god we were all sweatin’ bullets. Except for that Grime character.”

“Grim, I think you mean…”

“What? Ah yes, it doesn’t matter. Listen, saying that I’m impressed would be an understatement. I need to know more. Like you! The others assured me that I could have a look at those tapes when I get back. But, I just had a grand idea, if you’ll oblige me for a moment.”

How could he be so chipper? Now it was just off-putting but I guess that after what I had just been through I wasn’t in any position to be interacting with so jovial a character. We began walking back up the rickety steps to the main facility floor.

“Go ahead”

“Well, I ship out early tomorrow morning, but I was thinking...What if we had an early session tomorrow, you and me both, in there with...what was it, Vana, Vessie?”

“Vera”

“Right, you and me, together! It would be great, quite the experience for well...all of three of us!”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea…”

“What? Don’t be absurd, it couldn’t be better!”

I wasn’t sure what I should tell him. He wouldn’t take ‘no’ so lightly. Honestly, I had my reasons.

Professionally it wouldn’t be right. Morally it seemed a bit odd. Personally, well, I just didn’t feel like...sharing her...if that makes any sense. This was my only notable accomplishment and as sick as it sounds I wasn’t about to share it with some guerilla lunatic from up North. No, this was something I had to do alone. Besides, I had a feeling Vera and Cinna’s personalities might clash.

“For safety’s sake, and for my researches’ sake it would really be best if you didn’t.”

Cinna stared at me with a pale, blank look in his eyes. It was like I had just stabbed him in the gut.

“Its just that…” I searched desperately for words. Damn it, Vera had made it difficult to talk even with humans. “Its just that I can’t have her be too stimulated. Besides, what do you think she would do to us if she found out the great giant-slayer Cinna was in there with her?”

Cinna’s meager stare lingered for a few seconds. Then, a crooked, toothy grin spread out over his face. He slapped me on the back.

“Good point my boy, well I’m still interested in hearing the results. Hopefully I can make it back here before you gas her! Anyway I’m off, talk to you later kiddo!”