The Sound of Wind

by Raegan Millhollin

  **

  Nancy smiled as Hugo made it to Mr. Hansen’s office, “Good morning, Hugo. Mr. Hansen will see you now.”

  “Uh, great. Thanks.” It didn’t help Hugo’s nerves that Nancy seemed incredibly amused about something.

  Hugo walked into Mr. Hansen’s office, pointedly shoving his hands into his pockets so that he wasn’t chewing on his fingernail anymore. The face of the vice president of HR was impassive. He was in deep shit. Hugo marveled at the fact that he’d ever been surprised it would come to this. 

  He wasn’t really worried about getting yelled at for doing something stupid. He’d come up with a legit, and technically truthful reason for his nosiness, and he’d certainly been yelled at before for doing stupid things, and they probably wouldn’t fire him, just yet. It was Hugo’s own mouth that frightened him. He was no spy, he had no undercover training, he was already flustered and the interrogation hadn’t even started. What if he said something wrong, something incriminating? What if he accidentally revealed to Mr. Hansen what he had seen? 

  Would it be like it was in the movies? People who could see the future were put into vats, or were otherwise forced into pumping out visions like they were some sort of oracle slot machine. Would Mr. Hansen do something like that?

  “I read your report. It was very…thorough.”

  Hugo cringed a little, looking at the floor, “Yeah. Christian told me to write down everything I remembered.” His hands stayed in his pockets about two seconds longer, before he started chewing on his thumbnail again.

  “And why did you take it upon yourself to conduct the exit interview, exactly?”

  Hugo felt his face getting hot, it sounded stupider every time he explained it, “I saw Mr. Gideon and the technician outside as he was firing him and I just…was curious to see what a fireable offense was around here. I didn’t think he’d just talk to some random person about it, so I told him I was doing the exit interview…it didn’t look like he was going to get one since Mr. Gideon just escorted him straight out of the building.” Mr. Hansen’s continued silence was so incredibly unnerving that Hugo felt compelled to keep speaking to fill the silence, “I realized, belatedly, that it was a really bad idea, I shouldn’t have…” he trailed off, out of words.

  “I see.” The room was getting darker, Mr. Hansen’s office fading to a thick, impenetrable blackness. Hugo’s hands started to shake, the only virtue of his visible nervousness the fact that it wasn’t immediately apparent that he was terrified of anything beyond Mr. Hansen’s reputation. He wiped his palms on his pants. There was nothing to look at but Mr. Hansen, so Hugo stared at the buttons on the man’s shirt. “As a member of recruiting, you are technically part of Human Resources, so you weren’t lying when you said that,” Hugo glanced up, startled that he would even acknowledge that anything Hugo had said was truth, but he was still speaking, and the statement went downhill from there, “However, you were not authorized to conduct exit interviews.” Hugo nodded, eyes going back to the buttons, since they weren’t staring at him with an inscrutable expression. “Please, have a seat.”

  Hugo looked behind him and was delighted to see that the most terrifying aspect of the chair was the paisley seat cushion. He took the offered seat and squeezed his hands together in his lap.

  “Hugo, how do you feel about this company?”

  His heart started thudding in his chest. What should he say? Could he lie and get away with it? What would be the use in lying? How would he explain himself if he…realization dawned on him. Hugo didn’t know how he felt about the company. Sure, he didn’t like Mr. Gideon because he was somehow related to the explosion and Hugo didn’t know his motives yet, but what about the rest of the company? From what he’d seen they seemed genuinely interested in helping out people with abilities, giving them a place where they could use their powers without fear of exposure. He wasn’t even entirely sure if anyone else knew what Mr. Gideon intended. In fact, he was beginning to think that they didn’t. “Actually, I don’t know how I feel about the company yet.”

  Mr. Hansen looked about as surprised at Hugo’s response as he’d sounded giving it. The man leaned back in his chair, “Usually people at least try to tell me what they think I want to hear.” Hugo’s heart squeezed, but he didn’t seem displeased with his abnormal response. “Do you like being part of recruiting?”

  Ok, so honesty seemed to work best with Mr. Hansen, just as long as they completely avoided the issue with the visions. “I don’t like it. It makes me uncomfortable to…um…talk to people I don’t know. And I don’t really know what to say.”

  Mr. Hansen nodded, “And did you enjoy conducting the exit interview?”

  “Um…it was alright.” He shrugged.

  “And what do you want, Hugo?”

  Hugo pushed his lips together, eyebrows furrowing. What did he want? He wanted to stop the explosion. But he certainly couldn’t say that. And he didn’t know how. He needed more information. “I want to learn. Everything. But right now, mostly about the company.” Oh crap, did that sound crazy or suspicious? Shit shit shit. Mr. Hansen wasn’t saying anything, just staring at him, Hugo couldn’t read his expression and there was nothing else to look at in the dark. Was he still angry?

  “How would you like to work for me? You are already a part of Human Resources, but for me personally. I need someone to manage the personnel files and I think it would be a job you’d be best suited for.”

  Hugo blinked, that wasn’t exactly the response he’d been expecting. “What would I be doing?”

  “You would manage the employee database, help me evaluate employee performance and identify ways to improve on that, and perform the occasional exit interview. You’d be my assistant, so you’d have other duties as they arose.”

  Hugo blinked several more times, his heart a rock in his chest. He had no idea what he’d said to deserve it, but Mr. Hansen was offering him everything he wanted right now. “Uh…”

  Mr. Hansen held up his hand, “There would be one condition. This new position would make you privy to very sensitive information. You would require a security escort when conducting business outside of this building.”

  Crap crap crap, it would be bad if he had to have someone following him around all over the place. He and CJ wouldn’t be able to get away with the investigation if-“Can I pick my bodyguard?”

  Mr. Hansen smiled, “Sure.”

  “Can it be CJ?” Hugo rubbed his palms on his jeans, “I know she’s not part of security yet, but I trust her and Christian wanted her anyway.”

  Mr. Hansen made a thoughtful noise. “I’ll have to run it by Christian, but I don’t see why not.” He leaned back, smiling, “So does that mean you’ll accept the position?”

  Hugo nodded, “When do I start?”

  “How about now? I could show you the database?”

  Hugo tried not to look too eager.

  The room itself was the small thing near Mr. Hansen’s office labeled “Mainframe”; a massive cooling system, a few comfy swivel chairs and a rather large wall monitor. Currently the system was waiting for a login, which Mr. Hansen provided. Hugo watched over Mr. Hansen’s shoulder as he hunt-and-pecked his way to a new profile for Hugo, complete with administrative access. Mr. Hansen moved away from the keyboard so that Hugo could set his password.

  This was information Mr. Hansen wanted guarded with a dedicated security personnel, so he needed a good password. He mashed a completely random assortment of keys, making sure to throw in a bit of punctuation and capital letters. Mr. Hansen’ brow was furrowed. Hugo shrugged, scratching the back of his head, “It’s not like I’m going to forget it. And it’ll be really hard for someone to figure it out if it makes no logical sense, right?”

  “Right.” The man was smiling; Hugo marveled at the fact that he’d done something else right. He was really on a roll today. “Now, your first assignment is to commit the entire database to memory. If you find any missing information in the profiles, update wh
ere you can, and come to me for the rest. That includes the personality assessments. Once you’ve reviewed the database, let me know, and we’ll move on from there. Understood?”

  “Yeah. I just have one question, can I smoke in here?”

  The man looked a little disgusted for a moment, but then sighed, “You’ll be spending a lot of time in here, so I’ll allow it.” But from his initial expression, Hugo had already decided he wasn’t going to do it. He’d just have to take frequent trips outside. “Alright. I have some work to attend to, but feel free to call me or stop by if you have any questions.”

  “Thanks.” And then Hugo was alone with a database of 146 employees. He looked up Mr. Gideon first, and was incredibly disappointed. The basics were there, his three homes, relatives, social security number, but nothing about abilities. And apparently he had diabetes. Other files, including Mr. Hansen’s, had abilities listed, including test results.

  Mr. Hansen had a brother, William, who could control and alter people’s thoughts. His picture closely resembled the man Hugo had seen kneeling next to Mr. Hansen in the vision, but he’d died two years ago. The cause of death wasn’t listed. William’s profile included a tag for a reference file #12, but no matter how hard Hugo looked, he couldn’t find the file itself. He made a note of it and then began a more methodical review of the files in the hopes that it would help him be able to reference them quickly in the future.

  Sometime later the door opened and CJ slipped in. “Just seeing if you had been fired or flogged or whatever for what happened.”

  Hugo turned towards her, blinking a few times. He rubbed his eyes, “No…I think I actually got a promotion.”

  CJ tilted her head slightly, “You were promoted to staring at the computer?”

  “I’m committing the database to memory for Mr. Hansen. I guess I’m his…assistant now?”

  “But Mr. Hansen already has a secretary.”

  Hugo flushed, “I-I’m not a secretary, ok.” CJ grinned. “I’m just…going to help him with things.”

  “Like what kinds of things?”

  Hugo shrugged, “I don’t really know yet, just…stuff. He said I had to have a bodyguard.”

  CJ’s eyes widened at that, “Really? Like your own personal bodyguard?”

  “Yeah, I asked him if it could be you.” Hugo could suddenly feel his cheeks burning, and CJ’s eyes widened slightly.

  For a brief moment she looked away, but then her grin spread wider, “Oh my god, that is so

  awesome! I’m going to be the best bodyguard ever!”

  Hugo scratched the back of his head, “Mr. Hansen said he’d have to ask Christian first, but…”

  “Holy crap! I gotta go talk to Christian!”

  Before Hugo could respond, CJ was gone. He stared at the closed door for several seconds, wondering if he’d done the right thing. He’d been so caught up in worry about whether or not he could trust someone, that he hadn’t really thought about the danger he might put CJ in. Was he putting her in danger? Was he in danger? Hugo shuddered. But how could being Mr. Hansen’s assistant be any more dangerous than recruiting could be?

  Hugo turned back to the computer screen to drown his doubts in information. A few seconds

  later however his mind turned back to CJ, and he wondered what her file was like. His fingers went to the keyboard, but he stopped himself. It was rude prying into her life like that. Hugo frowned, what exactly did he think he was doing anyway? No. He would read her file when he got to her…did the order really matter that much? Hugo pulled up CJ’s file.

  There wasn’t much to look at. Beyond extensive reports on her capabilities and how they were expanding, many of the fields in CJ’s profile were blank. They didn’t even know her real name, and she was unwilling to supply it. No address, no social, even the psych profile was minimal. She had no birthday. Hugo frowned, his thumbnail moving up to be ground between his teeth. He flipped back, and started from where he’d left off.

  There were a lot of scientists from a wide variety of fields and specialties. He wondered what Dr. McFadden’s specialty was, and how long she had actually been practicing. After just a moment’s hesitation he drifted to her profile.

  She’d graduated medical school at the age of 22, so she’d only been practicing for four years, but her specialty was degenerative diseases. She was looking for a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. Her mother had died of it.

  Her father was the victim of a hit and run when she was 12.

  Her grandmother died of cancer when she was 18.

  No siblings, no surviving family members. She was alone.

  Hugo stared at the ground for several long seconds, then forced himself to look back up at her profile and finish, going over the attachments of the papers she’d published, letters of recommendation, the fragments that spelled out her life. Mr. Hansen’s profile painted a polite and friendly person, but always distant and private, keeping everyone at bay.

  Hugo drew in a shaky breath. He had no idea what he would have done without his family, without his mother and Roger, without his brother Lewis. No, he knew what would have happened, he would have died in a gutter.

  Hugo tried to shake away the memory that crept up, the terror he’d felt when he’d woken, aching and disheveled in a foreign park. His wallet and shoes gone, he was left with only a sour, terrible taste in his mouth. Shivering from the morning dew, he’d managed to find a payphone and call his brother; hiccupping and sniffling. His brother found him. There was no judgment, no reprimands, only safety. Well, that and Behavioral Health Rehab clinic.

  Hugo sucked in a deep breath, trying to push everything at arm’s length so that he could examine and store it. He was supposed to be a database backup. He had people to learn about.

  Hugo almost missed the last bus home that night.