Kol Oberyn
It felt like he was hugging them for the last time. Kol Oberyn held his mother in an embrace almost too hesitant to pull away. This was good-bye, in a way. It was a parting unexpected and almost just as unbearable as the passing in age. They were quite older now, their face holding more lines that weathered their skin and ailments that hunched them over from decades of work at the factory. The invitation should have been for them.
But he could not give it away.
The message from Lyris Matrikt was marked urgent in his inbox and sat for some time before Kol had opened it. An invitation to Sanctuary without reason or explanation. He had gone to his father to check and see if it was junk mail or a scam, but it checked out by what they could figure. It checked out, and he felt a pit form in his stomach.
“I suppose congratulations are in order,” his father had said that day, but they both shared in the solemn quiet. They almost didn’t want to tell his mother, but she took it in stride and helped set things in order for Kol’s departure.
Two days was all he had to truly make up his mind. Despite all his prayers he felt guilty. Why should he be given such an opportunity over everyone else? What made him so special as to win such a prize? There were more far more deserving, and it ate at him even as he pulled away from his mother’s embrace.
Both his parents’ eyes were brimming with tears, though Kol could not hold his own back as strongly. If anything were to happen to them, there was no guarantee he would ever find out. He was not even sure there would be visitations outside of Sanctuary as it was quite an elusive thing. Worst case scenario the message would indeed turn out to be a scam and he could come back home.
“I won’t know about communications until I get there,” he reminded, “so if you don’t hear from me, just assume I got there safe.”
“Take this as a blessing,” his father said. “You’ve been called there for a reason.”
It was the parting words he needed to move him out the door. Each step felt numb as he passed over the threshold and hugged the last few of his friends and family he had yet to say goodbye to. The guilt he carried was chipped away by well wishes and blessings until finally he walked the road feeling featherlight.
The day, while masked by the close quarters industrialization of Takym, still felt bright and sunny in his heart by the time he walked out of town. A new opportunity and a new beginning awaited him, and the concept was one he had discussed in passing with Mr. Laumarau along with change and the economic state of the country. It was, perhaps, his only contact with the Upper Class and the only reason why he was able to make himself look halfway presentable when entering their realm.
All expenses paid for felt strange for a man who spent a lot of mental time carefully budgeting his life. Money determined survival and well-being and how one could travel from one place to the next. He showed the message to employees and conductors at the station hesitantly, unsure if they would actually believe a man of his status would have an invitation to Sanctuary.
But as the message promised, Kol gained access to Skytrain AA02, boarding with a higher echelon of society feeling like a dishrag among fine silk. The doors closed behind him, sealing off the bustle of the station outside to encapsulate him in an off putting quiet.
His whole life was noise. Noise of the city, of machinery and conversation. There was no such thing as quiet in his thirty-seven years even in his sleep. And once within the opulent seal of the skytrain it was then he noticed he had a ringing in his ears that filled the void.
Skytrain AA02 didn’t lurch or clatter as it began its trek. It was a smooth, gradual acceleration as the train glided out from the station to embark on its line. Kol exhaled in a shutter and turned to look out the window, staring, transfixed on the world passing by.
And he let the time pass. He let each second tick on despite his ability to relive key moments of his choosing. It lessened the emotions with moments like this. Turning back time would sully the thoughts that coalesced into the memory of this very moment alone on the AA02. It was a mixture of homesickness, excitement, hesitancy, and a sense of adventure he held onto and allowed to pass.
The Skytrain came to a smooth halt, doors hissing open to reveal the most lavish entryway Kol had ever set sights on. White marble gleamed in a cool tone, veinless and perfect as if to mirror the intention of the place. The soles of his shoes, worn from years of use nearly down to nothing, clapped against the floor, reverberating in the grand space that funneled down a hallway.
A woman at the end looked like a piece of art, sculpted from living marble by the hand of God to display a vision of unsettling beauty becoming the embodiment of the opulence in which she presided like an avatar. He gave her a warm smile, and she smiled politely back in return. But before he could open his mouth and utter a fraction of a syllable, she spoke with a stark and professional air.
“Hold, please,” she said as her fingers danced across the holo keyboard. A low trill indicated a scan of his implant, and within an instant she spoke again.
“Please proceed down the hall to my right to room 509. Big Bux Co. welcomes you.”
“Thank you,” he replied less formally, turning slowly on his heels to the hallway in which she pointed. The professionalism was not something Kol was used to. It felt rigid and cold. It all felt rigid and cold.
He scanned over room 509 as he entered, noting that there weren’t but two others present among quite a number of chairs. It was the table of food, real food, that caught his attention, the honeyed voice of a masked woman encouraging the other to indulge.
“I think I’ve only seen pictures of most of these,” Kol said thoughtfully as he approached the table of food. “Seems they liken to butter us up a bit, but no harm in a bite or two. You’re both here for Sanctuary, yes?”
He smiled over at them and held up a plate. “Want me to bring anything over to you while I’m at it?”