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The glow of florescent lights stung Raymond's eyes as he realized that he had once again stayed up until three in the morning while working on this project.
"Burning the midnight oil, are we, Raymond?"
Raymond suppressed an involuntary shudder, as the carefully practiced casualness of Agent Kellerman's voice brought him back to reality. He turned towards her, and was greeted by a familiar sight. She looked like she always did. Shoulder-length blonde hair, a dark pantsuit, and that damn smile, the thin, toothless semi-smirk that always reminded him somehow of a predator. Her ever-present sunglasses reflected his image back to him, dark and in duplicate, and he realized he looked like hell. He needed a shave.
"It is rather late to be working, and it is not the first time this month you have spent the night in the laboratory. You know we always like to ensure that our employees take care of themselves. You have to remember, after all, that it's not just your own health you have to worry about. You should always be thinking…"
"…that contribution comes from constitution. Yes, Agent Kellerman, you don't have to worry about me. I just lost track of time a bit, I felt like I was on the verge of a breakthrough."
Kellerman tilted her head. She reached out and tilted his chin up with a soft gesture, and Raymond suppressed the urge to pull away from her cold touch. She examined him for a moment and then spoke again, "Your dedication to the cause is an inspiration to all of us, Raymond. But the Authority will survive even if you were to leave this work until morning. In fact, approaching it with fresh eyes and a good night's sleep might be beneficial." She smiled again. "And please, I have told you before, we of the Authority are like a family, you may call me Sarah."
"That…That's alright. I'll head off to my bunk, I'll just close up here." He spun his chair around slowly, and began to save his files and begin shutting the computer down.
"Something troubling you, Raymond?"
The subtle shift in tone sent a chill down Raymond's spine. He wiped his hands on his pants quickly, as his mind raced and attempted to conceive of an answer. "Why do you ask?" He mentally kicked himself when he realized he hadn't actually denied the suggestion.
"You seem distracted. Is this project of some importance?"
Raymond swallowed. You have to calm down. If you crack now, at the finish line, it will all be for nothing.
He stared into Agent Kellerman's sunglasses, and reminded himself that there had never been anything to suggest that she could actually read his mind.
"Aren't all our projects important?"
She chuckled at that, and it was a sort of hollow, artificial sound. "Well said, Raymond. But if it is, then my suggestion about the importance of speech is even more relevant." She turned on her heel in one fluid motion, and made for the door. Raymond released a breath he didn't even know he had been holding.
"Oh, and, Raymond?"
He glanced back at her, and for the first time he could remember, he realized she had moved her sunglasses down to the end of her nose, and her uncovered eyes stared into his own. They were a pale, sickly cream color, like spoiled milk, and he almost thought there was a dim light shining from them through the glow of the florescent lights.
He could run. He had already had the route planned out before he did anything else. He'd updated it, through every change in the security codes, the guard shifts, and even the layout of the building that had been made over the past year. He could get away. Disabling the security cameras had been a simple thing—
The lights in the hallway went out.
The darkness was pierced by two thin red pinpricks of light at the end of the hallway, and Raymond suddenly wondered why he thought Kellerman would ever allow him to escape alive.
The light moved forward silently
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