Unraveling Algae City

The man in the dark suit was very tall. Taller than most. His face, angular and handsome, was framed with a long fringe of silvery hair, which seemed to glow under the soft light of the room.

"Welcome," he said in a voice as deep as his eyes were bright, "to Algae City."

Willow Harts smiled. "Thank you, sir," she replied. Her voice was soft and sweet, sultry and low--the voice of a woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it. She took a seat on a luxuriously cushioned chair opposite the man's desk.

The city. The city of her dreams. Willow had been waiting for this day all her life, and now that it was here, she couldn't help but feel...unsatisfied. There was something missing from this moment, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"I suppose I should thank you," the man said, "for calling me."

Willow looked up at him. "You mean...you're not going to call me?"

He flashed his teeth at her--a smile so fierce and dazzling it could have melted an iceberg or two--and sat on the edge of his gilded desk. "I do appreciate your enthusiasm," he said, "but if we are to work together..." He trailed off, leaving Willow hanging in suspense.

She leaned forward in her chair and cocked her head sideways at him. "You're hiring me?"

The man laughed heartily and clapped his hands together once before bringing them to rest against his lips thoughtfully. It felt like forever to Willow before he spoke again: "I'm offering you a job."

The heat wasn't too bad today; half of the sky was covered by clouds that looked like fluffy cotton balls trying desperately to break free from their prison cell. That only made the temperature bearable instead of unbearable; that might have been because Willow liked summer weather best--not too hot and not too cold; just right for exploring outside when she got home from school or work or wherever else she happened to be at the time. She could barely make out the sound of her heels clicking against the sidewalk over the faint buzz of traffic behind her; it wasn't far now until she'd be home, where hopefully there would be air conditioning waiting for her so she could relax with some tea after a long day's work at Supermart 707 (located in Sector 9). She was looking forward to that more than anything else right now, aside from maybe getting paid next week when the company's accountant finally decided to show up for work again instead of holing himself up in his office getting high on whatever he could lay his hands on. Willow didn't really mind, though; lots of people in Sector 9 were like that, including herself, so why would they hold it against one another? They understood each other better than most people did--they all lived in Sector 9 after all! But even in Sector 9 there were rules you had to follow if you wanted to survive--if you wanted your little piece of heaven (or hell) safely protected from everyone else who wanted your piece for themselves--and one rule that applied everywhere was never go near Sector 6 if you valued your life; or if you did go near Sector 6 (which is exactly what Willow planned on doing tomorrow morning at precisely 8 AM sharp), never go into any building there unless you wanted someone finding out about your dirty little secrets; secrets that included everything from cheating on your spouse to smuggling illegal drugs and being friends with people who owned guns (which is what Willow did). And then there were always those idiots who just went around killing other people because they were bored--because boredom ran wild among those who lived in Sector 6 more than anywhere else--and those guys were usually very easy to spot...even if they did their best not to be seen by anyone who might report back to Sector 9's Security Department (located conveniently across the street from Supermart 707). Willow smiled at that thought as she walked through the large glass doors into Supermart 707; it had been a while since security had come down hard on anyone here...and now they had even less reason than ever before!

Willow picked up her empty basket from behind the counter where she'd left it earlier this morning after arriving early for work (she liked working early because it meant no one else would be around when she took a nap during lunch break). As soon as she started walking towards aisle six (which housed all seasonal goods), where the refrigerated goods were kept, some guy came out from behind some shelves carrying an item for reshelving ("That's my section!" Willi h exclaimed indignantly). She recognized him immediately as Eddy Garth: short, fat guy with greasy brown hair and nasty feet who'd transferred here from Sector 1 three months ago as part of some new program designed by Mayor Carrington himself-"to bring fresh blood into our midst," he'd said whenever he introduced Eddy Garth ("And I'll tell you one thing: I don't want no fresh blood in my vicinity!" Willow mused silently). But Eddy Garth hadn't lasted long here either; everyone knew why he'd transferred in the first place: he'd shot someone dead during a bar fight back home! So yeah-he wasn't gonna last long here either...especially considering how many people hated his guts already! Now normally Willow wouldn't have bothered with someone like Eddy Garth-he was just way too ugly and stupid looking-but after picking up an energy drink can out of aisle four ("Been looking forward to this all morning!"), which turned out not to be energy drink at all but regular old water packaged inside an energy drink can ("Hate people like that!"), courtesy of Eddy Garth's carelessness ("That guy is such an idiot!"), she decided it was high time somebody taught him how things worked around here! So without another word between them-Eddy Garth didn't even notice how pissed off Willow looked-she proceeded over to aisle seven ("my aisle") where the frozen food items were kept ("My freezer"), grabbed a box of ice cream sandwiches ("my favorite!") and slammed it hard down onto Eddy Garth's head-"just so he knows who's boss" (Willow chuckled quietly to herself)-before returning back over to aisle six where she found Eddy lying unconscious on the ground-"with me standing over him" (Willow laughed loudly now)-"like I'm some kinda superhero"-with wavy trails of smoke rising up from underneath his body-"like I've brought down some sorta supervillain!"-while everyone else stood around staring dumbly at her-"like I'm some kinda superhero." Then suddenly everything went black-all she heard was laughter and screaming voices echoing far away in every direction around her-"like I'm some sorta superhero"-and then everything went silent-all she saw was darkness stretching out before her-"like I'm some sorta superhero"-and then suddenly everything went white-all she felt was warmth spreading out throughout her entire body-"like I'm some sorta superhero"-and then suddenly everything went black again-all she heard was silence spreading out throughout her entire mind-"like I'm some sorta superhero"-and then suddenly everything went white again-all she felt was warmth spreading out throughout her entire mind-"like I'm some sorta superhero"-and then suddenly everything went black again-"like I'm some sorta superhero"-and then suddenly everything went white again-"like I'm some sorta superhero"-and then suddenly everything went black again-"like I'm some sorta superhero". Then finally Willow opened her eyes and saw nothing but ceiling tiles above her-with no idea where exactly Eddy Garth had gone or what had happened when whatever it was happened-"so I guess maybe now I am kindof like a superhero." But turning around and gazing directly over towards aisle seven where an ice cream sandwich box lay unopened on top of a shelf alongside several other boxes stacked neatly beside each other ("just like always"), with no sign whatsoever that anything strange or unusual had ever happened there whatsoever-"which is probably good", Willow mused aloud with a sigh but somehow still smiling anyway despite herself "-because otherwise they might think I really amsome kinda superhero". She shook off those thoughts just as easily as they'd entered into her mind by turning around once again facing straight ahead towards aisle two ("my aisle"), picking up another box of ice cream sandwiches ("my favorite"), walking back over towards aisle six where Eddy Garth lay motionless on the ground surrounded by lots of other people all staring quietly down at him ("just like always"), setting down the box next to these other boxes filled with ice cream sandwiches stacked neatly beside each other ("just like always"), throwing one final glance back towards aisle seven where an unopened box lay surrounded by several neat stacks of similar unopened boxes along with several neat stacks of similar boxed stacked neatly beside each other along with several neat stacks of similar boxed stacked neatly beside each other along with several neat stacks of similar boxed stacked neatly beside each other along with several neat stacks of similar boxed stacked neatly beside each other along with several neat stacks of similar boxed stacked neatly beside each other along with several neat stacks of similar boxed stacked neatly beside each other along with several neat stacks of similar boxed stacked neatly beside each other along with several neat stacks of similar boxed stacked