Chapter Fifty-three
Techs And The Operative
The Sanctum...
11:04 P.M...
Maxwell and Peters hung out in their small room, consisting of a couch, flat screen TV, two beds, and a small bathroom. Maxwell sat on the couch, playing a video game called Corporate Acquisition. His thumbs flew across the wireless game controller as his player killed S.C.M. after S.C.M.
Peters lay on his bed, looking at magazines. He sat up, turned a magazine sideways, and stared at a flip down poster and whistled. "Look at the headlights on her."
Maxwell turned, seeing the latest model of the VX Corvette with six Noc-lambent Headlights. He shrugged and turned back to his game. "Yeah. Nice." Maxwell shouted at his player, "Come on, we gotta take out the Vice President!"
"Says here," Peters started. "The headlights can penetrate the darkest night, even the darkness of Tainted Rain." He lay back down and flipped through the mag. "That's amazing."
"Yeah, real amazing." Maxwell kept his focus on the game. "If only they would develop tires that gripped the road when it rains." He stuck his tongue out to the side as he blasted the Vice President. "The headlights might come in handy."
Someone knocked at their door.
"Who could that be?" Maxwell paused Corporate Acquisition, stood from the couch, walked to the door, and opened it. "Can I help you?"
A female supervisor in a crimson jumpsuit stood in the hall. "The Council requests your presence."
Peters jumped up from the bed. "What? Now!" He tucked his shirt in his pants.
"Yes," she replied. "Please come with me."
Sometime later...
Maxwell and Peters stood before the Council, not sure why they were there, and that made them a little wary.
"You are the men we acquired from the Factory?" Ms. Nona asked.
They nodded.
"You helped design and program the Un-Men?" Mr. Decuma questioned.
They nodded.
Mr. Morta asked, "Are you familiar with the T-3s?"
They nodded.
"We are placing you on a special task force to capture one of these rogue Un-Men," Mr. Morta said. "We have a few questions for them. Why did they attack our previous base of operations?"
"And why did they destroy the Factory?" Ms. Nona added.
"Do you understand your new assignment?" Mr. Decuma asked.
"Yes," they replied.
"Good, good. That is all," Mr. Morta said. "You may return to your room. You will be given further instructions later."
They left.
"Now that the T-3 operation is moving forward, we can focus on other things. What about Pandora and Cerberus?" Mr. Decuma questioned. "Has Cerberus taken out the wayward project?"
"And what about surveillance?" Ms. Nona questioned. "Are we keeping better tabs on Cerberus?"
"Everything is fine." Mr. Morta leaned back, folded his hands, and rested them on his chest. "Our best operative is on the case."
#2 Shades of Gray: From Moscow, With Love Page 63