by Katy Jordan
Jack stood in awe, suffering severely from information overload, as he tried to process what he had just heard.
“And you, my boy, are going to help us stop Neon once and for all.”
Chapter Four
The yellow room was bright and vibrant, somehow having a positive vibe. Monitors, keyboards, computers and small gadgets sat everywhere in disarray like a storage room for a computer lab. At the back, there was a single curtain pulled to the side with a small bedroom area behind it.
The Yellow Youth followed Jack and Bullet into his lair.
“Welcome to my humble abode!” he announced, proudly.
“Wait… you all live here?” Jack probed in shock.
“Yes, Jack, we do. Now, let’s get you set up,” Bullet confirmed, and walked past him into the room and stood by Youth.
“So, what do I call you?”
“Youth.”
“No, but, what’s your name?” Jack clarified.
Youth looked at Bullet with an expression of confusion.
“Youth,” he reiterated.
“We give up our identities when we become Colour Coded,” Bullet explained.
“Seriously? Why would he make you do that?”
“The Spectrum doesn’t make us do anything. Back when we were Prismatic, run by Neon, as you know, it was recommended that we give up our real identities if they were blackened in any way,” said Bullet.
“Blackened?”
“Criminal record, bad background, stuff like that. Or if we just wanted a fresh start,” Youth explained.
“You guys have criminal records?”
Youth was about to answer until Bullet walked over to Jack and pulled his jacket from his back, startling him.
“What the…?”
“Youth’s going to fit a camera into your jacket, so we need to leave it here with him,” Bullet explained as she handed the jacket to Youth.
“Does that mean I have to wear that jacket all the time?” Jack enquired.
“No. I’ll give you another couple of jackets with cameras in them. You’ll also be wearing my gel earpiece so that you can communicate with us 24/7,” said Youth.
“Right… cool,” Jack replied, nervously.
Bullet clocked his newly acquired posture and the worried look on his face.
“Hey… you’re going to be fine, okay? While we’re getting your surveillance ready, you’re going to be officially briefed by The Spectrum. Then we’ll be dropping you off at Neon’s.”
“I get briefed? Why?”
“Because you need to know precise things to look out for. If you find evidence, where to hide it. If things go wrong, say the safe word. Things like that,” Bullet explained.
Jack nodded nervously.
Bullet and Youth shared a look between them before she walked Jack out of Youth’s room.
The walk to The Spectrum’s headquarters seemed like an eternity to Jack. A long, wide corridor, a few turns and the enormous doors had him admire just how grand their premises was, and how hard they must have worked to get a building of this scale. Bullet walked slightly ahead as Jack followed.
He admired her.
Immensely.
She had a walk of complete confidence, which he liked.
Her brown hair bounced on her shoulders as she marched down the concrete corridor, the click of her heels rebounded off of every surface and echoed down the hall. Her hips swung with every step she took.
For a girl so petite, she moved with an impressive pace as Jack felt the strain in his ankles become very real during his long strides to keep up with her. After a final left turn, they came to a large oak door, where Bullet abruptly stopped, almost causing Jack to walk into the back of her.
Quietly, Bullet knocked on the door and waited patiently for a response.
“Come in,” The Spectrum’s muffled voice was heard from the other side.
Bullet swung both doors open with zest, revealing what looked like the presidential suite of a five-star hotel.
The Spectrum sat at a desk at the back of the room up some small marble steps, as though he sat on a podium. His elbows leaned on the desktop, with his fingers clasped between the other in front of his face as he observed them over the top of his spectacles.
Bullet, without hesitating, headed straight for The Spectrum and his desk, while Jack wandered slowly through the large room in awe.
Three ample sized windows evenly positioned down the right-hand wall had red floor-length curtains tied back with gold rope at each side. The view that The Spectrum got to behold every day was incredible. The mountains, a patch of water dripping off into the distance, they seemed to be literally in the middle of nowhere. Two gold-coloured sofas sat facing each other, and Jack couldn’t help but think how comfortable they looked.
It was only then that it occurred to him how long it had been since he last slept.
Days, maybe even a week.
On the left was a fireplace fitted halfway up the wall, and further down, an aquarium, also fitted into the wall. Six tropical fish swam happily around one another.
From the ceiling hung one of the most beautiful chandeliers Jack had ever seen. He’d never been anywhere to see many chandeliers, but he was certain that this one was the most spectacular. Around it was a Victorian-style border, with pictures of clouds and cherubs, like the ceiling of a cathedral.
He glanced ahead of him to see Bullet and The Spectrum merely staring at him in amusement.
“Quite nice, isn’t it?” said The Spectrum sarcastically.
“Yeah, it’s okay.”
“Come here, boy. Take a seat.”
Jack made his way up the steps and sat in one of the two seats positioned opposite The Spectrum at his desk. Bullet sat down beside him.
“Now, how much about your mission do you know?” Asked The Spectrum.
“My mission?” Jack asked, astounded.
“Yes. You’re proceeding into an enemy lair to retrieve information on our behalf, preferably undetected and preferably without you receiving any harm by said enemy. We consider this type of thing to be a mission. Do you not agree?” The Spectrum quizzed Jack, lowering his hands down to the desk to look at him more closely.
Jack felt extremely uncomfortable as he began to squirm in his seat.
He glanced over to Bullet hoping she’d throw him a lifeline, but she merely stared at him awaiting an answer.
“I guess.”
“Good,” said The Spectrum, “now, if you could get me up to speed with your know-how, what information do you have so far about your mission?”
“I’ve to… umm… I’ve to go back to Neon and find out information about you guys. And Bullet. And… uhh… I think that’s it?”
“No. It’s not,” The Spectrum confirmed.
“No, of course it isn’t,” Jack scoffed.
“You are right in the two things you stated, yes. But, we also need information on anything that he’s planning. We also want to know if he sets you any other tasks. Anything at all, you tell us. Bullet.”
“The gel earpiece that Youth is sorting for you just now,” she began confidently, “is a device ideal for us due to the reasons that Youth listed, however, we can’t hear any third parties.”
“So, what does that mean?” Jack enquired.
“It means that you’ll need to find a way of telling us important things that Neon, or any of his minions, says without getting made,” said Bullet. “So, for instance, if he asks you to rob a bank, you just repeat it: ‘You want me to rob a bank?’. It keeps us in the loop while keeping your cover secure. You with me?”
“Does the camera thing that Youth is fitting on to my jacket not record sound?” Jack pondered out loud.
“No. For us to have something that small and inconspicuous attached to your clothing, it isn’t possible for it to record sound over and above capturing footage. Unfortunate, but nevertheless, fact,” said Bullet.
“We’re also looking for any electronics that Neon mi
ght have, especially if it’s regarding Colour Coded. Anything from flash drives to desktop computers. You’ll have a compartment in your case containing gear, one of which will be a portable drive. If you could copy any information that would be splendid.”
“I’ll try.”
“Son… that’s all we’re asking of you,” The Spectrum reassured Jack.
“Now, Sparrow will continually have an eye on the perimeter with his drone that he and Youth made. If you need anything that you don’t already have, Gecko can suit up with some kind of disguise and get it to you. If you’re handed a weapon you haven’t seen before, ask me. Any technology you’re unsure of, ask Youth…”
“So, you guys can also talk to me on those gel things?”
“Yes, as I said, we’ll be right there with you, every step of the way.”
“In spirit,” Jack muttered.
Bullet looked at him sympathetically.
“We’ll be closer than you think,” she assured him. “Okay, so, if you feel like you’ve got everything you could possibly get, or, God forbid, you really just don’t want to do it anymore and want out of there, then you say: ‘I feel homesick’.”
Suddenly, Jack was up out of the chair, and wandering over to the window, staring out into the highlands.
The Spectrum merely viewed his movements naturally, while Bullet looked perplexed as to the precipitant way he dismissed himself from their company.
“Something wrong?” asked Bullet.
“You’re being nice to me,” Jack stated.
“You want me to be mean to you?”
“No, I don’t but… don’t I deserve that?” he asked, turning to face them. “I hurt your friend. Badly. All because I was scared of what Neon would do if I didn’t. I hurt her, and you’re being nice to me.”
Jack turned back to stare out of the window.
“Jack, with all due respect, we’re asking you to risk your life to help us get one up on Neon,” said Bullet.
“I’m only doing it because I hate what I did to Flare!” Jack snapped.
“We know why you’re doing it, Jack!” Bullet forced. “It’s only human, you don’t have to explain that to us, we get it.”
“Do you?” Jack grilled. “Do you really? So, you understand what it feels like to break someone’s kneecaps with a bat? To rip their face open with spiky rings?”
“Jack…”
“To put a cloth over their face and tip water on it?”
“Jack, listen…”
“You ever played Russian roulette with someone? Or flung a chair around a room while someone was strapped to it?”
“Jack!”
“I HATE MYSELF!” Jack began to sob uncontrollably.
In a daze, he staggered and thumped his back against the wall, running his fingers through his sandy blond hair, his breathing getting out of control as he started to hyperventilate.
“I hate what I did. I didn’t want to do it. I’m sorry, I don’t think I can do this,” Jack stormed out of The Spectrum’s headquarters, the echoes of his footsteps slowly following him down the corridor. Bullet turned back to The Spectrum completely dumbfounded by what just happened.
“We just lost our only option.”
“No, we haven’t,” The Spectrum assured her. “We have, however, just witnessed our only option have a nervous breakdown. What does that show?”
“That he’s not competent enough to do this.”
“On the contrary, Bullet. He has just displayed precisely how competent enough he is to do this. His guilt and want for forgiveness and redemption will drive him to do everything he can to make sure we have what we need.”
“But, he just said…”
“He just acted irrationally. As have you in the time that I’ve known you, have you not?” The Spectrum looked at Bullet waiting for her to confirm that he was right.
Sheepishly, she nodded.
“Well, that’s all that Jack has done. He’s walking it off. Taking some time to himself. You should talk to him. Alone. You both have something in common after all.”
“Like what?” Bullet asked, almost offended.
“Neon,” The Spectrum replied, as he ushered her to the still open door to his quarters.
Bullet got up, considering everything The Spectrum had just said as she headed for the door and turned right as had Jack upon his exit.
She tried to think of where he would go, taking into account he didn’t know his way around. He enjoyed the view from The Spectrum’s window, and the best view you could find was from the conservatory, so she headed there.
Sure enough, Jack was leaning on the railing over the foyer, rubbing hard at his eyes with his palms. Slowly, Bullet approached him and leaned on the railing next to him. He saw her but did not acknowledge her presence.
As a matter of fact, he made a point of looking anywhere but at Bullet.
“Don’t be embarrassed, Jack,” Bullet pleaded.
“Well, I’m hardly proud of myself, am I?”
Bullet turned to face him. She studied his mortified and uncomfortable stature.
“You’re right. You hurt my friend, and a huge part of me really hates you for that. But, another part of me gets it.”
Jack faced her, stunned by her words.
“Think about it Jack; I used to work for Neon. I left. It wasn’t over a little disagreement. I left because of him; who he was and the fact that he wouldn’t change. He’s a very twisted man who gets easily obsessed with something, and right now his obsession seems to be us. He’s apparently hearing rumours that I’m dead, and he ordered you to grab Flare to find out if it was true or not, with any means necessary. You did what you had to do to stay alive. So, I get it, and I’m sure Flare does too, in some way.”
Jack shuffled around uncomfortably before dropping his head into his hands.
“Don’t give up on us, Jack. Help us. Please.”
Bullet rested her hand on his arm. Jack perked up and looked at her.
Into her deep blue eyes. Those eyes that swallowed him whole while they pleaded with him to do what he was being asked.
He nodded.
Bullet beamed an ecstatic smile at him as her eyes lit up.
“Thank you!”
Both of them continued to admire the view from the balcony as the sun began to make its way to bed behind the hills.
“Where exactly are we?” Jack asked.
“Oh… if I told you that, I’d have to kill you,” she smiled.
Bullet was visibly happy when Jack chuckled back.
“Fair enough,” he muttered. “Before I get geared up there’s something I want to do, if I may?”
“Which is?” Bullet asked.
“Flare…” he murmured.
Jack was mesmerised by the pristine condition of the hospital wing as he followed Bullet through an empty ward. He found it weird to see it in a shade of purple rather than white like every other hospital. It wasn’t long before they were at Flare’s bedside, who was awake and just finished eating when they arrived.
“Oh, my God, you’ve got to be kidding me,” she snarled.
“Flare, let him say what he needs to say.”
Flare folded her good arm underneath the other that remained in a sling due to ripped tissue in her forearm, and stared anywhere but at Jack or Bullet, saying nothing.
“Flare…” Jack started, “I’m not trying to excuse my actions when I say that Neon had me at every turn when it came down to his orders regarding you, but I do want to apologise for them. He threatened my life, which really didn’t bother me… but… he threatened the life of my family. That was something that I couldn’t bear the thought of. They’ve been through enough. I’m sorry, and I hope one day you can find it within yourself to forgive me.”
Flare continued to look forward at the wall opposite, as though she was trying to see through it.
She didn’t acknowledge that he had said anything at all.
Jack, having realised that he wasn’t going to g
et an answer, left the hospital wing.
Bullet watched him leave and turned back to Flare.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For putting our last option back in motion.”
Bullet leaned down and pecked her forehead, and made a brisk exit from the ward to catch up with Jack.
Jack was in the conservatory putting on his jacket while Youth fiddled with the gel earpiece when Bullet caught up with him. Youth handed Jack the gel for him to put in his ear, and then made some adjustments to the camera on Jack’s jacket and checked his tablet to make sure they had a clear visual. He pulled over a case and handed it to Jack.
“This is everything you’ll need. Some clothes are in there too, and at the bottom, there’s a compartment with some nifty little gadgets to help you out, should you need it,” Youth opened the suitcase and went straight into the compartment to reveal its contents.
“This little laser pen is actually a bug detector. Shine it into nooks and crannies of a room, and if the laser turns green, it’s bugged. This pen is a tranq dart. You push the top down as though you’re going to use it and it shoots. Aim it at someone, and they’ll fall unconscious in three seconds, but the unconsciousness only lasts for an hour so, you know, think before you click. This tablet is for email and video call only, on a different frequency, so that it can’t be traced or detected, so if you get anything you can send it straight to us securely. There’s a knife with a lock pick on it, a spare gel earpiece, x-ray vision glasses, and this pack of gum isn’t actually gum, it’s a flash drive. Sound good?”
“Uhh… yeah…” said Jack.
“Cool! Catch ya,” Youth bid him farewell and walked away whistling to himself.
Jack crouched down by the case, curious about the gear he was provided. He lightly brushed his fingers over everything, and then shut the case.
“Rocket’s outside with the car ready to take you there,” Bullet informed him.
Jack nodded in response.
“Are you ready, boy?” asked The Spectrum, approaching them with his hands, as always, clasped behind his back.