by K. T. Hanna
“You really know how to deflate a girl, don’t you?” She winked at me, and I realized I was being a bit of a dick.
“Got a lot on my mind.” Which was a total understatement. “I don’t mean to be distant. I really am sorry.”
“It’s okay. You know we’ll come and cheer you on, don’t you?” Cyan squeezed my shoulders and glanced at me. “Even though you do your best to be a loner sometimes, we’ve got your back, Dare.”
With a quick smile, she was gone, waving to someone else behind us. My friend was a whirlwind of energy. Some days I wish I could borrow her way with people. Mine was mostly clumsy and introverted.
Give me a running track any day.
What would you do with a running track?
Run on it?
I assumed you meant musical track. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
I frowned. Had it just been trying to banter with me? It was difficult to know what to say to a system in my head. But damn was I glad it was back, and yet at the same time sort of disappointed. My feelings could wait for analysis later though.
Misunderstandings are fine. I do like music, but I didn’t mean a continuous music track.
Is this State thing important? It sounded hesitant, like it had been trying to figure something out. Which led me to believe it had been listening, just not engaging. I wished I could figure out when it was present but being quiet, versus when it just wasn’t there.
Very. It’s one of the things I’ve been working toward my entire life. I’d forgotten how good it felt to admit that. How good it felt to have gotten his far. Electricity sparked along my skin, feeding off the brief spurt of energy. I’d have to watch that on Sunday.
Then you would do well to rest up. I can take you off duty if you wish? For personal reasons?
Really? Could it really do that, or was it just making the offer knowing the odds were that I wouldn’t be needed?
Really. I can put in the request and let the program know that you’re only to be contacted in a case of emergency.
Thanks! I meant it, but I didn’t think it was going to do any good anyway. My stomach twisted, like little Timmy fell down a well. Except I was Timmy, and the well was the black hole that my life had become. I had a really bad feeling that in the next three nights, something was undoubtedly going to need my attention. And it had nothing to do with playing poker with friends.
I woke up on Friday with a sense of foreboding in my stomach that was so strong, I couldn’t eat breakfast. It felt like lightning was crackling around my body, sparking through the edges of my fingers, defying any control I might purport to have. By the end of the day, I stumbled through the door certain I had food poisoning. Except I knew that wasn’t it.
As soon as I threw myself on the bed, words flashed before my eyes.
Urgent Attention Required
Location: City Hall
Objective: You and your team will retrieve file D102BX14. You will receive further directions once you’ve obtained this item.
Time Limit: As soon as possible. Under the cover of darkness.
Reward: Progression and monetary compensation
Caution: Be diligent. Do not be seen. Dress appropriately.
I groaned. Maybe the electricity gave me clairvoyance as well. I thought you said I’d be exempt from any missions until after my championships?
I could only exempt you from normal missions. This one was urgent.
I’m not sure if it was wishful thinking, but I thought perhaps the system was a little sad for me. Like it had really tried or something. It’s all good. Don’t worry about it.
I rolled over and changed shirts. School colors weren’t exactly incognito, but if I pulled my black hoodie over this, it should work. Charcoal sports pants were close enough to black. The weather was slowly getting warmer though. Soon I wouldn’t be able to wear my hoodie without looking hella suspicious.
My stomach churned, like it was an angry electrical storm. I knew something was going to go wrong. But I couldn’t be sure how far that extended. It could have meant that I would have a mission after all, or maybe it was focused on something else entirely.
Swinging myself out of bed, I heard a noise coming from the living room. I paused, trying to take stock of the situation. I thought—and sort of hoped—it was Orion.
“Did you get pinged?” my friend asked me as soon as I entered the room.
“Yeah.” Why on earth were they putting us both on the same mission team again? Considering last time, it made no sense. Although, maybe it was better to place me with someone who understood how unpredictable my ability could be. Though there was no way we would have the same Blocker. Adam was still healing up as far as I knew.
Orion gave me a look I couldn’t interpret. It might have been curiosity, but I think it was more than that. He was probably running through the exact thought process I was. In a city of this size, wasn’t there a plethora of other agents they could put together?
“Do we head separately or together?” I asked hesitantly, unsure of the protocol.
Orion frowned. “I’m not sure. I’ve not had to deal with this before. I do have to cancel our Friday night plans, yet again, though.” He sounded vexed at the last, and I couldn’t blame him. “Our friends are going to hate us.”
Even I’d been looking forward to tonight. A little bit of unwinding before my big meet. Plus, City Hall made me nervous. This wasn’t some rogue science research lab, or bakery front for god knows what. This was a place where our city handed down judgment. It was going to be protected and patrolled. It wasn’t going to be as easy to get into this place, not to mention it was City bloody Hall. I wasn’t sure if there’d ever be a time we could just waltz on in. Since the last mission hadn’t been a walk in the park, I hated to think how we’d fare this time.
Orion glanced at his watch and sighed. “If we walk, we need to leave around six. We can leave half an hour later if we take the subway.”
So, we were going together. Some of my anxiety fled at the thought, even my electricity seemed to calm somewhat. I nodded. “Your pick.”
“Let’s walk, then. Gives us more time to talk, because I’m sure you have questions.” Orion didn’t look at me when he spoke, but instead picked up his bag and sauntered back to his room, his gaze focused on the floor.
It was a little chilly and way too windy for my liking in the shade of the skyscrapers along Broad Street as we approached City Hall. I was glad of my hoodie, but knew this respite wasn’t going to last forever. In no time at all a heatwave would descend on us, and then it wouldn’t matter how nice and warm my hoodie was—it’d be too much.
Orion walked next to me. I’d forgotten his legs weren’t used to striding, and I found myself having to hang back to keep pace with him instead of speeding up and shooting ahead.
He chuckled, like he could read my thoughts, which was something else I wanted to talk to him about.
“You really need to control your face better. I can see you running through thoughts a mile a minute. Just ask me, because wearing your every reaction on your face is a bad idea in this line of work.”
I scowled at him but couldn’t hold it long. He was right. I often thought far too much to myself. And I’d always worn my feelings for all to see. About to speak, I opened my mouth, only to get a whiff of urine, rotting vegetables, and something else I never wanted to know the origin of. I didn’t try to speak again until we were well clear of that tunnel grate.
“Why do you think they shoved us together again?” I asked the question, wondering if the system was going to answer me instead. Nya’s words haunted me in the back of my mind. There were reasons she’d warned me. I just wish she’d been more forthcoming. I didn’t do cryptic well.
“They need our skillsets. That’s it. There’s never a reason they would push us together except for that. The program doesn’t tak
e pre-death friendships into account.” He sounded bitter, like he’d just eaten a lemon.
I couldn’t help thinking he was holding something back again. “Not exactly the right environment to form lasting bonds, I guess.”
This time Orion laughed with less bitterness. “Not exactly. They just don’t want us concentrating on anything that could be distracting. Despite everything else. If you’re in a situation where a sacrifice is necessary, it’s far more difficult to let a friend fall than just a colleague with a designation.”
It made sense to me. Far more sense than the bakery I’d been sent to having a secret lair, or the shadows I was guessing it tried to imitate. “What about those shadowy things?”
The words were out before I could retract them, and I waited, not sure if I should clarify what I was asking.
“Shadow things?” He spoke sharply, looking at me, his blue eyes forceful. “What do you mean shadowy things?”
I gathered my thoughts and tried to explain. Maybe he would get it. Maybe it would make sense to him too. “At the sides of my vision, I can almost see them most of the time. Not so much during the day. But once twilight hits, that’s where they are. One of them, or maybe two of them, almost took one of my task objectives once. Like clawing hands made of solid smoke. But those are nothing on the underground lab I saw on my first task.”
“What?” He stopped, his focus on me, like he was trying to ferret out if I was making a joke or something.
“Went to get a file, it opened a secret door leading down to what I swear looked like a laboratory.” A wave of discomfort stole over me. Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned that part.
Orion’s brow pinched with thoughtfulness and he bit his lip before glancing around at everyone. Finally he turned back to me, moved a tad closer and whispered, “I don’t know about any labs, but I’ve seen shadow like shapes leak in and out of my vision.”
“Exactly,” I breathed, not daring to raise my voice. What did Orion know that I didn’t?
“I’ve seen them. They’ve never touched me before, but I have noticed them. Always following, always doing their best to catch up to me. Yet when they get close, it’s like they’re shy. And yet.” He glanced back and forth and whispered to me. “And yet, it seems the system either doesn’t acknowledge them, or else it doesn’t see them. So much that I really thought I was losing my grip on reality.”
I gulped. Personally. I didn’t like either option.
City Hall was smack dab in the middle of downtown, and a concrete monstrosity. Arched tunnels crossed to a center courtyard with even more concrete and brick. There was an old man playing guitar on one end. The melody lilted out, but it was snatched up by the wind, leaving the notes to drift around in discordant harmony. The man didn’t seem to notice us as we passed into the courtyard to lean against the inside wall.
Every fiber of my being wanted to make me turn around and run in the direction we’d come from. But running from a task wasn’t an option, just like refusing to perform the task you were given. I’d learned that much the hard way.
Orion and I sat at a small picnic table, wedged between the wall and a subway entrance, watching everything we could manage to. We were in plain sight, and that didn’t give me any confidence.
I almost shat my pants when I felt a hand on my shoulder, and the guy who touched me jumped back, shaking his fist in pain. Not my fault. I’d been specifically practicing with my trusty squash balls. Any unexpected touches by individuals I didn’t know during dusk was going to be met with a rather pointed shock of electricity. How stupid did someone have to be to approach a stranger like that anyway? They were lucky a little bit of an electric shock was all they got from me.
The eel inside me squirmed, like it had had a taste and wanted so much more. Tempering the instinct to let it loose was barely within my grasp.
The guy was bulky and built. Like he’d spent every day for as long as he’d been alive, working out.
“Sorry about that.” He brushed his hand through his dark hair. Either black or brown, I wasn’t sure. The light was dim in this area. It was why we chose it. “Didn’t realize we had an eel with us.”
“It’s okay.” I pushed out through clenched teeth. “It’s not like they give us much information.”
We all shared an uneasy chuckle.
He offered a hand this time. “I’m your Driver. Just waiting for our Minder and we should be good to go.”
“Minder?” Orion sounded surprised. “Why do we have a Minder with us? We’re going to have to wipe someone?”
I recognized the latter tone as offended. They were easy to confuse, especially when Orion got defensive.
“What’s a Minder?” I asked, keeping my voice just above a whisper.
Orion rolled his eyes. “Someone who resets memories, wipes the mind, makes sure anyone we encounter can’t remember us. Basically? A babysitter.”
Flashes of my overactive imagination did their best to hint at nefarious potential. Was that what had been done with me? A minder had wiped my memory. Since Orion wouldn’t meet my enquiring gaze, I figured it was. A cold chill stole down my spine, winding around like it was trying to suffocate me.
“Because of last time.” I whispered the words.
“Yeah.” I could tell Orion was sulking. He crossed his arms and looked away from the group. Maybe that’s not all it was, though. My friendship senses were tingling again.
“Can’t wait to see why I’m babysitting.” The voice sounded familiar, feminine tones with strength behind them. As she stepped into the watered-down moonlight, I realized I knew her too. Sam. Sam was our Minder.
Was that why she missed so many gatherings? Perhaps that was why she had so much money. Wait, were all my friends already dead? Granted, Sam was more Cyan’s friend than mine, but she was technically part of our circle.
She raised an eyebrow at me, but didn’t seem at all surprised. “Good to see you, Runner. You too, Cleaner.”
Her grin held mischief, and her eyes sparkled, and I remembered we didn’t use names on missions.
Our Driver feigned a hurt expression, raising the back of his hand to his forehead. “Oh, woe is me. You have forgotten me.”
“Nope. Just outrank you now.” She winked and sidestepped around him, squinting up at the building.
I engaged my interface, prompting it to inspect her. Unless I specifically formed questions in my mind, I’d realized that the system no longer provided unprompted information. Which was probably why it took so long with Orion. I’d just assumed he wasn’t a part of it, and thus it hadn’t answered the question I didn’t ask.
Sam Mitchel
Designation: Minder
Rank: Senior
Skills: Mind/Spirit/Light
Second Chance Affiliate
Well, I guess that answered my questions. Except now I wanted to know how she died. How about the Driver?
Hale Wetford
Designation: Driver
Rank: Associate
Skills: Light/Dark
Second Chance Affiliate
I really needed to remember to use it more often. Wondering about shit that was easily found never got anyone anywhere.
Sam stood there, a frown on her face. “This isn’t going to be easy one. There are guards that change sweep rotations every forty-five minutes. In order to do this, we need to get in and out inside of that window. Right now we have about twelve minutes to go over the plan and then begin execution. Got it?”
“Got it.” Perfect unison. Almost frightening.
Questions, I had so many questions. Like, why were we breaking into City Hall? What could possibly be in there we could benefit from? Was the Minder for them...or for us?
Quickly, I used the system to write a note to myself. I wasn’t sure if it would work if the wiping was for us, but it was worth a try. Adding t
o my electrical tutorial notes, I marked down Sam, Minder, Courthouse, WTF? That would at least get me thinking if I needed to.
“Runner?” Sam sounded impatient.
“Sorry. Can you repeat that?” Great professionalism from me. Only this wasn’t exactly my choice, and it definitely wasn’t my dream job. The deeper I got into the SC program, the more questions I had.
You can always ask me questions.
Really? And you’ll answer honestly even if the answers are troubling.
There was a pause before it answered me. I will answer anything I can.
And that, right there, was the problem. My little section of the program might like me and want to help, but the fact remained that it couldn’t always do that.
I switched my focus to Sam. Stuffing this task up wasn’t an option for me. We’d had enough trouble with the previous one.
A basement window had been left ajar enough that we could reach through and maintain the alarm system, but not enough to set it off. It was a delicate balance. Orion would take care of that. Afterwards we would all slip in and make our way out of that records room into the one in the center.
Once we made it there, it was my turn. All I’d have to do was absorb the lasers and channel the electricity back into the loop as if the secondary alarm was still in place. Driver would obscure all of our movements in shadow, and Orion was in charge of the locks. Minder would grab the file.
All in all, it should take us twenty-three minutes, give or take a few.
My stomach began to churn in pain again. Just what we needed.
We waited until the guard turned the corner and then we moved up slowly. I couldn’t quite tell, but from what I gathered about the Driver’s capabilities, he could obscure our presence using shadows. Thus, night was his perfect time. Instead of the getaway driver I’d first assumed he was, he was more of a get away with the mission by not being seen as easily sort of person. His shadows should confuse cameras. I entertained the thought that perhaps a rogue Driver was the reason I kept seeing shadows everywhere.