My eyes flickered to the camera in the corner of the office.
It was small, but I noticed it quickly. Pulling out my computer now would be suspicious, as I had the government provided one in front of me. My phone wasn't capable of hacking into anything here, but it would be too difficult to sneak my laptop into the bathroom.
I had been discovering and tracing cyber threats for hours now. The big ones were sent to the main man, and the small ones were destroyed immediately. It was nearly impossible to find time to search for the documents without getting caught. These were most likely important papers, so memorizing the floor plan would be useless. They have to be in a room off the map. Locked with special technology that only people high up could open. Hidden well enough that Amelia would not be able to find it or open it. She must not have enough stealth skills. Think, Anubis.
First, I need to find out who the important officials are. Then, we have to steal and copy his ID. I went on a hunch that the door to the documents requires a specific ID.
I turned my head to the computer. I can't turn off their spying program, as that would signal that I was doing something suspicious, but I could hide one of my servers, and let the cyber threat tracker run on autopilot. Swiftly, I typed in what I needed.
Amelia had sent a list of names of government officials who worked in this building. The names accompanied a picture of them. I scanned through their jobs, when I saw the man who bumped into me this morning. He was one of the executives. Victor Brevil, he was bound to have access. Amelia had also written where their offices were and Victor's was on the top floor. Now, I have to wait until lunch to tell Jean.
I fired the gun, hitting the target directly.
"Nice"
Shane nods at me and looks down at his file.
"Are you nervous, Dan?"
I think about the answer. Why is he asking? Did he see me shaking? Do I have a nervous habit? I'm positive I don't.
"No, why?"
He nods and furrows his brow, looking down at the file. He didn't answer my question, and instead gestured for me to follow him. I wonder if I will get the chance to explore the building anytime soon. I am a field agent, so I suppose I won't get much of a chance, but if I gain the illusion of loyalty I suppose I'll be given more access. He leads me to another room with a large table. Four men and two women sat at the table, talking. Shane and I walk in and they all turn towards us.
"Hey everyone, this is Dan, he's the newest addition to your team."
I can't just sit here and wait, I concluded.
I wondered if they would let me leave. I could pretend I was in the bathroom. Five minutes is all I need to find the location of Victor's office, It was risky, but I sat up and left before my brain could stop me. The odds of someone catching me were pretty low. I had a thousand excuses.
I made my way casually to the elevator. My demeanor changed to confident and knowing, to make sure no one would think I was in the wrong place. My finger started to press the top floor button, only to realize my ID was not capable of going to that floor. I frowned, thinking of what to do now. Suddenly the elevator started moving up. I stepped back, watching which floor it goes to.
Finally the machine stopped at a floor that was irrelevant to me. A tall woman stepped in, a cold stare on her face. She scanned her ID card, which I noticed said ambassador. The woman pressed not the floor I didn't needed, but a floor below. I concluded there were probably emergency stairs I could use. Did she notice that I had no buttons selected?
The door opened, and I snuck through without a noticeable suspicion from the woman.
"This is Patricia, she's good with hand-to-hand combat, this is Nicholas and he's our eyes and ears, he's got incredible senses, that's Richie, Edward, and Henry, they're good with handguns, and Nichole here is a sniper."
I smile and shake their hands as they come to me with their smiles.
"It's nice to meet you guys."
Nichole raises an eyebrow at me.
"We were given your file before you came here. It says you're skilled in every form of combat."
My smile drops and I furrow my brows in confusion.
"That doesn't sound right, who was in charge of that?"
Nichole's suspicious demeanor suddenly relaxed and she chuckled.
"Nah, I'm just testing you." I force out a response of a chuckle as they offer me a seat.
"So, what's next?"
Richie adjusts himself in his seat and takes in a deep breath before explaining.
"After lunch we're going to break into the terrorist's secret hideout."
I blink, taken back.
"I'm just kidding, we're not throwing you into the field that quickly, you'll have time to adjust."
These people really don't take their job very seriously. Is that something I should be careful of? I force another laugh and look to see if anyone will actually answer my question for once.
I knock on the door this time. Jean isn't home, I know this. The family needs to know I'm here, so I don't use the keys like usual. His mom opens the door, her dusty blonde locks laying flat on her shoulders. There is a bright smile plastered on her face when she sees me. I smile back as she invites me into her house. Gun is behind my back. I developed a habit of hiding my hands, just so my body language wasn't out of the ordinary. I spot the rest of the family in the living room. Their faces laced with a fake sense of security. I can see the scars on Kristopher's knuckles. The bruises on Crystal's inner arm from injections. The bibles and crosses everywhere. I can see the beauty in their end. I'm getting you out, GG, I promise.
I take a deep breath and search for the stairs. When I find their location, I make a note to learn how to disarm emergency doors. I don't want to set anything off. Making my way back to the elevator, I spot Amelia's office. She notices me, and slightly nods her head. I go back to my office and continue searching through databases and logs for any suspicious activity. "I can do this," I mutter to myself.
"Are you nervous, Dan?"
The question hung in my head ever since he asked me that, and I prayed that it didn't show that there was something on my mind. I wondered how comparable these people were to me and how observant they might be, causing me to grow more stiff out of habit to avoid even breathing wrong.
"After lunch" One of them said, I've already forgotten their names. When was lunch? I couldn't look at the clock, or the door, that would raise suspicions. Plus, it was probably unprofessional for a newbie anyway. Instead, I force myself to wait patiently as they discuss pointless things and occasionally subjects pertaining to the job, which I would listen in for any hints that they might know something.
Just how dumb do I have to pretend to be to avoid suspicions?
My mind wandered again.
Limp bodies crumble to the ground, one by one. The gun drops to my side. I hear a voice on my right. It's Jean.
"Anubis?" he says, a red tint in his eyes, noticeable even in shitty lighting, and a blunt between his thumb and forefinger. He is high. He notices his family, but a blank expression remains on his face. I panic. I grab the lighter from my pocket and set fire to the curtains. The flames quickly eat up the room, with dark gray fumes wrapping around the dead family. I don't look at Jean. I don't know if he escapes. I don't know if he will remember if he lives.
I looked up from my computer, not noticing the single streak of tears on my cheek. The clock barely ticked forward. There's still so much time. Where do we even meet for lunch? I wondered if I'm allowed to text GG, but I doubted it.
Somebody knocked on my door. "Yes?" I called out, rubbing my eye. A thin man with glasses opened the door, looking rather timid.
"Mr. Anubis, sir? You have a meeting in 10 minutes."
I studied the man before replying, which made him nervous. His name tag read Garret, and I concluded he was my assistant. "Thank you. Say, got any coffee?"
God, I am so bored. I lean over to Nicholas who's sitting next to me, desperately trying to come up with a reason to get out of this room.
"Hey, I gotta take a leak, do you know where the restroom is?"
He nods and points to the door.
"Go out to the hall, it's a few floors down, and you'll see it near the lift."
I nod and stand up, excusing myself and leaving the room. God, it's as if I've been holding my breath and can finally inhale. Was it stuffy in there or was it just me? I sigh, walking to the stairs and opening the door to the floor with the bathroom. The atmosphere in this floor is much different, but the overall vibe appears to be constant. My eyes follow the main room as my legs continue to the area with the elevators, allowing me to scan the area with a quick gla-
BAM!
gay
I suppose I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking, because I somehow managed to run into the only other person within ten feet of me. After a few seconds of recovery, I look up at who I ran into, hoping it wasn't someone who could fire me on the spot.
"Oh shi-"Anubis looked at me with a shocked expression.
I waited five minutes before standing up and heading to the conference room. As I navigated the identical marble hallways, I turned a corner only to run into somebody again. I stumbled back, praying it wasn't the same man from the elevator. "Oh shi- oh. It's just you." I brushed off my suit. I had forgotten Jean was working this job with me. "What are you doing on this floor? And why are you so tense?" I furrowed my brow, noticing a twitching vein near Jean's temple. His entire body was stiff enough to be a royal guard.
"What are you doing on this floor? And why are you so tense?"
Realizing how stiff my body language grew from sitting in one room for the longest half hour of my life, I relaxed my muscles, rolling my shoulder and furrowing a brow at Anubis, who was studying my face too closely for comfort.
"Shut up, I'm not tense. I wanted out of Limbo, everyone there is too happy. I want to go on the field, but it doesn't look like we'll be doing much today."
It suddenly occurred to me that Anubis wasn't at his desk either. Could he have needed to get out of the monotony of his job as well? Is that an experience that a new recruit could feel, having this be the first day and already feeling the endless repetition of the job they've hardly started? Or is Anubis further ahead in work than I am?
"What are you doing over here?"
I stared at the bags under Jean's eyes. His stone-cold eyes paired with the permanently solemn frown. It looked exactly the same as it always did. Always.
His blank, unreadable features surrounded by golden destruction was the only vivid thing I could remember.
Why did I run away?
I blinked a couple times before processing his question. "I'm going to a meeting," I said slowly, gesturing towards my suitcase. "I'm actually doing my job, G-" I cleared my throat, "Geez."
I wanted to turn and look for cameras, but I knew that would cause suspicion to rise. There were definitely cameras somewhere. Instead, I faked a smile. "Let's go out for lunch together! The weather is nice today, maybe they'll let us eat outside." I winked.
I watch Anubis shift uncomfortably, his eyes hyper-focused on looking straight at me and not at any cameras, knowing the feeling of being watched is something he and I avoided so often.
"Let's go out for lunch together! The weather is nice today, maybe they'll let us eat outside."
I nod affirmatively to him and turn my head to look at his suitcase, then eye the bathroom.
"Well, good luck with your meeting. Try not to embarrass yourself."
I walked past Anubis and headed for the door of the bathroom, praying that it'd be empty. I suppose more men would walk in as soon as lunch starts, so I had time, though I couldn't take longer than seven minutes, else my team would grow suspicious.
My eyes flash and suddenly I feel a sense of panic. It confused me, and I began to grow incredibly dizzy. Confused, I push the door open and walk straight to the sink, turning on the water, placing my hand under the water and wiping my face.
What the hell was that?
I gripped the sink to ground myself and hoped that the dizziness would dissipate as I hold myself still.
I strolled away from Jean and opened the handle to the conference. Different heads sat in every chair, an empty one spared for me. I wasn't late, but I wasn't necessarily early either.
I sat down. All eyes were glued to me, but no words were said. "I'm Anubis," I spoke hesitantly.
Suddenly a woman straightened out papers on the table. "All right, let's get started. Anubis, you have all the information about the cyber threats. Let us know what's going on, and you can leave the rest to us. After all, you're too new to help with this section of work, sos just listen for now."
"Okay, ma'am." I pulled out my documents and started describing every issue in detail. Eventually, I allowed my mouth to go on autopilot, and I assembled the needed information to report to Jean. Find a way through the emergency stairs, get to Victor's office, replicate his ID, find the next room. "…and, that's all I discovered this morning." Immediately after I finished, everyone began tackling the threats and figuring out certain routes to take.
Maybe Jean will get an early lunch too?
When was the last time I was high?
Good God, Jean, don't think about that. That's not the reason, so don't tell yourself it is. You're nervous, you just flew in a plane for hours, it's probably jet lag.
Does jet lag cause vomiting?
I straighten up from facing the toilet and wipe my mouth, flushing the toilet and walking over to the sink. Someone else walks in as I'm washing my hands, and I don't get the chance to rinse my mouth, causing the taste in my mouth to linger as I exit the bathroom and avoid eye contact with whoever just walked in. As I reach the elevators I try to catch a glimpse of Anubis in the meeting. Is he doing well? Or is he crashing and burning? It's hard to tell from where I'm at, and if I linger, I'll grow suspicious, so I go to the elevators and return to my floor, hoping lunch is closer now.
The meeting took longer than I expected, but the woman also never dismissed me. The overall energy of the room escalated when some of the people got excited for the lunch break. As I stood up, the woman whose name I never got stopped me.
"I don't know who you are, but your success rate is off the charts. I'm very proud of your work, but I am wondering. Your lack of a last name concerns me."
The anxiety drained from my chest. I reached up to scratch my neck and shot her a sheepish smile. "Ah, I never really liked my last name because of my father. I couldn't think of a good name, so I decided to go without a last name. Bit difficult signing up for things though." She nodded her head and waved me away, but there was a suspicious look on her face. I left immediately.
After dropping off my stuff at my office, I headed to the elevator, hoping Jean would be somewhere on the main floor looking for me. The machine stopped a floor above the main floor, and speak of the devil, Jean stepped inside.
"Hello fellow employee," I teased.
I roll my eyes and nudge Anubis with my shoulder, instinctively checking the floor panel to see that, of course, the main floor was already pushed. There's a few moments of silence as the doors slowly close, the machinery almost drowning out the silence, but the lack of conversation was too noticeable. After the doors closed, I turn my head to look at Anubis.
"How was the meeting?" I asked, though my question ended closer to a statement rather than an inquiry. I know Anubis probably doesn't remember half of it, despite leading the meeting, but I didn't know how much privacy we had, and where the privacy could be found, so I thought I'd do what I could to seem normal, even if I wasn't being watched.
"I think we should skype Prince," I blurted out. It suddenly occurred to me Jean had said something and I was positive his sentence had nothing to do with what I just said. I returned his stare with a genuine smile.
"What?" Jean said, a bit taken aback by my sudden mention of his cat. I loosened my tie a bit.
gay things begin to happ-
"You heard me."
The elevator door opened and I swiftly walked outside the building, going through security and such as Jean tried to keep up and process what I just suggested. As soon as I found a spot far away from the facility, I sat down with my small bag consisting of the sandwich from redhead. It occurred to me that there were most likely cameras in the trees too, so I made a plan to infiltrate the camera system.
I turned to face Jean. "Do you have the place's number? Where Prince is?"
"Uhm, yeah, I suppose I do," I muttered, sitting next to Anubis and eyeing him suspiciously. I suppose it couldn't hurt, right? It's not like there's anything incredulous about someone checking up on their pet.
"Wait-" I murmur, pausing before pulling out the phone number in my pocket. "That's a long distance call." I choose my words carefully, hoping to communicate my actual concern to Anubis, and staring him down as if I could somehow telepathically tell him that the facility might stalk my phone and see that I've called an American number. Even if it was just to a mere kennel, calling to America might turn their eyes on us, and I couldn't let it happen so soon, but now that Anubis planted the idea in my head, I kind of did want to see Prince.
I waved off Jean's concern. "Don't worry, I'll pay for it, okay?" I winked, getting across that I saw what he really meant. I knew how to hide phones from governments, but it was such a slow and difficult process that we didn't have time for, so I decided to go on a hunch that Michelle made sure the phones were covered.
Jean stared at me a little longer, then reluctantly pulled out a card for a high class kennel. I whipped out my phone and typed in the number.
"The Russian Blue Cat, how may I help you?" A man recited.
"Hi, I'd like to hold a facetime call with my cat," I didn't bother trying to mimic Jean's ridiculously deep voice which I assumed he got from hell. I ignored his dirty look.
"Okay! Let me put you over to cat care services and they'll check your ID and find your cat!"
"Thank you!"
I handed the phone to Jean, wondering how we were going to tell the kennel our information without giving away who we are.
I snatch the phone out of Anubis's hand and put it to my ear, preparing myself to recite my information.
"This is Daniel Phillips, born July sixteenth in the year nineteen ninety five, thank you." I put the phone on speaker and place it on the table with a grin on my face.
"Alright, so your cat named Prince?"
"Yes."
"Could you give me the PIN number for me?"
"Zero nine two three."
"Thank you, hold on just a moment and you'll be connected with Prince."
"Sounds good."
Prince
The soft cushion holding me up was nothing compared to the beds at Jean's. My body was only comfortable there, after all.
Suddenly, the door swung open and I opened one eye to a new human strolling through with a device in their hand. They're smiling at me, so I opened both eyes to see what the commotion was all about.
"Hello, Princey, we have someone here for you!" The human said. Why did they call me by such a distasteful name? I turned my head towards the screen and my body immediately jolted up in excitement.
On the device was a living Jean! And Anubis? Is that? No way. I haven't seen him in centuries. Something had happened between the two, but I couldn't tell what.
"Meow! (Jean! Anubis! I totally did not miss you guys at all!)" I meowed, pawing at the screen. A shame they can't understand me.
Although there was horrid quality, something was definitely off about Jean. He always had this tired look on him, but this time he looked sick. My cat senses were TINGLING oh FUCk what did u do jean u whore
Anubis smiled with a sense of nostalgia. "Hey Prince. Miss me?" I turned my head and meowed again, my tail visibly wagging in the back.
i literally remember typing up a reply to this
Feeling a bit weird to talk to my cat in front of Anubis and possibly a few security guards, I force a chuckle.
"Haha, hey Prince, how are you holding up? They're treating you like royalty, right?" I turn to look at Anubis, suddenly feeling a heavy cough crawling up my throat. I lean back and turn away from Anubis, lifting a hand to cover my mouth as I cough, feeling something hit the palm of my hand. I look down and see blood. My heart jumps, but I wipe my hand on my pants and turn back to the screen to continue the conversation with my cat.
We chatted with our cat for as long as language barrier would allow. At one point I noticed Jean had gotten more comfortable. I knew that my longing for my therapist was much larger than any judgment from some silly Brits.
–
lol! get it, therapist XD
anubis: literally im trying to tell a story
–
Eventually, lunch ended. I didn't get a chance to tell Jean of my plan - any conversing had to be saved for the apartment. I let out a big sigh as we reentered the solemn building. As soon as we got past security, a strange young boy bounced up to us.
"Anubis? Dan? You're the new recruits right? We need you to sign some more paperwork." Jean and I exchanged glances and followed the boy to an office. He sat us down and shoved loads of forms and contracts that in the end wouldn't matter. I started signing and writing the date.
"Hey, uh, Dan? What's today's date?" I asked, trying to recall the numbers.
"March 29," the boy replied instead. I frowned. That's not right.
A surge of anxious energy went through me as Jean and I both raised our heads in realization.
I felt Anubis's eyes on me as the tension settles in, looking up to lock eyes with him. I shift my eyes to look at the boy, but he's writing something down on a slip of paper. I blink at Anubis for a few moments, coming to terms with the fact that 1. both of us completely forgot for several days, 2. even though we forgot, we've been working together for over a week now, and that we were definitely together when the day passed, and 3. we still couldn't address it right now, not in front of people. I inhale deeply and write the date onto the papers, proceeding to fill out any information it asked before handing it to the boy.
"Thank you." He muttered as I sit back in the chair, now avoiding eye contact with Anubis.
Each signature got more and more sloppy. The pure guilt of forgetting for the first time was overwhelming. More guilt than the incident ever caused, strangely enough.
Unaware I had been holding my breath, I let out a sigh and smiled to the boy. "Is that it?"
"Yes, that should be it! Apologies for taking your time." The boy dismissed us with a flick of his wrists. Jean quickly sat up and left, but I decided against following him. I knew he wasn't going to talk to me for awhile, and even if he tried, it would only escalate into a fight. Plus, we had jobs to get back to.
feel free to time skip to night unless you wanna fucking write the rest of the boring day
As soon as we finished, I stood up and left, not bothering to hold the door for Anubis. The heavy feeling that weighed on me- and probably accompanied Anubis- infuriated me and I failed to push back all the thoughts that swarmed my mind. Instead of doing anything about it, I returned to work, repressing not only the memories of that night but also the dizziness that was seemingly overcoming me, as I continued discussing useless things with my team.
Y
e
a
h
lets timeskip
I enter the car quietly as Anubis sits in the passenger side next to me. I don't say a word, but that's not really weird of me. However, the energy that emanated from both Anubis and I was different, so my silence, albeit expected, was still unsettling for the both of us. I wondered if he was planning on breaking the silence.
After a long day, I met with Jean at the car. It was nearly 10 and I was ready to crash.
Jean, having the keys from this morning, stole the drivers seat again. Normally I would always drive since I had gotten my license way before he did, but I didn't bother saying anything. It was still too tense. I took the chance to fall asleep, not wanting to endure the long car ride.
Suddenly I heard the car door slam, jolting me awake. Of course, he would try to strand me in the car. I quickly opened my door before he could lock me in, then rushed after the bundle of anger.
"Hey! Push me away (pOKE HOLES IN MY SKIN HAHA SONG REFERENCE) all you want, I don't care, but I don't just have some back-up place to go to when you don't wanna see my ass. I am sorry, but you're just going to have to deal with it. You're not the only one who's mad."
Jean turned around with his hand on his temple. He had a dazed expression on his face. "I didn't-" he began, but before Jean could finish, he collapsed onto the cement into unconsciousness.
—– (jean wakes up in his bed later fyi)
