MF1.0 - 40 - Fast Break

The urge to run was growing, but against her better judgement, Stef sat down at the table. This was different to sharing a house with hackers – most of the communication at the professor’s house had been through instant messages. Some of the hackers had been so smart in their specialised ways that they were unable to articulate themselves verbally. The recruits around her had no problem being loud. After a few minutes, they noticed she wasn’t joining in. ‘So,’ the one at the head of the table said, ‘what’s your story?’ Voilà! In view, a less than humble vaudevillian voyeur… No, that’s not right. This is the winter of our distant content? Spyder, they’re asking about you. ‘My name is Stef, I’m a hacker,’ I was hired by Dorian Gray to help a Beast find his Belle, I think a world is ending and… ‘I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or the right place and time, depending on how you look at it.’ ‘Dancer?’ the girl with the ability to speak asked. She gave the girl a confused look. ‘Grandparents forced me to take ballet when I was four…’ This made all of the recruits, “at” laughter, rather than “with” laughter. She hoped she wasn’t blushing. One of the boys across the table, with hair as plain and brown as her own, shook his head. ‘She’s a newb, she doesn’t know the jargon yet.’ He looked at her. ‘If you were chasing a bad guy through Southbank, would you rather scream “dancer” or “demon”?’ Her confused expression continued. ‘Why would I scream?’ She held up her hands and wiggled them. ‘I assume the sewn-in wireless mics can pick up a range of frequencies, so there wouldn’t be a reason to yell.’ The boy at the head of the table sighed at his breakfast, it disappeared, and some sort of energy drink appeared in his hand. ‘Ah,’ he said with that disappointment, ‘that kind of field aptitude.’ He looked at the other recruits. ‘Bets in.’ ‘In days, right Brian?’ the talking girl said. ‘Of course.’ Her desire to run off and get Frankie was rising, but she was glued to the spot, wondering exactly what it was that she’d done wrong. She cleared her throat. ‘If I might inquire…?’ Brian held up three fingers. ‘You got the geeks, the black ops and us, the field. You never, ever get into black ops unless you deserve to be there. Poor bastards,’ he added after a moment. ‘Most of the time, it’s pretty obvious who goes into the brain trust, especially if you partake in more than your fair share of Dew and nachos.’ This brought more laughter. ‘The line between us and the brain trust can get a little blurred sometimes, like if you have tactical planning abilities, or some power that would go to waste in front of a computer.’ She decided that a non-committal blank stare was the best idea. ‘So, newb, do you think you should be here, or go see Jones?’ ‘I was placed where they thought best, until it is decided otherwise, I will stay.’ ‘Sure you don’t want to reconsider that?’ ‘Yes,’ she hissed. ‘Don’t be hasty to make a decision, Jones doesn’t kill his recruits.’ Another layer of confusion was added – she was beginning to feel like an onion. ‘Now what’re talking about?’ ‘The guy you replaced, Ryan killed him. He was hurt, yeah, but…’ She cut him off. ‘So why are you still here?’ ‘The perks outweigh the constant threat of death. Taylor might be fear itself, but Ryan is…’ ‘Gotta pee,’ she said in a monotone as she stood from the table. She walked from the mess hall, towards the magic lift, into the lift, and into Ryan.