MF1.0 - 78 - Better Laid Plans

‘Hey girl, when are you gonna stop playing and join the right side?’

Enid took a swig of her drink and shook her head. ‘As soon as you stop being deluded and realise there is no right side.’

‘You’re just saying that cause you like the Agency privilege.’

‘You just say that cause you’re a dirty piece of Solstice shit.’ They grinned at each other. ‘Seriously though, I wouldn’t have been Solstice, even if I’d heard their story first, now shut up and get me another drink.’

He got up and went over to the bar, then returned with another glass. ‘So what time tonight?’

‘Payday is dropping out of the sky about ten, the monster will be hiding around there somewhere…’

‘You sure you can trust him?’

‘I don’t trust anyone, I just trust their motivations. The freak wants his fuckbuddy back from the dead, and who am I to judge?’

‘You’re not actually going to…?’

‘Give him some? Hell no. Just want his help, the big bastard is strong, and I assume your lot is after this one, just like all the ones before it.’

‘So much as they’re “my lot”, yeah…’

‘You work for them, you sleep in their places, you believe their non-existent beliefs, they’re your lot.’

‘They’re not non-existent.’

She shrugged. ‘Are you trying to defend them?’

‘They really do think they’re doing the right thing,’ he shuffled uncomfortably, ‘some of the methods aren’t…they think they’re doing it to protect their own. Humans for humanity.’

‘And what do you think?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Are you trying to recruit me?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘No, I’m inebriated, I’m pretending I care.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘You really are a piece of work.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">She stuck her tongue out, then grinned. ‘Shut up, you know you want me.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Fighting the dangerous stuff, I get. Even fighting the scary but not actually dangerous I understand. They didn’t have blokes in suits to explain everything to them, to teach them which fires burnt, to know which of the fey are safe.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘No fey is truly safe, that’s the whole point. You have to judge every entity as a person, some are dangerous, some aren’t.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘They’re all powerful though.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘That’s where you guys totally lose me. I can understand the wannabe monster hunters and the goody two-shoes thing but seriously, do you have to lock them all up and torture them to death?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘We don’t torture them all. Just the powerful ones. Just the ones we can siphon useful stuff off from. Just the…’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Ones with powerful magick,’ she said, obstinately pronouncing the “k” - something she knew drove him mad.

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">He stared at his drink. ‘Yeah, that.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘But you kill children, just cause of their parents.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Only the extremists kill kids.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Still, makes me want to use the nuke in the weapons storage against you.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">You guys keep nukes?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">She shrugged. ‘Just once. Dunno if it’s armed.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘What kind?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Small, round, really gay kinda purple.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">He spat out his drink as a laugh escaped him, he lifted his sleeve and wiped mouth, but continued to laugh.

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Stop it, you’re embarrassing me. What’s so funny?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘It’s the gay bomb!’ he shouted. ‘It’s the gay bomb from the homosexual agenda!’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">She gave him a deadpan look. ‘You think you’re funny, don’t you?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">He swallowed another mouthful of his drink. ‘Shut up you bitch. Mirrorfall. There’s a fucking mirrorfall tonight. Suits, Solstice and shitheads, every single one of them wanting one thing: defunct heart of a planet. Some joke of a thing that looks like big mirror. Scraping, fighting, dying, over that. Over that one little thing. Forgive me if I’m looking for any excuse to laugh when there’s a fifty-fifty chance I’ll die tonight.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">She shrugged, knowing the odds weren’t even in his favour that much.

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘So who are we going to sell it to?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘I was thinking Remington. He always pays well, and he never tries to pull a double-cross, I feel safe dealing with him.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘He wants to fuck you.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘He wants to fuck anything with a hole, but he’s got his own little harem, so I’m safe, why, worried?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘About you? No, I’m too smart for that. But you’re doing someone at the Agency, aren’t you?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Nights get lonely. Why, jealous?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">He crinkled his nose. ‘Well, I would like to get a little of the action sometimes. Are we partners or not?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Business partners, fifty percent of the profits doesn’t entitle you to fifty percent of the booty.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">This made him go silent. ‘So, plan?’ he asked after a moment.

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘My team’s going in at nine - the gun nuts are going in at seven, to thin out your guys and to deter the others. I’m going to “get caught in a blackout bomb and be unable to find my way out” ‘ - she, making air quotes with her fingers. ‘Find you, and the tank and then we go after it.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘What are we going to do with the leech?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Kill him, of course.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Sometimes, I think we should trade places, you’d make a good Solstice.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">She slapped him across the face, then grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into a passionate kiss. She broke away and smiled. ‘Tonight, after everything happens, I’ll spend some time with you.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘No you won’t, you’ll just leave, you always do.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">She kissed him on the cheek. ‘No, this time, I promise. The payday we’ll get from this means we can get away from it all for a while. Go lay on a beach…’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘I don’t like the beach.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Or, yanno, whatever, we can buy you a new blow-up doll or some shit.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">He swallowed the rest of his drink. ‘Got to get back, got stuff of my own to prepare.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Whatever,’ she muttered as he left the bar.