“I’m very sorry, ma’am. I’m just tired. ‘Been walking for a long while now,” he said as he swung his head to the sides. “Let me rest a bit, please.”
Vivien nodded. The bench was public property, so he didn’t need her permission. One thing bothered her, though.
“Where did you come from? Don’t they have cabs there?”
The man chuckled.
“You know, sometimes, you get on a journey, and you don’t realize it’s farther than it looks. Later on, though, you realize yourself, but you’ve gone too far. Turning back seems impossible; however, you just have to go back if you’re going to get home. That’s why I’m here now. It’s tempting to sleep here, but I’m going to continue till I get home,” the man said, nodding his head with vigor.
Vivien looked out to the road. There were no houses as far as her eyes could see. She wondered where the man lived. That same second, she realized how the man's statement seemed to line up with her life. She frowned.
“What do you mean, sir?” she asked.
“I’m sure you understand,” the man said, standing up. “I need to go home now. I think you should too. This place is too cold.” With that, he walked away.
Vivien kept watching him as he got further away.
Go home. This place is too cold…
A car honked, causing her to jerk in her seat. She turned to see a black car. The glass went down to reveal Harris’ face. The smile she remembered was still there. She returned it.
“Harris,” she said as she got into the car. “It’s a pleasure to see you again. It’s been a while.”
“I know. We’ve both been really busy for a great cause,” he said as he started the engine and drove off. They kept talking. As they passed the strange man, Vivien looked at him. He’d given her the encouragement she needed.
Soon they got to the facility. Above the ground, it looked like a restaurant. Harris and Suzanne got out of the car and went in. Harris led her through the dining area until they arrived in the kitchen. He spoke in Russian to the cooks, greeting them, and they replied. One of the cooks took out a key and opened a door marked, ‘Authorized Personnel Only’. Vivien and Harris went in. Some supplies were stacked there. Harris led her to the back wall. Reaching behind the bags of grain stacked, he pressed a button, and the wall partitioned to reveal an elevator. They went in and they were taken downwards. When Vivien stepped out of the elevator, she was impressed by the activity there. Agents sat before computers, managing information between Russia and America. None of the computers there concerned her. She needed to find the main one. Security men searched her and her bag to ensure she hadn’t come with any illegal material. She had nothing except for her phone. Her bag was also returned to her after no incriminating material was found in it. Harris had an agent lead her to her room. Every agent there revered her. She was known as the High Priestess, the one that made a way. She laughed to herself.
While in her room, she was unable to sleep. She knew the meeting would commence by midnight. She had to have accomplished her plan before then.
By 8 pm, she left her room and went to find Harris. She found him standing in front of a large computer with his team. They were preparing for the meeting. She placed a palm on his shoulder as she came to stand by him.
“Busy, eh?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Yes. The governing body set up this meeting with everyone who had supported our causes over the years. We want to wrap things up. This meeting can’t go wrong,” he said, and she nodded.
She looked at the CCTV camera in the room.
“I’m impressed by the security here. I noticed a camera in my room too. Does every where here have cameras?” she asked.
“Yes. But they’re all down now because of what we’re trying to set up. The feed transmitter software is what we use for the cameras, and we’re upgrading it to host more users. It should be back up once we’re done,” he said.
“Oh. That’s great,” Vivien said as she smiled. Inside, she was glad that part of her work was being done for her. She had been thinking of what she’d do to get the people in the watch room out for a while. She didn’t need that anymore.
“Hey, I need to use the restroom, please,” she said abruptly. Harris gave her directions. Just as she turned to leave, he called to her.
“Adrik is angry that you are here. He says you both will thrash it out when he returns to New York and that you’ll be in charge of giving the final address to the reapers tomorrow, so you should be prepared to leave for Washington as soon as it’s dawn.”
Vivien ro
lled her eyes.
“You’d think he’d respect me enough to let me do what I want, wouldn’t you? Unfortunately, it isn’t so,” she said and left. When she was out of sight, she began to look for the room where the CPU was. She knew access would be restricted. She began to think of how to get through.
She arrived at a door.
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. DO NOT ENTER!!!