Riley spun on a stool as he watched Agent 474's head disappear over the monitors.
When she was out of sight, he turned to his dad. "What do you think she is?"
His father twisted the cross necklace between his fingers. "I'm not sure, son. But it doesn't feel right."
Riley opened his mouth to speak when a young man entered the room.
"Are you the Kilhan's?" he asked.
"That we are," Mr. Kilhan answered.
He smiled and set down the two trays he was carrying. "Marcy wanted me to bring you some lunch."
"Marcy?" Riley asked.
The man smiled. "Agent 474." His face hardened in a warning. "If you tell her I told you her name she'll kill me. Ever since she joined she's gone by ... well, you know."
Finally, some answers, Riley thought. "Why is that?" he asked as he jumped down from the stool and made his way over to the food. His stomach grumbled reminding him he was famished.
The man hesitated. It seemed to Riley that he was torn between telling them something he should and the excitement of gossip.
"You can trust us," Riley added, hoping it would spur the man to talk.
"Marcy," the man began. "Was brought here on her death bed. It was in early stages of cellular implantation and her and a group of orphans underwent one of our first tests."
"Sector 13?" Riley said allowed.
"Yeah." The man looked to his feet, his eyes turned down with sadness. "Though she is now the last."
Mr. Kilhan had been quietly watching the work outside but cleared his throat at that bit of news. "Perhaps now is not the time to discuss such things," he said as he motioned to the door just as Agent 474 walked in, the man from earlier at her heels.
"I won't let them do this to other people!" She slammed her hand down on the desk, rattling the computer screens. "Show me the latest." Nobody moved. "I said, show me the latest!"
The man in the white trench coat nodded, and the one who brought the lunch walked over to the computer and typed something in. Another movie appeared on screen.
"New York now?" She rubbed her face and turned to the men. "It's uncontrollable, we need to end this before they spread to uncontainable numbers!"
The older man raised his hands. "Now, don't do anything foolish."
"Me?" she laughed. "You say that like I'm the one doing the foolish things." She grabbed her bag off the counter and stomped towards the door, stopping next to Riley. "If anything happens, don't leave this room, don't let anyone in, and press that red button." She pointed to the wall where a large red switch was protected under a glass box with a golden key in the top.
The older man followed her hand and when he saw what she pointed at, his eyes widened. "Marcy! You stop this!" he demanded.
She pushed past him and grabbed a long black tube from beside the door. The man rushed to the wall and spoke into a speaker. "Code White. Evacuate at once!"
The men in coats dropped what they were doing; some ran, others watched Agent 474 as she climbed up a ladder to a hatch that led to the mutts room. A man tried to pull her down and she slammed the blunt end of the black tube into his face, knocking him back.
Riley stood next to his father, gripping tightly to his hand. Watching, waiting, to see what was going to happen. The older man in the white trench coat walked over to the red button on the wall and pulled out the key, slipping it into his front pocket.
"You stay here, he demanded as he exited the glass room into the chaos. Scientists were running and screaming, knocking things over clamoring to get to the exit as Agent 474 continued up the latter to the hatch.
"He took the key," Riley said.
His father raised his brows in question, not knowing what Riley meant.
"Agent 474, she told me to push the red button if anything goes wrong."
"Hmm," his father said as he watched out the window, only half-listening to Riley.
A large boom echoed around them and shook the glass window. Riley looked for Agent 474 but couldn't see her. The scientists were screaming and pushing to the back of the room as far away from the glass as possible. That's when Riley noticed the door to the mutt tank was open. He tried to see through the crowds if Agent 474 -- Marcy, was all right. But he couldn't, all he could see was blood splattered on the mutts tank. He hoped it wasn't her's.
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