The Silentless

Chapter 13

Unfortunately gaining the information that Tatty sought was easier said than done. People hated her; they weren't just going to tell her crucial information, plus she doubted that any of them knew apart from Aamon and his gang. Emelda, Adi, Maisie and a couple of others who seemed to hang about with her mighty leader.

It wasn't that they all had amazing powers, although most of them did, but that they had been there for the longest. They were the oldest but also the most sun deprived and had almost completely forgotten what it was like to live in a society not ruled by themselves.

The majority of The Silentless were heading in their direction.

Tatty just went by the rule that if they couldn't do simple maths or form a proper sentence they had been a member for longer. Unfortunately that meant that the majority of the teenagers in the warehouses were completely stupid and the younger ones had to dumb things down for them. Or just not try being clever.

It wasn't an option for Tatty; even though she couldn't remember most of what she had been taught at her primary school she still practiced her French frequently so that, when she saw her father again, he wouldn't be disappointed with her. Her reading level was basic and she couldn't write that well but she figured it didn't matter that much.

Along with being idiots none of them had any idea what was going on in the outside world. Aamon did act like he knew more than the rest of them. Sometimes holding meetings where he could update them with the current news. Tatty suspected that he waited at least a month before revealing this information to them.

What she wanted to find out is where he got his information. It had to be a radio, television or computer. A radio would mean that there was signal in the buildings or in the area, which was doubtful. With a TV he could miss the actual broadcasts and would also have to have a signal dish. But a computer?

Having wifi wasn't that unlikely because of Pixel's insistence on having good tech so that he could function. He was probably one of the people who suffered the most; being cooped up in a room all day having to observe scared kids locked in a tiny room for days. As well as that he was missing out on all the technology that was coming out in the real world. No wonder he acted so miserable all the time.

Tatty presumed that along with a computer, Aamon would put important information in his office or room. Important information that could be used against him. If not it would expand her knowledge anyway. Maybe she could even find out who 'Aamon' really was (because she knew no person would actually call a child a name that means devil).

So Tatty started searching; she looked in every single bedroom, mentally scarring herself along the way. Using her knew found invisibility she was free to move undetected and unquestioned through the first warehouse.

There were three buildings that housed The Silentless all of them, she assumed, on the outskirts of London. One was used for accommodation; what could have been an old storage facility now housed over 60 teenagers. There was a main hall in one part of the 'dorm' house. There members who had nothing to do hung out, talked, gossiped.

In the neighbouring warehouse was used for 'business', drills were run and created by a team who sat around a table and argued all day. The Strategists. The Quick-Thinkers. That was what the higher up members were tasked with doing. There was where Pixel had his small hideout and observation room as well.

That was where the food, weapons and clothes were kept in big wooden crates. One of the things Tatty was hoping to find out was where Aamon got the money to pay for the equipment.

Then, the last one, it was never mentioned or visited. Although it's existence was mutually accepted. Where the Trainees spent years of their lives; completely confined to the four walls. There they ate, slept and trained to be a member. Then they would 'mature' (a word she had been taught that described the process of gaining powers) and fall into the routine life of The Silentless.

Tatty travelled to the second warehouse undetected, although a few people felt the as if they were being watched as a cold breeze on the windless day brushed past them. One of them, James who nowadays had a perpetual frown on his face, she took great pleasure in walking through him. Causing him to shiver and look around. A familiar pain started on her arm.

It was easy following her leader; easier than it should have been really. He was always surrounded by a pack of people, some who wanted to talk to him, some were girls and a few boys fawning over him, most of them just wanted to be seen in his presence.

The only time a person of such a low class as Tatty had gone into this building was when they first matured. Monitored and defined by a small tick in a box next to their name, filed away in the archives (a couple of boxes full of loose papers).

Once she had arrived in the office, a medium sized room with two chairs and a desk filled it, she had to wait for Aamon and his flock to leave. That took a few hours.

Visible again she surveyed the room.

On the table, miracle of miracles, a computer with a big wire connected to an outlet that had been forced into the concrete wall. When she moved the mouse (a chunky outdated thing even for four years ago when Tatty was in the modern world) the screen lit up.

Luckily it just rebooted to the home screen. The background was the same picture that had been on James and Simon's wall; her posing with Poppy, her cousin.

Aamon didn't seem like an organised person... and he wasn't. Almost covering the entire picture was little squares representing his documents, all we're named. A lot of them had her name. None of them were in folders. Some of them were recently visited sites or little face icons with names underneath them. Most of them she knew were in The Silentless, she was pretty sure the others were too.

She opened the tabs bar and looked at the most recently opened Word documents:

Tatty Cassidy Family Tree
How Many Trackers Are There
What Are Erös
Members List
Project Erös And Cardin Industries
Tatty Cassidy - Her Powers
Skinners - What Are They Really
Tattoos That Tatty Has
Original Members
Pixel's Stupid Guide To Unusual Powers
How To Be A Leader
A Guide To Understand Pixel

She clicked on all of them and printed them out on an old rundown machine. It took about half an hour.

As soon as she was done she headed to the weapons room, forgetting about how there was a camera in every room and someone constantly watching them.

A few seconds past before she was out of the room. An alarm sounded.

"Intruder in the office all nearest members to the office!" There was a pause after the announcement before the alarm went off again and Tatty heard running footsteps.

Invisible again, she walked past the guards, the papers folded as small as possible clutched tightly in her fist.