Daughter of Zeus ✔

8.4

Brontes Moretz, aka Corentin, had curling black hair and black eyes. She took his dark features as an assertion of his dark personality. He smiled as she approached, charming her, and she was tempted to smile back. She held off, but then remembered to play her part correctly. The corners of her mouth lifted, and she hated herself for it.

"Please come in."

His voice was silky, with a hint of an accent. British maybe, or even German, she couldn't tell. He sounded kind. Then she replayed the memory of her first and last meeting with her father at ten years old.

"Ada, my girl."

A strange man loomed before her. The stink of sweat and rotten cherries wafted from him. He reached out his hand, but she just stared at it. His voice had not sounded smooth or kind with the slur of alcohol behind it.

She held back the killing shock of electricity her brain screamed for her to deliver.

"Much appreciated, Congressman. And thank you for seeing me."

"Of course."

She sat at the composite chair in front of his desk without stopping to shake his hand, which Moretz didn't seem to expect anyway. The desk held no pens or letter openers. Nothing of use. The room was a sterile, digitized environment.

"What can I do for you, Citizen?"

With his use of the word citizen, Moretz reminded her from the beginning he was a State official, and had power over her.

Currents snaked up and down her arms. It would've been easy to aim them at his chest.

You're too impulsive.

She noticed red dots of light along the wall, which suggested the presence of heavy surveillance. That added a complication, especially as the code withing the surveillance lights battled against her will. Overriding and shutting them down would take too much concentration, and it's energy she didn't have control over at the moment.

It will get you killed.

Ada took a deep breath. She made a decision to plan better, and kill the bastard later. Calm replaced some of her anger. She forced the energy crackling on her skin to subside.

All of this occurred over the space of a few seconds. Ada quickly covered up any weirdness with her most winning smile.

"My name is Mali Muth, sir. I'm a passionate advocate for the healthcare industry. I've brought some figures and statistics that might concern you, along with a bill proposition." She held up her wristlet. "May I?"

"Please."

With a flick, she sent a file. The desk lit up with pages of information splayed across the liquid-type surface.

Moretz took a cursory glance, fingers swiping away at page after page. "Which company do you represent?"

"I work for a subsidiary of Global United, under the specific direction of Swartzman Coake."

Global United was one of the largest healthcare providers in the nation, with the CEO Swartzman Coake being a generous supporter of political campaigns. Name dropping a donor of Coake's stature upheld Moretz's interest in Ada's supposed cause.

She thought about his assistant. After she killed him, assuming she found a weapon, the intelligent machine was likely to lock her in the room until Sammies arrived to take her away. Her plan felt ill-planned yet again.

Regardless, she continued acting. "Global United will deny my employment for security reasons. I trust you understand how that sort of anonymity can allow me to aid your cause."

Moretz nodded. Lobbyists commonly worked "off the grid" or without registering with the State. That way, they could bribe and screw their way into getting their bills approved, but if they were caught in the act, their employers could deny knowledge of their existence. Now that he was aware of what kind of lobbyist she was, she hoped he'd arrange to meet her later.

She wanted him alone and vulnerable. At least, that's what she convinced herself of. Why she was stalling.

Once again, she considered frying him. It would take seconds, and it would be over. But then, they would never stop looking for a Special. She had to find another way.