salute [james conrad] 1

epilouge

You're just gonna sit there? In the dark?"

There's a short pause.

"You're enjoying this, right? Is this fun, for you? Are you glad Charlotte left without a trace? I promise I won't tell that to the Russians" James says to the mirror as he stands there, his arms crossed, a frown on his face.

"I promise I will tell the Russians" mason pitches in from behind him.

"She's gonna tell the Russians" James pitches in as he takes a seat besides her.

"Do you know where she went?" James asks Mason under his breath as he stares at the mirror.

"I have no idea. But if I was her, I would want to get away from here as quickly as possible" Mason mutters back.

James grabs a pencil from the desk and throws it with all his might into the mirror, causing it to bounce off and fall to the ground with a thud.

"Why are you keeping us here?" He demands, starting to get angry.

"I wanna go home" Mason says, a sneer on her lips.

"We get it. There was not an island, Charlotte Wilson doesn't exist. We were never on an island"

The door opens and Brooks walks in.

"What island. Who is Charlotte?" He questions as he walks towards them with a file on his hand.

"Brooks what the hell is going on?" James demands, sitting straight in his chair.

The door behind Brooks closes, and Brooks holds out a hand.

"Welcome to Monarch" He says as he sits down and pulls out a file.

James laughs, looking at the ground.

"I'm glad that Charlotte got away from this madness like she did" He mutters under his breath.

Brooks ignores him and pulls out a picture, laying on the table.

"This island, it's just the beginning"

San puts her hand over the picture.

"There's more out there" She tells them.

"What do you mean more?" James questions, his brow furrowing.

"This world never belonged to us. It belonged to them" Brooks tells them, amazement on his tone.

"The questions is, how long before they take it back?"

The room dims, and a projector lights the room.

"Kong it not the only king" He says as images start flashing through the projector.

Both James and Mason go silent as they watch the slideshow that shows the thousands of animals discovered. In the insides of caves, underwater, gigantic fossils.

Finally, the slideshow ends, and Brooks turns to look at James.

"We can't let you go. You're essential to our plan. Randas plan." Brooks continues.

San scoots closer, turning to James.

"Conrad, we need your to track Charlotte, and bring her back. For the good of the world" She begs.

James lets out a slow breath, and looks at Mason for a moment, then turns back to look at the duo in front of them.

"You're crazy. There's no way that I am going to join you on this murder mission. Consider me out" he says as he stands up and walks towards the door, Mason hot on his feet.

"Can you open this door and let us go? We won't tell anybody about what we saw. We just want put lives back" Mason pleads as she turns to look back at the both of them.

There's a moment of silence, and then Brooks nods, motioning the people on the other side of the mirror to open the doors.

James watches as the door clings open, and James nods in gratitude, stepping through the door and leaving without a word.

And for the first time in a long while, James isn't sure of what is going to happen.