Brian Saves the World, Maybe

Chapter 33 - Bailey's

The payphone was located in a dark corner at Bailey's, next to an old pinball machine.

"Aw man, got any quarters?" Ralph asked, eyeing the machine.

"Sure do," Dale said, digging for one in his pocket, "and it's going in that phone," he added, smirking.

Ralph began scouring the floor and looking underneath furniture.

Dale shoved a quarter into the slot on the phone, and slapped Brian on the back, much harder than necessary. "Say hi to Zed for me."

Brian looked at the payphone doubtfully. Vulgar messages had been scratched into its surface, and the curly cord had exposed wires showing where it met the receiver, like someone had tried to yank it away from the phone. He lifted the handset, frowning.

As he held the phone to his head, TV said, Dialing now.

Brian's head swam for a moment, and he closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was standing in the Gateway corridor. Zed appeared with a loud popping sound, and Brian issued the command to go to the Observatory.

Brian had Zed zoom in on Talon Industries. Once again, he could see a single red dot on the holographic display. Using the joystick, he selected it and zoomed in as far as it would allow him. From the overhead view of the Talon buildings, Brian figured that the dot was in the vicinity of Accounting.

Pamela, Brian thought. "What now?" he asked. "Is there any way I can see what she's up to?"

"If you wish to observe the Observer, hold down the red button," Zed said.

He did so, and the image in front of him shifted to a closeup view of a desk, with a computer display. He heard a click, and then, what sounded like typing. He could see fingers moving at the bottom of his view.

"Whoa. Am I... seeing through Pamela's eyes?"

The typing stopped, and a hand opened a desk drawer, pulling out something white. The white thing quickly came up, nearly enveloping the screen, and then something like a foghorn sounded. The hand came into view again, now holding a crumpled facial tissue, which was tossed into the trash.

Pamela must have a cold, he thought, cringing. He had heard that she refused to take sick days, no matter how ill she was.

Brian frowned. He didn't like the idea of spying on people, whether or not they were an Observer. "Zed, is there any way to only see what an Observer does when they are under Borae control?"

"Accessing bio-chip memory," Zed intoned.

The screen went dark for a moment, and was soon replaced with a similar view as before, except now there was a Play icon in the middle of the hologram. Brian pressed the button on his joystick, and the icon disappeared. He watched as Pamela opened a file on her computer. It looked like an accounting ledger. She made some entries under something called, "Project 84," and then closed the file.

Brian played back a few more clips. Each one involved Pamela recording transactions related to Project 84. He wanted to learn more, but Bailey's would be closing soon. He was about to exit the program, when some text appeared, overlaying the display.

***
INCOMING MESSAGE:

The listening device is malfunctioning. Replace.

END MESSAGE
***

The text disappeared, and he watched through Pamela's eyes, as she stood up from the desk, and began walking.

Listening device, Brian thought. She must have planted that bug in Jack's office!

Brian continued to watch, as Pamela made her way through hallways and corridors. People seemed to give her a wide berth as she passed them, and avoided eye contact. As Pamela rounded a corner, Brian noticed Phil Batdorf at a drinking fountain ahead. Phil glanced in Pamela's direction for a moment, noticed her, then darted into the nearby men's room.

Pamela soon reached the hallway where Jack's office was situated. Brian could see Bentley, Jack's dog, in his customary spot at the foot of his door.

Uh-oh, Brian thought.

As Pamela stepped over Bentley, Brian heard a low growl, followed by a scuffling sound, and a thud. Brian saw a closeup of the floor for a moment.

He expected to see Pamela kick the dog—or bite him back—but she simply lifted herself off the floor.

Oh, right. She's in Observer mode, Brian thought.

Pamela began searching through Jack's office plant. After a moment, she placed something small and silver in the plant.

* * *

On the trip back to his house, Brian shared with Dale and Ralph what he had discovered.

"Pamela planted a bug? Whoa," Ralph said. "Wonder what she is after."

"Not Pamela," Dale said. "The Borae. She was just following orders."

"Maybe it has something to do with Project 84," Brian said. "Have you heard anything about that, Dale?"

He shook his head. "I'll do some checking around."

"And I'll talk to Jessica," Brian said, "Maybe she has heard something."

"I can check the Talon servers," Ralph said. "There's got to be some information on there about it."

"Just don't get caught again," Brian said, pointing at him.

Ralph smirked. "I didn't get caught."