To Be A Leader

Chapter 14: Walls Could Talk

"I know this is a little weird, being flown from America, but we were told you are good at adapting, and I'm sure they were preparing you for this anyway since you were scheduled to come in 2015. Although I guess this is still a shock, since they had to send you in early. Don't worry. You get used to things after awhile," Anna says with a shrug.

Singer simply raises a brow at her. Scheduled? She acts as if she is here to be some kind helper instead of property that's been bought and traded. Does she not know about this-about the AMTB, about the Torrencers? Singer supposes it would make sense for only the higher-ups to know the truth. These people are just as much of pawns as she is.

"Come on," She says, jerking her head towards the building.

Singer looks over to the man-Josh-who gives her another glance, confusion still swirling in his eyes. She tenses. He gives no sign of being a threat, but the looks he gives still make her uneasy. It's never good to be the center of attention. She hears him muttering to Anna every once awhile, but she ignores him to talk to Singer, showing her the eating area and training grounds and sleeping quarters. Of course, Singer doesn't answer. She can't. Her voice is gone, and there is nothing for her to write on. This is exactly what they wanted, for her to be speechless, with no voice to speak out about the crimes that were done to her and what she was forced to do.

"And this is where Josh and I do our magic," Anna says, gesturing around a tidy room filled with screens and headsets. The room is long, and there are dividers between the computers and screens, most likely to keep operatores from getting distracted.

Singer notices papers stacked neatly at each station, but there are different ornaments or small decorations that differenciate the stations from each other. With how large this base is, SInger isn't surprised at how many stations there are. At the AMTB, a single operator was trained to look over ten to fifteen runners in different locations. With how large Mullins is, it's not surprising that there would be more runners out than that, therefore requiring more operators.

"Pretty cool, huh? I hope this puts your mind at ease knowing that we'll be the ones keeping you safe."

Singer stares blankly at her, only pausing when Josh speaks.

"If she goes out anytime soon."

Anna shoots him a look, and he returns it. He notices Singer's furrowed brows, before sighing.

"Look, I'm not trying to offend you or anything, really. I'm sure you're great at whatever it is you do, but-"

"Josh thinks we were sent the wrong person," Anna blurts out, and Josh scowls at her in reply. Singer's eyebrows shoot up. Wrong person?

"I mean, look at her. She's a kid!"

"We have teenage runners."

"Seventeen and eighteen-year-olds. The sixteen-year-olds only do training."

"Maybe she just looks young for her age."

Josh turns to Singer. "How old are you, Runner Forty-three, if that's who you actually are?"

She sneers at him, before looking for a peice of paper to write on, since she doesn't have thirteen fingers. Since she knows better not to snatch anything from the desk, she traces the number on her arm. Anna blanches wile Josh looks at her almost smugly.

"See? I told you they sent us the wrong person."

Singer glares at him, baring her teeth in an almost animalistic way. She jabs a finger at him, wishing she could yell and curse this bastard for having the audacity to see she was inexpereinced or the wrong person for her age. How insulting! He doesn't know anything!