As the elevator doors opened, I was greeted with the sight of Caitlin sitting on the hood of a limousine, wearing a black and blue jacket that looked as stiff as it was thick. Still, she had didn't look as constrained as I expected her to be, considering how small she was. She threw similar jackets at the others in the group who all caught them easily...with the exception of Helix, who almost immediately dropped his onto the ground. Nate let go of my arm for a second so he could pull on his fully black jacket. Dave helped Bella with her black and white jacket before sliding on his own black and green one.
"Smooth move," said Riley, smacking the back of the blond's head after they'd slid on their own jacket, this one brown and black.
"It's not my fault she throws so fast, dude," said Helix, grabbing the black and yellow jacket and shrugging it on.
"Quiet down," said Dave, snapping his fingers. They shut up almost immediately. "Flectere, why don't you tell Justice what it is you handle around here?"
"I'm in charge of cars and transportation. If it's got wheels, I can drive it. If it's got wings, I can fly it. And if it's got a sail, I can...sail it, I guess." She slipped off the hood and knocked on the driver's window. It rolled down to reveal an older man dressed like a chauffeur. "On core missions, I do the driving but in daily life and other activities, Ex prefers us to use drivers. We have a full fleet of cars, boats, planes, and others, all fully staffed with trained professionals." Caitlin opened the back door of the limousine and gestured for everyone to get in.
Although Dave was Ex Malo Bonum, he stepped to the side so he could help Bella slide in first. He followed and then Nate shoved me in after. The other three followed at will, with Riley slamming the door shut behind us all. "Where to, sir?" asked the driver.
"The warehouse," Dave said curtly, texting on his phone.
"Please," Caitlin added, chiding Dave with her words. He stopped typing and looked up at her, glaring coldly enough to lower the temperature in the car by at least twenty degrees; she met his gaze exactly, however.
"Please," he said finally and someone bitterly, before turning back to his phone. "Pacta, roll up the partition, I don't think that..."
"Greg." Always a helpful one, that Caitlin. Or so it seemed.
"Greg doesn't need to know everything that's going on back here." The driver glanced back uncomfortably, his eyes settling on me as the unknown factor in the group before turning around and driving out of the garage complex we were in.
This was certainly an experience for me to remember. I'd never ridden in a limousine before. The closest I'd come was when one passed me in the street while I was on a rare trip downtown; I'd always imagined it was some social elite society member hiding themselves from the likes of me...but maybe it had been one of these people. Still, I'd seen enough teen movies to gather a pretty good idea of what limousines entailed: broken partitions that never closed all the way, snacks galore, enough alcohol to drown an Irishman, and uncomfortable seats covered with a plastic coating that could be easily washed down, if you get my drift.
If this limousine was the norm, then I had been dead wrong.
The car glided early down the street and as Riley pushed a button above them on the ceiling, the partition slid up just as easily. The seats were nice; a buttery pale leather that reminded me of a jacket I'd stolen once from a client who'd refused to pay. The snacks were evident, as Helix was already breaking into them and loudly complaining that they needed more variety beyond a "shitty form of trail mix, Ex". As for the alcohol, I was perfectly correct about the copious amounts of it and glasses were already being poured.
"Anyone else want a drink?" asked Bella sweetly, handing a glass of brown liquid and ice to Dave. Whether it was whiskey, bourbon, or something else, I'll never know, but he accepted it and took a sip without ever glancing up from his phone.
"Your finest cola," said Riley, raising their hand. "And if you care to throw a little alcohol in there, I don't think I'd mind."
"Someone's feeling confident today," said Caitlin as Bella poured the drink. "Sure that you can shoot straight while intoxicated, Pacta?"
"How do you think I got through college?" Riley asked, smirking as they took their glass from Bella.
"What about you, Flectere?" the dark-haired girl asked Caitlin. "Care to crack open some champagne with me?"
"I'd love to, Hic," she said. "And congratulations on wearing down Ex with that 'sparkling wine is not champagne unless it comes from the Champagne region' argument."
"What can I say, I'm a winner," Bella purred as she passed Caitlin a flute of the pale yellow liquid. "Anything for you, Utrinque? Vodka, gin, perhaps a nice shot to get you ready?"
Nate grimaced. "Sorry, but unfortunately, I'm working just a little more than you right now. Maybe later," he said, jostling my shoulder. "When we're off-duty."
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Dave frown down a little more at the sight of something that must have shown up on the screen of his phone. A small noise of irritation escaped his throat and he quickly downed the glass he was holding before leaning forward towards Caitlin.
"Flectere, what's the most recent news about the OSA deal from last month?" he asked her as Bella removed the empty glass from his hand so she could refill it.
"They're continuing to insist that they don't have the money. My contacts suggested that while they may not have everything they agreed to, they certainly have enough to make a decent payment." The car swerved suddenly, sending me crashing into Nate. He, like the rest of the crew, seemed unfazed; most had even unconsciously shifted to keep their drinks from spilling. Dave, however, seemed even more annoyed, although I suspected that had something to do more with what Caitlin had said rather than the driving. She seemed to be able to sense that too, though, because she quickly added, "If I could offer my suggestion here, Ex?"
"Go on," he said, typing something on his phone with thumbs firing at what seemed like lightning speed.
"I know that you're currently writing out a death sentence for the head of OSA and, if you truly believe that's the best thing to do, please continue. He spells Zach with an H, by the way, and there's two R's in Gutierrez." Dave scowled at his phone and backspaced quickly before retyping something. "But in my opinion, that's not the best option. They're still a newer company; if you kill their head now, one of two things will happen. Either they'll take it like an offense and try to strike at us-- which would be a grievous mistake on their part, as we all know-- or they'll simply disintegrate and become a distant memory. Either way, no matter the final outcome, we don't get any of the money we're owed. But if you were to...send a message to them? They'd know that we mean business and I believe that our future deals with them will lead to us being paid quickly and without complaint."
Dave stopped typing on his phone and reached for his glass. He took his time savoring the alcohol her proposal. "You're absolutely right, Flectere. Thank you for the input. "
Caitlin smiled as she took a sip of her champagne. "Community relations has always been my specialty, sir."
Dave picked up his phone and began typing again. "Pacta, I'm going to put you in charge of the message. Doesn't Gutierrez have a child about your age?"
"Two, actually. A boy and a girl," Caitlin offered helpfully.
"Even better. See if you can't use one or both of them to help us convince their father." I didn't think they meant for those kids to help them willingly. A shiver ran down my spine and I gulped, trying to suppress that feeling.
Riley nodded. "Is there a force limit? Weapons checked at the door or no?"
Dave considered the question for a moment. "As little force as you can, but if you see the need for a weapon to threaten, use them at will. And before you ask--" He held his hand up as Riley opened their mouth. "Let's leave him out of this."
"Him can hear you," said Helix, throwing some trail mix in the air to catch it in his mouth. He missed and the snack scattered across the car, landing in people's laps and earning him a scowl from Bella. "Him is right here."
"Yeah, and someone's going to start linking you to those mysterious forest fires sooner or later. I'd rather not lose our best scientist to an arson charge." Dave grinned at him, who crossed his arms over his chest in indignation."
"Okay, more like your only scientist. And those fires were accidents while I was still new at demolitions. Please let me help? I haven't really been able to practice on a mission in so long."
"You were on a mission earlier today!" said Riley, smacking Helix on the arm. "We broke Justice out of jail using using a bomb on a heist you coordinated. We use your talents all the time!"
"Yeah, but that was mostly Utrinque's show. He's the one who got to place the bomb." Riley glanced over at Nate, raising an eyebrow at the man sitting next to me. Instead of getting involved in their argument, he merely shrugged, jostling me again.
It was then that the car slowed to a stop. I heard the engine idle, then turn off, followed by a door slamming. The door we'd entered through opened to let us out. This time, instead of Nate and I getting out after Bella and Dave were out, I didn't get shoved forward until it was just the two of us left in the car. He pushed me out of the car so hard that I stumbled and fell to my hands and knees on hard concrete.
I had no idea where we were. I looked up from the ground to see that we were in front of some kind of warehouse. It looked older and grimy, as though whoever owned it never bothered with its presentation, but the windows were large, clean, and intact so it definitely wasn't abandoned. In fact, knowing the Mementos, it was closely guarded. I heard the trunk slam closed-- had they opened it?-- there was a flash of light, and then someone's foot was grinding down on my shoulder roughly.
"Get up," demanded Dave. I rose slowly, now observing that while I'd been taking in my surroundings, Riley and Helix had loaded themselves up with large black bags and cases. I shuddered to think what they could have inside. Dave, meanwhile, had a camera in his hands. It looked expensive, shiny and black. He snapped another picture as I looked at him, temporarily blinding me and providing Nate the chance to grab my arm and pull me into the warehouse.
Once inside, several people-- each impeccably dressed-- ran up to us and started asking rapid-fire questions while they took the bags and boxes away from Riley and Helix.
"Who is this? Is she your new muse? Did you or Bella decide to terminate your agreement? What does this mean for the brand? Are we restructuring? Do you want us to do some setup?"
Dave merely waved all of these questions away, so snapping candies of me every few seconds. "No need for alarm, everybody. This is just a simple interview. As soon as we decide anything, I'll let you know. In the meantime, we'll be in the back. Do not disturb us for any reason." He grinned. "We're going to see how she performs under pressure." The Memento Moris and I walked through the building passing by...vanities? A lighting closet? Was that a set of some kind? Finally, we arrived at a plain, unassuming door, which Dave proceeded to open with a scan of his thumbprint.
The next room was terrifyingly empty, just a wall of lockers. As everyone took off their thick and probably very uncomfortable jackets, Riley went over to the lockers and, using another thumbprint scanner, opened them before distributing the contents.
Guns. Everything was guns.
"Okay, guys," I said, holding up my hands. "Now I know we got off to a bit of a rocky start with the whole 'You're The Memento Moris' thing, but, really? I don't think violence is the answer here."
"Are you really in the position to be telling us what the answer is here?" Dave asked, glancing up as he finished loading the gun he'd gotten in exchange for putting his camera in a locker. He swung the pistol around a bit to test the weight, his right hand lightly gripping the shiny, chrome plated weapon. After a second, he stepped forward until we were nearly touching; the gun was the only thing between us, swung up and the muzzle shoving against my chin. The cold metal shoved against my skin and I trembled, trying not to cry. "Because let me tell you--"
His dangerous speech was interrupted by Helix dropping the small snub-nosed revolver he'd been handed. "Sorry, sorry," he muttered, picking up the gun as Dave glared at him.
"We don't give him a loaded gun, do we?" Dave asked Riley. They shook their head arms he sighed. "Good. Utrinque, let's continue on the tour." Nate nodded and grabbed my arm again, now looking even more menacing than before-- a feat I hadn't thought possible-- due in part to the large pump action shotgun slung over one shoulder. He started pulling me after Dave, through another door into a large reception area.
"So you didn't even load my gun?" I heard Helix demand quietly of Riley from behind us. "Some best friend you are. What's the use in me even having a gun, in that case? I mean, I already have the dinkiest gun of the bunch."
"We're mostly doing this to look menacing, dude," Riley said, adjusting their grip on the AK-47 they held. "You should take it as a compliment, that you're so intimidating that all you need is an unloaded .38 revolver to really strike fear into people's hearts. Meanwhile, look at me. I have to have the minigun and the automatic so I can even attempt to rival you."
"Oh, I'm sure. Just like I'm sure that you're upset about having to carry a lot of guns," Helix said, rolling his eyes. Riley grinned.
"I can't even lie to you, man, it's my favorite part of the job." Dave stopped the group in front of a large yellow door.
"Caput, if you wouldn't mind," Dave said, stepping aside so Helix could walk forward and scan his thumbprint. There was a high-pitched beep and the door slowly moved to the side, exposing me to what looked like a combination laboratory and kitchen. There was the faint smell of antiseptic wipes in the air.
Helix took another step forward and turned around, starting to lead us through the lab like he was our tour guide. "This is the official creation site of Memento Mori Links, run by yours truly. Here, I've managed to not only duplicate Feel Inc's recipes for Links, but I've also expanded beyond what they've created as well. While Feel Inc only markets six emotions, we've created recipes to 128 different emotions that we sell. In addition to our... label, I suppose you'd call it, we also sell injections of the 128 and Feel Inc knockoffs that are so close to the original, I bet even Maggie Anthony would be stumped to determine which is her creation and which is mine."
"And you do all of that in here?" I asked him, looking around the workstation. It was nice and all, but it just seemed way too small to be able to do all of that. "All of the production and everything?"
"Of course not. What do you think I am, a simple lab technician? No, we outsource to a few trusted manufacturers that we've accumulated over the years," said Helix, raising an eyebrow and adjusting his glasses. "For the most part, this is only my creation area. Occasionally, I will manufacture smaller batches here, but that's only test products and a few personal Links that we don't sell to the general public." With 128 emotions on the docket, I couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of Links they were creating and not selling. "Additionally, as our demolitions expert..."
"Probationary title, Caput," warned Dave. "You have another two successful heists without a serious fire before we take away the threat of having your title revoked and given to Hic." He nudged his girlfriend's shoulder gently and Bella grinned widely.
"As our probationary demolitions expert," continued Helix, modifying his sentence slightly, "I also use this area as a building station for new bomb setups. We have a lot outside of the city that we use for actually testing the bombs." He crossed his arms and leaned against one of the countertops, falling silent. After a moment, he nodded to Dave. "I'm done here, so the tour can move along. Unless Justice here wants to sample one of our creations." Dave glanced over at me and raised an eyebrow at me.
"Seriously?" I asked, shocked. Free Links? That was actually the dream, right there. "Y-yeah, I'll take a Surprise... Astonishment, if you have it."
"If I have it," Helix chuckled, opening up a drawer. He grabbed a small circle from inside, mixed a few chemicals together in a small white ramekin, and then placed the circle inside the mixture. He placed the entire thing into what looked like an oven but actually shot steam at the entire concoction. "Homemade, not your perfect mix but a good attempt on the fly. Should be ready in a half hour or so."
"In the meantime, let's keep this tour moving," said Dave, gesturing at Riley with his gun. "Pacta, let's show her what you handle next." Riley nodded and turned to face the wall they were leaning against. They pressed a small panel that was barely noticeable on the wall and it swung open away from us, exposing us to another room. Dave rolled his eyes as we passed through the doorway. "Of course you two connected your rooms without my permission. Did you at least have one of our associates do it?"
"Nope," said Riley, grinning. "We did it all ourselves, from hole creation to door installation. Took us fifteen minutes, start to finish."
"And yet you two can't apparently remember how the dishwasher works," Caitlin said from behind us all, nonchalantly insulting them.
"It's a confusing piece of technology, Flectere. Did you really expect anything else from us?"
Dave waved his gun around the air, shutting everyone up. "Enough. Just...remind me to have someone come and install a thumbprint lock on the door for you two and let's keep going."
"Okay, so what we have here," said Riley, following orders and guiding us further into the large warehouse-type room, "is the weapons storehouse. I mean, by my standards, it's a well-stocked albeit nondescript storehouse. Anytime a mission calls for something other than our personal weapons-- which they all do-- we use weapons from here. When we require outside assistance, we loan the weapons out. We also rent the weapons to some people for a small charge, which grows larger if they request that they can be untraceable. Everything here is archived for convenient storage. If it exists, we have it. If it ever existed, we probably have that, too; a lot of these weapons are historical." They shrugged at my confused look. "A personal hobby of mine. I generally hang out here a few days a week or have calls forwarded to my cell in case someone needs a last minute rental. A lot of people refer to me as The Librarian if they don't want to reveal that they're working with the Memento Moris." Now the comments earlier about what Riley's job was made more sense.
"Continuing on," said Dave, gesturing for Caitlin to take the lead. So happy and bubbly in contrast to the rest of the group, who were beginning to seem a bit grim, she led us back through the main room into a room a few doors down from Riley and Helix's rooms. The new room, which she exposed after scanning her thumbprint, was a nicely styled office. If I didn't know any better, I'd have said this was the office of a professional, something that belonged on the top floor of a high-rise with a view looking out across the sparkling towers that littered New Vaile.
"So in addition to being our general car and getaway person, I'm also our contact for most of the outside world. See, when we originally founded, there were four of us: Ex, Hic, Caput, and me. Ex doesn't work with people; they all work for him. Hic prefers not to talk to people, because it keeps her more mysterious and terrifying when you actually have to face her down. Caput's just a mess when it comes to actually talking business..."
"Hey!" That comment earned Helix a stuck out tongue from Caitlin.
"...Which left me to take charge of getting our affairs in order, being Ex's link to all of our associates, hunting for new members when we feel like they've become a vital part of our operation that we're missing, arranging meets, developing contacts and undercover workers in the outside world, and so on. It was a natural fit because as Ex adores pointing out, I'm very much a people person and I have a way with words..."
"A way with them? Yeah, you talk so much that everyone goes a-way." This glib got Dave a sharp jab in the ribs from her bony elbows.
"There's been a bit of a learning curve, but I think that after four years, I've become very adept with it all." She looked at Dave and smiled. "I'm all done here, Ex."
"Thank you, Flectere, for that...speech. And now, just for Justice Eve, I have arranged a very special treat. We normally don't show this to people on tours but I thought 'hey, whatever makes our skeptical guest happy', right? So without further ado, Hic, Utrinque...why don't you show Justice Eve exactly what it is you do?"
"You know I love my work as nearly as much as Caput loves whatever nerd crap he likes, but is this really the best thing to be showing her? We've already thrown a lot at her and I don't think that harm is going to..." Dave waved his hand, cutting Bella off.
"I've had someone brought in. The man that Caput and Flectere told us about last week. This may be a harsh lesson, but it's a harsh lesson that's deserved. By everyone." The cold way he said those last two words made me shiver with terror. What was going to happen?
"Whatever you like," said Bella, sighing before walking us back into the main room. Nate's grip tightened on my arm as he tossed the rifle he'd been holding to Riley, who caught it deftly. It would be hard to get used to the way these people just threw around weapons...if I lasted that long, that is. Bella handed off the pistol that she'd been holding to Dave, who held it side by side with his own weapon; I could now see that besides the fact that Bella's weapon was white and Dave's was chrome, they were exactly the same. She also passed him the knife from earlier and another small revolver that had been holstered under her jacket. She joined my other side, taking the arm that Nate hadn't. The two of them led me over to another door, where both she and Nate held their thumbs to matching pads. It only unlocked after receiving both prints.
The rest of the group stayed behind while they led me into another room, a small passageway with only a few feet before another door. Here, Nate let go of my arm so he could access another thumb scanner, but Bella placed her hand on his arm gently. "Wait. Before we go, I want to warn her. Are you going to tell him if I break?"
Nate looked at Bella, then down at her hand, then at me before responding. "Make it quick. You know the outcome he's waiting on."
Bella nodded grimly at the man before pulling me slightly to the side. "Justice, I need to explain to you exactly what's about to happen here."
"I'm not going to like this, am I?" I said, grimly resigned to my fate. Well, life was fun while it lasted.
"No, and I am so sorry because this is going to be awful. It always is. If you choose to partner with us in the future for...the long run, you know? Then you're going to have to see this part of Nate and I that we're not that proud of." Nate snorted and crossed his arms, glancing at his watch. "Well, that I'm not proud of, at the very least. Nate and I, we're known for being volatile, for being easily angered, for being dangerous in general and you're going to see that sometimes. It seems like there's more of it in Nate because he's less controlled about it, but ask anyone and they'll tell you that there's just as much in me, if not more."
"It's true." Nate's voice rang out, the deep timbre ringing in the small room.
Bella's hand slipped off my arm, almost as though she were trying to comfort me to the reality of what she was saying. "To be honest, as harsh as he's being, Dave's hoping this works out with you. We all are. But hurting people is a necessary part of the job sometimes. All that needs to happen is that you're in there with us and have an unimpeded ability to watch and listen to what happens. Isolating your emotions helps, if you can do it. Stick to the back, face the wall, put your hands over your ears, do whatever makes this better for you. But Dave insists that you be in there when we do this and that you watch, so we know whose side you're really on. I believe he's wrong and this isn't the thing to do, but I also have to trust that he just knows more than me about all of this. Just..."
"We have to go in now or he'll know something's up," said Nate, opening the door to the other room.
"Right," said Bella, taking a breath to steady herself before starting towards to door. As she passed through it, she paused in the doorway. She looked back at me once more, captivating my eyes with her deep brown ones. "Just take care of yourself in there."