My transition into being a Memento Mori was not the smoothest one I’ve ever made.
The next morning, Caitlin accompanied me to Theo’s apartment to get my things. Luckily, he’d rushed on getting me the communication equipment, so it was easy enough to hide the headsets and radio-like monitor in with my box of spare computer parts. Between that box, all of my clothes, and the other things I owned that Theo had brought over from my motel room, it only took us one trip.
Once everything was in my room at the apartment and Caitlin was sure I was sufficiently settled in, I locked the door behind her and stayed in my room for hours. I didn’t want to go out there. I was safe alone, away from the six most dangerous people in New Vaile.
I was also hungry, as it turned out. Cursing myself for not thinking to bring some food from Theo’s, I slowly poked my head out of the door to check if there were any Memento Moris outside and instead found a sandwich, a bag of chips, and a small, folded piece of paper. I glanced around but no one was there. I grabbed the sandwich and brought it back into my room, unfolding the note as I went.
I didn’t want to bother you about dinner, so I brought you a sandwich instead. Feel free to join us whenever you feel welcome. Until then, there will always be food outside of your door.
-Caitlin
A nice gesture, but one that would be ineffectual on me. I didn't want anything to do with these people and I was certain they were only being nice because I was a new employee. I climbed up onto my bed, crossing my legs as I plopped down among the lush pillows.
I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Theo’s number as I examined the contents of the sandwich. Ham, cheese, mayo, lettuce, and tomato. Pretty basic.
After a second, Theo picked up the phone. “How was your first day?” he asked.
“Eh, I didn't do a lot,” I said, peeling the tomato off the sandwich and placing it on the plate. “Pretty lazy day. I mostly stayed in my room.”
“They're confining you to your room now? That's a lot of caution…”
“Nah, I wanted to, you know? I mean, between missing you and the new job and not being able to be home, I just felt...well, safer in my room, I guess.” There was no response from Theo. “Baby?” I asked after a minute.
“Justice, how am I supposed to be able to learn more about the Memento Moris if you absolutely refuse to go out and talk to them?” he said, his voice steadily rising in volume until he was practically shouting. “I need you to interact with them. Befriend them. Find out what makes them tick. Get me their names. Find a way to sneak pictures. Everything you can get me, I need it.”
“That's not fair,” I said, bolting upright. “I'm the one starting the new job here and I think that I should get some time to adjust to my new...position.”
“You took today. That's it. I expect real information tomorrow.”
“I don’t know how to do that without seeming…” I was about to say ‘suspicious’, but I glanced up at the camera in the corner of my room. “Impolite. I really want to be friends with everybody who works here.”
Theo sighed. “Okay, if you need ideas, here’s what I can offer you...
The next day, I woke up extra early, made some breakfast, grabbed my laptop, and plopped myself down on the couch in the den. I was toying around with some parameters of a program I was working on when Helix walked in the front door. “Oh, Justice,” he said. “I didn't expect anyone to be awake this early.”
“Ditto,” I said, eyeing him up and down as he slid the jacket he was wearing off. “Most people tend to have this idea that hackers are night owls, but I've always been a morning person.” I took a slow sip of the coffee I'd made myself. It was instant, but not the worst I'd ever had. “So why were you out so late?”
His face flushed slightly. “I wasn't out late,” he said, shaking his head. “I woke up early to check on some stuff in my lab.”
Hm. A good liar, but not quite good enough. Something had kept him out late and I was determined to find out what.
But not right now. Right now, I needed to get certain information for Theo and the plan was already in motion. “Okay,” I said. “There's muffins on the kitchen bar if you'd like some. They're my dad's recipe.”
“Muffins? Sweet! Usually I have to bug Caitlin for days to bake!” He grabbed a muffin off the counter and sat down on one of the other couches. “These are delicious. Give your dad my compliments.”
“Oh, he's… my parents died.” Helix’s eyes grew wide and he half-choked on the large bite he had in his mouth.
“Crap, Justice, I am so sorry. I didn't realize that…”
“It's okay,” I said, waving my hand. “It was years ago and I'm over it. I try and remember the good things about my parents. The smell of my dad after he came home from work, my mom leaving paint stains all over the house…”
“What did your parents do?” Helix asked, crinkling his nose.
“My mom was an illustrator. Mostly children's books, but she'd freelance sometimes and do murals for people's houses. Dad owned a bakery on Hillside Avenue.”
“Wait, that was your dad's shop? Prima-dough-na’s? I love going there!”
“It's mine now, technically. Or, it will be. I was their only child, so they left it to me. I get control of the shop when I'm 21, and the income goes into an untouchable trust until the same year.”
“That's awesome!”
I nodded. “Yeah. So what about you?”
“Huh?” He pushed his sliding glasses back up his nose. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I've just told you my life story. What's yours?”
“I’d really rather not,” Helix said, standing up suddenly. “It’s not any of your business and I don’t think we’re close enough for you to be asking my life story.” He walked away, turning down the hallway towards his bedroom before I could get a word out.
Well, he’d be a tough nut to crack. Hopefully the others wouldn’t be so difficult…
--
“So what about you?”
“Me?” Caitlin looked surprised. “Why do you want to know?”
I shrugged. “I’m curious. I mean, I’m going to be living here and working with you guys and...I want to be your friend and make this situation not suck. There’s been a lot that sucks in my life and I’d like to make it better. This is a step in the right direction, I think. It sucks I can’t live with Theo, but hey, it’s not the worst thing in the world to live here. So come on. Tell me about yourself. Your parents, where you came from, how you became a Memento Mori...anything.”
“Sorry, I’m just not used to people asking me questions about myself. I’m a liason for gangs...I’m usually sucking up to others without them realizing who I am. Let’s see…” She thought for a minute. “Well, my mom died a few years after I was born and my dad raised me. He’s a mechanic.”
“That would explain you like cars,” I said, grinning.
“I guess so. He married my stepmom when I was high school and they’re happy together. I’m happy for them. He...took it rough when Mom died. Mari makes him happy and that’s all I want. Anyway, I met Dave in kindergarten and we’ve been best friends ever since. When he approached me with a ‘business idea’, I knew that no matter what it was, it was probably a bad idea and I had to come help him. So I packed up and moved out to New Vaile.” Her phone rang and she grimaced as she looked at the caller ID. “Sorry, business calls. But this was fun, Justice. We should talk again soon.”
--
“So what about you?”
“No.” Nate swept past me just a few minutes after Caitlin leaves, grabbing one of the muffins and letting me go on my spiel as he ate. He headed out the front door without another word.
--
“So what about you?”
Bella glared at me in response. “Don’t talk to me.”
“I’m so sorry for her behavior,” Dave said, coming up behind her with two cups of coffee. He handed her a mug and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “She’s not a morning person.” He vaulted over the back of the love seat, somehow managing to keep his own drink from spilling. Bella took a slow sip from her mug and sighed, leaning back to snuggle into him. “What the question?”
“Just kind of a general ‘what’s your story’, I guess.”
“I guess travelers is the best word for us. I tried college, moved around, worked at different places and eventually found my niche. Bella had been all over Europe before she moved to America. So...yeah, travelers is a good word for it. We like to try new things and meet new people. It’s part of the reason this is such a successful venture for us.”
“Wow, it sounds like you two lead adventurous lives,” I said. “What started that?”
“Birth,” said Bella, taking another sip of her coffee.
“We get bored easily. I was raised in a suburban house with a white-picket fence and I don’t think I could ever go back to that life. And Bella’s used to traveling. Tell her about what you did as a kid, honey.”
Bella sighed. “I was raised by a traveling circus and stayed with them from when I was found until I was seventeen. Then I picked up odd jobs here and there until I met Dave and…” She yawned. “Well, the rest is history. Memento Mori history, but history all the same.”
“Speaking of the Memento Moris, I have a few things for you. Just little tasks to see how much you can do.”
“Sure thing, boss,” I said. “What do you need?”
Dave grimaced. “First of all, never call me boss again unless we’re conducting formal business. Second, everything’s on this list.” He handed me a folded slip of paper from his pajama pant pocket.
1. Choose a name. It must be Latin and an existing phrase. If it holds some significance to you, all the better.
2. Please create false work profiles for Riley and Helix in Feel Inc.’s employee database. They should be listed as new, temporary hires for overnight security. They will require training at Feel Inc. Their profiles should use their real photographs, but all other information should be falsified.
“Well, if it helps, I thought up the answer to number one last night.”
Dave nodded. “Go on. What do you like as a name? When you think of yourself as a Memento Mori, what do you imagine being called?”
“I like… okay, it’s going to seem stupid, but I like the sound of Descensus In Cuniculi Cavum. It means ‘down the rabbit hole’ and I thought it was appropriate. I mean, my mom read me Alice in Wonderland all the time when I was a kid, but it also seemed like it was fitting to my whole ‘joining the Memento Moris’ thing, you know? Jumping in feet first, no backsies.”
Bella and Dave stared at me icily for a moment. “You’re right, it is stupid,” said Dave deadpanly. “You’re out of the group.” As my mouth dropped open, the corner of Bella’s mouth twitched and she burst out laughing.
“Oh my God, her face,” she said, giggling. “Dave, tell her she’s still in.”
“She’s right. I’m kidding,” he said, smiling at me. “It’s a good name. We’ll start using it. What about the other thing on that list, the job thing? How fast can you get that done?”
“I’ll start working on it now,” I said, pulling my laptop closer to me.
--
Riley was the only member of the crew left to talk to and try my muffin tactic out on, but they hadn’t been anywhere near where I was all day. From my spot on the sofa, I could see into the kitchen and the foyer, so if they’d eaten, it certainly wasn’t in here.
“Hey, is Riley okay?” I asked Dave a few hours later, once I’d finished the project he’d given me.
“Yeah, why? Is something the matter?” he asked, not bothering to look up from the digital camera he was frowning at.
“No, everything’s fine. It’s just that I’ve been out here all day and I haven’t seen Riley go by once. I didn’t know if there was a reason or what.”
“You know, I don’t think Riley’s home,” Dave said, scowling at a picture. “That happens sometimes. Even though we all technically live here, Riley lives here the least. If you really need to get in contact, there’s a list of phone numbers over by the door. It’s the girlfriend list, but be warned: not all the women on that list know that they aren’t Riley’s one and only.”
“It’s fine,” I said, shaking my head. “I was just wondering. Kind of a ladykiller, huh?”
“You could call it that. Riley’s got some sort of magnetism...we can’t figure it out. There’s only two girls on that list who are long-term and know about the others and Riley’s whole ‘commitment phobia’ thing. The others don’t last long. But rest assured, no matter how long the relationship, Riley will always come back to us soon.”
“Huh,” I said. “Well, in any case, I put in the job profiles in. Riley and Helix start tomorrow. 6 pm, Feel Inc. headquarters.” I closed my laptop and shifted it under my arm, ready to retreat back into my room after a long day of information gathering.
“Thanks,” said Dave. “You want to see something cool?” He gestured for me to walk after him as he stood up. I sighed, putting the laptop back down on the sofa and followed him down the hall to one of the rooms I was not allowed to enter. He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the door, opening it and rushing inside while whispering, “Quickly, come on.” I ducked in after him.
I found myself in a large room lit by red light. Tables of chemicals in large bins were scattered around the room and Dave led me to the back of the room where photographs were hanging on wire strung from wall to wall. He let his fingers trail across the edges of them until he stopped on one picture, unclipping it from the wall and handing it to me before leading me back out the room.
Back in the hallway, I got to look at the photograph Dave had given me. It was one of the candid pictures he'd taken of me the other day. In the picture, I was on all fours, fingers trying to grip onto asphalt. My head was raised, with my hair messily obscuring half my face. My expression showed a mix of emotions- hesitation, fear, disbelief- but my eyes were clear. They were wide and defiant, confident as they stared directly into the camera.
“Dave, this picture is gorgeous,” I said. There was no way that this was me. I'd never been photogenic, and yet this simple candid photograph taken on one of the most terrifying days of my life was the best picture ever taken of me.
“I thought you'd like it,” he said, grinning wryly. “After I saw how that picture developed, I knew that you would fit in well with the Memento Moris. You're exactly what we were looking for.” He flicked his sunglasses up just long enough so that he could wink at me-- not long enough for me to get a good look at his eyes, though-- before walking away.
I looked back down at the picture. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as I thought.