Everyone had gathered in a small meeting room, and Doctor A and I were the last to show. I was in the same clothes from two days ago and my eyes were red. I barely felt their dryness as Doctor A held open the door for me and motioned me inside first. Emma saw me and straightened up some in her seat, "Linkin?" she started, but didn't finish her question.
I didn't react to her as I took a seat, gently setting all the paperwork I had in my arms down on the table. They were colour coated in different files and all handwritten, my messy handwriting. "Project 3-4 disappeared from her ninth mission in Egypt seven months ago. She has not been heard from, but there is evidence of her around Cairo." I spoke in a monotone, factual voice.
The debriefing lasted thirty minutes of me sharing the vital information I had on the situation we were about to walk into. Most people who sat around the table seemed bored, everyone except for the Doctors, Emma, and Ira. The longer I spoke, the more Emma looked like she was panicking. The girl stared at me with wide green eyes, it was almost distracting.
Once it was over, Doctor A came to talk to me, Ira and Emma hanging back as the others quickly took their leave. "You did wonderful today," Doctor A complimented me.
I didn't smile, just nodded and passed the files back to her. "These should be burned. They're classified," I reminded her.
Her smile widened, "Yes, yes they are Two. Thank you. I'll see you again after your mission. Get some rest now, you deserve it."
My head bobbed and I walked out with Doctor A. Once in the hallway, we parted and that was when I heard my name. "Linkin!" It was Emma again, with Ira close behind her.
I didn't stop walking.
"Linkin!" Emma sprinted up and caught my clothed shoulder and forced me to stop. "What has gotten into you?"
I turned around, but only to be polite. I knew I had bags under my eyes and they were so dry and raw from the tape being ripped off and being put back on that it was a miracle they were open at all. "One, is there something I can help you with? If you have any last minute questions, I have no problem assisting, if not, I must ask you let me go to bed."
It was now Ira who looked confused, but she glanced to Emma and placed a hand on Emma's shoulder. "It's fine," she told Emma gently and nodded to me. I didn't speak again as I stumbled off to my temporary room.
♟♙♟♙
Emma didn't drive, so it was my job to follow the black SUV in front of us. Not all of us could fit in one vehicle, so they broke it up into Oasis divisions. I had almost wished that China could have sent some of their own recruits and not two Americans; at least then I might have gone with them, and the different language would be the excuse for the uncomfortable silence.
My eyes focused on the road, feeling better after the nap I had on the plane. They still weren't completely back to normal, but I could function without wanting to rub them every five seconds. "What did they do to you?" Emma finally huffed.
My brow raised and I gave her a sideways glance, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're a robot! What did they do?" She said a bit louder, more frustrated.
Images flashed through my head and I cringed, bringing a hand up to my head. "I have to focus on driving, One; please do not interrogate me." My voice was soft in comparison to hers.
We were driving down a road which stretched the very definition. There was nothing around except desert and the path we followed was nothing more than old tire marks that the wind had not blown away yet. I was suddenly thankful we were the last vehicle, not the first. "That is exactly what I am talking about, they got in your head. They couldn't use me, so they did something else. Didn't they?"
"Emma..." I objected, my head suddenly felt like there was a needle stabbing into the base of my skull.
"Don't-" Emma cut herself off, her eyes flicking from me to out her window. "Linkin, what is that?" It was a cloud of dust, one that moved perpendicular to us, opposite to the direction of the wind.
My entire body tensed, alarm bells going off. There was something familiar about the setup, but the more I thought about it, the worst my headache got. The caravan continued to move as I audibly winced, I squinted my eyes in pain as I leaned forward.
"What is it, what's wrong?" Emma's drilling didn't help.
I didn't know where the words came from as the dust cloud continued to move. If it kept it up, we'd drive right into it. "Hold on," I warned.
I was wrong. We didn't drive into it, the large truck was metal bars across the front drove into us. The sound of metal on metal was deafening and suddenly, it felt like we were in space. The small car was no match for the truck as it started to roll.
Once.
Twice.
I screamed; Emma didn't. She hung limp, her hands not bracing herself against the roof of the vehicle or shielding her face as the front windshield broke in on us. The third time we rolled, we rocked and I didn't dare move. I couldn't feel anything, but that didn't mean I was okay. My headache continued to get worse, as my eyes slowly started to flicker close. The SUV ahead of us never touched their brakes, just continued to drive on. I watched the dark vehicle disappear into its own cloud of sand. Voices from the truck started yelling in Arabic, and I was unconscious before I could even try to comprehend what they said.