With no response from either Priestley or the rest of the team, I had to make my own decision. The way I initially looked at it was I either left the club and made my own way back to the SATe base, with the expectation that Priestley made her own way there. Or explore the rest of the club myself and hope she pops up in a room.
Those were the options I'd given myself. I'd given myself those options, and yet I was hesitant to take either of them. I felt concerned at the level of danger that was present in the club; if Marie was here, who knows what else was lurking around her? More than that, I concluded that leaving Priestley here on her own was the wrong decision; that leaving this club would turn out to be one of my more significant regrets. That left both options voided.
I had opted to leave the building through a back door that had caught my eye earlier; despite the hallway being filled with groups of people, they were considerate enough to vacate the vicinity of the door. The exit sign above had been blinking every few seconds, drawing me to it and giving me much-needed direction. If I were to run away from someone like Priestley, I don't think I'd stay in the building.
The door had given way to a small smoking area enclosed by a chain-link fence. The three men standing within the area seemed to have been interrupted, staring through the gap in the fence at a figure lying against the ground of the alley. None of those men had gone towards the figure; instead, they'd chosen to take long draws of their cigarettes.
I could chalk that up to the abundance of club-goers that littered the streets in the area; it wasn't a rare occurrence that a drunken individual would collapse after a drink too many. They often got themselves up within the hour. It could also be reasonably ill-advised considering the drops of rain that had begun to speckle the concrete. The sky has taken a grey hue, embracing the clouds and meshing together like strokes on a painting. Puddles had already started to form in the divots of the earth, and my boots became drenched shortly after leaving the relative safety of the covered smoking shelter.
Each droplet sits on my skin for a moment before trickling down, the shirt I'd hurriedly thrown on earlier being penetrated by each one. I approached the figure slumped against the wall, facing away from me with their cheek grazing the scratchy surface of the brick. It didn't take long for me to realise that Priestley hadn't gotten far after all.
The rain had started to pick up the pace, beginning to thunder against the ground as the heavens opened up and released a downpour. I chose to shake her by her shoulders gently, hoping the combination of water and movement would wake her up. It was at this point I noticed the large bruise that had formed on her cheek. She'd been knocked out purposefully. Not only that, but she looked an odd combination of flushed and sickly which only made her look weak.
"Priestley," I muttered close to her ear, trying to avoid the gushing rain muffling my voice. She'd stirred a little, her head flinching away from me. I suspect it was to avoid the water. Subconsciously she must realise what position she was in. I shook her a little more forcefully, "Hey, look at me. Open your eyes."
"Leave off, Bastian." She snapped, one of her arms coming away from the ground to swipe me away. A diluted sadness had replaced her often hostile tone; there was no genuine effort put in to stop me.
"What happened?" I asked, looping my arms around her legs in order to pick her up. In her current state, there was no way she'd be able to get up and even less of a chance of her driving us back to the base. Her fingers had immediately gone to my shirt, gripping tightly at the material as her face contorted in pain.
"Nothing I'm just a little..." She'd slurred, trailing off as her head collapsed into my chest. I couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu as I carried her to her car; swiping the keys from her pocket as I did so.
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I couldn't blame Cassiel for jumping up from his seat when I walked into the laboratory with Priestley still half-awake in my arms. She was trying her best to keep her eyes open, not wasting a single ounce of energy on any movements or protests. We'd both been soaked through to the bone, the temporary heating I'd put on in the car doing us no favours; honestly, it seemed to do more harm than good.
"Bastian!" Cassiel had spoken, clearly alarmed. He'd pounced over to me quickly, a hand going to my forehead. He'd tutted before snapping his hand away from my head and down to Priestley. She'd nuzzled into his hand as he pressed it against her skin, clearly feeling more comfortable with him around, "You both look terrible, what happened?"
I inhaled a breath, debating whether this was the right time to explain the entire situation. It didn't seem like we had a lot of time to waste with frivolous details. I looked down at Priestley who'd started to develop tears in her eyes as she writhed in my grasp a little, "I think we need Anne's help here."
Anne was standing in the back of the room, shuffling between paperwork and beakers. She hadn't even looked up at the pair of us when we'd entered the room; as far as she was concerned, we were the bottom rung of the ladder.
"I don't have any time for you right now, Mr Brady. There is so much information for me to sift through in order to get a semblance of an answer to the problems we have in front of us. If I have even the slightest chance of creating some kind of antidote before Marie is found and brought back here it will only be possible if you leave me alone," She'd spoken menacingly, not even pausing to take a breath as she dismissed my plea for help. I'd opened my mouth to reply, but Priestley's hand had gone up to cover it, a slight shake indicating I should go no further.
I exhale a short breath before motioning my head to the door, Cassiel following as we exit. Out of genuine curiosity, I asked, "What's she working on?"
"Something to do with the DNA of the failed bodies. Quite frankly I have very little idea, she refuses to let me do anything but watch. I can't even go out looking for Marie because someone has to keep an eye on her," he'd answered, his eyes lingering on her as we closed the door. The team seemed very paranoid about having her around. It was a wonder they'd picked her at all. I'm sure Alexandria had plenty of options; why choose someone that put them all on edge?
I had to wonder if they'd act the same around everyone. I looked back down at Priestley who'd started to tug on his shirt gently, "I need a test, Cassiel. It seems like she won't be of much help."
"What exactly am I testing for Emie? Got into some trouble?" He'd chuckled. He was trying to keep a steadily positive outlook on the situation, but I could tell he was worried about Emie. She was getting increasingly pale as the minutes ticked on. I didn't want to try to guess what had happened in the time I'd left her alone.
Not that she'd let me guess. She'd started to dig around in her sweatpants, looking for something as she focused on the ceiling above her.
I'm almost certain they've given me the same concoction they gave Marie, just in an ingestible form," She started, pulling a small syringe from her pocket and holding it up to his face. He'd taken it from her grasp quickly, analysing the contents as he picked up the pace, "I think this might help too. Before I noticed it was Banks, I realised a man was lingering near my drink and rushed off when I drank from the glass. I decided I'd take a sample since it was clearly a targeted attack."
"You saw Banks, and he drugged you?" He questioned, receiving a short nod in reply. She was running out of energy to talk to him, so she opted for the subtle gesture. A worrying sign if anything. He'd raised the syringe to the ceiling, the liquid inside glittering in the light. He looked perplexed as he stared at it, clearly picking up on a specific part of what she'd said as he rhetorically asked, "They have different methods?"
"Avvon's are frighteningly intelligent sometimes. It isn't surprising that they're using as many methods as they possess in order to push forward their plans. It is interesting that they've targeted your members twice; their methodology is usually scattered and disorganised in terms of targets," Cassiel had been interrupted. His train of thought halted as Anne's voice penetrated his ears. We'd turned to see her standing crossed arms, her gaze directly on Emie.
I'd backed away and entered the infirmary, both Anne and Cassiel following me inside. He looked as though he wanted to begin an examination, moving towards the cabinet with his coat and gloves. However, Anne was one step ahead of him, a stethoscope on Emie's chest as soon as I placed her on the bed. She'd looked towards him as she spoke, making decisions for the entire room, "I'm going to work with Emie one-on-one. You can feel free to leave me to it. I'm sure Smith could use some help; especially since she isn't coping with their injury very well."
I could tell he didn't take too kindly to that as he'd sauntered over to me with a creased expression and taken me by the hand. I didn't have the authority to argue with anyone here, so gladly allowed him to escort me from the room.
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"I saw Marie. She's changed her appearance, but I'm almost one-hundred-per cent positive it was her," I'd said aloud as we walked into the central hub of the base. Which at this point had become a sight for sore eyes; it was clean, open, and offered relative safety away from most of my responsibilities. Cassiel had reacted in such a way I didn't necessarily have time to explain myself any further than that.
An extra skip in his step as he headed up to the IT suite platform. He'd noticed something as soon as we'd entered, and I slowly recognised what it was - Alexandria disobeying his orders. She was focused on her screen, typing a million words per minute, shifting through different files with determination.
Cassiel had bounced up the stairs, a cool rage hitting him as he made his way towards her, "Smith. I believe I told you that you didn't have any computer time. You're going to cause further damage to your wound." He'd said as he rushed over to her computer area. She barely batted an eye as he hovered over her shoulder, continuing to type at the same speed.
"There are no members of this team that know the system better than I do, Darwin. Not only have I logged hundreds of hours on it, but I also helped update it. I could recite the code for it word for word, can you?" She argued calmly. It was like she'd started the argument as though she'd already won; asserting dominance without trying.
"That's not the point here..." He mumbles, being cut off immediately.
"I want to find Cavendish. I have nothing else to do. How can I sit in the infirmary like I couldn't do my part to help find her?" She'd said, it was halfway between a plea and a growl. More likely, she recognised his position as a medical advisor but rebelled against him on a personal level. She believed in her abilities enough to overcome the obstacle of an injury, "Come on, Cass. My arm doesn't even hurt," She pouted. That was enough to make him lose the stoic stance he'd taken. He was no match for her.
"I don't think you'll have much luck changing her mind, Cassiel. If she wants to make that choice, you might as well let her." I mention, just quiet enough for Alexandria not to hear me; she'd still turned around to look at me. Her ears must've been burning.
"Not you too, Bastian." He sighed, a hand going up to rub his forehead, "I need someone to help rein her in not loosen the chains."
I wanted to laugh. She did seem like the uncontrollable type.
"Sorry, Cass," I say, gritting my teeth. I couldn't help but join Alexandria's team at this moment. While I sympathised with her injury and his intentions to heal it properly, I also realised she was currently in the 'lesser' priority range; with Marie and Emie surpassing her by a few leaps, "What's your plan, Smith?"
"I overheard that you'd seen Marie. Tell me what Marie looks like based on what you saw at the club. Then I'll work on the CCTV system within the city." She commanded, already pulling up a variety of CCTV cameras from the area Emie and I had decided to venture, her tracking emblem from the past couple of hours telling Alexandria all she needed to know.
I opted to draw a small picture of Marie's new appearance from the club, relying on the reasonable abilities I'd picked up during education. It was one of the only other subjects I had mildly excelled in. It only took a few minutes to transfer the image of the dark-haired, green-eyed woman from my memory to the paper; remembering to include the narrow nose and squinted eyes.
When I'd finally handed her the image, Cassiel took hold of my arm. While he seemed taken aback, and all-around frustrated at Alexandria only a few moments ago, his expression had now changed. His eyes were shining brightly, a full smile on his lips as he pulled me to a table that was placed in the centre of the IT suite. The legs had been bolted to the floor; colourful lights strung around each one to bring in a pop of colour. He ushered me into the cushioned seats placed around it and manoeuvred himself opposite me, pressing a button on the underside as he did so.
The centre square of the table, which had been slightly elevated from the rest had begun to lower down and disappeared inside. It was shortly replaced by a checkerboard that was ready to play; as it did so, I couldn't help but notice the genuine excitement on Cassiel's face. It was like watching a child in a chocolate shop when their mother had given them permission for one sweet of their choosing; eyes bright and mouth agape.
"You need something else to occupy your mind while Smith works. So, play me," Cassiel had gushed. It was this moment more than any other that showed me how long Cassiel had been in this organisation; he'd already compartmentalised what was happening, not only to Marie and Emie but the city as a whole. He'd chosen this game as a focus, and it'd stay his focus until something else came up. He'd subtly moved one of his pieces before looking up with a smirk, "I haven't lost once!"
unfathomable [a] - incapable of being fully explored or understood.