In the basement of the southern building, a small bar was hidden at the end of the maze of hallways. Almost a hole in the wall, Cooper and Kailey both sat in stools with drinks in their hand. Cooper looked down at his wrist to check the time, almost midnight, downing a Mojito he had in hand. Kailey sipped on a beer, signaling the bartender for the check.
Cooper sighed, rolling the glass in his hand. "You got a straw there for a reason, you know?" Said Kailey, he spun the glass and stared at the thin brown tube. The bartender came back with a small screen, she extended her hand out, tapping it with her wrist. A small checkmark and a ding played from it as he took it back. "Last call" He spoke, they both shook their heads, placed the glasses in front of them and took their hands back, he pulled down a window right in front of them, closing business.
The hallway was rather dark, a single light from around the corner was the only source of it. Kailey stood up and turned around, adjusting her sweater, Cooper followed suit. Neither of them were particularly drunk, Alcoholism was common in the O.S.D. But it was looked down upon to be openly drunk.
As they walked to their apartments, Cooper spoke. "What do you think comes next?" Kailey thought for almost a minute. "Depends on what happens, of course meaning Tyson?" They both the stairwell that led all the way to the roof. Walking up, the only sound aside from their steps being the buzzing of the lights. Before they arrived at their floor, Cooper looked out a window that faced south.
Port Arthur was placed aside a literal port, looking out he could see several boats coming and going. He took a deep sigh and spoke as Kailey looked out the window as well with her hands in her pockets. "There is no way Tyson gets away with... it? Whatever *it* is." They could hear the sounds of a ship's horn, it almost shook them from the volume.
She frowned in thought, taking a deep sigh as she walked back up the stairs. "Let's go somewhere more private." Cooper stood up straight and went up the last flight of stairs. They lived down the hall from one another, she opened the door and allowed him inside, turning on a single light in her living room. Almost all the apartments were the same architecturally, hers was rather unremarkable in terms of decoration. She sat at the couch and he sat in a desk nearby, rolling it's chair closer. "Not a lot of visit?" He asked, she shook her head in response.
She leaned forward in the couch and took a deep breath, expanding her hands. "I believe my father may be... similar to Tyson." Cooper was taken aback, rolling the chair even closer. He closed his eyes in shock, and spoke "W-what do you mean?!" She raised her hand as to stop him.
"Port Luto, crew 4, 2553, Complete crew disappearance?" Cooper thought back, nodding, as an adjuster he had to be well read on past incidents. "Month later, in my apartment complex-" she tapped the table, "Only a few rooms away, explosion, boom." She leans back on the couch as she signals with her hand, "A-class altered, one family dead, immediate. I wake up as I hear something crash through my wall." She thinks for a second with a furrowed expression. "It was thin, long and very tall, with fingers as long as my own head, it towered over me as I laid in bed, the rubble dotted my blankets, luckily I wasn't hurt but..." She leaned forward, looking Tyson in the eyes. "I had a very strange feeling about it, it felt... terrifyingly familiar."
He tilted his head and covered his mouth, thinking, standing up and pacing a bit. He ran a hand through his coarse hair and turned to her again. "You think Tyson might know something about that?" She shrugged. "It was only after we came home that I really connected the dots. I think Marco told me a similar story. I'll have to call him tomorrow." He signaled to stop her, "don't mention anything about it on the phone, it might not be a good idea. Darren told me that Arthur thinks something is up."
"Arthur? Seriously?" She scoffed, "aside from a group of jackasses, what else could he possibly think?" Darren shrugged and started heading to the door. "I'm not sure, there wasn't many tracks to cover, but what is there... we didn't really do a great job." She sat in the couch, looking out to the balcony that faced the courtyard.
"Talk to you soon Kailey" his last words before leaving her apartment. She placed her hands over her head and took a deep breath out. She went to her room, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a large photo book. She flipped through it, landing on a page with a tall young man sitting on a rocking chair on a porch. Holding a cigar in his mouth with a rather displeased expression. On his lap, a young Kailey, she could still remember the smell of Tobacco wafting across her face as the wind blew in their direction.
The next morning, she could feel her wrist vibrating. She woke up from her deep sleep and yawned, her hair ruffled and messy, she looked down to see a notification from Marco, crew meeting at 10am. About an hour from now, she got up and got dressed, heading there.
The northern building was open to the public. Home to restaurants, museums and commodities that the average person outside of the organization had access to. The meetup spot was a small cafe with privatized rooms, she was greeted and walked towards their designated spot. The whole crew was already there, chowing down on breakfast, the smell of several pork products in the air.
They all sat across from one another, the singular spot open being next to Tyson, she sat down and Marco stood up to slide the door closed. They sat down and Marco cleared his throat and swallowing the food in his mouth. "Welcome all, Kailey, dig in." They had ordered her a plate of eggs, waffles and artificial bacon. She took a fork and knife as she began to eat.
"Private room, no cameras, no microphone, no peeping eyes. Even our higher ups like to hang out here from time to time." He clasped his hands and placed them on the table. "So, how about a prayer?" They all glared at him and chuckled. "Of course, uhm...-" He looked at Kailey directly, "Cooper told me a bit about your peculiar story? Tell us more about that." She looked at Cooper who tilted his head down as if to conceal himself in apology, however she didn't seem upset. She recounted the story with a bit more detail.
The altered was taller than the ceiling, it had to bend down as to fit in the room. Long and scrawny perfectly cylindrical fingers. It's face was muddled by the dust in the air from the wall it had brought down. Aside from that, she couldn't remember very much, she was only about 11 when this happened over 20 years ago. Marco took a bite out of his pork links, looking at the rest of the group. "Sound familiar?" Everyone but Tyson and cooper nodded.
Darren and Bodhi both recounted similar tales, altered barging into their lives before quickly disappearing. On top of that, under the same 3 year similar timeframe. "Putting two and two together, I feel like it's our fate to meet." They all continued eating without replying, Cooper spoke. "What about me? How come I haven't met my 'soulmate' yet?" He joked as the group snickered. Darren replied while pointing his fork at Tyson, "Maybe he is the one you were 'meant to meet' in some roundabout way."
Cooper raised an eyebrow at Tyson, "No I don't think this guy looks familiar at all, have you ever so much as seen me before you joined the academy?" Tyson drank from a coffee mug, shaking his head. "The closest thing I have to seeing you is my barber." Cooper chuckled, "shit well he better not come near me seeing how fucked up your hair is." Tyson almost choked on his coffee as the rest of the group laughed.
"Guys, guys, let's keep it civil okay?" Marco said despite not being able to keep himself from laughing. "Darren's uncle who fostered him, Bodhi's aunt, Kailey's dad, and my own mother." He clasped his hands and looked around, raising them as if expecting an explanation. Bodhi coughed and cleared his throat, "I don't see the point in this, so what? Big family reunion?"
"Don't you think it's too much of a coincidence? Maybe the exact people don't matter but-" Darren signaled around with his hands "How often can you meet anyone who has survived a face to face encounter with an altered, let alone 4 of them sitting in front of one another." Bodhi swallowed the last piece of ham on his plate and stood up, patting his belly, "I need a cigarette." He stood up and slid the cubicle door open and walked out. Tyson got up, patted her on the shoulder and followed him out. Marco wiped his mouth with a napkin, "the food's all paid for, if you need me, you know how to contact me."
He stepped out and to the courtyard, where he saw Tyson and Bodhi in a designated smoking area. He walked up to them and sat on a bench near where they were standing. "Is he even old enough to smoke?" Asked Marco, Bodhi replied handing him a cigarette, "I don't give a shit." They chuckled as he handed one to Marco as well.
Marco took a long drag, it had been a long time since he had one. Bodhi smoked all the time, his voice reflected it. Tyson on the other hand, was barely old enough to do so legally. "Does smoking even do anything for you Tyson? This guy can drink more alcohol than a mule." Bodhi faced him, raising an eyebrow, Tyson looked down at his cigarette, halfway through, in one single slow drag that looked like eternity he got it down to the butt. He smacked his lips as if tasting it, he exhaled with no smoke coming out as he tossed the cigarette into the metal ashtray, shaking his head. Bodhi chuckled, "impressive."
Marco looked around, the courtyard was almost empty as most people were at work. His eyes scanned around, seeing a glint coming out of a window, it fading away as he only eyed it. He stood up and began to leave the smoking spot, "keep your little displays to yourself, I think we might be being watched." Walking away, leaving the two of them alone.