Chapter 2 - Echoes

'Sunny day.' I revel in it for a moment in front of my window. The sun directly on my face. Its rays burn my retinas, or rather, they would, if I wasn't wearing sunglasses. In the back of my mind I hear a voice, it tells me today will be a good day. And with that, I frown. Everytime I hear this voice, I know something bad is bound to happen.

"So much for waking up on the right side of the bed." I say to myself.

In the garage I hop onto my motorcycle and adjust the helmet, as I push the button to open the gate I start the engine. 'I'm running out of fuel.' I notice, as its panel lights up. That voice remains silent, however. I mentally steel myself, my body, my mind, in anticipation of the day's ordeals. "So be it." I say, as I ride out. 'I'm prepared... no, I'm waiting!'

-/-

As soon as I enter the building a voice greets me. "Good morning, Miss Redfield." Its owner is a brunette, sitting in the front desk of the main hall, smiling. She seems to be in her early twenties and her nameplate says Laura.

'No.' I'm tempted to say. Instead I utter "Mornin'." Laura seems satisfied as she keeps smiling.

'This is the first I've seen her.' Thought I. 'Then again, It's January, Amanda's probably on vacation... or worse.'

That reminded me of the voice from earlier. Could it be I'd be fired today? I felt as my face contorted and my lips formed a smile. A genuine smile, not the fake one I use when I'm on stage or when I'm recruiting. It amused me. The notion that I'd be fired amused me and I silently scoffed.

'I'm not getting fired, though I certainly would if I wasn't Claire Redfield. The company's not exactly making profit and because it's been so long since a bioterrorist attack, the government doesn't consider us worthy of continued financial support.'

I can't say I disagree. Though I can't say I agree. Terra Save does exactly what its name implies, though in a very subtle way. An unrecognised way. This takes me back to that speech I gave Moira weeks ago. I knew that my heart was in it, although hers wasn't, that's why I got unnerved. That's why I overexaggerated and dramaticised our work, and that's why in the end I didn't care if she joined because of her crush on me or because I'd actually successfully indoctrinated her. None of it matters anymore. I won't get fired, but the whole company will cease to exist, and deep in my heart, I'd sacrifice anything to prevent that. 'But I'm powerless.'

As I reached my office, a meager slightly bigger cubicle than the others', glorified with a door and distanced from everyone else, I see it. And once again, for a moment, I stop, mesmerised. 'The Audacity!' Thought I.

I purposely move in front of her, before I could say anything, though, she reacts to my presence, tensing up, only to calm herself down just as fast.

"Claire!" She utters. "I mean..." She clears her throat. "Agent Redfield." Her face is now serious. "I was told to wait here for your arrival. You see... I'll be working here with you from now on." My eyebrows shot up at that statement. 'Really?' Thought I. Though, turns out she misspoke it.

"I-I mean... I'll be working here with you a- and everyone else a- and the company... a- and..." I motioned for her to stop.

"Got it." Said I. My expression returned to my usual one, which was serious. "Come in, I'll give you the overview and your tasks for the day."

She nodded and we entered my 'office'.

-/-

As soon as she left I was brought back to my thoughts. 'Am I surprised?' My eyelids closed and I deeply inhaled. I considered my situation. 'More importantly, is this good or bad?' I scoffed at the notion of good.

I still hadn't discovered the reason why she was here, deep in my consciousness I knew it didn't matter. The fake interactions we've had were impersonal and unindicative. 'That means the real game starts now. If she's here pursuing me, then she'll show her cards very soon, if she's a fool, that is. If she's even got a modicum of intelligence, she'll wait, gather info and form a plan, and that could take days... weeks, not to mention a lot of small talk, and she'd have to do all that under cover... she'll have to believe that she's got the upper hand.'

I opened my eyes without warning. 'Since when have I lost so much time in frivolous matters?' Then I realised she may already have the upper hand after all.

-/-

Late at night, the phone rings. I look at the screen: Unknown Number. Thinking nothing of it, I push CALL.

"Hello. It's Moira." Says the voice. This brings me to a halt, frozen in place I think of how to deal with this. There's no one around. I'm alone in my house. 'No one can hear me. No one can judge me. Except her.'

"Sup?" I bring myself to say. 'No need to ask her anything. She won't be able to take the pressure.'

After a few seconds of silence, she cracks. "Thanks for today." She says as normal as can be.

My stomach revolts. 'Did it backfire?' I thought, surprised. 'Nevertheless...' "Hm? For what?" I ask towards the phone.

"I talked to Laura at 'mid-break'. She was watching me. She said you gave me the simplest tasks. No doubt to ease me into the job, right?" She didn't give me time to utter a response. "For that I thank you." Said she.

I quickly decided not to dwell on this matter any longer, my motives were my own, and my suspicions were being made concrete before my very eyes. "No problems, then? You're already getting used to it, Moira. In no time you will be the one guiding the new recruits." She knew what that meant and I knew too. 'It's now or never, Moira. Make your move!'

As though a clairvoyant... 'Heh, Claire-voyant. Once again I felt my face contort into a smile at a joke I made myself... She fell for it.

"Are you busy tomorrow? Since it's Saturday I figured we could meet and talk about the job and..." She trailed off. "Amongst other things."

"Sure." Said I. "Unlike you recruits, I have no days off." 'That came off a bit sour.' I later realised.

She panicked. Somehow that amused me. "Ah! It's fine, really, I'm sorry, I shouldn't insist, never-"

"I already said it's okay." I cut her off. That was annoying.

"Really?" She asked. "Yep." Said I.

After confirming place and time we hung up.

At peace again, I started to question myself. 'So I have a date tomorrow. Why did I agree to this? Then again, I had no reason to say no...'

"And no reason to say yes." Said the voice in the back of my mind.