So Hatter came back from the dead and made me want to add this new chapter.
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Kia's eyes were wide in awe and her mouth opened and closed wordlessly. As if he only just realised she was there the blond man turned his head and studied her. "Who's this?" he asked, glancing back to Hatter.
"Kia," she replied plainly. The girl in question finally shut her mouth for good but hadn't relaxed, nails biting into her palms. She had known, of course, but she'd assumed they were going to have at least a few minutes before meeting Hatter's employer. Now there they were, standing before Fluke himself.
"You shouldn't bring strangers up here, silly bodyguard," he scolded and the response he got was narrowed eyes.
"I am not a bodyguard." Fluke smirked in a way that meant 'I know, but it's funny', causing Hatter to sigh in exasperation. "Sorry; I really didn't have much of a choice." She held up her wrist and it was her employer's turn to sigh.
"What did he do this time?" he asked, then held up a hand to halt the explanation. "You know what; let's take this away from the lobby. The board should have cleared out of my office by now." He indicated for the pair to follow him and headed back down the corridor he'd emerged from earlier. Kia trailed behind the two of them, dividing herself between feeling out of place and being curious about the doors they were passing. From one that was open came the familiar scent that she associated with large computing equipment, but when she tried to peer into the room a member of staff passed by and, frowning at her, shut the door without disguising his disdain for her at all.
Many more corridors branched from theirs, affirming Kia's suspicion that the entire floor belonged to Fluke; it wasn't surprising though, this was quite often the way with the uppermost Levels. If she remembered correctly, he also owned Level 99 and was in custody of 100, according to the articles that sometimes appeared in the public news. The place had an air of efficiency to it and the staff that they passed all seemed to have purpose in their movements, even if they each paused to greet Fluke politely. They were professional and clearly had graduated at the top of their class or close to, making Kia and Hatter stand out in their well-worn clothes.
Eventually they reached their destination and she breathed deeply in relief at not having to face the sceptical glances of the employees anymore. Fluke stopped in front of what was labelled as his office door and waited, reminding Kia of the way Hatter had done the same earlier, and for good reason.
Welcome back, Fluke, Hatter. Who is behind you?
"Well at least you haven't dropped all protocol and registered her already," he quipped at a slightly irritated Hatter before saying, "a Hollower."
I'll open the door then.
"Man, I really wish he'd say something different for once," Fluke complained as he entered, hands sliding into his pockets.
Idiot.
"We know," Hatter replied, as though it were a completely natural exchange. Kia stared at the doorframe as she stepped through, previously having been unaware just how sophisticated this particular AI technology was. As soon as she was out of the way, the doors slid shut in silence.
Fluke walked past the glass conference table with indifference, straight to his private office which was just as large as the meeting room. The far wall was made of glass too, and it didn't take Kia long to realise that it was the outer edge of the scraper itself, framing the dark sky pierced by even darker towers. At the upper edge the window was being encroached upon slightly by the base of the symbol that made this particular scraper a landmark. Barely any of the sign was visible here, but from every other building it was clearly recognisable that this was the home of the BBC, the largest media corporation in the world.
And Fluke stood there like it was nothing.
"Right, so what happened?" he asked, sitting in a comfortable looking chair and putting his feet up on his desk.
"Short story, I rescued Kia but then we got handcuffed together because someone was an idiot and let his prototype get stolen."
"For a genius he sure does lack common sense sometimes."
"All of the time," Hatter corrected.
"On the upside," Fluke continued, reaching for something in the desk drawer, "at least one of us keeps check of their products." There was a quiet clink of metal and when his hand retreated from the table top there now sat a small pair of silver earrings in the shape of songbirds. "An updated model that we issued while you were away."
Hatter reached for them soundlessly and replaced the plain earrings she was already wearing, handing the old pair to Fluke.
"What are those?" Kia asked as Hatter fiddled with the accessories, getting used to them.
"Twitter communicators," Fluke answered.
"But they're so small!" She mentally compared them to her own bracelet formed version (lost for good during her stay at Ground Level) that was most commonly used by the populace.
"These are more practical," Hatter replied simply, "and off-market."
"Ah, not for long!" He grinned again, amused by Hatter's expression that he could recognise as surprise only because he knew her so well. "We're putting limits on their current functions of course. Once we've collected everyone's back, we start production; Evanz assures me they'll be popular and for once I'm actually believing what he says."
"Well, that is part of his job," Kia pointed out, then shrank in size as two pairs of analytical eyes fell upon her. She knew that Fluke had been monitoring her the entire meeting, piecing together an image of the type of person that had traipsed after his employee into the world's media capital.
Seeing Kia's discomfort, Hatter broke the momentary silence by saying, "And if he didn't know what he was doing by now I wouldn't agree to help him, ever."
"True." Fluke put the old earrings into the desk drawer, filling the empty space that previously belonged to the songbirds. The slight flick of his hand as it returned to sight told Hatter exactly what he wanted and she patted Kia lightly on the shoulder.
"Kia, step out for a moment. I've got to report and - no offense - you aren't allowed to hear this."
"Right, yes, of course, report," the girl replied awkwardly, taking a few seconds before she actually made to leave. She felt Hatter's hand slide from her shoulder as she moved out of reach, but also the steady gazes of two persons that one would never make enemies of, for both were truly perilous in their own ways. Without any more hesitation she was gone from the room, left with only the muffled, unintelligible sounds of speech heard through the wall when the door had hissed shut. She pulled out a chair from under the conference table and sat, soon producing a rhythmic tapping with her fingers that rang through the glass. Otherwise silent, Kia waited patiently for their conversation to end.
"That's all you found out?" Fluke queried.
"Unfortunately. Clearly they have some very experienced members if they can hide so well."
"And yet a month ago they slipped up and left traces..." Unlike when Kia had been present, his face was deadly serious as he pondered the situation. "It's almost as if it was intentional."
"There's no 'almost' about it," Hatter replied surely, relaying her intuition. "They let us know they existed; they wanted us to search."
Fluke was on his feet, pacing slowly past the glass wall repetitiously. "So..." He stopped and looked out at the grey cityscape, hands secure in his pockets. "What we have is a new group with skilled members that appears briefly before immediately disappearing again, and we can't find anything on them - not even their name!"
"I'll keep searching whilst I return Kia," Hatter proposed.
"Yes," he turned to face her and stepped forward to his desk. "Eyes and ears open, and when you've gotten rid of that girl we're launching a full scale investigation. Maybe an outside perspective will get us somewhere." The last sentence was directed more at himself but Hatter picked up his meaning perfectly.
"That full scale? We're involving the foreign teams?"
"We can't afford anything less." His eyes met hers. "These people are dangerous, Morgan. Too dangerous to leave be."
"I agree," Hatter concurred without hesitation, seemingly unfazed by the entire situation. It wouldn't be long though, she knew, before the neutrality faded away and her anxiety about the whole business would show. Never before had a group of bounty hunters evaded her for this long so, right now, even the highly advanced shackle humming with data on her wrist was the least of her worries.
