Chapter 11
Okay, enjoy this chapter (or don't, it's really up to you).
Tobias' POV
We are on a plane. Tris' hand is wrapped in my own, as we fly across the country, back home to Chicago from Miami, where the Agency is based.
We arrive home a little later, stepping out into the open air. I smile, filling my lungs with the sweet Chicago air. We were supposedly away from home for two days, so all of us are going to use the excuse of a sleepover at each others houses.
We arrive outside Tris' house an hour later. It is now the morning after our little 'job offer' and 'tour' of the Agency.
We step through the front door.
"TRIS! FOUR! Where have you two been?" Natalie is upon us in seconds, giving both of us a bear hug which nearly suffocates us.
"Hey, Mrs Prior," I say to her. She tuts.
"You know I would like you to call me Natalie." I shrug, and she smiles. "Now tell me where you two have been!" She says.
"Sorry Natalie. Tris went on a sleepover at Christina's and I went for one at Zeke and Uriah's. I told Tris I would call you and tell you, but I forgot. I'm really sorry." I try to make myself sound like I'm telling the truth, and apparently Natalie believes me.
"Okay, but I think it was partially Tris' fault, and you're taking the blame for her." I shrug again, and she laughs.
"You two go and relax," she sends us off. We head upstiars immediately, and make our way to Tris' room. It looks completely normal, but Agent Black said it would. I open Tris' wardrobe, and press one of the nails holding up the bar across it once, twice, three times. A panel opens in the back of the wardrobe, and I enter the PIN given to each of us. The screen disappears, and the bottom of the wardrobe opens up, revealing two tubes containing a pod each. I climb in, whilst Tris does the same. I give her a thumbs up through the glass, before pressing the button at my waist. The G-force rockets as I hurtle through the tube, supposedly at a speed of faster than a rollercoaster. I see Tris speeding along beside me, in her own pod. My thoughts turn to not throwing up as we hurtle round a turn. Finally, we level out, and I feel myself slow down, as one. Two. Three. Four. Five six. Seven. And eight tubes join mine and Tris' own. Finally, we stop, the pods pop open, and we get out into our new HQ. I look at Tris.
"That was pretty cool," I say. She nods.
"A. A bit fast, maybe, but otherwise Okay," she admits. I smile, and kiss her cheek.
"BOO!" Yells Zeke as he jumps out of his pod which arrived, seemingly silent. I see Uriah's slide into place too, before turning to survey the room. It's quite large, square, with a medium height ceiling, like the auditorium of an infant school. I would guess at about 20 metres by 20.
"It's a bit... Bland," says Uriah, as he gets out of his pod. I nod in agreement.
"That's because you have to decorate it!" the wall slides open, and a guy of about twenty steps in. "Hey guys, I'm Kevin, good to meet you," he says. I shake his hand, as do Tris, Zeke and Uriah.
"Okay, so I am your supervisor, helper, save-your-life kinda guy, who helps you lot out," he explains. I nod along.
"I will help you run missions by being the guy in your earpiece who is back here with a drone and fancy computer stuff, tracking you. I would help you do your IT stuff, but I hear Four here is quite the computer whizz-kid," he gives me a wink. I raise an eyebrow, and he shrugs.
"Anyway, yes. Decorating this place!" He yells out to the ceiling. Kevin goes to the wall, taps it, and a screen rises out of the ground in front of us, before lighting up with a screen for my PIN. I enter it quickly, and the screen displays a floor plan of our HQ. There are five rooms other than this one: A kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, IT and filing suite, and Kevin's room. I tap on the kitchen, and it displays a picute of the kitchen in the top right, whilst the rest of the screen is dominated by pictures of things we can put in the kitchen.
"Oh, yeah, also, I would recommend opening all the doors, as all these hidden ones are a pain," says Kevin over my shoulder, whilst tapping a small button on the bottom of the screen. Sure enough, around the room, five parts of the wall slide open. Neat. At that moment, Will and Christina arrive, jumping out of their tubes as soon as they've stopped. Zeke turns to them to explain what we're doing and who Kevin is, whilst Uriah goes to explain to Shauna and Marlene, who have just arrived in their own tubes. Finally, everyone is filled in, and we begin decorating.
"Ok, so what side board do we want? Marble, wood, artificial stuff, or what?" I ask the group. A chorus of answers come from them. Marble seems the most said, so I put in some light coloured tiles.
"Cupboard? Wood, or what?" I ask them. The dominating answer is a red plastic sort of thing. I select that.
"Okay, the cupboards above the sideboard will be the same, is that ok?"
"Yep,"
"Yeah."
"That's fine,"
"Sounds good,"
"If you say so,"
"Whatever,"
"Cool,"
Next is the floor.
"Floor? Any thoughts?" I ask the assembled people behind me.
"Tiles,"
"Dark, like black or dark grey," is the most said answer. I choose the dark grey slate coloured interlocking tiles.
"Island?" Another chorus of ayes reach my ears. I select the island. It all looks okay. "I'll just get the best tap, dishwasher etc., okay?" I look to the others, who nod. We go around the rooms, decorating them one by one, until we come to the room we are currently in. This is labelled the 'mess/lounge'.
"Okay, guys! Last room, this one!" I shout to them. Almost everyone is discovering our HQ, in its new glory. No one responds, so I'm left to decorate it by myself. I choose a thick carpet, which can be a black with red swirls on it. The carpet rises from the floor almost immediately. Weird. I shrug, and go on to making a TV area. I add a rug, with a coffee table on, and put a fireplace in. Next, I put the biggest possible TV above it with some high-end speakers for surround sound. Next, I add some cornered sofas, and some beanbags. After that, some armchairs of leather for you to sink into, and a couple of loveseats. I put them in a semi-circle around the TV, and add a dining table and some comfortable chairs to go with it. Next, some games, ping pong and air hockey. The final touch is a small gym in the corner, complete with a treadmill and a bench-press. I finally add a fancy modern lightshade to cover the large bulb in the centre of the room. I smile, pleased with my work.
"Four!" Kevin calls from the IT suite. I go in, to find him in front of the computers, sitting in the chair with the speakers embedded I added a minute ago.
"I should show you how all the computer stuff works." I nod, and sit down beside him to discover about the fantastic wifi and the unbreakeable firewall.
So, there is the headquarters done. Hope you enjoyed. Next is their first mission, but you'll have to wait until I release the next chapter of the story :,(. Thanks for reading, reviewing, favouriting, etc.
Toodle Pip
J