Chapter 24
"He was there?" Number 362 asked with an ashen face.
Number 1 nodded curtly, his arms crossed in disappointment. He had just finished up explaining to the rest of the HQ operatives what had happened over the course of the last few hours. They were situated in the war room; the main meeting area with the rows of neatly lined tables with operatives busy, typing away at the computers in front of them. They were no doubt listening to chatter, reading through evidence and trying to make connections from all the information that was coming in from the other Sectors that were quickly spreading from around the globe. It was a beautiful thing to watch.
When Number 1 and Number 274 had walked in, Number 65.3 and Number 362 were looking over some information that was on one of the computer consoles. When Number 362 saw them walk in, she had sent Herbert away and had sat down at the desk. Now she nervously tapped her turquoise colored nails on the desk in front of her, her shoulders were sunk lower than normal.
"Yes," Number 1 said at last, "He was there. He was hidden in the back corner of the room smoking that stupid cigar of his. I had no idea that he was there until it was too late and I had already shot my mouth off."
Number 362 diverted her eyes to the floor in fear and disappointment.
"Don't worry guys," Number 274 perked up, "It's not as bad as Number 1 makes it out to be. He didn't reveal any classified information; he just spoke a little hastily about our failure to find the nuclear material."
Number 362's optimistic smile returned and her bright eyes turned back to Nigel, "Well, that's good Number 1, really it is!"
Number 1 just shook his head slowly, thinking through what needed to take place next.
"What do you think that Mr. Boss was doing at the FBI director's office?" Number 362 asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Number 274 said pulling up a chair and sitting in it backwards, "He has already moved the nuclear material out of our reach and he's taunting us!"
Number 362 shook her head slowly, "That doesn't make any sense! He wouldn't have had that much time to move the material without us knowing it or the ship docking late by about a week. All indications were that the ship was loaded, sailed and docked according to plan, and Mr. Boss wouldn't have known we were on to him, he doesn't know who we are."
Number 1 looked around the room through his black shades, listening to every word as they bored their way into his ears, "It's more than just that."
Number 362 and Number 274 stopped to look at him.
"Taunting?" Number 1 said, looking over the rims of his shades, "Yes, he was taunting us but not in the same way you might think. Mr. Boss knows that we are no closer to stopping him than we were in the beginning, but our two sides are certainly more acquainted now than we were then. All this time, he hasn't really had any information that would connect the various incidents; like you said before Rachel, he doesn't know who we are. The break in at the Mr. Frosty location was shrugged off as being an addiction fueled random act of burglary, the incident at the Tasty Taste Ice Cream factory didn't really have any hard connection either."
Number 274 looked confused and Number 362 continued to listen intently. Number 1 stared straight at them, through his black shades as he continued.
"When I walked into that office earlier; when I saw him sitting in the back of the room, I looked deep into those black and horrible eyes of his and I saw the wheels turning. I could tell that he had been working on the puzzle, putting the pieces together as the evidence presented itself. He must have put enough pieces together to feel the need to displace the nuclear material, but not enough to know which direction to retaliate. When I looked into the absence of his soul, I knew that he was getting all the answers he needed just by my walking into the door. Now he knows my designation and he knows what I look like. He also knows that I'm not working alone and most important, he knows that we have no idea where the nuclear material is and that we are grasping at straws."
Number 274 shot a glance over at the main entrance as Number 86 walked through nonchalantly and started heading their direction. He turned his attention back to Number 1.
"What does it mean?" Number 362 asked.
Number 1 turned his attention towards her, "It means that it was nothing more than a power play. He was letting us know where our limits are, that we are the ones who provoked all of this. We marched out to stop him, we provoked the ice cream men, we invaded his privacy, we pushed and he shoved; we barked and he bit; we put a chip on our shoulder and dared him to knock it off and this was his response. He wants us to know who is really in control. It was more than just taunting, it was a warning shot; a line in the sand."
"What should we do?" Number 86 asked, having just caught the tail end of the conversation and obviously startled by Number 1's ferocity.
Number 1 leveled his shaded eyes towards Number 274.
"We cross it." He said strongly.
"Well," Number 274 said, getting out of the chair, "As the Supreme Leader of this group, I would like to publicly apologize. It takes a leader to admit when he is wrong, and I was wrong. I thought that we would be able to do this by the rules and contact the authorities, but it is clear that they are no help. How do you suggest that we cross the line Number 1?"
Number 1 turned to Number 362, who started turning red at the sudden attention.
"Uh," Number 362 stammered, "We don't exactly have any new leads. I have my department pouring over the information, but there doesn't seem to be anything yet. I honestly wasn't prepared for the events at the docks to happen the way that it did."
"Well there must be something!" Number 274 said with a start.
Number 362 looked nervously over at him and shook her head slowly, obviously at a loss for ideas, "I haven't found any other leads yet, I thought the docks would pan out. I didn't know that Mr. Boss knew we were going to be there!"
Number 274 looked at her with a disappointed glare and then threw his arms into the air, walking off towards the offices, "Well then I guess we won't be crossing any lines any time soon. We tried and we lost! Game over!"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Number 1 called after him in a mockingly surprised tone, "Is Mr. Boss behind bars? Are the ice cream men locked away?"
Number 274 turned around, with that same angry look that Number 1 remembered from when they first met.
"Then we're not finished…" Number 1 said lowly.
"There is no more evidence to follow, did you not hear Rachel?" Number 274 yelled angrily, "I'm sorry Number 1, but I don't know what else you want us to do! We tried; I tried, but we need to accept where these boundaries are. "
"This isn't Rachel's fault," Number 1 growled back, "so stop blaming her! We'll find the material; it has to be out there somewhere. It has to have left some sort of foot print, and we'll find it; nothing disappears without a trace."
Number 274 walked up and stood toe-to-toe with Number 1, "Who are you trying to impress Number 1? What is your problem? If there is no path to take, then there is no path to take. Don't stretch this group past it its limits."
Number 1 bristled up to Number 274, "We don't have an option."
Number 1 turned to face 362, 86 and the other operatives that had started gathering to see what Number 1would rant about next.
"Remember," He started, "we started this organization to awaken the world to the reality that they are one bad decision away; one surrender of their liberties away, from total tyranny. We wanted to alert them to the reality that the wolf was waiting just outside of the sheep pen to attack them, to take advantage of them and devour them. We are closer than ever to that goal and we HAVE to keep pressing forward. We have an obligation to them and we have an obligation to the truth! I think that we were brought together for a reason; I BELIEVE that we were!"
Number 274 started shaking his head.
"We could walk away and ignore this threat. We could walk away and let it happen, we have that freedom, but we will trade our freedom for a devastated world filled with war mongering tyrants." Number 1 said quietly, "We will overcome and liberate these people. Perhaps not today, but some day, and we will never face that battle if we don't first awaken to the fact that compromising is a trap and must be resisted. We must awaken to the fact that with this great liberty comes a greater obligation to protect it and fight for it, no matter the cost."
Number 1 turned and started walking to the door, "Just find me a door and I'll kick it down."
He walked out of the door and headed back up to the surface while Number 274 let out an exasperated sigh and slumped down in a seat near Number 362. She didn't make eye contact with him as he sat down; instead she started typing on the computer that was on the desk.
"What?" Number 274 muttered, "What am I supposed to do about him?"
Rachel didn't look up.
Number 274 just shook his head in response, "Do you think he can stop it? Do you think he really can make a difference? Five kids? That guy just does whatever his gut tells him, he's not thinking through this clearly; he's not using his head."
Rachel kept typing.
"What do you think Rachel?" Number 274 asked impatiently, his foot absentmindedly kicking the table leg.
Rachel kept typing without looking up, "I'm going to find him a door."