Trust
17th June
Third Person
Issy proceeded to pulled the prosthetic facial features off and plucked the coloured contact lenses out. Caitlin stood behind her, staring in shock as the woman she'd believed to be a stranger, the target of the mission, was actually her mentor. Letting her hair fall down her back, Issy scratched her head, the tension of the heavy wig easing.
"You can relax now, Caitlin. It's all over. You did it. You won."
"But you… You can't be… He knows you… He's known Camilla for weeks."
"It was all part of the test. Come on, you'll see."
Leaving the bathroom, she padded bare foot down the corridor, back to the ballroom. Caitlin ran after her, scared. Issy pushed the door open. Everyone in the room turned to her. The sudden silence drew Emma and Ciara's attention. They both looked in the same direction as everyone else, their eyes landing on Issy. Eyes widening, they froze. But Caitlin then stepped in the door, her heart racing. She looked round at everyone staring and took a couple deep breaths.
"None of this is real?"
"No. It was all setup to see how you'd do. You didn't think we were going to send you all out in public without trialling you out first? But you had to believe it was real, or it never would have worked."
Emma made her way through the people, Ciara following her lead. Reaching the front of the room, they looked to Caitlin in fear.
"It's all fake. They're all a part of this. It was just one big test. All orchestrated by Issy."
"Better this way than a real mission. Just look at how many of you are left. If this had been real, some of your fellow recruits would have been exposed."
Everyone else in the room had mobilised, beginning to clear away the tables and mess of the bar. Gary approached the four girls, smiling to Caitlin.
"Well done recruit. You'll make a fine agent one day. All three of you will."
"Thanks John, Sebastian has your car waiting for you. He knows you want to get away quick."
"It was nice working with you again 1-28. Maybe I'll get to again in the near future."
"I'm already pretty booked up these next few months."
The man pecked Issy's cheek before slipping out of the room. The three girls continued staring, still in shock.
"We don't need to be here for the clean-up. But as the successful recruits, you get to stay here tonight. Have a little break from the facility. I'll take you up to your rooms."
They followed her out of the room, Ciara glancing over her shoulder at the clean-up. Leaning over the reception desk, she lifted three key cards from the top of the small stack. Everyone in the building had been involved in the test. They were all ghosts in some regard. The hotel had been closed down for a week under the pretence of renovations in the lead up to the event. Issy took the girls to the elevator, smiling to the Agents that stared at her. Everyone knew of Recruit X1-28. Getting a glimpse of a Novum X recruit had been rare before, and then they had left. So seeing X1-28 walking about, as one of them, was a shocking moment.
Standing in the elevator, the other three stepped in behind her. As the doors closed, she took her earpiece out, showing the girls to do the same.
"You girls broke the rules in trying to help each other. When you're debriefed, they will ask why Caitlin approached you. Tell them that she thought security were suspicious of her. She panicked, so went to both of you to warn you to be careful. Her way of getting out was using the codeword."
She flicked her hair over her shoulder as she turned to look at Caitlin, giving her a pointed look. The elevator doors opened, and she strode out. They followed behind, moving their feet quickly to keep up with her.
"If it were up to me, you'd be commended for the subtle way you communicated. Everyone obviously saw you talking together, but no one noticed you passing the serviette. No one but me."
Stopping by door 582, she stuck the key card in and pushed the door open.
"Ciara, this is you. You aren't allowed to leave the room, but you can go out on the balcony. Your handler will be along shortly for your debrief. There are clothes to change into and you can call reception for some food. I'll be back later to talk to you, just hold yourself together until then."
Ciara walked into the room, looking back to Issy. She gave her a comforting smile before stepping out and letting the door close. She dropped the key card on the floor outside the door. Continuing down the corridor to the next room, she opened the door for Emma. At the next door, she didn't just hold the door open. Instead, she took her into the room. Sitting back on the bed, her body lay back in the comfort.
"What gave me away to you?"
"I saw your earpiece. Why would the CEO's Mistress have an earpiece in unless she was up to something?"
Leaning up on her elbows, she smiled at her.
"I wasn't sure if anyone was going to notice that."
She patted the bed beside her, waiting for Caitlin to sit.
"If I am honest, I am glad you won tonight. I wouldn't tell the others this, but I didn't think they were ready. Not just yet. They don't have the confidence that you do. And going on missions takes a certain mindset. Ciara could do it, she can control her fear. But I know that deep down, hidden out of sight, she would be terrified. I always knew that you'd be the first. From the first time I saw, you, I knew."
Caitlin let herself flop back on the bed, both lying beside each other.
"I never thanked you, Issy."
"What for?"
"Everything. Before you came back, I was top of the class, the favourite. I only thought of myself. I was exactly what they wanted me to be. I was a machine. But you gave me my humanity back. You know, I had a sister. She's out there somewhere, living her life. She'd be your age. I remember her being just like you, always the best at everything she did. And my parents put her on this pedestal because she was different. I tried so hard to be just as good as her, but nothing I did was enough. When I was nine, I competed in the same tennis tournament as her. I got to the final, against her. Of course I lost. There was no 'well done' or 'congratulations' for me. It was all about her winning. Then I was taken. I was brought to this place and I hated it. I missed my freedom, my friends, my family. I missed my life. And I was so angry and scared. But then we were taught all these different things. I was good at them. And for the first time in my life, I was the best at something. Three years I've had little competition. All I strived to do was prove I was as good as those that had been in the Novum X program. I genuinely thought that one day I'd be better than you. But then you walked in the door. Everything I had been, everything I had known changed. I wasn't the best, far from it. I hated you. I really, really did. I thought you were being so mean to me because you didn't like me. You were only like that to push me though, weren't you?"
"I wasn't brought in to do anything other than help all of you. You all had different hurdles that you still had to overcome before being ready for anything like what you faced tonight. Your hurdle was your ego."
"I know. I had become my sister, and the others were me. You reminded me of what it felt like to always come up second. And I needed that. I needed to know that someone was always going to be better than me. I certainly wouldn't want to cross your bad side again. Once was enough for me."
"I didn't mean to hurt you, Caitlin. I just…"
Letting out an exhausted sigh, Issy covered her face with her hands.
"It's so tiring… All of this, it's not what I want. You've been here since you were ten. You don't know what it's like to have a life, a real life, with family, friends, school. We escaped, we got out. We got to live our lives. You have no idea what it's like to have that taken away all over again. If I could give you your freedom, Caitlin, if I could take you back to your family, I would. And I plan to one day. But for now, we have to play our parts."
"You have a plan to escape?"
Stunned, Caitlin sat up, staring down at her covered face.
"No. No. But Trey is in contact with one of the others on the outside. We've been planning a rebellion for years. We always knew we would exact revenge on the ghosts one day. I was taken before we could. But I know the others are still working on it. Either we'll have the chance to escape one day, or they'll come in and get us."
"So all of this… it's just an act? You're not really on their side?"
"That depends on what side you're on."
"If I had a choice, I'd want out. I don't want to kill people. I don't want to be a soldier."
"Then I promise to get you out. You and all the others. But until I can, you need to play your part too. No one can know anything about our conversation. Not even Trey."
"Do you not trust him?"
"Honestly, I don't think I can trust anyone anymore."
"So you and him… you're just playing that?"
"In some ways, yes. But I really do love him. What I have with my fellow recruits, it's a family, like you and the girls. You'd do anything for each other. That's me and Trey. We're family. He's been brainwashed though. He's worked for them so long, that he's forgotten what they really are."
"I'm sorry. I always thought you had it good here. You're their star. No one can touch you. And your ability makes you all that more valuable."
"I sleep in solitary confinement. I have ever since I arrived eight months ago. I only spoke to the same three people for months before I joined your class. And even then I was separated from you. Joining their side hasn't changed anything. I'm still in my prison, the only difference is that I'm not in class with you. I spend my days training alone with Trey and planning your classes with Victoria. Tonight has been the most fun I've had in months."
"I never knew."
"Why would you? They present me as this Agent who lives a life you could have one day. But you'll never have my life. One day, you'll be a trusted Agent. You'll be given your own bedroom, maybe even your own quarters. You won't have classes anymore. You'll only train and go on missions. Maybe in twenty years, you'll be retired and brought back as a teacher to replace me. I know where my life is going, and I will do whatever it takes to change it's course. And if that means sleeping with Trey, going on missions, and killing whoever they ask me too for the time being, I'll do it. Because I'm Issy. And that's just what Issy does."
"I… I know that one day I'll have to kill someone. But what if I can't do it?"
"You will. When the time comes, you'll pull the trigger. Because if you don't, you know that they'll pull it on you. A recruit who can't kill is useless to them. And a recruit who can't give their body on a mission is useless too. You played your part well tonight, really got into character. But what if you had to have sex with someone to get close to them. Would you be ready for that?"
"I'm only sixteen. I've never…"
"My first time was when I was ten. They groomed us from a young age and prepared for that aspect of being an Agent. You've had your classes, so you know what to expect. But actually doing it for the first time is very different. You have to remember that it's not you doing it, it's your cover."
"You said that when we're on our missions, we have to take the mind of our covers. How do you do it? I'm still Caitlin on the inside."
"Maybe. But Caitlin is a recruit. For me, when I'm here, I'm Issy. That's what you know me as. It's what the other Novum X'ers know me as. But back home, my Dad, my friends, they know me as Bella. She is a completely different person. She'd never hurt a fly. It made coping with everything they'd made me do easier. So what ever I have to do, it's Issy doing it. Find something from your childhood that is pure, and remind yourself that, that is who you really are. Not Caitlin."
"My Mom used to call me her Kitty Cat."
"So if you ever get out of this place, you can be Cat, the innocent little girl that was always in her sister's shadow but loved by her parents. Until then, you're Caitlin, the badass recruit."
"Thank you, Issy."
"It's just what I'm here for."
They both stayed staring up at the ceiling for a few minutes.
"Why have you told me all this?"
"I guess I trust you now."
"Why?"
"I see the same thing in you that I used to see in myself. You have every choice as to what you do next. You can choose to turn on your fellow recruits, side with the ghosts and become one of the best Agents they've ever had. Or you can be human. You can silently fight until we can be free. And then you can build a life for yourself."
Hearing feet moving along the hallway towards the bedroom doors, Bella sat up.
"I have to go. Your handler is coming. You won't see me again until you're back at the facility tomorrow. We have to get you prepped for your first mission. Get some good sleep tonight. We have a long day ahead."
Climbing out of the bed, she opened the door just in time as Caitlin's handler turned to it.
"She's all yours."
Walking from the room, Issy made her way back down to the reception, her limo waiting to take her back to the facility.