Crystal Harrington awoke at 5:30 the next morning and began to prepare for her first day as a secret agent. She walked down toward the computer room where she was told to meet Berto that morning. Rather than Berto, she found Max and Pete standing around, joking around and Pete threatening to push the feedback button and give Max a taste of N'Tek smelling salts. "Hi Max, oh, you must be Pete Costas…I'm Crystal Harrington." He smiled at her and took a step toward her, unfortunately for Pete, he tripped over his left foot, and fell to the ground. "Smooth move man" Max joked as Pete jumped to his feet.
"Hey, what time does Berto usually show up around here, I have something to say and I want all three of you here?" Crystal asked, trying not to laugh at Pete's idiocy. "Uh" Max Began "any minute now." Just as they all started to wonder what was taking him so long, Berto walked through the door. "Nice of you to show bro." Said Max. "Great, you're all here. I wanted to tell you all something, but this is the first time that I have you all in one room. Now, I happen to be friends with a girl who seems to know all of you. Berto, you already know this part. Her name is Laura Chen." Max's bright blue eyes seemed to glow even brighter at the mention of her name. "Anyways, when I told her that I was coming to Del Oro, she told me that if I got to meet any of you I was to say 'hi' for her. Also, she misses you guys very, very much. Oh, and Max, she wants Josh to pick her up on the 24th of next month when the ship docks. I figured that, since you know him so well, you could arrange that, right?" A smile crossed Max's face so bright you would have thought that he had just won the lottery or something.
"So, what's on the itinerary for today guys?" She smiled at them and hoped for a challenge for once. "Well" Berto started, "Today we are going start off with something that we try to do every day, check on our enemies. First, we check on Dread. Public enemy number 1 as far as this company is concerned." Crystal glanced at Pete, noticing that he wasn't at all surprised by any of this. She knew that he was aware of Max's secret by the fact that he was in the building, but she realized that he must have been told long ago because none of this was even fazing him anymore.
"Ok. Um, I don't suppose anyone here knows where I can get a soda when we're done with Dread?" Berto did his best not to jump at the chance to get away from Pete and Max and spend time alone with his new partner. After a moment, he turned and replied, "Sure, I'll take you in a few minutes." "Thanks Berto. You know, considering how you were talking about me when I got here, you have been really sweet." He looked confused, not realizing that she had been able to hear him arguing with his boss about her. Crystal saw the puzzled look and decided to explain. "I kind of overheard you complaining to Jefferson yesterday. You left the door open behind you. Don't feel bed though, I'm used to working alone too. I know how you feel."
"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Berto asked, not bothering to look away from the large monitor as he spoke. "Why is it that you called me Dr. Martinez at first, and then immediately changed to calling me by my first name?" "Oh, you know what? I didn't even realize that I did that. I am just so used to calling you all by your first names from talking to Laura. I'm sorry. I did surprise myself though; I do seem to be able to remember that he is Max when we're here. " He couldn't help but feel bad about making her feel that she had to apologize. "Don't worry about it, I just wondered why you did it. I would have told you to call me Berto eventually anyway."
He smiled slightly as he started to work with the massive computer console against the back wall. They began by using their satellite systems to check for curious movement in and around N'Tek. Once Berto was satisfied that N'Tek was safe, he broadened the search to include all of Del Oro. They targeted Dread's base and saw nothing unusual. Max grinned to know that no obvious attacks were getting underway from the large base that Dread called home. Berto did a bit more work before taking Crystal to get a drink. When he stood to show her the way, Max and Pete decided to tag along, ruining any chance at one on one interaction between the two. He had been hoping to get the chance to discuss some of her published theories, but realized that it would just have to wait. The day went well after that, not much happened on the N'Tek side of things, but little did they know of the plans underway at the very base that they had just scanned.
"Hey, what time does Berto usually show up around here, I have something to say and I want all three of you here?" Crystal asked, trying not to laugh at Pete's idiocy. "Uh" Max Began "any minute now." Just as they all started to wonder what was taking him so long, Berto walked through the door. "Nice of you to show bro." Said Max. "Great, you're all here. I wanted to tell you all something, but this is the first time that I have you all in one room. Now, I happen to be friends with a girl who seems to know all of you. Berto, you already know this part. Her name is Laura Chen." Max's bright blue eyes seemed to glow even brighter at the mention of her name. "Anyways, when I told her that I was coming to Del Oro, she told me that if I got to meet any of you I was to say 'hi' for her. Also, she misses you guys very, very much. Oh, and Max, she wants Josh to pick her up on the 24th of next month when the ship docks. I figured that, since you know him so well, you could arrange that, right?" A smile crossed Max's face so bright you would have thought that he had just won the lottery or something.
"So, what's on the itinerary for today guys?" She smiled at them and hoped for a challenge for once. "Well" Berto started, "Today we are going start off with something that we try to do every day, check on our enemies. First, we check on Dread. Public enemy number 1 as far as this company is concerned." Crystal glanced at Pete, noticing that he wasn't at all surprised by any of this. She knew that he was aware of Max's secret by the fact that he was in the building, but she realized that he must have been told long ago because none of this was even fazing him anymore.
"Ok. Um, I don't suppose anyone here knows where I can get a soda when we're done with Dread?" Berto did his best not to jump at the chance to get away from Pete and Max and spend time alone with his new partner. After a moment, he turned and replied, "Sure, I'll take you in a few minutes." "Thanks Berto. You know, considering how you were talking about me when I got here, you have been really sweet." He looked confused, not realizing that she had been able to hear him arguing with his boss about her. Crystal saw the puzzled look and decided to explain. "I kind of overheard you complaining to Jefferson yesterday. You left the door open behind you. Don't feel bed though, I'm used to working alone too. I know how you feel."
"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Berto asked, not bothering to look away from the large monitor as he spoke. "Why is it that you called me Dr. Martinez at first, and then immediately changed to calling me by my first name?" "Oh, you know what? I didn't even realize that I did that. I am just so used to calling you all by your first names from talking to Laura. I'm sorry. I did surprise myself though; I do seem to be able to remember that he is Max when we're here. " He couldn't help but feel bad about making her feel that she had to apologize. "Don't worry about it, I just wondered why you did it. I would have told you to call me Berto eventually anyway."
He smiled slightly as he started to work with the massive computer console against the back wall. They began by using their satellite systems to check for curious movement in and around N'Tek. Once Berto was satisfied that N'Tek was safe, he broadened the search to include all of Del Oro. They targeted Dread's base and saw nothing unusual. Max grinned to know that no obvious attacks were getting underway from the large base that Dread called home. Berto did a bit more work before taking Crystal to get a drink. When he stood to show her the way, Max and Pete decided to tag along, ruining any chance at one on one interaction between the two. He had been hoping to get the chance to discuss some of her published theories, but realized that it would just have to wait. The day went well after that, not much happened on the N'Tek side of things, but little did they know of the plans underway at the very base that they had just scanned.