The Look in Her Eyes, Chapter 12
Been too long, hasn't it. Don't be sad, here is more. Enjoy!
Scene 1
The dungeon ambient left too much to be desired. Kevin woke up throughout the night in multiple times not knowing what time it was. The total darkness was baffling his senses and the only noises where the soft snores of the two young detectives near him.
Where did things go wrong? Why did they ended up in this situation? What could he do now? Too much in his brain to find a good sleeping position.
Finally a light could be visible under the small strip under the door. Footsteps where heard along with some clanking of dishes.
'Click' the door opened bringing in light and fresh cool air. The henchmen turned on the lights and the detectives woke up.
"Breakfast", he said blatantly putting the plates near them, then he exited the room.
They felt surprisingly hungry as they devoured the hot pancakes they were given. However, they are all silent during it all. None felt like talking, none felt like looking at each other, none felt the need for the other.
After they had finished the light under the door slit beamed again, but this time the footsteps where more delicate. 'A female, no doubt', Kevin thought.
Carmen entered the place, dressed rather normal, he noticed. Black trouser jeans, a long sleeve shirt, a vest and a tie. All black except the tie. She picked up a lonely seat in the room and as she closed the door pushed it to the middle of the room. She sat down with her legs opened and her elbows resting on the thighs.
"It shouldn't really surprise you guys that I knew about the betrayal. Then again, what did you guys expected of me to do? What would you guys have done in my place?" She asked to no one in particular, she just stared at the back wall intensely.
No one answered, she didn't expected it either. She got up looked at their plates on the floor and went towards Ivy's. She kicked the plate hard and it smashed against the back wall. Triggering for the first time a response in them.
"Do you guys want to know what triggered my exit from ACME?" again, she asked to no one in particular, but that back wall, if it had consciousness would be feeling very scared under her gaze. "Betrayal. My life was turned upside down by people I thought I could trust, by people I once called family. After that, I don't take betrayal lightly. It is the most punished offense anyone can do to me."
She took long strides towards the door, she picked the stool and placed it neatly next to the door.
"Let me show you the despair of that trigger." She exited the room with a smile on her face, and a lost look in her eyes.
Scene 2
"Get zhe cameraz ready, we be onlines in zhortly." Sara shouted and directed the henchmen in the room.
Carmen entered the transmission room dressed in her usual red trench coat, her hat on her hands as she fuzzed with it. The background was a grey wall, sounds where muffled and nothing that could identify the place they were in could be seen.
"We are readys." Sara signaled Carmen as she took her place in the computer room.
"Bring them in," Carmen put her hat on. "Lets see who has the biggest balls." All the henchmen suppressed a snicker.
Kevin, Zack and Ivy where brought in chains to the room and placed in front of a grey wall as well. They didn't understood any of this, nor why did Carmen turned from the breakfast making woman they knew some weeks ago to this dictator in red.
"We arez online," Sara whispered and signaled Carmen.
"Hello ACME Detective Agency, it is so good to see familiar faces in distress," Carmen said smiling all the time. At the name of their agency, the detectives looked up. They couldn't believe she was actually talking to who could probably be Chief. Chief would save them, they all though and their spirits rose.
"Cut the crap Carmen, where are they? Where is the chip? You crossed us!", many people talked on the speakers. The detectives couldn't see the monitor Carmen was talking too, but they could hear Sebastian and the others asking questions.
"Who fucking crossed whom?" Carmen shouted sharply. Not used to Carmen's cussing, some of the henchmen dropped their pens. "It were YOU who planned to capture me in a tricky move, it were YOU that proposed this ordeal, it were YOU that asked me for this." She said this while pointing at different spots on the monitor. "I just went along and did what I was asked for, the way I know how." She raised her hand with the chip on it.
A gasp was heard on the speakers. "You have the chip?" it was Sebastian's voice.
"Of course, I promised no failure, didn't I."
"Failure, the disaster you left was epic." Lana's voice was it this time.
"No, that is called 'process', the mission was to get this chip. And I have it right here."
Ivy noted they were all interested in the chip and not them.
"Where… are they." It was Chief's voice, definitely.
"Oh you mean them?" She signaled to her right. The camera in front of them lit up. Chief's gasp could be heard over the speaker.
"They are alive, not well I must admit." Carmen said looking at them. Eyes expressionless, Zack noticed.
"What do you want Carmen? As you said so yourself, high stakes theft is only profitable if you're willing to get something good out of it." Sebastian was clearly pissed off. His failure in the mission, his failure in capturing Carmen was all draining him of his status as director very rapidly.
"I want the plans and specifications of the Blue God project." Carmen said so calmly she could have easily be ordering pizza.
A long pause came soon after. Gasps and nervous whimpers could be heard.
'Now what is this all about?' Ivy whispered Kevin.
'I don't know, never heard of this' Kevin whispered back.
"You have to be joking." Sebastian was tensing up. "Why on earth would we give you the plans for the generation of the Particle Atom capable of harnessing the power of 50 Hiroshimas in one warhead? What are you planning on doing with it? What governments could fall with that? Is this for the Elite group? Fuck you bitch."
Carmen approached the camera silently, ignoring the insults she could clearly hear over the speakers.
"Shhhhh." She silently whispered on to the microphone. They all went silent.
"You have a choice to make here. I'll put it simply." She turned around and walked towards her right.
"I want access towards the plans and specifications of the Blue God in exchange for the chip or…" She looked straight at Chief's eyes. " … the detectives."
"I will have those plans and specifications no matter what you guys decide. And depending on what you decide I'll either make a profit out of one side… or, make several profits out of the other side." She said looking at the detectives.
"You have 24hours to decide. Have fun with this bitch's request." The camera turned black.
"You can't do this." Ivy started to spunk back up. "What kind of criminal are you?"
"The only one that exists… the bad kind. Lock them up."
The detective were brought back to their cells in a fit of anger and screaming. Kevin put up a fight but was quickly punched down by henchmen.
"Zhe what nowz?... I though wes going forth zhe" Sara was interrupted by Carmen's hand over her mouth.
"No, YOU are going for those plans." Carmen released her hand on Sarah only to reveal a smile on Sarah's face. "Go have fun Sarah."
Sarah felt like she had given the opportunity of a lifetime. She understood perfectly what Carmen wanted and she was not going to miss it. The plans for Blue God the most restricted access, if ACME accepted Sarah could get inside and search for anything she wanted, plus what Carmen was really after.
'What a good day to be a thief' Carmen though.
Scene 3
"This is outrageous. First we pay her and now we have to make an exchange!" Mario shouted.
"I explicitly said we shouldn't try and arrest her. You men never learn, always trying to do everything in one go!" Gina shouted back at him.
The higher ups where discussing more about who's fault was what and neither of them where paying attention to what Chief and Sebastian where talking.
"We have to get them out, Seb. It was our fault, let's forget the chip, if we know Carmen she might not sell it." Chief said.
"I don't think Carmen cares at this point about what is in the chip Chief. She will sell it, no doubt about it in my mind. She is not who we though she was. I don't think we ever knew her well." Sebastian said with a very serious look.
"You have to be kidding me, we can't let them there with her. I don't…" Chief stopped. He was about to say he didn't trusted her. His circuits quickly learned what fear and despair felt.
"You don't trust in her good will." Sebastian finished. "She is not ACME's Carmen anymore. She stopped being that year ago. I learned and accepted that, therefore I became High Chief, and not you." Chief was hurt. "I understand your need to keep everyone safe, to keep everyone happy, but today, today we must loose. They understood what was implied, in fact, they were ordered by you to do it. Actions have consequences and I have taken my decision. I'm sorry old friend, but it is not a happy day." He walked out of the meeting room to go into his office. He had to cry his sorrows in a bottle of honey infused vodka.
Chief was left silent, even at the pressures of the rest of the officials asking him about Sebastian's decision. He ignored them and faded into his screen. The officials went silent and they slowly gravitated to their offices, waiting for the expected time.
Scene 4
"Chief won't let us down. He will get us free and then he will order us to go after her. Like we always do and we will get the chip back." Ivy was animating her fellows.
"He may get us out, but I doubt he will let us back out so soon as you think." Kevin said looking at the back wall.
"Oh come on, it's Chief. We know him and he knows us. We have been in worse… well, ok, this has been the worst we have ever been." Ivy said looking around. "Regardless we have a job to do, and we have never failed. We always get the items back. We can do it this time." She said looking at Kevin.
Kevin wanted to get his spirits up, he wanted to be supportive. He had to set an example. He examined his options and figured out that being depressed did nothing. "Alright, even if he doesn't let us go, let's break the rules." He clasped hands with Ivy.
"He is not coming for us." Kevin and Ivy both looked at the cell where Zack was. He was in deeper shadows and only his shoes clearly visible. "Like you said sis, we know Chief… and we know Carmen. Listen to what she said, 'Let me show you the trigger of despair.' She knows this was beyond Chief's capabilities. Everything about this case has always been beyond our expectancies. She knew about it and that is why she asked that ridiculous price, she didn't wanted this. We are as good as lost, we are now a property of Carmen's sell goods."
"I can't believe your talking like this lil' bro. This is not like you. Snap out of it, it is Chief we are talking about. Your Chief and mentor, he WILL come for us!"
"IT IS CARMEN!" Zack got up. "Not some lackey, not some imbecile with a gun. Open your eyes Ivy, we have been betrayed, Carmen was betrayed, Chief is being betrayed at this very moment. I'm tired of all this." Saying this he slumped back down.
"Zack, please don't…" Kevin cut Ivy off.
"Leave him, he needs to understand it on his own."
"Shut up, lover boy." Ivy spat harshly at him. "It is of no concern how I talk to my brother." Ivy wouldn't admit it, but this was harsher than she had ever been.
She also slumped down on a corner and tried to pass the time. 24 hours is a long time when you only have one light bulb in the room.
Scene 5
They awoke rather rudely, after a day of only been fed pancakes and later on in the night, some beef and steamed potatoes, they didn't felt hungry that morning. They were yet conducted to the same place in chains with their backs to a grey wall. However Carmen wasn't in sight.
"Yourz late." Sarah spouted when she saw Carmen running towards the center stage.
"Caught up in some arrangements." As she put on her hat she smiled at the detectives. Neither returned her sime. "Ah, such low self-esteem. Precious."
"Onz, live!" Sarah said.
"Tick tock, tick tock. Don't stop." Carmen said to the camera. "Such lovely faces, like those that hardly sleep with a weighted conscience. What pray do tell may be your decision? I wonder."
There was a long pause. Sebastian was silent, but he signaled to Chief. This actually surprised Carmen a bit, maybe the plan wasn't going to be as smooth as she thought.
"We will exchange the chip at 11hours 45 minutes at your desired coordinates. When your agent is in sight the lockdown on the server will be dropped and you have permission to enter and get the plans. Be fast as we only provide a window of 10 minutes. At the end we expect your agent to hand over the chip and leave the premises undisturbed." Chief said in a very serious monotone voice, looking stirringly at Carmen's eyes. "Do we have an accord? Or do we expect you to fault in the delivery?"
"It's an accord. I'll send my agent to the location Sarah will choose and the exchange done. No double crossing I assume."
"We never double crossed you. Mass sold our operation."
"It was still your side of the coin. My side has kept its word. No need for extra security at the site of exchange. I'll know, and I'll be prepared to take action if need be. Understood."
"Agreed. We exchange the chip for the information. Do as you please with the agents." Chief's voice almost cracked up.
"It'll be done." Carmen turned off the cameras. She took off her hat and started walking to the detectives. When she was in front of them, it was that she raised her head and looked at them. The look in their eyes was pleasing to her. A lost wonderment in them, the same lost she felt that night in that bank when she became a thief. She felt pity for them, something inside of her told her they weren't the culprits of all this. They shouldn't suffer this much, but life wasn't kind for her and the little kindness she could muster always ended up in the gutter with a bullet in the head.
The detectives couldn't believe what Chief said. Zack had tears in his eyes, even though he thought this was going to be the outcome, he didn't wanted it to be. Ivy's heart shattered at the thought of being abandoned by Chief. Kevin hung his head down, his defeat at life weighted him too much.
"Load them up." Carmen snapped her fingers and soon the detectives where held and injected with a drug.
"What are … you….." It was all Kevin could say before all three fell in a deep sleep.
End of Chapter 12.
Alright baby! See you guys soon!