A/N So I have no idea what's going on with the title, it just sounds cool. Thanks to everyone for reviewing and following!
Ciao peeps
Chapter 4: Solution to a problem of a solution
We followed Natalie into the lobby, and it was humongous. All around us were people scurrying around as if they were tiny mice. Above us were tens, maybe hundreds of walkways. By the looks of them, they were used by security and cleaning staff to get around quickly. In the centre of the lobby was the Shield Inc. logo, a bird with its wings coming down. It was simple and impressive, and obviously recognizable. Natalie continued past it and led us into an elevator. We all crowded in and as the doors began to close, a hand shoved through the doors. I pressed the open button and standing there, arms packed full of books was a medium sized man, with dishevelled brown hair and glasses slipping down his nose. He picked up one of his papers which had fallen on the floor, and stepped in the elevator. Bucky took a step closer to allow the man some room. Natalie nodded to him and he nodded back. It seemed to be a form of greeting around here; I think it's a Central thing.
"This is Dr Banner; he's one of the staff on the project you're going to be working on. Banner, this is Alexis, Skye and Bucky."
"It's nice to meet you. I would shake your hands, but as you can see, I have my hands full."
Bucky offered to carry some of the stuff, but Banner declined.
"What's your doctorate in Dr Banner?" I asked. I was curious to see what type, because why would they need a doctor on a job like this?"
"I'm a nuclear physicist, but I was asked to consult on some aspects of this project."
I was about to ask what the job had to do with nuclear science, but then the elevator pinged and the doors opened. It was Banner's floor. He walked out the doors, but stopped for a moment. Looking behind him, I could see the floor was one massive lab. If I could get access down here, I could have some fun.
"Are you taking them to the meeting later Nata-" Natalie shot him a quick look "-Natalie?" He looked really sheepish, and pushed his glasses up, as they had fallen down again.
"Yes, its compulsory remember? Also, don't forget we have the mentors meeting after. Stark said he had some new ideas to share with us."
"Great, well um see you later." He walked off, and Skye and I looked at each other. He obviously had a massive crush on Natalie. Talking of Natalie, why did Bruce falter with her name? My train of thought got interrupted by the elevator stopping at out floor. Natalie waltzed out into what looked to be a lounge and a kitchen. She sat down on one of the plush couches, and we followed suit.
"This is where you'll be staying for the duration of the job. You each have your own room with en-suite. I don't want to find out that any of you have been sleeping with each other, because this will compromise your ability to work as a team. There is a meeting with all the other teams, their mentors and Mr Pierce. He will explain what the job is, what you have to do and will answer any questions. I will give you your contracts now, so you have time to read through them. The meeting is casual dress, although I don't want too much skin showing; it's important that you make a good impression. Mr Pierce has kindly arranged for clothes to be put in your rooms, I hope you will show him respect at the meeting tonight." She was looking directly at me when she said that. Someone must have mentioned the station. Stercum.
She stood up and handed each of us a contract. "Please ensure your ear pieces are turned on. I will contact you with a ten minute reminder." She walked out the door and into the lift. We sat there and read through the contracts. I made sure to triple read the extremely small print. When I go back to my room, I'll check it over with ultraviolet light. That's one thing the Fringe's teaches you, you can never be too safe.
"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the contracts." Bucky said.
"I don't trust it. It's too good to be true." Skye said. I nodded.
I looked around the room and noticed 2 cameras. I got up and headed over to the one by the window.
"Guys have you seen the view?" I called out while rewiring the camera. It was a simple job; I just made the camera play a similar loop. I wandered over to do the same to the other camera. Once, it was done, I grabbed my laptop and booted it up. I had a program to check for software in the area, which would allow me to check for bugs. Till then, I'd just have to come up with random conversation.
"Why did you take the job?" It got to the log in page, and I quickly typed in my details. I had to enter 6 passwords, which took a while.
"I was offered redemption." Skye said. Bucky looked shocked, but I wasn't surprised. The blue band gave it away.
"I was offered money and the chance to get a good job." Bucky said. Seeing as he was Central, what else did he need? "Also I wanted to be close to Steve" he mumbled. I don't think Skye heard, she'd skipped over to the window, but I did. Finally, my laptop decided to get to the home page. I quickly set up the scan, it would take a couple of hours but it would do the whole building while it was at it.
"What about you Alexis?" He asked.
"Hmm, what?" I'd zoned out for a moment.
"Why did you take the job?" Bucky asked again.
"Oh, same as Skye." I didn't want to elaborate.
"Guys, shall we get settled in? That way, we won't have to after the meeting." Skye said. Bucky and I nodded, and we all wandered into a room. Mine was painted red, with black bedding. It had an ebony desk and drawers, and a wall sized window which looked out onto the city. On a clear day like today, I had to admit it was beautiful, like a city made of gold and ivory. I felt bitter though, that they could have all this and the Fringes are falling apart. I suppose that's the problem with human beings, our way of surviving is to be selfish. I sat down on the bed and thought of my father. By now, he'd probably be going to work. He'd managed to find a job working as a teacher in the school I used to go to, which brought in money, and the kids love him.
I passed the time by putting my stuff away and looking round our floor. From what I could gather, we were on about the 50th floor, and we had a kitchen, living room, 3 bedrooms and a storage cupboard. The kitchen cupboards had all sorts of food in them, most of which I've never seen before. Bucky saw me trying to work out what this brown paste, which he called 'Nutella', was, so he tried to teach me. I found out I love popcorn and this pick fluffy stuff called candyfloss, which Skye tells me is basically whipped sugar. When Natalie gave us the 10 minute warning, I changed into a pair of black jeans and a semi-tight black top, and chose a pair of soft black leather hunting boots. I quickly checked my laptop and it showed that there were at least 5 bugs in my room alone, and around 20 in the meeting room. I'd have to disable the ones in here tomorrow. We all got into the lift and headed to the 13th floor, which we were told was the meeting room.
The doors opened to reveal a silver room with a massive table at one end of the room, and then 5 smaller tables to seat 3 scattered round the room. We were the first team there, so I walked over to the table partially hidden in the darkness. I sat in the shadows, which meant that I could see all round the room and people couldn't really see me. Natalie was standing next to the big table, talking to a group of 5 men, which included Dr Banner. When she saw all of us sit down, she walked over, and the men followed.
"Alexis, Bucky, Skye, I would like you to meet the other mentors." A blond man grinned at Bucky, and Bucky all but beamed back at him. That was obviously Steve. There was another tall man with straggly blond hair, a short man with a glowing chest, and a man with short brown hair and a pair of sunglasses on, even though we were inside.
"Clinton, take your glasses off for orcae sake. We're inside, in case you haven't noticed." Natalie said to the man. He reluctantly took them off, but only after a staring match with Natalie.
"So, here we have Steve Rogers, Tony Stark-"
"Rich kid who can sass your ass" The short glowing guy, who I guessed was Tony said.
"Thor Odinson-"
"Tis my pleasure" said the large straggly haired man.
"Oh for god's sake, he had to be an English major didn't he?" Tony muttered.
"Bruce Banner, who you've met, and Clinton Barton."
""Clint, Nat, Clint, how many times do I have to tell you?" Clint said, and gained himself a head slap.
"They may be mentoring the other teams, but if they're around and I'm not, feel free to ask them questions. Bruce is not a mentor, but he will offer guidance if asked."
"We're here to help, although some may be more competitive than others." Steve said, and Tony grinned.
Some of the other teams decided to file in then, so the mentors dispersed to collect their teams. Before he left, Steve winked at Bucky and tapped his pocket. Bucky then tapped his. Hmm, I thought, inside joke me think.
Once everyone had settled down, the mentors went and sat at the head table. Alexander Pierce, then walked in, and we all politely clapped. He sat down in the centre of the head table and began to speak into the mike.
"Thank you all for coming tonight. I take it you've all settled in well." There was a murmur of people agreeing around the room. "If there are any problems, tell your mentor and they will resolve it as soon as possible."
"Now, on to the project in hand. You have been selected to trial a military training stimulator. If it passes testing, it will be used to train soldiers in case of an attack." An attack from what? I thought.
"The stimulator is programmed to give different scenarios. Over a course of a few weeks, you will compete against each other to get the most points. Throughout the game, you will have to 'destroy' your opponents in any way possible. You will be using a 3D stimulation system, which will allow you to move around as if you were actually within the program. Are there any questions?"
I raised my hand. He pointed at me.
"Why are you using kids, and ones you found on the Black Market as well? Why not use soldiers seeing as that's who the program is aimed for?"
"Alexis-" Natalie said in a warning tone, but Pierce cut her off.
"No Natalie, she has a good point. Children think in more creative ways to adults, so would find holes within the stimulation better. If we used trained soldiers, they'd know the drills which would defy the point of the exercise. None of you have had any official military training, so are going in there blind. The reason we chose Black Market workers is because you all have more knowledge of computing and coding, which will allow you find problems easier. Anyone else?" No one else raised their hands.
"Fine then. Breakfast will be at 8, and the first round of the stimulation begins at 10. Please wear the training clothes that have been hung in your cupboard. You are dismissed."
As soon as he said that, I leapt out my chair and headed for the door. I didn't want to spend any more time in his presence. I couldn't be bothered waiting for the elevator so I started to take the stairs. I also didn't want to have another run in with that irrumator again. When I got to about the 30th floor, Natasha started talking through my ear piece.
"Well done Alexis, that question was a valid one. Remember, Pierce isn't who you think he is, and neither am I, or any of the mentors for that fact. When you enter the stimulation head for cover and be inventive. Look for glitches that might be hidden, they're not what they seem."
In the background I could hear the other mentors and Bruce.
"Tell her to look into the files on the server. She can obviously hack them"
"Did you hear Tony, Alexis?" Natalie asked.
"Yes, I did."
"Good. deos memores fandi atque somno, parate vos ad voluntatem"
"Et tu." I said and then all I could here was static. I entered our floor and locked the door to my room. I opened my laptop and went onto the Shield Inc server. What I found was unbelievable.
Stercum- shit
deos memores fandi atque somno, parate vos ad voluntatem- may the gods watch your sleep, and prepare you for their will