Infinity and Beyond
-Chapter 28-
Into the Dark, Part One
I wake up to the feeling of someone's hand brushing my curly dark brown hair out of my oval-shaped face. "Mommy?" I mumble sleepily.
"Guess again." Michael's voice makes me smile as I rub my almond-shaped dark brown eyes awake.
"Michael..." I smile as I lean closer to him. He pulls me up and hugs me.
"Good morning." He smiles back.
"Where's mommy?" I tilt my head.
"Right behind you, sweetie." Mommy says as she tickles my back, making me giggle. "Come on, let's get you dressed." She says as she takes me from Michael's arms.
Michael stands up and walks over to my clothes. "So, what are we wearing today?"
"Can you just grab her polka dots dress?" Mommy says as she points it out for him.
Michael grabs it and walks back to mommy and I. Mommy helps me take off my pajamas before Michael helps me put the dress on.
"Now, we just have to get ourselves dressed and get her cleaned up before breakfast." Mommy says, looking at Michael.
Michael smiles a little before sighing. "I should probably go. This is too dangerous."
"For who?" Mommy raises an eyebrow at him as I tilt my head.
"I've a tracker implant, remember?" Michael says.
"Yes." Mommy smiles before reaching out to take his hand. "And I've a signal jammer. So stay with us for a little longer." Mommy says before looking at me. "Right, sweetie?"
"Uh-huh." I nod my head with a smile.
But just then, another loud voice sounds. "Nikita? Infinity?"
"Sweetie, get down!" Mommy whispers loudly to me. I do what she says just as she and Michael each grab their handguns and points it at the door just as it opens.
Owen's standing there, holding a handgun of his own...
Mommy quickly puts her gun down and says a lot of "wait". "Drop your gun." Michael says to Owen.
"Drop your's." Owen says to Michael.
"Owen?" Mommy walks up to him with a frown. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I came to talk to you." Owen says before looking at Michael. "What's he doing here?"
"He's with me." Mommy looks at Michael before turning back to Owen. "Both of you, put your weapons down."
But Michael and Owen just stare at each other with their guns still pointing at each other. "Down boys, now!" Mommy yells scarily, making me duck under my blanket with a quiet squeak.
Michael and Owen finally put their guns down. "Honestly, you two..." Mommy mutters grumpily as she walks over to me and picks me up.
Mommy looks at Owen again. "I'm going to ask you again." She says. "What are you doing here?"
"Remember what we talked about?" Owen says. "Find the next black box and the guardian that protects them?"
"We've talked about that three months ago." Mommy says as she hugs me closer. "We've talked about the guardian in London."
"Okay, that was just a start." Owen says. "I narrowed the guardian's location to a specific burrow."
"Guardian is an agent." Michael says as he's putting his clothes back on. "Their sole job is to remain invisible. A haystack of eight million people and you were able to find out where he was in only three months." Michael sounds as if he doesn't believe what he's saying as mommy puts me back down onto the bed before she puts her clothes back on too.
"Michael, please." Mommy says as she walks over to stand between them again. Michael doesn't seem to like Owen very much...
"Owen, when we talked, we also said that you would call if you found anything. You didn't have to come all the way here!" Mommy's voice gets quieter at the last part.
"Call?" Owen raises an eyebrow. "On an unsecured line? Division's got ears everywhere."
Mommy looks back at Michael before turning to Owen. "Michael's not Division. He's on our side now."
"Our side?" Michael raises an eyebrow at mommy as he walks over to me and picks me up.
"Me and Infinity's side." Mommy sighs.
"Yeah, I can see that." Owen says. His voice is louder on the word "that". 'Emphasis: special importance given to something.'
"Shut up!" Mommy hisses at Owen. I let out a giggle before I can stop myself. I don't really understand, but something about what's happening makes me REALLY want to giggle.
Mommy rolls her eyes at me. "Sorry, mommy." I bite down on my red lips before wrapping my arms around Michael in a hug. Michael looks as if he wants to laugh too.
"Listen to me, both of you." Mommy looks between Michael and Owen before walking over to Michael. "Michael, no one's gotten us close. You can bring this on, get us the name of the guardian."
"I can't." Michael shakes his head quietly.
"Yes, you can." Mommy tells him. "You've top-level access, higher than Alex has ever had. You're the break that we've been waiting for. This is how we bring Percy down."
Michael's silent for a moment before speaking up. "Okay, while I'm bringing this on, what are you going to do?"
"We'll be on site, waiting for your call." Mommy says as she reaches her arms out toward me. I reach my arms out to her too before she takes me from Michael's arms and hugs me close to her. "Once you get us the location of the guardian, we'll strike."
"So you and Infinity are gonna be in London, with him." Michael raises an eyebrow.
"That's the only way this works." Mommy says.
"She's bossy like that." Owen nods. "You'll learn."
"I think I know her pretty well." Michael says before looking at mommy. "Can I speak to you for a second?"
Mommy kisses me on the cheek before putting me down onto the floor. Then, she walks over to Michael. "What is it?"
Michael takes her a little further away before they talk. After a moment, they make kissy faces at each other. I quickly squeeze my almond-shaped dark brown eyes shut. Ew... Cooties...
I don't open my eyes until I feel mommy pick me up again. "You can open your eyes now, sweetie." She smiles before kissing me on the lips. "Let's go do some packing..."
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Mommy's holding me in her arms as she walks down a street with Owen. "Nice neighborhood." Mommy rolls her eyes at Owen. 'Sarcasm.'
"Keep your heads down." Owen tells us. "Surveillance cameras everywhere in London."
Mommy lowers her head as she gently lowers my head too by putting my head on her shoulder. She makes sure that I'm facing her.
"You still trying to be the invisible man, huh?" Mommy smiles crookedly at Owen.
"Always." Owen nods as he and mommy starts walking faster...
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"Make yourselves at home." Owen says as we're inside a mostly empty house that has a pretty fireplace.
"Is that what this is?" Mommy says as she looks around.
"What?" Owen sounds as if he doesn't know what mommy's talking about.
"Nothing." Mommy mutters quietly before Owen pulls open a brownish yellow curtain to show us the rest of the room, which has papers all over the walls.
"This is how I narrowed it down." Owen says to mommy. "A guardian has certain requirements. Easy access to public transportation, proximity to secure volts, strong satellite signal coverage, and multiple accessible routes. Now, that alone ruled out big chunks of the city, after that, it was just about pounding the pavement scouting out where he would be. Like banks."
Mommy follows him with me still in her arms. "Why banks?" She frowns.
"Guardian protocol." Owen says. "Find a safety deposit box, store the black box there."
"And what are these?" Mommy says as she walks closer to him. She's looking at some drawings behind him.
"Oh, these?" Owen says as he looks at the pictures before looking back at mommy. "They're my victims. Each one of these is a reminder of a kill I've made while at Division. So, I'll never forget why I'm doing this."
Mommy's silent for a moment as she looks sad. She hugs me closer, she always does when she's sad... "Doing what?" Mommy says quietly.
"What you inspired me to do." Owen says. "You don't hide from your sins. You kind of just... Face them."
"I do it because I have to, Owen." Mommy looks as if she might cry soon, so I tilt my head up and put my red lips on her cheek. But mommy's eyes grow tearful as she rubs my head. "Because if I don't, Infinity will end up suffering."
Owen just stares at mommy sadly before stepping closer to her. "That's why we're going to stop Percy." He tells her. "That's why we have to find this guy."
Mommy nods with a sigh. "Okay, so your plan was to stake out all the banks in this area, and..."
"Guardians are former cleaners." Owen tells mommy. "They all have this uh..."
"You all have that kind of look." Mommy interrupts as she looks at Owen sadly. I let my lips brush on her cheek. Mommy almost smiles as she kisses me on the cheek.
"It's all on the eyes." Owen nods. "Guardians are Division's deadliest agents. We hit harder, we move quicker, we sleep less, and we survive longer. But eventually, after time, those skills, they start to enroll in you. What happens when you take an elite killer and pull him out of the field just to babysit a black box? You're bound to make mistakes, if only out of sheer boredom."
Owen looks at the pictures again before continuing. "Emily was my mistake. I fell in love with her, and..."
"She wasn't a mistake, Owen." Mommy shakes her head.
"Failing to protect her was my mistake." Owen says before squeezing his eyes shut and screaming as if something hurts. Mommy quickly puts me down on the floor before running over to Owen.
"Owen?" Mommy says worriedly. "What's wrong?"
"I get these headaches." Owen groans. "Forgot what time it is." He quickly walks over a little further away from mommy and crouches down and picks up a floor piece. There are many little bottles underneath it that are filled with different colored pills.
"What is that?" Mommy asks.
"It's the regimen." Owen says as he takes the little bottles out. "This is how we cleaners move faster, hit harder..."
"Sleep less?" Mommy interrupts with a frown as Owen breaks a pill in half and eats it. After that, Owen says some things I can't understand, but mommy seems to know.
"... Heightened reflexes, eliminates anxiety..." Owen says.
"Gives you splitting headaches." Mommy interrupts.
"Only if you don't take it." Owen says as he starts putting the little bottles back. "You could be sure that our friend has the same sort of edge."
He stands up and steps closer to mommy before continuing. "It's why we gotta be careful. We're alone in the city, Nikita. It's just the three of us, and the guardian. And he's very dangerous."
Mommy looks a little nervous as she quickly rushes over to me and picks me back up. "Consider us warned." Mommy takes a deep breath. I tilt my head at them, I don't really understand...
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"The info on the guardian is on a protected file on Percy's computer." Michael says as he's on the phone with mommy and Owen. "I can't get to that right now. However, I checked the operation expanses for London, and there's an ongoing charge. It's not assigned to an active op or agent. It's a shipping container."
"Protocol for a cleaner in a foreign city is to establish a storage space." Owen says. "Shipping container is a default option."
"Container A541." Michael sighs. "It's currently sitting in the port of London."
"He's not as useless as I thought." Owen says, making mommy glare at him.
Mommy clicks a button on the phone before putting the phone to her ear as she walks over to me. Mommy hugs me from behind as I'm sitting on the floor playing with some colorful blocks Owen gave to me.
'I really don't like that guy.' Computer mama tells me what Michael's saying on the other side of the phone. My oval-shaped face frowns. Why doesn't Michael like Owen?
"He... doesn't mean it..." Mommy says to Michael. Mommy sits down on the floor with me and rubs my head.
"Hey, what do you know about the regimen?" Mommy asks Michael quietly.
'Regimen? Where did you hear that term?'
"It's a bunch of meds Owen's taking." Mommy says.
'Yeah, I know what they are. Is he on them now?'
"Yeah." Mommy says as her hand rub my tummy, making me smile. "He's running low, do you think you can get more from Division?"
'No, it was discontinued years ago. Percy must have kept a stash for the guardians...' Michael pauses before continuing. 'Nikita, listen to me, take Infinity and walk, get away from Owen.'
"Michael, what are you talking about?" Mommy whispers nervously as she pulls me closer to her.
'If Owen is going through regimen withdrawal, you have to leave him, better yet, shoot him.'
"What?!" Mommy hisses.
'Listen, when we discontinued the regimen, we discovered that the cleaners who were taken off the drugs demonstrated wildly erratic behavior.'
"Erratic how?" Mommy says as she looks at Owen worriedly.
'It was different, with each patient. Best we can tell, it's made them psychotically obsessive, turned whatever that person's drive was into something all consuming.'
"I'll look after him, okay?" Mommy says. "And if there's a problem, I'll contact you."
'Nikita, you're not alone in there with Owen. Infinity's with you...'
"I'll always take care of her, Michael." Mommy sounds a little impatient. "And Owen isn't your enemy anymore. We'll call you from the port." Mommy says before hanging up...
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Mommy, Owen, and I are outside at night. Mommy's holding me in her arms as we're in a place where there are a lot of things that look like giant rectangular blocks. 'Shipping containers: used to move items over seas.'
"So, how long have you and Michael been..." Owen starts.
"Not long." Mommy interrupts.
"Michael stayed with us last night." I smile at Owen happily.
"Did he now?" Owen raises an eyebrow. Mommy just rolls her eyes.
Owen clears his throat before continuing. "Not sure how you managed to do it, win over your enemies."
"Michael was never really the enemy." Mommy says as she's shining a flashlight around.
"Mommy, can I hold it?" My almond-shaped dark brown eyes follow the flashlight in mommy's hand. Holding that looks like fun.
"Not right now, sweetie." Mommy tells me quietly as she kisses my cheek. "You can play with it once we get home, okay?"
"Okay, mommy." I say as I hug her.
"So, when he fired that rocket launcher at us..." Owen says.
"He was aiming at you." Mommy smiles crookedly at him. I bite down on my red lips and giggle a little.
"Jealous type, huh?" Owen smiles back a little.
"He's... Overprotective." Mommy nods.
"He's kind of scrawny." Owen says.
I tilt my head as Mommy stops walking. She looks at Owen in annoyance. "He's built where it counts. Can we move on?"
"Yeah." Owen mutters and nods before he and mommy shine their flashlights on the same shipping container.
"There it is." Mommy says quietly as she hugs me closer. "A541."
Owen pulls out his handgun and shoots it at the silver lock. After that, they open the door to the shipping container.
It's all dark and scary inside. "Mommy..." I whimper quietly as I wrap my arms around her.
"Shh..." Mommy rubs my head softly before switching on the lights. Mommy looks around. There are a lot of big guns and some other things too. "What is all this stuff?" Mommy sounds a little nervous.
"It's cleaner equipment." Owen answers. He doesn't sound happy either. "Hydrochloride acid, steel bone saw, surgical rib cutters..." I'm starting to get scared as I feel goosebumps pop up my olive skin. I hug mommy tighter.
Mommy touches a white, thick string-like thing. "That's a blood cyphon. Cleaners have to drain the blood first." Owen tells mommy scarily. "Do you know what a cleaner does? Cause it's not just about dissolving the bodies in acid. We arrange it so people don't even know that the victim was murdered. Making it look like a suicide, or an accident..."
My eyes grow hotter as I'm starting to cry. "Mommy, I'm scared..." I feel tears falling down my cheeks.
Mommy hugs me closer and kisses me on the cheek. She looks as if she might cry soon too. She turns to Owen. "Owen, please don't..." Mommy shakes her head sadly.
Owen's silent for a moment before speaking up again. "Like what I did with Daniel. I made it look like a boating accident." He says as mommy's eyes grow tearful too, making me cry even more.
"People I killed, their loved ones will never know the truth." Owen says sadly.
Mommy hugs me tighter and gives me another kiss on the cheek before looking at Owen again. "That is why we have to stop Division." Mommy says. "And to do that, we need to find the guardian and his black box."
"You're right." Owen nods. "The black box has the answers, about all those people and how they really died."
I still haven't stopped crying. "Shh, sweetie..." Mommy rubs my back gently. "It's alright. Mommy's right here, okay? There's nothing to be afraid of."
"You release that information, and the truth comes out." Owen continues scarily. "And the families finally have some peace." Owen's words makes me cry harder.
Mommy hugs me tighter. "Shh... It's alright, sweetie." She tells me softly before turning to Owen. "That may be true, but you'll be hurting a lot of other people as well. In Chili, all that chaos that happened, because one secret was released. Imagine if all of them are released at the same time. That's why Percy keeps them, it's his insurance policy. That is why we don't release the contents of the black box. We destroy them."
"So Percy wins again?!" Owen yells angrily. He's scaring me and I cry harder.
"Shh... Sweetie..." Mommy says as she tries to comfort me. Just then, Owen scarily throws something at the shelf on the wall, making other things fall onto the floor.
Mommy's eyes widen at two red lights that are on the shelf. She walks a little closer to it. After a moment, the red lights turn off by themselves.
"We've to get out of here." Mommy says nervously as she quickly runs out of the container with me still in her arms and Owen following her.
I stop crying for a moment as the container blows up with a big boom and there's a lot of fire. Mommy ducks and rolls on the ground with her arms wrapped around me.
Something on my olive skin feels hot and scratchy and it REALLY hurts. There are many many fuzzy balls are jumping around inside of me everywhere. I scream VERY loudly before I REALLY can't stop crying anymore...
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Author's note: alright guys, here's another chapter. This one is longer than the previous few chapters, so please remember to review!