Chapter Sixty-Nine (Nice) - Report

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UPDATE : I unpublished and republished this chapter because days after posting, I felt like it was repetitive information to the reader, with no new development. The change I added was meant for another time, but I think it's appropriate here.

If you read the original chapter before, the added part is marked by an inline comment of mine. It is now 3,3k words in total. 


LUC


ITS BLUE SIGNAL around my wrist flashed in the car's obscurity. I pinched the cool silken metal casing between my thumb and middle finger. The reparations were seamless. Raymond had done an outstanding job at rewiring the device, and it had worked during a test run.

My attention drifted to the colossal building across the clearing. My worry lied among the possibility of a guard checking the bracelet's frequency upon entry, or at any other moment. As long as they didn't do that, I wasn't in trouble.

I pushed myself out the car door and ventured into the field. The Rover beeped as I locked it from a distance, headlights flaring in and out. The guards at the steel shutter door had already spotted me over the lines of dormant vehicles. I loomed up to them, hands in my hoodie, and stopped a few feet away.

"M. Montgomery?"

"Here to see Caldwell," I responded. "She called me for a meeting."

Given that she was connected to the wrong, malfunctioning tracker under Lauren's bike, I assumed the conversation would center around that. I'd expected it to happen sooner or later. For now, only Raymond and I had her correct positioning.

One of the guards at my right—I couldn't tell one apart with their heavy gear—rummaged his pockets but came out empty-handed.

"You can't go inside without an inhibitor. Safety precautions."

"I know." I retrieved an arm and waved the blinking bracelet in the air. "They gave me one so I can enter any time I want."

The men in khaki pants exchanged quietly but briefly. They nodded. "All good."

I dragged in a lungful of air and endured the startling alarm ring through the forest. The door heaved toward the ceiling, revealing the entrance hall. They motioned at me to pass. One awkward, ball-tickling inspection later, I marched slowly past the guards and gauged around the hall. 

The place hadn't changed. In all three directions, there were solid doors with eye recognition panels or keypads drilled into the wall. Same grey, black and white walls. Employees were scattered throughout. 

I ambled toward one end of a main corridor. Remembering the tour Caldwell had offered of the compound, I found a narrow stairwell leading to different floor levels. Her office was among the upper ones. My step landed with a blunt clang.

Camera lenses followed my ascension, seeming hollow yet alive. They were perched high where ceiling meets wall. There wasn't a single blind corner I've noticed, so far.

Caldwell opened her office door before I knocked.

"Welcome, Lucas. You may have a seat."

I walked inside and acknowledged the lack of surveillance in this room. She must have seen me arriving through her monitor. After I settled in, Caldwell took her place at the desk.

"Before we begin, anything you'd like to say about planting that tracker?"

"I was just wondering if there were any leads that appeared after that."

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