White Lines White Lies

U3

H:

One of the things I learned from working in this industry for as long as I have, is that when you have a day off, you make the most of it. Spend it wisely, don't waste a fucking second. I was due to report back to someone at U3, and it just so happened that my off-day schedule lined up perfectly, thanks to the last work Troye did. 

Taylor was taking over for Troye, and apparently, there was going to be a change as to how we pursue the rest of this mission. 

I had checked out of the S1 building, and made my way to a remote air landing in a rundown part of New York. I had to be sneaky about how I did this. We had multiple hackers at U3 ready to make me disappear from the public eye, and the media if needed. 

A small plane was waiting for me when I arrived, it was a signate U3 craft, and It reminded me that this was a mission, I wasn't actually part of S1. 

"Happy family fucking reunion." a voice laughed, startling me. 

I smiled when I saw who, I jumped up the plane steps two at a time, and hugged Taylor, before shaking hands with Lucian. 

"We should get going, we have a lot to discuss, and not a lot of time to do it," Lucian spoke, walking into the plane. 

Taylor and I followed, and strapped into the seatbelts. Taylor sat next to me, and Lucian took the seat across. Once we were settled, the plane began to move, and before I knew it, we were in the air. 

"First off, I wanted to say that your work has been incredible, not many people could pull this off as flawlessly as you have, so far that is." Lucian smiled, and grabbed a glass of wine from a holder. 

"Thanks," 

"You took out a board member within your first week! it's a shame that Troye isn't here to see you succeed like this, I'm sorry about what happened, and what you had to do. it was a shock that we let it happen, I'll tell you that." 

I got choked up at the mention of Troye, but found myself replaying the sentence in my head. Something about it wasn't right. 

"What do you mean? I didn't take anyone out..." 

The atmosphere in the plane shifted, and the two exchanged looks. 

"Ash," Taylor spoke frightened, gripping my shoulders "What do you mean you didn't take anyone out?"

"I mean I didn't take one out!" I sputtered, unsure of what was happening. 

I could see the expression between the two, and it wasn't good, either I had fucked up beyond repair and had gone off schedule, or there was a disconnect in information being exchanged. 

"Then who killed him?" 

"Who's him?"

I shot a confused look back over at Lucian, who handed me a paper from the Industry printing company. They were the ones who distributed papers and had universal coverage that only authorized board members, and bigwigs could get. The New York Times of the war, but only available to the labels. 

The headline showed a bloody body, lying in an all too familiar conference room. His intestines falling out of his body. While his arm draped lazily over his stomach area, His left hand was pale and blue, completely severed laying 3 feet in front of him.

"Brutal attack on S1 raises suspicion on security measures. Are new recruits trustworthy?"

"Fuck." I stumbled over my words "I- didn't do that." 

Lucian and Taylor seemed to go into full panic mode after this. Lucian got up, and started pacing the cabin length. I began to understand the severity of what was happening, and I realized that I was working with a source that we could not identify.