I can't say your name

Cap. 14

Nat entered the door of her apartment and kicked off her shoes. She shoved her coat on the hanger and let herself collapse on the couch.

Nat: "Oh, fuck it!"

She stood up and reached for the pocket of her coat. She furiously searched for the little box with her hand. A napkin, her phone, keys and...bingo. The tiny container kicked her hand, reminding her that it was not a bad dream. She took the box in her hand and sat on the couch again.

Nat: "Ok little bastard, let's see what you got"

Her laptop was on the coffee table in front of her. She stretched one hand to reach for it and plugged the key in. The machine started analysing the files. After no more than thirty seconds the screen turned green, signalling that no locators and no viruses were in the device

Nat: "Mh...clean. One point for Mrs. Brown"

She clicked on the icon and a folder appeared in front of her. "Secret assignments 101". Click. Two folders. "Secret assignment 25" + "Secret assignment 27". Her brother's number and her number. She clicked on 25 first, then on 27. After about an hour she closed the laptop and checked in the little box: in one of its corners, a tiny test tube containing a lock of hair. No, this can't be.

***

Belle: "Hey Nat, to what do I owe the pleasure of having you in my laboratory so early in the morning?"

Nat: "Can I trust you?"

Belle: "Wanna scan the leg?"

Nat: "No, you needed it to enter in here...I was asking if I can trust you to keep a secret"

Belle: "Sure...something wrong?"

Nat: "I hope not...compare these two samples and let me know what you find as fast as you can"

Belle: "Ok, DNA?"

Nat: "Yeah, DNA"

***

Eddy: "Hey Nat, do you have a minute?"

He asked, peeping from her office door. She was reading some files in a folder and seemed very upset: her eyes were puffy and red like her nose and a pile of napkins towered her bean.

Nat: "Hum?"

She asked, raising her head from the papers and looking at Eddy.

Eddy: "Hey, are you alright?"

She closed the folder and shoved it into a drawer. Then she nodded and gestured for Eddy to sit in front of her.

Nat: "How can I help you?"

Eddy: "Nothing that can't wait, tell me: what is going on?"

Nat: "I don't know if I want to talk about this with you Eddy, I'm really upset at the moment and I fear you won't understand"

Eddy frowned and looked out the stained window, before straightening his face and refocusing his gaze on the girl

Eddy: "I wanna be honest with you Nat: if there's someone who can understand upset people, it's me. You changed my life from one day to another when you told me about X gene. I had to behave like nothing was wrong with the rest of the world, to save the life of the man I love. I get you have to deal with what I had to do years before me and that you see all the men and women from this company like poor people you have to save, but surprise: we are here to support each other. So, when one of your agents, one of your friends, offers you help, you can accept it without being the superior guy for ones"

With this, he stood up and headed out the door, banging it behind him. Nat closed her eyes and some tears marched down her checks. He was right: if there was someone who could understand her, that one was Eddy, or one of her agents from 103. She wiped away her tears and headed to the cafeteria. After getting two glasses of bubble tea, she made her way to Eddy's studio.

He was staring at his laptop while crying. Nat knocked on the open door, making him raise his gaze.

Nat: "Peace offering"

She said, placing one glass and one straw on his desk

Nat: "Sorry: you were right, about everything"

Eddy: "I have to apologize too: I didn't want to shout"

Nat: "No worries"

Eddy: "Is that the folder you were reading before in your office?"

Asked Eddy pointing at the papers in her hands.

Nat: "Yes..."

She said handing it to Eddy. He took the folder and opened it.

Eddy: "Holy moly"

Nat: "Yeah...she contacted me yesterday evening. She told me to come same place tonight after reading, well... this"

Eddy: "I'll come with you"

Nat: "You're dead"

Eddy: "True, but...bring some agents anyways"

Nat: "Sure"

***

Mrs. Brown: "I see you've decided to come"

Nat: "Don't celebrate too soon...mother"

Mrs. Brown: "I want you to know that all I have done, Nat, was to protect you"

Nat: "Including implanting me and my brother a lethal microchip?"

Mrs. Brown looked down at her feet and sighed

Mrs. Brown: "I was young and I truly believed in the initial purpose of the agency. I would have disactivated your chips before the ending time and taken you out of that, but Michael's chip was defective and you had been dismissed as an agent. So many times I would have liked to end all of this, all of the experiments, all of the suffering. Then we learned about the resistance and what it was doing, and when they said that an unknown red-haired woman was the leader, I immediately knew that you were the one behind this"

Nat: "If you wanted to change things, you could have done it years ago"

Mrs. Brown: "It's not that simple"

Nat: "It never is, right?"

Mrs. Brown: "Let me do something for you now"

Nat: "Let's hear what you have in mind"

Mrs. Brown: "We only have the 10% of our agents left under target 101, but we have other projects that involve young agents"

Nat: "Other experiments you mean?"

Mrs. Brown: "Yeah...target 101 was only the point of the iceberg"

Nat: "Omg"

Mrs. Brown: "What if I free some of these agents periodically till we are only left with 20% of our members? Then we can use the agents inside to help your agents to attack from outside and finally end the agency"

Nat: "This sounds great...but I have to check some stuff first. Put this on"

She ordered to the older lady handing her a helmet.

Mrs. Brown: "Security test?"

Nat: "Yes. Since you can't come to our base because of the little toy in your leg, this is the only way to know if you are loyal"

Mrs. Brown: "I get it..."

Mrs. Brown sat on the bench and wore the helmet. Meanwhile Nat opened her laptop and started the simulation. It was risky doing something like that in the streets, but as she'd said, it was the only way. At least the device was masked with a motorbike helmet.

After about two hours, the test was over. Mrs. Brown was asleep on the bench. It seemed like a drunk rider was sleeping beside a uni-student.

Nat: "You can come now"

The nurse and two agents came out of the hedge behind the bench. The nurse started the procedure to implant the new badge in her thigh, while Nat gave instructions to the agents

Nat: "Bring her home after she's done with the badge and leave this pen drive on her bedside table: it contains her first task"

505: "Ok, see you later 101"

Nat: "See you later"