Radiant Oddities (Anomaly Saga #4)

2

Chandler rolled his eyes and pulled the tape recorder out of his pocket, throwing it at the wall. It instantly fell apart.

Lockley smirked. "Good, good," she said. "Now, I can tell you all about Sunnyville."

"Lurking in the shadows, drinking coffee, and writing cryptic poems in my journal might be hard in a place called Sunlight Village, don't you think?" Chandler responded.

"You're missing the point here. All of my agents that I've sent there to investigate it have vanished without a trace. Now, something really shady is going down there. I'll provide you with guns, tranquilizers, communication devices, and a fifty thousand dollar reward if you make it out alive," Lockley said, her voice monotone.

"This sounds more fishy than my aquarium. I mean, I have cheated death like . . . seventy times. So maybe I'll be the lucky one that makes it out of this mission alive?"

Lockley waved at Chandler dismissively. "I'm sure you will. As you've mentioned before, escaping death is such an easy feat for you. You'll be fine. Your supplies will be given to you shortly," she said. "Is there anything else that I can provide for you?"

Chandler slowly shook his head. "I have everything I need . . . but . . ."

"Great," Lockley said, smiling as if she were forced to. She stood up, signaling the extremely short and confusing interview was over.

Chandler exited the small office building and then went into the lobby where the receptionist was. He was eager to get back to his apartment and reveal the news. He walked by Alice's desk when she spoke.

"Chandler?" she asked, and Chandler stopped. "Mister Chandler?"

"Yes, you're right about that. How can I help you?"

"Ms. Lockley wanted me to give this to you," she said, handing him a file folder. She looked at him with a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Okay?" said Chandler, weirded out. "Have a nice day."

He left the building and passed the pet store when he realized the store had closed and the reptiles were not in the front of the store anymore. He made his way to his apartment and turned on the computer. He put the file folder on his kitchen counter and put the password into his computer. He scrolled through the list of people he was able to video call and pressed on one name: Kira.