Deus Ex Human Revolution: Shadow's Showdown

Chapter 24: The Warpath.

Detroit. Faridah's apartment. / Laura's apartment.

Faridah panicked right after reading the message, but quickly remembered what Adam had told her. She immediately turned off her phone and removed the SIM card from it, hoping that this would prevent the message from being deleted, and Pritchard would be able to make good use of that line of text. It was hard for her to fall asleep, although a moment ago she was terribly tired. In the morning she pretended to Laura absolutely nothing had happened. They had breakfast together as usual and agreed to go shopping after work. Miss Werner thought about yesterday's conversation with Faridah once again and before she went to the company she dropped by her house. Laura no longer cared about staying at Sarif Industries anyway, although yesterday she had told Malik something else. She searched through the entire wardrobe before finding a sapphire, fitted, straight-cut dress on a hanger. In truth, the bateau neckline was not very good for this time of year, but she had a turquoise shawl somewhere that matched it perfectly. Fortunately, she hadn't put on much weight and still fit into the outfit. Laura stood in front of the hallway mirror pleased to find she looked like a million credits. She also found ballerinas in a similar shade to the dress and thick tights. At most, she would end up in bed with the flu, but Adam has to suffer.

Sarif Industries.

Laura came to the company late, and yet she stopped in the lobby to admire a huge Christmas tree. It reached the third floor and was being decorated by a special team of people. It was kept in only red and gold colors. Laura felt depressed. She would not spend Christmas with Adam as she wanted, nor with Joe, because he had left her without even saying why. Most likely, she will be sitting at home with her cat, eating melted ice cream, and watching lions copulating on one of the nature channels. She also wanted to return the gift she bought for Jensen to the store, but somehow couldn't bring herself to do so. All the time she hoped it was just a temporary state and it would pass like the flu.

She quickened her pace, not wanting to think about being alone anymore. Laura went straight to her boss to see if he had anything for her. This time Pritchard didn't say a word. That meant it was much worse than when he was whining. She didn't get any files to correct errors either, so she stood for a moment, shrugged her shoulders, and went to her office. Laura was halfway there when she got a message.

"In five minutes at my office.

A. J. "

At first, Laura was glad to see Adam, but she momentarily remembered that after all, nothing was the same as before, and she was back on the warpath again. Reluctantly, she reached the third floor, hoping it would only be a brief conversation.

"Hello, Mr. Jensen. Why did you want to see me?" she asked in a formal tone when he invited her inside. Laura didn't forget about removing the shawl before entering.

The Chief of Security could hardly manage to keep an indifferent expression on his face as he saw her move softly and gracefully. He was sure Laura had dressed like that on purpose to punish him for the way he had dealt with her. He wanted so badly to hug and kiss her, but he couldn't. Meeting at the office was a risk anyway, but he needed to agree on some important things with her before leaving.

"Hello, Miss Werner," he replied in a husky voice, giving it a professional, reserved tone. "I won't take up too much of your time. I need to provide some information regarding our work in Washington," he explained matter-of-factly without undue coloration.