Deus Ex Human Revolution: Shadow's Showdown

Chapter 36: The Broken Ones.

Detroit. Laura's apartment.

Connor didn't want to stay the night and although it was hard for him to leave Laura alone he had to go. Unfortunately, he had a tremendous amount of responsibilities at the company that needed to be done before the new year. He was tired and should get at least a few hours of sleep. He also didn't want to tell the hacker about how difficult it was for both him and Adam to defend her from Pritchard's wrath. The situation had long since gotten out of hand anyway.

As soon as the man left, the hacker started looking for airline connections to Sweden. She hoped that no one would find her there, if anyone would look for her at all. For a brief moment she allowed herself to be charmed by a thought that maybe she meant something, that she was part of some whole, but she quickly realized that she got dumped. The world was still spinning and she was stuck. She felt like an animal thrown into a tar pit. Day after day she sank further and further, and no one really cared, except maybe Connor.

She was happy to find that in just a few hours she would be sitting aboard a plane. Fortunately, she'd gotten a paycheck, which she spent on the trip and at least a week's stay in Uppsala. What would happen after that? Somehow she cared little about that. Laura immediately started packing her things. She planned to take Stalker with her. It shouldn't be a problem, after all he had all his vaccinations and tests up to date. The woman could not fall asleep, she kept seeing Adam's face. It was everywhere. On the ceiling, reflected in the window, she could see it on her pillow. She was tormented by his scent, felt the look of his gray-blue eyes on her and his fingertips gently teasing her skin with every touch. The smile twitching at the corner of his mouth like a drop of water on a spider's web, the hot breath on the nape of her neck and that wonderful taste of his lips as he unhurriedly kissed her. She must forget every one of those little things. To abandon everything she's managed to build. Adam Jensen, ex-SWAT, Security Chief at Sarif Industries, Grumpy Cerberus is a thing of the past.

A little after eight in the morning she was already sitting in the cab that took her to the airport. Images scrolled past outside the glass window like frames of a movie. She met Adam there and he helped her carry the groceries. This is where she walked with Connor. To The Jack Daw she walked to eat lunch with Faridah. There in the distance is the Camarilla club. Rupert sitting in the Crann Tara. Screaming Francis, even he evoked sadness. By nine o'clock she was already aboard the plane. Stalker meowed loudly to express his displeasure at being separated from his sitter, but there was no other choice. The seat next to her was taken by a businessman with a complexion orange from self-tanner and carelessly combed hair of the color of scrambled eggs. He was terribly unpleasant to the staff, but the stewardess had to smile at him. She had about twelve hours of flight ahead of her with a connecting flight in Paris. At a time like this, she missed VTOL terribly.

***

Sarif Industries. Connor's office.

The man sat behind a desk with piles of papers towering on its top. He was busy correcting mistakes that others had made. Now he understood Laura, who went through this every day. Since she had disappeared he had taken over her duties and had to deal with Francis' whining, which was now worse than usual. He could feel and see the preparations for the great ball at every turn. His friends were constantly talking about what outfits they would wear and who they would go with. Connor at first wanted to invite a girl he met in Washington, but she preferred to go with Simon, who goes to the gym every spare moment. Yes, he could envy his muscles but not his brain. He would have loved to go with Laura and was going to tell her so. When he had dealt with fixing half of major mistakes, it was almost lunchtime, so he saved everything he had done so far and turned off the computer.