HUMAN

Chapter 13 - Simulation

I called up my bodyguards and then left the penthouse, taking with me the metallic device along with the USB. It's late evening, and traffic jams are long and tedious as everyone returns home from work. "Can't we take a detour?" I spoke up to the driver.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. There's currently road work and other detours are also jammed." I sighed, then slumped into the seat. "We'll reach the facility by midnight at this pace. I hate the damn city sometimes." I said as I fidgeted with the USB.

"Would you like music, ma'am?" After a moment of silence, he spoke up.

"No."

". . ."

"Fine. . .this silence is killing me." With a nod, he played some jazz through the radio. "How long till?" I questioned. "Ma'am. We have been in the same spot for five minutes now."

"UGHHH!!!"

- - -

It was a three-hour drive to get out of the city, rather than the usual hour and a half. I always hated how the facility is near the deeper ends of the woods. It always creeped me out, too, especially at night when I was among the only few left in the building during late hours.

The car screeched at the parking lot. Getting out, there were only a couple of cars left in the parking lot. Some were from staff already going, and others were just janitors cleaning up for the end of the day. "Perfect," I said to myself.

I fixed my tie, entered the swiveling doors, and was greeted by the stark white lights that beamed into my retinas. The lobby was spacious, clean, and soulless, empty of personality. Not even the mother-in-law tongue beside the corner of the couches was taken care of and started to wither. Now, there was just a bland-looking pot with some soil on it. As expected.

I headed my way to the elevator and pressed the 5th floor. Before the doors closed, a dingo's hand blocked the sensors, causing the doors to open again. The dingo walked in with stacks of files and documents towering over him. "Mr. Jones." I acknowledged his presence. "Ah! Ms. Holmes. How was the operation." He peered beside the documents to look down at me.

"Could've gone smoother." He perked an ear. "Bastard escaped. We had him surrounded and fired about half a dozen of those tranquilizers to his face, but he somehow got up and charged through the window. We suspect it's a cheetah because his speed was unmatched by any other species. Not only that, but we didn't even get a chance to pull off his dumb mask." I sneered.

A moment of silence passed by before he replied. "So. . .the operation was an epic fail somehow?" I shot a glare and raised an eyebrow at him. "Ah! I mean, he must've been taking drugs or enhancements, you know? Not entirely your fault." He let out a nervous chuckle before I noticed a hard drive slipping out of his pocket labeled 'HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL'. 'Bingo.' I thought.

"Hmm. . .so how was your meeting with the commander? Showed him anything interesting enough where he didn't walk out on you?" His ears dropped, and he sighed heavily at the question as I inched closer to him little by little to grab the hard drive. "I can't tell you what I showed him. But let's say he still wasn't lenient on us."

Ding!

"My, my. He's a hard man to please." I stated. "True as." He scoffed while a grin began to creep up on my face. "Anyway, this is my stop. Meet you later, Ms. Holmes." I placed my hands behind me and then nodded at him. "As with you, Mr. Jones." Not even a clue.

I laughed at myself for a little bit, tossing and turning the hard drive that I had successfully taken. Although, I will soon return this to Mr. Jones once I have downloaded whatever is in here to my personal computer. The company tends to be secretive with whatever they share, so I often get bored and take a peek at them myself.