Conundrum

Part 19

theSingingDragon

Spencer never thought she'd have a good night's rest on a cot, but that was probably because there were so few instances she could remember when she had a good night's rest. Hopefully she could keep getting melatonin, even if they released her soon. She swallowed and fumbled with her hands. It was probably better if she stopped thinking about being released. The room somehow felt both like a corner she couldn't escape and utter isolation.

Footsteps echoed down the solid walls and Spencer's heart beat kept in step with them until they slowed in front of her door. Her heart fled, leaving her alone in the four walls to face the footsteps' owner. The door opened to reveal the grey suit agent.

"Well, I see you're relatively cognitive this morning." Pulling a chair in from the hallway, the agent seemed unaware of Spencer stiffening as he plopped the seat near where she was sitting on the cot. "Which is good, because there's only so many times I can explain Black Jack to you."

Grey Suit pulled out the deck from his coat pocket and handed it to Spencer. She stared at it, then at him.

"Okay, maybe you aren't quite cognitive yet," said Grey Suit as he laid the cards on the cot.

"Why are you giving me these?"

Grey Suit raised an eyebrow. "Call it curiosity.... Or work. In this case they're actually both applicable."

"These make me seem dangerous."

This time Grey Suit paused, thinking. It was several moments before he took the deck and started shuffling himself. Once he had done that five or six times he looked up. "There's really no way around it. We need to know exactly what we're working with and you clearly don't experiment with these kinds of things. Speaking of."

Grey Suit gave each of them two cards, one turned up and one turned down. "Get 21 and don't go over. Cards are given value, face cards are 10, and aces are one or eleven. Got it?"

Studying the agent, Spencer weighed her options. At least he seemed like he could be forthcoming, given the right circumstances, and that was more than she ever expected from the almost mythic MDA. She nodded.

"Good. Pick up your cards." Grey Suit did the same, looking over them quickly before adding, "Do you want another card or do you think you're close enough to 21?"

Suddenly the instructions the agent had given her seemed to melt like candy on a hotplate. Why were face cards important? Something had two purposes, or was the number two important, or maybe it was two different cards working together and that -

"Take your time."

Spencer breathed in. She breathed out. She looked at her cards - five of diamonds and an ace of clubs. Ace. Aces had two values. "Worth one or ...?"

"What do you mean?"

Taking another breath, Spencer looked down at the cards for confirmation. "Aces. One or ...?"

Grey Suit almost seemed to smile. Barely. Hardly. Probably not. "Eleven. One or eleven."

If it was eleven then her cards would be worth 16. He'd said she was supposed to get to 21, but also something about not going over. Not having too many points? Eight out of the thirteen types of cards would put her over, so roughly two fifths or 40% of the cards wouldn't. But she already had two of them, meaning at most 18 of the cards she needed remained out of 48, since they both had two cards already.

Grey Suit coughed. "Do you want another card?"

"... No."

"Well, neither do I." Sighing, he turned over his own cards. Seven of hearts and a queen of diamonds. 17. She turned over her cards to show her 16.

"Now that you seem to understand the game, could we not make each round five minutes?" Grey Suit took the used cards and put them aside before dealing again. "Some of us have limited time for our lunch breaks."

"I thought it's morning."

"What, I can't take a break from my job when I need one now?"

"I thought this was work."

"If you don't want to play," started Grey Suit, beginning to put the cards away.

"No, I - " Fumbling with her hands, Spencer realized she had grabbed the used deck. They were starting to bend. "I - I...."

Slowly, she convinced her fingers to set the cards back down on the cot. Grey Suit raised an eyebrow. "Then let's not question my methods. We play, we talk, that's it."

Spencer nodded quickly, and the agent looked at the bent deck.

"Also, let's not mark the cards, it takes all the fun out of the game."

"Sorry."

Sighing, Grey Suit started dealing again. "I do need to ask you about something though."

Despite everything, Spencer couldn't help but swallow.

"What are your thoughts on Jamie Michaelson?"

Spencer paused. "I... I don't know him well."

"That's what I thought. Card?"

Spencer shook her head.

"He's been asking about your release ever since your arrest." Flipping over his cards, Grey Suit watched Spencer keenly. "Does he seem protective of anyone else?"

Shrugging, Spencer showed her cards. 17 to his 15.

"What do you mean?"

Spencer paused, narrowing her brow. "He's protective of everyone."

"Everyone?"

"Most people."

"Who specifically?"

"Freshmen."

"Just freshmen?"

"Mostly."

Grey Suit shook his head, muttering, "It's like pulling teeth."

"Sorry."

"What do you think of him working here?"

Cocking her head, Spencer looked up from her cards. "What?"

"As a technical advisor. I told him if he could make one of the projects successful he could make sure you're alright in person."

She narrowed her eyes. "He hates the MDA."

"I gathered. So is he working with us out of general protection, protection of you specifically, or a slight against the agency?"

"I.... I don't know."

"But you feel fine with him visiting you?"

"I guess."

There was silence for a while before Grey Suit broke it. "Card?"

Spencer shook her head and the agent continued, "Why is there a stain on the ceiling?"