Deus Ex Human Revolution: Shadow's Showdown

Chapter 53: The Friend or Foe?

Detroit. Laura's apartment.

The week seemed to pass way too quickly. Only a few more days and Laura would be back at the company. Adam and Faridah will be there. How should she behave? What should she say? Jensen will probably expect them to spend some time together, and she's not ready for that at all. Not after the conversation with Rupert, which again shattered the order she had started to build. The sound of the phone ringing snapped her out of her reverie.

Overwhelmed by panic, she cautiously looked at the flashing screen. Fortunately, it was only Pritchard calling for the thirtieth time, so she rejected the call. The Chief of Security had been silent since they returned from MacKenzie's. Maybe he's angry? Maybe she had hurt him again? More doubts grew and not even the strongest coffee could alleviate them. She vegetated like a wilted celery until evening, then night came, bringing with it one recurring dream. Laura was alone in the midst of a void, shrouded in thick fog, hearing Joe's voice, which she followed. He kept moving away. Once she found him and he was so close at hand, he would disintegrate into million specks of light and shards of purple glass, and she would wake up.

It was a good thing she had a supply of cereal because there was only mouldy cheese in the refrigerator, apart from the light, and she didn't feel like shopping. On Saturday she was already thinking about Monday and the horrors that come with it. She had completely forgotten that, after all, she still had a trip to Washington awaiting her. Reality reminded Laura about its presence in a brutal way. The woman twisted to her right side, and immediately after this evolution, she heard something that resembled a human voice, the one expressed as a result of the intense and sudden pain felt. However, she recognized it was only a dream, thus ignoring the whole event.

"Laura, you kicked me in the nose!" the voice yelled.

"You're to blame yourself," she muttered, still asleep.

Shaking her whole body turned out to be something that helped Laura decide to open her eyes after all. The blurry image slowly formed a coherent whole. The woman came to her senses in a split second and with a sudden movement slid towards the wall. When her back touched it, she knew there was nowhere to run so she tried to find something heavy enough to hit the intruder.

"Calm down! It's me, Connor," he said while holding a handkerchief under his nose.

The woman blinked her eyes. "Connor? What are you doing here? How did you get in here?" she inquired a bit more calmly.

"It's a long story," he sighed.

"You'll tell it in a moment. I'll look at your nose first."

He didn't have time to protest. The hacker rolled across the bed and moments later was already in the bathroom.

"Unfortunately I had to break in again," he said when she returned with the first aid kit.

"Nothing new. I'll have to replace the lock soon, although I can't afford it at all."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have. I'll cover any costs, but it was urgent. On Tuesday we fly to Washington so Pritchard is going crazy. Another moment and he will bite the wires. Meanwhile, you don't answer the phone, you don't answer the door. I started worrying."

Laura sighed, holding a cotton swab, soiled with blood, in her hand. "I've already forgotten about this damn trip," she said.

"You should be happy, Adam will be there too," he said, deliberately mentioning that name.

"It's true, maybe we'll spend some time together," she nodded, knowing the lie had worked out poorly.

"Are you having doubts again? After all, you two have started getting along," Connor furrowed his brow."I talked to Rupert, he suggested I should think carefully because in his opinion I'm trying to replace Joe and I'm using Adam to do it."