They sat at the table, facing each other, between them the piles of papers Lyra had previously arranged.
"We're sending two people in, it would be nice if relatives." Lyra thoughtfully twirled the blue ballpoint pen between her fingers. "They explain to Hannah to do whatever it takes to get her out as soon as possible."
"We know from your interview that she's completely aware of the situation. It won't be difficult to convince her. The question is, how much she can pull herself together."
"Let's hope she's as reluctant to open up about details to wild strangers as her brother." She shot him a mischievous smile.
"Very funny. If we go..."
"We? We aren' going anywhere, we're the two important people moving two other people."
He took a sharp, deep breath. "I swear to God Lyra, you're worse than I've expected. We as in hypothetical!"
"I know. I just love to annoy you. So, where are we going?"
"If we go through the front door, like decent humans," Jake drew a blueprint in front of him, marking the path with a pencil, "we register, go up to Hannah in room forty-three. One of the two distracts the therapist. Preferably two doors away, let's say in front of room forty-five. During that, our other person explains to Hannah what to do. If there's any paper, medical record nearby, they take a quick photo of it. Then they pretend to talk until the distracting person and the therapist returns."
"I recommend a womanizer, in the video chat she seemed like a very cocky woman. You know, the spoiled type."
"We will consider it. They should give some indication of when they will be back."
She shook her head in disapproval. "Bad idea."
"Come again?" Now he was the one to look up from the pages for the first time, blinking at Lyra in surprise.
"Imagine yourself in the therapist's place." Lyra was pointing with her pen in the air, elbows resting on the table. "It would be quite suspicious if you were to spend almost the entire conversation in the hallway with someone who's literally trying to twist you around their finger, and then suddenly end their wonderfully pleasant conversation because of a text or phone call."
"Shall we set a time limit then?"
"Fifteen minutes. Maximum."
"Fifteen minutes... got it."
Her eyebrows rose in hope. "Possible?"
"They will have to make the most out of it."
"Great! And maybe–"
Continuous beeping came from the other side of the room. At first Lyra thought she was just imagining things, but then Jake jumped up from his chair.
"Your phone."
"My what?" And really. Nymos's notification took up her entire screen again.
NYM-OS
WARNING
Attackers are attempting to
access your location!
Alarmed, she looked up at the man stiffly tapping away at the computer. The countdown was dangerously close to zero.
0:17
0:16
0:15
"What you gonna do?"
YOU ARE READING
The afterfire
Fanfiction// Jake Donfort and Lyra Ambrose // After the explosion in the Ironsplinter Mine, things went on with a quiet tension. Not only did the fire leave behind an unidentified body, but it further enhanced the already intricately tangled threads. And this...
