Defective

Gone

"You aren't giving him enough!"

Deneuve tilted his head toward the speaker. He pondered for a moment. "You're right. Perhaps I need to... but on the other hand, you don't get it back for a while..."

"But at the rate you're feeding him, it won't match"

She was cut off.

"Hello Deneuve." Both Deneuve and the Defective jumped. "This is Near. I have found you. Come out so we can finally meet. Bring the Defective with you. I'd like to meet him or her as well."

The Defective gasped. "He's here! What do we do?"

Deneuve flinched. "I underestimated him. I didn't feed him enough information to get here. And he knows about you too. He knows you live."

All at once, the lights shut off. Deneuve and the Defective didn't move a muscle.

"It's merely a matter of time until one of my men find you. Make this easier on us and meet Halle by the front entrance. You have ten minutes."

"He's given us ten minutes. We can make it to the roof. Put the jacket and helmet on." Deneuve walked to the wall to his left and put a long gray coat and motorcycle helmet on. The Defective followed his lead. "Is the pilot still here?"

"Yes," the Defective answered sharply. The Defective pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. "Hi, its me. Get to the helicopter. We're leaving in".

"Six minutes and twelve seconds," Deneuve answered.

"Six minutes and twelve seconds," the Defective repeated. The Defective hung up.

Deneuve spoke a moment later. "Near is overlooking too many things. I am very impressed that he found us, but he's letting us escape. How boring."

"Deneuve," the Defective groaned. "We need to go! I've already picked up the package!" In the Defective's hand was a small package wrapped in brown paper, roughly the size of a thumb.

"Exellent. Now follow me. The helicoptor will be taking us to the airport and from there we'll be flying away from Japan. We'll be in Britain."

The two exited the control room and walked briskly down the pitch black hall. Disregarding safety, both bounded up the flights of stairs and opened the door.

The inky black of the night sky gave Deneuve a bad feeling, but he shook it aside. Whatever it is, a sky without stars is suspicious. The duo strolled over to the blue helicopter.

Upon their arrival, the door opened and a tall man in blue appeared. "Hello, Deneuve. To where am I taking you this evening?"

"The airport. We have a jet waiting on us, England bound."

"England?" the Defective asked.

"Yes, England. I know a place that Near won't think to look."

*****

The Defective glanced around the empty jet. "Deneuve?"

"Yes," Deneuve answered.

"Why is this jet empty?"

"Because," Deneuve smiled. "I bought all the tickets."

The Defective snorted. "How rich people use their money!" The two engaged in light banter for another few minutes before being interrupted.

In a monotonous voice, the captain came over the speakers. "I regret to inform you that we will not be landing in London. We are experiencing minor technical failure, so we are being redirected to Cologne, Germany. We apologize for the inconvenience."

After the announcement ended, Deneuve groaned. "Naturally, we can't get to England tonight. I suppose we can fly later tonight or tomorrow.

Approximately thirty minutes later, the jet landed.

*****

The man in blue was driving them north. The sun was beginning to come up. Deneuve jolted awake and began to look around. He was on a crowded road; part of a city block.

"I never would have imagined Cologne would look like this. I expected it to look more historical." the Defective uttered.

Deneuve glanced out the window and scanned the commercial city. He felt it. They weren't in Cologne. He looked to the driver, the man in blue.

The man in blue was now the man in black. He was young, in his mid-to-late twenties. He had grey eyes that made him look cross. His black hair reached down to the top of his eyes.

He turned left and parked on the street in front of a tall building.

They all entered the front door and turned to the elevator. They got on and the man in black pressed the button for the tenth floor.

"What are we doing here?"

The man in black started at Deneuve for a moment. "This is where you and the Defective are staying tonight. The plane for England is scheduled for tomorrow.

The Defective caught on to it. Something didn't line up straight.

Both were wondering what was at the destination of the elevator.

Ding. The elevator stopped abruptly and the doors slowly slid open.

The room was dark, as if it was twilight. The entirety of the wall reflected the light from the elevator. In front of Deneuve's foot was an assortment of finger puppets. One was an ugly figure with wide eyes and moppy blue or black hair. Sitting next to it was a female puppet, yellow head with pale skin. In a pile a bit farther away was the other puppets.

The man in black walked forward and turned to face them. "You are welcome to look around. I will be back momentarily." He turned again and strolled through a door on the right.

"Deneuve, does this feel right to you? Does something feel off?" the Defective asked in a hushed whisper.

"Not at all. Don't touch anything and put on your hat. Fear the worst."

"Fear the worst," the Defective repeated with a slight nod.

A small figure appeared in the doorway that the man in black left through. H walked with a bad hunch and looked like he just got out of bed. He was thin, almost delicate.

Deneuve followed him with his eyes. The young boy made it to the center of the room and collapsed to the ground. His head was turned down.

"What's going on?" the Defective asked, voice quavering.

"The worst. The worst is what's happening." Deneuve's voice showed no emotion.

His pale skin shone through the darkness and his white hair flew without control. The figure looked up and the same voice from the plane spoke.

"Welcone to New York City, Deneuve."