Terminal (Terminal trilogy #1)

5: Even in death

"And hello!" In a blur of green, Sydney was upon us. "I took the day off. Well, technically I didn't- I'm not allowed to. But as luck has it, I'm part of The Few and there's only twelve people in all of Hell who can undermine my authority."

"Who's this?" Asked Blake. I had forgotten he hadn't met Sydney.

"Ah, this must be the human kid you took from Wrath. How interesting! I'm Sydney, Ms. Westman to you, and I'll be joining you for your shenanigans today."

"Oh! I didn't know you had any friends, Mannie. That's great!"

"You're too excited about this. Sydney's not my friend, I literally met her yesterday. She's not coming with us, she's going to tell us how she found us, why she's here, and then she's going to leave."

"I'm going to ignore that tone of voice you're using and instead point out that as your superior, I have authority to order you to take me along. And if you don't comply, I could always just arrest you."

"I don't mind you coming along, Ms. Westman," said Blake.

"You don't need to call her Ms. Westman, Blake. Or be polite to her at all."

"I'm not going to be rude to a total stranger."

"Fantastic! Looks like we're settling in. So what are you brats doing digging through this trash heap? Breaking two laws already, so off to a good start."

Blake shrugged, "I'm not really certain. Mannie just wanted to look at some files, and I wanted to find mine. Except it isn't here."

"Huh." Sydney put enough emphasis on sounding puzzled that I wasn't surprised by what she said next. "The reason for that, I'll admit, is because I have your file. Looked it up and took it down the moment I heard Mannie had taken you from your cell."

"Why would you do that?"

"I wanted to know if there was anything about you that'd prompt such a move. And the answer is no! I have it up in my apartment if you want to drop by some time. I'll make tea."

"How did you find me here?" I asked.

"Mannie, dear, you're rather protective over your identity, aren't you? I'd rethink my life choices in that case. Hell is covered in cameras. Even if we don't quite care about the rules, we are dedicated to watching them get broken."

"Blake, let's get moving."

"Okay." He got up and followed me past where Sydney was standing. She immediately turned and followed as well. "What do you have against Ms. Westman anyway?"

"Something about her rubs me the wrong way. And I met her yesterday. I don't trust people that quickly."

"I met you yesterday."

"Yes, and...? Blake, do you honestly think we've bonded in that time?"

Blake was silent. After a beat, Sydney spoke. "Wow. How do you put up with this? You poor child."

"Mannie's working on saving me, so I try not to mind the snappy remarks."

"Where to next, leader?" Sydney asked me.

"Going to check if Kell's done with his meeting," I grumbled.

"Oh, you do sound cranky. Sorry." Sydney was clearly having an absolute ball.

We went on. I couldn't really ignore her, and she was entirely right that she had the power to arrest us. And I couldn't have that. I decided to just comply with her and look for an opportunity to lose her the next chance I got.