Vesper (Curfew #2)

•3. Ambrosia•

My mouth fell open as I saw the place where we're going to stay; Tribunal de Commerce. The building looks old. Victorian. It looks so old that there might not be electricity and wi-fi inside the building. The car swerved right and parked just in front of the old doors of the building.

"We're literally staying here?" I asked the driver.

"Yes, yes. This Resistance base of France." he replied with a thick accent.

"Come on." urged Frank. He opened the car door and I followed him out. The air was cool, the kind of cool I like. A perfect breeze. It rarely happens. Frank took my hand and we walked to the building.

It's not Victorian inside. I laughed, observing the irony. The interior was full of technological objects. Data base computers, wide screens showing multiple surveillance sights, some vintage looking monitor. The whole interior was renovated into something very modern. Old Age on the outside, New Age on the inside. The floor is covered with red carpet. The place looks like a call center office. Behind the main desk was a room separated with glass walls. Inside that room, many people in formal suits were working on computers and walking here and there. Kind of similar to the 26th floor back in Ottawa, except that the place is bigger and there were more people.

"I like it here already." I said happily, looking around.

"I wasn't expecting this much technology inside an old building." said Frank. I pinched his cheek.

Astra, Thomas, and Nicholai just entered the building and I laughed at Thomas' reaction. Nicholai stopped and has a "what the hell" expression on his face. Astra was the happiest. This is her place.

"Camouflage a building, they said. It would be fun, they said." said Nicholai, looking at the people working behind desk.

"This is so much better than Ottawa!" Astra exclaimed.

"I'm crying. Look at that TV. Think of all the video games you can play using that thing." said Nicholai.

A man wearing a suit came towards us. Dan approached him and they talked in low voices. I'd eavesdrop, but the man was looking at me as he talked. I looked away. Dan moved back and turned to us.

"General Blaise wants to talk to you guys." Dan said.

"As if we didn't expect that." said Thomas. Dan ignored him.

"Follow me." Dan urged. We followed him around the building. He didn't tour us, but at least we did. We toured ourselves. Of course, Astra was the most active one. As we turned a left, there was more technology. There were machines I don't even know that Astra probably knows. This place is buzzing with electricity.

The corridor was long and there was no elevator. A place full of machines and technology, but no elevators. The staircase is in a zigzag. It's made of bulletproof glass too. It's hard to see where you're stepping especially because the light is dim.

"Is everything here made of glass?" asked Nicholai to no one in particular. We followed Dan up the steps.

"Most, actually." Dan answered. Even he was looking down at the steps. Dan was even holding the railings.

"Why are there no elevators?" asked Thomas.

Dan glanced at him, "Because that would be pointless. This building is only three floors high. People here are willing enough to take the stairs rather than the elevator. That's just laziness." he said.

"But what about the handicapped?" asked Nicholai.

"They have qualifications here. Around ninety-two percent of the people who work here are field agents. Handicaps do not meet the requirements of working here. I don't know if it's true, but I heard that if you get injured after a mission and if that injury didn't go away for less than two weeks, you'll get fired immediately." said Dan.