FIRE [FIRST DRAFT]

Chapter 17: What to Do When Dealing With the Dead

 Aimee could not feel remorse, even if she tried. She did not feel as though she'd lost someone close to her, because she hadn't. Abba was just a person, a stranger with a familiar face; that was what she had become. Celeste had done what needed doing; she had put an end to her. Still, there were bucket loads of questions to be answered. Nothing was really over.

Undoubtedly, as Aimee and Celeste walked towards the elevator in GINM, they were thinking the same things. One: What happened to everyone; their friends, the AIM agents, Benjamin and Suzanne? Two: How many microchips, used and unused, were still out there? Three: What now?

"I think we should find Janet," uttered Aimee. "We could leave Sylvain with her."

She repositioned him, shifted so that his weight was not all in one place. He was heavier than he looked, and that was saying something.

"Then we find Gavin and Stefan?"

Aimee nodded, pressing a button in the elevator, "And everyone else."

"Have you heard from your parents?" – Aimee shook her head – "You could call them. I want to call Gavin, but I'm scared, you know?"

"I know. I'm terrified."

It was suddenly quiet, all but for the humming works of the elevator. The corridors on the way to Janet's office were dead and desolate and, for a moment, they questioned whether she would be there, but she was. She seemed contented, alone in her nest; nevertheless, she welcomed them in without hesitation and closed the door behind them. Before anything else, she called Stefan.

"Aimee's here, in my office."

"Let me talk to her," he said in an enthusiastic rush. All his anger towards Aimee vanished now that he knew she was safe.

Janet handed the phone over, and helped Celeste lug the stranger to one of the recliners in the office's laboratory.

"Hi," muttered Aimee, and he greeted back. "I thought I lost you for a moment."

"Nah, I wouldn't leave you like that; it'd be rude to die without saying goodbye to you first!" he jested. "I'm on my way, okay? Give me five minutes and I'll be there."

"Okay," she smiled, savouring the sound of his voice until he hung up.

Aimee joined Janet and Celeste, returned the phone. Janet had asked about Sylvain and so Celeste told the story, to the part where they left Abba in the basement with a bullet in her skull.

"I believe you triggered an alarm when you got out; you should stay here until things calm down. Everyone's a little on edge from today's events."

"We never heard an alarm," said Aimee.

"The building's alarms are all silent."

Aimee released a remotely impressed hm.

"Did you know where we were?" Celeste interjected.

"I didn't. Mitchel made a lot of classified orders today. It's the first time I'm hearing of a plan to remove activated chips from bodies."

Aimee ogled Sylvain; there was one inside of him. She wondered what made him choose to have one; he seemed like a benevolent human being, who sought not after everlasting life or power. No matter, he was not her responsibility anymore.

"This morning as well," Janet continued, "Mitchel sent agents to destroy microchips at a pharmacy, a previously unknown secondary hoarding place for chips that were meant to be shipped to AIM."