The surrounding disappeared. The river, the canyon, the sky—everything vanished in a blink of an eye. The Stimulation Room was back to its original setting. Pierce jolted in surprise, pulling herself away from Mason.
“Well, well, well,” someone said in a cynical tone. “If it isn’t the two lovebirds.”
Pierce spun around recognizing the voice. Indigo stood at the doorway of the control room, his arms crossed.
“What do you want?” Mason didn’t sound happy at all.
Indigo jerked a thumb towards the door of the Stimulation Room. “Dr. Spencer wants to see Pierce.”
“Now?” Mason grumbled.
Indigo pinned him with a stern look. “Yes, now.”
The three of them exited the Stimulation Room and took the elevator down to the conference room. Pierce tried to think of what Dr. Spencer could’ve possibly called her down for. She’d barely gotten back from her first mission—surely he didn’t have another one for her, did he? All of her training was progressing without a hitch, so that couldn’t be the reason either.
The guards waved the trio into the conference room without even checking for their ID cards. This must be really urgent for them to skip standard protocol, Pierce thought.
Dr. Spencer’s head lifted up the moment she walked in. A look of relief crossed his face. “There is a crisis.”
“A crisis?” Pierce asked.
He nodded. “There has been a break in at Kloston Community Church. That’s the place where the Accidents were being kept.”
“And whoever broke in the church broke out the Accidents,” concluded Pierce.
“Point on.” Dr. Spencer narrowed his eyes. Just for a moment, the man that Pierce had grown to revere looked dangerous and malevolent. “It’s all the Revealers fault,” he growled.
Pierce nodded her head empathetically. The Revealers—they’re the nemesis of the Restorers.
“The Revealers have denied the right of four Accidents to an improved life.”
“You don’t think the Revealers killed the Accidents, do you?”
Dr. Spencer let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did.”
“We have to do something about this. The Revealers have to be stopped,” Pierce declared.
Dr. Spencer’s mouth twitched, curling into a grin. “That’s the kind of response I like to hear. Here’s the plan—“ He already planned this out, Pierce realized. He knew I would want to do something about the situation. “—tomorrow you’re going to dispose this member of the Revealers.”
The Doctor displayed a black and white picture of a teenage boy. The picture was blurry, but Pierce could make out most of the boy’s features. His dark, somewhat shaggy hair was ruffled, as if a stiff breeze was blowing through it. He was looking at the camera with an expression of bewilderment and horror mixed together.
“Why am I supposed to kill him, aside from the fact he is part of the Revealers?” Pierce asked.
“He was on the team that broke into Kloston Community Church. His mother is also an influential leader among the Revealers. His death will be a hard blow for them,” Dr. Spencer replied.
“Do you have a better picture of this person?”
“Unfortunately, we do not. This picture was taken the night of the raid. The camera that caught this image was destroyed; we are lucky that we were even able to obtain this one photo.”
Pierce enlarged the photo, zooming in on his eyes. They reminded her of something familiar, something she just couldn’t quite put her finger on.
“So, when and where do I take care of this kid?”
“Tonight.”
Pierce looked up in surprise. So soon? “Like, after dinner tonight?”
“Yes. At Kloston nine-thirty p.m. sharp tonight. Indigo will drop you off a few streets down the meeting point.”
“Meeting point?” Pierce couldn’t help but feel a little bit stupid for her endless questioning.
“Your target will meet you at 23 Jay Boulevard.”
“How did you convince…” Pierce gestured towards the picture of her target, not sure what to call him.
“Troop,” Mason filled her in.
“You know this guy?” Pierce asked.
Mason half-heartedly shrugged. “Kind of.”
She turned back to Dr. Spencer. “How did you convince Troop to meet me tonight? Wouldn’t he be suspicious of such a request?”
“I have my ways.” Dr. Spencer’s tone clearly stated that he would say no more regarding that matter.
Pierce knew not to push him for more information. If he didn’t share something with her, he had a good reason for doing so.
“Should I use poison?” she asked. “Do you have more of that ricin powder?”
Dr. Spencer shook his head. “The powder’s too precious to waste on it. I don’t care how you dispose of him. Just make it quick and untraceable. Toss the body in the river afterwards.” He turned to face Indigo. “Can you drive Pierce to the meeting point this evening?”
“I can do that,” Mason cut in.
“I wasn’t talking to you, was I?” Dr. Spencer said. “Anyways, don’t you have a seminar to attend this evening? If I remember correctly, you promised Trainer Rick that you would help him with his presentation after dinner.”
“I’m sure Trainer Rick will understand if I can’t make it this one time,” Mason insisted.
Indigo shot Mason a look. “It’s fine, Mason. I’ve got this covered.”
Mason muttered under his breath.
“Okay then,” Dr. Spencer said, as if he was finalizing everything. His acute green eyes held her gaze for a moment. “Pierce, take some time to prepare yourself for tonight’s task. I have sent you a file containing some information about Troop that you should review. Indigo and you will leave the Complex at seven o’clock sharp and arrive at Kloston around eight forty-five. You all are dismissed.”
