Agent Chetiri

Chapter 24

The closer you look, the less you actually see.

-J. Daniel Atlas

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Tell me what you know about the Proxy Virus and how to disable it."

Alexa's eyes darkened and she sat there, attempting to formulate an answer that wouldn't kill both of them. She had not expected them to be so stupid to fall for it for that long and Bartov could see the shock written all over her face.

They weren't as slow as she thought they were.

"I made the Proxy Virus in an attempt to slow you down. When did you find out?" she said softly.

"We found the crack in the system about a month ago, but I'm guessing that it's been there longer," he said, glaring at her. "How long?"

"Six months. Took you long enough to figure it out," she said, with a roll of her eyes. Bartov felt a flash of anger flare up and he pressed the knife against her throat, causing her to wince in pain. Alexa's expression of pain soon faded and she kept her composure, knowing it was better to stay calm than panic.

"You released the Proxy Virus months ago and stole the files on Operation Chetiri. You had to put it somewhere, so where is it?" he hissed.

"It could be anywhere and nowhere all at once. I could have destroyed it months ago, for all you know," she said coolly.

"You couldn't have destroyed it. Information like that is too valuable to destroy," Bartov snapped.

"Hmm, fair point. But only I know where the information is hidden and you can't kill me because of it," she said tauntingly. He stared at her for a moment and pushed the knife away, glaring at her once more. Bartov then turned to Q and pressed the knife against his throat.

"She may not tell us, but maybe you can. Talk, boy," he commanded.

"If you're going to threaten me, I would prefer that you do it eloquently," Q said, with a roll of his eyes. He didn't look fazed in the slightest, despite the fact that there was a weapon being held to his throat and two guns being pointed at them. Bartov's face turned beet red and he pressed harder, eliciting a rather bored look from Q. It took all of Alexa's willpower not to laugh at how bored Q looked through all of this and she thought it was impressive, how he coped with a situation like this.

"Where is it?" he said.

"It is a pronoun, taking the place of a subject that I'm honestly unclear about. I would advise you specify, so we can actually get somewhere," Q said dryly.

"The files for Operation Chetiri have to be stored somewhere. Your girlfriend here must've told you something, so where is it?" Bartov said.

"I don't have a clue. She hasn't told me anything," Q said smoothly.

"Liar! You've been together long, haven't you? She must have said something!" he said, glaring at Q.

"Technically, we've only been together for a day and I don't recall her saying anything to me about a Proxy Virus," Q said, shrugging his shoulders. Alexa watched him carefully, noting that he was quite believable when he lied and wondered how many time he had gotten away with such a thing.

Bartov moved away from Q and shouted at one of the men, taking their pistol. He stowed the knife in his jacket and pointed it at her head. "Alexa, tell me how to disable it," he hissed.

"That won't do, not at all," Alexa said with a hint of a smile on her face. "The information is gone already. If you disable the virus, there won't be anything left."