Flashback

5. Large

Large.

I didn't even see this wing on my first adventure in the chute.

This place is large. But I think I'm going to like hanging out in this living wing. A huge sitting room, nice library, and a game room make this underground base seem like a nice place to live in. The cafeteria is a fairly big room and there's more types of food than I want to count. I'm starving, so I jump in line, grab a plate and shove a bunch of food on to it, not really caring what it is.

After finding a table and taking a seat, I dig in. I'm so busy eating I don't notice someone walk up to me until someone taps my back.

"Hey, Alan. Wow, you're really engrossed." The voice belongs to Stacy.

I swallow my food and turn my head. "Oh, I didn't hear you come up. What's up?" I take another bite of food.

"Well, when you're finished I'm going to show you around." She says. "By the way, that mafia meeting near Shaft four didn't go so well. It ended with a shootout, but we didn't interfere."

I nod in acknowledgement. "Interesting. Does that happen a lot?"

She crosses her arms. "Sort of- it happens a lot, just not right here, usually." She says, pointing up.

"Tell you what. I'll let you finish and you come when you're done." Then she goes over to talk to some people near the counter.

I quickly finish my plate and set it in the bin next to the counter. Walking up to the small group, I notice several people that I haven't seen before. The one I see first is tall, muscular, and has piercing brown eyes.

Stacy nods at me then addresses the group. "This is Alan Baker, who just stopped in tonight to help us out. He knows a good bit about the Circle, and he should be pretty helpful to us." She looks at me. "And from what Patrick, Jackson, and the others told me, he's a good fighter."

I grin. "Yea, that was fun. But seriously Stacy, 'just stopped in'? Whatever."

A short woman who looked to be about forty, gripped my arm. "Welcome to the crew. I'm Jen, the explosives specialist."

A man in a Badgers shirt nodded at me. "Hey there. I'm Kendall. Just, like hand-to-hand fighter, knife guy, and high speed chases are my specialty."

Stacy gestures at the tall guy with brown eyes. "This is James. He's been with us for a few months now, and he's a great hacker, and very handy with a gun."

I reach out and grab his hand. "Hi." He says, not smiling. So cold, so unfriendly.

"Um, Stacy. Can you show me the ropes? It's getting late and I want to get to bed by 10."

"No problem. Let's go to Level One first."

*******************************************

Walking through Level One, I realized how futuristic this whole place feels. For example, the white angled doorways and the blue LEDs on everything. Very cool styling in the whole design of the Foundation. Almost like something from Star Wars, only not quite as elaborate.

Stacy stops. "Silly me, I almost forgot. Hey, step into my office for a minute, will you?"

I follow her into her large office. It's bigger than the other one, uh, interrogation room, and it had nice big photographs on the wall of the Chicago skyline.