Paragon

Chapter 19:

On the floor below our meeting room we'd set up a control room of sorts. Around a hundred people ran the computers and phones inside, coordinating missions and keeping us one step ahead of the authorities and Master Kontrol. In the center of this chaos was a sort of glass bubble with a chair inside. I sat inside, headphones on, a mic in front of me.

"Are you sure this is really necessary?" I asked.

Nikara, Malcom, and Marcus were outside of the bubble, waiting with the technicians who were carefully preparing the audio systems.

"For this to work we need a good recording of his voice." Nikara explained. "And that means no outside audio. If the recording is messed up, then we can't use it to get past their security systems. Ready?"

"Yeah." I replied.

Noise cancelling foam began to rise up from the floor around me.

"Now, remember, we won't be able to hear you." Malcom said. "So we won't be able to guide you. Try not to say anything dumb."

"Right." I adjusted my headphones as the foam closed around the top of the bubble. There was the sound of a phone ringing. Several rings later Falcom answered.

"Hello?" He asked.

Distantly I could hear the sound of loud music and laughter.

"Hey-" I paused. "Wait, are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" He asked.

"Your voice sounds really slurred."

"You know what..." He trailed off.

"What?"

"Shut up."

I rolled my eyes, realizing that the audio recording wouldn't work with his voice like this.

"Can I call you back later?" I asked.

"No, I want to talk to you now."

"Listen, you are barely coherent right now. What's wrong?"

"I'm not drunk."

"I...never said you were." I sigh.

"I barely had anything to drink tonight. I'm at a club, by the way. A nice one. The girls are really pretty. Not sure what they put in this syringe, but it's..." He giggled.

I put my hand to my face. "Falcom, I don't know what you're doing, but you need to go home."

"I'm not as think as you drunk I am, okay?"

"Yeah, that was all the confirmation I needed."

"I'm in a nice club, and you're hiding in some rundown house in Calpernica. That's what our intel said, right?"

"It's hardly rundown." I said, then cursed mentally. "Uh, anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"The Skyfall Device is finished, and you're gonna lose. And I'm gonna get super powers."

"What sort of powers?"

"They're better than yours."

"I highly doubt that."

He laughed. "You're gonna see. Oh, hey, look who it is. Hey, Morgana. I haven't seen you in ages. I'm going to have to call you back, Katana. This party just got even better."

"Don't bother." I said in disgust, taking off my headphones.

The foam disappeared and the bubble opened.