CODE ELDRITCH

Chapter VI

The Assignment

I'd slept in the morning after, put band-aids on my bruised psyche. Is that a weird way to put it? I even eyed the liquor cabinet, but left alcohol out of the equation. I like to think that it was out of goodwill for the rest of the assembled CCTEA operatives — who knew what would happen if I had a drink or three? I was both too proud and too self-conscious to accept the idea of anyone coming into my room in the morning to clean me up after drinking too much.

Once I deigned to leave the room it was past midday and I was no wiser to my purpose here than the day before. The thought struck me that maybe they would keep me here like a prisoner as they were FC-01 down below, but I forcefully rejected that notion. Then they could have just slapped me in chains.

As if by design, I met agent Banks when I was taking the elevator down to the catering floors.

"Monroe," he nodded gingerly, "good morning."

"Banks."

We stood next to each other, the little one and the giant, watching floors zip past on the display. Probably looked like something out of an awkward sitcom.

"Tough day yesterday?"

I made a point of not looking at him at all. I admired my frayed shoelaces instead. "You knew?"

"I knew you were a PO, yeah. That's about it, though."

"No one's wearing HAZMATs despite me walking around."

He chuckled. "To be honest, I have no idea why they made us put up with that charade to begin with. Far as we can tell no EAs spread any pathogens. We're instructed to always wear a protective suit when introducing a PO. Rest of it is the kind of stuff they keep from us agents."

"Your boss told me the CCTEA isn't hierarchical like that. Freedom of information, and whatnot."

"Ha! Yeah. I bet you've seen the movies. Double-speak of the finest kind. We're free to access any information we can access, but we can't very well figure out what we don't know if we don't even know what it is we don't know."

"Huh." I said. "Sucks."

A low buzz stole his attention. He tapped his ear, then the surface of a small spherical device he retrieved from his breast pocket.

"This is Banks. Ah, yes sir. No, sir. Yes sir, with me in the elevator with me. Yes sir, at once. Thank you."

He looked at me (or rather, down at me). "You eaten?"

"Not since the last time."

"They'll have some stuff to chew on while TO goes through the motions. There's a situation you need to be aware of."

"What?"

"You religious?"

"What?" I said, "No." If I had been, the Double-Dip procedure certainly would have chased that out of me. I was on the verge of telling him about how I used to go to mass with my brother and mother on Sundays before righting myself.

Banks looked relieved. "Okay, that makes this a little easier. You know the CCTEA mission statement?"

"It's the only thing I've heard more times than 'or I'll shoot you' since I got here."

"There's also the matter of mitigating indirect EA influence. For whatever reason, some people flock to them. Religiously. Could you imagine finding that your god is asleep two clicks underground?"

"You mean that's a recurring theme here? That's something that happens?"

He rolled his eyes with exaggerated theatricality. "Oh, more than you'd think. The boss will introduce you to one of them now, I bet."