The Agency: ICE (Book 1)

Chapter 2: Ingenuity of Nerve

Once the fog completely dispersed, I tapped the folded fog machine on the wooden floor a couple of times. It further compressed from a 3x3x215 centimeter prism to a 3x3x3 cube in my palm. The Nurses in the room chattered in awe. I looked around— what on Earth is Agent Meyers doing in here?— and took in every new face. Many seemed to be of African descent, some from Europe or maybe the Broken Lands, and even a mix of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage. While the Agency has a mixed set of Agents, I don't think I've ever seen this diverse of a group for the Medical Unit.

I put the cube in my breast pocket and put my hands behind my back. "I promise I'm not always that distracting during presentations," I said in Turkish.

"You sure?" A girl with ocean blue waves who was seated in the front said in Turkish. "Your looks are forever distracting."

I raised my brow at her, and a few of the Nurses whistled or lightly mumbled in agreement. Good God, will my looks ever cease to be the main focus for newcomers?

I stared at the girl. "What's your name, Miss?"

She tilted her head. "Kirsten. Kirsten Mcloughlin."

"Irish Heritage I presume?" I said in English.

She nodded and spoke in English with an Irish accent. "Jaysus, you're a lovely lad. That Old English accent of yours only makes ya more lash."

I fought the blood that tried to rush into my face. My warm expression turned cold. I bored my amber eyes into Kirsten's emerald green ones, searching through her inner emotions and expressions. I looked into them closely. I caught her obvious attraction of me through her dilated pupils, but I caught something else behind it. It was hidden within the slightly red edges of her slowly blinking eyes.

She was high.

I walked up to her and spoke in a soft voice only she could hear.

"Miss Mcloughlin," I warned. "You intake a psychedelic on government grounds again, and you could be kicked out of the program. You best be wary."

Miss Mcloughlin's flirtatious posture suddenly tensed, her red-lipped smirk slowly fell, and her green eyes widened.

The room was silent. I could hear everyone breathing. I dropped my sharp look on Miss Mcloughlin to look at everyone else. Everyone except Agent Meyers— I'm still confused by her appearance— refused to meet my gaze as if I would reveal their deepest darkest secrets just by looking at them.

I hummed and walked back onto the stage, looking back at Miss Mcloughlin.

I spoke in Turkish. "I believe you owe an apology to Mr. Bollinger for your disruption."

"Yes," Konjet said, her voice low. "You've not only wasted his time but the other Nurses' time as well. You should know how much of a time crunch everyone is on."

Especially me.

I watched Miss Mcloughlin's lips move, but I didn't hear much.

"Louder, Miss Mcloughlin," Mr. Bollinger said in Turkish. "Or do you only speak when you wish to be spoken to?"

"I-I'm sorry," she said in Turkish.

"Who are you apologizing to?" Dr. Lee pushed.

"I'm sorry Mr. Bollinger."

"That's enough," I said to them.

"Who else should you apologize to?" Mr. Bollinger continued.

I glared at him. This was not a part of good authoritative etiquette.