Zora and the thin guy led the way, Cindy falling behind because she kept pausing to look at stuff. Some of the tech here was way beyond anything she'd ever seen, or even heard about. There were rows of what must be weapons; weirdly shaped things in jars; huge, obscure machines that nearly filled some rooms.
"By the way, I'm Marc. This is Zora, Rodrigo, and Death," the man said.
"Death?" Cindy asked, looking at the short, mousy girl he indicated. Her auburn hair was so long and curly it was nearly as big as her.
"Oh, yeah," Death laughed. "See, my name is Meredith, but everyone always called me Dith for short. Then I took an interest in medicine, and it started getting accidentally mispronounced every single time." She shrugged.
"Death here is our resident doctor. She knows everything there is to know about humans, animals, and anything thing else we might find," Marc said. Death blushed.
"I am Rodrigo. I am the technological specialist. I reverse engineer any foreign technology we acquire, study it, and enhance it to further our own means," he said.
Cindy shook his hand. "Look, its been very nice meeting you all, but I really have to go. I'm super late as is."
"Cindy. We've told you, you aren't leaving. Do you still not understand?" Marc asked.
"No, I've heard you say that. But if you don't let me go, then I can sue you for kidnappings. And there goes all your government funding. You would never let your organization get shut down over something like that," she said.
Death ducked her head and bit her lip. Zora and Rodrigo smirked.
"Yeah, the government. One violation and they'd shut down a whole division. But with a private company, we aren't watched too carefully. Everyone seems to have a convenient blind spot when it comes to us because we're under a separate set of rules, and what we do is in everyone's best interest," Marc said.
"You can't force me to analyze," she said. "For all you know, I could just be saying buzzwords in a random order."
"We don't have to. Not with you, at least. You'd analyze it anyway. It's too great a problem to pass up because you're a little upset. Come and see," Marc said, and they all filed down another hall. Cindy frowned, but followed anyway. She may as well see what all the fuss is about.
YOU ARE READING
256
Mystery / Thriller256. A number scattered across the universe. Every time something extraordinary happens, there it is. Why? How? Is this a message? And if so, then who from? No one has any answers. So ICE (inexplicable circumstances and emergencies) starts investiga...
