CLOUD NINE

Chapter 22

"What?" Cyanide's eyes darted back and forth between them.

"I mean, Nickel and Sodium together make up Ni-Na." Alizeh tried a smile.

"Oh. Seems like my girl studied well." Lady A gave a small laugh, oblivious to the drama unfolding in the room.

"Yeah! That's a cute name. How come I didn't think about it earlier?" Nickel Sodium gave a dry smile, her eyes still fixated on Alizeh. If she recognized her, she didn't let it through. Cyanide seemed to sigh in relief before bringing her face back to neutral.

"So we came to you about the project End Game. What are the signs of progress from your side?"

"Look. We're not the inventors and the engineers," Lady A waved her hand in dismissal. "That's the business of Cloud Four. But if you need information on what they're doing, why don't you ask Mr Gear? As far as I know, the Invisibility shields are being produced in mass and also our trackers are everywhere on your cloud."

"Actually Gear has severed connections with us. We thought you might know," Cyanide's remark had an undertone of worry.

"What? You don't think something bad happened, do you?" Lazy A whipped out her phone, speed dialling a number. A tense silence fell in the room as the empty rings were heard at the other end. "Damn!" lady a muttered under her breath. She dialled again and they all waited with bated breath.

"Hey there," someone had picked up the phone.

"Gear? You there? Esta todo bien?" she asked.

"Todo esta bien, " a male voice answered from the other end.

"I thought something bad happened. Cyanide wasn't able to contact you." Lady A relaxed visibly.

"There was a minor connection failure. Don't worry about it. Even if we're caught they wouldn't take us alive, " the voice at the other end chortled.

"Same here pal. " Lady A nodded. It struck Alizeh as weirdly morbid as to how they could speak about their own death so calmly.

"No time to be sappy, you two. Let's get down to business," Cyanide just seemed bored. "What is the condition of the carrier drones and you promised you'd come up with something to teleport us back and forth."

Her companion just looked at her, her mouth contorted into a frown. "Cyanide. Lovely to meet you again," Gear bit back. "And the carrier drones are good to go. So are the teleporters. Just since it's not yet tested, I can't guarantee it'd be that effective. Any mistake would get you lost in another cloud or worse put you back on earth. They could even fry you alive. They aren't toys, " Gear's voice was grave.

"But you need to do something. We can't wait forever, " ice dripped from Cyanide's voice. Alizeh wondered what else she hid behind those pretty doll-like lips of hers.

"Ahh my dear, why not? Please send one of your men over here to be the test subject and we'll guarantee you results in two days," Mr Gear's voice was steady and unfaltering.

When Cyanide didn't reply, Gear's voice turned gentle again as he addressed Lady A, "You don't need to worry, Lady. I'm sure I can give you good news soon. Till then, bear with me please."

"Sure. Take your time," Lady A cut the call, turning back to Cyanide, "Why are so picky and negative all the time? They're doing the best they can."

"Well, you try decoding and encoding all that shit the entire day. There's not a single hacker on the team except me. My head aches constantly now, " Cyanide shrugged.

"Oh, so this is the hacker," Alizeh thought.

"You're just sitting and doing work in your secluded room, Cyanide," Lady A spoke slowly as if teaching a particularly dumb child. "I'm out in the forefront always fight to keep the group safe. How much headache do you think that is?"

Cyanide just shrugged in her nonchalant way.

"I'd appreciate a bit more of cooperation from you the next time if you really care about Project End Game. I guess we're done here. You may leave," Lady A got up, the dismissal clear in her voice.

Cyanide's calculating eyes regarded her coldly before she turned back and stormed out of the room. Her companion shot a frantic look at Alizeh before following in her heels.

"Bitch," Lady A muttered under her breath.

"I'm sorry to pry, ma'am. But what is project End Game?" Alizeh asked carefully.

"I expected that question from you, but you're too new in here to know that yet. Just remember it can change the entire world on the Cloud kingdom as we see it now."

"Okay," Alizeh nodded, though not satisfied. How did she expect Arya to trust her yet? This was all too new for her.

"Your job is done. You may take your weekend leave," Lady A gestured with her hands.

"That means I can go back to Cloud Nine?" Alizeh felt hopeful about seeing her friends again.

"There isn't an issue with that if you know how to hold your tongue."

The person that smiled at her wasn't Lady A anymore. It was her employer, Arya.