by Chloe Gunter
While the majority of Wetlands consistent of freshwater, I knew that the little silver fish I had seen preferred brackish and coastal waters. Internally thanking my father for his forced fishing bonding times growing up, I smiled, looking in the direction of where I had forced myself to look when I called out every observation. A mental note for myself that this was all just an illusion.
"The saline content of the water is off," I said simply, watching as the illusion started to disintegrate before my eyes, collapsing from the top down.
Left sitting on the concrete floor of the training room, my clothes damp and my lips dry, I smiled from my position as Ramsey, Reed and Beth entered the room. Reed offered me a hand, helping me rise before passing me a cold bottle of water that Ramsey had been holding.
"No one has ever gotten them all on the first time before," Beth commented, watching me keenly.
"I thought that was the point of the exercise," I said, looking around questioningly.
"The scenario is another metric of sorts we use in training to gauge where you're at and how much work you'll need in the area. We build, we fix the observations you point out, and we wait for a half hour to see how many you get. You finished the entire hologram with four minutes to spare."
Ramsey spoke matter-of-factly, his words making the levity of what I had just accomplished settle in and a flush of pride fill me.
Beth put a hand on my shoulder, giving me an encouraging squeeze, "I'll be sure to let Wellington know that you're more than focused and are a huge asset to the team."
A sudden bang in my brain had me stepping back and wincing, the familiar signature of Gage hastily trying to break down my walls.
Baby Bird, something isn't right with all of this.
"Char?" Reed asked, steadying me in his arms.
"Something is going on with the guys. I—"
The shrill sound of an alarm had us racing to the main area of the warehouse, the signal too coincidental to not be connected. The situation had just escalated, and I sure as hell was going to do everything in my power to figure out what the fuck was going on.
We found Lynx and another man I remembered from Conclave, called Crash, spread out before the massive glass wall, taming the alarms that were going off. They wore haptic gloves as they shifted information and news feeds around the screen with ease.
It wasn’t shots of Catania that filled the screen, but rather snowy visages. Crash called out to Lynx and a large live feed appeared on the glass, a massive covered trailer was pulling into a concrete building, the entire feed cast in shades of green to discern the images at night.
“What’s happening?” Beth asked, moving to stand behind Lynx and Crash.
Gage, what’s going on? I questioned quickly, having heard the distress in his voice moments earlier.
The weeks of feed we studied beforehand are all wrong. I don’t know how they managed to reflect GRAVITAS’s feed, but the port is way busier than we thought. Gage said quickly, obvious frustration in his tone. I’m not going to sugar coat it, our cover may get blown out of the water with this many eyes on us.
No matter what, stay safe. I know this is going to make it harder for you both to do your jobs, but if you think you’re compromised, then you do what you need to do, I replied back to Gage.
I promise, and I know it’s going to come up in your brief tomorrow morning after I send this over, so we just wanted you to be prepared. I need to get a handle on this. Love you, baby girl.
Love you too, both of you. Be safe, I told him before turning my attention back to the screens in front of me.
The twins needed to concentrate on the new developments in Catania, and I needed to focus on what had set off the Ethos alarms. Focusing my attention fully back on the monitors, I tried to discern the footage that I was viewing.
“It’s the mineral sensors we have planted in Northern Europe. When they were doing their scans, they detected and flagged a mass of radioactive material,” Crash advised as he continued to manipulate the feed, using his hands to zoom in closer.
“We’ll need to keep a close eye on the situation, the last thing this world needs is a World War III on its hands because some idiots decided they were greedy,” Beth said. “I have a meeting now with Wellington anyway, I’ll update him and see where he wants to go from here. Until then, just keep me updated.”
She arched her hands, blue trace glow appearing in the path and expanding into a buzzing, shimmering portal. She stepped inside without another word, leaving the room to follow her orders.
Beth wasn't just a background character in Ethos, she was a powerhouse and commanded the room without a thought.
I was officially impressed. That was my boyfriends' mom. Not only that, she was someone I was now determined not to disappoint, professionally and personally.
We spent the next half hour building and analyzing the feed and geographic information, building a workable file should we need to step in. I apprised them of what Gage had relayed, which caused Crash to anxiously yank at his hair before he stalked back to his chair.
"I don't believe in coincidence, but until we have the necessary information, we have to play it safe," Ramsey voiced, echoing my internal sentiments. "That signal that just went off is only located a couple of hours outside of the Uldavi situation I just finished handling, which means the implications could be farther reaching than we think."
Ramsey had mentioned the Uldavi situation during my first Conclave, but just like then, he didn’t offer any additional information on what exactly the ‘situation’ was. But Ramsey specialized in threat elimination and strategy. If he had seen something down the barrel of his scope that concerned him, and could possibly be linked to this warning, then I needed to listen.
"What can I do to help?" I asked.
"Make sure you're on your A game for your GRAVITAS assignments and finish learning the Keys as quickly as possible. We need you ready to go at a moments notice for Ethos," Ramsey said, his posture lined with tension.
"I’ll be ready," I promised.
In order to keep that promise I left the room, my own footsteps echoing in my head like a heartbeat, hammering home every second that I was delaying myself from being able to help Gavin and Gage. To really contribute to Ethos. I was paying for taking the extra time to process, yet again.
I headed for the training room, intent on practicing my Keys until my body gave out on me.
Walking with sure strides to the front of the room, I quickly placed down my bag and set up, briefly talking to the tech agent who was in the front of the room prepping the equipment I had requested for the seminar.
That afternoon I was instructing my first seminar for GRAVITAS on non-verbal communication. After my ranking in the GRAVITAS Games, they had asked me to do a cross-departmental session demonstrating how to read people.
My morning had been spent going over the new undoctored footage that Gage had managed to transmit back to us. Gavin had still managed to establish himself within the port authority. And although he didn't have the autonomy that we had originally hoped for, he still was in a position where he could review any imports or exports.
But despite me potentially having my brain scrubbed and my boyfriends being in a precarious situation, I still needed to make sure I was handling my GRAVITAS duties as well.
By the time it was ready for me to begin, the room was packed to the brim, even a few agents were standing along the back of the wall. A familiar brush against my mind had me scanning the crowd.
It was requested that all non-scheduled personnel attend. They sent the bulletin out on the tablets this morning.
My eyes locked on Ramsey where he stood, his head inclined slightly in acknowledgement and silent support.
Drawing in an even breath through my lips, I lowered my shoulders and raised my head high before making my way to stand dead center in front of the room.
I stayed perfectly still, only my eyes moving left to right over the crowd as I commanded their a
ttention without a word.
"For those of you who don't know me, I am Agent DeWitt. For the next hour, I'll be hitting the highlights of non-verbal communication. The goal is that by the end of this seminar, you'll not only be better at assessing threats in the field, but also be better at reading and communicating with your peers."
Postures had straightened and the majority of the people who were sitting leaned forward in their seats, just waiting to see what I would have to say next. People listened more when you stood still. When you spoke calmly and looked them straight in the eye.
"This will be an interactive session. I could show you textbook examples all day, but every single person is different. Let's start with a volunteer, someone who hasn't had any prior training in this field."
No one moved an inch, probably apprehensive of what volunteering would entail.
I raised an eyebrow mockingly, challenging them all, before a female agent in the first few rows raised her hand. I nodded to her, and she quickly rose and joined me in the front of the room.
"What's your name?" I asked her in a low voice.
"Agent Parker," she said, looking a little bit wary.
"Agent Parker," I said, turning to address the entire class, "have we met previously outside of this seminar?"
"No," she said, her brows furrowed slightly, her voice not carrying far.
"Once more for the back of the room, Agent Parker, please."
"Besides watching your performance during the games, I've never seen you before. This is the first time we've ever talked," she said louder, elaborating on my question just like I wanted.
"Agent Parker here is left handed, had chicken pox between the ages of five to seven, doesn't favor spicy foods, and is interested in finding a relationship."
"What?" she hissed, her face flushing. "I didn't volunteer so you could embarrass me."
"Trust me, if I wanted to embarrass you I could have divulged a lot more, that's not the type of person I am. This is a learning experience, and while you may be slightly uncomfortable, I'm asking that you stick with me through this."
I maintained eye contact with her, until she nodded and said, "Alright."
"How did you know all that?" a younger agent in the front row asked.
"She not only raised her left hand, but started her stride with the same side indicating a dominance. Her right cheek has a small pox scar, and given that she's probably in her mid to upper twenties, and the vaccine wasn't administered when she was born, that would most likely put her receiving it between five to seven. I also know that the mart had a lunch special of Thai today, one that I myself enjoyed. The faint hint of spice is there, but not the scent of the specific chili peppers which means that she probably ordered her dish mild. And as for looking for a relationship, well, she's a very attractive female who is under thirty and, based upon what I noticed before I started this seminar, can appreciate the physical attributes of the men in her row. But more than that, she's wearing a Claddagh ring on her right hand that is outward facing, meaning that her heart is open and receptive to love."
The two pull down screens at the front of the room showed a close up of me and Agent Parker, the latter of which had gone from flushed to down right red. Turning to one of the screens, I pulled a small laser pointer from my pocket.
"Now let's assess Agent Parker's threat level to me," I said, hearing a smattering of chuckles around the room. "Her jaw is clenched, which in this case is indicating her anger, but there are no lines or furrowing of her brows which can help you determine just how deeply a person is feeling. Her flush, which started as embarrassment, is now in anger as well, notated by the fact that it's now up to her hairline. If it's just cheeks or below, it most likely indicates something else," I said, looking back towards the crowd.
"Are we done?"
I stepped closer to her, bringing my lips close to her ear so that we wouldn't be overheard. "The guy sitting to your right is genuinely interested in you, more so than the other one who was just blatantly checking you out. He actually cared and valued what you were saying before we started."
Surprise filtered through her face before she gave me a grin, shaking her head as she strode to her seat, the obvious change in her demeanor noticeable to the room.
"Who's next? Fair warning, I won't be going easy on you."
This time a good third of the room volunteered, no doubt wanting to see if they could stand up to the challenge. I ended up choosing a man who quickly became aggressive, showing tells that he in fact, was not taking my observations of him lightly. I quickly wrapped up his session, pointing out the signs once again in his posture and facial expressions that showed if I pushed any further, this would not end well.
"Alright, we've got time for one more."
"Show us something difficult, someone with training," someone said from the right side of the room. "It's more likely that the people we'll encounter might have some kind of training."
Affirmation of the request went across the room, many people nodding at the suggestion.
I held up a hand, drawing their attention to me once again.
What do you say, Sarge? Are you up for it?
Ramsey's eyes glinted with possible retribution, but he nodded his head in assent.
"Agent Ramsey, mind joining me?" I asked with a small smile as whispered surprise filtered through the room as he walked to the front. He was so going to kick my ass for this later, and I was totally looking forward to it.
"By a show of hands, how many of you here have interacted with Agent Ramsey?"
About 80% of the room raised their hand, no surprise there since he had been in GRAVITAS for a few years.
"Full disclosure," I said walking the length of the room while Ramsey stayed stoically still dead center, "I've interacted with him on multiple occasions as well."
Is that what the kids are calling it these days? he asked mockingly, in my mind. First you watch, and then you listen. Darling, we've done more than 'interact'.
I knew he wasn't going to let that go. Push me at home, not here, I warned.
"Show of hands again. For those of you who've interacted with Agent Ramsey, would you agree that he's a very disciplined individual?”
All of the hands shot up rather quickly causing the rest of the room to let out a small chuckle, myself included. Ramsey simply clasped his hands in front of himself, like he didn't have a care in the world, his face completely closed off. It revealed nothing of the sarcastic, deep man I had come to consider a close friend. No doubt exactly the way he wanted it, always keeping his cards close to his chest.
"We're going to do something a little different this time. I am going to try and get a reaction out of Agent Ramsey here. I'll be facing him and writing things, observations about him, jokes, notes that might anger him... the possibilities are endless on what emotion I might try and provoke. Your task is to watch the monitors, and try and detect any changes that could clue you into his emotions. We're only going to do this for one minute, then I'll go back through the feed with you."
The faces in the crowd grew eager before I turned around and faced Ramsey, quickly grabbing a blank notebook and pen. I wrote a few different phrases on various pages so I wouldn't cut down into the time.
"Ready?" I asked Ramsey who was watching me unnervingly.
Do your worst. Ramsey nodded his head is assent.
"Alright, folks. One minute on the clock."
The first twenty seconds were a war. Me flipping through random questions, and his face staying completely blank of any expression.
Deciding I needed to switch it up with an unexpected bang, I flipped to the third page, making sure no one else could see the notebook. The page depicted a crude drawing of Ramsey bending Reed over a table with a big question mark next to them.
Ramsey's lip twitched and the corners of his eyes creased, the room calling out various reactions at the first sign of emotion from Ramsey. Most of the class recognized his amusement, before he quickly locked
down his face again.
You're not going to tell me are you? I asked him mentally.
It's not any of your business, is it? Ramsey questioned back, his face still devoid and shut back down.
Quickly writing on the pad so as to not clue anyone in, I turned it around and showed him.
His jaw tightened, and his chin lifted slightly. Shouts around the room ranged from anger to indignation, but they were all off. That slight head tilt, the one that echoed the first time I had ever seen Ramsey, and I knew it could only mean one thing.
Desire.
My watch beeped, signaling the end of our minute as I slowly closed the notebook and shielded the last words I had written to Ramsey, too scared to even voice them in my head to him.
What if I want it to be my business?
Ramsey moved past me reclaiming his spot on the back wall, his eyes were glued to my every move as I went through the feed and finished out the seminar. The warning was clear, I was playing with fire. The only question was whether or not I wanted to get burned.
Walking into my room and setting my stuff down, I made my way to my bed, falling face down into the pillow top. My heart was heavy and full at the same time, the deep desire to reach out to the men I loved pulsing through me. Sending a tender brush against the place in my mind that held the connection, I waited until it synced, Gavin's voice drifting into my mind.
I've missed you, cara. How are you?
I filled him in on my day and what happened at the seminar. His amusement was present when I told him about Ramsey, before our conversation turned more serious.
Gage is sending over more live feed as we speak. Please don't worry about us, cara. If things escalate or something raises too many questions, we always have the option of just portaling back. We're just trying to keep everything on the up and up since this is a GRAVITAS mission, not an Ethos one.
