Eve and the Faders

by Berneta L. Haynes

  Eve scoffed. "Why?"

  "Hell if I know," AJ said, shrugging. "I mean, look at how good you are at using your ability."

  "I don't think I’m any better at it than anyone else—"

  "Well, who cares. Cheers. You deserve it!"

  Eve laughed. "You've known me for, like, a minute. How would you know I deserve anything?"

  AJ guzzled the rest of her beer. "I read people well. Where are you from?"

  "Indiana."

  "I knew you weren't from Chi-Town," AJ replied, finishing off her beer. "Something too soft about you."

  Eve grinned. "Soft? Whatever. So you grew up here?"

  AJ nodded. "Lawndale. Then my mom got married, turned bougie, and moved to Oak Park right before I graduated high school. Anyway, don't worry. I like soft." She winked, standing up. "Now, you want to get to this game, or what?"

  Eve looked from the VR headset in AJ's hand to the television screen mounted to the wall. She took another sip of her cocktail. "I've never played a virtual reality game. I don't know how this works."

  "Hey?" said a familiar voice.

  When Eve looked at the door, she saw Zoey next to Gabriel. A wide smile spread across Eve's face, while Zoey appeared puzzled.

  "Never figured you for one to come to a VR bar," Zoey said. She pushed some loose curls behind her ear and smiled. Without waiting for Eve to respond, she stepped forward and extended her hand to AJ. "Hi, I'm Zoey. And this is Gabriel."

  "AJ. I love that dress, by the way." Barely disguising her flirtation, she looked Zoey up and down once and merely glanced at Gabriel.

  "Zoey, this is a new colleague of mine," Eve said, approaching Zoey and planting a kiss on her cheek. "So, what are you two doing here? I figured real gamers wouldn't waste time with basic VR games like this...I mean, the reviews said the games are super basic."

  "We like the vibe, and the cheap drinks," Gabriel chimed in.

  AJ laughed. "A man of my own heart. You guys want to join us?"

  Eve sighed. The last thing she needed was an awkward evening with Zoey, who was shooting AJ hostile looks every other second.

  "Sure," said Gabriel, oblivious to the intense but silent exchange occurring between his wife and Eve.

  "Awesome. Hey, Gabriel," said AJ, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Let me get you one of those cheap drinks."

  Without hesitation, he accepted the offer and they headed to the bar, leaving Eve and Zoey alone in the room.

  "She's cute," said Zoey, as Eve dropped onto the sofa.

  "She's a colleague."

  Zoey sat next to her and closed the space between them. "Hmm-huh."

  "You know, jealousy isn't attractive on you, Zoey." This is why our relationship didn't last in college. Well, that and you cheated on me with a law school girl and then married Gabe two years ago. She sipped more of her cocktail.

  "I'm sorry. You're right." She squeezed Eve's hand. "Seeing her with you made me feel like that lovesick college girl again, watching my girlfriend get hit on by girls way hipper and sexier than me."

  "There was never anyone sexier than you. And, anyway, I'm not the one who ended up banging one of those girls and breaking us up."

  "Touché." Zoey giggled, her face flushing pink. She held up Eve's hand and kissed it.

  Eve brushed her lips against Zoey's neck. "Guess what happened to me today at work? I got a promotion."

  "Damn, girl. That quick?"

  Eve smiled.

  "You are so sexy right now," she whispered, slipping her hand inside Eve's pants. "I could make love to you right here."

  Gabriel and AJ returned with drinks. A look of confusion clouded AJ's face when Zoey kissed Eve with enough passion to make a sailor blush. After a moment, Zoey stood and approached her husband, who handed her a cocktail.

  AJ surveyed them; her eyebrows raised. Smiling, she sat next to Eve and kicked her feet up on the table. "I think I've found my people," she said, toasting with her third IPA of the night. "Cheers to you, Eve. You're a luckier woman than I realized."

  ***

  As the trainees gathered their belongings and filed out the meeting room, Eve lingered near the front desk. She stuffed her papers inside her large tote bag, shut down the computer, and checked the time. She had a one-hour break until the next session and wondered if she should run to the cafe next door to pick up a sandwich. When she saw Agent Grobeck approaching her, she wished she'd made a dash for the cafe. It would've spared her from having to interact with this man whose very presence irked her.

  "Miss Cooper, how was your first class? I only caught the tail end, but from the looks of it, everyone seemed engaged."

  She slung her bag over her shoulder. "Thanks. I tried to make it interactive by pairing people up to practice with each other. I don't know if it was effective, or what outcome I’m looking for. And it felt a bit weird because some of them are so good at cloaking that I’m not sure what I can teach them.”

  “Imagine how much weirder it would feel if you didn’t have the skill and had to teach them,” he said, smiling. “If it helps, think of yourself as a facilitator. Just like you, they already know how to use their skill. You’re facilitating a class that allows them to practice and refine their skill.”

  She nodded. “It’s mostly tricks I used with my high school kids to get everybody relaxed."

  "Sounds like you’re on the right track, and you have Agent Yu there to lean on for guidance," he said. "Do you have a moment?"

  Eve groaned internally and smiled. "Yes. Sure."

  "Great. I'd like to speak with you in my office." He motioned for her to follow him and continued to engage her in small talk until they arrived at his office.

  It was a dim room, the only source of light provided by the floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked a cloudy, rainy Chicago skyline. A slender man about six feet tall stood in front of the window and peered out. Eve surveyed the stranger, his curly hair cropped above his ears and his hands in the pockets of his black pants. He turned around as Agent Grobeck approached the desk. Light brown eyes that conveyed an unmistakable seriousness accented his cream-colored face.

  "Miss Cooper, this is Mauricio Candela, an operative who joined SPI a while back."

  The man remained silent and didn't come forward or extend his hand.

  "Please close the door and have a seat, Miss Cooper."

  She shut the door and sat in the chair opposite the desk. Agent Grobeck strolled to the bookshelf that lined one of the walls, while Mauricio resumed looking out the window. Eve watched in silence as the agent's hand swept over the spines of the books until he stopped and pulled out what looked like a worn mass market paperback book. He returned to his desk and laid the book down.

  "I'm told this is one of your favorite books, and I believe you've taught it regularly?"

  She looked at the book. Fledgling by Octavia Butler. "Yes. I've taught it for years. My students always enjoy it."

  "I think you can tell a lot about someone if you know what they like to read. For instance, your love of this book—of this author—tells me that you have a strong sense of right and wrong, justice and injustice, that you're someone who understands the value of harmony among different types of people. It tells me that you recognize the need to right past wrongs and make the world better for everyone. Am I right?"

  "Um...I suppose so," said Eve, trying not to look perturbed by the strangeness of the conversation. She looked from him to Mauricio, who was staring out the window with his back to them. Clearing her throat, she looked at Agent Grobeck and smiled. "I'm sorry, what is it you wanted to speak with me about?"

  He sat behind the desk. "About you, the person. As you know, part of the purpose of this training is for SPI to learn more about the trainees."

  "But SPI already knows everything there is to know about me."

  "Not quite. We know basic facts that can be externally verified, sure. But do we know you, your feelings, and deeply-held worldview? Not really. We can only guess from the data
. But because we want each of our operatives to be successful and comfortable with their duties, we need to get more insight about the person beyond the data. That's the only way to guarantee that we place you appropriately once this six-month FIO training concludes. Some of you will require additional weapons training, while others will be placed on more covert assignments. Your performance during this six-month period will enable us to make that determination. As I’m sure Agent Yu has explained, our goal is to ensure that you all become our elite team of counter-terrorism operatives, able to effectively disrupt trade and exchanges of items that present a danger to our national security."

  "I see," she replied. "So you're going to be having a series of individual conversations like this with all the trainees?"

  Agent Grobeck leaned forward and cupped his hands together on the desk. "Do you mind if I ask you some personal questions?"

  "About?"

  "Your family, your childhood."

  "Oh, okay. Yes, that's fine."

  "Great. Mauricio will join us, if that's okay. As I want him to take over these personal interviews with the new trainees, I'd like for him to observe. Is that okay with you, Miss Cooper?"

  Eve looked at Mauricio, and he turned to face them now. For the first time, he smiled at her. She nodded to Agent Grobeck. "Sure."

  ***

  AJ stretched out on the sofa and scrolled through Facebook on her phone. "It's probably just protocol."

  "I don't know, AJ. This Grobeck guy is...off-putting. I've thought it since I met him that first day. And this meeting was so beyond awkward." Eve added olive oil and onions to the pan, turning up the heat. "I follow my instincts, and my instincts are screaming to me that something is wrong with this agency."

  AJ smiled at something she was looking at on her phone. "Like what, Eve?"

  "I don't know. I—"

  "Look, they're trying to make sure they place us in suitable positions after the training. I'm sure that's what the meeting was about. Don't worry so much."

  "I know. You're probably right." Eve added more onions to the pan, stirred in some tomatoes, and reduced the temperature to low. The fragrance of the rosemary, garlic, oregano, and a plethora of other herbs filled her nostrils. The water began boiling in the pot, and she added the linguine. "Annie, play Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got To Give It Up’," Eve told the virtual assistant.

  "Good choice," AJ replied from the living room.

  The upbeat kick, snare, and hi-hat melody flooded the room, and AJ rose from her seat, hips swinging and fingers snapping. Something about the synthesizer and Marvin Gaye's falsetto made Eve close her eyes and start singing along. She danced toward AJ, who had turned the living room into her own private dance floor. For five minutes, they laughed and danced and twirled about the room, letting the saxophone transport them to a 1970s dance hall full of the flyest, smoothest people they'd never met.

  Then, the phone rang.

  As if jolted awake from an all-engrossing dream, Eve stopped dancing and opened her eyes. The cell phone rang from the kitchen table. She hurried to get the phone while AJ continued dancing like there had been no interruption. She didn't recognize the number but answered it anyway.

  "Miss Cooper? This is Agent Yu."

  Eve quickly lowered the volume of the music.

  "Hi, Agent Yu. This is Eve."

  "Miss Cooper, I don't mean to call you at this hour after work, of course. So I'll be quick."

  "It's fine." She turned off the heat under the pot of linguine and took it over to the sink to drain off the water.

  "You met with Agent Grobeck today?"

  "Yes, right after my class. He asked about my background, childhood stuff and—"

  "Miss Cooper, I'm excited about your prospects at SPI. I think you're a natural for this work."

  "Thank you, Agent. I'm...that means a lot."

  "Because of that, I want to urge you to be careful with Agent Grobeck."

  Eve was silent for a moment, not sure what to say. "I'm sorry? But what do you—"

  "I won't say much right now other than to be careful. Take his kindness with a grain of salt."

  Stumbling over her words, Eve replied, "What do you mean?"

  "The truth is this training program was my idea because I think it’s important that our operatives care about the work and feel a sense of purpose. Agent Grobeck had other ideas that...didn’t go so well in the past. Just be careful, keep your head down, and do your job. I want to make sure that this training is successful so that your class becomes the first of many."

  "I don't understand—"

  "Miss Cooper, just take my advice."

  Before Eve could say another word, there was a click, and the call ended. She stared at the phone for a moment and laid it on the countertop. When a burning smell caught her attention, she rushed to the stove to turn off the heat under the frying pan. "Damn it. Why is it cooking so fast on low?" she groaned, stirring the tomatoes and thankful that most of it was salvageable.

  "Who was that on the phone? You look like you saw a ghost," said AJ, coming into the kitchen. She sat at the table.

  "Nobody. It's nothing."

  AJ looked at her incredulously but shrugged. "Okay. Is the food done?"

  "Yeah," said Eve, removing plates from the cabinet and puzzling over the strange call from Agent Yu.

  4

  Scrolling down the screen on her phone, Eve smiled at the beautiful numbers that represented her checking account balance, which included a signing bonus and her first month’s salary. In her entire working life, she'd never seen that much money in her account at one time. As she sat at a lounge in Logan Square waiting for Zoey and Gabriel, she paid her bills online—the delinquent property tax bill, rent, electricity, credit card, student loan, phone, and internet—and thought about how much money she'd have left over to deposit into savings. So this is what it feels like to not have to worry about money so much?

  "Miss, is there anything I can get you started with while you wait for the others? A drink or appetizer?" asked the server. Holding a small notepad and pin, he waited for her to respond.

  "We're just getting drinks. I'll take a margarita with ice, sugar on the rim."

  The man dashed to the bar, leaving Eve alone to continue daydreaming about her newfound financial security.

  "Do you come here often?" Zoey whispered, her voice like silk. She brushed her lips against the back of Eve's neck.

  Eve smiled at Zoey and Gabriel.

  "My goodness, Eve, you look so fucking hot. Since when do you wear lipstick? And what in the world did you do to your hair? I love it," she exclaimed. “Just a month at that place, and you’re already looking like a different person. Hell, maybe you should’ve changed careers a long time ago.”

  Grinning, Eve turned her head left and right so that they could take in her new haircut. "I thought I'd change things up a bit and go for a tapered look."

  Zoey whispered, "If I could, I'd lay you on that table right now and—"

  "Here's your margarita," said the server, placing a tall glass on the table and looking from Zoey to Gabriel. "Is there any drink I can get you started with?"

  Not missing a beat, Gabriel replied, "She'll have a Strawberry Hennessey Island, and I'll take whatever hoppy beer you have on draft."

  "Sounds good. And I'll bring waters as well," the server said.

  They joined her on the sofa once the waiter departed.

  "I paid the property tax bill on my family home," said Eve, beaming at them.

  Zoey squealed and hugged her. "Oh my God, congrats."

  "I can't imagine how relieved you are," said Gabriel.

  Eve slurped the margarita. "I don't know what I would've done if I'd lost the house. My mom did everything in her power to keep it. It's the only thing I own, you know."

  "It would've been like losing part of her, wouldn't it?" asked Zoey.

  "I think so."

  Zoey patted her thigh. "Well, cheers. Crisis averted. Meanwhile, you might want to
think seriously about kicking your dad to the curb. I can’t believe that asshole left you with the property tax bill."

  "Don’t ruin the mood by bringing him up. I wanted you two here to celebrate and soak in the moment." She looked at Gabriel when he squeezed her hand.

  Leaning against him, she gazed at Zoey. "I don't know what I'd do without you two sometimes."

  The server returned with Zoey's and Gabriel's drinks, and they wasted no time raising their glasses to toast Eve.

  "But that's not my only news," said Eve. "I go on my first field assignment tomorrow."

  Zoey's eyebrows went up. "Like...on some 007 shit?"

  "Nah, nothing that sexy." Eve laughed.

  ***

  Lying on the hotel bed and enjoying plush pillows the next day, she closed her eyes and tried to settle her racing thoughts. What if she failed this first assignment? What if she screwed it up somehow?

  “Hey, couldn’t we have met somewhere else? Why was it necessary for us to check into this hotel? Not that I’m complaining—I love these pillows—but we’re still in Chicago, so why couldn’t we meet at the office or at a coffeehouse, or wherever?” asked Eve.

  “This room offers more privacy than meeting in a public place. Plus, I wanted us to be as close as possible to the location of your assignment, which is why we didn’t meet at the office.” Agent Yu paused. "Here are the details." She placed a slender electronic tablet on the pillow next to Eve's head.

  She grabbed the tablet and turned it over in her hands, searching for the power button. When she pressed her thumb against the dark screen, it lit up. "60.0" appeared at the center of a blue screen and began to count down in reverse. Once it reached "1.0," the screen went black and opened to an unfamiliar screen. Eve tapped on the document icon that read "Op. 21" and scanned the text.

  Assignment: Retrieve item from location by any available means. Draw no attention. Return item within 24 hours to nearest SPI branch and provide corresponding code.

  Item: Drive 21 contains valuable information that could be weaponized and leave the US vulnerable to cyber and physical attack.

  Location: 880 West Madison, Suite 2600, Room 18, Chicago, IL. Item believed to be in a safe box inside a desk drawer.