Eve and the Faders

by Berneta L. Haynes

  Sitting in the living room later, she relaxed her feet on the ottoman. "I have to get home this evening to feed Mr. Pebbles, but I'll hang for a while."

  Zoey and Gabriel joined her on the sofa. Eve rested her head against Gabriel's shoulder and closed her eyes.

  "Eve," said Zoey. "Have you given any more thought to moving in here?"

  She opened her eyes and looked at Zoey who was running her finger along the rim of the wine glass. "I thought about it this week, just in light of how tight things are going to be while I work on landing a job or getting my old job back at Martin Delaney. But not very seriously. Why?"

  "It's still an option," Gabriel answered.

  Zoey sat the wine glass on the side table. "Promise me you'll consider it."

  "You guys are really gung-ho about me living here, aren't you? Like a cute little polyamorous family."

  "Yeah," said Zoey, leaning forward and kissing Eve's lips.

  Shaking her head, Eve smiled. "You know no one will understand our 'arrangement'. How will you explain it to other friends or family?"

  "I don't care what anyone else thinks, as long as you and Zoey are happy." Gabriel sat his wine glass on the other end table and faced Eve. "Do you care?"

  She shook her head. "Not really. Just saying folks will judge us."

  "Let them," said Zoey, kissing Eve's shoulders as Gabriel unbuttoned her shirt.

  Eve turned to Gabriel. "Do you love me?"

  "Until a year ago, I didn't think I'd ever love anyone but Zoey." With one hand against her cheek, he stared into her eyes. "Yes, I do. I love you."

  She brought his face to hers and kissed his lips gently. Her face a few inches from his, she turned to look at Zoey and smiled. "Okay, then. We can try living together."

  ***

  Lost in daydreams about her future with Zoey and Gabriel, Eve hummed and bobbed her head. She imagined herself back inside a high school classroom, teaching a bunch of temperamental kids, and the normalcy of it warmed her heart. Maybe I'll submit another application before bed tonight. I wonder if Don has responded to my email about coming back. Humming and digging inside her purse for her keys, she came up the stairs and stopped at her apartment door.

  She fell silent the moment she opened the door.

  On the sofa sat a man wearing a black suit. His back was facing her.

  "What the fuck?" was all she could say, as she managed to pull out her pepper spray. "Get out of my apartment," she yelled, pointing the pepper spray at him. But she lowered it when he turned around and fixed his green eyes on her. "Agent Grobeck? What is this?" A chill went through her as he stared at her.

  He stood, buttoned his blazer, and cautiously approached her. "Miss Cooper, I'm sorry to barge in like this."

  "This is totally inappropriate," said Eve, hanging back at the doorway instead of entering the apartment. Seeing him outside the office was disturbing enough. Thinking about how he’d broken in and probably gone through her personal things, both frightened and enraged her. "How did you get in?"

  "Please calm down and lower your voice."

  As something warm and furry brushed against her ankle, she jumped and screamed. A purr confirmed that it was Mr. Pebbles, and she exhaled. Not daring to take her eyes off Agent Grobeck, Eve used her foot to scoot the cat away.

  "Look, if you've come to try to change my mind, let me save you some time. I'm not going back. I appreciated the opportunity. But, like I said before, SPI wasn't the right fit for me."

  He stopped a foot or so away from her. "I'm willing to offer you a salary increase and further accommodations."

  "You already tried that, and I rejected it. Remember? I'm not the one for the job."

  "Miss Cooper—"

  "You know, there's something I'd like to know. Why are you so interested in me? Why do all this to keep me at SPI when there are obviously others like me you can recruit? Others who are more qualified than me." This question elicited an eerie smile from him that sent shivers throughout her body. She fought the urge to run. Why did this man always make her feel the urge to flee? Eve wondered. She folded her arms across her chest. "Look, thank you for the opportunity, but I'd like for you to leave."

  "Miss Cooper, please shut the door and let us talk privately. You can hear what I have to say, heed my advice, and come with me, or you can chance it on your own. It's up to you. I'm just asking that you let me make my pitch."

  Chance it on my own? What the hell does that mean? Eve's eyes couldn't have been wider. Hot anger rose up, barely below the surface at this point. "Excuse me?"

  "To be clear, I'm willing to make you an uncommonly generous offer not just because I know you'll excel at SPI. I care about your safety, Miss Cooper. Your safety means a great deal to me and many others."

  "My safety?" She stared at him.

  "May I have ten minutes of your time? That's all I ask."

  She sighed and relented. "Fine. Five minutes, that's it. But the door stays open."

  He flashed a smile that highlighted his pale, vacant eyes. "Thank you."

  She took a couple of steps forward but kept space between them. "How did you manage to get inside my apartment anyway?" she asked, momentarily glancing down to usher Mr. Pebbles away from the entry.

  At once, a nauseating odor that smelled vaguely like onions and gas fumes filled her nostrils. Black stars danced in front of her eyes, blurring everything around her as the room spun. She coughed and grabbed at her neck, struggling to breathe.

  "I have her," she heard Agent Grobeck say. His words were followed by the sound of a thud and total blackness.

  Faders and Fugitives

  6

  When Eve woke up, her head throbbed against the concrete floor of the empty room. She sat up and peered around, wondering if anyone was standing on the other side of the steel door. Was Agent Grobeck watching her? Sitting cross-legged and staring at the door, she tried to ignore the hunger pains in her stomach as she waited for his return.

  After a while, Agent Yu showed up instead, and cool relief washed over Eve. She figured if there were anyone who might help her, that person would be Agent Yu. She struggled to stand as the agent approached.

  "I'm here to take you to your session, Miss Cooper."

  "Agent Yu, what's happening? Why is he doing this?"

  She stared at Eve with a flat, emotionless gaze.

  "This is torture. He's torturing me, Agent. I don't understand what I did to—"

  "Miss Cooper, I warned you before. You brought this on yourself."

  Eve stepped back, thunderstruck by the coldness of Agent Yu's dark brown eyes. Had the coldness always been there? Did I just not see it before?

  "Come to me—slowly." Agent Yu tightened her fist around the Taser hooked to her belt holster.

  She reached the agent and whispered, "Can't you tell me what's going on? What I did?"

  "Not another word," she said, roughly grabbing Eve's arm.

  The room’s bugged. That’s probably why she won’t tell anything. Maybe I can try the telepathy thing with her. But she remembered she had no idea how she’d done it during class that day. Not sure what else to do, Eve kept quiet while the agent handcuffed her and led her out the room.

  They walked down the hallway, passing only a few people—armed guards and other personnel. Like the room she'd been held in, the walls of the hallway were bare and imposing. Nothing about the place looked familiar. Was she still in Chicago? Were there others like her who were being tortured and starved in this place? Or am I the only one here?

  At the end of the hallway, they went through a set of steel double doors and descended a short but steep staircase leading to another set of double doors. The sameness and repetition of the place made Eve's head spin. It felt like she was walking in circles.

  After a while, Agent Yu stopped and dialed a code into a small touchscreen box on the wall. The doors opened into a space resembling a classroom—ten desks in the center of the room, and whiteboards on each of the four walls.
It looked like the classrooms where she’d led training sessions.

  In front of one board, Agent Grobeck sat hunched over a desk and flipping through a manila folder. Were it not for his formal business suit, he would've looked like a typical schoolteacher.

  Agent Yu led Eve to a desk in the center of the room, handcuffed her right hand to the desk, and stepped aside.

  "Good morning, Miss Cooper," said Agent Grobeck closing the folder and regarding her with feigned surprise.

  Ignoring him, she studied the room and considered all the ways she might make her escape.

  He cleared his throat. "Let's try that again. Good morning, Miss Cooper."

  "Good morning, Agent Grobeck," she replied through clenched teeth, visualizing herself punching his smiling face.

  "That's better. I'd hoped this setting would make you feel right at home."

  Eve rolled her eyes and glared at him.

  "We have a lot to talk about, and I want you to be comfortable."

  "Sure you do," she mumbled, not looking at him.

  "What was that, Miss Cooper?" he asked.

  She hesitated for a moment but then narrowed her eyes on him. "I was just saying that, you know, despite being abused and handcuffed to a desk, I feel as comfortable as ever. You're so kind."

  He chuckled, standing up and buttoning his blazer jacket. "I knew from day one I liked this girl. She's got heart, doesn't she, Olivia?"

  Agent Yu's impassive stare didn't falter. Eve studied her, wishing she could hear what she was thinking. What plan had Agent Yu devised to get her out of this situation? Agent Yu would protect her. Right?

  As Agent Grobeck drew closer, Eve turned her attention to him. She stared at his face, noticing features she'd overlooked before. The slanted scar above his left eye appeared more prominent in the bright lighting, and there was a glint in his eyes that she'd seen only once before—during that moment in the hospital room after her mission. "Miss Cooper, there are some things I should’ve told you from the start."

  "Such as?"

  "Namely, you won't be returning to your regular life. That life is over. Among other things, a regular life would be a waste of your talents."

  "What are y—"

  "As you know, I wanted to do this the easy way, give you a nice salary and some perks. But it looks like that's not what you were destined for. Let’s hope your little tantrum doesn’t spark other resignations. But that's neither here nor there. The point is you're an SPI operative now, and you're going to start acting like it."

  "You’re forcing me to work for you."

  "That's a somewhat crass way to put it, but yes, Miss Cooper. In a manner of speaking."

  "You can't do this," said Eve, now struggling with the handcuffs and shackles. "What is wrong with you?"

  Before he could respond, Agent Yu slapped Eve so hard the desk slid sideways.

  "No more interruptions," she said.

  Agent Grobeck rested a hand on his colleague's arm, but he never detached his gaze from Eve. "It's fine, Olivia."

  Rubbing her stinging cheek with her free hand, Eve looked at Agent Yu in disbelief.

  "I'm sorry, Miss Cooper. Agent Yu isn't accustomed to subjects being so engaged. Usually, our subjects are a lot less talkative...well, until they start begging us to let them go. But I get the sense you're not the begging type, are you?"

  Eve's look of loathing was all the answer he needed.

  "I didn't think so. You people tend to have an overabundance of pride."

  "You people?" Eve's voice rang out in the room.

  "You and those with your ability, yes. There's a certain arrogance I've observed among you. I suppose it comes with the territory if you’re more powerful than regular humans. Who knows," he mused. "Now, as I was saying. You will resume your position as an operative. I know you have a lot of concerns, but I ask that you set aside your ego and consider the essential role you can play in protecting the security of your country."

  “You know, I’m tired of this ‘protecting the security of the country’ line. You can’t keep me here,” said Eve, staring daggers at him.

  He smiled. “Let me remind you that you were part of our first official class of trainees. Recruiting you by offering tempting incentives, like money and status, was Agent Yu’s idea. In the past, we used more aggressive methods. But Agent Yu thought a softer, gentler model might be more ethical. I’m still on the fence about it, as you can see.”

  "You've kidnapped me, tortured me, and trapped me here to force me to work for you. There’s a word for that. It starts with ‘s’." Her eyes skipped between both agents as she tried to determine which one she hated most.

  Agent Grobeck scoffed. "That description is a tad dramatic, Miss Cooper."

  As Eve looked at her shackled hand and considered her limited options for escape, she experienced an increasing sense of despair. She was stuck.

  After a moment of observing her like a hawk, Grobeck launched into a brief monologue about the purpose of her upcoming work.

  She noted key buzzwords sprinkled throughout his speech—words like "patriotism," "duty," "service," and "honor"—that echoed the speech Agent Yu had given during the first trainee meeting. While he droned on, Eve’s thoughts lingered on scenarios of escape and stopped at one idea. Teleporting. She realized she’d been too dazed and confused in her cell to consider it until now. She replayed the time she’d teleported from the lake to her apartment. She hadn’t teleported over such a distance since that night. Could she do it again? What would happen if she tried and only ended up across the room? He’ll know I have other abilities. If he figures that out, will I ever be free of him?

  Despair began to cloud her mind, but she tried to push it aside. There had to be a way out, and she was determined to find it.

  ***

  Eve's legs were tired and her belly rumbled with hunger when Agent Grobeck stopped at a door near the end of the hallway. A nervous man in a white robe greeted them before hurrying away. Meanwhile, an automated voice prompted Agent Grobeck to state his full name and title into a black box at the doorknob. He dialed a code into the touchscreen. A click followed, and the door opened to a large room with several hospital beds. Doctor Thomas greeted them and took Agent Grobeck aside.

  Standing next to Agent Yu near the door, Eve caught snippets of the exchange between Agent Grobeck and the austere doctor.

  "The chip is ready?" he asked.

  Doctor Thomas nodded. "But I need to check the battery one more time."

  For a while, Agent Grobeck conversed with the doctor, periodically casting curious glances at Eve.

  "We can’t have another forest...?" said Doctor Thomas.

  He tilted his head forward. "Yes. I’m trying to avoid that."

  They stared at Eve before turning around and continuing their whispered conversation.

  Forest? With a glance sideways at Agent Yu, Eve was tempted to ask the woman to clarify but stopped when she saw the expression on her face. A tinge of disgust had sailed over Agent Yu's face, her attention fixed on Agent Grobeck and Doctor Thomas.

  When Agent Grobeck returned to them, the look of disgust on Agent Yu's face vanished. She gave him a half-smile.

  "After the procedure is over, she's done for the day. Take her to her cell and come to my office. We have details to go over," he directed the agent. Without another word nor so much as a glance at Eve, Agent Grobeck headed to the door.

  Agent Yu grabbed Eve's arm in a pinching grasp and led her toward one of the beds.

  "Can you not squeeze so hard?" To Eve's surprise, Agent Yu loosened her grip and led her to the hospital bed.

  "Lay back. This won't take long."

  Eve hesitated at first. What were they about to do to her? Why shouldn't she make a run for it? Staring into Agent Yu's eyes, she searched for the woman she'd previously known, the woman who'd tried to help her. Her heart sank.

  Agent Yu locked her wrists and ankles to the bed, while Doctor Thomas fiddled with an electronic table
t that wasn't much bigger than a phone.

  Avoiding the gazes of both women, Eve stared at the ceiling and tried to visualize the best moments of her life. Why was it so difficult to fix her mind on a good moment?

  The first blast of pain caught her by surprise. When it shot through her right forearm, she jerked and flailed in an attempt to free herself. At the next shot of pain, she was floating high away from everything, sailing away from herself, from the doctor and Agent Yu. She was staring at her unconscious body on the bed, watching the doctor carefully slice her open and insert something into her arm. Everything looked small and hazy from so far away.

  There was serenity in this numbness. Peace. And was it just her eyes, or had someone dimmed the lights? She squinted, trying to make out the figures below. They were no more than dark shapes, growing smaller and smaller, as she lost consciousness.

  ***

  When she woke, she was lying on the surgery room bed, her wrists and ankles still strapped down. "What have you done to me?" she managed, thrashing and struggling with all her strength to get free.

  "Be still," shouted Agent Yu. "Be still, or I'll leave you here and let you piss yourself some more."

  But Eve persisted, thrusting her body up and down against the bed. "What have you done to me?"

  "I said be still." Agent Yu slapped her hard enough to momentarily blur her vision. "And not another word."

  Eve stopped moving and calmed herself, as Agent Yu undid the restraints. Her bandaged arm felt numb, as though it wasn't even attached to her body. The sensation was terrifying.

  "Get up. Now."

  As she sat up, sharp jolts of pain overwhelmed her, and stars danced before her eyes. She longed for the numb feeling again. “Agent Yu, please help me. You know this isn’t right. Please,” she murmured, her speech slurring as she tried to focus.