“What about a deal if he talks?”
“I’ll leave it to the lawyers to figure that out. How is Kennedy?”
“Better than last night, but Wendy is nervous about a spike in her blood pressure. It’s probably stress related.”
Dustin considered this, “That makes sense. Anything I can do?”
“Now that you mention it. I talked with Brett and Jennifer and we thought maybe a break from campus would be nice?”
“You realize that someone broke into the NSA to try and poison that girl yesterday?” Dustin questioned.
“Correction, he was already inside the NSA building.”
Dustin threw his hands into the air, “Are you crazy Taylor?”
“Dustin, she isn't a prisoner. If we don’t find a balance, she could decide to get up and leave. We couldn’t stop her. You should’ve seen her when I talked to her earlier. When I brought up the possibility of Andrew working for the previous company that had kidnapped her, she steadfastly denied it. She is human, we have to remember that first.”
“She really denied it?” Dustin asked, surprised.
“The NSA title isn’t always enough; we need to gain her trust.”
“What about saving her life?”
“One good deed doesn’t create trust; it is built up over time. Dustin, I think she really needs to get out. Surely there is somewhere we can go to get away. I’m asking for one night.”
Dustin nodded, “I’ll see what I can put together, but don’t tell Kennedy anything until I figure it out.”
“I can do that, thank you Dustin.” Taylor replied as Dustin walked out the door.
Two more hours passed, and Kennedy was done for the day. Taylor hadn’t heard from Dustin yet, so they went back to their apartments.
“Would you mind grabbing me a snack?” Kennedy asked. “I think I’m done with people for today.”
“You are asking me to leave you?” Taylor asked as they stopped by her front door.
“You said this place is secure right?”
“I didn’t think you cared about all that,” Taylor said smiling. This was a good sign. Surely, she was feeling better than the previous day. “I’ll go grab a bag of snacks so you can have some in your room.”
“Thank you,” Kennedy said as she scanned her fingerprint.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Taylor said as he made sure the door closed completely behind her.
∆∆∆
In the apartment, Kennedy waited for Taylor to return. After all the testing and prodding for the day, the silence of her room welcomed her. Before all this, she enjoyed being alone. Now, her fear battled that past emotion. She was determined to be brave.
Kennedy tried to think about who else could have been behind the attack. She thought of Ryan working in his medical lab, filling a syringe with that poison. There was no way. Jordan did have an angry streak, but so did lots of people. Plus, she had only been here four days. Or was it more? Could Jordan have found her that fast? If they could find her, who else could.
Wandering around her apartment, Kennedy found all kinds of interesting things. Some of the décor in the room also doubled as security devices. Kennedy wasn't exactly sure what they did, but she found buttons, computer screens, and latches in several locations.
After finding half a dozen hidden switches, Kennedy couldn't keep her curiosity subdued any longer. Selecting a button located underneath a vase on a bookshelf, she pressed the button and looked around the room. For a moment nothing happened, and then she heard a clicking noise. The bookshelf in front of her opened up like in a James Bond movie.
“Cool!” Kennedy said as she saw a ladder going down into a brick lined circular hole. She looked down; the ladder appeared to drop at least twenty feet. Glancing around the room, she shrugged and proceeded to climb down.
Once her head dropped below floor level, the bookshelf closed back up, leaving her in the hole. Luckily, there were lights that allowed her to navigate. Not so luckily, there didn’t appear to be a way to open the bookcase from the other side.
“Great,” Kennedy said as she made her way down to the bottom of the ladder.
The tunnel was also circular, and brick lined. Both directions went off into the distance. The tunnel was barely wider than Kennedy, and about seven feet tall at the highest point. The sides of the tunnel indented for doors every once and awhile, but all of them were locked. There were also other ladders that came from the ceiling like hers had.
Several minutes passed and Kennedy knew she wouldn’t be able to point out which ladder she had come down on. She was lost. But the excitement kept her going and she enjoyed the distraction.
Twenty or so doors passed without any unlocking, before Kennedy finally reached one that opened. Cautiously, Kennedy peered inside and found herself looking at a staircase going up and down.
“Why not?” Kennedy said to herself as she decided to go up.
After climbing one level up, Kennedy found herself in a hallway that looked much like the one outside her apartment.
“This looks promising,” Kennedy said walking down the hallway.
“Hey,” Kennedy heard someone say behind her. She turned and saw a man about forty, wearing a pinstripe suit, with brown hair, and thick black glasses walking towards her.
“Hi,” Kennedy said, trying to act like she belonged there. Of course, her casual attire probably gave her away.
“I don't recognize you, are you supposed to be here?”
“Sorry, I'm new, Joy Brain, nice to meet you. I'm just getting back from a field mission.”
“Joy Brain,” the man questioned, and Kennedy had a hard time keeping her face straight. It was the best name she could think of on the fly.
“And you are?” Kennedy prompted.
“Jesse Franklin,” the man said, still looking Kennedy over. “Where is your badge?”
“Oh, I left it at my desk again, shoot, I better go grab it. It was very nice to meet you,” Kennedy said walking down the hall away from Jesse.
“Nice to meet you too,” Jesse said from behind.
Kennedy rounded a corner and almost burst out laughing. When was the last time she had laughed? She smiled, it felt good to laugh again.
Soon, Kennedy found a more populated area, and no one questioned her presence there. She roamed around, having no idea where she was going. She explored offices, break rooms, conference rooms, and saw hundreds of filing cabinets. Soon she became bored with the whole area. Nothing seemed remarkably interesting at all. Taking a seat in one of the conference rooms, Kennedy looked longingly at the vending machine, she was still hungry.
“Having fun yet?” someone asked, and Kennedy almost jumped out of her chair. She turned and saw Taylor walk in and sit next to her.
“How did you? Where did you?”
“What kind of bodyguard would I be if I just let you roam around the building unaccompanied?” Taylor asked, smiling.
“You followed me?”
“I got alerted when you activated the escape route. It took me a little while to find you in the tunnel, but I caught up to you as you entered the staircase.”
Kennedy blushed, “So you saw me with that Jesse guy?”
Taylor smiled, “Yup.”
“Well that's embarrassing.”
“On the contrary, I thought it was quite entertaining. Plus, you held your own Joy Brain, impressive.”
Kennedy put her head down on the table, “I guess the last two and half weeks have really changed me.”
Kennedy suddenly perked up, “You were supposed to bring me a snack.”
“And a snack I brought,” Taylor said, pulling a muffin out of his pocket.
“Thank you.”
“I'm assuming that since you left your apartment you feel comfortable with other people again?”
“I kind of forgot about the other night for a moment. But I can't live my life afraid of everyone.”
“I’m glad to hear. On that note I have a surpris
e.” Taylor said.
“I don’t know if I feel like a surprise,” Kennedy admitted.
“Do you want to break out of here and see a movie?”
“In a theater?” Kennedy asked.
“Yes! It is even one of those fancy ones where they bring you your meal with a press of a button.”
“I’ve heard of those,” Kennedy admitted. “That sounds like a nice break.”
“Great,” Taylor said, pulling his phone out. “Why don’t you give your mom a call and when you get off, we’ll leave.
“In here?” Kennedy asked.
Taylor smiled, “We are in a conference room, it’s ok. Plus, you are the one who led us here.”
Kennedy laughed, that was twice in one day. “I see how it is, fine, I will.”
The next half an hour Kennedy talked with her mom while Taylor watched her from a cubical outside of the conference room. Once she was done, she opened the door and Taylor got up to join her. Back in the hallway she looked back and forth, not sure of which way to go.
“Left,” Taylor prompted.
“Thanks,” Kennedy said as she started her way.
Taylor led the rest of the way to the front entrance of the building. Outside three SUVs were waiting.
“Ready?” Taylor asked.
“Are all these? Wait, I don’t even care, let's go.”
“That’s the spirit!” Taylor said following her into the middle SUV.
Dustin had arranged for them to have the whole theater for themselves. Well, the two of them, plus all the security placed at all the entrances, and hallways.
“What do you think?” Taylor asked.
“I’ve never had a theater to myself. What are we watching?”
“I thought the new Mission Impossible movie would be appropriate.”
Kennedy almost spit out her popcorn from laughing, “Are you serious?”
Taylor nodded, “It is nice to hear you laugh.”
That was the third time she had laughed. Maybe she could live this double life after all. The first few days she had felt like a robot. They asked her to perform so she did, but today she felt like a person.
“You are right, that is the perfect movie.”
Kennedy enjoyed the movie. She ordered all the food she could possibly eat and refused to leave until the final credit passed the screen. Instead of going back through the lobby, the black SUVs were waiting out the emergency exit. Back to reality.
“I knew you would like that, now let's get you back to headquarters. We need you well rested for tomorrow.”
“Oh right,” Kennedy said letting go of the moment and walking towards the door. “Decode the world!”
“Not so loud,” Taylor half warned, and half teased.
“Sorry everyone! That was supposed to be a secret,” Kennedy said as she got into the car.
“Very funny,” Taylor said, closing her door.
At that moment, Kennedy felt happy, relaxed, and worried free. If only she could carry this with her over the next grueling months.
Chapter 10
J 01010
Over the next two-months, Kennedy worked hard at her training. Her original testing had concluded after the second week with the NSA. Gratefully, she had then moved on to studying valuable skills for the field. Things like languages, computer skills, self-defense, basic medical and anything else a NSA field agent would need.
Through the whole process, Kennedy talked regularly with her family. She spent the evenings reading, working out with Taylor, sticking her feet in the pool, or going on walks around the NSA. Occasionally she deciphered large batches of codes, which made for shorter days. On regular days, she was able to keep up with their demand.
Kennedy's shoulder had healed completely and had transformed into a terrible memory. With the help of Wendy and some rehabilitation, Kennedy had almost restored full strength.
Despite being in the best physical shape of her life, Kennedy still struggled with exhaustion the deciphering caused. Her stamina did grow slowly, but at a much slower pace than anyone wanted. After the first two weeks of testing, Kennedy had switched to deciphering codes the NSA hadn’t processed yet. The NSA was very careful in their selection process. They picked the codes that had the highest priority, but also limited her exposure to codes within the same case. That way, she never had all the pieces of the puzzle. The NSA protected its secrets well. Kennedy didn’t care about all the espionage, arms deals, and other exchanges, it felt pretty repetitive to her. Most of the codes were times of day, locations, people's names, and mission names that meant nothing to her.
In a single day, Kennedy decoded for an average of twenty minutes, ten in the morning and ten at night. She then slept for nine to ten hours. Anything more than that would leave her unable to complete the day’s training. Despite all their precautions, Kennedy never felt fully rested.
At one-point, Jennifer brought in a neurologist, Dr. Jameson. She believed that if he studied the brain while she deciphered, that he could fix the exhaustion. The process was slow going since Kennedy only deciphered for such a short time each day. Despite these challenges, Dr. Jameson was able to discover some helpful information. Codes that involved symbols instead of letters, and numbers absorbed more cognitive energy. Also, codes that involved a lot of fluff, or what they called “distraction words” also drained Kennedy at a more rapid rate. Most importantly, Dr. James started to understand why Kennedy felt so exhausted all the time.
“Well?” asked Taylor, as Jennifer, Taylor, Wendy, and Kennedy all sat at a table. They were all inside Kennedy's main training room, waiting for Dr. Jameson to explain his latest findings. They had all been staring at Dr. Jameson for a few minutes, until he started talking.
Dr. Jameson looked like a scary scientist from one of those old movies. Every day he wore his white lab coat with at least ten pens in his pocket. His white hair traveled several inches in every direction off his head. Glasses hung around his neck while a second one sat on his nose.
“This is him?” Kennedy had asked when she had first met him. Taylor smiled in the corner where he watched her.
“Yes,” Jennifer responded, “He is one of the best neurologist in the country”
“Did something happen to him?” Kennedy said, a little worried.
“What do you mean?” Jennifer said, oblivious to his appearance.
Kennedy turned to Taylor who approved with a nod, and that is how it started.
Over the previous couple of weeks, Kennedy started to like Dr. Jameson. His weird mannerisms did make her day more interesting. One day he had accidently caught his glasses on the door handle and had closed the door with his glasses. This caused him to jump when he saw no one behind him. After that, he claimed there was a ghost in the building. Another day, he had bent over and dropped his pens at least four times.
Now Kennedy, along with the others, wanted to know what he unearthed.
“I've discovered that the cause of the exhaustion is a combination of chronic fatigue, mental fatigue, and is a response from stress, and over cognitive performance in a specific field of the brain.”
“Ok...” Wendy said, trying to prompt Dr. Jameson for more information.
“Human physical performance linked with chronic fatigue varies quite a bit. Research into this area is newer and less concrete. Some people function very well while mentally fatigued, while other people hardly have the energy to get out of bed. While examining Kennedy, I would put her mid-range since she is able to function throughout the day. But it is why she feels so tired and exhausted all the time.”
“Is there a way to fix chronic fatigue?” Wendy asked. They had already come to similar conclusions weeks ago.
“Of course, she could stop decoding,” Dr. James stated simply.
Kennedy put her head into her hands. Surely there could be another way, or would she have to be exhausted for the rest of her life. Never quite feeling herself, never having enough energy to do daily activities, the list was endless.
“Is there another way?” Taylor asked as if reading Kennedy's thoughts.
“I've developed a series of simple tests, to try and help the mind digest the information in a way that would require less cognitive activity, and in a less stressful environment. No guarantees, but I thought they would be worth trying. What do you think, Kennedy?”
“I suppose we can try,” Kennedy said, feeling hopeless.
“I'm glad you agree,” Dr. Jameson said excitedly.
Taylor stood up from the chair he was sitting in, “Wait a minute Doctor, what kind of tests are we talking about here.”
“Let me guess,” Kennedy chimed in, “More card reading and me falling asleep?”
“That would be engaging, yes,” Dr. Jameson said, “But that has become rather dull hasn’t it? Don't worry Taylor, extremely harmless.”
“Yes!” Kennedy said, hoping for something new.
“You know,” he started off. “There are different ways to intake code besides just reading it.”
“What do you mean?” Kennedy asked, interested. “Like someone reading the code to me?”
“We could try that,” he offered, “But it would be a complete misuse of time. Your brain would still digest the information the same way, if not more difficulty.”
Mildly offended at his comment, Kennedy replied, “Well then what do you suggest?”
“You will have to see!” Dr. Jameson said, leaving the training room.
“Are we supposed to wait for him?” Kennedy asked.
“I think you are supposed to follow him,” Taylor suggested, hearing Dr. Jameson sing loudly down the halls.
“Move closer everyone!” he chanted, raising his hands in the air.
“What a character!” Kennedy said going out the door.
“But a very smart one,” Jennifer argued, following behind Kennedy.
Weaving through the NSA, the team finally showed up in a small warehouse room that had an old blue shipping container sitting in the middle. The shipping container had been modified with a few windows, and a normal door at one end. Outside of the container was a ten-foot desk that had all kinds of buttons, levers, and computer screens. It reminded Kennedy of a sound studio she had seen on a TV show.
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