The Rogue Agent

by Shiloh White

  “So it turned them into Depression Agents itself? I've never heard of this thing.” Halsey said lightheartedly.

  “It's all just old talk. If it ever happened at all, it hasn't happened since I've been at the Depression Force.” Dart explained to her. Then he turned back to me, that serious look in his eye coming back. “So why did you want to know this?”

  “I don't know everything about The Dust yet,” I argued. “Just trying to learn as I go.”

  Actually, I wondered if this was the case with my brother's incident. It could explain how Scott saw him in De Mentoria. And if Lucas knew the rogue Agent, it would explain how that guy knew Chloe. If Lucas was a...

  Part of me wouldn't accept it. He couldn't be a Depression Agent. My brain must have just been going crazy.

  Either way, I felt like I was missing a piece of the puzzle. Like I was staring too closely at the whole mess to make any sense of it. I looked up at Dart, and he was still staring back with analyzing eyes. I assumed it was probably the same way he stared at a computer screen. I convinced myself, it wasn't exactly a lie. I didn't know everything about The Dust. He wasn't getting anything out of me. I was too tired for a staring contest anyway. Still, I felt sick to my stomach as I looked away, fixing my eyes out the window.

  ✽✽✽

  At some point along the ride, I fell asleep. I didn't realize it until the subway car shook to a stop, and woke me.

  “Good timing,” Halsey whispered to me, “we're here.” I wasn't sure how far away the Depression Force HQ was from De Mentoria, but when I stood up and stretched, I realized just how much I appreciated getting a nap.

  I looked over at the entrance, and Dart was already getting off the train. Halsey walked down to the front of the train to catch up. I shook off whatever drowsiness was left and exited the train after her, looking around for Dart. Instead of something like, “Where's Dart,” however, the only thing to come out of my mouth was “Woah.”

  The subway let out at one end of a huge bridge. Behind me, I heard another subway car pulling up. I turned around and saw the group of passengers spill out and hastily make their way up onto the bridge and out of sight. Then I saw Halsey standing up at the middle of the bridge. I walked up to meet her there, and noticed she was looking out at something. I got up there and looked out to see what Halsey saw...

  My jaw gaped open in surprise. The first two times here, I was definitely robbed of this view. Underneath the bridge was a deep blue lake that sparkled in the reflection of the Anchor Zone city. It glowed a mix of orange and purple in the twilight evening. (It couldn't be that late, could it?) As I looked out at the city, each part of it looked like it fit together in a jigsaw puzzle. But each piece was unique; one filled to the brim with bright lights everywhere—probably the corner where Club Insanis; another looked like a foreign neighborhood. One of the areas closer to us looked to be something like an apartment complex; tall buildings at least 3 stories high took up all the space on that side of town. I actually had to mentally remind myself this place was full of craziness so I didn't get distracted by the view.

  Halsey nudged me and pointed down the other side of the bridge. “We should get moving.” she suggested. I looked at where she was pointing. Dart was down at the other end of the bridge, waving at us to keep up. Halsey ran down the bridge to catch up. I started to move, but my feet dragged. I took a second longer staring at the view. I noticed on every sidewalk in the city, there were old-fashioned lanterns hanging from streetlights. The ones along the lake made it glow a different shade of orange; the color seeming to melt right into the water. I would have to paint it one day. Maybe there was beauty in craziness.

  Before I realized it, my feet dragged me down to Dart and Halsey, and my daydream was over. “Took you long enough,” Dart said, his voice on edge.

  “Sorry,” I told him, “it was a beautiful view.” I looked at Halsey to back me up. She bit her lip, and suddenly took a big interest in the ground directly beneath her.

  “The view, huh?” Dart digested that for a moment. “The gangs, clubs, and plain crazy people are enough to make me not want to stay for a view. Besides, all the trouble comes out at night. We don't have time to get caught up in that. Scott needs us now. Let's go.” The impatience and urgency in Dart's voice made me feel bad for even stopping to look. He was right though. Scott did need our help, and we didn't have much time.

  Dart started power-walking down into a clump of buildings and took turns down alleyways, going this way and that. I found myself jogging just to keep up. The buildings around us made this area of De Mentoria look like a strange mix of a medieval village colliding with a European one. I wonder if anyone lived here. As we continued walking, I noticed it got real foggy, like the last time I was here. Also, the sun was almost set now. I knew my internal clock didn't have an actual clock to sync up to for the past couple days, but I was pretty sure we should have had a few more hours of daylight.

  “Where exactly are we going?” Halsey asked, after we turned down another alleyway. Dart suddenly stopped when our alleyway came into a four-alley intersection. “I know my way around this place. No need for worry.” he answered, turning right and continuing down this new path.

  “How is knowing your way going to help us, when the only way into Mr. Reggie's restaurant is against your will or on special invite?” I asked, quickly becoming irritated that we walked all this way for no reason.

  “Well, in that case...” Dart jogged down to the end of the alleyway, and stopped at the street corner where it let out. He waited for Halsey and me to come out before pointing up at the corner building. I looked up and the first thing I saw was a large LED sign flashing at me in red cursive, “MR. REGGIE'S,” with a smiling skull next to it. I looked back at Dart in disbelief. “How did you find—” I stammered, unable to finish the sentence.

  “It's a good thing I'm always invited here,” Dart answered with a grin. He grabbed the door handle and pulled. Much to his surprise, however, the door did not open

  “Locked? You gotta be...” Dart trailed off, hustling over to the windows and cupping his hands to get a peek indoors. The windows were tinted from this side, though. Plus there were thick blinds on the other side. I wasn't sure what Dart planned to see, but it couldn't be much right now. “Are you sure you're always invited?” Halsey asked jokingly. Took the words right out of my mouth, I wanted to say. But Dart turned around and gave Halsey a look that said “Don't test me,” and I thought better of it. It surprised me to see Dart this serious. I wondered how big of a deal it was that he couldn't get in. Was he really always invited?

  Suddenly the sound of glass breaking with a huge crash was followed by a laugh down the alleyway we'd just come from interrupted my thoughts. Dart knocked on the door hard, oblivious to what just happened. No answer. I glanced at Halsey, who looked as skittish as I felt right now.

  Dart waved a hand in our direction. “That's just the local riffraff,” he assured us. “They'll leave us alone. Probably.” I took my eyes off the door and looked down the alleyway again.

  Sure enough, 4 hooded individuals were hunched over something, way down in the alley from where we stood. From their height, I figured they were teenage thugs. Riffraff like Dart said. I'd seen enough at school to know the type. Halsey on the other hand, was a little worked up. “Probably?” she asked, her eyes fixed down the alley. “Just trust me,” Dart said, slamming on the door two more times with his fist. I waited for the door to open; nothing. I glanced back down the alleyway, and there the four teenage thugs stood, a little ways off from us. Wait. They weren't that close to us a second ago, were they? I looked over at Halsey, and she shook her head at me like she could read my mind.

  “Uhh, Dart,” I said as calmly as I could, “maybe we should try another way, maybe further from the alley?” Halsey quickly nodded in agreement. Dart looked down the alleyway, and saw the four thugs. They were all facing us now. With their heads down and hoods blocking their faces, they started creeping towa
rds us. Dart quickly turned back to the door and knocked on it continuously.

  “It's me, Reggie! Open up!” he shouted. I glanced down the alley again, and the thugs were running now. A few seconds and they'd be on us. If these guys were as crazy as everyone else around here, I didn't want to think about what they'd do. Lucky for us, mid-knock, the restaurant door swung open. Dart took a step back enough for Gordon to push the door fully open. Inside the restaurant, I could see the waiter from last time, still looking like he hated his job, pushing Mr. Reggie to the front of the store. Mr. Reggie screamed obscenities at us, including things like “You punks need to get gone and stay gone forever!” and “I'll cook you hoodlums alive!” before he realized who it was.

  “Lawn Dart?!” (Did he just say Lawn Dart?) Mr. Reggie exclaimed in surprise after he finally stopped screaming. “And you brought friends?”

  ✽✽✽

  Before he said anything, Dart dove through the door. Halsey and I ran in after him. “Shut the door, quick!” I told Gordon. He didn't hesitate. The door shut with a slam that sent a rush of fresh air through the restaurant.

  “What's goin' on here?” Mr. Reggie demanded. “It's good to see ya, but you can't just barge into my restaurant. You'll disturb the customers!” There was a moment of no noise, as we listened for the thugs outside. Nothing. I took this time to look around the room, and wouldn't you know it, there were a grand total of zero customers at any of the tables.

  “It's good to see you too, Mr. Reggie.” Dart said, sounding genuinely happy to see him. “It's been a long time.”

  “It has indeed, Lawn Dart. What brings you here?” Mr. Reggie asked. (He did say Lawn Dart.)

  “Oh, nothing but the local hoodlums—” Dart started to answer, but Mr. Reggie cut him off.

  “I see you brought friends too. It's good to see you again too, Lucy.” he turned to me and grinned. “What do you think so far about all the crazy?”

  Before I could even think of what he was asking me, Dart cut in. “I hate to cut the reunion short, Mr. Reggie, but we're here for a serious matter.”

  “It's those hoodlums, right? Like you were saying?” He gestured to the table in the middle of the room—the wedding banquet table. The waiter with an attitude started to wheel him that way, and Mr. Reggie continued to ramble. “I'm tellin' you, it's just as bad as when you left—” Dart cleared his throat.

  “I'd love to reminisce, but we don't have time to sit, Mr. Reggie. This is important.” he insisted. The waiter stopped pushing him, making it look like it took all his effort.

  Mr. Reggie grimaced. “Can't even sit?” He sighed disappointedly. “Let's hear it, then.”

  “Our friend was poisoned the last time he was here.” Dart said Mr. Reggie whistled through his teeth. “The angry one?” It was a little hard to tell who the talking skull was asking since he didn't have eyes to look at. Once both Dart and Halsey stared at me too, I realized he was asking me. “Oh, uhh, yeah. The angry one.” I nodded. I see...” Mr. Reggie pondered.

  I mouthed 'Scott' to Dart and Halsey. Dart nodded; understanding what I said. Halsey raised an eyebrow, looking a little confused.

  “Well, my food's perfectly safe,” Mr. Reggie said. “That couldn't have been it.” Dart took a step closer to Mr. Reggie. Gordon watched this, and stepped in between them. “What about—” Dart stopped talking when he realized what Gordon was doing, and chuckled. “You really think I'm trying to harm him?”

  Gordon said nothing. Instead, he looked at Mr. Reggie, probably waiting for some kind of order. “Back off, Gordon. This guy's family.” Mr. Reggie told him. Gordon nodded, and stepped back and stood to the right of Mr. Reggie's platter. He kept his gaze on Dart, though.

  “Don't worry about Gordon, Lawn Dart. He's always on guard.” Dart nodded. “Moving back on subject,” he said quickly, “Were Scott and Lucy given anything besides food and drink during their visit here?”

  “Not under my watch,” Mr. Reggie said with surety. I tried to recount what happened when we were here. I couldn't think of anything besides the breadsticks...and the strange purple drink. It stayed right where it was placed, though. And with how upset Scott was, I knew he didn't have any sense to enjoy a snack or artificially colored beverage. The other half of the time we spent knocked out, so there wasn't really much I could say about that. Except...

  “Wait!” I shouted out loud. I'm starting to realize how much I do that. “Scott wasn't kidnapped like me.” I said to Dart and Mr. Reggie. “He told me they put him to sleep with a shot—” The waiter must have figured this part of the conversation wasn't important to his pay, and started to walk away in the middle of my recollection. Gordon cleared his throat, and asked him, “Where are you off to?”

  “Back to work, right?” he said sarcastically, pointing to the kitchen. Jeez, everything about this guy screamed he didn't want to be here. Why was he here, then?

  “If you're the one with the Boss, then you stay with him,” Gordon explained in a polite yet firm voice to the waiter. “Enough distractions!” Mr. Reggie exclaimed. He turned on his platter to face Gordon. “Gordon, the waiter can go back to the kitchen. His training's over. You can stay here with me.” Then he shifted back to us, and said, “As for you guys, I didn't authorize my people to use special chemicals. Just the knock-out cloth.”

  “Yep,” I raised my hand, “I got one of those.” Dart looked at me like he was going to say something, but just shook his head. “Do you think...” he stopped for a moment, looking for the right words. “Maybe...someone with an ulterior motive has infiltrated your work force?” For a moment, no one said anything. The whole room felt tense. I glanced over at Halsey, who somehow managed to find herself a few steps behind Dart and I. She met my eyes and made a gesture with her hand, zipping her mouth shut with it. I wasn't sure if she realized Mr. Reggie and Gordon were watching her too.

  “You've got some nerve talking about undercover business.” Mr. Reggie finally said, trying to keep his voice calm. But there was something behind the calmness that made me want to step back and stand with Halsey.

  “With all the riffraff and adolescent gangs in this area, someone's always out to get you nowadays,” Dart said in defense. “There's no way that could be,” Mr. Reggie argued. “My staff is both loyal, and screened upon entry. You know that.”

  I wondered what kind of screening process they had that allowed the waiter with a permanent attitude problem to work here.

  “Let's forget I brought it up,” Dart said. “Scott's Going Mad now and we need to help him quick.”

  “Oh, I do love a fried brain. Reminds me of the good old days.” Mr. Reggie sighed nostalgically—or made the sound for sighing, since he didn’t have lungs.

  Either way, I hoped he was joking. An actual fried brain was not something I wanted to picture, let alone happen to Scott. As if to illustrate my point, Halsey made a gagging sound behind me.

  “But,” Mr. Reggie continued, “Why exactly does this include me?”

  “Basically, we need you to whip something up to cure him.” Dart summarized. “Okay,” Mr. Reggie said, “what's your offer?” A pause floated across the room. I figured most of the hard part would come. I mean, Scott's life was at risk. Still, I said nothing. This wasn't my place.

  “I was actually hoping it could be done as a favor, like old times?” Dart suggested. “Let me get this straight, “ Mr. Reggie said with a tired sigh, “you walk—no, barge into my establishment during working hours, accuse me of poisoned food and foul play among my staff, and now you want a favor?” I heard Halsey's shoes shuffle back another step. I subconsciously did the same. Maybe Halsey was the only one making a smart choice right now.

  “Favors don't pay the bills, Lawn Dart.” Mr. Reggie said, in a matter-of fact tone.

  “Neither do dead friends,” Dart rebutted. “This favor would save a life, and make you some more valuable assets.”

  “You used to be my valuable asset,” Mr. Reggie told Dart, raising his voice now. “If an
ything, you owe me favors for the amount of times you—”

  CRASH!

  Mr. Reggie's words got cut short as the front window of his restaurant exploded all over the floor.

  31. Halsey Takes a Bullet For Me

  While everyone was gawking at the gaping hole where the window used to be, it took me a moment to realize what actually happened:

  First: the window did not explode. It was shattered by a brick flying through it, which now rested on the restaurant floor among the mess of broken glass.

  Second: When the window shattered, Halsey yelped and jumped so high, I swear her head could've touched the ceiling if she wasn't shivering.

  Third: When I looked up at the hole to see what everyone was looking at, I saw a small person in dark clothes take off running. But the most confusing part came next.

  Mr. Reggie let out a crazy laugh so loud, I thought he was going to get a new crack in his skull.

  “What's so funny?” Dart asked, sounding on edge himself. “It's the timing,” Mr. Reggie said, gasping for air and guffawing still. “Those punk kids have cost me...”—he paused here for another outburst of laughter—”…three windows this year alone.”

  Halsey tilted her head. “I don't get how that's—” “Catch them.” Mr. Reggie said, his whole demeanor changing to dead serious. “Teach the one who broke it a lesson. Then I'll help your angry friend.”

  He didn't so much as finish his sentence that Dart ran out the open window and took off in the direction I saw the punk kid go, grabbing the brick off the ground as he left. Halsey and I hesitated for a second, looking from Mr. Reggie to each other. We came to the same conclusion: there really wasn't another option. We pushed through the front door to catch up with Dart, who was already across the street. He looked like he was starting to slow down, though. Halsey and I took our opportunity, sprinting to catch up with him. “Dart, hold on!” I shouted. Why did these Depression Force Officers keep running off on their own? Was that normal or something?