Chapter Six

Alex was sitting in the passenger side of the beat-up car, being driven to his next destination by a man he had never met before. Turns out the man's name was Louis, and he drove his taxi around London for people needing a ride.

The fact that anybody could have sat in the seat where Alex was somewhat disgusted him, but he made a mental note to keep it to himself. Louis was quite proud of his little taxi service, and couldn't have been happier to transport another individual.

Not once during this entire trip had he mentioned who had called to fetch him, or where he was going. In retrospect, maybe he should have been a bit hesitant about climbing aboard an unfamiliar man's car, Alex thought. Yet, he was still a bit shaken about the whole station ordeal. It just seemed unwise to stay there, and yet it also seemed unwise to follow Louis.

Louis was a talkative person, chattering all the time about this, that and the other. He commented on the buildings, the people, the birds, practically anything that could have something to say about it was said.

I bet his internal monologue must be even more interesting.

Alex shook the odd thought from his mind.

He had lost track of the amount of times the driver had turned left and right. By now he was in an unfamiliar place. It'd be a real bother getting back to his flat later. He'd probably have to ask for directions.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Louis pulled up near an abandoned warehouse. Alex, thinking this is his destination, walked out into the now starry night. It was nighttime now, and Alex was all alone, seeing as Louis was driving away. Probably to transport someone else.

For what seemed like the hundredth time today, he felt unsure. It didn't look particularly dangerous, and the warehouse seemed stable.

Alex looked behind him. Maybe what he thought was unease was just the feeling of something or someone was looking at him. He saw nothing, maybe it was all imagined.

He had wasted enough time outside. Alex, although not sure who he was about to meet, could feel how impatient they were getting.

With a large sigh, he pushed open the door, which at first protested, but then yielded, allowing him to walk inside.

It was dark, but in the distance he could see a dimly lit figure. Thinking that it was a sign, he started walking in that direction, hyper aware of the noise his shoes were making, and the resounding silence that echoed regardless.

The figure moved, as though it had just noticed that Alex was here.

"Oh, you've finally arrived, huh? Your name is Alex, correct? I've been expecting you. Take a seat. We've got much to discuss."

Meanwhile...

"We could take a plane. Or a boat. All we'd have to do is cross the entire North Atlantic Ocean."

Adam was seething. Yes, they should go to the UK, because their prime suspect, who ever they were, was there, and they ought to get there quickly, because they might have changed location, but did they really have to get there using The Gate?

The Gate, as Jacob correctly remembered, was a doorway, if you will, that could take you anywhere, as long as there was a similar gate there as well. Basically, a portal.

For some odd reason, nearly every base in the world (aside from North Korea, of course) had one of these 'portals', despite all of them having different appearances (some look like normal doors. Others look like arcane magic formed them centuries ago.) and discovered at different times.

If you thought of the place you wanted to go, and there happened to be a gate there too, then you sorta just..appear there.

Magic. (Or, as Jacob liked to say, 'fucky metaphysics')

So, an item of that particular importance was strictly forbidden to be used.

Specifically not by Jacob and Adam. It was in the subtext. It was implied.

"No. No way. It's like the Floo powder in Harry Potter. There are way too many ways this could go wrong."

Jacob raised an eyebrow, like he had the perfect argument, and was waiting to absolutely destroy Adam in an argument.

"Entropy is the natural state of the universe."

Adam blanked. "What....what does that mean?" , he asked, stuttering.

"Nothing. It means nothing. That's exactly how convincing your argument is. Not at all."

Adam sighed, obviously knowing that he had lost. Jacob almost always won arguments, and it usually led to Adam doing things against his better judgement. It was stupid, sure, but it was also fun in the maniacal, somewhat wrong sort of way.

"Are you even allowed down to the basement floor?" , Adam asked. He was somewhat sure that the answer was 'no', although, his friend was likely to try anyway. It was just the way things worked sometimes.

Jacob looked unsure, for once. "Not sure. I guess we'll have to find out."

Adam mentally sighed. So they really were doing this.

The basement floor was below the ground floor where people entered the building, and it was used to store all the important, yet somewhat too valuable or dangerous to store in the higher floors.

There were sub-floors to the basement, Adam was sure of it, but he had never been down here before, mostly because the only people allowed down there were trustworthy people, you know people who wouldn't cause harm with them?

"Have you ever been down here before," he asked, as there were walking down the stairs (the elevator didn't go down here, which was somewhat inconvenient, but with all facts considered, it seemed like the best choice.).

Jacob looked at Adam carefully. "Yes, but I was accompanied by someone else to retrieve a test subject."

Adam winced at the word. Seeing the gaunt faces of the test subjects always made him feel guilty, and he deserved to feel guilty. He did the crime (if you could call it a crime) and now he did the time. Forever. It was simple like that.

Across the North Atlantic Ocean...

Alex sat down on a plain metal chair. It made him feel like a hostage, despite the fact that the person keeping him 'hostage' was a charming young woman who, after offering him tea (he had refused) sat down across from him. She was around his age, as far as he could tell, and lord, did she make him nervous.

Talking to the opposite gender has never been difficult for Alex. He got along just great with everyone. This particular woman, though, made him feel odd. Maybe it was because he had never met her before, and yet she greeted him as a friend, or maybe it was because she was charming to the point where it felt fake, as though it was all an act.

He cautiously described his arrival, careful not to divulge anything too personal. She nodded understandably, his description had satisfied her, and she went on to explain what he was meant to do.

The first thing she asked before explaining was if he had the USB stick. He had produced it from his jacket pocket. Even in the dull lighting, it still glinted bright red. She nodded.

"Ah, yes, well, I must ask you, did you access any of the files stored here?"

Alex, who in fact did, quickly lied. "No, of course not."

She hadn't noticed that he lied, and continued. "Good. Since you've gotten this far, I shall instruct you on what to do next. I need you to bring that USB to our headquarters, which is a three day walk from here. It's west of this warehouse, but if you go by car it's quicker."

She then handed him a piece of paper with an unfamiliar address. That must be where I've ought to go, Alex thought.

"Any questions?"

Alex thought of the arrow that barely missed him in the station, and the map with the pins he had copied down. His mind raced. What was their motive? Why did they need these reports and these blueprints? His mind was filled with questions.

He forced himself to stay quiet.

"No. No questions at all."