Among Them

- So? - asked the Officer as she entered the room.

- Nothing. - I stood up, closing my screen. - They wouldn't be professionals if they left anything behind.

- There are TWO dead bodies in my living room and you're saying they didn't leave "anything" behind?!

Louise, once the paralysis state had passed, entered the anger state of shock in which she shouted and cursed at Earth and Heavens about her destroyed living room. In the meantime, Officer Sun cleared the area around the house to be sure that there were no backup units on hold. She was being cautions in case the Force was the one responsible for the attack. Apparently it was hard for everyone to believe Louise was the primary target of those hitmen.

- I ran every identity factor available but none matched anyone on the Force database. These men don't exist.

- Something is certain, not everyone can do that. - ever since the reveal of her powers, the cop had been avoiding eye contact. She spoke as if she was talking to the dead man instead of me, who, by the way, was standing right scross from her. - We need to leave. More are on the way to complete the mission.

- What about my house? - shotgun in hand, Louise said. I had told her inumorous times it was okay to put the gun down but she never listened.

- Louise…

- They won't do anything. - even though the Officer had spoken over me I was glad she did it. Her words were confident, much more than mine would have been. - They want "you". We don't know why but if we want to find out we have to go.

While convincing Louise to leave, the Cop didn't seem to be afraid to look her deep in the eyes. Watching from a distance it was hard to believe she was a Bionic Soldier designed to execute high profile Force missions with powers beyond human biology. Leadership's strongest weapon was comforting a random farmer she had just met.

- The best way to fight them now is disappearing. - at the end her eyes found mine.

- I'm opened to suggestions.

The house was left untouched. We didn't clean or even move the bodies. Whoever ordered the strike would definitely know that their subjects failed and also know where and how it happened. While I searched the men's screens I only found basic mission intel on Louise, her property and the drone's software. Even the screens itself were clean, bought a few hours before the mission with all the files manually created. Despite not finding anything I still copied all the files and the software. Those bodies didn't give us anything useful but that drone would.

With nothing but uncertainties, we entered the car, leaving behind another safe place I didn't know I would ever go back to. For Louise it was different. That was her life she had abandoned. All her memories, the years she spent with Yumi. I couldn't bear to look at her on the back seat.

Silence was a common language between us. I was exploding with questions and was beginning to think it was evident since I couldn't stop gazing at the car conductor. She didn't seem to mind since not once she looked back at me while I examined her features for traces of her bionic physiology. It was unthinkable that I let such an important factor about her go by so easily.

- Everyone stay calm.

I was so absorbed by my thoughts I didn't even notice we were already at the port. The same two guards were on standby waiting for us to approach the gate. I was calm until the moment she told me that.

- Good evening, Officer. - with the utmost respect she greeted the guard and I felt my stomach flip.

- Good evening, Miss. ID please. - he glanced inside the car, making me freeze in the most pathetic way. - Family trip?

- Hai! - her voice was so annoyingly spontaneous I almost broke out of my character. - Taking auntie here to see her grand-niece. - on the back seat Louise smiled with her eyes and confirmed without a sound.

- That's nice. Are you crossing with the car?

- No, we'll leave it here. My oldest will pick us up on the other side.

- Stay away from the lowest tier for the time being. - with a nod to the other guard the gate opened. - The Force wishes you a safe trip.

The car moved by the gates, leaving the guards behind and I could finally breathe normally. By my side the Officer was acting like nothing had happened and was back to her quiet self. All that silence was making me restless. I wanted to laugh at the "good house-wife" act and curse at the prejudiced policeman at the same time. The only thing that stopped me was Louise's presence. Her silence was eating me alive.

- Why are we leaving the car? - for my surprise the old lady was the one to speak up first.

- We can't risk staying with it for too long. If it's tagged, we will be taking them to our safehouse.

- And where is this place? - I asked surprised with her initiative.

Outside, the sea wind was relentless, blowing us back to the country and away from the now shining city. The darkness was responsible for the rise of Tier-1. At night all the colors were brighter.

- Somewhere among them.

- But we don't know who owns Extra Corp. - we were standing across from one another with the small car between us. I understood her point but did not follow what she meant. The renting company being responsible for the attack was pure speculation.

- Tell me, if you were the owner, where would you live?

While she walked past the car into my side of the vehicle I watched her carefully. It was distressing how I could not tell what that woman was thinking. Since the latest revelation it had gotten even harder to understand her green eyes.

- We can't afford going to the top tier. - I let out a smile of scorn.

- Don't worry, I know a place.

I could not argue with her snarky side smile. She led the way to the waiting area with long steps while I stayed behind to side with Louise. My mind was at the speed of light and I needed just a minute to slow down and think about that strange ex-Force agent.