Chapter 8: At the HQ

"Haha, you lost by three seconds." she said laughing heartily. " That's no big difference. Bet you can't beat me in the real race." I replied not really meaning what I just said.

"Well most probably," she said.

We were standing in front of a huge building. It was made entirely of glass and the panes were all lit up with light blue light. I couldn't see inside. Neither was there any sign saying the name of the building

The building provided more than enough light for me to now see her clearly. She had now removed her helmet. The mauve hair, I had already made out. But now I noticed her more distinct features. She had upturned eyes, a perfect oval face with very prominent cheekbones. She was quite tall and to cap it all, she was dressed in tight leather from head to toe. She was quite intimidating by her looks and the way she talked which made me wonder if I even was a match for her.

"Let's go inside." she said to me. "see that small scanner over there." she pointed to our right.

"Yeah."

"In case you're wondering where's the door, it'll only appear once you get your badge scanned." I was feeling rather stupid for not noticing that there was no entrance. I held my badge out. It was made of a silvery substance with a grey skull on violet coloured flames. Beneath it was etched "Thung Dawgs." I moved over to the scanner to held my badge close to it. It then said on the scanner:

"IDENTITY VERIFIED. WELCOME TO THE HQ.

The same moment a door opened to the left of the scanner. I moved in, followed by the girl. Turned out, it was a lift. The door shut and it automatically began to move upwards.

"Why didn't you verify your identity?" I asked her.

" Oh. I don't need to. I'm already verified. I mean it's just naturally in my code you know."

I nodded.

"Hey, I almost forgot to introduce myself. By any chance, you remember me?" She asked.

"No." I said

"It's Ivy Blake." she said. We then shook hands which felt extremely awkward. We stood there in silence for almost five minutes when the lift gave a slight beep which meant we had arrived.

"Ready to meet your gang?" Ivy asked

"Born ready" I replied confidently.