Test Subject 001 - Epilogue 2
She was a long way from ‘done for the day’ when the Fixer poked his head into her room. “You really need to work less, you know.”
“Says the man who’s working when he takes time off.”
“Touche,” he says as he enters Ms Abel’s office. They've hardly poured themselves a drink and settled down, when she most casually remarks, “Looks like someone got some. Who’s the unlucky lady who was stupid enough to put up with you.”
“No one you’d know. And how can…”
“After all I’ve taught you, you are still as easy to read as an open book. I hope this lasts longer than, who was the last one… Susie?”
“Anita.”
“Well, don’t do anything stupid to blow this one…”
“...”
“Right, we still do not joke about that. Well, as long as she’s not an Evolved, she's fine by me. Can’t stand those powered up bimbos.”
“... She’s not.”
“Oh sweet lord, she is. You just had to go that way, didn’t you? What’s she? A static electricity type to get you all tingly? Never mind, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. Well, as long as she’s not in that cesspool that passes off as E-Division. You know how much I hate those self-proclaimed, government sanctioned ‘Heroes’.”
“She… not.”
“Just shoot me now. Couldn’t you find some… ‘normal’ girl? Were they out of those?”
“That’s politically incorrect.”
“Oh, call the police and get yourself arrested at the same time!” She stares daggers at him for a few moments, before she finally lets out a sigh and continues, “Well, it’s your funeral. Though I am curious how this ‘fledgling’ superheroine you are clearly planning to bring over to the dark side reacts when she finds out you’re the International President of the Official Victory Girl Fan Club and the clandestine head of one of the world’s largest illegal arms dealing networks.”
“There’s no such thing as ‘International President of the Official Victory Girl Fan Club'! Stop spreading rumours...”
Ms Abel is stunned with his response. It’s not so much what he said, but every little cue in his spoken words and body language. She has this uncanny ability to read people. So uncanny, that the Fixer once had her tested to make sure she wasn’t some sort of telepathic Evolved. She wasn’t. All the cues point to one incredulous improbability. Over all these years, she’s never been wrong and now she wishes she was.
The Fixer observes her expressionless face and knows she’s done the maths. Getting a face-to-face with Ms Abel was the equivalent of consenting to a polygraph that few have ever fooled. Her skill at reading people and manipulating their responses was legendary. This was exactly why their organisation was so successful. While he brought the tech know-how for their weapons, she knew exactly which buttons to press to get people to see things the way she did. But he also knew about one of the rules they had agreed upon years ago when they started AGNI together: When it came to the organisation, there were no secrets. However…
“Well, the reason you are here is because you obviously wanted to tell me about this,” says Ms Abel when finally speaks, “but as agreed upon, if this is your personal affair, we do not need to discuss this any further and I trust you’ll handle it with a certain amount of… discretion. However, heaven help you if you drag AGNI into this. You are literally playing with a WMD here, and I have no intention of being caught in it when you screw up.”
“Says the man who’s working when he takes time off.”
“Touche,” he says as he enters Ms Abel’s office. They've hardly poured themselves a drink and settled down, when she most casually remarks, “Looks like someone got some. Who’s the unlucky lady who was stupid enough to put up with you.”
“No one you’d know. And how can…”
“After all I’ve taught you, you are still as easy to read as an open book. I hope this lasts longer than, who was the last one… Susie?”
“Anita.”
“Well, don’t do anything stupid to blow this one…”
“...”
“Right, we still do not joke about that. Well, as long as she’s not an Evolved, she's fine by me. Can’t stand those powered up bimbos.”
“... She’s not.”
“Oh sweet lord, she is. You just had to go that way, didn’t you? What’s she? A static electricity type to get you all tingly? Never mind, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. Well, as long as she’s not in that cesspool that passes off as E-Division. You know how much I hate those self-proclaimed, government sanctioned ‘Heroes’.”
“She… not.”
“Just shoot me now. Couldn’t you find some… ‘normal’ girl? Were they out of those?”
“That’s politically incorrect.”
“Oh, call the police and get yourself arrested at the same time!” She stares daggers at him for a few moments, before she finally lets out a sigh and continues, “Well, it’s your funeral. Though I am curious how this ‘fledgling’ superheroine you are clearly planning to bring over to the dark side reacts when she finds out you’re the International President of the Official Victory Girl Fan Club and the clandestine head of one of the world’s largest illegal arms dealing networks.”
“There’s no such thing as ‘International President of the Official Victory Girl Fan Club'! Stop spreading rumours...”
Ms Abel is stunned with his response. It’s not so much what he said, but every little cue in his spoken words and body language. She has this uncanny ability to read people. So uncanny, that the Fixer once had her tested to make sure she wasn’t some sort of telepathic Evolved. She wasn’t. All the cues point to one incredulous improbability. Over all these years, she’s never been wrong and now she wishes she was.
The Fixer observes her expressionless face and knows she’s done the maths. Getting a face-to-face with Ms Abel was the equivalent of consenting to a polygraph that few have ever fooled. Her skill at reading people and manipulating their responses was legendary. This was exactly why their organisation was so successful. While he brought the tech know-how for their weapons, she knew exactly which buttons to press to get people to see things the way she did. But he also knew about one of the rules they had agreed upon years ago when they started AGNI together: When it came to the organisation, there were no secrets. However…
“Well, the reason you are here is because you obviously wanted to tell me about this,” says Ms Abel when finally speaks, “but as agreed upon, if this is your personal affair, we do not need to discuss this any further and I trust you’ll handle it with a certain amount of… discretion. However, heaven help you if you drag AGNI into this. You are literally playing with a WMD here, and I have no intention of being caught in it when you screw up.”
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