Tier 1

Administrator: [20 May, 2073]

{Forwarded Message}

We will be meeting at the Mahogany Docks café in port Harrow at 5 pm today. I have reserved table number one. They will show you to your seat if you ask at the reception. Bring your ID's, just in case.

kil0w@tt: What's for dinner chief? A bullet to the head?

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[End of thread.]

The sounds of socializing and cutlery felt like the shrill scratch of nails on a board.

I was pissed. And looking at the message didn't help.

"You look like a fucking raisin, Ryan," Kate sneered. "Angry much?"

This wasn't helping either.

"You look great too, miss right-hand of God. When was your last chemo again?"

I knew it was pathetic. Short hair was the only thing I noticed in the heat of the moment.

I needed to rack up her negatives. A lot of it.

"Cancer was eradicated years ago."

"I've got a theory against that. You're the proof."

"If this wasn't a café, I'm pretty sure my fist would've crushed that sorry excuse of a brain you've got in there," she snapped in reply.

Guess she took the bait after all.

"I'm sure you could overpower a, cat maybe? At maximum effort that is," I replied. Now this was fun.

"I've learned a few martial arts, Macgyver. I could hand your ass to you right now."

"Nope. Not even if you wanted to. You wanna know why?" I asked, leaning over the table, " 'cuz I'm a man."

"You need actual balls to back up that statement, kid."

"Why you fu-!"

"STOP IT!"

The entire café fell into silence as Samuel slammed his palm onto the wooden table.

"One more word and I hand both of your asses to you," he whispered.

The guy was literally a mammoth, so I guess he could if he wanted to.

"I'm sorry for the ruckus," he said with a hand placed on his chest. The waiters nodded in reply, going back to their jobs.

"Why can't you just enjoy the view?" Samuel asked, turning to face ocean that lay before us.

I guess it's kinda nice after all.

The salty breeze was enough to let me take my mind off the wench sitting in front of me. We had been seated at the edge of the docks, the famous 'Pier-End' table that had to be booked months in advance to get reservation. This sea-side ambience was what the Mahogany café was known for. Besides, the food here was quite good too. We had ordered a few starters already, seeing that our beloved administrator had stood us up as usual. It cost a pretty penny though. Thank God Samuel was here.

Lissie would've loved this place. I should start saving up.

The more I looked around myself, the harder I found it to believe. Here I was, dining amongst the society's finest. I could spend a month of Dad's salary on an appetizer here. I wondered how Callum did it. Maybe he'd reserved this table a year ago, or maybe he got it last minute because of his connections.

One thing was for sure.

He had a hell lotta money.

"So, you finally decided to show up," said Kate, yanking me back to reality. "What's with the outfit?"

"What's wrong with a hoodie?" asked Callum.

"I don't know, it doesn't suit your description. You're supposed to be a professor, right?" she replied with a smirk. "Anyway, why the hell do you always make us wait?"

"Public transport Katelyn. It's my way of contributing to the environment," he replied as he took a seat.

"You've got enough money book a Pier-End at 'The Mahogany' but you don't have a car? You're just full of surprises Mr.Wight," I sniggered.

"I see you're still as irritating as ever, Macgyver. I thought I had reminded you of my concept of 'obedience' last time you acted up."

There was only so much I could take.

"Your gun's not with you 'professor.' If you wanna piece of me, I'll gladly give it to you," I snapped as I placed my hands on my seat, ready to get up.

Callum placed both of his arms on the table's edge, leaning towards me.

"I'll have you know that I've devoted every living moment of the last four years of my life to this cause. I've saved up every penny I could, established connections all over the world, and I even took a fucking Phd by twenty-five years of age. Do you honestly believe that I wouldn't have trained my body for combat by now?" he hissed.

I looked at his pulled-up sleeves. A network of veins rippled down to the back of his palm, bulging clearly with each beat of his heart.

Maybe this was a mistake after all.

I placed my hands on the table in apology.

Just, chill dude.

Callum let out an exasperated sigh, leaning back onto his chair.

"The plan, professor?" asked Maria.

"Right," he replied, looking at the members of Tier 1. "We'll be heading to the coordinates of Ghost Island, the ones that have been approximated by Kate. Did you cross reference the data with your previous results?" he asked, this time looking at Katelyn.

"I did. The location's accurate up to three kilometres," she replied.

"That's pretty much it. We don't know what we'll find there so we'll have to make up the rest as we go. We leave tonight from here at twelve am sharp," said Callum, poking around the penne alfredo we had ordered for him. It had gone cold half an hour ago.

You called us all the way here to say this? Is that even a plan?

"Won't we be caught by the coast guard before that? The rumours say that they won't even let you go within a forty-kilometre radius of this location," asked Maria.

"You don't need to worry about that. It's night-time, we'll probably get through," the professor replied.

"What about the radiation? We'll need HazMat suits once we cross the thirty-kilometre radius, right? They say the radiation levels are at par with Chernobyl," asked Sam.

"But where the hell do we even get HazMat suits? You need government approval to keep one these days, right?" I asked, backing up Sam's point.

"We do have one HazMat suit. Won't be needing it though. I know of a way around it," Callum answered. A smile adorned his mysterious features.

"We need to trust each other here, Mr. Wight. We can't be of use unless you tell us everything," said Samuel, folding his arms in front of him.

"Then trust me, Samuel. I'll tell you everything tomorrow, within 8 pm to be precise. You'll understand why I'm keeping this from you then," said Callum, rising from his chair. "Meeting adjourned."

We all got up, leaving at the table our unfinished meals and our sense of satisfaction. Callum was too full of himself.

It'll be too late before he realizes it.

______________________________

"Callum?"

"What is it Kate?" he replied, pulling down the sleeves of his hoodie. It was getting colder.

We sent off Maria and Ryan in Samuel's car a few minutes ago, and now the two of us were standing at a bus stop. The silence was getting a bit uncomfortable, and I had a thousand questions whirling around my head.

"Doesn't that bus go by your place," he asked as he watched the double-decker pull-up in front of us.

"I'm not getting on now."

"Oh. Okay then, what did you want to talk about?"

"Ryan."

"What about him?"

"I know you're probably a cold-blooded serial killer, given your mood swings, but I think you should tone it down. Stop being so rough on him. He's just a kid," I said. I did hate the guy, but Callum was literally wiping shit off the floor with him. Team morale was pretty bad as of now. I didn't want this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to waste because of a bipolar admin.

"You really don't hold back with your words do you?"

"I get that a lot," I smirked.

"Well, the reason I keep him on edge is because I need to," he replied.

"But why?"

"Because he's special, Kate," Callum answered. His reply drove me into even more confusion.

"What do you mean by special?"

"He's the only one who's unmotivated."

"Huh?"

"The rest of you have a solid reason to rebel against Biocode. To be precise, all you want to do is get rid of the Biocode as a means of revenge," he said, his gaze locking with mine. "I say this because I know all of you. Maybe even better than you know yourselves."

"And what about Ryan?"

"He's got no reason to go this far," he replied, "all he seeks is the plain and simple truth. He was one of the first members of Verum.com, you know?"

"Really?" I asked. I never thought he'd be a core member of the site.

"Do you know when Verum was launched?"

"In 2069 right? The year the war ended? When Biocode was globalized?"

"Wrong. I created Verum in 2066, one year before the war begun. Verum was home to a lot of conspiracies then too, and he was one of the main readers. I think his is the oldest existing account besides mine." As stunning as his answer was, my thoughts had chosen to tread a completely different path.

"You mean he joined back when he was fourteen?"

"Yeah. He was a very curious kid is all. I'd judged from his knowledge that he was at least twenty at that time. Was quite surprised to see I was impressed by a teenager of all people."

"I had no idea."

"He's my ace in the hole, Katelyn. When the time comes, I'll leave the ball in his court. Even I can't make a rational decision when push comes to shove," said Callum, his expression growing softer as his eyes lost themselves in the shimmering coastline. I felt sad. I don't know why.

"A grudge can often be misleading, right?" I asked as my gaze wandered over his frame. He was taller than me, yet somewhat under six feet I'd say. He'd tucked his arms as far as they could go into the pockets of his hoodie, shivering lightly under the cold sea breeze. I sighed, turning back to face the empty roads again.

"I guess you're right."

"It still doesn't explain why you're picking on him though," I prodded.

"Well, let's just say that our ace could also be our greatest threat. Since he has no reason to be as motivated as us, he could be the easiest one to manipulate. He could turn on us, and then the last four years of my life would have been for nothing," he said.

"So you were trying to make sure he wouldn't quit?" I asked.

"Exactly."

"That's pretty low. But fine by your standards I guess."

Callum smirked, turning back to face the road again. "Looks like you've got a bus Ms. Burghes."

"I think I'll eat outside today. Your treat."

"Would've been fine by me, but I think you have a curfew to be wary of."

I looked at my watch, feeling a sudden pang in my chest.

"It's nine already? I'm gonna get hell today!" I whined. "I've gotta be there for the roll-call. No one'll notice if I sneak out after that though. No worries, I'll be here on time." It was then that the thought struck me. "Callum? How did you know about my curfew?"

"Like I said, I know everything about you. I have to say though, ten-thirty is rather lenient for an orphanage these days."

"And how did you know I wouldn't feel offended when you mentioned the orphanage?" I asked him, smiling as the bus pulled over.

"That? That was a calculated risk. I'm pretty good at math by the way," he replied as he stood by the open door, watching me get in. "One more thing."

"What is it?" I asked, holding onto a pole as the hydraulics lifted the bus. The door would close any moment now.

"You're not allergic to monkey fur, are you?"

"What the fuck dude!"

I'm not sure the message got through though. The doors had closed halfway into my cuss. I watched him cross over to the other side of the street, lying in wait for a bus going the other way. As happy as I felt, I couldn't get the sensation of anxiety off my chest.

He was plotting something.

I knew it.