The Center: Face of the Enemy - Part Four by: Enemyoffun One month has passed since escaping the Syndicate and Becca is now in The Center. But everything is far from good. Even though she's escaped the Syndicate, she's not sure if she can trust the Center.

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Author's Note: Here's Ch. 4. I was going to originally make this a smaller story of only a few chapters, the last one was going to be the next post. But after some brainstorming I've decided there's a little more to this particular story that I can tell. I'm not sure how many more chapters its going to be but I know it won't be as long as the first. This is a quieter chapter but the next post will start a new mission. I'd like to thank Lilith for her massive editing skills for this chapter, they really make it that much cooler.

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Chapter Four:

When I opened my eyes, I had no idea where I was. The last thing I remembered was being in the forest, about to be squashed by a Neanderthal with a boulder. There was a flash of light and it hurt like a bitch. Clearly I was no longer in the forest anymore because there was a pillow underneath my head and a blanket on top of me. I squinted, looking around the room. The walls were white and there was a lingering bleach smell. I couldn’t hear any beeping instruments so I wasn’t in some infirmary but there was a lot of noise. People in the hall I think. I heard lots of laughing and talking, possibly coming from the rooms around me.

I sat up, founding myself in a paper gown. God I hate these fricking things.

The room was a good size, with two beds. It was sparsely decorated: there were two dressers, two desks and one tall mirror. The walls were bare and there was one good size window. That scared me at first. The sun was bright and shining outside and I shielded myself with my blanket. It took me a few seconds to release that the sun wasn’t coming in nor was it burning me. They were probably some kind of tempered glass like my room in the Syndicate. Did that mean this was my room? What happened to my dank, grim cement prison?

I heard the person at my door before they knocked.

I couldn’t tell who it was but I could tell it was a woman. I heard her heels and I could smell her sweet flowery shampoo. Mrs. Fine didn’t seem like someone who would shampoo with anything but something that smelled like sawdust or something. So it must have been one of the other female staff members. Just as long as it’s not that damn shrink. I’d had enough of her. The whole time I was in the other room, she kept coming in, trying to talk to me. I knew she was there to get into my head and frankly I wasn’t ready to open up. I’m not even sure what I would say. She was interested in my feelings and how I was handling the transition. How do you think I handled it?

The person knocked again, I pulled the blanket up to my chin and I told them I was ready.

I was surprised when the door opened and Kris was standing there. What surprised me more was how she was dressed? She looked like a little business woman: she was a wearing a smart suit, her hair properly combed, no scowl on her face. In her hands she was a holding a large box. There was a plastic badge clipped to her lapel. It had her picture and then a rank underneath: Warrant Officer. Kris was the WO? How was that even possible, she’s my age? She saw me look at the badge but didn’t say anything. Instead she set the box down on the corner of one of the dressers and slipped on a pair of dark glasses. They were very similar to the ones she was wearing in the conference room.

I realized they were streamline night vision goggles, similar to the ones they wore at the Syndicate but sleeker and far more stylish.

“Is that badge for real?”

She smiled and nodded. “The Colonel thought the students here would have a better time relating to someone their own age. Trust me, I was as surprised as you look”.

“And the monkey suit?”

She frowned. Clearly she didn’t like it or my comment. But she didn’t say anything about it; instead she clicked into the room and sat on the edge of my bed. For a while she sat there and stared at me. I stared at her too. The girl sitting there was not the same cold, insensitive bitch that I’d known for the last month. This girl was kind and warm and very welcoming. What the hell was the deal? Was this some new ploy for them to get me to hand over the flash drive?

“I have to apologize to you” she said after a long time.

Apologize -- her? I must be dreaming.

She smiled. “I should have listened to Dani and given you the benefit of the doubt” I nodded, she sighed. “You have to understand the situation you put us all in. We were dealing with an enemy that had similar resources, a lot of capital and pull and the benefit of surprise. We’ve dealt with a lot of similar groups, smaller ones but none as organized. They took us by surprise”.

I nodded. “They’re evil bastards”.

She sighed. “What I’m about to tell you is known by only a select few people”.

“Then why trust me with it?”

“Yesterday you proved yourself. You performed well beyond the call of duty. You kept a cool, calm head. You helped Mike; you kept him calm and level headed. You rescued me; you took control of a dangerous situation and showed real leadership capabilities. When The Colonel debriefed me yesterday evening, you impressed him. You surprised me too”.

She leaned forward and gave me a hug. I couldn’t believe it. Did I just chisel the ice queen’s heart?

"So I’m no longer a spy?”

She laughed. “You’re about as much a spy as Woody Allen was.”

I didn’t know the reference but she laughed.

The turnaround was a bit disconcerting but I was tired of fighting with these people. I was so tired of being in that room, cooped up like some kind of prisoner. When they took me on that mission the previous day -- I’ve been asleep so long, again -- I made a vow not to go back to that room. I like them. They were a little stiff at first and a bit too military but I liked that too. I’m not sure if I was a fan of those uniforms but I could deal. I wanted to be friends with these people and belong somewhere for a change. I didn’t want to be afraid that someone was going to rape me or tazer or even brainwash me.

These were the good guys, I was finally sure of that.

After our hug, Kris told me what she came to say. Apparently, I wasn’t the first Syndicate encounter they had. A few days before I arrived, a couple of Syndicate spies were discovered at their Beta facility. The CO there launched a pretty nasty investigation and took out two Syndicate facilities in the process. The first one was a small lab but the second one was in Arizona. I pumped my first at that one; Declan said it was one of the big ones. According to Kris, they called it Section Three. All I could think was two down and two to go. She was present when they took Section Three and told me that was the reason why she was so weary to trust me. I knew how the Syndicate operated, I knew their tactics. They were obsessed with Dominators and heavy power hitters. Arizona was no different apparently.

“I could still be a spy, you know?” I teased.

She smirked. “We’ve fully scanned the chip in your head. It’s definitely deactivated. That doesn’t mean that it can’t be reactivated at a later date but your friend Barry is pretty confident that he can disable it for good”.

That’s my boy. God I missed him so much that it ached. I missed Mattie and Clara too but Barry was something I needed. He was my drug and I was definitely an addict.

After that she went and got the box. I was a little curious about it too. She placed it in my lap. I’m not sure what I was expecting but when I opened it, I wasn’t sure what to say. Inside was this funky looking bodysuit. It looked like someone had fashioned it out of a lightweight mesh. It was thin and felt a bit like a wetsuit. Kris smiled as she saw the look on my face. I don't know if I should have said thank you or threw it back in her face. I’m still bitchy and I was cramping. Even though I couldn’t feel it, I knew it was there. I hate this girl thing sometimes.

“What is it?” I finally asked, holding it up and scrutinizing it.

“It's called Second skin” she said with authority. “Our R&D team has been working on it for some time. It was supposed to be an all weather camouflage suit but they never seemed to get it right. Then when you arrived and we found out about your disability, the Colonel redirected the team, with the help of Barry of course. They worked quite a while and there were several misfires but they finally got it right”.

“Got what right?”

“I’ll take my glasses off and you put it on, then I’ll show you”.

She took her glasses off and I took the thing out of the box. I stripped slowly, not sure if I could trust this thing or not. It looked absolutely ridiculous and it was so fricking flimsy. When I pulled it up my legs I didn’t notice anything different except it looked like I was wearing real thin stockings. Ever so slowly I pulled it up the rest of my body. The only thing that it didn’t cover was my face; it even had this hood thing that covered my neck and ears, allowing my hair to stick out the top. I walked over to the mirror and all I saw was me standing in this body stocking thing with my underwear showing. I felt so fricking embarrassed.

“Do you have it on?”

I groaned. “Is this some kind of payback for breaking that guy’s nose? I said I was sorry”.

She laughed. I heard her walk across the room and over to the light switch by the wall. I snapped around, ready to yell at her but it was already too late. I screamed and squeezed my eyes, waiting for the pain. But it never came. I felt Kris’s hand on my shoulder and she told me to open my eyes. When I finally did, I saw myself standing in the mirror, only wearing my underwear. What the hell happened to the thing? I turned my head, my face stung a lot and it was kind of bearable but my body was fine. When I turned again, I saw my skin shimmer. What the hell was that?

“The suit has been completely repurposed. It took us a long time to get it perfect but as you can see it completely reflects the light, keeping your skin safe and secure”.

I cried. Never again did I think I could stand in a room with the lights on. The tears flooded down my cheeks and Kris wrapped her arms around me, letting me cry on her shoulder. I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had ever done anything like this for me. I cried on her shoulder for a long time, when I finally stopped she gave me another quick hug.

“Can I go outside now too?”

She nodded. “You’ll have to wear clothes over it of course but you can wear it pretty much everywhere, including the shower and the pool. There’s still a few kinks, and I’d only suggest you wear it when not in your room, but it’ll be like your skin was before. You’re still going to have to cover your face and wear glasses but other than that you’ll be like everyone else here”.

“Does that mean I’ll have to wear those awful uniforms?”

She laughed. “Unfortunately. Well at least for now anyway”.

What did she mean by that?

There was another knock on the door. Kris smiled and told me that that was another surprise. She went to the door and opened it up. As soon as she did there was a high-pitched squeal and a flurry of dirty blonde and gray. Mattie threw her arms around me and didn’t let go for the longest time. She cried and I cried. It was the greatest. Clara came into the room, quieter than Mattie. She was a bit sheepish, looking kind of cute in her uniform. She slowly stepped over and Mattie pulled her into our hug. Kris laughed and told us she’d leave us alone.

“I have some things I need to care of. Why don’t you girls take her on the tour?”

I was about to watch her go and then I decided. I pulled out of the hug and ran over to my boots by the door. I picked up the left boot and fiddled with the heel. Shortly after leaving the Syndicate I tried to find the best place for the flash drive. I knew it was important and needed to be somewhere extremely safe. The three of us (Gideon, Barry and I had a discussion) and decided on my person was the easiest place to hide. Save swallowing it, we decided to hide it real good. It was Gideon’s idea to hollow out the heel of my left boot. We cut a little section away, just big enough to fit the flash drive in and cushion it from harm. Then we put the heel back together as good as new.

I fiddled with my heel, using my fingernails to pry open the spot and shook the flash drive into my hand. It was pretty small; it was amazing how much could actually fit in it. Kris’ eyes opened wide and her lip curled into a half smile. I held it in my hand for a few seconds. Did I really want to do this? Trish had entrusted it with me and I owed it to her to protect it. But she also wanted me to give it to Mrs. Fine. A couple of hours ago I was willing to do anything to protect it from these people but now I was certain the flash drive couldn’t be safer in their hands.

I passed it over to Kris and she smiled. “Are you sure you can trust me?”

“I figure someone must have dragged my ass out of those woods. If you didn’t trust me you would have left me there to rot”.

She smiled and walked out the door but stopped before leaving. “For your information,” she said with a laugh. “Mike actually dragged your sorry ass out of there”.

With that she left.

Mattie and Clara came over and hugged me from behind. I heard Mattie whisper something about it being the right thing to do. We stood like that for a few more minutes. Then I realized how awkward it was. Rick probably would have loved. Me, not so much. Ok it was a little stimulating having their bodies pressed up against my nearly naked nipples but I’m not gonna go there. So I put an end to it:

“Now can I get dressed?”

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Walking out into the hallway, into the light for the first time in almost two months was exhilarating. I forgot how good the light actually felt. Mattie had my hand and Clara made sure the towel covering my head stayed there. Even though the S.S. (Second Skin) covered most of me, I didn’t want my face stinging like crazy. I wished there was some way for everything to be back to the way it was, back before all of this but I was ok with being ninety percent covered. Hey it’s still an A, right?

The two of them led me down the hall and around a couple of corners. We went up or down some stairs too, I think. It’s really hard to judge where you’re going with a towel over your head. All I know is about ten minutes after leaving my room; we came to the Wardrobe place. Heather wasn’t there to help this time, but I didn’t need here when I had the Shopinator with me. Mattie was like a kid in a candy store, grabbing one article of clothing after another. Clara became her receptacle. One item after another landed in the little Chinese girl’s outstretched arms. When they got to those drab school uniforms I tried to protest but they shot me down. It was a strict rule too.

They forced me into one right there. It was the skimpiest damn thing I’d ever seen. Mattie pushed me into the changing room, pulling off the bathrobe I was wearing as she did so. I dressed as quick as possible, coming out of the room holding my boots and gloves. Mattie was holding up a pair of high heels and frowned at my boots.

“You can’t wear those” she said as I sat on a bench and slipped them on.

“I’m wearing the shortest skirt and tightest shirt I’ve ever worn in my entire life. If they get pissed about me wearing my boots they can go screw themselves”.

Mattie smiled and put the shoes back.

I slipped on my gloves. The SS didn’t cover my hands either but I didn’t mind the gloves. They felt like they were a part of my superhero costume. I was going to kind of miss the coat though; it had all those cool pockets. Mattie had a solution though: She was holding a zip up hoodie, black of course. I slipped it on and put up the hood. She frowned, mumbling something about it clashing with my outfit. I ignored her as Clara handed me a pair of glasses. They were much more stylish than my old pair. They were smaller too and had these little blinders on the side to block the sun from all angles. When I put them on I didn’t notice a difference like my old ones.

“Barry made those too”.

I blushed. I had to remember to thank the boy later.

They began the tour with classrooms but I didn’t really pay attention. There were too many and I think I’ve once or twice that I’m not a school person. Then they took me by the Gym or whatever it was. There was a group of boys there, in sweaty t-shirts that clung to their bodies. They were playing basketball and being boys. A couple of them whistled. Me I blushed bright red and tugged on my skirt, trying unsuccessfully to get it to go longer. Mattie went out of her way to introduce me to a nondescript man in a gray track suit. She introduced him as Mr. Weiss; he was the Phys. Ed teacher. But also the small arms instructor. He seemed particularly happy to meet me as he kept pumping my arm and telling me he’d heard good things about me.

After that I was brought around to a salon. The place actually had a salon. There were two women inside, one middle aged and the other young and blonde. Mattie introduced them as Sandra and Minnie. Sandra started fussing over me, telling me my posture was dreadful and my hair needed styling. She was nice about it though. Mattie told them we’d be back later. They both frowned a bit; I think it was a bit of theatrics. Then we were off and onto the next spot. We went by the Infirmary but where I was quickly introduced to Dr. Lynchburg or something.

The rest of the tour was kind of boring. We went to a lot of places and I was introduced to so many people there was no way I going to remember everyone’s names and faces. Our tour ended about noon and the girls decided they were hungry. I let them lead me to lunch and found myself standing in line in a very loud cafeteria. It floored me at how many students the place had, there had to be close to a hundred. There’s that many of us out there?

“Much more than that I’m sure,” said a boy in the line behind me.

I turned and saw a tall African American guy with a shaved head and the strangest colored eyes. They were blue but so light that they almost looked white. They were kind of mesmerizing.

“How did you know what I was thinking?”

He tapped his left temple. “I’m a telepath. I didn’t mean to intrude but I haven’t quite got the knack of this thing yet” He stuck his hand out. “I’m Marcus, Marcus Hayes”.

“Becca Howe” I said, shaking his hand.

We got our lunch together and talked a bit. He asked me about myself and I gave him the abridged version. He didn’t judge when I started talking about the Syndicate. Then he told me about himself or rather his former self. He used to be white as white can be. He was from Mississippi. His name used to Anna and he was a beauty pageant darling, his words not mine. Anna Louisa Monroe, from one of the biggest bigoted families this side of the Mississippi, once again his words and not mind. He said it was poetic justice and karma when he woke up like this. He wasn’t a bigot himself but his Daddy sure was and if he’d of known that his little princess was now a six foot tall black guy she would have been in a whole heap of trouble.

We parted when we got to the actual tables. The Cafeteria seemed to have a division of the sexes going on, boys on one side and girls on the other. I don’t think it was a mandatory think but that it just happened. I saw Mattie and Clara sitting at a crowded table. Mattie caught sight of me, waving me over, pointing to an empty seat next to her. I smiled and shook my head. I went over and sat quietly. Mattie introduced me quickly to the others. I already knew Heather, her white head bobbed in recognition. Next to her was a black haired girl named Debbie with her nose stuck in a book. Lara was there too, her foot propped up on an empty chair. Mattie didn’t need to introduce me to Clara but she accidentally did which got us all laughing, even the gloomy Gus herself.

The last girl at the table was named Cori. She was small and quiet. When Mattie introduced her, she raised her head slightly then dropped it again. She reminded me a lot of Mattie when we first met. This girl was about her size but had shoulder length pink hair and black frame glasses. Her hands were on her lap and her lunch was neatly organized in front of her. Everything was wrapped in plastic though. She wore latex gloves on her hands and carefully unwrapped her sandwich when she took a bite.

“Cori’s a token reader” said Heather as an explanation. “But she’s got it bad. Whenever she touches something, she get’s the entire history of the last person who touches it. She has to be real careful as you can imagine”.

I nodded. God that had to be horrible.

We ate lunch, chatting about nonsensical things. It was a lot of girl talk about clothes and make up and boys. The boy part was the only thing I chipped in about, the other stuff didn’t interest. I ate my lunch distracted though. I kept looking over across to the boy’s side, trying to see a familiar mop of black hair. It was hard to see him, because there were so many guys over there. It didn’t take me long to spot him. He was in the lunch line, chatting it up with some guy with electric blue hair, I could actually see the cold issuing off the kid. It was kind of cool (get it?).

When Barry turned around and our eyes locked, he dropped his tray. It was metal and clattered loudly on the floor. He didn’t care though. He ran across the room, I stood up and waited for him. He latched onto me like one of those things that latch onto sharks. I saw them on Animal Planet once. We sucked face for a while, neither one of us cared about breathing. All the girls laughed and giggled but I didn’t care. It’d been a month since his lips were against mine and God did I miss them. Somewhere off to the side Mrs. Fine cleared her throat and that ruined the moment. She told Barry to go pick up his lunch and get a new tray.

He apologized and sheepishly went back to the lunch line.

As I sat back down, I looked over to a girl sitting by herself. She was absolutely one hundred percent the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. She had vibrant red hair that shined, her face was elegant and her skin flawless. She had bright green eyes and her uniform fit her like a glove. She was the ideal woman and I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Half the guys were staring at her. I felt my heart leap in my chest and my hands got kind of clammy. God I’m crushing over a girl again. I thought I was over that one Barry and I hooked up. I did have a little crush on Chloe but that was harmless. But whatever I felt for her it was anything but. I felt my nipples get hard and I got a little wet between my legs.

A couple of girls passed in front of me, blocking my view from the Goddess. When they passed by, I was shocked. The Goddess was gone. I looked left and right but she was nowhere to be seen. Damn it. I could have stared at her all day long. The gods they are cruel.

Mattie snapped her fingers in my face. “Did you see something good?”

“An angel maybe,” I said, not realizing I said it before it came out of my mouth.

She laughed. “There’s a girl who levitates but I don’t think there’s one with wings”.
That got the other girls laughing.

Barry came by a few minutes later because he had to go back through the line again. He apologized and pulled a chair over from one of the other tables. There were two girls there but they didn’t seem to mind. He held my hand and got some looks from the others. He took some flack about being a Mutineer and jumping ship. Across the room some of the guys laughed. There was one boy who had these dark eyes and black lips who kept staring at the two of us. He was kind of creepy. Barry saw him looking and told me to pay no him no heed.

Mattie and Heather shivered.

I ignored the kid but he kept staring at me. Barry tried to be protective, putting his arm around my shoulder. I’m not sure if I liked it but I was glad that he thought he was protecting me.

After lunch we all split up. Mattie was the only one who stayed with me. Barry had to get to the information center or else Mrs. Stapleton was going to skin him alive. Clara, Heather, Debbie and Cori went off to Skill Training. Lara hobbled off to the library and refused help. Mattie showed me the way back to my room. She made it very clear that hers was at the end of the hall and that if I needed anything that I knew how to contact her. We smiled at that.

I went to my room and pulled my new key out of my pocket. But I didn’t need it because the door was already unlocked. I swore I locked it when we left this morning. I pushed open the door, ready for anything. What I found instead was the gorgeous redhead from the cafeteria, lying on the other bed, looking at me. She smiled weakly.

“Hi” she said, even her voice was angelic. “I’m Stella, your new roommate”

Photo Credit: MeetMeByTheLake2Nite