Page 57 of Fragile Facade

Director’s smile is almost as chilling as mine. “Ghost? Any insight?”

“He probably did something to deserve a snapped neck.” I shrug.

Staring at me, Director says, “Everyone is dismissed. Get to work and report back tonight. Ghost and Riot, you’re with me.”

Fuck.

“And you’re both at the end of the line.”

Double fuck.

“Walk there. Now. Before everyone leaves.”

Humiliation burns through me, but I go fast, wanting to beat Riot there so I’m not dead last. Everyone watches, a few smug grins are shared, and Menace actually laughs.

“You two finally break?” he asks.

“Fuck you,” Riot and I say at the same time, fighting for the second to last position.

“I’ll let you have it, sweetheart,” he whispers. “Since I ruined your ass and all.”

I punch him square in the eye.

RANK:

Seven

Menace

Glitch

Facts

Monster

Krypt

Ransom

Kyd

Ghost

Riot

* * *

In the morguewith Brady’s mangled body laid out on a table, Director squares off with us, still calmer than I expected him to be. Riot’s eye starts to swell and turn red, but he acts like it doesn’t bother him. I should have hit him harder.

“After examining the body, we found this,” he says, holding up a tiny chip with a pair of tweezers. “It’s different from the other Reaper Corp chips, and it’s nothing like Axel’s tracking chip. This is an implant from Reaper Corp, which basically tells us that Brady here was a low member. He was born from their breeding program, batch FV4027, according to this chip, but he never made it far. Axel can’t find anything useful on the chip, but Glitch had a look at it. He plugged it into his computer, and from there, he got a detailed history of how this kid was bred, what his traits should have been, and where he fell flat. To summarize, he was bred for deception and coercion, but somewhere around the age of sixteen, according to the file attached to this chip, he was released from the program and sent to the general population of their ranks. He’s a nobody, which means Reaper Corp sent a nobody into Moros.”

Which means there are probably other nobodies already planted in Moros. That’s what he’s getting at.

“Think of all the names and faces Axel could have pulled from his head had he been brought here alive like you were supposed to do.” He drops the chip. “We could uncover the moles in our town, maybe save lives. But no, you two couldn’t play nice. Once again.”

“Then stop putting us on fucking jobs together,” Riot snaps.

“I will,” Director says, inhaling deeply. “But first I’m sending you on one more together. Right now. And if you fuck this one up, you’ll both be dead. Time to start learning to work together, boys. Complete this job as a team or die. And if you come back alive and still won’t cooperate, then I’ll be forced to remove you from Vile House. You’re assets to this society, but you aren’t acting like it.” He steps closer to us as our rage builds. “I want you both here, but it’s time you start making decisions. Is your feud more important than being Vile or do you put your society first?” He holds up a slip of paper. “Here’s the job. Good luck. I do hope you both make it back.”