Those Hollow Lies

Rosaline's Resolve

Roz 08/08/09 – 0800

It was not The Quarter, but it appeared as though William had taken one of our more primitive safe-houses with his retirement. I recognised some of the furnishings as his own and it had the usual Underground security measures. It was small, made up of only four rooms and I could remember coming here when I was thirteen when we thought a mission might have gone south. It was more of an emergency shelter than an actual residence.

“What is happening?” I asked, taking my stance in the centre of the main room. The walls were lined with security equipment and consoles and it appeared as though William had set up an operational base camp of sorts from where we were.

“After I heard about the severity of the situation on the news, I returned to this base to make sure that you had somewhere safe and operational within monitoring distance of The Facility.” William explained as he tapped away at the keys of his computer.

“We have a base, sir.” Connors spoke up, stepping forth to stand beside me.

“Yes, and it has a mole.” William pointed out, causing Connors to stammer for a moment before slumping slightly.

“He will be lucky to be dog food when I am through with him.” I snarled, feeling my temper getting the best of me again.

William stopped typing just long enough to catch my gaze and hold it. “You can’t run into this one with guns blazing, Rosaline. I’m pretty certain we can leave your sealed files at eight.” He shot me a knowing look, but I didn’t back down.

“I’m not about to sit around and spend weeks formulating plans to rescue my own men! Joe is in there, and so is Russ!”

William’s face looked confused for a moment, his aged eyes trying to read the look behind my dark glare. Finally he gave a small nod and then fixed his gaze back onto his computer screen. “Then I think you need to look at this.” The video link appeared up on the monitor-lined wall and I turned just enough to watch them, while keeping everyone else close to my line of sight.

“What is this?” I asked, looking at the camera view panning down the long corridor. There were no people in the corridor or sounds to be heard.

“I authorised Christopher here to obtain this video footage.” He gestured to the tall, burly man standing at the doorway we had all just come through. “It’s an image of the holding cells of The Facility.”

“Does this facility have a name?” Connors asked.

“Not unless you’ve heard of one, Agent. As far as I can tell The Facility is named just like The Quarter is name; to be vague.” William still held that same leadership quality he had had when he retired from this life altogether. I had to wonder why he had so willingly strolled back into it.

“So if these are the holding cells-“

“-this is where you’ll have to break into to break your men out.”

“How did…Christopher…obtain this footage?”

“Maybe he can tell you himself.” William gestured to the man and he stepped forward. I noticed that he held himself in a military fashion, his posture suggesting several years of active duty and dedicated servitude to the country.

“I was special forces for five years. During my last mission I was struck by enemy fire and the injuries I sustained led to an honourable discharge from the US Army. After I returned to Washington I was approached by Bethany Rivera and she offered me a position within The Facility. She wished for me to interrogate Joe Macinfield when we brought him in and then find a way to infiltrate whatever agency he came from. However, when I saw the corruption within the government I looked for a way out.” He gestured to William and then continued with his apparent explanation. “Although retired, Agent DeMonte offered me just that. Under his authority I captured as much intel of The Facility as I could before removing myself from the orders of Bethany Rivera.”