BREATH . OF . LIFE . ~ { ReGenisis Chronicles Book I }

Chapter Eight [Part 1/3]: Loyalty or Death, Right?

                      -Jake Aylesbury -

After pulling the trigger on Mr Fisher, who had confirmed his involvement in a plot to help hand Miss Andersen over to Ides, I'd gone back to my quiet, dim office. My retreat from the bright halls of Trinity Science. Only my day was far from over and my headache likely to get worse the longer I let the last twenty-four hours bleed into forty-eight.

Hudson and Skinner were already waiting for me. The old man sat in my chair, surveying one of the reports that had been left on my desk to check over. It was his own from tonight by the stubby, capitalised scrawl. Hudson was sat in a guest chair, not as comfortable as the one behind the desk, but the way his large frame slouched in it, the difference was hard to tell.

"You wanted us here?" Skinner's lips were pursed, an expression I'm not sure whether he picked it up from Swan, or if he influenced her.

"Sleep is a commodity and not all us agents are Nocturnals who can function for yonks without it." Hudson seemed light and playful enough, voice booming as always, lips curved up into a smile.

"I know, I'm tired too, Tucker. But I have some concerns." Instead of evict Skinner from his seat, I sat up against the edge of my desk, careful not to mess up the papers set next to me.

"Concerns... about Rin?" Hudson's lips curved down for a moment as he nodded at the thought. Both of them had been in on the plan to plant and retrieve Kate from Ides. Rin had suggested it when I'd told her they knew of her involvement. They knew her longer, she was already working her way up the ranks when King, Norton and I arrived here. So she trusted them enough to do what was right for everyone.

"More than just Rin." I rested my hand against Skinner's detailed  report on the nights mission, omitting several key facts. The same facts all three of us would knowingly leave out.

"Yes, I'm concerned for her, but there's little we can do. She's a survivor, if there's a way to save herself, she'll find it." Still, as much as experience told me that she could take care of herself. I couldn't quite help the niggle the words 'unable to heal' had sent through me. Inside I was quelling the hunger of revenge and worry that was eating away at me. "There are other things that worry me more."

"Like what?" Skinner lent forward in his seat, elbows up on my desk and chin resting down on hands cupped together.

"Mead knew about Amy's death." I watched his narrowed eyes widen, at the same time as Hudson's met the floor. "There are about three scenarios I can think of that could lead to him knowing that. I don't like any of them."

Hudson started stroking his chin, as a dark expression passed over his face. The implications starting to dawn on him. "How..."

"They could've been Ides Scavengers, not break outs, sent deliberately to deal some damage. Retrieve the girl. We know one survived..." Skinner surmised quickly, his narrowed eyes glancing towards Amy's picture, still on my desk. I felt a twinge in my chest.

"Two including the one that refused to stay dead."  I bobbed my head, "But another option with far more implications presents itself."

"You think there are still links from Trinity to Ides? A leak?" Skinner sat back again, his face flashing between red and running pale. His body unable to figure out how to react to the idea.

"I don't think Mead or Herod were the brains behind smuggling ReGenisis serum to Ides." I watched as Hudson's large hands balled into fists. Everything from his skin to his pulse told me, he felt betrayed.  "Which leads me to bringing this back to Rin. If someone here is in contact with Ides, her involvement could find itself uncovered by exactly the wrong people at Trinity."