Desmoterion, page 15
* * *
Girish wished he knew how to read lips. It would make his job so much easier. He did not know what Mike and Trent were talking about, and noting body language was normal didn’t give him anything to go on.
Trent moved away from Mike and headed to the right on the monitors.
Girish switched the cameras to follow Trent down the hallway to his office. At least, he assumed that’s where Trent was going since it was in that direction. He had no idea what was beyond Trent’s office, but he guessed that it might be more offices or storage. The other doors were always closed when Girish had to head to Trent’s office.
Trent opened his door, and Girish switched to the interior camera to see Trent tap out his passcode on the wall.
Trent slumped to his knees beside his desk. He covered his ears and yelled out in pain. The same thing happened in the workout area. Girish didn’t know what was causing it, only that it seemed to paralyze Trent.
Trent lifted his head and looked straight into the watching camera.
Girish jumped back, surprised at Trent looking directly at him. He didn’t think Trent knew where the camera was, but apparently, he did, or he wouldn’t be looking straight at it.
Trent said Girish’s name.
Girish stared at it, wondering if he was losing his mind from watching these camera monitors. Trent couldn’t be talking to him; that wasn’t possible. And yet, Trent looked right into the camera and appeared to say his name.
Trent shook his head while looking at the camera and said, “pervert,” before getting up to sit at his desk. He typed some things on the laptop with his back to the camera.
Girish zoomed in to see what was on the laptop screen, but it appeared blurred out. These types of screens shouldn’t do that to fancy cameras. He tried different angles, but every one of them blurred the screen. Everything around the laptop was in perfect focus, like Trent’s hands typing away on the keyboard.
Suddenly, Trent’s hands stopped typing, and his body turned.
Girish zoomed the camera out to reveal Trent looking at him again and mouthing the words, “for my eyes only,” before turning back around and typing again. He tapped a button to call the head of the department into his office.
The door opened and a man in his mid-20s with jet-black hair slicked back wandered over to Girish’s desk. “What’s up?”
Girish pointed to the monitor with Trent typing away on it. “I can’t see what Trent is typing on his computer.”
The man laughed and patted Girish on the back. “None of us can. It’s something to do with how the computers were set up. The leader put that into use so we couldn’t spy on his computer and watch what he was typing away. Since Trent is a high-ranking operative, he’s got the same protection.” The man stopped to point at the camera on Kipper’s team. “If you zoom on a communications computer, you’ll be able to see what they’re typing and watching. Someone can also patch theirs into from other areas like from Trent’s computer or our leader’s for that matter.”
“Can ours be accessed like that, too?”
The man smiled. “Not normally, but if someone like Kipper, or even Trent wanted to patch into here, they could do it. They both know the system and could use countermeasures to block anything from tracking them. I’m pretty sure Trent has done that occasionally, but mostly to see what we’re seeing and not to watch personally.”
“How can you tell?” Girish’s brow furrowed.
“Trent is very specific with his requests. Usually, watching new recruits like yourself. I know he patched into the decontamination cameras after you arrived. They generally have a very stable load, but the day you arrived, it spiked and then went back to normal after a few minutes.”
“He watched me get brutalized?”
The man shrugged. “To see if you fought back or not. Some recruits have been able to kill a few of the men over there during that. It’s his job to make sure things are completed. Considering he only watched for a few minutes, he wasn’t getting off on what he was seeing.”
Anger raced through Girish’s veins again at the idea of Trent watching him at all.
The man studied Girish’s angry expression. “Don’t get too worked up about it, Kannan. Trent couldn’t care less about most people here, so it’s not like you’re special or anything.”
“Maybe, but it still strikes me as odd. Are there any other instances of Trent watching me?”
“Could be, but most are focused on the training areas or the crew quarters. I only remembered the decontamination cameras because they rarely spike like that.”
Girish sat back in his chair. “So, you’re telling me that Trent has only been watching me specifically like that.”
The man shrugged and headed for the door. “Could be, if you wanted to read something into it, but that’s your assumption.”
CHAPTER NINE
Yawning, stretching his arms out, and leaning back in his chair, Trent felt the gaze through the guise of the camera. At least it wasn’t Samson watching him. The less he thought about the head of surveillance, the better.
He was a creeper, nothing more. Anyone who headed a department that made its business of watching everyone would turn out like that.
Trent only knew about it because when he interacted with Samson, he would say something that he’d only known through covertly watching Trent.
It was unsettling then, and even more so when Girish was under his instructions. Where and when would Girish stop watching for the night? Girish was required to still show up at Mike’s class, so he had to get to bed himself.
Trent snorted to himself, realizing that’s why Girish was late to class today. He’d probably been spying on him in his sleep. A frown crossed his red lips. Did Girish see his nightly ritual? It wasn’t something that he wanted to share with anyone, especially not Girish.
* * *
Girish yawned and got up out of his chair. It was getting late, and Mike would be pissed at him for being late two days in a row.
He was about to head to bed when he noticed Trent leave his office.
With a sigh, he sank back into his desk chair and followed Trent to the supervisor crew’s quarters. He assumed they would be fancier than the lowly recruits, but there was just a dresser inside Trent’s room compared to his own. Trent had the same boring quarters as everyone else did.
Trent sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the floor with a frown on his face.
Girish frowned, wondering what was giving Trent so much trouble tonight. Was it because he knew Girish was watching him or something else?
Trent dug around underneath his bed to pull something out.
Girish zoomed in further to get a look at it and then jumped back when he realized it was a handgun. He watched in horror as Trent put the gun to the side of his head.
“Ah, Dupont is still doing that. Some things never change.”
Girish jumped at the sound of another voice in the room. He turned to see the head of the department, Samson, standing in his doorway and looking at his monitors. He stared at him. “You’ve seen this before?”
“Oh yeah, he does it nightly. At least he did when I caught him late at night. I haven’t watched Trent for a while, but he tends to do that before bed. So far, he’s never pulled the trigger.”
Trent removed the gun from his head and stuck the barrel in his mouth.
Girish swallowed hard. “Come on, Trent, don’t do something stupid. Life can’t be bad enough for you to want to end it like that.”
Samson laughed at Girish’s feeble attempts. “You know he can’t hear you, right? Talking to him won’t change anything, as you know full well. Trent is what he is.”
“I refuse to believe that. He just needs someone to confide in.”
“What? You think you can be his friend and take care of him? You’re wrong. And that’s a dangerous path to attempt.” Samson angled his head. “You’re not infatuated? You haven’t fallen for him, have you?”
Girish rolled his eyes. “I don’t need to fall for him in order to care. I doubt Emyr or Mike are in love with Trent, but they still care for him.”
Samson chuckled. “Nah, not them. They’re more into each other. Everyone knows they’re lovers.”
Girish turned to stare at Samson. “Mike and Emyr are lovers?”
“Oh yeah, though I’ve never seen proof of it myself, they’re too careful. It’s just talk among everyone. If they are carrying on with each other, they’ve found the only place in this building that doesn’t have a camera. To be honest, I do not know where that might be. We have cameras everywhere.”
Girish frowned. “Including the bathrooms?”
“Probably in there, too, but I don’t have access to it. I don’t need to watch guys piss and shit. I have enough crap to keep track of than to waste my time with that.”
Girish turned back to the monitor to watch Trent remove the gun and tuck it away underneath his bed again. “I take it you’ve told no one else that Trent has a gun in his room?”
“No, it’s not worth the misery of getting involved in every minor little broken rule. No one’s perfect, and no one wants to be yelled at by the big boss. It’s not like Trent will go on a shooting spree with it. He only uses it for this every night. As you saw, once he’s done, he just puts it back where it came from.”
Girish gaped when the monitor went completely dead. “What the hell happened?”
Samson laughed. “It’s Trent not wanting us to see him get undressed and perhaps jerking off. I don’t blame him, to be honest. If he jerks off, he does it quickly; it’ll only last for a few minutes, and then you’ll see him in bed. Some say Trent has some wicked scars, but I’ve never seen them. I started too late to see his decontamination video, and I’d imagine they purge those after a while.”
Girish watched the monitor reception flicker back to life, showing Trent in bed. “But how does he do that?”
“No idea, but he seems to be the only one who has such a thing. You’ll see everyone else undress except him. It’s kind of weird, but that’s Trent.”
Girish got up from the chair and stretched. “Might as well call it a night since he’s in bed.”
Samson smiled at Girish as he walked by. “See you soon.”
Girish’s jaw clenched at the idea of Samson watching him undress. The guy rubbed him the wrong way from the start, but he had to play nice in order to do his job, which was just like in Civvy Street before Girish saw the inside of a prison.
* * *
Trent watched over the morning class. He was early, so only half of the class was there yet.
“You’re actually early? That’s a surprise,” Mike commented.
“I have nothing to do as of this morning. The next mission is now set, so all that’s left is to grab the two recruits and brief them.”
Mike grinned. “The same two?”
“Yes, I put them in for the mission, and so far, there have been no objections. Our leader may override me in the end.”
Mike laughed. “I doubt he’s going to object. Both are useless when it comes to anything beyond running their mouths.”
Rowland turned to face Trent. “Am I one of them?”
Trent shook his head. “No, you’re not. I’m waiting to put you on something more substantial. This mission is grunt work, which you’ve already done.”
Rowland stared at Trent. “You think I’m ready for missions like that?”
“Yes, I do. You’ve excelled in Mike’s class, and you’ve done the same in the other weapons’ training. All that’s left is to give you some more missions. I wouldn’t waste your talents on simple undercover stuff.”
Rowland stood at attention. “I hope I’m worthy of your praise.”
Mike laughed behind him. “Notice how they stand straight when they want to impress you? Where the hell did that even come from?”
Trent shrugged. “No idea, but they all do it. Regardless, it doesn’t affect anything that I’ve figured out already. I just wish the slacking students would do that, and then maybe they wouldn’t get sent on suicide missions.”
“Yeah, well, it wouldn’t change my opinion of them in the slightest. If you slack off here, you’re not fit for any mission other than a trip to the elimination rooms.”
Girish hurried in to stand off to the side.
Mike took one look at him and laughed. “Kannan, you have to stop staying up late to stare at computer monitors. You look like hell.”
Girish ducked his head. “Sorry, I was going to go to bed early, but something came up.”
Mike glanced up at Trent with a raised eyebrow.
“Apparently, he likes to watch me.”
Girish froze and his cheeks flushed red.
Mike laughed at it. “Oh, come on, who else would you be watching other than Trent? It sure the hell isn’t me or Emyr or even Kipper.”
Stevenson sneered off to the side. “Getting to watch your boyfriend, Kannan? How convenient.”
Girish’s hands curled into balls. “What did you say?”
Mike grinned between the two men. “Looks like you two will be paired up again. I might even watch this fight myself.”
Trent called out, “Try not to kill him, Girish; I need to brief him later.”
Stevenson turned to frown at Trent but didn’t have a chance to say anything as Girish launched his attack.
* * *
After the class, Trent made his way down to collect Stevenson and Saunders for the briefing.
Trent still didn’t have a clue what he’d tell them. He knew they were going to stand in an alley entrance, but who knows how long it would take to get them noticed? They might have to take matters into their own hands if it was too long.
Girish approached Trent before he had a chance to grab the recruits. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
Trent tried to sidestep Girish, but he moved in the way again. “Look, you and I both know we can’t be interacting. I’m sure our leader drilled that into your head when you started watching me. He also told me the same thing, so shift out my way.”
As Trent walked away, Girish said, “I just wanted to say that you’re not as lonely as you think you are.”
Trent froze in place. He turned around to face Girish again. “So you saw it. You’re a fool if you think me being lonely is why I do that every night. Nothing is ever that clear-cut.”
Girish opened his mouth to say more when the leader called out above.
“Kannan, my office now.”
Girish’s shoulders sagged a little. He glanced up at their leader. “Yes, sir.”
Trent didn’t bother to acknowledge their leader, knowing he was better off if he didn’t. Instead, he approached Mike, who’d cornered the two recruits. He stopped in front of them. “You two will come with me for a mission briefing.”
Saunders frowned. “I didn’t think I was ready for missions yet, going by how much Mike yells at me during class.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not a fighting mission. It’s just undercover work that we’ll be monitoring.”
Stevenson’s eyebrow rose. “Undercover missions? The kind that everyone talks about people not coming back from.”
“That’s not true. I’ve come back from them, as have Rowland, Girish, and Mike. Some missions are more dangerous than others. As I said, we’ll monitor the situation and pull you out if and when.”
“And what if we refuse?” sneered Stevenson.
“Then you’ll get eliminated for disobedience. We don’t have time for those who don’t participate in missions.”
“I’m fine with it.” Saunders moved forward. “I don’t want any more trouble, to be honest. I’ve got enough as it is.”
Trent glanced over at Stevenson. “What about you? Had enough as a punching bag for Girish yet? At least a mission will get you out of here, albeit temporarily, but still.”
“Your boyfriend is a pushover. I could take him if I wanted to, just like I can take you.”
Mike laughed behind Stevenson. “If you value your life, you won’t challenge Trent to anything. I know from experience.”
Stevenson grinned at Trent. “What do you say? If I can beat you, I don’t go on this mission.”
Trent glanced over at Mike. “I can see what you mean about him being all talk. Does he ever shut up?”
Mike shook his head. “Nope, have fun briefing him.”
Stevenson tried to take advantage of Trent looking away, lunging for him. Trent moved so fast that neither he nor Saunders saw it happen. They did, however, see Stevenson fall to the ground into a heap.
“I don’t have time for fooling around. I have a mission to brief you, so unless you want more punishment, let’s be on our way.”
Saunders flushed and tried to help Stevenson up, but was pushed away. Stevenson touched over his side and winced. “What the fuck, man?”
Trent pushed Stevenson’s hands away to pull up his black sweatshirt. “It’s a rib bruise. Next time, you’ll think twice about doing something that stupid again.”
Mike looked at it. “Trent’s right; you’re going to be sore for the rest of the day. Maybe that will shut your yap when talking to your supervisor.”
Stevenson grumbled under his breath and followed Trent and Saunders.
* * *
Girish entered their leader’s office and stood before the massive desk. “You wanted to see me, sir?”
The leader motioned to the chair in front. “Sit, Kannan.”
Girish sat down on the hard plastic chair and waited for the yelling to commence.
“Did I not tell you that you were to have no contact with Dupont?”
Girish nodded. “You did, sir.”
“Then why did I just see you talking to him today?”
With only a second or two to weigh up the consequences of his response, Girish hesitated. Should he tell their leader that Trent contemplates suicide every single night with a handgun? Never mind the fact that Trent has a hidden firearm.
“I’m waiting, Kannan.”
Girish looked down at his legs. “Every night, Trent seems to do something odd. I wanted to assure him that he wasn’t alone. Not to offer my services or anything, just to reassure him.”
