fifthgazelle

New York City, New York, 2002.

“Why won’t you dense assholes listen to me!”

Adeline snapped at her siblings, who’d been struggling with a puzzle their father had assigned them. Some sort of teamwork exercise.

Two of their heads whipped in her direction, one ducked down, the rest ignored her. It was so frustrating having to deal with idiots. Even though they were her ‘siblings’, it was hard to feel affection to them.

They’d tried almost everything. Everything but just basic logic and actual teamwork. Acid burns littered the door and the lights flickered back and forth.

Arguments ensued as Adeline studied the board. Pupils shrinking as she squinted, attempting to read from afar. Then it all clicked at the accented letters.

Blurry lines focused into real words.

The girl’s voice rang out through the room, “It’s in Latin. The instructions are right there.”

“Goody-two-shoes.” Alyssa elbowed Wesley next to her as she muttered, barely loud enough to hear.

Adeline rolled her eyes, going over to the board on the wall

“Den med ett öga. Flamma.” She muttered, the words falling off her tongue smoothly. It was true, that’s why Adeline worked so well in logic puzzles. That’s all she had.

Wesley snorted. “Well, what does it mean? That just sounds like nonsense.”

“The one with one eye. Flame.”

The masked boy, who’d been standing shoulder to shoulder with his brother, perked up. Normally, the group never wore their masks outside of missions, but Leonard did. He was ashamed.

Stephen knocked his brother’s shoulder slightly, pushing him forward. The two were an odd pair, biological twins. Something that even their father, Sir Reginald, hadn’t thought of.

Opposite abilities. Fire and water. Similar outcomes. Bodily impacts.

“What do I need to do.” His voice was scratchy as he coughed, bringing those scarred hands up to his face.

Adeline replied sternly. “Take it off.”

“I can’t, it’s still healing.”

“And I bandaged it after the last mission, take the fucking mask off.”

“Adeline—“

“I don’t give two shits about how it looks. We’ve killed people.” She said it like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Leonard seemed wary, guard up. Then again, to get out of that room seemed similar to heaven. He obliged annoyedly.

The rest of their siblings watched the argument, well, just Adeline’s barking at the taller boy.

First the tight straps around the back clicked open, one hand busy, the other holding it to his face. Leonard’s chest rose and fell heavily.

It’s harder to breathe when your body’s covered in burns and tight skin.

The boy’s twin brother watched silently. Even in their strained familiar relationship, Stephen and Leonard stuck close together. Both torn apart from the same mother.

All of the Coalit’s watched Adeline study the board, her eyes straining slightly to read it. She muttered incoherently, obviously working some solution out.

Leonard’s mask fell into his hand, his shoulders slumping slightly. He looked smaller than before.

Her eyes met his for a moment, his short, brown curls falling along his forehead.

Adeline reached out for Leonard, grabbing his wrist firmly, pulling him towards the door. He looked hesitant, locked up.

“What the hell—“

“Hands on the handle, heat it up. Melt through the lock.”

“My hands are still blistered, Adeline.”

“I know. Just heat up the handle. I’ll fix them up after.”

She always did. Never out of pure kindness, just pity.

Leonard attempted to protest again before being shushed.

“Just do it.”

The boy’s hands shakily gripped around the handle, he winced at the cold sensation against his swollen blisters. Tears filled his eyes before changing into a steam as they fell against his face.

His body had a slight warmth radiating of it, glowing red hot at his hands. Serum and blood dripped from Leonard’s hands to the handle, falling onto the floor.

Adeline watched intently, staying close to the heat. The metallic handle began to turn malleable and soft. Her eyes ended up falling onto Eloise, who ducked slightly to avoid being seen.

“Poison, come here, you too.”

“We already tried mine. I feel sick.” Eloise’s voice was quiet, lips chapped from bile.

“Do you want to get out of here or not.”

Finally, the dark haired girl obliged, walking on the other side of Leonard. His quiet sobs were one of the only things filling the cramped room.

Adeline wasn’t their favorite person, but she was important. Smart, just such a fucking asshole about everything. She knew that. Her eyes went back to the board as she read out the instructions once again.

“‘Exspue, corroderee’. Spit up, corrode.”

“I can’t. I don’t have anything left.”

“Yes, you do.”

“It’s my stomach acid!”

A small groan came from Adeline, “Fine. Maybe you can’t do it by yourself,” she moved around to Leonard’s other side.

Stephen watched his brother, watched him suffer, “Hey, Adeline, maybe check on Leonard!”

The freckled girl was too sidetracked to notice the shaking of the scarred boy’s legs. His hands had gone raw, blood red. Stephen cursed to himself, coming from behind and pulling his brother off the door.

“What the fuck are you doing!” Adeline snapped.

“Oh, sorry for not wanting our brother to burn to death!”

Adeline knew this would shorten whatever time they needed. She came behind Eloise, quickly shoving her fingers down the other girl’s throat, causing her to gag.

“Jesus Christ!” Alyssa yelled at the sight, covering her mouth

Tinted drips of acidic tears fell down Eloise’s cheeks at the motion, but it worked. Adeline pulled her hand out as their sister began to puke a reddish, slick liquid.

It caused the lock to pop and the handle to melt, opening the door.

The dark haired girl remained hunched over, holding her stomach, tears burning small holes in the floor. Stephen watched Adeline with disgusted awe.

Sir Reginald stood on the other side of the door, pulling it all the way open. His expression the same as always, cold, stern.

“Your teamwork skills are poor. You are all dismissed to your rooms. I will have Pogo give you your scores.”

Adeline was the first out, nodding at their father. That room was her space, even if it was barebones.

It’s all temporary, remember?

—-

Leonard cried quietly, his voice hoarse. Every small touch caused him to wince as Adeline methodically covered his burns. It was grotesque.

Basically one big open wound, the flesh was soft, disgustingly warm. He was still pissed at her for that but too busy with the searing pain on his arms.

The clean white innocence of the bandages hit the raw arm over and over again, ointment slick along it. Leonard whimpered at the intense pain infecting his body.

“I’m sorry.”

Teary eyed, Leonard’s head jerked up at his sister’s quiet words. He’d never heard Adeline apologize for something, ever.

Adeline didn’t like the words, she thought they were useless. The girl just thought it’d be nice for him to hear, maybe get him to shut up for a moment, maybe just to help him feel better.

Conflicting emotions settled in her stomach. She never knew why had always decided to help. Help Leonard specifically.

Maybe it was that small glint in his eyes, the permanent sickly fright in his face, or something else entirely. It wasn’t love, not close.

He whined again at Adeline’s hands gently applying ointment to his healing face. A particularly bad accident had left him with disfigurement and the loss of an eye. All of it had left him without feeling on right half of his face.

“Sh. The more you move your mouth the worse it’ll get.”

“It fucking hurts!”

Leonard grumbled, holding back a couple of hot tears. Most of his hair had been burned off on that side, so it was simple to bandage at least. The freckled girl’s hands were gentle, sterile. Gauze, bandage, tape.

“Pogo redid your mask again, it’ll help with the healing.”

Adeline paused.

“You shouldn’t need more ointment but, in the off chance you do, Grace or I will have it. Sir doesn’t trust Pogo with it.”

It was quiet after that, nothing but the sounds of Adeline’s nice shoes clicking against the floor as she walked off. Leonard sat alone in the once sterilized room, bloodied and serum stained gauze splayed about.

He wanted to call out for the girl, he disliked that feeling. It wasn’t quite helplessness, just the childish want for affection. Real affection.

Because, even with acid burns along her fingers, Adeline continued to seem to care for his injuries.

Her face was just as blank as it normally was, quiet, unrevealing. The only thing that would’ve been visible was the dullness in her eyes. Day after day after day.

Get out, get out, get the fuck out.

—-

Seattle, Washington, 2002.

“I know you. You were at that one show a couple nights ago.” Juneau’s voice was smooth, all her words rolling off her tongue quickly.

Aw shit.

Adeline shied away from the taller woman in front of her, almost dropping her drink. Not from intimidation, just a quick reflex.

The girl stood back up straight, readjusting the can in her hand, moving her hand to her side.

Her demeanor shifted as she studied Juneau, taking in the closer details. They both knew why the other was there, right? Adeline thought that from the look she got.

“Mhm. Oh, yeah. I got recommended by a…friend,” Adeline’s free hand went to feel against the edge of her jacket, making sure her handgun was near.

“Really? Shit, that’s awesome.”

“You guys sure were something.”

The freckled girl knew to always play dumb. Act like you’re not there to mess with their life forever. Maybe she was there to kill someone, or stop them from killing another.

Juneau referred to herself.

“Canis Lupus,” She paused, “Juneau,”

The pale girl’s hand gestured to Adeline.

“Vulpes Vulpes,” Juneau’s face looked curious, awaiting for an answer.

“Adeline..?”

Juneau seemed to sigh at the lost reference before moving her hand, making it able to shake Adeline’s.

The windy air bit at both of their faces. Adeline seemed extremely put off by the gesture. She never shook hands.

Especially not with a Hargreeves.

Though, in an attempt to not get caught, or not seem like an extreme freak, she took Juneau’s hand in hers, shaking it firmly.

Holy shit.

That same pukey feeling from the day before rose through her body. Her stomach twisted and every drum of her heartbeat in her ears yelled at her to let go.

Something stopped her.

Every single memory flooded Adeline’s head. The two timelines of Juneau’s life began to mash together. That was a huge fucking problem.

Years and years of stealing from other timelines, especially the stealing of another version of herself, made everything so complex.

A labyrinth of a mind.

Juneau finally let go and Adeline pulled back in response.

Even with the pounding inside her head, the shorter girl attempted to stay calm.

“You looked a lot cooler in whatever you were wearing yesterday. The glasses reminded me of…bassist of that one emo band…Max? No…?”

Adeline watched Juneau try to figure out the name of this mysterious man, studying her as she did so.

“Marshall? Shit— Ugh…Marlowe?”

A strange infatuation filled her stomach, replacing the sickly feeling. Watching her ‘normalness’. Timeline hoppers tended to be antsy, scared.

Then again, it wasn’t like Juneau was unaffected. Adeline saw the ‘tics’ of a wasting timeline and its’ culprit. A neck jerk, hair tugging, and a guilty conscience.

Just seeing someone so…interesting, different than just a time space delinquent.

And Juneau was hers. Her target.

For a minute the two were just standing a little too close together till Adeline was brought back by Juneau’s realization.

“Mikey! Mikey fucking Way.”

“Who?”

“That’s criminal.”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t quite seem like a music person. What were you doing at a show like ours?”

Adeline began a response before being cut off. A voice came from along the entrance of alleyway, calling Juneau’s name. They were urging her to come along.

Adeline felt a weird disappointment when Juneau replied to the faceless voices.

“Okay! Okay! God forbid I wanna make friends!”

The taller girl looked back over, their eyes meeting each other. Because of the cold weather, no one would’ve been able to tell the heat ever so slightly flushing against her cheeks.

It was shut down by her rational thinking.

“I’ll catch you around, Miss?”

“Griffiths. You too, Miss…”

Adeline didn’t want to seem like a creep for already knowing the other girl’s full name, address, and background. Juneau chuckled softly.

“Askoak.”

With that, the dark haired girl hopped on her toes and caught up to her friends, leaving Adeline alone against the wall.

Juneau fucking Askoak…Canis Lupus?

She shifted her weight, bringing the can up to her lips once again. Adeline pushed off the wall, left the alleyway, walking the other direction.

The bullshit of the commission wasn’t an issue for those few seconds.

But just as quickly as her duties left her mind, they infected it again. The pressure to perform well consumed her thoughts.

Adeline didnt exactly know where she was headed for a minute. Only deciding once her eyes passed that familiar diner.

That familiar, red SUV wasn’t there.

So, the girl was set onto another place. Same person, different place.

Her footsteps were weirdly hurried, like she needed to meet him fast.

Maybe she did.

—

“What the fuck— how did you find where I— shit—“

Adeline stood at the front door of Parker’s apartment. It was cramped, cluttered with cds, a keyboard, and a shit ton of pottery pieces. Her darkened eyes glanced around the room as Parker shuffled over to the bathroom.

“You gave me your address the other day when you said we could—“

“Fuck!”

Her studying of his space was interrupted by sounds of gagging, body perking up. The girl shut the door and walked to the bathroom.

Parker was on his knees, hunched over the toilet, just completely fucked up. Adeline started sweating, her eyes widening, it reminded her so much of her sister.

Then again, she wouldn’t have knelt down to hold back Eloise’s hair.

A shame washed over her body, arms slightly shaking.

Those freckled hands grabbed at his loose curls. The boy’s brown eyes glanced at her for a moment before squeezing shut at the force of another gag.

It was vile.

Adeline saw so much of his life within that moment. Chronic migraines, nausea, he was so similar to her. Her eyes watched as Parker’s stomach cramped inwards over and over, bile sputtering out of his mouth.

The sounds in between every next hurl sounded painful. One hand on his stomach, the other gripping the toilet seat. He couldn’t stop.

Guilt flushed through Adeline’s body.

“Press your tongue to the roof of your mouth.”

“Don’t fucking tell me,” gag “what to—“

More of that same brown slick liquid pushed itself up and out of Parker’s throat. Adeline kept one hand on his hair, the other hesitantly made its way to the boy’s back.

Every sputter caused his stomach to jerk inwards, his whole body shifting.

It was odd to care.

“Once you’re done. Just do it, don’t question it.”

Parker cried before another, final, push of bile came out of him. He finally obliged to her request, breathing through his nose.

His chest rose and fell heavily, tears falling. Adeline flushed the hot, putrid liquid, if she could call it that, down. Her hand gently rubbed his back.

The boy’s breathing was struggled, his sinus’ clogged from hunching over.

She felt bad.

Though, Parker had stopped throwing up. He sat back onto his calves. His eyes were puffy and red, obviously worn out.

Parker attempted to speak, but Adeline advised him against it. The girl’s mind finally comprehended what she was doing and she popped up onto her feet.

The way Parker looked up at Adeline made so many emotions run through her body.

He looked near identical to Leonard. Well, he had those same eyes. Defensive, wary, like a street dog. Leonard had the same pitiful glint in his eyes.

The only difference was the oaken hue of Parker’s eyes and somewhat carefree shading.

“Adel—“

“Sh. I’ll explain why i’m here once you clean up.”

Adeline nodded down at Parker, letting a hand out to help him to his feet. For a moment he looked like the kid Adeline saw when she read him.

“You’re weird.”

His hand grasped onto hers anyways. It was dry, clay covered. The freckled girl hauled him up, holding onto him when he almost fell.

It was like watching a baby deer on its new legs.

They stayed there for a moment, his forearms grasped under her fingers. Parker looked shorter when behind a counter than right in front of Adeline.

She noticed the slight freckling along his nose.

The girl let go, making her way to the sink to clean her hands. She felt human.

Not like a superman wannabe.

Not like an employee.

A real human being.

Just for a glimpse before something switched back. Her target.

“You can,” cough “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be out in a minute.” Parker’s voice was awkward but still had an ease to it.

“Where? On your thousands of CD’s? Or maybe the pottery table on the floor…”

“You know what I meant, asshole.”

“Fine, so sensitive, geez.”

So sensitive.

——

ohmygodittookforevertowritethis

as always go check out my GOAT @fifthgazelle

Stalking seems like such a harsh word for work.

Adeline thought so. It was somehow always the time that she didn’t draw attention. Maybe it was because she actually looked like she should for that time, or it could’ve just so happened that everyone had a memory lapse.

Sometimes it felt odd being in ‘normal clothes’. Converse, layers on layers on layers, jeans, weird makeup, everything just to blend in. The freckled girl stared around at the atmosphere through her glasses.

Adeline only really wore them instead of contacts occasionally. They made her feel stupid, less than, secondary.

Hands shoved in pockets, the girl’s dull blue eyes darting between the view at eye level, and the notepad resting on her left hand. Thoughts blazed back and forth at a mile a minute.

With fame comes stupidity, naivety.

Within her few days in that timeline, that messy, fucked up timeline, Adeline had found out so much about her target. Address, friends, daily schedule, down to the bullseyed girl’s license plate.

Adeline stood around the edge of the recording studio she knew that the assignment’s band played at. It seemed like the target was trying to get caught as a space-time fugitive.

The notepad quickly ran low on pages. All of them were filled with sketches, facts, interests, addresses, all the information that Adeline could get her hands on.

I’m the creep, sure. That woman took the place of another without any remorse.

Her ears perked up at the noise of footsteps coming closer to the door. The ruffling of pockets and the click of a pen ensued as the girl shoved all of her things into her jeans pocket.

“I’m not kidding! The shit you can do with your voice is sick!”

“Don’t flatter me.”

All the conversation from the loud group began to blur as Adeline walked away from the studio. Quietly, subtly, barely out of the ordinary.

Talented. Talent wasted on noise.

Adeline glanced back, watching the back of all their heads.

What a group.

It was just to study their clothing, mannerisms, walks, anything. Within her few seconds of staring, she noticed her targets small tics. A neck jerk, twitching fingers, signs of timeline fatigue.

Adeline knew that that girl, Juneau, couldn’t hold this forever. Neither could the misfits of a band around her.

A second before the freckled girl directed her gaze forwards, her assignment flicked her head over her shoulder.

Their eyes met once again.

Hesitation and then recognition flashed across Juneau’s face.

Adeline then looked straight ahead, hands shoved in sweatshirt pockets. Just that small bit of gazing at each other sent sparks of twisted timelines through her brain.

Almost as if Juneau’s presence here was fusing the space time continuum together.

It rebounded over and over in Adeline’s head. She’d gone into her siblings’, and other Hargreeves’ children’s heads before. This was something else.

Adeline speed walked over to a trash can as casually as possible. The zipping information along her brain hurt, made her sick.

Retching noises came from the back of the girls throat as she clutched the glasses in one hand, holding hair back with the other. Her throat was raw, bile slick along the back of it.

Spittle fell from Adeline’s lips, dripping across the black trash bag. People stared, they always did.

What a freak of nature.

Breath heavy, Adeline’s thoughts were of her assignment.

That stupid fucking assignment. Her stupid fucking assignment.

—-

Adeline leaned against the concert venue wall. Her disposition was covered by the broken headlight above. She fiddled with the unloaded handgun in her palms, studying it like she’d never seen it before. The band had been checking mics, amps, whatever they could for their show.

In and out.

The girl’s mind raced with solutions to this little…issue. She’d been on hundreds if not thousands of assignments before but this one was different. The original slip had read ‘return to correct course.’ Quite a peculiar cause to be honest.

“Y’know it’s illegal to keep a gun on you in public in this area.”

A younger woman’s voice came from in front of her. Adeline looked up quickly and pushed into the wall behind her. Her hands fumbled as she shoved the small handgun into the side of her blazer. A nervous look splayed across her freckled face.

“Woah, no need to freak out. Im not going to call the cops, chill.” She spoke again. The woman put her hands up in front of her chest like a criminal. Adeline studied her, taking in her features and demeanor.

“How about we forget about this.”

“Yeah, right. What is a kid doing loitering around here with a pistol? Especially right before a concert?”

She’s wrong, it’s a revolver.

“I don’t believe that that’s any of your business, miss.”

“It is my business. I’m managing the band playing here tonight.”

“Uh huh. I wasn’t asking.”

Adeline pushed herself off the wall and grabbed onto the woman’s arms, gripping them tightly.

“What the hell are you-!”

“I never had a gun.”

Their gazes met and like routine, Adeline watched as the brown eyes across from her flicker. The woman’s irises rolled back into her head quickly as her head lolled.

“Sorry.”

Adeline watched the strangers brain through her glassy eyes. It was a gross process, eliminating or changing memories. Alas, she didn’t feel bad about it anymore. And for a split second, she saw her target. Tall, dark eyes, short hair, bingo.

The woman came to, dazed, a couple seconds after Adeline eventually let go. She remembered a completely different scene than what had happened. It was just something about loitering to her.

“Sorry, what was your name?” Adeline asked, leaning back against the wall, a little more on edge than before. Her blue eyes studied the expression on the other woman’s face.

“Evelyn. That’s not the point, though. Either get off the lot or buy a backstage pass.”

“Nice to meet you. And fine, fine. I’ll see myself out of here.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Adeline nodded in response before pushing off the wall, placing her hands into her blazer pockets. A small, confident sneer across her lips. Shame had long since been buried into her stomach, hidden from every person who could’ve even attempted to pry.

It was chilly in Seattle. The day’s forecasted rainstorms had thankfully held off, being replaced by overcast clouds and gloomy puffs of wind. Adeline toyed with the collar of her shirt gently between her fingers.

The after effects of her previous power practically kicked her in the head out of nowhere. Small mutters and swears fell from her lips to the ground as she found somewhere to stop. Adeline’s head pounded loudly, her heartbeat sounding in her ears. Thankfully, this was mild compared to say a major memory swap. Otherwise known as an MMS.

“One hour. In and out, get the target out.”

The girl’s words were meant just as personal reassurance at that point. The small lump in her throat was lodged deep despite her rising confidence. Well, ‘confidence’, wasnt exactly the best way to describe her emotions. More like ‘convincing yourself it’s gonna be fine’.

—

Fuck, it’s loud in here. People enjoy this?

Adeline’s mind raced, her feet planted at the edge of the pit. It was some indie band. The atmosphere and type of people reminded her of her brother. Stephen and his stupid, shitty antics. The boy had run away after his twin ‘went missing’.

A small pen twirled between the girls fingers, anxiously but gracefully. It was obvious she was out of place here, being dressed much nicer than everyone else.

People stared, but they did that anyways. The looks hadn’t affected her in years..or at least what felt like years. Adeline didn’t really age during her time at the Timeline Commission. At least not physically.

So yeah, maybe the 17 or so year old looking girl, in a blazer and pants, looked a little off. Her hands reached into the side of her jacket, pulling out a small notepad. Adeline stepped behind with one foot and rocked on it, leaning back slightly.

It all reeked of cigarette smoke, cologne, and sweat. Her quiet thoughts were quickly interrupted by the loud feedback of a microphone. The girls’ head jerked upwards, eyes focusing onto the stage.

Bingo.

There she was, Adeline’s target. Well, more her assignment. It was one of the few time that her memory actually served her in a positive manner.

The group somehow already looked sweaty even if they’d only just gotten on stage. Adeline’s best guess was the just atmosphere of the place. It was so muggy in the cramped space. A thick haze had set around the entire crowd. All of it was a mixture of smoke and dust.

“What’s up, Seattle!”

Lead singer? Hm.

That girl was a chatterbox. Then again, Adeline stood, watching, waiting for something.

The Handler’s gonna fucking shoot me if this takes much longer.

She swallowed, sweat creeping down the back of the girl’s neck. It soaked into the clean white of the dress shirt. Adeline’s eyes followed that brunette girl’s face. Pale, freckled, scared shitless.

Loud, roaring music ensued. Some kind of trance seemed to take over the crowd. They jumped, swayed, bounced, anything just to move.

Adeline hunched over her notebook quietly, the moisture of her palms slightly dampening the paper between her fingers. Not suspicious at all..?

Juneau ‘Last Name’ (Hargreeves?)

Dark hair & Eyes

Tall

Freckled

Pale

Hard to miss in a crowd

The girl was entranced by the scene around her, taking it all down between the lined paper. For someone so smart, her penmanship was poor, it honestly looked more like chicken scratch than lettering.

Adeline winced at the microphone’s peaking…over and over again. The noise was frustrating to listen to. Somehow, the crowd grew and grew, pushing her against some metal fencing.

Everything around Adeline made her feel tiny. Her arms were pushed to her chest, boxing her inwards. The situation left her sweating and uncomfortable, brain rattling in her skull.

People enjoy this?

With a short breath, she pushed herself through the crowd to where she remembered the exit was. Different people around her yelled or protested against her break in the crowd.

Adeline glanced up at the stage once more, jotting something indescribable about the lead singer. Their eyes locked for a second. As quickly as they did, Adeline turned on her heels, finding her way out and stuffing her notebook into her pocket.

Shit. There’s no way she doesn’t know.

Her small, black pen between her fingers slipped to the ground. Without a second thought about it, Adeline found the exit. She muttered a quick apology to the, probably high, security at the door as she forced her way through.

The girl breathed a sigh of relief at the cold air around her…before shivering. Her feet kept moving before she even knew where she was going.

Shoes clicking against the sidewalk, Adeline read the signs of stores and restaurants around her. Most were closed, lights out and quiet.

The only thing she saw open was some shitty 24 hour restaurant. A sigh of resignation fell from her lips. She pushed open the dirty glass door, a small bell jingling overhead.

It was comfortable enough.

Adeline sat at a bar counter, leaning her head atop her hand while pulling the notepad out from her blazer. The small thing had been crumpled from her prior urgency.

Her hands fumbled for the pen…that she didn’t have. The girl sighed before flagging down the single worker. It was a man, probably late teens to early twenties. Adeline studied him as he walked over.

“What can I get you?” Just from his voice, she could tell he was definitely on something. High as a kite.

“Oh, yeah. Cherry coke, please.”

“Uh..okay.”

“Thanks.”

“Yeah.”

Adeline went and rested her chin down on both of her arms. Her gaze made its way up and to a poster on wall.

Always be Timely and stay in Line. Your friends are counting on it!

The message forced a shiver down her back. Every mission, assignment, whatever The Handler called it, was always branded.

“What a shitshow.”

-

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