Only a second or two later, two men brought in a bound and struggling third man and dropped him in the chair in front of the desk. “Him first.”
Without another word, the two men left, closing the door behind them.
Kit smiled and flipped open a pad of paper and met the man’s eyes.
“Let’s begin.”
To Felix, it was interesting. He imagined she probably had all the answers she needed within seconds of meeting the man.
Yet she spent time asking him questions, prodding at his answers, and generally conducting what felt like a police interview.
After a while, though, he noticed that her questions weren’t linear. They tended to flow from the last question alright, but in a strange direction. Almost as if she was reading a thought and asked a question to clarify his answer, and read his mind at the same time.
After five minutes, and most of his responses being one-word answers, Kit had the two Others drag him out.
“Not a cop. Steals a lot, though. Has gone informant on a few people in the organization he didn’t like, but not on the organization itself,” Kit said, jotting something down.
“Oh. Did you know that right up front, or…?” Felix asked as the door closed behind the Others.
“I knew most of it up front. The questions help focus their mind on the thoughts I want.
“I couldn’t read Smith very well the other day. He kept his thoughts close. I’d almost suspect him of having a minor-level telepath skill.
“This interview was easy in comparison. Certainly a lot easier since you… upgraded me.
“Still weird to say that.”
Felix made a soft “hm” noise and settled into his chair.
After a few minutes, the Others dragged in the next person.
Twenty-some odd interviews later, Kit changed her approach.
It was subtle; he almost missed it.
She didn’t write anything as the Others escorted a young man to the chair. Every other time, she’d already been writing as they brought the subject in.
The man looked scrappy, his face sporting a few scars, and angry eyes.
He seemed much like everyone else they’d interviewed. Built in a physical manner and clearly well suited to being part of a crime syndicate.
When the door shut, Kit laid her pen down on the paper.
“Pretty impressive. Pulling off a deep cover that long without being caught.” Kit said in a complimentary fashion.
The two Others in the corners pulled out their weapons and drew a bead on the man in the chair.
Looking from one gun to the other, the man deflated in his chair, his hands resting on his knees.
“That easy, huh?” he said softly.
“That easy. Six years is a long time to be a deep cover cop.”
“Huh. Yeah. Doesn’t matter, though, when mind readers are playing merc, does it.”
“Not really. Don’t blame her, though, she’s here because of me. So watch your tongue or I’ll have one of the Others pull it out.
“That or we take you back home and put you in the sausage machine. Right after Mab gets a shot at you,” Felix said, leaning forward, suddenly eager.
“Sausage machine?”
“Yeah. First we give you to Mab, she eats your soul, then we put your living body in this machine. It turns you into sausage that empowers people who eat it.
“Haven’t tried it myself, but quite a few of my people swear it’s tasty.”
“It’s gamey,” Andrea said from beside him. “Didn’t like it.”
The cop looked from Felix to Kit.
“Tell you what. I figured this might happen, expected it, really, so I brought something,” Felix said. Holding out his hand to Andrea, she set a sheaf of papers into his open hand.
“You can work for me, become an indentured servant, and continue on as a policeman. You get to keep your job, and get paid for both, while being in Dimitry’s organization. Or I tell Dimitry you’re a cop, and I get your soul anyways, and turn you into sausage. Your call.”
“Why not make him a slave?” Andrea asked.
“That’d require a lot more effort and taking him down to a government-sanctioned slave officer. Can’t just force anyone to be a slave, after all.”
Silence took over. For ten seconds, no one said anything.
“What would you have me do?” asked the cop in a soft voice.
“Dunno. Probably have you feed bad information to your cop pals. Make you swear to say nothing about me, or my organization, to anyone. Honestly, I’d probably just have you feed me info.”
Felix shrugged his shoulders and then dropped the contract in front of the policeman.
“Read it over if you like, but time’s ticking. If we run out, or you say no, then we go on to the sausage option.”
“No need to wait. I already have an answer. I’ll be your damned servant. You leave me little choice. They’d go after my family if they found out.”
“Two children and a wife,” Kit said. “They live about an hour from here. We’ll be able to protect them once you sign on.”
The man blinked, staring at Kit.
Felix tapped the papers in front of the cop. “Read, sign, and then take this.” Felix set down a pushpin next to the paper. “Poke a finger, smear some blood in that circle in the corner. Voila, you’ll be done after that. Contract signed and magically binding. As easy as that. Then we move right along as if nothing happened.”
The cop picked up the top few papers and started to scan through them. “Could you give me the abbreviated version?”
“Sure. Too long, didn’t read, coming up.
“You work for me. You discuss nothing of me, or the organization, with anyone outside of it.
“You’ll be paid for your work according to market value.
“You’ll receive health and dental benefits.
“You’ll be enrolled in a 401k.
“Your family will receive a life insurance payout if you die in the line of duty.
“Your life cannot be spent recklessly.
“Contract is valid for one year.
“That’s the gist of it, really.”
The cop frowned and squinted at Felix. “That sounds very… corporate.”
“I guess? We’re a company. We are Legion. Money is our goal.”
The cop frowned, picked up the pen, and signed. Taking up the pushpin, he pricked his thumb. A bead of blood welled up. The cop pressed the blood droplet into the corner.
With a hiss, the blood boiled away, only to leave a nasty red stain.
“I feel like Faust.”
“Hardly. If you were Faust, you’d be stuck for all eternity. This is only a year,” Felix said. Picking up the contract, he signed it, then handed it over to Kit.
Taking the pen from him, she signed her own name at the bottom where it listed, “HR representative.”
“I’ll arrange your onboarding and orientation. It’ll probably be sometime next week, when we have a new class starting,” Kit said, tucking the paper away.
“Seriously?”
“Yup. Whatever, time for you to go… what’s your name again? Never mind, doesn’t matter. I’ll probably not see you again. Your supervisor will work with you.” Felix gestured to the man while making eye contact with the Others.
Picking the man up under the arms, they escorted him out.
Dimitry sat down in the interviewee chair and looked to Kit. “Well?”
“One thief who moonlights as an informant on occasion when he finds someone he doesn’t like.
“That’s it, though.” Kit tore out the page she had taken her notes on. Giving it a final glance, she set it down in front of Dimitry. “There’s all the notes you’ll need.”
“Huh,” Dimitry said, reading over paper. “Handy.”
“She’s irreplaceable. Now, if that’s taken care of, I think we’ll be leaving,” Felix said, standing up.
“Yeah, yeah. Thanks,” Dimitry murmured, waving a lazy hand at them.
The Others left the room, leading the way.
Kit, Andrea, and Felix fell in behind them, moving to the exit without another word for anyone.
Hitting the street in under a minute, they started off for their convoy of cars parked nearby.