Page 10 of Seductive Architect
“Settle in, Connie, we have some sleuthing to do.”
“Surprise, surprise.” Computers shouldn’t have a sarcastic tone. I’d lie and say she learned it from Janet. In truth, she picked it up from me long before we took the job at Secret Identities.
“What secrets does our handsome… uh… mysterious… man hold?”
Maybe he was just a guy with a nice smile. Maybe.
4
Janet:Connie sold you out. Interoffice romance?
Janet: What’s our stud’s name?
Wyatt: He’s big like me. I hope he likes little men, Orion.
Drew: Why do we have to go to Connie for info on you?
Drew: You know you can talk to us.
Wyatt: Yes, Earth friend. Share with us.
Janet: Unless you’d prefer I order you a Turbo Thunder 3000.
Janet: Money well spent!
In the building lobby, I sipped my frappe, watching employees arrive for work. While Secret Identities only housed five employees, Synergy had hundreds.Despite Ricardo’s protests, I ran facial recognition on every person who entered. If anybody out of the ordinary set foot on the property, I’d receive a notification. Today, however, we only had the usual suspects. We were overdue for a supervillain to trash the front yard.
Ricardo stood in the lobby, hands on his hips. While he greeted his employees, shaking hands and waving, I imagined him coated in silver. I hadn’t told Arthur I knew his boyfriend had a secret identity. If they wanted to keep it undercover, they shouldn’t be having sex in the janitor’s closet. Ricardo got brownie points for theuniqueuses of his powers while naked.
Not even a year old, Synergy’s lobby had already been destroyed once. New buildings always had a tendency of being demolished by supervillains. I’m pretty sure it was a requirement to join the Chamber of Commerce. Thankfully, the pristine, state-of-the-art facility persisted. We had a betting pool for the next attack. Arthur protested… until he placed his bets.
With this many people in a building designed for scientific research, the hum of electronics bordered on deafening. Deep in the background, I detected the same code I had with Hudson. It was probably nothing more than a company-issued device, but I couldn’t shake a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something set off alarms, and I learned to listen when they sounded.
I reached the end of my frappe, slurping the last bit. Itwas almost time for me to head to work. My reconnaissance would have to wait until lunch.
“Please tell me you’re just enjoying your… what the hell is that?”
Janet had arrived at work, her usual seven minutes late. “A cookie frappe.” I slurped, trying to get the last chunk of chocolate. “It’s delicious.”
“Speaking of delicious…” Janet didn’t have a subtle bone in her body. If she thought it, her mouth spoke it. I’d never admit it aloud, but I appreciated the candor. Most people filtered themselves until they distorted reality. Not Janet.
“Can we talk about that mailroom guy?”
“Hudson.”
“Even the name.” She leaned on the table, pressing her breasts together. The “ladies,” as she liked to call them, might very well be her superpower. On more than one mission, they had come in handy. “What do you know about him?”
“He works in the mailroom.”
“It’s cute that you think I’m like everybody else.” The thought couldn’t be further from my mind. “So, he introduced himself. Woo.” Her finger spun about as she rolled her eyes. “What do youknowabout him?”
Everybody at Secret Identities tolerated my determination to uncover the truth. Arthur called it a hobby. Drew thought I might be paranoid. Wyatt… I never knew what he thought. I barely understood the average human. Aliens were another matter altogether.
“His work files say he was doing mail intake. He recently switched to delivery. He’s been at Synergy for six months. That explains why we haven’t seen him before.”
The crowd thinned as employees vanished into elevators and offices. A handful of people sat in the area with sofas, poking at laptops. If I concentrated, I’d be able to see what they worked on. Most of Synergy’s projects were boring, developing technology I could make in my sleep. Now and then, a scientist had a breakout moment. I filed those inventions away for future investigation.
“What doesn’t it explain?”
