Monday 5th Feb 2018

Once again, I could hardly sleep, but this time it was for excitement over the planned meeting with Adam. I floated around all morning and left the flat a good hour before I needed to, which meant that I arrived at the meeting place stupidly early — and I mean stupid in the sense that Study Nook Café wasn’t even open yet.

List of qualities to improve:

- Patience

- Punctuality

- Perception

- Pedantic urge to alliterate everything

When the café finally opened, it was still too early for the meeting. I thought I’d have to sit around waiting for Adam. However, I hadn’t had time to do more than order a coffee and find a seat when he appeared like magic. I suspect that he has the place under video surveillance.

“Dayton, you’re early.” He took a chair opposite and blasted me with a 100 mega-watt smile.

“Hi Adam.” I tried to maintain a professional air but it was impossible to keep from grinning back.

List of qualities to improve (continued)

- Passivity.

“So how’d it go at the dinner?” he asked.

“Not bad.” I whipped out my phone and followed the link to Layla’s cloud drive. This was followed by an embarrassingly long pause as the lumbering café wifi did its best to grant my request. Things weren’t improved by the noticeable tremor in my fingers.

Finally the images loaded. I chose a shot that provided a good view of the red-jacket guy and zoomed in. “Is that him?” I held the phone out.

He took it and looked closely, frowning. “What made you pick that guy?”

My stomach dropped through the floor. Shit, did I get it wrong? After all Tessa’s theorising and our careful checking! But something — perhaps a glint of humour in Adam’s eye — made me pause before panic took over. No, this was probably a sneaky test to check my reasoning and commitment. I cleared my throat. “Going by his actions and body language, that man wasn’t at the event for the sake of networking. He stood out.” Adam’s eyes were boring into me and I felt my face redden.

He glanced at the photo again. “What about the jacket? Seems a bit fancy for someone who’s trying to blend in.”

I grasped after a plausible explanation. “I think that was for the sake of misdirection. The bright colour attracts people’s attention, but they notice the jacket rather than the man wearing it. He could change clothes and slip around unnoticed afterwards.”

Adam looked steadily at me for a few more seconds, then his face relaxed into a grin. “Well done, Sophie. You might have been improvising, but you were right. That’s exactly why our agent - Harvey - chose that particular jacket. You passed the second challenge.”

I had a driving urge to squeal and hug him. I went for the more sober option of pushing my hair back behind my ears several times while beaming like a maniac. “That’s great! I mean, it’s great that I was right. And that I passed the test…”

Note to self: Babbling isn’t sexy. Don’t babble.

List of qualities to improve (cont. cont.)

- Placidity.

Adam was browsing through some of the other photos. “I have to say I’m impressed with these shots. If you weren’t doing so well in our tests, I’d suggest following a career in photography.”

I opened my mouth to tell him that I hadn’t taken the photos, but a terrible thought struck me. Would I get in trouble for seeking help with the task? It’s not like I broadcasted my mission to Layla or Tessa. They’re still in the dark about my ulterior motives. On the other hand, I probably wouldn’t have completed the task if it wasn’t for their help.

Would that mean my result is invalid?

While I was panicking about that, Adam had moved on to telling me about the third challenge. “…an advantage in taking photos because the third test involves investigating into the past. Your next challenge is to find out what Agent Harvey - the man you identified - was doing at the gala dinner. This will be tricky, but I have no doubt you’ll find a way.”

I nodded vaguely, my mind still in a whirl. Layla’s photos gave me an advantage. Did that make me a big cheater?

Adam stood up to leave. He must have taken my confused expression to be dismay over the difficulty of the next challenge, because he paused before leaving, smiled and touched me on the shoulder, murmuring “Don’t worry, Sophie. I have every confidence in you.”

Then he was gone. And my shoulder was tingling like someone had gently jabbed it with a taser.

On the way home, I realised that I already know the answer to the third test. Tessa gave me the answer to that too, when she pointed out how the red-jacketed agent - or Agent Harvey was staring at another man in a normal suit. I needed to analyse the photos again to confirm the suspicion, but was guessing that Harvey was there for the sake of watching that other man.

But there was little need to rush things. To be honest, I needed a bit of time to process the realisation that I may have been a stinking great cheater, and then decide what to do about it.

Anyway, Adam acted like this next test would be super difficult. Surely that means I can take a bit of a break before reporting back to him.

Most importantly, that exorbitantly-priced café has stolen enough of my fast-dwindling dosh for one day! I noticed that Adam didn’t bother to buy a drink this time. Does that mean that secret agent wages are shit?

Note to self: Research starting salaries for secret agents.

List of qualities to improve (cont. cont. cont.)

- Pecuniary... Pecuniarism? (Not a word)

When I got home there was a vaguely familiar jacket hanging next to the door. Dropping my stuff in my room, I headed into the kitchen and found Ethan's skinny frame bending over the coffee machine.

“What are you doing?” I exclaimed.

Ethan blinked at me. “Making coffee?”

“It’s just that we have an optimal heat immersion ratio for the machine…” My voice trailed off as I realised I sounded just like Tessa.

As if I’d channelled her, Tessa herself walked into the kitchen. “Hi, Sophie.” She noticed Ethan standing there. “Oh hello. Are you Sophie’s boyfriend? I’m Tessa.”

“No, I’m just a friend,” Ethan said, straightening up from the coffee machine. Today he was wearing a ‘Geeks do it beta’ T-shirt. “I’m Ethan, hi.”

Tessa’s gaze went to the coffee machine and she narrowed her eyes. “Are you the one who keeps changing the settings?”

Ethan glanced at the machine. “Oh this? I prefer a lighter flavour so I’m just shortening the percolation time.”

I braced myself for a storm. Tessa flushed and she pushed her hair back impatiently. “In this house we have a democratic approach and we agreed on an optimal heat-immersion-“

“-heat immersion ratio.” Ethan completed her sentence. He turned to me, stroking his goatee. “I had no idea you lived in a cult.”

“Oh please! You can’t call it a cult just because we care how our coffee tastes,” exclaimed Tessa, marching forwards. She was actually getting right up in his face but he wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. Maybe because she’s so short.

“Well let’s look at the facts.” He ticked off the points on his fingers. “You live in a closed community, have highly specific views that some people might consider to be ‘controversial’, and are quick to indoctrinate new members.” He gestured towards me.

Tessa was energised. “But if those are your criteria for defining a cult, aren’t you then describing practically all households and social groups? I highly doubt that…”

I abandoned my plan for grabbing a snack and escaped the kitchen at top speed. With a clash of two such titan intellects, everyone else had better just stay out of the way.

Back in my room, I noticed I had a missed call from Shane. I rang him back.

“Sophie!” he exclaimed. “Called to see whether you’re still alive. Are you?”

“Well I’m living in a coffee-themed cult, associating with elves, fairies, musicians and hackers and I’m training to be a secret agent.” I summarised. “How’s your life?”

“Ha ha, very funny,” he said. “How’s it going in the new flat?”

“Well I have an actual bed so it’s definitely an improvement on my last accommodation.”

“You were lucky to get my couch and you know it,” he retorted. “No seriously, I just wanted to check you were ok. You seemed to move in there very quickly after you met that girl randomly in a coffee shop…”

Aww, Shane was concerned for my well-being. “That’s sweet of you but everything’s great. Meeting Layla was destiny in action, I tell you.”

“That’s good.” He sounded relieved. He was probably grateful that he didn’t need to implement another rescue-Sophie mission. “And did you figure out what was going on with your student record?”

“Oh…” I decided to sidestep the issue. “Actually, I decided I don’t want to be a student any more. I’m in an interview process with the company that my parents used to work for.”

“That’s amazing,” he exclaimed. “What company is it? I have no idea what your parents did.”

“Well it’s…people and logistics stuff,” I improvised. “They have openings for people with different skills and they were interested in me because of my parents.”

“Sounds good. What-“

“But that’s enough about me.” I cut him off before he could ask any more awkward questions. “How’s it going with Jade? Are you still seeing her?”

I could practically hear the goofy smile spreading over his face. “Yeah… She’s great. Actually she’s moved in.”

That was fast. “Er, great! Good for you guys. You must really like each other then.”

“Yeah…” he repeated dreamily. “Sometimes, when it’s the right person, you just know, you know what I mean?”

Not really. But that didn’t matter. “I’m so happy for you both. As long as she can stomach your football addiction.”

“Oh that reminds me,” he said. “I rang partly to invite you to the match on Wednesday.”

“Oh, are you having a party again?” I said, unenthusiastically. I’ve been to Shane’s football parties before. They aren’t much fun unless you’re heavily into football, beer and toilet humour.

“No, I mean the actual match up at the uni ground. Jade’s company is handling the promotion and they want plenty of attendees, so they’ve given her a load of free tickets to give away. You could bring your new flatmates too. In fact, bring as many people as you can.”

A real-life football match. How normal! And I really ought to make the effort to catch up with Shane. “Alright, I’ll come. I’m not sure whether my flatmates are into football. I’ll check and let you know, okay?”

“Sure thing. See you Wednesday then.”

I switched on my laptop to have another look at the photos from Saturday night. There was no hurry to figure out the third task, but the curiosity was driving me mad. I couldn’t wait to see whether Tessa’s hunch was right about the man Agent Harvey was tracking. As I was waiting for my laptop to load up, I realised that my stomach was growling. Oh yeah, I’d been prevented from using the kitchen earlier.

I opened my door a crack, trying to work out whether Tessa and Ethan had finished their discussion. I couldn’t hear anything so I snuck out and tiptoed towards the kitchen.

Still no noise. I decided they must be gone. I walked boldly into the kitchen…

And was met with the sight of Tessa and Ethan locked in a passionate kiss. They’d both taken off their glasses and laid them in a pile on the kitchen table. Even their accessories were embracing. How adorable. I hastily backed out of sight.

I was happy for them, but their newly-found chemistry was also causing me to slowly starve to death. I debated for a few moments, but really didn’t want to face the awkwardness that would ensue if I entered the kitchen and disturbed them.

I grabbed my bag and quietly sneaked out of the front door. The local chip shop would do.

One chip butty later, I’d slunk back into my room and was browsing through the photos again, looking extra carefully at the ones featuring Agent Harvey’s presumed target. I’d found a good one of his face and was just zooming in on a shot of him, debating whether I could google his face, when there came a knock on my door.

I shouted for whoever it was to come in. The door opened. It was Ethan.

“Hey, Ethan,” I smiled at him. “Did you finish your ‘discussion’ with Tessa?” I mimed air quotes.

He cleared his throat. “Ah, yes. She seems like a smart girl. Has some interesting opinions.”

“Yeah, I bet you found it stimulating getting in touch with her ‘opinions’.” Air quotes again. I was starting to understand why Ethan used so many exaggerated gestures.

He held up his hands in defeat. “Ok, you obviously saw the whole thing, so I’m going to just concede defeat and announce myself thoroughly teased.”

I grinned, “Spoilsport.”

His eyes went to my screen. “Hey is that blazer?”

I looked at the screen, which was still showing a zoomed-in image of the mystery man. “Well I’d call it a dinner jacket rather than a blazer,” I mused. “But I guess people have different names for these things.”

“No, no, the guy. His name is Blazer.”

I stiffened. “You mean you know him?”

“Well I don’t exactly know him personally. He works for The Future. Actually I‘d say he’s most likely to be the one who did that funny stuff with your student record. I’ve come across his work before and he leaves a distinctive electronic trail.”

“No way,” I breathed. “So why was he at the gala dinner?”

Ethan leaned in “Is that where the picture is from? Huh, I don’t remember seeing him. Admittedly I was distracted by the fountain.”

“I wasn’t, and I didn’t notice him either.” I frowned.

“Well if he was assigned to mess with you, could be that he was there because of you,” Ethan suggested.

“But how would he have known I was going to be there?”

He shrugged. “It would have been easy enough to check the guest list. We already know he had access to the uni server.”

“But I wasn’t on the guest list. I had an anonymous transferrable ticket.”

“Did you post anything on social media about going to the event?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t. But wait! Maybe Layla did.” I quickly opened Facebook to check the posts from last Saturday, and sure enough Layla had posted an update on her photography page about her plans to attend the uni gala event. She’d even tagged me in it. Jeez, this Blazer guy must have had an easy job following my movements.

Ethan seemed amused. “Not exactly a mistress of stealth, your flatmate.”

“Yeah, you could say she’s a professional at not blending in,” I sighed. “Actually, when I came to your convention, my original plan was to sneak around without attracting any attention. That idea went out of the window as soon as she decided to tag along.”

He grinned. “Worked out pretty well in the end.” He looked at the screen again and stroked his goatee. “So if Blazer came to the dinner to follow you, that could explain why you didn’t notice him. I mean, you generally don’t see what’s behind you, right?”

We browsed through the photos again. I was in hardly any of the shots, but there were one or two where Blazer was looking towards the camera, meaning that he could have been watching something behind the camera.

And that’s exactly where I was. Standing behind the camera, watching over Layla’s shoulder as she took the photos.

Was he really following me? And if so, what an epic ring of espionage! I was there to find the red-jacketed Agent Harvey, who was watching Blazer, who was following me.

And I was the only one in that messed-up circle who didn’t have a clue what was going on.

Adam has a lot of explaining to do.