Tuesday 6th Feb 2018

I’m already sick of Study Nook Cafe. On the bright side, today when I arrived Adam was already sitting there with a cappuccino so I didn’t have to pay their extortionate prices. The coffee here isn’t as good as at home (maybe there’s something to be said for having an optimal heat-immersion ratio).

Adam was flicking through the contents of a couple of folders and didn’t look up until I sat down opposite him. Could I have caught the master of surveillance unawares? Nevertheless he recovered quickly, his features relaxing into that smile that I’d come to know so well. “Miss Dayton. How are you?” His greeting was formal but his manner made it quite the opposite.

“Adam.” I was itching to ask what he was doing with the folders, but forced myself to stick to business. This time I’d come prepared with the necessary photos already pre-downloaded on my phone. Never say that Sophie Dayton doesn’t learn from her mistakes!

I pulled up the best shot of Blazer and gave Adam the phone. “Your agent was there to watch this man. His name is Blazer and he works for The Future.” Adam glanced at the picture as I continued. “This is pure conjecture on my part, but I think that Blazer was there to watch me. And if that’s the case, it means that you lied about the second challenge.” Adam raised an eyebrow but I didn’t let it deter me. “You didn’t know that your agent was going to be at the gala dinner until you gave me the ticket for it. Because his only reason for being there was to watch Blazer, who was watching me.”

Adam grinned at me lazily through half-closed eyes. “And what would be my purpose in misleading you like that?”

“I… To see whether I would figure it out, I suppose.”

His smile disappeared. He put the phone on the table and leaned forward. “That was one reason, Miss Dayton, yes. And you’re absolutely correct by the way. There was, however another more important reason. And that’s to make you realise the nature of the world you’re hoping to enter.” He reached across the table and grabbed my wrist, staring intensely into my eyes. Tingles of electricity ran along my skin and my heart rate spiked. He continued in urgent tones. “How would you react if I told you that you were being watched? You’d probably believe me, especially after what you’ve found out about The Future. But without this proof,” he gestured to my phone lying on the table, “you wouldn’t have realised the scope and reach of their power, Sophie. You have to understand what you’re working towards. You’re about to enter a world where nothing is safe. No written notes, no electronic account, no public or private conversation. Once you join our organisation, the concept of privacy will no longer exist for you. All you will have to rely on is yourself.” He released my wrist and a ghost of a smile returned to his face. “And a team of highly trained colleagues, of course. But sometimes not even that. It can be lonely, it can be scary, and sometimes, it’s deadly. Your parents were some of our best people and they didn’t make it. You have to live with the knowledge that, any day, it could be your turn.”

I was able to concentrate a bit better once he’d let go of me. The background noises of the café started filtering through my consciousness again. I took a deep breath and shook my head slightly to clear it. “About my parents…”

“That’s not a conversation we can have right now.”

“Ok.” I knew he was right. This meeting wasn’t going the way I’d imagined. “What about…” I swallowed. “If I complete the last challenge, do I get a choice? About joining I mean?”

“Of course, Sophie. We’re not a press-gang unit.” He paused, eyes flicking towards the folders on the table, then he continued in a softer voice. “But, if you’re going to back out, I would strongly advise you to do it before beginning the training. Some of the things you learn there… It’s a lot harder to go back to normal life afterwards.”

I resisted the urge to gulp in terror. Adam dropped the ominous manner and grinned as if we were discussing the weather. “Cheer up Dayton, you’re doing great! So, for the fourth and final challenge!” He rubbed his hands together like a cartoon criminal. For a brief second I wondered whether he was acquainted with Ethan.

“Well, what is it?” I demanded.

“You have to disable the agent, Blazer.”

“What?” Disable him? What the hell did that mean? “Do you mean I have to…”

Adam caught my meaning and shook his head. “I’m not going to lie Sophie. At some point in the future, when you’re fully trained and have moved on to real missions, disabling a target might well mean eliminating them altogether. But we’re not expecting that from you at the moment. We just want to you find a way to remove him as a threat.”

Did you hear that Dear Diary? Phew, no need to break out the poison just yet. Haha!

Adam continued. “You can take all the time you need. We’ll consider you to have completed the challenge as soon as Blazer is out of the picture. Meaning he’s forced to stop following you on behalf of The Future.”

“Ok, got it.” In the spirit of Adam’s generally abrupt departures, I stood up to take my leave. “See you later, Adam.” I give him a quick wave. My suave exit was slightly undermined when I realised I’d left my phone on the table and had to run back for it, but it was almost worth it for the smile he gave me as he handed it over.

On the way home I thought hard about the idea of disabling Blazer.

Note to self: Research poisons. And possibly blow-darts.

As with all the previous challenges, I have no real idea how I’m going to do this, but I’m determined to try. The lack of ideas hasn’t held me back so far.

On the journey I also mused over the fact that I forgot to bring up the issue of whether I was allowed to get help from my friends. I had meant to work it subtly into the conversation with Adam, but things got so intense with all that talk about life and death that it went straight out of my head. Well, if Adam doesn’t already know how I succeeded in the previous tasks, then maybe I’ll get away with simply not mentioning it… But I’m pretty sure he knows everything. After all, he dropped all those hints about me being watched and not having any privacy. Maybe he’s watching me right now…

Question: Does becoming a secret agent mean I’ll have to give up writing a diary??

Probably. He specifically said no written records.

But how will I manage without you?

You’ll manage. Becoming an agent is what you want, isn’t it Sophie?

Well yes, Dear Diary. But we’ve got to know each other so well. I feel like I need someone to tell all this crazy shit to. Honestly, I don’t know whether I’ll be able to give you up.

There there. It’ll all be alright.

Thanks, diary. Your the best.

You forgot an apostrophe there.

I didn’t realise you were such a grammar nazi! On second thoughts, I’ll be glad to be rid of you.

Actually that was a question of punctuation, not grammar.

Oh fuck off.

Another question: Does secret agent training include tests to determine levels of sanity?

As I walked through the door of the flat, I got a text from Shane asking about the tickets for the football match tomorrow evening. I’d totally forgotten to ask the others.

Then a thought struck me. If I advertise my intention of going to the match, it’ll probably mean Blazer will show up. To watch me. I shivered. But perhaps it would be a good thing to get him somewhere where I had a chance of completing my mission? I have no idea what to do if he does show up, but I might as well put myself within firing range and see whether any opportunities to ‘disable’ him present themselves.

Hearing voices in the kitchen I headed there to find Layla and Dylan seated at the table while Tessa and Ethan filled the rest of the space with another epic clash of intellects.

“I’m just saying that you’re likely to want baked beans more often than the tinned asparagus, so even though B comes after A, I’d still put the beans closer to the front,” Ethan said as I entered.

Tessa pushed her glasses up her nose. “But if I’m sufficiently familiar with the system, then it shouldn’t matter where things are placed because I can easily find whatever I’m looking for.”

“Exactly, it shouldn’t matter!” cried Ethan. “So why not have a more logical system?”

There was something dreamy about the way they were gazing at each other that completely belied the heated tones of their debate. “But how can I create an objective system based on frequency of use?” asked Tessa, reaching out to touch Ethan’s arm. “I would need months of data, especially as Sophie has only just moved in so I’m not yet familiar with her patterns of buying and eating food.”

At the mention of my name, I took the opportunity to interrupt their love-spat. “Hey guys. Hi Layla, Dylan.” Layla waved and Dylan nodded. Tessa and Ethan glanced in my direction, and then turned back to each other. I quickly jumped in again. “Anyone free tomorrow evening? A friend of mine’s got a load of complimentary tickets for the football match at the uni ground. He asked me to bring as many people as I can.” I turned to Layla. “Sport photography?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Not my forte.” Then her face cleared. “But I could get some cool shots of the crowd. I’m in.” She tugs Dylan’s arm. “You too?” He nodded.

“Great,” I replied. “Shane’s girlfriend is trying to promote this as much as she can, so maybe you can post something on your Facebook page? Tag me as well?”

“Sure.”

“What about you two?” I asked Tessa and Ethan. They both looked doubtful. I really needed all of my genius friends to be there so I pushed the issue. “Tessa I was thinking of doing that people watching thing again. Want to join me?”

Her face brightened. “That was fun. Ok, I’ll come.”

I turned to Ethan. “And you’d best come too. Tessa’s so short we don’t want anyone trampling her at the match.” His eyes widened but I left the kitchen without waiting for his answer. He’s been hanging around our flat so much the past few days that he’ll surely tag along to the game if everyone else is going.

I turned on my laptop and found that Layla had already announced the impending outing on her Facebook page. She’d tagged all of us so it appeared on our profile pages too.

Excellent. My trap is set!

Now all I have to do is figure out exactly what the trap is…