Chapter 656: Candidate (1/2)

”Been simmering long enough?” Darsi peeked over his shoulder at the sauce he was cooking, a feat that required her to stand on her tiptoes since he was quite a bit taller than her.

”Is this conversation about the sauce? Or what we saw while using the T-6?” Dex attempted to put on a sour expression but was easily defeated when she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him close.

”Feeling a bit salty?' Darsi's blue eyes showed humor, despite the serious tone.

”Is this about the sauce? Or my mood?”

”Both? Why are you comparing everything to spaghetti sauce?” Darsi released her grip and slid around him to access the cupboard.

It had been forty-eight hours since the report from the Anodyne Cybernetic job returned; the Bottom Feeders decided to take a few days to study the results while letting the Kenji situation sit.

Dex shrugged slightly; Darsi had spent the last two days in his room. The partners spent most of that chatting about off-topic things like childhood stories and motorcycles.

Darsi removed two plates, her pretty face unreadable. ”Perhaps you are missing Nova?”

Dex let his serious expression slip in favor of a grin; Quicksilver loved to take little jabs at his infiltrator friend. ”What's the deal with the two of you? Oil and water?”

Darsi fixed him with a deadpan stare. ”You can be so dense...”

Dex laughed but silently agreed as he tasted a bit of the sauce that he was preparing. ”Somethings missing...”

The blonde pursed her lips slightly. ”Let me see.” Darsi leaned closer, placing a hand under his to support the spoon. Unexpectedly she slid to one side and moved closer, lightly brushing her lips against his before stepping away. ”Nothing is missing; it's fucking perfect.”

Dex felt his face warm considerably, thankful that Darsi had turned around to rummage through the silverware drawer. ”Is that a legitimate way of testing sauce?” He muttered a curse at the awkwardness of his words; some people say cool things under pressure while he tended to wallow in quicksand.

Darsi found the utensils she was looking for, freezing for a moment when she noticed his expression. ”It's not? I'm going to fucking kill Gadget.”

Dex stared blankly for a moment before breaking out in laughter. Just like that, the awkwardness he felt disappeared. ”Damn... You had me for a second.”

”More like a couple of seconds,” Darsi countered with a wink.

The two shared a quiet dinner, occasionally talking about minor things, but neither was bothered by the silent moments when they lengthened. Finally, they arrived at the designated meeting time for the Bottom Feeders.

Darsi and Dex were the last to arrive. Thumper, Gadget, Mongoose, and Stiletto were already perusing data files on their HUDs. As if perfectly synched, all four HUDs shut down when they arrived.

”Why staring so hard? We aren't late!” Darsi used her HUD to bring up the report, noticing that Dex did the same.

The group shared a look before Gadget cleared his throat. ”There was an attachment for this report, Darsi. Sending it now.”

”What are we looking at.” Darsi could see that it was a list of names; automatically, her eyes stopped when she spotted a familiar name. ”Kenji is on this list?”

Gadget nodded, his expression giving nothing away. ”This is a list of candidates.”

”Hmm... Why so glum?” Darsi glanced around the table, immediately feeling like she was being treated delicately. She had already studied the report on the Anodyne job. It gave a list of ideal qualities for what was only referred to as 'the procedure.” ”Makes sense, I guess. They all fit the profile.”

According to the report, those deemed suitable have the following characteristics.

1) Male: Although there was no difference neurologically between the genders, clinical data indicated that men had a notably higher survival rate when undergoing procedures involving the brain.

2) Virtual Presence: Those who spent years in virtual settings enjoyed neural pathways that were more extensive and more complex; hackers or virtual gamers preferred.

3) High Intelligence: Although the procedure destroys the frontal lobe, many critical brain components remain functional. Those with higher intelligence process and store data faster than their counterparts.

Darsi shrugged slightly; Kenji was nothing to her. Just some idiot who worked for law enforcement. She scanned further down the list before stopping suddenly, her warm blue eyes instantly growing cold. ”Oh... Fuck no! No fucking way that's happening!”

The rest of the Bottom Feeders all looked at Dextron for support. The list had been made in reverse, with the best candidates being at the bottom. The last name on the list was familiar to everyone, Dexter Wallace.

Dex noticed his name right away but didn't feel the emotional impact that either the Bottom Feeders or Darsi felt; instead, he was surprisingly unconcerned. In truth, when he read the candidate characteristics, his first thought was that he would be an ideal candidate. ”Are we going to help, Kenji? What about the four casualties already suffered?”

”I already researched them.” Stiletto brought up the table hud and viewed four separate profiles. Three of them were male, while the fourth was female. ”The men all died during the procedure. Their data has been scrubbed clean. No DNA, fingerprints, or records of any sort.”

Darsi closed three of the files, viewing the lone female. ”What's the deal with the female?”

Stiletto brought up everything she was able to dig up on the only female candidate. ”She died while being kidnapped late at night while walking home. Defensive wounds indicate that the girl had some fight in her.”

Thumper frowned at the picture of the pretty Asian girl; she was too young to die so horribly. ”Initially, it says she was listed as a Jane Doe?”