| Generated by Google Flow text-to-video AI software, powered by Veo 3.1 |
Renata Granger wakes up feeling like a new person. The scent of coffee
beckons her from the kitchen. That’s funny, she didn’t program the coffee
maker to go off this morning. This was a very calculated choice. She doesn’t
want her breath to smell, she doesn’t want any stains on her teeth, and she
doesn’t want to have to take too many bathroom breaks. In fact, if she could
last the whole day not eating, and not drinking fluids, that would be ideal.
As far as her new colleagues go, they should think that she’s a machine, who
doesn’t need anything but her job, and maybe a gun or two. She wishes that
they had already issued her one now when she hears another noise out there,
besides the coffee. Someone is in her apartment. Renata quietly slips out of
bed, and grabs the baseball bat, which is leaning against the corner for
this very situation. It’s more reliable than the cops in this town, and she
can be in control of it, so she doesn’t even bother picking up her phone
too. She opens the door, making sure to pull up on the knob ever so slightly
to make sure that the latch bolt doesn’t scrape against the strike plate.
She slinks out of the room. Shit, she forgot to put on clothes. The intruder
is gonna have a bittersweet day, whoever he is.
“Mom,” she utters with a frustrated sigh of relief. “There’s a reason
I never made you a key, or even told you where I moved to.”
Her mother casually takes the first sip of her coffee. She’s not the least
bit fazed by anything that’s happening here. The nudity, the bat, the lack
of a key, or a proverbial welcome mat; it all seems perfectly normal to her,
which is so her. “No secret or locked door is gonna stop me from
getting what I need.” She smiles, impersonating a kind person who might care
what happens to her own daughter. “I wanted to see you off on your first
day.” They’re not on speaking terms, but Libera Granger has eyes everywhere,
so it’s no surprise that word has spread.
“More like, wanted to make sure I didn’t sleep through my alarm.” Renata is
not the type to miss an alarm. She deactivated the snooze button on her
alarm clock when she was six, and hasn’t looked back since. But her mother
is the type to expect everyone around her to let her down, even when they
successfully don’t time and time again.
“Clearly I needed to. Look at you, you’re not even dressed yet.”
“It’s four in the morning.”
“Don’t keep them waiting,” Libera says, like she even knows who she’s
talking about. “This is the most important job of your life, and the way you
hold yourself today sets the tone.”
Renata smirks. “You’re slipping, mother. It’s actually not a job at this
point. It’s only training. I’m not even on probation yet; that’s how far I
am from a job.”
“I’m sure you’ll do well.” Libera sets her cup down, and takes a pack of gum
out of her pocket. “Take this. You’ll certainly need it.”
Renata wants to argue, but if there’s one thing the two of them have in
common, it’s the concern for other people’s perception of them. She hates
that she inherited this trait, but it was always going to be something, and
she certainly doesn’t want to change. So she simply accepts the gift, and
slips it into the pocket of her pants, which she laid out over the chair
last night.
“Well,” Libera begins before a long pause while she dumps the last bit of
her coffee in the sink, and rinses the mug out. “I won’t keep you. Just be
careful today. And remember...no one there is your friend.” What a strange
thing to say. As far as her mom thinks, Renata is training to be a
management consultant. She obviously can’t have any idea that she’ll be
working for the National Security Division. They would respond so fast if
she blabbed, she probably wouldn’t survive walking out the door this
morning. Libera turns towards the door, but stops short. “And invest in some
deadlocks, my dear. I could have been anyone.”
That too is a good idea. Renata locks the door behind her mom, and returns
to her room to get her mat out. Might as well do some meditation if she’s
not gonna be able to fall back asleep. She would go for a run, but then she
would need to drink a lot of water, and the bathroom problem has already
been established.
She gets sick of it after about 45 minutes, so she cancels her departure
reminder, and leaves an hour earlier than she needs to. It’s winter, so it’s
still dark outside. She leaves her apartment building, and walks down the
street to the subway station. No one else is here, but the train still
comes, and she gets on it. They told her to travel to 108th and Deliverer
Road. That’s such a weird name for a street, and she’s never heard of it
before—it’s clear on the other side of the city—but she’ll only have to
change trains once to get there.
It moves for about five minutes before stopping. No, something is wrong.
There’s no chance she’s arrived at her first stop already. There’s no
announcement as the doors open. It’s dark and eerie on the platform. A man
is standing there, wearing all black, hands behind his back. He looks at her
with a sense of familiarity that he has not earned. “Welcome, Miss Granger,
to the NSD Training Facility. We call it The Depot. You’re right on time.”
