Don’t Shoot The Messenger: Files from Tempest

Messenger #8: Files from Tempest

Tempest stopped by in person again today with a special delivery for me. “Congratulations, Messenger,” she said. “I managed to get you at least some information.”

I pulled the files out of the envelope she handed me. On first glance, it looked like the sheets she had given me consisted entirely of black lines, but on closer inspection, there were a few bits of information here and there that hadn’t been censored. “You could have emailed these and saved yourself the trip,” I told her.

“I prefer giving you hard copies. There’s a lot of information on these documents I need to restrict and I don’t want to risk you finding out more than you need by doing…computer stuff.”

“So is ‘computer stuff’ the technical term they’re teaching you in school, then?”

“I’m learning. At least I know enough to know I should be wary of people like you.” The sense of satisfaction that statement gave me faded quite a bit when I realized I was happy that I could scare a sixteen-year-old girl. “And for future reference, I’m not attending a school. My education is being seen to by private sources.”

“Right, of course. I was just making…” I caught myself before I finished the sentence, but the damage had already been done. Tempest folded her arms and glared at me, and suddenly the fact that she was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and was at least a full foot shorter than me didn’t matter. I was just a tiny little nobody compared to her.

“You were making a joke,” she finished. “Messenger, I understand that this isn’t an easy transition. You’re still adjusting, and the fact that I’m so young bothers you. You don’t think I’m qualified, so you treat me like a kid. Regardless of my age, Messenger, I’m still your boss. I expect you to address me as such. I want to see you succeed so I’m willing to pull strings to do you favors like this,” she said as she tapped the papers in my hand, “but if you continue to be cute with me, that’ll stop quickly.”

“You’re right, Tempest. Inexcusable. I’m sorry.”

She nodded. “Thank you for understanding. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other business to take care of while I’m here. I need to check up on our new recruit.”

“We have a new recruit?”

“We do. She’s replacing Hyde. Don’t worry, her information is in that packet as well.”

“So is she going to be my new roommate?”

“No. She’s been with the Filii for a while, so we’re placing her with someone more experienced. You still have the room to yourself. Anyway, I hope you’ll be able to make good use of that information, Messenger.” She gave a curt nod and walked off down the hall, leaving me to sort through the sheets she gave me. It’s not much, but it’s something. Now that I’ve found a grip on something here, maybe I can finally start climbing.

-The Messenger-

To be honest, I’m a bit disappointed at the moment. I thought I’d have to go searching through the files I had for that one crucial bit of information that clued me in to what Mr. Messenger’s password would be. A long dead lover, perhaps. Something powerful and symbolic maybe. But no, Professor Google helpfully informs me that it is relatively easy to get around that pesky login password. Oh well. Mr. Messenger would probably be too clever for such a predictable password anyway.

This doesn’t mean that it’s going to be easy to actually get into the computer. I have to actually get to the computer first. The biggest obstacle standing between me and a more complete picture is a blind man. Of course, he may be blind, but he’s not deaf. He’d hear me boot it up, and I imagine that removing the hard drive would make a fair amount of noise as well. I could smuggle it out, but I don’t know the best method of doing that. Hopefully I’ll get my chance.

I’ve been trying to find information from alternative sources in the meantime, but at this point, it feels like everyone the Messenger met has mysteriously vanished. I have no way of knowing what happened to them because I have about the same level of access that The Messenger has at this point. I’m aware that this doesn’t bode well, but Turtle is nothing if not an optimist. Maybe they transferred to a different division. I hear it happens all the time. At the moment, Miss Tempest is the only person who’s still around, and quite frankly, Miss Tempest is scary. Maybe I’ll work up the nerve to talk to her at some point. I’ll take my chances and see if I can find a familiar face to ask about him.