It was midnight when we arrived at HQ’s cafeteria. The usually lively spot of activity was devoid of people. I felt unsettled, and not just because of the emptiness of the room. Sitting across from me was Mateo. He had half a glass of chilled water grasped in one hand which he was staring down at like the results of a cancer diagnosis.

“Dad doesn’t want anyone to know.” He murmured. “He said I wouldn’t be allowed to work here.”

“So, you’re an exception then?” I ask, my voice growing steely.

The protector balled his free hand into a fist.

“You said you were going to listen to me, why are you attacking me?” He growled.

“I’m not attacking you, Mateo.”

“You’re mad at me.”

He was right. I was angry, and I was having trouble keeping my counsellor mask on. No person who was a client at any point can join the DOPD, yet here he was.

Mateo kept his gaze at the half drunken glass of water. I could see his lip starting to tremble.

“Was she dead the entire time we were down there?” He asked, his voice cracking as he spoke.

“Yes.”

There was no use lying about Belladonna now. He knew the truth and he knew why we had not told him. He ran a shaking hand over his closely shaved head.

“I could have saved her, if I had known.”

“You can’t save everyone.”

Upon repeating his words from the other night, Mateo shot a glance at me. I could see his eyes were bloodshot from crying.

“Do you know how old I was when I first saw a dead body?”

I suspected that I already knew the answer to this.

“When you were seven?” I asked.

He gave a small nod, his face growing tight as he clenched his jaw.

“I watched a client murder my real parents. I saw the blood…I…I don’t remember what happened next.”

Transformation amnesia, a common side-effect of becoming a client, particularly if it’s for the first time.

“The next thing I knew, one of those teams had me in a van. Maggie, I lost everything.”

His voice grew small and all at once I saw the young Mateo in front of me, lost and terrified. The tightness in my chest lifted and I let out a soft sigh.

“I’m sorry Mateo.” I said, being careful to keep a gentle tone.

The protector remained silent. I reached my hand out and gently placed the tips of my fingers over his own.

“Please don’t tell anyone about this.” He asked, flicking his eyes to me and then to the table. “I know I shouldn’t be here. I know. Dad never wanted me to be here. This was my decision. I want to protect others like me, Valory and all those other kids who’ve lost everything to clients.”

I just gave him a reassuring smile.

“I understand and I won’t. Just make sure you keep taking your medication.”

Even as I reassured Mateo, I wondered if I was making the right decision. This was all in direct violation of DOPD policies. The more I dwelled on it, the more I felt my eyelids begin to droop. Even with this intense disclosure, I could feel exhaustion setting in.

“I’m sorry Mateo, I need to go.”

We parted ways and sooner than I expected, I found myself at home. Not giving myself time to dwell on Mateo and his status as a former client, I collapsed onto my bed and drifted into a deep sleep.

When I awoke, the sun was high in the sky. Checking my phone, I saw I had a message from Suzuka. She was hanging out with her date again today and wondered if I wanted to come along.

I had forgotten all about that. My mind was too busy with thoughts of Mateo to linger on my lost chance with the rounder. It seemed so trivial now in perspective to everything I’d just learnt.

Figuring I needed a distraction, I got dressed into my street clothes and met the women at a small café in Central Ardour. Suzuka was dressed in her usual gaudy style. Today, she wore torn black leggings, pink shorts and an almost neon green tank top. Her black hair was tied up into two small pigtails. Beside her stood a tall woman with curly blonde locks that tumbled down her shoulders. She wore a floaty cream dress patterned with pink and purple snapdragons.

The rounder leapt out to me and gave me a big hug. I stumbled backwards. She had the force of a person double her height and triple her weight.

“Hey Maggie!”

Suzuka pulled away. Upon seeing my face, she immediately frowned.

“Are you alright? You look like shit.”

I had seen myself in the mirror before I left so I didn’t have to imagine how I looked. There were dark bags under my eyes and my cheeks looked as colourless as those of a corpse. I hadn’t bothered to wear makeup today; I had no energy to apply it. I couldn’t remember the last time I washed my hair either.

“Yeah, I am. Just had a few busy nights.” I replied.

Suzuka gestured to the woman beside her, who gave me a playful finger wiggle of a wave. She was wearing glossy red nail polish that reminded me of the colour of fresh cherries.

“Mag, this is Beck. She’s the nurse I was telling you about from the hospital.”

Beck gave me a gentle hug which I appreciated after the bone crushing embrace of Suzuka. She smelt like cherry blossoms and sandalwood.

“Hey Maggie, it’s nice to meet you. Suzuka’s always talking about you.”

Beck spoke in a slow and breathy tone that made my heart skip a beat. If I were a more outgoing person, I most likely would have made a sexy nurse joke. Instead I just felt my face grow hot and let out a polite laugh.

We order drinks and chatted about daily life and work gossip. I could barely focus on any of it. So many thoughts were spinning in my mind. The kidnapped clients. Mateo’s secret. The clients I had let die. My mind grew cloudy like a storm brewing over an ocean.

“Maggie?”

I jolted upright. Suzuka was gazing at me, her head tilted like a confused puppy.

“Are you alright? Do you need to go home?”

I forced a smile on my face. “I’m okay! Sorry, I’m just a bit tired. Work has been tough.”

“I feel that,” Beck sighed, placing her teacup down on the table. “because of the energy crisis, we’re only allowed to have essential lighting and machinery on.”

I let out a soft hum and thought of the news I’d been watching on TV over the past year. According to some of the world’s smartest climate scientists, we were only a few decades away from completely running out of fossil fuels. Countries like Ardour were scrambling to invest in viable alternative solutions, like solar power and wind turbines.

The nurse flipped her blonde locks back and sighed.

“That’s not even mentioning the influx of patients we’ve had recently, both clients and civilians. They’ve upped security in the hospital too, especially around clients. Apparently, Slayers gang members have been sneaking in and trying to murder them.”

Suzuka and I shared a knowing glance. We knew that was just a cover story for the kidnapping prevention measures. Suddenly, I didn’t know if I could stomach the slither of chocolate cake in front of me.

“Ah, is that him?” Beck asked, waving to someone behind me.

I turned and felt my stomach flip inside of me. Walking towards us in a red hoodie and black jeans was Mateo.

“You invited him?” I asked Suzuka in a more accusatory tone than I would have liked.

She shrugged her shoulders dismissively. “We talked a bit the other night before you were called in. Well, more like argued – but I think we kind of came to a truce. It’s like you said to me in the hospital, he didn’t actually murder anyone, right?”

Suzuka raised her voice slightly as Mateo sat down in a chair beside me. I winced as the chair legs scraped across the cement. Beck gave him a devilish grin.

“I’ve heard a lot about you as well, Mateo. Suzuka says you and Maggie are pretty close.”

Mateo and I darted eyes at each other before looking away quickly.

“We’re just friends!” I blurted out.

Suzuka placed her hand on the blonde’s shoulder and whispered in her ear. Beck gave her date a smirk before gazing back at me and Mateo.

“Right.” Beck sighed, standing up from her chair. “Well, I’m going to get Suzuka another coffee. Oh, Mateo, let’s get you something too. My treat.”

The protector blinked.

“Uh, sure.”

He stood up and followed the nurse. Once they were out of sight, Suzuka faced me and I watched her drop her entire façade. Her smile fell into a serious expression that I had never seen on the rounder’s face before.

“Last night when I was above ground, I heard something over the intercom,” She said in a soft voice. “something very interesting about Mr. Sir Lamore Junior.”

I could feel my hands getting sweaty as Suzuka leant in close to me and pulled out her phone. I could see the number for HQ already typed in. Her finger was hovering over the green call button.

“Let’s get this asshole hypocrite fired.”