Myra. "Do you have a laptop we can borrow?" If the Blackout was secure, I figured any other kit belonging to it had to be, too.
She made a face.
"We could always just take it," Amos said with a big grin. "Or you can tell your boss we took it. Whatever."
"Will you bring it back?" She was looking at Prithi, whose face turned red at the remark.
"I'll bring it back. Or we can meet somewhere so I can return it."
Myra stood and retreated, disappearing behind the servers. She came out a minute later with a laptop.
"This is an old spare." She handed it to Prithi. "You have a cell?"
Prithi groaned. "I lost it in the shoot... No. I lost it."
"Oh. Let me grab a pen." She went back to the desk, found a pen, and returned, taking Prithi's hand and writing her number on the back of her wrist. "Whenever you get a new phone. Do you live around here?"
"New Jersey," Prithi said.
"That's cool. Everything is right next door on the Machine. Maybe we can hook up there first."
"How I'd love to be a fly on that wall," Amos said.
"Shut up," Prithi said.
I got in between them and ushered them towards the door. Prithi waved back at Myra before we made our way out and headed to the elevator.
"Seriously, Baldie," Amos said as we gained the elevator and headed back up to the ground floor. "What the fuck was with that black shit, and the psycho laughing."
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"I don't know. I can believe a lot, especially when you're concerned."
"Just drop it. It doesn't concern you."
He put his hand to his chest. "Ouch. You may hurt my feelings saying things like that."
"We've got a laptop, we've got a location and security details. Let's get a room upstairs and put a plan together. You were right about this being Black's play, but it's worse than we thought. Jin has no idea what she's in for."
"I don't have a problem with that. Just cause she gets a rise out of you, that doesn't mean you should have a problem with it either."
"That part? No. I do have a problem with what he's using her for. The endgame."
"Which is?"
"Reverse the reversal."
The moment the words spilled from my lips, I wished I could have taken them back. It was a stupid thing to blab about in general. It was more stupid to blab about it to Amos.
He froze, leaving a thick silence in the elevator car.
"No shit?"
I decided to go on the offensive, whirling on the fat ghost. "I know you don't like the new humans. I don't care. We agreed to get the Hua back for Tarakona. That's the job, and we have an obligation to run it. If Black wants to kill half the people on Earth, let him find another way to do it."
Amos was quiet.
"Are you hearing me, Amos?" I asked. "You promised to help me with this job. With stealing back the artifact. I don't care if you give Black a call once this run is over, but right now you owe me."
He was still quiet. It was pissing me off.
"I can drop you right here," I said, reaching out for his arm.
His hand snapped out and shoved me away with a force that surprised me. I hit the side of the elevator. Hard.
"Amos," Prithi said, though she was afraid to get between us.
"You son of a bitch." I reached into my pocket, fingering the dice.
Amos stared at me, waiting for me to pull them. It was tempting, but I decided against it. He was the closest thing I had to a connection to Danelle. As pathetic as it was, he and Prithi were also the closest things I had to friends.
A few more tense seconds passed. Finally, he shrugged. "Yeah. You're right. If I ain't got my integrity, I ain't got nothing. Just so we're clear, Baldie, I don't personally owe you jack shit. I came along on this ride to get back at Jin for reneging on our deal. The fact that you want to help her or something now? I'm not so kosher with that."
"I'm not helping her to help her. I'm helping her to finish the job. Once Tarakona has the Hua, he can protect it from Black."
"He did such a great job of that the first time."
"I have a feeling he won't get caught off-guard again."
"You better hope not. Black gets what he wants, you go bye-bye, along with all