Friend Or Foe

§|{± Friend or Foe? ±}|§

Bailey tossed in her sleep as her brother sneaked in unawares. “Wake up! You’re late! Again!” Bailey jumped at stared at her Amazon Alexa Echo Show. 09:03! Boxing had started at 09:00. “Oops” she grunted and rubbed her eyes. Her brother Samuel glared at her with disgust. “Hurry up then. Harvey won’t wait for anyone”. Bailey rolled her eyes. Her brother hated being late for anything. She slowly dragged herself out of bed and pulled on a t-shirt and shorts, muttering about where her comb for her hair was. She yawned and rubbed her eyes again. She splashed water on her face to wake up. She brushed her teeth and ran downstairs for breakfast, just as she spotted in her brother’s hand toast she knew (with sisterly instinct) was meant for her. “Just in time.” he huffed staring at the toast as if he longed for it to be his. Bailey snatched the toast and stuffed it greedily into her mouth. Bailey had learnt the art of eating whilst cycling so she pedalled at speed whilst stuffing other bits of toast in her mouth. Bailey loved boxing (and computing); she could let all the pent-up frustrations with school, homework and everything out. She was top in her class - well – joint-first with her best friend Sapphire.

Sapphire and Bailey would spar all the time, sometimes playfully, sometimes contentiously, like all healthy friendships. They both attended football practice, but for different local teams. They often played against each other and the rivalry between the two teams was heated. The scores were often drawn but the two friends loved the heated competition between them. Samuel and Sapphire were quite good friends, they would often play Minecraft together on Bailey’s Xbox only if they bribed Bailey with a strawberry lemonade or a Chai Latte and asked extra nicely. Bailey often harboured feelings of embarrassment towards her brother but didn’t tell him. Surprisingly, Samuel thought the same, but they kept their distance for the most part.

Some time had passed, Bailey was 15, Samuel was 17 and Sapphire was 15. Bailey worked shockingly hard and eventually earned a PhD in Computer Science. Samuel did the same subject but got a master’s degree instead. Sapphire, though, however hard she studied, at first didn’t get a degree at all. She studied exceptionally hard again and obtained a bachelor’s degree. “That went better than I thought it would!” She told her friends when she received her results. Deep down, Sapphire was jealous. So, heart-wrenchingly jealous. She thought, “How? If I am smart enough to beat everyone in boxing, how can I not do better?” Bailey. She has been restricting me from day one. If she wasn’t here, I would be the boxing champion, get full marks on every test and be the best student in school. But no, Bailey ruins everything! She probably planned this from the beginning! Bribed the new teacher with her brilliant grades and sweet voice!” Sapphire was mad from rage inside. Without saying a word to her confused friends, she sprinted to the classroom where she had left her bag earlier. The second she picked up her bag, Bailey and Samuel walked in. Samuel was angry. “Why did you just run off like that?” he asked angrily. Bailey had more patience. “What’s up, Sapphire?”

She’s concerned. Yeah right. Sapphire thought. “I’m fine.” she snapped at her friends. After much back and forth, Bailey lost her patience. “Fine. If you’re not going to talk to me about what is wrong, I won’t pester you. Bye, Sapphire.” Heartbroken, Bailey walked off with Samuel by her side. For a moment, Sapphire hesitated. What had she done to her friend? Then she shook her head. Bailey didn’t give two hoots about her. Why should she care? She yanked on her satchel and marched out of the door towards her house. For a few days, all Sapphire did was sit around and mope about how much Bailey had ruined her life and much she didn’t deserve such treatment. A few times, Bailey and her brother had tried to fix things and go to Sapphire’s house but had been turned away by her mother, who claimed Sapphire “needed time to relax and rest during a stressful period in her life”. Spurred on by her hate for Bailey so much, she managed a PhD in Computer Science, Mathematics and Data Science. When she was old enough, Sapphire got a job working as an apprentice for the manager of the tech for Amazon, she eventually made her way to the top, as CEO of Amazon. She was walking outside one day when two hands grabbed her neck from behind, choking her and suddenly everything went dark…

Bailey missed her friend. It had been so long since they had seen each other, and much had changed. Bailey had stopped boxing and instead went into the Army. She sighed. Why had Sapphire left in the first place? Was it something Bailey had done? If it was, why wasn’t she communicating with her? These questions buzzed around Bailey’s mind like busy bees in a hive. Soon, she saw that it was all over the news that Sapphire had gone missing. Bailey was confused. She turned to grab her coat and paused to think it through. In the end, she brought a torch, gloves, a spare change of clothes, other essentials for surviving outside for who knew how long, and a picture of her, Samuel and Sapphire. She smiled fondly. The good old days. She stood up straight and grabbed her coat. She ran off into the late evening to save her best friend who hated her.

Sapphire felt groggy. “What’sgoingongoaway” she slurred tiredly. She jerked and felt tight ropes squeezing her to the chair. Her eyes widened as she saw a stern man staring at her and smiling “You’re awake. Finally. We need to talk business.” Sapphire’s eyes narrowed and she tried but could not shake her head-the ropes were too tight. “No? You’re in no condition to say no.” he glared at her; all smiles gone. “You will talk, and you will talk quickly.” He loosened the ropes around her mouth until they fell away, and Sapphire took a deep, gulping breath. “What do you want?” she scowled angrily. This man had no right to kidnap her just for a business meeting! Imagine how many other important meetings she had missed! “I work for a big company…” he started. She rolled her eyes. She had heard this useless jargon before. “Skip to the point.” she snapped. His eyebrows rose. “I am part of a company called The Tech Force. I want you to join me. With the same pay, hours etc.… With a twist. I need you to hack security cameras.” he said.

“I’m terrible with computers.” Sapphire lied.

“Your PhD in Computer Science, Mathematics and Data Science says otherwise.” replied the man dryly. “I know everything about you…”. To his surprise, she leaned in as much as her bondage would allow her and whispered: “Not everything…” The man smiles.

“Of course, everything… you have two best friends, a boy and a girl, do you not? My pawns to get you into this job of mine. No job, no friends.”

“You’ve forgotten something,” Sapphire whispers. A frown flickered across his face. What had he missed?

“Assume I want neither.” The man was surprised. Friendships were valued. “What about family? I have, to put it vulgarly, my fingers in all the pies,” he grimaced. “Blood is thicker than water.”

“You haven’t read up on the fact I’m an orphan.” she huffed, still lying. She was trying to find out how much he knew about her.

“Back to business.” he snapped sharply. He had the rigidity and commandeering air of a general. “If you work for me, I can promise you, you will be part of the most powerful company this world has ever known. Will you join us in our battle of thrones? I suggest you do. Do you want to be part of the winning team?”

“Y-yes but-”

“But what?” snapped the man impatiently

“I don’t think I want to do this-”

“Listen here, child” growled the man leaning close to her, “It’s now or never. Once in a lifetime opportunity. Don’t you want to be better than anyone else? Don’t you want to overthrow the system that has tried to stifle our true potential? Aren’t you tired of being mediocre? Don’t you want to feel accepted and wanted in society? Don’t you want freedom?”

“I-I accept”

“Perfect. That’s what I wanted to hear. Phase 1 has begun.” 

Gently, Bailey knocked on the door of her brother’s family home.

“Hello?” a young lady with a toddler at her feet and a baby in her arms opened the door.

“Is Samuel at home?” asked Bailey.

“Yes, he is. Please, come in.” replied the lady, smiling warmly and calling her husband. Bailey walked down the thin hallway that was lined with books, shoes and other items left there by a toddler. She took a right turn into the living room, which was a peach colour There was a large coffee table in the middle of the room and the bright lamp on the ceiling that gave the place a very homely feel. A door opened behind them and Samuel, ran his hands through his hair, which matched Bailey’s dark auburn colour, though a little brighter. At first, he stared at Bailey, freezing. He hadn’t seen her since she had hand-delivered a letter saying she was due to go and serve in The Army. Finally breathing in and out slowly, he ran over to his sister and embraced her warmly. Smiling, Bailey embraced him back. “I thought you’d gone. I heard stories… of those who never came back. I was worried, Ley.” Bailey smiled. Her older brother had always been loving to her, no matter what happened between them. “I need your help… with Sapphire.” sighed Bailey seriously. Samuel looked surprised.

“I saw the news… did you find her?” asked Samuel hopefully. Bailey shook her head.

“I’m going to find her. First, I’ll check her old workplace, there might be clues there. Then I’ll look through all the companies that wanted her in their workplace.”

Samuel smiled, then burst out laughing. “Sit down, he offered her a chair and she sat and stared at him, whilst he laughed heartily. “Your joking-” he wheezed, tears of laughter running down his cheek. Bailey, however, was deadly serious. “W-what?… You're really going to possibly risk your life for a friend who utterly rejected you years ago and has never bothered to contact you since?” Bailey smiled.

“That reason you listed; is exactly why I’m going. If I am not back in 1 month, call the police. But please, I beg you, don’t look for me on your own. If you want to come with me, your opportunity is now.” She waited, patiently, the silence among them as tense as they were. Bailey may have seemed prideful on the outside, but the look of indecision and hurt on her brother’s face was tearing her apart inside. Was this the right decision? Should she even go at all? Quelling her conscience, she got up from her seat and turned around slowly. “I will contact as much as I can,” she said, coldly. “Have you changed your phone number?” she asked.

“N-no…” replied Samuel, dumbfounded.

“Good. I will see you. soon, hopefully with Sapphire. Good day.” Sighed and said goodbye to Samuel’s wife and children before grabbing her coat.

“I’ll always be there for you, Bailey. We both know that much,” whispered Samuel, breaking the uneasy silence.

Bailey’s hand paused on the doorknob, “I know you are, and I love you for that.” Bailey smiled, and slowly closed the door to meet whatever danger lay in wait for her. 

Minutes turned into hours. Sapphire had no idea how long she had been sitting at a computer. Her arms ached as she typed endlessly, So this was her life now. Typing, typing typing... Not really awake, but not sleeping either. She felt split. She wanted to cry. She wanted to laugh. Her body was fighting everything, Sapphire was a zombie now. Yet she was alive. She didn’t even know what was going on. Her mind wanted her to get up and run away; she refused. Or did she? Was it even her? Who was in her head? Who? Why? What? Where? Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching from behind her office chair. “112!” Sapphire jerked but didn’t fully get up. Was 112 her name now? She opened her mouth to speak, but. no words came out except for a strangled groan. She could now feel the person’s eyes on her, but she didn’t care. “W-was t-that m-me your c-calling s-s-sir?” Sapphire’s voice came out in a squeak, but at least she’d said something. “Yes. Follow me.” the voice replied. At this point, Sapphire thought he was pushing it a little. The rules in the place were as follows:

1. No talking
2. No standing up
3. No walking
4. OBEY