Remorse

Noble had thought she was prepared for when they found the location of the Nightmare Gate. But she was wrong. 

'It isn't one Gate,' she reminded herself. 'It is hundreds of Nightmare Gates. Millions of people live in Antarctica. That level of disruption. That level of loss…'

Her own past flashed before her, making her feel lightheaded. The floating Awakened worried that she might pass out from the shock. It seemed she was not the only one. 

All around the room, the rest of the team seemed to be in different stages of grief. A few, like Wailin, were in denial of what was being shown. It was too unfathomable. 

Others were frustrated or angered by the news. They cursed the Spell and its cruelty. A couple still tried to tinker with the screens at their desks, trying to make the picture somehow less grotesque. 

But mostly…people were depressed. 

"No one can speak a word of this to anyone!" Walin announced when he was finally done contacting Gryf's group. 

Fort hung up his communicator and nodded. "The Manager is right. As of now, this is only for top-level security to know until we have both confirmation and a plan in place." 

"But sirs!" a woman said at the far end of the long desk. "I have family down there. How can I not let them know that they need to leave?!" 

"There will be time for all of that. This event won't happen tomorrow. Be patient while everything gets sorted. Anyone found in breach of this order will be held criminally liable." Fort warned those listening. 

The woman calmed slightly. Noble found it strange that being threatened with jail would settle her, but realized it was more likely that Fort confirmed that the threat was not immediate.

Most of the people in the room became less anxious after the Deputy Director's announcement. All, in fact, but one.

'Hm,' Noble scanned the room for the source of her unease.

Mitt had secluded himself in the corner of the room, probably to stay out of the way of all the work that was being done.

'Shouldn't he be at my husband's side?'

 As one of Fort's subordinates, Mitt had presumably come to attend his boss at the meeting. It would make the most sense just now for him to be offering his aid in helping the Deputy Director manage all the tasks that would need to be done after this revelation. 

Yet there he was, slinking in the corner looking at his communicator and stealing furtive glances at the room. 

'He is anxious but also...' Noble narrowed her gaze and moved toward him quickly. 

Seeing her approach, Mitt dropped his communicator to his side. "It's crazy, what is happening here. Can you believe it?" 

The professor glanced at the wall. The lower portion of the globe was still enrobed in purple. 

"It is insane. And I thought yesterday was weird. This certainly tops it." Noble stood beside Mitt and leaned on the wall. He unconsciously shifted away from her. 

"I don't understand." Mitt pursed his lips. 

'Lie,' Noble immediately felt his emotions spike. 

"Did something happen yesterday?" the government official asked more calmly. 

Noble shrugged. "Nothing much. Except you sent a picture of me with a reporter to my husband." 

Mitt's eyes opened wide as he placed his hand on his chest. "I did no such thing." 

'Another lie,' Noble didn't even need her Ability to see the sweat forming on Mitt's brow.

"At first I thought you were just doing right by your boss by letting him know what I was up to...but that explanation did not sit right. I couldn't figure out how you knew what I looked like so quickly. But I just realized. It wasn't me that you recognized first. It was Frey." Noble could feel the discomfort rising in her companion. 

He looked at the ground and then to any person in the room who might be able to save him from this conversation. Unfortunately, no one was glancing his way. 

Noble pressed into her hunch. "You recognized Frey not from the news, but because you met him many times before. When you saw him enter the restaurant, you thought you might have another chance to pass him more information. Maybe you even approached him.

 "If you did, then he must have shooed you off by telling you that he was meeting with me. You saw your chance. You sat down and waited. When the time came you took a picture and passed it along innocently enough. That way you could frame me and maybe Fort as well when things went sideways." 

The more Noble spoke, the quieter the room around them became. By now, even Wailin and Fort had stopped what they were doing to listen to the professor's claims. 

Mitt scoffed. 

"How dare you! You were the one meeting with a reporter! As you said, I was just doing my duty. The better question is what were you doing talking to the press?" He turned the accusation back at Noble.

A small smile graced her face. "I am so glad you asked. The reporter sought me out because he wanted to know what I was doing with the government. Why would anyone care what I was doing unless someone tipped them off? That someone…was you."

Mitt's face flushed with anger. "That is outrageous!"

 He turned to Fort, who had moved toward the discussion when things began to get heated.

"Sir, I know she is your wife, but I cannot stand for these baseless claims. I require an apology at once!" Mitt crossed his arms indignantly.

"Do you have any proof?" Fort took the claim quite seriously.

"Look at the message he was about to send on his communicator. He was hiding over here hoping no one would notice him." Noble had gotten the briefest glance at the man's screen before he lowered it, but that was enough.

"Show us," Fort held out his hand.

 "I can't. I wasn't sending any message. I was—" Mitt was cut off as Wailin ripped the device from the other man's hand.

"Too much talk. Dino, unlock this and we will see who is telling the truth." The manager tossed the small rectangle to the analyst. 

 "You can't!" Mitt grabbed for the communicator.

"It's government property," Fort reminded him. "We have every right to look."

"You are an extra level of stupid if you use your government device to betray us." Wailin shook his head in disgust at the younger man.

"Got it!" With his Aspect, Dino made quick work of the spelltech's encryption. He passed the communicator to the Deputy Director.

 All eyes in the room watched as he read what was on the screen. "Scoop of the century! Meet after work. Triple payment if you don't want me to contact Frey or one of the other re…" Fort's expression darkened. "You almost had the message finished."

"Let me go!" Mitt struggled against Everin and another of the team members. The two men had caught him just before he was able to bolt through the door.

 Mitt had almost made it out unnoticed. But his luck had run out.

Fort studied his subordinate with a grim expression. "You were willing to cause worldwide panic…for money? Do you have any idea what would happen if you just casually let information like this loose?"

Mitt glared at his boss. He suddenly did not seem in a talking mood.

 "I trusted you. We all did." The Deputy Director furrowed his brow.

 From some silent alarm, security filed into the room. Mitt grunted as he was handed over to the authorities.

 Noble felt many things coming off of the government worker-turned-traitor. But it was the thing she didn't feel which gave her chills.

There was one very important thing missing from the man in front of her.

Remorse.