Opus Veda

The heat vent turned itself off, waking Kasia up. She cursed her luck and spent the morning snatching minutes of sleep.

The cold became too much. Kasia wandered to find new shelter. She thought about the last vagrants she had dealt with - their bearded leader, who seemed to have a conscience, the filthy girl who led her through the tunnels. But many of them would kill her for crimes she played little part in.

And pride still held her back from vagrancy.

She found nowhere, and returned to the car park. Now vehicles had parked in it, robbing her of privacy. She carried on walking.

£600 remained. Enough for a meal and a drink, or several drinks. She was hungry, but alcohol would give her courage to go through with her plan.

She pictured drinking enough to pass out. The nights had been freezing. Ideas merged.

Kasia had her method.

She sat in a bar booth with a soapy lager and felt at peace.

"…Kasia?"

She flinched. On the list of words she didn't want to hear, her name was on top.

"Kasia it is you! Oh my god let me in! Well… if that's alright..."

"It's fine, come in," Kasia shifted along and offered her drink, "would you like some?"

"Oh go on then I'm parched," Esmé swigged and exhaled. Of the two of them Kasia had clearly fared worse. Esmé looked as if she had just finished a workout. Dishevelled but healthy. Seeing her made Kasia feel better.

"What happened to you after I left?"

"I ran home and didn't come out till this morning. Eddy and I met earlier; he's made a little survivor's network with the other workers - really they're just gossiping about who died and why, he's such a gay..." she pouted at Kasia, "Did that call I made for you work?"

"It did. Thank you."

"What you gonna do now then?"

Kasia took her drink back, "I have something lined up but I'm not sure yet. Don't wanna jinx it."

"It's fine, I get it, you wanna be left alone," she looked at Kasia with friendly eyes, "I hope it works out for you."

Kasia pulled a glum face, "I don't get how you can be so nice to everyone..."

"Oh, I don't know! Why is the weather what it is? I-"

"Esmé can I come?" Kasia shuddered as she said it, "can I come to this group? With you and Eddy. I... I want to see you all again."

Esmé beamed.

"Of course! I was gonna head back this afternoon. You wanna come with me?"

"I would but... it'll be a private thing right?"

"Absolutely!"

Esmé paid for lunch - a bamboo stack of dim sum. Kasia insisted on covering drinks and ordered a pot of fragrant tea. She devoured everything. Esmé shared her portion and chatted away about her plans, never forcing Kasia to reveal hers.

They continued to Eddy's, a blanched terraced house behind a tube station. Esmé let herself in and clambered a narrow staircase. Kasia followed, her stomach twisted with nerves. She was unsure about meeting coworkers when an hour before suicide was the goal. Though she struggled to admit it, she hoped for another path. If today was her last day, there was no harm in trying this.

Esmé smiled and rubbed Kasia's arm.

"You might find us all a bit strange okay? But never forget we all mean well."

Kasia looked confused. She followed Esmé inside. The curtains were drawn, letting only a suggestion of daylight into a dining room.

But she knew the figure rising to meet her. It took her a second to understand it was real. The black hooded outfit, the beaked face, the eyes of void watching everything.

Kasia tried to run. Esmé pinned her and covered her mouth. Kasia flailed but Esmé's small frame hid her true strength.

She wrestled Kasia into a dining seat. Two more terrorists took places at the table, their doctor at its head. Kasia looked down, focussing on the table's dents to ground herself.

"You can look at us Katarzyna. If we wanted you hurt we wouldn't bother with all this drama."

His mask warped his words. What remained of his voice was educated and self-assured, enough on its own to frighten her.

And Kasia knew better. Anyone using her full name never meant well, and for these people drama was the air they breathed. She held as still as she could. The doctor's mask fizzed. A sigh.

"It hurts that people like you don't trust us. Why would we harm you? Every message we send concludes with a lesson. What lesson could you teach the world? 'Don't be working class'? That isn't a choice, it's an identity. Opus Veda isn't interested in identity, only the choices people make."

Esmé took Kasia's hand.

"I'm afraid Eddy's network may have been a harmless fib. Honestly I have no idea where he is," her head lolled sideways, the way it did whenever she considered Kasia before. And now Kasia knew the game being played underneath.

"People like Eddy help in their way. Clueless guys with big mouths make great informants. But these are my true colleagues. I brought you here Kasia - risked my life revealing myself to you - because you can offer us something."

Kasia squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered. Esmé stopped her pulling away.

"My name is Esmé, and everything I told you about myself was true. I just didn't tell you all of it. I was undercover, we had the revolution base marked as our next hit. The question was 'when'. Ideally Varma would have turned up for for a hookup; we could have taken him out then. Once Mathias Pierce did what he did to you - to Imany - the question of 'when' was answered.

I called the attack in."

It hurt Kasia to hear Imany's name spoken - a woman whose death Kasia had yet to process. She steadied her breathing and crept her sight up to the doctor's hands. They pointed at her in a steeple. She dared to speak.

"I have nothing to offer you. I'm a call centre worker and a delivery girl. I only met the revolution 'cause we were searching for a neighbour's kid it had nothing to do with your war!"

She wriggled her hands free, angry with herself for trusting Esmé.

The doctor waved his hand in a semicircle.

"I'm fully aware of Faizan Varma's rescue mission, I called that attack in," his modulator glitched and crackled, Kasia realised with a shiver he was laughing, "the fool still hasn't figured it out yet. We were watching as you left, the first time you caught Esme's eye actually, as Varma began reeling you in.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Another of our insurgents saw you later too. Same place, different gang. If you want to thank him for not shooting you, you can do so now. He's behind you."

Kasia became aware of people behind her. She turned. Two more insurgents had been lurking behind her, and she had met these ones before. The man who shot Luca stood with folded arms. He half lifted a hand and rippled his fingers to greet her.

With him was the ebony-skinned woman who had unloaded her mask on Kasia's senses. That same mask leered at Kasia now, threatening to go off. The woman held two fingers to her eyes, then pointed them into Kasia's.

Kasia spun back round.

The doctor tapped under his beak. It clicked with a hiss. His real voice came through.

"Contrary to the tropes of stories, victims make poor villains. They tend to end up caring for others whilst getting little in return, though I admit, they can be more neurotic than average," he lifted his thumbs, a subtle admission, "real villains are those given too much of everything they want, without enough struggle to strengthen their character. These people could have done with getting bullied at school. They'll have to make do with us.

You, meanwhile, have been given nothing you want, and everything you did have has been taken away. Your options are to risk danger to survive, or follow the rules and fail. Imany followed the rules and, well, would never have survived.

And so you see, Katarzyna, why we won't hurt you. You offer no moral lesson. Frankly, I believe you made the best choices given the situation you had."

Kasia remained speechless. She shifted to Esmé, resorting to the only person with a real face.

"We've been through hell Kasia, like you! We're all haunted by our past, we've faced abusers, we wear their 'gift' on our eye so they see we'll never forgive them. You asked what you have to offer: you're trained to fight, you've shown grace under pressure, you've even taken a man's life and carried on as normal-"

"Jesus kurwa!" Kasia gripped her head, "is there anything you don't know about me!?"

"We don't know if you'd return to your captain," the doctor raised his chin, "if he made you an offer…"

"Why do you even hate them!? They're trying to overthrow the ones who made us live like this in the first place! They promise a better future, all you promise is to wreck the things down you don't like. So what if you push them out of London, what're you gonna do next!?"

"Someone else deals with 'next', our job is to deal with 'now', and right now it's clear: Revolution Britannia is climbing over the bones of those it swears help. All that matters to them is saying what they need to get into power.

You saw how they finance themselves: amongst other things, drugs and prostitution. It isn't just happening in London and it won't stop. The two great English exports won't be going anywhere with them in charge. Leaders always swear the bad things are only short term but no one gives power up.

And Revolution Britannia are guilty of another sin. One everyone always overlooks. They suck. Weaker revolutions have defeated bigger nations through greater odds. If Revolution Britannia can't handle history's most inept Republic the honourable way, they deserve to lose."

Kasia found herself scoffing.

"...but you don't."

"We do our bit and step away, and unlike the rest we avoid collateral damage. Our targets are specific, and they earn it."

"Do they..." Kasia faced her host head on, "You - you specifically - killed my friend. Wasn't Luca collateral damage!? You waited for him in that hospital and had him tortured and killed!"

"Not tortured Katarzyna, only killed," the doctor looked away for a moment, "Luca Rossi... I euthanised him peacefully but I still needed the message. I amended his body after he passed on, as I tend to do."

"You're lying…"

"I don't need to lie girl," his voice rasped, soft but menacing, betraying the first sign of emotion, "that's the whole point. Think how much havoc Opus Veda wreaks telling nothing but the truth."

"He was a good person-"

"Being a good person isn't enough it never was. I think you are a good person, the world is no better for it."

"I… whatever you think I can give you, it won't be enough," Kasia's breath failed; she held the table and pushed herself up, "if you won't let me leave, fine, but please, just this once, let me have something go right.

Make it painless like you did with Luca."

Andrez flipped his hood back, and pulled his mask off. Kasia dared to look at him.

He looked like her. Barely older. Feminine, with porcelain skin and raven hair. Unlike Kasia he had a cold intensity - the stern leadership of a Varma; the calculated cynicism of a Gemma Alderton; the quiet anger of an Imany, who knew more than anyone but still didn't quite have the answers.

Kasia sensed she was looking at her future self, had things worked out.

He cocked his head.

"I would like to show you one video. Afterwards you can leave - free of trouble - but you must watch it," he looked at Esmé, "any one will do."

Kasia doubted freedom would be so easy but she played along. She sat back down. Esmé placed a tablet in front of her.

The video played, and the gravity of her task hit her. A small figure bawled at the cameraman, who spoke in a language Kasia didn't understand. A chat stream poured with messages she did understand, but wished she couldn't. A donation trilled on screen with a request. The cameraman started delivering.

Kasia couldn't watch. She still heard every detail. The victim recovered their senses but appeared to frightened to plead anymore. Kasia saw another donation, and made the mistake of reading it.

"Fucking turn it off!" she smashed the tablet against the table until the video stopped, then fell prone and covered her head. Andrez edged around the table towards her.

"It's called tag and bag I believe. They search for candidates online - those they consider attractive and vulnerable - and snatch them when a buyer commits. Joey Abbas could have been one, nearly, had it not been for you. The one Esmé showed you is live. It's happening right now as I speak to you. What do you think happens next?"

"It's fake! You're making it up for some insane message!"

"It is not fake Katarzyna. It is happening, it is real, and you should know. If only you'd thought to check the material you kept giving to your man in Canary Wharf! Shall I explain what Thorstein would have done to your daughter if you'd accepted his money?"

Kasia's gut heaved. She spewed phlegm and bile. Andrez carried on.

"£20,000. That's the entry price for a bagging job. That's how much a captive's life is worth. And to turn a profit my do they have to extract the value out of their-"

"Fuck off!" Kasia tried pushing him away but misjudged and fell behind him. He ignored her.

"Many of the snatchers aren't into it obviously. I'll describe their suicide rates as 'unfavourable'. They're in similar circumstances to you really... focussing on their one little job and washing their hands of their paymaster's guilt," he pulled Kasia up to kneel, "this being the case, though you have placed Eva in safe hands for now, it would be unwise to consider your work done. Would it not help to have an extra eye on her?"

Kasia wiped tears and sputum from her face. All she felt was anger.

"Tell me what your offer is…"

"Andrez. My name is Andrez," he offered her a thin smile, its corners pushing down to subdue it, "what do you think we want from you?"

Kasia replayed her year - her skills, her connections, her mistakes. She replayed Andrez's words - thought how she could bargain with him.

One detail stood out.

"You want Captain Varma. I can get close to him... they'll be desperate right now I can convince my way in. I've got a knife-"

"Assassination..." Andrez cast a downward glance, "a single contract ending with you dead. What if a worse man fills Varma's role next? What about the customers who raped you in that brothel? The ones still watching the video you just saw?"

Kasia knelt before him as if awaiting knighthood. His metallic eyes read her every movement.

Esmé rested her hand on Kasia's shoulder.

"I tracked you down Kasia. I followed you to that bar and I guided you here because I think you should join us. I told everyone your story and they agree! You have everything to offer. This is about much more than beating the revolution. It's just their turn today."

Andrez offered his hand, "Katarzyna, my love... come with us."

Six terrorists encircled her. Each removed their masks, each revealing a part of themselves to Kasia.

They looked so welcoming. More human than anyone. They promised a chance to belong, a chance to protect Eva from afar, and a chance for something only Opus Veda could provide.

Revenge.

Between five stood one man society told her to fear above all. Yet she saw someone like her - her but better, doing work she should have done, surrounded by people she wanted to have. She saw in him what she wanted to become, something she had never thought to need until now.

She saw in him a father.

Her hand reached up to his and let it take her in.

* * *

"I've been stuck here like a glorified fucking plant for months. I should be there with them Kat how much have I missed!?"

"We all help the best way we can according to the needs of the job-"

"You dirty Marxist, stop insulting me with delicate social theory I need an actual win," he stomped around the flat, a posh and overly thought out space, bickering with the woman on his phone.

"Where is it Kat!?"

"The bookshelves dear… slow down."

He paced over to it. One book lay aside: The Conquest of Happiness.

Fitting. He noticed a gap between the bookshelves and wheeled them open. An alcove was hiding behind them. A lightbulb shone over a terrorist's uniform within. The sight made his eyes wet.

"You're recalling me?"

"We are, but don't get excited. The next contract is... well it's a siege."

"Good…" he rubbed his chin and nodded, "good. I'm not dealing with this second-rate spy work any longer."

"Poor detective… you know we're all madly excited to see you again?"

Luis raised his fingers and caressed the side of his mask.

"I should think so."