Imperium

Chapter 7: A Man's Greatest Weakness

"So, we're really going to meet with this 'J' then, huh?" Colin asks with a look of apprehension on his face as Edith pulls the Cadillac to a stop outside of their destination and she turns to look at him with a look of defeat.

She sighs and nods. "Unfortunately, yes. Assuming that's actually who's waiting in there for us. I don't trust this person, but they somehow know we're from another continent and who you are. Even if this turns out to be a trap, I think we should at least try to find out what they want and how they know us," she says.

"What makes you think they know who I am?" Colin asks.

"The toaster emoji was a clear sign."

Colin's face deadpans and he glares at her. "Since when is a toaster representative of me?"

Edith chuckles and pats him on the shoulder. "It just makes sense. Unless of course you'd prefer to be represented by a Roomba," she teases and unbuckles her seatbelt, and Colin sighs and does the same.

"I think I liked 'supercomputer' more. Makes me sound like a cool robot superhero."

Edith rolls her eyes and opens the car door. "It makes you sound like a nerd," she quips and slides out of the car, shutting the door. Colin follows and ignores her comment by nodding to her phone.

"What time is it?" he asks.

Edith narrows her eyes at him with a grin. "Can't you use your 'supercomputer' brain to tell? I figured you'd have some kinda 'worldwide clock' up there somewhere," she says playfully.

Colin returns her glare and grin with his own. "I could, but then I would be, in your words, a 'nerd'."

She shrugs and slowly starts reaching for the phone in her pocket. "That's too bad... I kinda like a smart guy," she just manages to get a hold of the phone when Colin perks up.

"It's three twenty-four!" he states before she can even get the phone out of her pocket.

Edith rolls her eyes and retracts her hand, leaving the phone where it is. "So we have some time. We might as well head inside while we wait for this person we're meeting. And hopefully we'll be able to grab some food... I'm starving," she says and grumbles, wrapping her arms around her stomach.

Colin walks around to her side of the car and nods his head towards the building. Above the door is a sign that displays 'The Quack Pudding Pub'. It's astonishing that this place actually exists and this 'J' person wasn't just fucking with them.

They head to it together and Colin holds the door open for Edith with a smile. She tries to look annoyed, but a small grin sneaks its way onto her face as she walks past him, remembering how CLive would always do this for her just to act like a cheesy stereotype like out of one of those old noir film movies.

The moment she passes through the doorway, her head starts to spin and her vision warps in a blur of brown, pink, and grey. She feels slightly feverish, but the feeling passes after she's inside the building and she feels normal again.

Colin follows her through and she can tell by the way he staggers a bit and looks around in a daze that the same thing happened to him.

He shakes his head as it disperses and he turns back to look at the door, but he just sees a normal entrance. "What the hell was that?" he questions.

Edith winces and her arms tighten around her stomach. "Unpleasant, whatever it was..." she lifts one hand to cover her mouth. "...Perhaps it's a good thing there's nothing in me to throw up..." she grumbles and takes a deep breath, lowering her hand back to her stomach.

Colin rubs her shoulder tenderly. "We'll get you some food. Somehow," he reassures her.

They both turn and look over the small pub. It's a simple but classy retro bar with a row of booths along the far wall that each have overstuffed red-cushioned benches set with wooden tables between each. At the front of the room is a bar counter with an array of alcoholic beverages, and in front of the counter are red-cushioned bar stools.