10.02: New Arrival

JAMIE BRADDOCK
Jamie knew why Emma Frost was interested in how Hisako got to America because there might also be a link to the smuggling of mutants too. He also knew that Frost didn’t want the knowledge of this piled on the new arrival, she didn’t need that. He smiled warmly as he entered Hisako’s room.
Emma kept talking as Jamie settled himself. “If we can find out more details about this end of the smuggling train then we can pass that information to our contacts in law enforcement.
“You have contacts in the law?”
Frost grinned wryly. “We have contacts everywhere Hisako. The police can start off watching the factory. Track the vans bringing the women to and fro and find out where all the houses they are living in are. Hopefully they'll pick up on the people who deliver new workers."
“One of the cops who interviewed me said I'd given them a few other leads. We will try tracing the warehouse you were taken to when you first arrived on the East Coast, staking out the whorehouse in Davao, finding Lee Sen, or tracking down female Punjabi driving instructors working in Texas. But we really want to find the factory and the house where you stayed, because if we find that, we should be able to track down the guy who was running things at this end."
"Benedict. Why’s he so important?" Hisako asked.
“Benedict is clearly a boss," Emma said. "He knows what was done with the bodies of the two dead girls you saw. He was clearly planning for you to be exploited sexually if you hadn't managed to escape when you did. Chances are, if we track Benedict down we'll find other girls who weren't so lucky."
“That makes sense," Hisako said, chilled by the reminder of how much danger she had been in. "Let's give it a go."
Frost looked at Jamie. “Over to you.”
"It should be easier to identify a factory than a house," Jamie explained. "So that's where I'd like to take you first."
"Is it like hypnosis?" Hisako asked.
Jamie nodded. "Sort of. This is a bit of a long shot, but I'd really like to try. So, lie back on the bed and find a position in which you're comfortable. Then I want you to focus
your eyes on a single spot on the ceiling."
Hisako plumped her pillows, then lay back as Emma turned out the room’s main light, leaving the dim glow from a desk lamp.
"Stare at a spot on the ceiling," Jamie said. "Focus on your breathing. Don't think about anything except the rhythm of your breathing. In and out, in and out."
He let Hisako breathe for a few seconds before continuing.
"Now I want you to relax your fingers and your toes. Feel the relaxation coming up your body. Your stomach is relaxed. And your shoulders. Now all the muscles in your face are very, very relaxed. Your eyes are getting heavier and you're focused on your breathing. In and out, in and out. Now your eyes are closing. Listen to my voice.”
The hypnotic set up was useful because it was kind of what people expected, more importantly it ordered the mind and with a little bit of compulsion behind his Jamie had a mind that was easier for him to work with.
“You're going to be arriving at the sandwich factory for the first time. Remember everything around you. Remember what you're wearing and how you feel. Your eyes are getting heavier and now I want you to completely close your eyes."
As Hisako’s eyes closed, Emma set a small digital voice recorder running, she was silent, Jamie had to concentrate, it was a huge mistake to disturb him.
“You stepped out of the van," Jamie said. "Tell me the first thing that comes into your head."
"I'm sucking a boiled sweet," Hisako said. "One of the ladies in the van handed them out. It doesn't taste nice, but I can't spit it out without upsetting her and l don't want to crunch it because Mama says that it can break your teeth."
"Good," Jamie said gently. Her words were matching what he was seeing. "Focus on the taste of the sweet. As you do, look up at the building and tell me what it looks like."
"It's dark," Hisako said. "Two storeys. Bricks, covered in black dirt. The windows downstairs are boarded. There's no light at the windows upstairs, and some of the glass is broken. There's a fan running."
"And who is with you?"
"There's lady with a clipboard. Mei from the van is next to me, and the lady with the sweets, and a couple of others."
"Tell me where you go next."
"The door is grey. There's a space, like a rectangle for a sign, but it's been unscrewed. Inside my backpack scrapes along the wall, because it's narrow. There are brown trays that we put the sandwiches in. All stacked up."
"Are there any markings or names on the trays?"
"No, they’re not marked."
"You're inside with Mei and the others," Jamie said. "What happens now?"
“The guy called Roger is there. He's big. Ginger beard. He argues with clipboard lady because he expected twelve of us. Mei and the others go inside to the cloakroom to put on overalls and masks, but I have to go upstairs to see the boss."
“Feel yourself walking up the stairs," Jamie said, he ignored the slight pain in the front of his head. "What's around you?"
"Upstairs is dusty," Hisako said. "Old sewing machines and it smells… of...”
“Oily,” Jamie prompted.
“Yes. Oil. There's a big roof outside with lots of pigeons, but it's too dark to see them. You can just hear them warbling. The clipboard lady is in front of me and the boss makes us wait outside his office."
"Is there a sign on the office door?" Jamie asked.
"Can't see. The door is open."
"What's the boss doing inside? Is he making any kind of noise."
"I don't think so. But it feels like clipboard lady thinks he's toying with her. Wasting her time."
"What else is around you?"
"A photocopier and water bottles. And there's a desk. For a secretary or something."
"Does the boss call you into the office?"
"Yes. I've been in the dark and the office is really light, so my eyes hurt."
"Does the boss have a name?"
"Clipboard lady calls him Mister or Sir. He reminds me of my father, but younger. It looks like he's wearing golf trousers. And there's a big globe resting a on a glass shelf."
Jamie needed her attention on the shelf. "Is there anything else on the shelves?"
"Files, but there's a picture of two boys on the wall above it."
"Tell me about the boys."
"They're the boss’s sons."
"How do you know that Hisako?"
"They look like little versions of him. One is maybe a year older than the other. The younger one has dirt on his cheek."
"Dirt?" Jamie said curiously. He thought for a moment thinking what his next question should be. Sat behind him Emma Frost was bursting to ask questions.
"Is it a school photo?” Jamie asked. “Are they in uniform?"
"They’re both quite muddy," Hisako said. "They’re wearing soccer kit."
"Can you see the colours?"
"Orange and maroon striped socks. Maroon shorts and orange shirt."
"Good," Jamie said. "Is there anything else in the picture?"
"I can't think," Hisako said.
"You don't need to think about anything Hisako because you're in the room," Jamie said. "The boss is there. You can see the picture. With the two boys in their muddy kit."
"The younger one a is holding a little silver cup," Hisako said. "And there's a sponsor"s logo on their shirts."
The sponsor"s name might be crucial, but Emma kept herself quiet.
"What does the logo look like?" Jamie prompted.
"It's a square man. Cartoon, with a smile."
"Is there writing on it."
"I'm too far away," Hisako said. "There is writing but I can't read it."
In her memories Jamie couldn’t read it either. "OK," he said. "And what else do you see. Is there
anything else? On the boss"s desk, perhaps?"
"Pen pot, laptop, Sellotape dispenser."
"No more photographs? Nothing you can read?"
"Closed book of some kind. He has a blotter with a map of the world."
To Jamie the book looked like a desk diary, who used a paper diary anymore?
"OK," Emma said. "And what are the boss and the lady saying?"
"He's stressed. Ranting about the supermarket. And not having enough staff. He never looks at me."
"Does he have a name for the supermarket?"
"They never said," Hisako said, speaking louder as she opened her eyes and rolled over to face Jamie.
Jamie sighed with relief and his head pounded but he didn’t show anything.
"It was always a big secret. They always spoke about the supermarket," Hisako
explained, sitting up and stifling a yawn. "But the name was like top, top secret. Once we’d packed up the sandwiches, someone in another room would stick labels on the boxes."
Emma Frost spoke now, she could see the toll that had taken on the Jamie. “I had not seen the bit about the globe, or the photograph, in any of your statements."
"That was really powerful," Hisako said, in a state of awe. "I actually did feel like I was there. Do you want to try again?"
"At some point," Emma said. There was no way their resident telepath could do a repeat performance right now. "You should probably get some sleep now. It's past ten and you've got a big day tomorrow."
"I saw a hypnotist on TV once," Hisako said. "He told this woman that onions tasted like oranges and she sat there biting great chunks out of them."
Jamie laughed. "Whatever happens I promise not to make you eat any onions."