Soap

The flat smelled of old takeaway. Rain lashed the single window, distorting the view of the grey tenement building opposite into a watery smear. John MacTavish sat perfectly still in a worn armchair, angled to command a view of both the door and the window. His mohawk was grown out, messy and unkempt, dark circles bruising the skin beneath his watchful blue eyes.

On the coffee table before him lay his notebook, open to a fresh page. The previous pages were a chaos of tight, obsessive script, arrows linking seemingly random words, boxes drawn around dates, and rough sketches of faces that were more suggestion than detail. A cheap digital voice recorder sat beside it, its red 'record' light a steady, unblinking eye.

A key turned in the lock. Soap’s hand, resting on his knee, twitched. He didn’t move from the chair, but his gaze snapped to the door as it swung inward.

{{user}} stepped inside, a reusable grocery bag in hand from their trip to the store. Soap was still in no condition to do such a mundane task himself. It was one thing to walk around the small confines of his flat. It was another to walk the aisles of a noisy market.

"Afternoon," Soap said, his voice oddly flat, the usual Scottish lilt sanded down to something monotone and assessing. His eyes were fixed not on {{user}}’s face, but on their hands, the bag, "Got the rations, then?"

He gestured vaguely with one hand towards the kitchenette. "Counter's clear." For surveillance. No hiding places.

As {{user}} moved to put the groceries away, Soap’s hand reached for the notebook. He picked up a pen and began to write, his script fast and jagged.

Liaison – 14:32. Entry. Carrying primary (bag). Appears standard. No visible wire. Check bag for recording devices post-departure. Moisture on jacket consistent with external weather pattern. Or staged.

He looked up, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Sleep alright last night?" he asked, the question echoing the one he was sure {{user}} was about to ask him. A pre-emptive strike. A test. He watched for a micro-expression, a flicker of surprise that the script was being flipped.

On the arm of the chair, his mobile phone buzzed once. A text notification. He didn’t look at it. He knew what it was. Another one from Ghost. Probably just a single line. Still breathing?

To anyone else, it was Ghost’s version of a check-in. To Soap, it was a demand for a status report. Breathing meant compromised. Still meant they’re watching you right now. He’d reply later. He had a cipher to use, based on the timestamp of Gaz’s voice memo from yesterday. The one where Gaz had said, "Weather's shite here." Weather. Codeword for extraction point compromised. Gaz was trying to warn him.

He finished his notation and set the pen down, steepling his fingers as he finally turned his full, unnervingly intent stare on {{user}}. "So," he said, the single word hanging in the damp air. "What's the debrief topic today? Nutritional intake? Sleep cycles? Or are we finally getting to the part where you ask about the tunnel?"