ã€ŠMAL-WARã€‹


 Chapter 1: I Become An Old Mans Unhealthy Obsession

    In retrospect, committing felonies against the national government in a public cafe was not my brightest move.

    To everyone else, I was just an other high school student writing for an assignment. One glance at my screen, however, might have revealed that I was looking through file systems in the terminal. A trained eye would instantly realize that the file system was owned by the CIA. And the 50% of the population that are not bumbling idiots would realize that I was a criminal.

    But the chances were pretty low¡ªconsidering that the person would need to be nosy, quick to scan things, and not an idiot¡ªI thought I was fine.

    Of course, an ego check would''ve been good at the moment. I believed myself untouchable. Not that I wasn''t unarmed. I had a small handgun in one pocket and an emergency microchip in the other. I tried to never shoot people with the gun. It was for emergencies only.

    Things always happen, however.

    I tried not to think about those times.

    Thankfully, I was good at staying low. I had evaded the government for two years at my house and four years on the run. It couldn''t be today that they finally apprehended me.

    It wasn''t that I was doing anything with malicious intentions, either. A client wanted these files, and I don''t care what clients do with the shit I give them. It''s not my fault nor my responsibility. I worked for money and money only. Everyone needs a way to support themselves.

    And not that it was necessarily easy. I had to move constantly and use fake identities everywhere.

    Being a notorious criminal at sixteen was the worst bit. It was hard to use public transportation or just walk about in general.

    I eventually reached the file directory I needed. I quickly printed out the information and copy-pasted it onto a PDF. I then backed out of the directories and made sure that no one could figure out I was there.

    A flash of a person out of the corner of my eye demanded my attention. They wore baggy, plain clothes. There were noticeably plenty of weapons and devices concealed by their clothing. But there was another problem.

    They were staring at me.

    As soon as I glanced up, they suddenly returned to their coffee, seeming so interested in the polished wood in front of them. All those signs could only mean one thing, and if that was true...

    Shit.

    The man pressed on some bit of metal in his ear and started whispering. I need to get out of here, I thought. I slammed my computer shut and stood up, disconnecting the USB drive storing all my information. The man looked up at me. His eyes narrowed visibly. He knew that I knew who he was, and he was no longer taking any chances.

    I slipped my computer into my backpack and quickly made my way toward the door before he could do anything else. From behind me, I heard him stand, the scraping sound of his stool against the wood filling the cafe, and everything seemed to go silent. I hurried my pace, almost toward the door, when I heard a clicking sound behind me.

    "Don''t move." The man hissed. I was sure some sort of large gun was pointed at my neck for a point-blank shot, due to the stunned silence of everyone around me.

    Breath in.

    Breath out.

    Each beat of my pounding heart sent a fresh pang of anxiety.

    I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ve gotten out of things like this before, I tried to calm myself. This wasn¡¯t the end of my escape. This was only the beginning.

    "Turn around. Slowly." He growled. I obliged, my eyes slowly taking in the full scope of my adversary.

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    He had a worn, chiseled face. His beard consisted of small, scratchy hairs. His face was steely. This was a man that would not budge easily.

    ''''Heyyyyy...'''' I said awkwardly. "I''d rather you not stick weapons at my chest." The gun was small, similar to mine. It was a little longer¡ªbut a model I could not identify. But that didn¡¯t stop me from picturing a metal bullet piercing my gut. The blood; the pain. It was there, and only a second away.

    He smirked slightly, moving it upward to my neck. "This better?"

    "Plenty." I gulped. At least he had what could be somewhat called a sense of humor. Humor leads to being less realistic. Less realistic means less in the moment. And less in the moment means escape.

    "So you''re Cade. The famous hacker."

    "So you''re ''officer''. The famous asshole."

    "DON''T TALK SMART TO ME!" He yelled, jabbing me with the gun.

    He paused for a moment before regaining himself. "Alright. You are going to comply with my every command, or you''ll soon be screaming on the floor, begging for death." Another wave of nausea went through me. I felt the instant urge to empty my lunch upon the man in front of me.

    My dead body was not a fun thing to picture.

    "Oh, so you do mean business..." I said, trying to stall. Just. Move. The. GUN.

    "No shit." The guy growled. "You are going to come with me. Quietly."

    I realized that I was running out of time. I had one last option. But if it didn''t work...

    It has to work. I wasn''t ready to face the consequences of it failing. "Fine." I said. His eyebrows raised in suspicion. I could hear the unspoken question: He isn''t fighting me?

    "But... you should have this." I reached down, causing him to shove the gun directly against my throat. A jolt went through me.

    "Don''t try me." He snarled.

    "Jesus Christ, I was trying to cooperate!" I said, trying to sound exasperated, despite the overwhelming feeling in the pit of my stomach.

    "Really?" He asked and reached down into my pocket. I leaned slightly to the left, moving the gun farther away from me and allowing him to look. It slipped away a little more as he pulled out the microchip.

    A slight movement turned the barrel just far away enough.

    In an instant I pulled out my own pistol, pointing it at his ribs and pulling the trigger. There was a loud BANG, and red blood spurted out.

    "FUCK!" He yelled, on the ground in an instant. He flailed, dropping the microchip but keeping the gun. He reached to cover the gaping hole that was pouring out blood. Everyone around me screamed, starting to run.

    His life was fading. He muttered something that I could not understand.

    I stood triumphantly over him, and spat at his feet. I turned to move away, to walk away from this mess, to-

    BANG!

    Burning pain shot through my leg. I no longer saw shapes, just pure crimson. My head was in shambles. From what I could tell in my incoherent state, blood was pouring out from me. "You... son of a bitch." I muttered before falling to my knees beside him. My leg felt like it was ripped apart, like someone was drilling holes in it over and over again.

    This is not the end.

    I gritted my teeth and ripped off a piece of my shirt. I could barely see, but moved forward with the operation. With the other hand, I reached into the mess of blurry flesh and blood. I grasped the bullet and pulled.

    Another burst of excruciating pain hit me. Fuck drills, I was beeing stabbed with the whole power tool set. I bit down upon my tongue, repressing the scream building inside me. An iron taste filled my mouth, and I spat out the blood. I cast the bloody bullet aside and wrapped the fabric across the wound.

    The white of my t-shirt bandage reddened, soaking up the remnants of my suffering. Police would be on the way soon. I reached for my gun and microchip once more, pocketing both. The realization dawned upon me that I could no longer be seen: between my widely reported face, ripped t-shirt, and bloody clothing, I would easily be caught in a public crowd.

    I swallowed and slowly stood, putting weight on my uninjured leg. At the stinging pain, I put together the most colorful string of cussing known to mankind and shouther them. Everyone in the cafe had since fled, and I could hear the sirens wailing in the distance, getting louder and louder.

    It was time to go.

    I limped my way to the cafe counter, going towards the back. Furniture was overturned; belongings forgotten. Meals were spilled out across the floor, tables, and countertops. The emptiness made everything eerie. I eventually came to and opened the door residing just behind the counter, entering a staff room.

    The employees-only area was empty except for a fridge and some sparse furniture. The carpet was blue and moldy. Everything was coated in a layer of dust. One door went into a bathroom, the other led to an alleyway.

    I crept out into the alleys. I knew I couldn''t be seen anywhere near the scene of the crime. I sighed and began to walk toward an opening. If I could get myself lost in these back alleys, there would be little chance of being found.

    But would I be able to escape?

    I paused. "Fuck it," I muttered and kept walking. Every step hurt a little, a reminder of my predicament.

    After only a few minutes of wandering, it felt like I had entered another world. The alleys were shadowed, each one dank, smelling of dirt and piss. Heaps of garbage, boxes, and sleeping humans were common.

    I slowly wandered through the darkness, viewing the amount of people decreasing slowly. My travels eventually wandered into solitude, with not a single human in sight.

    After almost an hour, I collapsed onto a heap of old, dirty fabrics, and unconsciousness took me into its welcoming arms.

 Chapter 2: Homelessness Kinda Sucks

    It was much later that I awoke, my eyes seeing not the usual roof of a hotel but the open sky. Then the smell hit me, mixed bits of shitty sensations piecing together my reality. Pain started to throb in my leg. Little bits of memories hit me: a terminal, a man, a shot.

    And blood.

    So much blood.

    I tried to sit up, pain flaring all over me. My muscles ached, and it felt like someone was sitting at my feet and jabbing a knife into my upper thigh. I swallowed, everything coming back together. Yesterday replayed through my mind.

    And then... today. I looked down at my temporary bandage. It was orange now¡ªthe blood having been fully set into the fabric. I winced and reached to untie the makeshift bandage. The bits of fabric at the end pulled loose, and I began to fully peel off the bits of T-shirt.

    I winced as the bloody mess that was my wound was unveiled. Bits of scabs came off, causing little pinpricks of pain. The smell of flesh hit my nostrils, filling my lungs. I gagged.

    There was a mess of red blood and torn-up muscle. It was obvious where the bullet had been lodged. Thankfully, no damage seemed to have been done to the bone. But there was something more concerning.

    A faint smell of rot was drifting from the bullet hole. If that meant what I thought it meant...

    I swallowed. I couldn''t go into any hospital without money or a parent, and my face would be quickly reported. It looked like I would have to stay back here for a while.

    I opened my backpack. My laptop, a couple of quick snacks, a water bottle, my wallet, and a notebook equipped with a pen were all of its contents. I gulped. This amount could only last half a day at most. Meaning eventually I would have to go out. In the side pocket I found my case of bullets¡ªnine left. Nine shots to spare.

    It pained me to rip off another piece of my T-shirt and expose myself, so I decided on getting another spare bandage from my pant leg. I went back into my backpack and found the hidden pocket containing my switchblade.

    I pulled it out and reached out to roll down my pant leg with my other hand. I began carefully, trying to cause minimal rubbing against the wound. Three times it stung, causing me to pause for a second before continuing. In the end, I drew the knife to remove about two inches at the bottom of the fabric.

    I sawed through easily, removing my new bandage. In a minute, I had reapplied the bandage, and I looked semi-normal. Zipping up my hoodie hid my cut-up t-shirt, and cutting the other pant leg to match the other just made me look impoverished.

    My best hope would be to act act like a bored teenager, forced to buy groceries and run errands for his family. That would work. I loaded my gun and put an additional bullet in my pocket before shoving my wallet and gun in there too.

    I put the rest of the bullets and my microchip in the secret pocket before hungrily devouring some crackers and meat.

    This helped my hunger, but not enough, so I slung my backpack over my shoulder and stood. Quickly, I tore my fingers through my long, golden hair, and undid the half-braid it was in, tossing it to shake off the dirt. I then let my hair hang forward and put my hood up, which mostly hid my face. Satisfied, I began my journey back out of this twisted labyrinth.

    ??

    After only ten minutes of journeying, I encountered another person. A lady who looked shriveled and ancient, but could only be in her twenties, met my eyes.

    "Stop!" She screeched. I jumped. Her voice was shriveled, her face dirty, her blonde hair in strands. The way she smelled... she could have never taken a shower in her life. The worn pink shirt and jeans seemed like they had almost never been removed from her skin. Her clothes were stained by God knows what... and I don''t particularly want to find out.

    I gulped. "What do you want?"

    She gasped. "Are you... a child?"

    "No, ma''am." I said, trying to deepen my voice.

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    "Don''t lie..." she hissed. But her face broke into what I can only hope was happiness. "I know you can''t be a day over seventeen."

    She made some sort of growling, purring noise. I turned to walk, but she lunged. In an instant, I was on the ground. My wound flared with pain. I failed as she tried to pin me down. "Get- the fuck - off of me!" I screamed.

    "It''s been a while since I''ve had a young plaything..." she murmured. She grabbed at my clothing. NO! I screamed mentally. My foot drove itself into her gut. She made a choking, rasping sound. "Oh... shit," she managed.

    With my now free hand, I pulled out the pistol and pointed it at her neck.

    "DON''T. FUCKING. MOVE." I commanded.

    She looked at the gun and only smiled... licking her lips.

    As if ignoring the danger, she lunged forward... her hand reaching into my crotch area.

    BANG!

    She flew backward, blood spilling from the gunshot wound. She choked on the ground, turning pale. Bile spilled from her lips as she twitched. She rasped things that were strange and impossible to understand before becoming silent.

    I backed away, standing up cautiously.

    "Crazy bitch." I muttered.

    I backed up, loading my gun. Trying to forget what just happened, I turned and walked away.

    ??

    It was almost twenty minutes before I saw another human again. This time I approached carefully, keeping my hand in my back pocket, clasped around the gun just in case. This woman only looked up, waving a can labeled spare change. Her cheeks were hollowed, her brown hair thin. "Please?" She muttered. "Spare change for one in need?"

    I swallowed. I cautiously pulled out a fifty and stuck it into the bin. Her face broke out into a grin. "Oh... Oh my goodness!" She stared down at the money, then back at me. "T-Thank you so much, kind g-gentleman!"

    I smiled, relieved to have rekindled hope for humanity. "Any time."

    I continued walking. I saw a few more along the road, still asleep¡ªor dead. I didn''t know. Eventually, I made my way out into the light.

    It was blinding at first, seeing real sunlight again. The ultraviolet rays sliced across my corneas. "Damn, that''s bright." I muttered.

    I stepped out. People strolled down the streets. Couples chattered, children ran, and people swiped repeatedly on their phones.

    It''s like my incident never happened.

    I turned down, trying to stay as non-suspicious as possible. My hood covered my face, my hands were in my pocket, and I strolled down the lane. Nobody so much as batted an eye. Sure, my clothing is slightly tattered. But, for all they know, it could be a new fad that all the teens are going with. Nobody gives two shits about another passing phase!

    I made my way to the grocery store before stepping in. The sights hit me. Food, water, everything one could need in one place. It had only been a week since I had bought supplies¡ªonly a day since I was sipping coffee in the cafe, but it felt like years.

    I swallowed and began to shop.

    Due to this recent incident, I thought I would have to lay low for about two weeks. I could start by spending a few more times in the alleys before law enforcement gave up searching, then run for it. I could catch a train and head out into a more remote area.

    Then I could forget this whole shitshow happened.

    I grabbed meat, bread, and cheese to make simple sandwiches. I allowed myself a single bag of M&M''s. I grabbed about six bottles of water and twelve granola bars. Last, I grabbed some fresh blueberries.

    Satisfied with the turnout, I went up to the cashier to check out.

    She was an overly nice teen and couldn''t be older than me. "Hello!" She chirped. "How''s your day going?"

    I put on a bored expression, even though she couldn''t see my face. "It''s fine." I drawled. "Except for having to run all these errands."

    "Ah." She said, uninterested. She finished scanning all my items. "That''ll be $75.99. Have a nice day!" I paid, leaving me with about $100 left in my wallet. I grabbed the groceries and started walking.

    As soon as I was outside, I sat on a bench and stuffed all of the items into the bag but the bottled water, to avoid damage to my computer. The water was put in an additional back pouch. I quickly threw away the bags and went on my way.

    I had made it within sight of the alley entrance when I saw them: two women and a man, dressed in suits with sunglasses and small guns. The weapons may be small, but their labeling of ''CIA'' told a different story.

    "Fuck." I whispered. Those small guns could hold any number from ten to fifty shots. And there was one reason they were here.

    ME.

    I started to pick up my pace, but even that alerted them.

    "YOU! STOP!" One of them yelled.

    Goddammit, they saw me.

    I ran.

    POP! POP!

    Their guns went off. I ignored them. My feet slammed against the pavement, each impact sending a shiver of pain through my leg.

    I reached the alleyway and took off running.

    POP!

    "Don''t shoot him, you idiotic prick!" I heard from behind me.

    I gulped. They wanted me alive, and it could be for no good reason. I continued running, with no intention of stopping. I turned one way, then the next. But the footsteps continued to follow me.

    No gunshots occurred now, and all I heard was the sound of my pounding, hard, and panicked breathing. My lungs began to burn. My muscles ached from the strain.

    "He can''t run forever!" One shouted.

    They were right.

    I couldn''t.

    And I wouldn''t.

    If I was going to be captured, they wouldn''t take me alive. I gulped; I knew what I had to do. I was not going to let myself be captured, tortured, imprisoned, and forced to give up my secrets.

    I stopped, pulled out my gun, pointed it to my throat, and turned. My everything burned. My thoughts were clouded. I felt like I was choking, drowning.

    What am I doing?

    But I knew the answer to that question.

    And I couldn''t hesitate.

    I was going to kill myself.

    In front of the fucking CIA.

 Chapter 3: I Become Frenemies With The CIA

    "WAIT!" One of the operatives screamed.

    Their guns were out. Somewhat of a useless attempt considering that their only way of punishing me for pulling the trigger would be by shooting me themselves. And in that scenario, that would be useless. I had the upper hand. That is, if the power to choose when I die could be considered an advantage.

    For now, all I can do is try to get as much information as possible.

    "What do you want from me?" I asked, attempting to keep a tremor out of my voice.

    The operatives looked at each other. This was the first time I got a good look at them without having to run for my life. One man had pale skin, the other dark. They had blonde and black hair, respectively. The first had brown eyes, the second blue. The woman, seemingly in command of them all, had white hair and gray eyes. Never before had I seen such features.

    "We want your help," the woman finally said.

    My help? MY HELP? What could anyone want with a dirty hacker like me? "Bullshit," I called back. "You know you can''t get anything out of someone like me."

    The operatives looked confused. "I thought you said he was smart," the black-haired one said.

    Even I was confused now. "Um... first of all¡ªfuck you. Secondly, I am just a hacker. I have no experience fighting or researching or... whatever you want. The U.S. has no use for me. If I pulled the trigger right now, nobody would care."

    The woman spoke again: "If you pulled that trigger, the U.S. would be blown to pieces by Russia."

    That registered in my mind. How could the world be so peaceful if such a thing was happening? Surely, with the threat of a bombing hung over us, everyone would be panicking. But no, business had gone on as usual. So much so that I had no clue that it was occurring. I slowly pulled the gun away from my neck, pointing it toward the ground. I breathed and awkwardly began. "Yeah... so, um, nobody told me about this sort of massive looming threat."

    The operatives seemed to consider that. "I suppose if you had been living on the run, news like that wouldn''t have reached you." The blonde male said.

    I blinked. "No shit. But anyway, what would you want with someone like me?"

    "Well..." The woman paused. "You could hack Russia."

    Hack Russia?

    "What? Russia? Huh?" I stuttered, at a loss for words. "Wait, wait, wait. Go back. Why are we hacking Russia?"

    The woman seemed to consider that. "Well, unfortunately, we believe that we are dealing with a third World War."

    My jaw dropped. "And Russia started it?"

    "Well, yes. Vilimar Undrith, a tactical genius, had apparently paid for a series of strategic murders that left the Russian presidential position up for grabs. After taking the leadership of the country, he launched the biggest cyber attack ever recorded, shutting down billions of computers."

    "And you think I could combat a powerful bastard like that?"

    "We think you''re one of the only people good enough¡ªand stubborn enough¡ªto try."

    I paused before a question floated immediately to my mind. "How much will you pay me?"

    "A pardon, and if you continue hacking for us, enough money to keep you here for life."

    An image floated into my mind: me working for the government, coming home to a luxurious hotel, seeing my family. My kids, my hus-

    No. I could not hope for love, nor dream for it. This world is not gracious enough to give me someone that I could trust, that I could care for. But still: no more life on the run. It would be amazing. No more living day-to-day, worrying about getting captured and killed. I could just work for money, and that would be it. I would be normal, as far as an ex-criminal hacker could be.

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    Then, I spoke the word that would change my life forever:

    "Fine."

    ??

    As we walked out of the alley, I could not help but feel like I was being babysat. The operatives formed a triangle around me, and they had immediately seized my gun and backpack. Thankfully, I still had my wallet. Even these paranoid freaks couldn''t find anything wrong with that. But my precious microchips and computer? Gone in a flash.

    We walked out into the street, and I was no longer wearing my hood. People gasped. Whispers flew around.

    "Is that Cade?"

    "I think it is..."

    "He''s been caught!"

    "Are we safe now?"

    I was debating whether to flash a certain finger at the crowd when we reached the car that the officers had pulled up in. It had a crisp demeanor, with sharp edges and black-shaded windows. Pretty badass, I thought to myself. But then again, that''s the CIA for you.

    We walked across the busy road, not bothered by all the cars that had stopped to watch the scene. The woman sat in the passenger''s side, the man with dark skin at the wheel, and the blonde-haired man sat in the first row of captain''s seats. That left me with one captain''s seat or the entirety of the back. I swallowed and chose the latter. I needed to remind myself that no matter what, I was not like these people. Not rich enough. Not privileged enough.

    The man hit the gas, and the car hit the road.

    It started with awkward silence. All my belongings were in the trunk, and I couldn''t bring myself to mention the hotel where the rest of my sparse collection of objects were. Or my car.

    Fuck my car, I''m in with the goddamn CIA!

    The thought still was a little strange to me. Cade, a small nerd turned tech genius turned hacker, is working for the government. Fighting for the government. At that thought, a mental picture surfaced. Me in a uniform and mask, with a large gun¡ªnot a dinky pistol¡ªa real gun. And I was fighting, shooting, killing. It was brutal, but exciting. Is that the right word? Could I be excited about war?

    No, no, it must be something else.

    My thoughts were cut into by the female operative. "So, I don''t think we''ve been properly introduced. I am the Chief Operations Officer, Officer Whiteford. These are officers Sanchez and Torres." She gestured to the man in the middle of the car and the man driving, respectively.

    "Hey... I guess." I said.

    "Nice to meet you." Sanchez grunted. Torres was silent.

    Bits of panic set in, mixed with relaxation. I was in a vehicle, speeding off to who the fuck knows where, and, to top it off, I was with people who had hunted me down for years. Now, I just hop into a car with them and treat everything they say like gospel. A voice in my head reprimanded me for the panic: What else would you do?

    Continue what I always do, I countered.

    What do you always do? Live a life on the lam, always running. You can''t even stay out in public for a few hours before getting shot?

    It pays the bills.

    So does this.

    "Shut up!" It was too late when I realized that I had spoken the words aloud. Everyone looked at me as if I was insane. Which I very well might be, that same bitchy voice in my head responded. I swallowed, wishing that the car''s padded seats would just dissolve and dump me out into the road. It would be better than being in this car.

    My voice was small when I finally spoke. "Sorry."

    Officer Whiteford whispered into Torres''s ear. It was difficult to hear, but I did catch the words ''mentally stable.''

    Damn, they do think I''m insane.

    Not that it really mattered. If they weren''t spitting bullshit into my face, then I can assume I''m just here for my skills. A not-so-sane person can still develop cyber weapons to cause mass destruction, right? Again, a voice in my head reprimanded me, "No." You are an idiot.

    Thanks, voice. Really helping.

    Anytime.

    Was that... sarcasm? Can self-doubt thoughts be sarcastic? By now, anything was possible. I zoned out and was asleep before I knew it.

    ??

    My eyes fluttered open. I shook my head, before realizing where I was. The car bounced up and down along the dirt roads. ...Wait, dirt? The last time I had checked, the roads had been paved. I looked out the window. "The hell?" I whispered upon the sight in front of me.

    A sprawling campus stretched out to my right. Barbed fences and huge black buildings filled my view. Everywhere there were soldiers drilling, cadets training, and people in suits conferring. I heard loudspeakers going off faintly in the distance. This place was... legit? I suppose that''s a word. So it is over the top, but I''m not going to be ungrateful.

    Officer Whiteford looked back, grinning slightly.

    "Welcome to Xarnon."

 Chapter 4: I Meet A Bunch Of Hot Criminals

    The car slowly pulled up to a gate in the wire. Twenty soldiers, heavily armed, stood on either side of a gravel path leading into a large building. It was constructed with the same dark material as all of the other buildings, though it was something I could not identify. At the end of the path, a pair of double doors stood open, with an additional soldier on either side.

    Each soldier had on a camouflage outfit and mask covering the entirety of their head. It had a jutting-out area for the mouth, peppered with holes to breathe and speak, as well as goggles over the eyes. Not a bit of skin was showing, their hands covered by padded gloves and their feet clad with large boots. And in their hands¡ªsome sort of large gun. It had layers of metal and seemed heavy. All I could surmise was that it would hurt like hell if your arms or legs got shot with one of those. And if you got shot anywhere from the stomach to the head, you wouldn''t be alive to feel the pain.

    I moved to stand, but was blocked by Sanchez. "Let Whiteford and Torres do their thing."

    The two officers stepped out of the car, heading to the gravel path. Then, a crowd stepped from the doors. The group was led by two women in suits. The first had blonde hair and green eyes, with soft rosy cheeks. The second had dark skin and short, black hair. She had striking teal eyes. Behind them was a group of five people looking completely out of place. They looked uncomfortable in their suits and seemed like they wanted to be anywhere but here. Each one had cheesy visitor badges, saying: "Hi! I''m..." then their name and pronouns.

    The one furthest to the right was a boy of maybe twenty, the oldest in the group. He had medium-toned skin and black hair. His eyes were a pale blue, and his pronouns were he/him, according to the badge. The label also identified him as "Les Gibbs."

    Next to him was a girl, probably seventeen. She had long, light-brown hair. Her features were sharp, but she had a short nose. Her skin was rosy, but her expression was the opposite. Her badge read, "Hi! I am... Vivian Stokes (she/her)."

    In the middle was a person, identified by their badge as. "Mel (They/them)." They had short, pale blonde hair and light skin. They had a slightly pointed jaw, a button nose, and rounded cheeks.

    The fourth in the group''s badge read, "Hi! I am... Naomi Marsh (Xe/Xem)." Xe had long, black hair and dark skin. Xyr eyes were gold, flecked with bits of silver. It was marvelous. I had never seen anything like it.

    Last was a boy with pale skin. He had black hair, and his eyes were a color I had never seen before. A brilliant purple stared forward. Intelligence and experience of years glinted visually behind his eyes. He had a beautifully carved face and a neutral expression that burned into my brain. His label identified him as "Seph Valko." My heart pounded a little faster.

    Stop, dammit! I yelled at my annoyingly quickly beating organ.

    Officer Whiteford cleared her throat.

    "Greetings. You all know why I''m here."

    "Because you went to grab a lost cause, despite our input?" The black-haired one said. "Dammit, Whiteford. Just listen¡ªCade is the most dangerous out of all of them. He was the riskiest, and that''s why we decided not to¡ª She dropped her tone, and I barely managed to hear it. "-fucking grab him!"

    Officer Whiteford looked back at her and sighed. "Jules¡ª"

    "Don''t call me that."

    "Officer Julia, then, just give him a chance. He isn''t that bad up close, and if we''re going by kill count, he''s nothing close to Seph!"

    Seph grinned slyly at the mention of his name.

    Officer Julia leaned close to Officer Whiteford. "Seph is like a common gangster, small things, little kills." Seph frowned. "But Cade is the goddamn mafia leader. He has brought corporations to their knees, and had many begging for him to stop."

    "Which just proves how good he is," Whiteford responded. She pushed past Julia and addressed the group of five behind them. The other officer in a suit had stepped back, seemingly unfazed by what had just happened. Meanwhile, the five who I supposed to be my new coworkers were looking uncomfortable as hell.

    "And now, Xarnon agents..."

    Ooh, I''m an agent!

    "The last addition to your team: Cade!"

    Sanchez stepped out, holding the door for me. I crouched and stepped onto the path. Each of the... Xarnon agents, I guess... met me with piercing stares. They looked me up and down, analyzing as any good criminal would do. Les was the first to speak, revealing his booming, deep voice. "Hello, Cade."

    "Hey," I said, awkwardly waving.

    I made eye contact with Seph¡ªa fatal error. His purple eyes seemed to see beyond my green ones, looking into my soul. My palms instantly began to sweat, and I''m sure I blushed a little. Seph gave me a sly smile. Shit, did he notice?

    "Greetings," Naomi said. It wasn''t particularly unfriendly, no; xe was more... calculating.

    Vivian looked at me and scoffed. How friendly. Mel just smiled sweetly. They seemed nice.

    "Good, now that you¡¯re all acquainted, it''s time to get settled." Whiteford said curtly. She walked directly into the doors without further elaboration. Officer Julia made a disgusted face, and the nice-looking officer whispered something into Julia''s ear, causing them both to burst into giggles. The agents moved forward, and I joined them. The two officers joined behind, still whispering.

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    The building''s interior was breathtaking. They had walked into some sort of sprawling atrium. People in suits walked around everywhere. Plant life was everywhere. At least three indoor waterfalls flowed together to create a river that streamed through the garden. Vines ran up the towering structure. Above, offices and bridges were plentiful. On the ground, there were many tunnels leading to other buildings and secure rooms alike. The marble floor was perfectly polished.

    But there wasn''t any time for sightseeing. Officer Whiteford immediately led them into one of the tunnels. It was dimmer here, but still sleek and polished. They walked in silence for two minutes before exiting the tunnel. It seemed as if they had entered a completely different room. Now, they were in a modern hotel, with branching halls off in many directions. The building was cozy, with a restaurant and a carpeted seating area by a fireplace.

    Whiteford led us to a front desk. "Checking into their rooms," she muttered. Her tone was gruff, as if she was still fixated on the earlier argument.

    "And these are...?"

    "The Xarnon agents, idiot!" Whiteford spat.

    The receptionist recoiled, and they hastily gave us a key. We left abruptly. Officer Julia and the other¡ªI hadn''t learned her name yet¡ªfollowed. Whiteford turned, motioning for us to get behind her. The two officers looked up, startled. "You two are still following us?"

    "Well, yes." Officer Julia growled. "Is there a fucking problem?"

    The receptionist looked at their watch, turned a sign to say ''please wait, I''m busy,'' and scurried off.

    "No... not a problem..." Whiteford began with a smile. "Unless you count whores working for the CIA a problem."

    The other officer began to protest. "Whiteford! You don''t talk to yo-"

    "MY WHAT, JANET?" Officer Whiteford yelled. Officer Janet stepped back. "MY ''EMPLOYEES'' WHO DON''T DO SHIT AND BITCH AROUND ALL DAY, PLOTTING TO TAKE MY JOB?" She took a deep breath. "No, I''m going to give you two all the respect you deserve."

    Without another word, Whiteford pushed past us and led deeper into the hallway, leaving Janet and Julia standing there, speechless.

    ??

    "Here are your rooms. Get comfortable. Dinner will be served at six in the lobby, and you''ll be up at five tomorrow to begin." Without another word, Officer Whiteford turned and stomped down the hall.

    We stood there, glancing at each other for a full twenty seconds. My stomach turned. Just say something... I begged. Eventually, Les took one for the team. "So, let''s see what we''ve got." He said cheerfully. Les led the way into the room. It was some sort of central sitting room. Our bags were laid out on a coffee table. On one wall was a TV, and opposite it were two large couches. There were eight doors. The six in the middle were each labeled with a gold plate featuring one of the agent''s names. The other two doors, these open, showed a bathroom and a laundry room.

    "Fancy..." Seph remarked, walking around. Mel quickly retreated into her room with her bag. Naomi sat down on the couch and grabbed the controller. Les sat as well. Seph pulled out his computer and entered his room as well. Vivian grabbed a book and started reading on the other couch. I saw my suit laying down on the table. I went into my room¡ªa simple space with a desk, wardrobe, and bed¡ªand then changed. I walked out and joined Naomi, Seph, Les, and Vivian on the couch. Vivian showed little interest in television.

    Naomi filtered through channels a bit before finding some stand-up comedy show. I had never seen it before¡ªbut then again, I hadn''t ever watched TV before. And it was amazing. Twice I almost fell off the couch from laughing. Especially when hearing a particularly dirty joke that had eternally burned itself into my memory from that moment on. Naomi was a little harder to get laughing, but xe was sent into a fit of giggles a few times.

    Les was just yukking it up at every single joke. Had there not been a TV, you would have had to assume he was hysterical. Eventually it ended. Naomi switched off the TV, still laughing a little. I felt a little breathless. "How the hell have I missed out on this for so long?" I managed between breaths.

    Naomi smiled. "It''s all in finding the right channel."

    Les glanced at the clock. "It''s almost time for dinner." He stood and called out, "Mel! Seph!"

    "Yes?" Mel responded softly, peeking out from her door.

    "Dinner."

    Mel stepped out, soon followed by Seph. The group headed out into the hallway, bound for the lobby. Naomi talked with Les about their favorite jokes. Vivian took up the front, leading us. Seph and Mel said nothing. I stepped back to join them.

    "What''s up?" I asked.

    Seph looked up. "The sky."

    Still fresh in a joking attitude, I laughed. He smiled, as if he had gotten a prize. I had gotten to talk to all of them, all but Mel. I turned to them. "Hey, Mel!"

    "Hi." She said, simple and quiet. It wasn''t much, but it was a start.

    "How are you doing?" I asked.

    They seemed to consider that for a moment. "Pretty good, as having your life completely uprooted goes."

    Seph jumped in. "At least when we finally did get ''caught,'' they treated us to dinner!"

    A ghost of a laugh escaped Mel''s lips. Progress, I thought. If I was really going to work here, I could not be completely unfamiliar with everyone. That would be one hell of an awkward time. And I would not want to be fighting what is probably World War Three in an awkward home situation.

    We arrived at the lobby and entered a restaurant area. As not to split up, I took the lead and directed us to a six-person table. I took up the head, with Les and Naomi sitting to my left. At the other head was Vivian. Mel and Seph took up the side opposite Les and Naomi. This left me next to Naomi and Seph.

    We talked lightly over dinner, nothing big. The restaurant served simple American food¡ªburgers, salads, sandwiches, and pizza. I kept it safe and went with my favorite sub: ham, cheese, lettuce, pickles, and tomato. And mayo, always mayo. The food arrived after about four minutes of waiting.

    I started by asking about hobbies, but we really had nothing except, of course, hacking. I didn''t dare ask about home life, as who knew what kind of shitty childhood everyone had to have to end up in this current situation. Employed because of their hacking, their criminal skills. Memories threatened to rise up at the thought, but I pushed them through.

    I learned a few things over the course of the dinner, however. Vivian talked not often but did mention that she was into creativity. My memory faintly connected her last name to the famous virus StokesKill. It slowly messed with the computer it was infected with before completely wiping it and adding its memories, files, and computing password to a cloud service called Stoked. At the end, all you could do was play some sort of custom-programmed horror game.

    When I brought it up, she said that it was her "greatest accomplishment."

    Seph wasn''t really into the big grabs. He was more of a hit man, similar to me. They book the services, give him their request, a price, and some information. He does it and then never looks back. Les was a prankster... nothing serious, but it could be used as such. He gained remote access to computers and did goofy things. But his ability to seize control could be used in many other ways.

    Naomi and Mel were both part of hacker groups. They were high in the ranks, but not high enough that they spent their entire life in bunkers. They had notably been behind data leaks, rigging online polls, and tweaking online articles.

    After stuffing ourselves full of food, we retreated to our chambers. Once we had returned, Les spoke: "So, should we stay up and do something?"

    "Not the best choice," Vivian interjected. "We''ve got a big day tomorrow and an ungodly wake-up time."

    "I second that!" Mel said. "Five in the morning is just criminal."

    "Well, we are criminals." Seph smirked and entered his room. We all did the same.

    I changed into a provided robe and collapsed into bed.

    Today was...

    I began to reflect, but then realized I had no words for what had happened. I shrugged and closed my eyes, bracing for what would come tomorrow.

 Chapter 5: I Go From Crime To Teaching

    A screeching sound blasted into my ears. My brain was yelling, my head pounding. Then it stopped. I mumbled, and my eyes flickered open. The clock on the wall showed 4:51. I briefly remembered Officer Whiteford saying that training started at five. Panic struck my chest, giving me a boost of energy. I sat up, and nearly toppled out of bed. I rushed to don my suit, put on my backpack, and darted out the door.

    Everyone else was already there, sitting around for me. I catch sight of them. They are all freshly ready - compared to me in shambles, having woken only a minute ago. "How long have you been up?" I asked, slightly out of breath.

    "Only about ten minutes," Les responded. "How are you just awake?"

    "That hellish noise woke me up just now."

    "Oh, for God''s sake, Cade!" Naomi interjected. "It''s gone off five times already."

    I sighed. I hadn''t had to wake up on a schedule in six years. Now was not a fun time for an introduction. Vivian scowled, and started out the door. The rest of us followed her silently. We reached the lobby, where Officer Whiteford was waiting.

    "Greetings," she said when she caught sight of us. "You look... decent. But there is room for approval. We can''t have you looking like all of the cadets."

    "Cadets?" Seph asked.

    "Well yes. You can;t expect us to hack the most protected software in the world with only a team of five. You have thirty-two penetration testers-" Seph snorted. "-at your disposal." Whiteford finished.

    She led us to a seating area, and pulled out six identical outfits. A heavy-duty black hooded coat and a pair of thick gloves. At the bottom of the table, leather boots were organized in a neat line. Each coat had our name embroidered on the back. We each clipped the outfit on. It was crazy heavy. But also quite protective. I could get shot in this outfit, no problem. hell, I could take an entire train if I wanted to.

    "Damn..." Seph trailed off. "It''s a little overkill, but hella sexy."

    I looked at him and couldn''t help but agree.

    ??

    We arrived in what they called "the sphere" - a computer central for all things technology. Servers ran all along the walls, a large screen was in the front, and network routers were located in the back. Lines of PC''s, each with an operating system I had never heard of, were placed on desks along the room. Thirty cadets, of all looks and skin colors, sat at tables.

    We, the agents, lined up at a stage. Whiteford nodded, and left. Officers Sanchez and Torres were placed at each end of the stage.

    Les stepped forward, beginning the lesson. "Good morning, everyone!"

    "Good morning," the student''s echoed. At least it sounded like they weren''t going to be a constant pain in the ass.

    Les glanced at us, with a shrug. He didn''t know what he was doing any more than we did. He mouthed, What next?

    I don''t know, Seph mouthed back.

    Vivian stepped forward with an eye roll. "So, how much experience do you all have in hacking?"

    One in the third out of four rows raised their hand. "We''re penetration testers, so we know our way around a system."

    Seph snorted, "White hats and their ''knowledge''."

    Naomi stepped up. "You are all white hats?" Xe asked. A few nodded, some murmuring "yes."

    Mel smiled and spoke for the first time today. They started out timid, but their voice grew stronger as they spoke. "So, today''s lesson will be on the tools you weren''t allowed to use back when working legally. Everyone go to the internet."

    We quickly conferred and decided on teaching them RalKed¡ªa tool that could penetrate even the strongest systems. It uses an old backdoor in most email systems, planted many years ago in disguise. No one really knew what it was, and it lay dormant until a big data breach happened. The backdoor was then activated and blamed on the breach. It was brilliant, really. No doubt that those behind it were taking cover underground or already behind bars.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    We chose Les, the best teacher of us all, to lead the lesson. He started by guiding them to open incognito browsers and find a search engine accessing the dark web. There, they purchased RalKed. The package started at $15 but had extra features going up to a piece of $200. Once they reached the selection menu, Les walked over to us for a quick meeting.

    "What version do we buy?" He asked.

    I spoke first. "I can do everything on the $150 version."

    Seph smirked. "Purchase the $25 version." Vivian opened her mouth to contradict him, but he cut her off. "I learned some ways to do everything you can with $200 for only $25."

    Les shrugged. "Fine. But, you lead the lesson after we download it." Seph nodded, and we continued.

    The government had funded us with plenty¡ªbut why waste it on buying expensive versions when we can do everything with a cheap version? Plus, RalKed is not even close to penetrating the things we''ll have to do later. We started by opening the program. "Now, Seph will teach you how to jailbreak some of the features while I take a look at some of our provided resources." Les stepped back, leaving Seph to take the wheel. He began leading us through a lecture, but I was more focused on what Les had to say.

    "We need to look at this, because if I send these cadets to North Korea with no experience, this country is fucked."

    He opened up a PDF containing all of the resources provided by the government for this lesson. There were a thousand hackable virtual machines with varying levels of difficulty and adjustable defenses. "Thank God..." Naomi breathed.

    "And everything else?" I asked.

    "It''s all open. This was made by uneducated officers. They work in information¡ªnot cybersecurity." Les said.

    "Well, that''s that then." I said. I paused briefly, then turned to Mel. "Nice job out there."

    They smiled slightly and managed a slight "thanks."

    Seph was wrapping up. He was teaching them the commands to activate the dormant code they had saved. "And now, you have a $200 version of RalKed for only $15."

    He walked to regain us. "And now?" He asked.

    Les glanced at the clock. "We have about an hour."

    I took a breath. I could do this. "I''ll teach the lesson," I volunteered.

    Vivian had pulled out a phone and wasn''t paying attention, but everyone else nodded. I stepped up onto the stage. I instructed Les to activate a virtual computer for every student. "Here is your target." I began. "Mr. Inwick is an overworked corporate man for a Russian intelligence agency. He scrolls through e-mails and clicks on links to download, not really paying much attention if they are from the country. And then we have Riley. She is a new marketing worker and sends a demo commercial to Inwick. This is where we strike. I will teach you how to use the backdoor to infect the computer and gain access."

    Les jumped in. "What Cade just gave you was your information gathering. We can teach you how to do some information-gathering techniques that no one would dare to teach you in an ethical environment."

    And so my lesson kicked off. I taught them basic commands, how to find a target''s email, and how to implant the malware. I gave them a pre-made virus for today, but they would need to make their own in the future. Just like that, the virtual machine saw nothing, and all of their data was now on the Cadet''s computers.

    I was just wrapping up when everyone''s phones went off at once. It was a text from Officer Whiteford. The message read:

    ATTENTION ALL AGENTS! URGENT NEWS!

    North Korea has joined with Russia and officially began the third world war. Intelligence states that they are planning to launch a nuclear attack. Information from sources may vary, but their targets are either Canada or the U.S. Coast. As soon as further information is released, the country will go into a lockdown situation.

    Oh, and the Sphere isn''t at all safe. GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!

    There was no need for further instruction. We dashed from the Sphere. We came out upon the grounds, the grass crunching beneath our feet. Every step gave a little pain, reminding me of my still-healing wound. The cadets ran one way¡ªto the guest dorms¡ªwhile we headed for the main structure. "SHIT!" I heard. I turned; Vivian had tripped and fallen.

    I grabbed her wrist, to which she recoiled, but I ignored that. I yanked her up and pulled her along. She wriggled out of my grip. We ran on. Once we reached the atrium, we entered the tunnel. Plenty of others were in it. We ran on, into our dorm. Once we were there, all six of us collapsed onto the couch.

    We panted, out of breath. "We... are not dead yet." Les managed.

    "No, we''re not."

    We waited for five more minutes in silence. Nothing happened.

    Seph looked around. "Was it a false alarm?"

    "I think¡ª" Naomi started, before xe was cut off by a blaring alarm.

    A voice went over the loudspeakers. "Nuclear missiles were detected in the airspace. The US is officially in lockdown. Targets: unknown."

    Metal slammed over the door, securing us inside. "Fuck." Seph and I muttered in unity.

    The U.S. was getting bombed.

 Chapter 6: Nuclear War Is Here, And I Hate It Already

    "Nobody panic." Les said. Too late for that. Mel had shrunk back against the couch. Naomi stared off into space, as if not sure what to do. Seph was glancing around the room. Vivian had her head in her hands.

    "Panicking?" I said. I sounded crazy. "Who is fucking panicking?"

    I panicked.

    Les shook his head. ¡°If anywhere is safe right now, it¡¯s here, in a government building.¡±

    Naomi took a deep breath, and spoke softly, as if trying to convince xyrself. ¡°Yeah. No one¡¯s going to risk losing someone like Whiteford to a bomb.¡±

    ¡±Hell, no one¡¯s going to risk losing Cade to a bomb.¡± Seph added. My cheeks briefly flushed red. After a moment, I realized what I was doing and blushed even more. I turned my head. I could not let Seph see that.

    All was silent, and I believed the red had faded from my cheeks, so I turned back. Everyone was staring blankly at points around the room. I pictured armored missiles launching through the sky, followed by trails of fiery smoke. I could see it in my mind¡ªhitting cities. The screams and explosions burned themselves into my brain. I shook my head, focusing back on the scene in front of me. I opened my mouth, but an announcement cut me off.

    "All intelligence agents come down to sector B-2." Echoed from the speakers. The metal on the doors retracted slowly.

    There was a brief pause. "Is that... it?" Mel asked softly. "Are we safe?"

    There was the thud of footsteps down the hallway. Officer Sanchez burst in, panting. "Get down there." He said between breaths. "There''s something you need to see."

    We were on our feet in an instant. Sanchez led us down the hallway, and we burst into the main lobby. He turned toward the two double doors leading out to a gravel path. He shoved the doors open, and each of us pushed them back as we came, from the little they slipped back in the gap between runners.

    Gravel crunched below our feet. I almost slipped once or twice, but kept up with the group. We turned to what I assumed to be B-2, exiting our current course to the center of Xarnon, B-3: The Sphere. B-2 was a mainly square building, with just a little jutting out toward the direction of the main building I had entered through. Sanchez slid to a stop. He fumbled for his key chain, then put an ID card up to a small black scanner, currently with a red light. It beeped after a second, and turned green. He swung upon the door, holding it for us, and we stepped in.

    A maze of black walled, shiny-tile floored halls awaited. Officer Sanchez wasted no time in rushing to lead us to a door labelled "Analysis."

    We stepped in. The room was an exact duplicate to The Sphere, from the rows of computers, to the stage, to the large projected screen. But there was no lesson going on here. Officer''s hands were flying over keyboards, typing and clicking. They chattered with instructions and results. At the top was a table of data along with a map. Bits of results flashed so fast that my eyes couldn''t comprehend everything. There were red x''s across countless countries, countless dotted paths, and blinking dots.

    "What the hell is happening here?" Seph whispered.

    "We''re trying to figure out who''s targeted, where the missiles are, and who is already dead." Sanchez responded. We kept close to the doorway.

    "Who''s... already dead?" I asked hesitantly.

    He nodded. "Old enemies. Now that Valamir''s in with North Korea, and maybe a few others, he''s probably launching attacks on previous targets as soon as possible."

    My face paled. Seph gasped. Les and Naomi were unreadable. Vivian and Mel''s expressions did not change.

    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    "Please tell me countries like Ukraine are okay," I pleaded.

    Sanchez looked down at me, sympathy glistening in the center of his eyes. "I wish I could tell you so, but... the chances are not looking good."

    I felt an ominous pang in my heart. It can¡¯t be... no, fuck no!

    Sanchez didn¡¯t seem to notice. He walked toward the front of the room, meeting Whiteford. They exchanged shortly, then motioned for us to come over. Everyone began to follow Sanchez''s previous path. I didn''t dare budge. All I could think of was my last living, loving relatives engulfed in a fiery blaze. They had been trapped in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. I had kept in contact with them under the pretense that I was still in school, studying in my junior year.

    And now... they were gone. Livia and Khan, their young, high-pitched screams. Their bloody, burnt, broken bones. If those were still left under the carnage. Tears threatened to spill out, a pain in my chest. I can''t be weak, I protested against the visions flashing in my mind.

    I closed my eyes and bit down. I focused on the irony of the acrid taste of the blood pooling in my mouth.

    A rush of memories pounded in my stomach. I was suddenly lying in the bed, pinned down. A weight so heavy was on my chest. And my head was being hit over and over again. There was too much blood, blood everywhere. Gunshots and blood. Little fragments. Livia and Khan waving goodbye. Their bodies; broken. A man and a woman, fighting. I was hurt. I hurt them. Fighting, so much fighting.

    And death.

    So much death.

    I felt a tugging, no longer in my chest, but on my arm. I opened my eyes, and saw Seph''s face. It was gentle, but his face was unreadable.

    "Come on." He said softly. He led me forward.

    My... whatever that was... had gone unnoticed by most in the room. Whiteford was staring at me. Sanchez had averted his eyes. Vivian was staring at the people working. Everyone else looked at me with a mix of sympathy and concern. I let myself get pulled to the front of the room.

    Whiteford began briefing us. "Things may get a little messy here," she began. I braced myself. "You okay, kid?" She asked.

    "Yeah." I lied after a brief pause.

    She bit her lip, as if pondering whether I was truly alright. She seemed to accept my answer and began: ¡°We have confirmed nuclear missiles in the airspace - not only today, but also a few days ago. We have come to the unfortunate conclusion that Russia struck once already, on what we believe to be Ukraine.¡±

    I pushed down the feelings building up inside me, and just nodded. I needed to feel numb. Whiteford continued. ¡°Now we believe Canada has fired back, not at us-¡° The group breathed a collective sigh of relief. ¡°-But at Asia. Where, we do not know. But we think you might be able to find out.¡± She pointed at a set of six computers at the edge of the room.

    Les immediately dashed towards the set. We all followed. They took only a few seconds to boot up, and we got to work. Each of us sent high-level pings to computers across the globe.

    "Indonesia is fine." Les said.

    "Vietnam is unharmed," muttered Mel.

    "How the fuck are we supposed to ping North Korea?" I asked in a panic, when we reached it on the list of countries.

    "Do an illegal connection, or something!" Seph said, his fingers racing across the keyboard. "There''s got to be one little weak spot."

    "Found it!" Les yelped.

    "How-" I began.

    "No time!"

    He entered the command. Everything slowly stopped as the color drained from his face.

    "What? What is it?" Naomi asked.

    All was quiet for a moment. "They''re gone. All of it''s gone." Les whispered.

    Whiteford rushed over. "We''ve closed the case."

    "Us too." Seph muttered.

    Whiteford took a look at Les''s screen, and immediately rushed to the front of the room. "All agents, listen up!" She called. The operatives slowly stopped what they were doing and turned to her. "Today was a momentous day, a tragic day. It is of regret that I announce," she stopped, as if fighting to keep emotion out of her voice. "We lost two countries today. One was always considered an enemy, another a friend. But that does not account for the great evil that has been done."

    And then she spoke the words that I had been dreading:

    "Both Ukraine and North Korea have undergone a complete genocide by nuclear attack."

 Chapter 7: Valamirs Head On A Pike Becomes My New Favorite Image

    All was silent. Operatives everywhere averted their eyes or looked down. They had known it - had a pretty good idea of it, at least. But a hunch does not blow such a force upon you as a set-in-stone truth. And there it was in front of them. Two countries had undergone such a terrible fate. If everyone inside was not killed by the blast, then they would surely be dead within a few days, or at least sick beyond repair. Within that time, if the countries wished for it, enough weapons could be launched to end humanity completely - turning earth into an uninhabitable radioactive hell.

    And just a few button presses could make that happen.

    We cannot let that happen.

    Whiteford cleared her throat. "That is all. Everyone but the Xarnon agents are dismissed."

    The six of us just stood there in shock while the agents filed out of the door. Whiteford and Sanchez approached us. It was only then that I realized Officer Torres was nowhere to be seen. "This is really happening, isn''t it?" Les asked after a moment of silence. "Nuclear war."

    "Not just nuclear war," Whiteford interjected. "If that was the case - the six of you wouldn''t be here at all. No, Les, this is also cyber war."

    I opened my mouth, as if to ask a question, but Whiteford spoke before me. "We have reason to believe that prior to launching the attack on Ukraine, Valamir shut off communications in many points across the globe. We were luckily unharmed, but many other people are stranded without access to anything else. Canada has been silent."

    "We need you to reverse that, along with training our cadets." Officer Sanchez put in.

    ¡°Wait¡ª¡± Seph. ¡°Do we know what Valamir has been doing? Or what he even wants?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, not. He has not just shown up and done some shitty movie monologue.¡± Whiteford replied sarcastically.

    Seph rolled his eyes, to which Whiteford shot him a glare. ¡°But, that is beside the point. War is coming and we¡¯ll have physical combat, nuclear attacks, and cyber warfare in our future. You¡ª¡± She made eye contact with each of us in turn. ¡°¡ªwill need to be prepared for all.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯re training us to fight.¡± Naomi commented dryly.

    ¡°Well, and to survive nuclear scenarios.¡± Witeford responded.

    ¡°Pray?¡± I suggested. ¡°Do a little dance? Say - I¡¯ll survive, then knock on wood?¡±

    ¡°If you want to die a fool, yes.¡± Whiteford said with no hint of a smile whatsoever. ¡°Regardless, you should rest today. Combat training will be more¡­ draining than teaching. It starts tonight.¡±

    Without another word, she left the room, leaving us to walk our way back to the dormitory. I realised it was only three hours ago that I woke up disgruntled at five in the morning. Since then, so much had changed. I tried not to think of Livia and Khan, but images of their faces kept flashing into my mind. Shut up! I shouted at whatever part of me kept sending these visions.

    We reached our door, and silently walked in. ¡°So much for the first lesson,¡± Seph grumbled.

    I walked over to the couch, a blank look on my face. I couldn¡¯t ignore it. Valamir had stolen the only people I loved - and the only people that loved me back. ¡°Are you¡­ ok?¡± Les asked softly.

    I couldn¡¯t lie about this, and I don¡¯t think I could speak either. I just shook my head slowly.

    ¡°Oh my god.¡± Mel gasped. ¡°You didn¡¯t know people in one of those countries, did you?¡±

    I brought my chin slowly up, then let it fall down in a nod.

    ¡°Holy shit, Cade.¡± Seph breathed. ¡°I- I¡¯m so sorry.¡±

    Sure, he was sorry. Like that mattered. Sorry doesn¡¯t undo the bombing. Sorry doesn¡¯t bring them back. Sorry doesn¡¯t rip Valamirs stupid shitty body into pieces, screaming at him, making sure he knows who he is. Sorry doesn¡¯t leave the pieces in a bloody, broken heap.

    Sorry, isn¡¯t worth shit.

    But I had to be grateful that these five people. Vivian flashed briefly in my mind. Okay, these four people - I corrected - are here for me.

    So I must be there for them.

    I looked up, and found my voice. ¡°Thanks,¡± I muttered hoarsely.

    Naomi sat down silently, and turned on the TV. ¡°Cade, in the light of things - you should decide what to watch.¡±

    Xe handed me the controller. I flipped through the news channels, my stomach flipping whenever I saw news coverage of what had just happened. It was unfortunately everywhere. There was no break, just endless videos of fire, carnage, and death.

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    Drones were few, but somehow the news had managed to get hundreds of videos showing the aftermath - bloody, broken bodies and all. Seph gently pressed the power button, turning the screen back into its peaceful, pure black. ¡°Maybe TV isn¡¯t the best thing right now.¡± He suggested softly.

    ¡°No, not at all.¡± Les breathed.

    Mel walked over to a group of cabinets. ¡°There¡¯s got to be something else¡­¡± They muttered. They slowly opened one. Inside were several playing card decks. She held one up for us to see. ¡°Does this work?¡±

    The rest of us - apart for Vivian who had disappeared - nodded assent. We went over to the couches, where Mel pulled out the cards and placed the deck in the middle of the table. ¡°Any idea of what game you want to play?¡± They asked.

    ¡°Why not euchre?¡± Les suggested. ¡°Although - two of us would need to team up as a single player.¡± Mel didn¡¯t speak, and Naomi didn¡¯t look particularly happy with not going solo. And afterall, why not? I thought. Seph didn¡¯t seem overly against the idea, so I asked:

    ¡°Seph, would you like to go together?¡±

    He shrugged, and sat next to me. Les quickly cycled through all of the cards, removing all but nines, tens, Jacks, Kings,you Queens, and Aces. The two scorecards were laid down as per usual. Les sat across from Mel, me and Seph across from Naomi - forming the teams.

    ¡°Do you know ASL?¡± Seph whispered in my ear.

    I signed yes.

    He smiled. The first hand was dealt. It was decent - if spades was the suite. We would have the left, ace and queen - but the other cards were shit. We went through the trump-choosing round, and we picked up the bower.

    ¡°You first.¡± Mel muttered.

    Seph pointed to the ace - a strong first play. I set it down. Of course, no one could combat that. I followed with the queen, giving up control to Les, who won the hand.

    The game went on, and we - to no one¡¯s surprise - won the round.

    ¡°Ready for training later?¡± Mel asked. The suite was decided, the card ordered into Naomi¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Not really.¡± I said. Les managed to take the first trick.

    ¡°Training should be fine.¡± Naomi said softly. ¡°But there is one thing that may not be.¡± Xe paused, placing down xyr card, an easy winner. ¡°You have noticed by now that Russia targeted multiple countries with their attack. But not the US. Why would that be, considering we are currently one of their largest threats?¡±

    ¡°Maybe not to piss off the big opponents?¡± Les suggested.

    Seph stared darkly forward. The game had paused. ¡°Valamir would thrust his arm in fire just for more power. He has the opportunity to become legendary for being the one to defeat America. He wouldn¡¯t have given up this chance for anything. There has to be another reason.¡± He then pointed at a card, and laid it down. Naomi took the hand.

    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose anyone has any idea on what that is?¡± I asked, glancing around. Everyone shook their heads. Vivian would know, I thought. Vivian always seems to know something we don¡¯t. But that¡¯s just her - there when you need her, gone when you don¡¯t.

    Mel spoke quietly. ¡°He may have intended to attack America. You never know what could have gone wrong.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can surmise much, considering we haven¡¯t the faintest clue as to how the cyberattack works.¡± Naomi put in.

    The game went on, our conversation more limited.

    Finally, we made it to ten, with the opposing side being at eight points. I collected up the cards, when Les stood.

    ¡°We may not know enough right now, but we can figure things out.¡± Everyone stared at Les, confused. ¡°C¡¯mon - we¡¯re fucking hackers! We have computers! We have tools!¡±

    ¡°Now?¡± Naomi asked. ¡°Without any confirmation from Whiteford?¡±

    ¡°We still don¡¯t know about her - about anyone here, really.¡± Seph said. ¡°They all have their own agendas and things to do.¡±

    ¡°Fine - we look a little bit.¡± I said.

    We each grabbed our laptops, and opened them up to a blank terminal.

    There was a pause. Les spoke first. ¡°Well, what now?¡±

    Everyone seemed to consider that. ¡°Well¡­¡± Mel began. ¡°One thing we can all be sure of is that nothing on the internet is secret. There¡¯ll be records of everything, somewhere.¡±

    ¡°But where?¡± I asked.

    ¡°We can¡¯t use something public - no cyberattack tracker or well-known archive.¡± Seph put in. ¡°The dark web will give you whatever the hell you want depending on how much money you throw at them.¡±

    ¡°For now, we don¡¯t have the CIA to back us.¡± Les said. ¡°So we are a little lacking on that side of things.¡±

    ¡°Then we can do this ourselves.¡± I said confidently. ¡°After all, the dark web must get their information from somewhere.¡±

    ¡°And that brings us back to your earlier question of: where?¡± Seph reminded me.

    ¡°To start, everyone needs their own discreet search engine to even get there.¡± Naomi said. ¡°I¡¯m sure everyone has one of those.¡± We all nodded. ¡°Then crack that open, and let¡¯s just brute force our way into finding something!¡± Xe continued.

    I opened up my favorite browser, and started searching. The first place I went to was an information site - filled with hackers writing all kinds of articles. I had just begun to search, when Les announced: ¡°Found something!¡±

    Damn, he¡¯s fast. I remember how fast he had hacked earlier, when¡­

    When¡­

    My thoughts stopped and I froze. As everyone else crowded around Les, I stared. A stray tear escaped, rolling down my cheek. All I saw was death. All I heard were screams. I smelt carnage and fire. I tasted ash.

    And I felt pure rage.

    I am fucking done with being sad.

    Done with being helpless.

    As soon as we get through this combat camp¡­

    I am bringing hell to this bitch Valamir.

 Chapter 8: I Do A Training Montage

    I straightened, the vow of vengeance now on the top of my mind. I wiped the tear from my cheek - and joined everyone else. There¡¯s a long way to go before that happens, I thought. And weakness has no place here. Les¡¯ computer screen showed an internet record book of every notable computer transaction that had ever occurred.

    ¡°Holy shit, Les.¡± I said. ¡°This probably contains billions of pages of information.¡±

    ¡°Well, we can narrow it down.¡± He said. ¡°They don¡¯t particularly make it easy, of course. If I bought the product, I could do this much faster, but stealing is what we have, and money is what we don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°So, what does the stolen file contain?¡± Seph asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s a binary encoded file of every single thing that occurred on the internet since 2011. I¡¯m guessing foreign operations leaked it. It has tons of information stored in a server somewhere, and each bit connects and loads the information. But it takes up almost all the space on my computer.¡±

    ¡°I know just what to do with that.¡± I quickly fished a group of microchips out of my pocket. Handing them out, I said: ¡°Load a copy of the directory onto this, and keep it on this.¡±

    Les shrugged, and did as he was told. Soon, we all had a copy of the binary directory and server. ¡°So¡­ I¡¯m expecting that searching this will take up too much of our time?¡± Seph asked.

    ¡°Probably.¡± I said. He sighed. We placed an order for five coffees and went to work¡­ reading.

    Yippee, I thought, don¡¯t I just looooooove reading.

    Hours passed, with us meticulously glancing over bits of text. Some of it was glitched, some was just missing. Most of it was shit. Oh my god! Another connection error. So fucking exciting!

    The dry, sarcastic voice in my head was just getting louder by the hour. Eventually, a soft ringing sound reached my ears. ¡°The phone.¡± Les said, without missing a beat or glancing .

    I squinted, and, sure enough, there was a little black phone attached to the wall. Everyone else was staring wide eyed at the computers. Standing up, I made my way over to the pesky little thing. As soon as I picked it up, Whiteford¡¯s voice blasted into my ear:

    ¡°Hey kid. Combat training¡¯s in fifteen. Get your ass in gear and scurry down here.¡±

    I opened my mouth to reply, but she had already hung up. Shaking my head, I turned and faced the room. ¡°Combat training!¡± I announced loudly.

    Seph seemed to jump a foot in the air, and Mel¡¯s eyes widened. Naomi and Les calmly looked up at me. ¡°We¡¯ve got fifteen minutes, so make it snappy!¡± I followed up with. We all retreated to our rooms, putting on some of the plain, black clothes provided to us.

    It was time for some fighting.

    ??

    We all walked slowly onto the open grounds. The crisp evening air was cool against my skin, a nice contrast to our stuffy dormitory room. A large area was set aside for fighting, contained by a barbed fence. Hundreds of others - officers with plenty of more training - lined the field. They were dressed in the exact same clothes as the hackers - but muscles showed through the tight clothes. Most of us were not as fit. Except for Seph, of course. I felt my gaze slide along the curves of his body - the muscular shape. I felt how easy it would be to-

    Nope, I am not imagining that right now.

    My stupid little brain still dreamt up some scenes that made my cheeks flush red. I tried to ignore that, by looking at the figure in front of the line, supposedly the leader. A surprisingly young, blonde man met my gaze, smiling. ¡°Join the line!¡± He said joyfully, as if this was a party, not a combat training camp.

    We fell into line with everyone else. ¡°And there are our special guests of honor!¡± The trainer said, smiling brightly. ¡°For you all-¡± he began, looking at us. ¡°-My name is Jake. I am the current combat instructor at Xarnon. To start, we will be splitting up into two groups - beginner and intermediate.¡±

    I supposed that meant we were stuck in the beginner group. Jake confirmed my suspicion. ¡°Beginners can teach our new arrivals the basics, and I¡¯ll be working with the intermediate, preparing them for the upcoming battle.¡±

    Upcoming battle? I thought. I looked to my left, and saw the four other Xarnon agents present also confused. I look to my right and-

    -Jumped a foot in the air. Vivian had somehow appeared next to me, ready for training. She looked at my surprise, and simply rolled her eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll be with the intermediate,¡± she whispered. ¡°¡®Why¡¯ is none of your concern.¡±

    Jake lastly directed us to go to two sides of the open field. We obliged. As soon as we split up, Jake went into some pretty damn cool moves with the intermediate folks.

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    Pretty damn hard, too.

    ¡°Hi!¡± I whirled around to face the speaker. A young woman behind me. ¡°I¡¯m Shira, and I can help you with these exercises.¡±

    ¡°Pronouns?¡± I asked.

    ¡°She/her works.¡± She said, smiling. ¡°Follow me!¡±

    Shira led us over to a corner. The rest of the beginners were pairing up, doing some moves that were a lot more do-able, but a lot less cool. And a lot less effective, I noticed.

    ¡°I¡¯m assuming you all know how to punch someone.¡± She said with a smirk. We nodded. ¡°Then demonstrate.¡±

    I wound up and threw a semi-powerful punch that I was proud of. Seph, on the other hand, seemed to execute a perfect blow that would maybe knock a tooth out of an opponent. Naomi frowned, but followed the instructions to a mediocre degree of success. Les fumbled the blow, and Mel¡¯s show was somewhere between me and Seph.

    Shira shrugged, and went to me. She quickly glanced at Seph and Mel, saying ¡°You¡¯ll be ready for the next exercise.¡±

    She grasped my arm, and led me through the correct motion. I did it a few times with her, then on my own. I smiled slightly with satisfaction, picturing Valamir on the receiving end of my attack. Shira led us through a few more basic exercises - ducking, blocking, kicking, and more punching.

    At the end, I was panting; both adrenaline and exhaustion flowing through me. Shria looked at the five of us with a sideways grin. ¡°There you go! But let¡¯s see how you fare in a real fight.¡±

    She paired us up - Seph with Mel, Les with Naomi, and me with her. We lined up, faced our partners, and got some space to train.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go easy on you¡­¡± Shira muttered.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare.¡± I said back, foolish pride flaring in my chest.

    ¡°Three¡­¡± Shira began. I took a deep breath. I can do this.

    ¡°Two¡­¡±

    ¡°One¡­¡±

    I braced myself.

    by ¡°Start!¡±

    Shira instantly flung herself at me. Panicked, I raised my hands. Her wrists collided wth my raised fists, starting the true fight.

    Shira went to sweep my legs out from under me, but I jumped, almost too late.

    ¡°Careful.¡± She cooed, which made me feel¡­ slightly repulsed. ¡°I might just catch you off guard.¡±

    No, Shira¡¯s nice.

    ¡­Right?

    A blow to my side knocked me back into the present. I coughed, but darted away. She followed, dashing with raised fists. I went for a blow to her cheek. She grabbed my fist. I brought my leg upward in a kick, and caught her thigh.

    She stumbled, and I lept toward her, fist out. Then she was gone. I felt a sharp pain on my side, and gravity took control. I-

    Pain flared through my jaw, dirt in my mouth. I had landed face-first onto the ground. My face hurt, my everything hurt.

    I raised my head, my vision blurry. Muddy bits of soil attacked my taste buds. I spat the foul mixture onto the ground, again and again.

    ¡°Faaaaauuuuuuuuuck.¡± I moaned.

    Something cold bumped my head. I looked up to see Shira, offering a plastic water bottle. I unscrewed the cap and filled my mouth with the cool liquid. Swishing my mouth a few times, I spat it out, then greedily drank the rest.

    ¡°Should¡¯ve let me go easy on you¡­¡± Shira sang. I lifted myself from the ground, ignoring her.

    It seemed Seph had beaten Mel and Naomi had defeated les. ¡°Is that it?¡± I panted, turning back to Shira. ¡°We¡¯re done, right?¡±

    Shira laughed. ¡°Of course not, silly! We¡¯ve got a lot more to review than just fistfighting if you want to combat Valamir¡¯s forces eventually.¡±

    She directed us to move back and join the line. Jake addressed everyone. ¡°For this next exercise, we will all be in one group.¡± He directed a group of workers to bring out a large cart. ¡°We¡¯ll be working on your shooting.¡±

    The workers walked down the line and gave us each a gun and a pack of ammunition. ¡°Of course, the bullets are padded and won¡¯t kill. They¡¯ll hurt like hell though.¡± Jake continued. After the workers had armed us all, they retreated to Jake, who grabbed a controller. At a button¡¯s press, a range of targets raised from the ground, from easy ones - close and fixed, to almost impossible ones - far and moving around quickly.

    I loaded the pack of padded bullets into my gun. It wasn¡¯t the best, or the worst, based on what I observed. I readied the weapon. I had fifteen shots - and I intended to make each one count. I started by aiming at a target not too close, but not too far either.

    ¡°Open fire when I say ¡®go.¡¯¡± Jake said.

    ¡°Three¡­¡± He began the countdown.

    ¡°Two¡­¡± I readied myself.

    ¡°One¡­¡±

    ¡°Go!¡±

    BANG! I pulled the trigger, and the target flopped down, marking it as defeated. Gunfire filled my ears, deafening. I reloaded, and aimed for a further target. BANG!

    Shit. The bullet landed somewhere on the back wall, missing.

    I shot down four more medium targets. Some people had already stopped firing.

    My next three shots hit easy ones still left.

    I breathed in, and shot at an almost impossible far-away target.

    The bullet sailed far and true. The target fell. With my remaining five bullets, I managed to shoot a few mediums and decently difficult targets. I lowered my gun.

    I had done it.

    I had just managed to hit one of the hardest targets in the practice. A bubbly feeling of elevation stirred in my chest. Pride, I recognized. I am proud of what I have done.

    The gunfire came to a stop.

    Jake pressed another button on his controller, sending the targets back into the ground. As the workers collected the guns just as they had given them, he walked up to the front. ¡°Good job today, everyone!¡± He began. ¡°I am so glad to see everyone progressing. We will be going back to our dormitories in a second.¡±

    I breathed a sigh of relief. My muscles ached. ¡°After a few days, we will schedule the next - and perhaps final - lesson.¡±

    Final? But, we¡¯ve only just begun?

    ¡°Unfortunately¡­¡± Jake continued. ¡°Half of us will probably be leaving for Russia soon. After the strategy meeting and normal activities, we will have our final practice before the war truly begins.¡± Jake looked at us, the Xarnon agents. ¡°You six will be attending this strategy meeting. Whiteford told me to inform you, but to also say that the date is not set in stone yet.¡±

    We nodded.

    ¡°Alright. You are all dismissed.¡±

    Seph, Mal, Naomi, Les, and I all walked together. Vivian, as we were used to, had vanished. ¡°How was that for the first lesson?¡± Les asked us.

    Seph smirked, having done exceedingly well at everything. ¡°It wasn¡¯t the worst.¡±

    ¡°It was a start.¡± Naomi said.

    ¡°Hey,¡± I put it. ¡°If it¡¯s a step closer to beating the shit out of Valamir¡¯s whore-ass face, then count me in.¡±

    We all laughed.

    But in my mind, I pictured doing a whole lot more to Valamir than just stabbing him.

    He should expect pain in his future - because I was not going to let him off easily.

 Chapter 9: I Attend A Strategy Meeting That Should Have Been An Email

    The next day, I was shocked to see Vivian actually being useful. She led the lesson in the Sphere, where we talked about more advanced functions of RalKed, while the rest of us stayed in the back, watching the lesson partially while looking through more of the documents. We¡¯d managed to narrow it down to more malicious interactions.

    After the lesson, we saw her patience end.

    ¡°I¡¯ll teach a shitty lesson, but I won¡¯t read a bunch of shitty notes to find something only of slight significance.¡± She had said, before promptly walking out of the room.

    Les sighed. ¡°She¡¯ll come around eventually.¡±

    But she didn¡¯t. Over the next few days, that single lesson was all we got out of Vivian. She was always off, doing something that apparently was ¡°none of our concern,¡± as she put it.

    Thankfully, the cadets were making incredible progress. They had begun to master the use of RalKed. They could successfully take control and manipulate high-security computers. But, no matter how high-security the systems were, they were nothing compared to what the cadets would have to face in real life.

    But, as the CIA assured them, time was theirs. Nothing yet had come of the supposed ¡®strategy meeting¡¯ for five days.

    On the fifth day, we were teaching a lesson on finishing up RalKed, by making sure that the students were absolutely ready to move forward.

    ¡°¡­And can someone tell me their favorite method of data retrieval?¡± Seph asked.

    About five hands shot up instantly. Seph raised his hand to call on one, but was interrupted when the door to the Sphere opened loudly and abruptly. All seemed to become silent. Heads whirled.

    Officer Sanchez stood at the doorway. ¡°Cadets, class dismissed.¡± He said gruffly, before locking eyes with us. ¡°You all, strategy meeting. Now.¡±

    My eyes narrowed with suspicion. Why hadn¡¯t we been alerted previously? And why was this so dire as to interrupt our lesson? But the look on Sanchez¡¯s face was unmistakable: this was urgent business, and lateness would not be tolerated.

    We followed him without question, where he led us quickly across the gravel paths past the building we had been called to for information gathering to a plain-looking rectangular structure. It had two pairs of double doors, the first of which we approached.

    We entered the building. The inside looked very similar to all of the other ones we had seen; marble floors and sleek black walls. Sanchez led us around a few corners, before coming to a door labeled ¡®24 - Group Meeting.¡¯ He opened the door, leading us into a large, circular, carpeted room.

    A round, wooden table took up the majority of the space. Simple black chairs were positioned all around. Whiteford took up the head of the table, with a seat for Sanchez and another for Torres on her left and right respectively. Jane and Janet occupied the space next to Sanchez¡¯s chair, and five officers that I didn¡¯t know by name were next to Torres¡¯ empty seat.

    Lastly, six empty chairs sat - the closest to the door. We filled them in as Sanchez sat in his chair. The only noticeably empty chair was Torres¡¯. Strange, I thought. Why would they keep his chair if he was absent? They could noticeably be moved - which was reflected in the stacks of extras along the wall.

    ¡°I must start this meeting by stating that the president did not attend, as he is working on formal matters that are none of anyone here¡¯s concern.¡± Whiteford proclaimed.

    I wished I could say I had gotten used to being in the dark - between Vivian withholding pretty much everything she did, and Whiteford never telling anyone anything until the last moment - but I still puzzled at why anyone needed that level of secrecy. Whiteford continued, interrupting my thoughts. ¡°The next, possibly concerning announcement, is our lack of troops.¡±

    This settled in. How could we fight if we are lacking in so many departments?

    ¡°To counter that, many officers will have to take up the fight - including everyone in this room.¡± I waited for her to say ¡®except the Xarnon agents, of course.¡¯ But she never did. I glanced to my right, at Mel. They had their brows scrunched up in concern. I couldn¡¯t seem to picture myself out on the field of battle, with a gun, shooting down enemies.

    Hell, I couldn¡¯t picture myself anywhere but here, or armed with anything more than a small pistol.

    Whiteford stood, and pressed a button below her. A holographic map appeared, showing the entirety of Russia with a few red pins in it. ¡°We believe that striking down Valamir is of utmost importance, and is the best way to dispel the remaining forces. Each of these pins-¡± she motioned to about of the dozens of markers on the map. ¡°-Is one possible place he could be residing.¡±

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    ¡°So, we are going to have to carefully raid every single one of these?¡± One of the officers that I don¡¯t know asked - the second one closest to me.

    ¡°Not if we have anything to do with it.¡± Seph states. ¡°Give us a few weeks and we can dredge up enough information to know Valamir¡¯s exact location.¡±

    Whiteford gave him an unreadable glance. ¡°You overestimate yourself, agent. We are talking about Russia, not some corporate bullshit.¡±

    Seph rolled his eyes, but even I had my doubts. I wasn¡¯t sure any of us stood a chance against foreign operations either. Even if we did, a few weeks wasn¡¯t that much time. Glancing at Seph, I could see the doubt in his face. He didn¡¯t totally believe what he was saying either.

    ¡°Despite whether that is true or not, we will need to figure out where to position our troops.¡± Whiteford said. ¡°We can¡¯t do anything without a base of operations.¡±

    The map zoomed in at another button press, showing blue marks now, instead of red. They were positioned by the Russian border. Some were dim, including all of them near Ukraine. ¡°Here are all of the possible buildings we can seize and operate out of.¡±

    There were about fifteen marks overall, not including the six dimmed ones. They were in many different countries, from Kazakhstan and China to Finland and Belarus. ¡°The darkened points are either impossible to get to, or denied access to us by the countries¡¯ government.¡± Whiteford said.

    I pointed to a location in Finland. ¡°That should be easy to get to.¡±

    Seph looked at Kazakhstan. ¡°Look how many red marks are close to that one.¡±

    Whiteford shrugged, and the blue marks disappeared. ¡°But that is beside the most important thing to discuss.¡± At another press of a button, thousands of little egg-shaped marks appeared, some red and others blue. She motioned to the red ones, positioned everywhere around Russia. ¡°Here are the known locations of Valamir¡¯s military.¡± She then motioned to the blue ones, scattered both in the U.S. and around the globe. ¡°These are our troops.¡±

    Compared to the countless red markers, our futile blue markers were nothing. ¡°Holy hell,¡± Seph whispered. ¡°You weren¡¯t lying about being outnumbered.¡±

    Whiteford raised her finger along the map, creating a blue arrow that stretched from a spot on the map that must¡¯ve been Xarnon to Finland and Kazakhstan, at the two bases Seph and I had pointed to earlier. ¡°This is what we are planning on doing,¡± She said. ¡°The question is where we will go afterwards.¡±

    She drew a few semi-transparent arrows, each leading inward to Russia from the military bases. Some stopped at towns, others at red markers. ¡°Here are some advancements we could make.¡±

    I studied them. She had drawn ten possibilities: half ending at towns and half ending at potential Valamir locations. All of them had troops stationed there. Naomi instantly pointed at one with the fewest markers. ¡°How about that one?¡±

    Whiteford nodded. ¡°That is the most logical first move.¡± She eliminated a few other arrows. ¡°And these are the most illogical.¡±

    ¡°So, they¡¯re expecting us to go here,¡± Seph motioned to the one with the least amount of soldiers. ¡°And we¡¯re fucked if we go here,¡± he motioned to those that Whiteford had eliminated. ¡°So we go to one of these,¡± he motioned lastly to a cluster of three with not too many troops and not too little.

    Janet spoke up. ¡°That town,¡± she pointed to the second one Seph had guestured too. ¡°That town gives us easy access to any of these possible Valamir locations.¡±

    Whiteford rolled her eyes, but even she had to admit that Janet was right. Following that train of thought, Officer #1 on my right spoke: ¡°So we can go there!¡± He pointed excitedly to a base of operations on the border near all of the current targets of interest.

    Whiteford nodded contemplatively. ¡°That would work as a first move - applying pressure. Anyone else have anything to add?¡± Nobody spoke up.

    After a few seconds of silence, she shrugged. ¡°Then this strategy meeting can come to a close. You may all return to your quarters.¡±

    We stood first, and exited the room. For a moment, we let everyone pass, then followed them. We were led to the door, out onto the chilly grounds. The officers departed to go to the southern dormitory, while we trudged back to ours.

    Upon our arrival, someone finally spoke. ¡°Well, that was a complete flop and a waste of time.¡± Les said.

    ¡°Hm?¡± I asked.

    ¡°All we did was make some simple decisions that anyone with half a brain could deduce!¡± Les continued. ¡°It¡¯s like they wanted to pull us for a useless meeting.¡±

    Seph narrowed his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t think Whiteford would do anything without due cause. There must¡¯ve been a reason.¡±

    Naomi sighed. ¡°I would bet they called us just to inform all of the officers that - whether we like it or not - we will be going to war.¡±

    ¡°You would¡¯ve thought that no one would send their best hackers into the middle of what would be a death sentence.¡± I grumbled.

    ¡°By then we¡¯ll have trained the cadets and been rendered useless.¡± Les sighed. The thought struck me like a blow to the head. Would they really keep us just to train some cadets then kill us off?

    I wouldn¡¯t put it past Whiteford.

    I wouldn¡¯t put it past anyone here, truthfully.

    My little fantasy of a happy life, a life with love and purpose shattered. No, I reassured myself. That can¡¯t be. They wouldn¡¯t do that - never.

    But no mental reassurance could pick up the pieces, could undo that punch to the face. The thought was permanently burned in the back of my skull - an itch that couldn¡¯t be ignored.

    You¡¯re being used.

    You¡¯re being used.

    You¡¯re being used.

    I swallowed and spoke. ¡°No. I don¡¯t think they would do that.¡±

    Without any further elaboration, I stalked off into my room. I reached into my duffle bag, and pulled out a smartphone. Not bothering to take off my clothes, I collapsed into the soft mattress. I didn¡¯t want to move or do anything else again. An ache was in my heart, a burning in my bones, a pounding in my brain.

    I pressed on the nearest social media app and scrolled. There were bright colors and happy people.

    Happy people.

    Why the fuck can¡¯t I just be happy?

    The war was nothing to them. It was distant and they were, probably, misinformed. Their blissful ignorance soaked into my retinas. Tears began to run down my cheeks, salty and wet. I didn¡¯t stop them. I didn¡¯t care.

    No one knocked on the door.

    The hours went by.

    Time became meaningless.

    And I fell into the darkness of sleep.

 Chapter 10: Paintball As Military Training?

    The usual screeching alarm blasted my ears. My eyes fluttered open, and I slowly sat up. My memories of yesterday were dazed and hazy. I reached out with my hand, hitting the soft mattress before grabbing my phone. I looked at it with heavy eyes.

    The screen stayed black.

    I tapped a few times. Dead, I thought. A brief memory of staring at it for too long last night flashed into my mind. ¡°Shiiiiiiiiit.¡± I mumbled.

    I stumbled out of bed somehow and donned my plain clothes. It was like every other day. Except - something felt so empty. I had filled the days with work, with teaching. I had filled the emptiness with thoughts, crushed emotions and retrospect with logic and planning.

    I tried to think of a lesson, but the crushing weight of nothing eliminated it.

    So I embraced that. I sat there, still and unmoving. The time went by - or it didn¡¯t. I wouldn¡¯t care anyway.

    Knock, knock.

    I ignored it.

    KNOCK, KNOCK.

    Harder this time - more difficult to ignore.

    ¡°Caaaaade!¡± Seph¡¯s voice reached my ears. It was music, beautiful, really.

    This time it was impossible to ignore. I stood, and opened the door. Seph looked me up and down with his stunning eyes. ¡°We have some¡­ combat training.¡± He said¡­ almost sheepishly?

    I stepped out, and sighed. ¡°Okay.¡± There was a pause, then I looked at the time. God, have I been sitting for three hours? ¡°H-how did the lesson go?¡± I stuttered.

    Seph shrugged. ¡°It was fine.¡± It was then that I noticed we were alone, everyone else probably already down for training. ¡°C¡¯mon,¡± he said. ¡°We don''t want to leave the others waiting!¡±

    I nodded shakily, but didn¡¯t move. Seph rolled his eyes, grabbed my hand, and practically dragged me down to practice.

    ??

    The practice arena had completely transformed the last time we were there. Where there was once a large open space, there was now a forest filled with barren trees. Artificial snow littered the ground, creating a barren feel. Stepping onto it felt strange. I should have been cold - as I would have been in a true snowy forest. But the warmth of early fall still ran through me.

    Everyone else was forming a line. Jake had not appeared yet, so we just fell in with everyone else. To my dismay, the rest of the Xarnon agents were far away on the other side of the line.

    After maybe a minute of waiting in awkward silence, Jake emerged, followed by a caravan of carts bearing fake weapons and gear. ¡°Hello all!¡± Jake said. He said it excitedly, but the words carried weight. He was no longer as carefree as he was last time.

    ¡°Today, we¡¯ll just be playing some good old paintball,¡± he continued. The supplies were passed down the line in a matter of seconds. Jake stepped forward, dividing our ranks. ¡°Everyone on this side,¡± he began, motioning to the line we stood in. ¡°Will be Team #1.¡±

    He motioned to the other line, with Naomi, Les, Mel, and Vivian. ¡°This is Team #2.¡± My heart sank. If we would be playing a competitive team game, I would have hoped to be doing it with the Xarnon agents, together.

    I donned the vest and helmet, and grabbed the loaded paintball gun, strapping on the necessary straps. ¡°And remember,¡± Jake said, his tone darkening. ¡°This is to simulate war. There will be no silly ¡®capturing the flag.¡¯ You are here to seize control of the other team¡¯s base, killing or taking captive all of them. If you get hurt, nobody cares. There are no rules in war.¡±

    On that cheery note, he directed both teams to the forest, which was large and tightly packed with trees and dead undergrowth. Not going to be easy to fight in, I thought. We made our way to the base. A small metal structure met my eyes. It had a trench, a wall, and a main building. It had one main center room and two others branching out to either side.

    I hopped over the trench, Seph following. ¡°We¡¯re in this together,¡± he whispered, before leading us within. The wall was thin and unstable, with slits for shooting through. The actual building had no windows, and one entrance. The main room was empty but for a couch. In one area was a cage that had no lock, the other a table and chairs.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to give it to them,¡± Seph muttered to me. ¡°They worked hard for realism.¡±

    Jake was suddenly at the front gate. None of us had seen his approach somehow. ¡°You-¡± he pointed at a random soldier. ¡°You are team captain. You lead,¡± he turned to us. ¡°And you listen.¡±

    With that, he left as quickly as he had come. Our team captain called: ¡°Everyone, outside,¡± at her orders, we emerged.

    Just as Jake had divided us, the captain split our line in half. ¡°You all will be on offense,¡± she said to the side with me and Seph. Seph¡¯s face curved into a smile under his visor. ¡°And the rest are on defense. You may, of course, change positions in an emergency. I will stay with the base,¡± She finished.

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    We stood in silence, waiting for the command.

    A crackly voice filled our ears, probably coming from loudspeakers all around. ¡°Match starts at 3¡­¡±

    I took a deep inhale.

    ¡°2¡­¡±

    I exhaled.

    ¡°1¡­¡±

    I readied myself.

    ¡°GO!¡±

    The offense team ran forth. I stayed next to Seph, while soldiers scattered into the undergrowth. Seph ducked down, and I followed suit. We crept slowly. Muffled sounds of paintball-gunfire filled our ears. There was a flash of movement, and I was jerked to the ground. The wet, powdery-ness of the fake snow dampened my clothes. It was slightly cold, but nothing like the real thing.

    ¡°Who was that?¡± I heard. It was their fatal mistake. Seph pointed to exactly where the voice came from. I popped up, and shot.

    BANG!

    ¡°¡­!¡± They screamed.

    I ducked down again. I looked at Seph. ¡°Welp, no one with any sense of hearing knows where we are.¡±

    Seph smirked. ¡°Not for long.¡±

    He rose to a crouch, and I copied him. Together, we moved quickly and stayed low. Multiple rounds of paintball-gunfire echoed in the distance. A few more soldiers were shot down, by me and Seph alike.

    About three-quarters of the way to the other team¡¯s base, we met up with the remainder of the offensive team. ¡°Ready to storm this place?¡± One asked. We nodded.

    Seph took up the lead, leading us to carefully pick through the undergrowth. Voices carried into our ears. I heard the remainder of the Xarnon agents, who must¡¯ve been on defense. Seph signaled us with his hands.

    He held up a three, two, one¡­

    ¡°GO!¡± He shouted.

    We lept forth, springing into action.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    I barely had any time to react as paint splattered everywhere. I saw movement in the trench, and I fired.

    Curses were shouted as my teammates and the enemy alike stumbled away, color splattered over them. I shot twice more, then retreated back into the bushes. Seph quickly followed. ¡°What do you-¡± I began.

    Everything went silent. The shots had stopped. ¡°HEY!¡± Les shouted. ¡°YOU IN THE BUSHES, DROP YOUR WEAPONS OR BE ELIMINATED!¡±

    I looked at Seph. He sighed, and set down his gun. ¡°ONCE YOU HAVE SET DOWN YOUR WEAPONS,¡± Les continued. I quickly put mine down as well. ¡°STEP OUT! IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY WITHIN TEN SECONDS, WE WILL OPEN FIRE ON YOU. TRUST ME, PAINTBALLS HURT.¡±

    We rose, and stepped out, hands up. Les smirked. ¡°Greetings, captives. You are our new hostages.¡±

    Seph rolled his eyes. ¡°Drop the commander bullshit and lock us up already.¡±

    Les shrugged. ¡°Fine, scum.¡± He motioned to Mel and Naomi. ¡°Guard them.¡±

    We were escorted to our cells by the two of them. Naomi fake-shoved us behind the bars. I grumbled a few choice words, before settling down on the one piece of furniture here - a wooden bench. Seph sat on the ground, leaning against the wall.

    Paint-guns in hand, Mel and Naomi just stood facing them on the other side of the bars. ¡°So¡­¡± I began. ¡°How¡¯s everything going?¡±

    Mel shrugged. Naomi sighed. ¡°We got a good lesson in,¡± xe said. ¡°Finished up with RalKed and got to attacks that¡¯ll piss off the network enough to substantially slow down the internet.¡±

    Great. The one lesson where I wasn¡¯t there they got good progress. That shouldn¡¯t be wrong. That shouldn¡¯t sting.

    But it does.

    I just nodded. Seph¡¯s face darkened, as if he had sensed something wrong.

    He scooched closer.

    And reached for my hand. I let his fiery touch sear the top of my cold skin. I sighed. ¡°Good. That¡¯s-that¡¯s great.¡±

    ¡°And-¡± Mel dropped their tone. ¡°We think we made some progress on the investigation. We¡¯ve got programs to run with the database, which means: filters here we come!¡±

    I laughed, and so did Seph. Softly, but at least it was something. Something warm to bat out the shadows that lived rent-free in my head. I bit my lower lip. ¡°Have you thought about how we filter?¡± I began. ¡°I mean, we don¡¯t even know how a cyberattack will be labeled. Or if it was launched a long time ago and just recently activated.¡±

    Naomi shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s still progress.¡±

    Seph frowned. ¡°Speaking of progress, do you think when Whiteford advances on Russia, she¡¯ll bring some of us along?¡±

    I shuddered. ¡°I hope not.¡±

    The thought was verbally dismissed, mentally carved in stone and set away in the annoying little area where thoughts periodically scream at me.

    You and Seph can never be together.

    You can¡¯t have a happy ending.

    Your parents hated you.

    You will die forgotten at war.

    Liva and Khan are dead.

    I hurled myself back into the present, putting a stop to that train that I really don¡¯t want to follow. Sometimes I think it''s a good thing that I forget all my dreams. Leaving my unconscious self to its own company is dangerous, as I have learned.

    BANG! BANG! Paintball-gunfire interrupted everything.

    ¡°Shit.¡± Mel swore. I realized that was the first time I had heard her cuss. I had just assumed that she didn¡¯t. She quickly covered her mouth and blushed.

    Or she doesn¡¯t try to.

    ¡°STOP SHOOTING OR WE KILL ALL OF THE PRISONERS!¡± Les shouted.

    Someone laughed loudly and shouted back. ¡°IN YOUR WILDEST DREAMS, MOTHERFUCKER!¡±

    BANG! BANG! BANG! The firing continued.

    Naomi sighed. ¡°Sorry about this.¡±

    Before I knew it, there were two loud BANG¡¯s, and I felt a pain in my chest.

    Pink had splattered my vest and some on my neck. ¡°Gaaaah.¡± Seph moaned, wiping red off his cheeks.

    ¡°Fuck you¡­¡± I muttered, holding up a certain obscene gesture as we stumbled away.

    Mel giggled, and pushed past us into the fight, followed by Naomi. Les followed us, blotches of yellow and blue on his legs and chest. I smirked. ¡°Maybe being a prisoner is just as bad as being on the field commander boy,¡± I teased.

    Les rolled his eyes. ¡°Die with dignity or in some prison shithole - your choice.¡±

    ¡°Prison shithole me up!¡± Seph yelled, saluting.

    We laughed and approached the edge of the field. Our energy was instantly killed by the grim faces on the other side. A line of paint-splotched soldiers led up to Jake, who held a phone, and was scrolling on it.

    He said something to the soldier in front, making her frown and lower her head. Jake looked up, meeting our eyes. ¡°Xarnon agents, you may return to your dorms. You don¡¯t need this news.¡± I looked at Les and Seph, shrugging. ¡°NEXT!¡± He shouted.

    We made our way back to the dorms. It was getting to be late, and Mel, Naomi, and Vivian would probably be behind us. Maybe not Vivian, because if anyone was going to be the sole survivor, it would probably be her.

    We reached the dorm door, and Les led the way in. He flicked on the light switch. ¡°I don¡¯t know about you,¡± he said as we entered the room. ¡°But a shower sounds pretty damn good right now.¡±

    I looked at Seph, then back at Les. ¡°You can shower first, but I¡¯ll be second.¡±

    Seph sighed dramatically. ¡°Look at these two impolite gentlemen, denying me my place in the shower. What improper people! What bi-¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll survive,¡± Les interrupted. He stepped into the bathroom, and shut the door.

    ¡°Ffffffffine.¡± Seph mumbled. ¡°I guess I will watch the television and wait for my refreshing wash.¡± He smirked. ¡°You know, my-¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯ll interrupt you there.¡± I said. ¡°Because with that face and that sentence starter, nothing good can come out of your mouth.¡±

    He shrugged. ¡°Fair enough.¡±

    And yet, I somehow wanted to know what would come at the end of that sentence.

    I pushed that small part of me down, and settled in for a quiet evening.

 Chapter 11: I Cuss Out The Most Powerful Man On The Planet

    Shadows were screaming.

    Shadows were hitting me.

    It was like a bizarre recreation of my worst moments in one. Inescapable. Somehow, every harsh word was burned into my brain and yet forgotten at the exact same time. It lasted forever and only a heartbeat at the same time.

    Terror. Shadows. Fleeing.

    Terror. Pain. Voices.

    Flinching. Crying. Terror.

    Hopelessness. Shadows. Depression.

    Anger. Freedom. Fleeing.

    Terror. Pain. Rage.

    Murder. Guilt. Regret.

    Terror. Hopelessness. Crying.

    S h a d o w s.

    ??

    Valamir Uldrich sat upon a throne of steel. Many could mock - call him medieval. Many could also be slaughtered. He was ready. The CIA, or whatever the Americans would throw at him, would be quickly shot down. He was in control of everything, all computers, all armies. There were spies and agents everywhere. Nowhere was safe.

    Standing up, he made his way across a hall. Armed soldiers stood, four on each side. A small, slender woman walked up to him. She has short, brown hair.

    ¡°Sir,¡± she said, quickly in a panicked voice. ¡°We believe it is the American¡¯s idea to launch an attack!¡±

    Valamir smirked. So they want to play with fire. He would show them to get burned.

    And then have some coffee - as it was of course the key to success.

    ??

    I awoke, emotions fluttering through my stomach. As like every day, the alarm went off. There was emptiness, just like the day before.

    But today, I had gotten something more than dreamless sleep.

    I knew that, but the fleeting memory of it taunted me. It jabbed at my chest, burned up my lungs and addled my brain. It was all I could do not to scream.

    Tears began to fall down my cheeks. I turned and planted my face into the pillow.

    ¡°FUUUUUUCK!¡± I yelled into the fabric. Thank god it was muffled.

    Sitting up, I collapsed onto the floor like a waterfall spilling into a lake. My human-lake body lay there for about thirty seconds. With a grumble, I stood once more, pulling on my clothes and stepping out into the main room.

    Seph and Mel stood, seemingly the only ones left. ¡°Where¡¯s everyone else?¡± I groaned.

    Seph looked at Mel, together sharing some sort of communication that only they could understand. ¡°They¡¯re already down at the lesson.¡± Seph responded after a moment.

    I sighed. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±

    Mel frowned, but we walked to the lesson.

    ??

    Valamir was in a room full of chattering idiots - talking about america this, and america that. What a load of bullshit. Everyone here knew that no one was longer a threat. With all of the weapons below ground and technology above, not to mention the thousands of soldiers, no one stood a chance.

    It was foolish to stand against him, and he was counting on that.

    Leave it to the puny leaders to not risk losing their country.

    A serving woman approached. ¡°Your Espresso, sir.¡±

    Without looking, Valamir grabbed it, and slowly sipped.

    He was ready.

    ??

    ¡°And you are all dismissed,¡± Les finished. The words cut into the monotony of my search. He had taken over most lessons, as he was unsurprisingly the most likable out of all of us. While he did that, we focused our attention on either searching or doing developer-side work on the lessons.

    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    I sighed. ¡°Nothing, like every other fucking day we spend in here.¡±

    ¡°Language!¡± Seph hissed, eyeing the cadets. While it wasn¡¯t the worst thing to swear here, it certainly wasn¡¯t professional or good for your overall image.

    ¡°Plus,¡± Vivian said with a sigh. ¡°You haven¡¯t even been here for a few days. So piss off.¡±

    I briefly imagined throwing her against the wall with a fashionable dropkick. I just bit my lip and looked back at my laptop.

    The last student wandered out, just as Les came over to check on us. ¡°How is everyone holding up?¡± he asked cheerily.

    ¡°Fine.¡± Seph said softly.

    ¡°Horrible.¡± I said over him.

    Mel just shrugged. Naomi and Vivian ignored the question.

    ¡°So¡­¡± Les began. ¡°Probably a bad time to bring this up, but we are scheduled to hack Russia in fifteen minutes.¡±

    ¡°What-¡± Seph yelled.

    ¡°-the fuck?¡± I finished.

    Les wrung his hands. ¡°Sorry - I was just preoccupied with the lesson and Cade feeling-¡±

    ¡°-fine.¡± I interrupted.

    Everyone stared, non believing.

    I brought my fingers to my temples. ¡°I¡¯m. FINE.¡±

    Les shrugged. ¡°Whatever you say - I was just busy.¡±

    There was a pause.

    ¡°So¡­¡± Mel trailed off. ¡°Should we go?¡±

    Seph did somewhat of a dismissive motion, like a small sideways shrug paired with a strange face. ¡°I guess so.¡±

    ??

    ¡°The planes,¡± Valamir whispered gruffly. He gazed out a large window. Twenty large planes flew by, beginning the landing process as they neared the central airport. ¡°Do they contain the packages?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Someone confirmed behind him, timidly.

    He just nodded, staring out the window.

    ¡°S-sir.¡± Someone else stuttered. ¡°Our systems have been, well-um, breached.¡±

    Valamir smirked slightly. ¡°Bring it on, CIA.¡±

    He took another slow sip, as everyone behind him panicked.

    ??

    As soon as they reached the operation room, Whiteford rushed up to the group. ¡°You¡¯re all here? Good.¡± She said quickly, without waiting for an answer. ¡°Come, and do this fast. We don¡¯t have much time.¡±

    We were hurriedly escorted into the room of operations, and sat down in a row of computers. ¡°Les, you take the lead.¡± Whiteford said softly, before marching away and barking orders to all of the others in the room.

    ¡°Ready?¡± Les asked. We all nodded. ¡°Good. Cade and Seph, try to find a gap in their defenses. Mel and Naomi, prepare some cyber weapons. And Vivian¡­¡± he trailed off. ¡°Where the hell is Vivian?¡±

    ¡°Just do it without her!¡± I said quickly.

    My computer pinged with an email from Les. ¡°There¡¯s some of their leaked accounts!¡±

    Me and Seph split up - each of us looking at three accounts. I quickly opened up my favorite internet search batch file, programmed by yours truly. I ran it, and found the accounts popping up everywhere on leaked government records.

    I smirked as I saw a few developer-driven programs. One of those has a loophole.

    After a quick search, I found it. Two of the accounts listed had a backdoor installed in one of their softwares.

    Seph mashed the keys wildly. ¡°This person has auto-update developer-driven software!¡±

    He pressed the enter key, then leaned back, facing me. ¡°Pretty damn successful.¡±

    I smiled. ¡°Les!¡± I called. ¡°We got them.¡±

    Naomi looked up. ¡°We¡¯ve got some code to run that¡¯ll steal their data, and could lockdown their computer for a ransom if we want.¡±

    ¡°Send it all to me.¡± Les muttered. We obliged. ¡°Valamir, you don¡¯t know what¡¯s coming for you,¡± he said, smirking as his fingers frantically pressed the keys.

    ??

    ¡°Call them.¡±

    ¡°Sir?¡±

    ¡°Did I stutter?¡± Valamir snarled at the cowering worker.

    ¡°N-no, but-¡±

    ¡°N-n-n-no,¡± he mocked. ¡°Shut the fuck up and get me on the video call with them.¡±

    ¡°F-fine.¡± The worker said. He scuttled off to his desk, directing everyone else.

    It was time to finally meet those little shits that were trying to stand up to him.

    ??

    Every screen flashed with the ugly, wrinkled face of Valamir¡­ whatever his last name was. ¡°What the fuck?¡± I whispered.

    After that brief picture showed, every computer in the room instantly went black, but the projector, where Valamir stood - in video this time.

    I stared in shock. He had somehow hacked our system, shut down most computers, and then forced us into a video call with him.

    ¡°Hello, Americans,¡± he sneered. ¡°How¡¯s it going? You thinking of just fuckin¡¯ off and leaving me the hell alone?¡±

    Whiteford stood. ¡°Never,¡± she snarled defiantly.

    ¡°Little ants can always try and fight, but they will drown in the power of their superiors.¡±

    I stood up. ¡°Good thing we¡¯re not ants, fuck-face.¡±

    Valamir¡¯s gaze found me. His gaze narrowed. ¡°You think you can make a difference, Cayden? You thing you can fight?¡±

    I froze. How-how does he know that name? I hadn¡¯t been called that in years.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We know everything about you,¡± A wide smile spread across his face. ¡°Fucking fag-¡±

    ¡°SHUT UP!¡± I screamed. And then I was on the ground, hearing those two shitty words screamed at me over and over again. There was pain everywhere. How could someone hate me this much for who I loved? How could someone who I thought loved me so dearly do this?

    Smack.

    ¡®How dare you?¡¯

    ¡®You bring shame to our family.¡¯

    ¡®You. Don¡¯t. Love. Him.¡¯

    ¡®He hates you.¡¯

    ¡®Fucking f-¡¯

    No.

    I was not going to let another person finish that sentence.

    My parents did.

    And it got them killed.

    ¡°Cade, Cade, CADE!¡± Seph was shaking me. Tears were pouring from my eyes. Why? Why?

    ¡°Don¡¯t let him get to you like this, kid.¡± Whiteford comforted me. I was shot back in the present. The thought of someone as gruff as her doing that much for me was just impossible to ignore.

    I shook my head and repressed the shadows. Swallowing, I rasped ¡°t-thanks.¡±

    I stood shakily, glaring at the smirking face watching all of this. ¡°You.¡± My face stiffened. ¡°Valamir¡­ asshole, or whatever you call yourself. I will find you. I will be the one to end your fucking life. And I will cherish every second of it.¡±

    Valamir blinked, then regained himself. ¡°You just try¡­¡±

    The video was cut off.

    ¡°Cade¡­¡± Seph trailed off. He stared at me, and reached for my hand.

    I pulled away, turning. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just - I just need to - I -¡±

    I ran.

    Tears streamed down my cheeks.

    I collapsed into bed, with Valamir¡¯s sick fucking face hovering over me. I shoved my face into the pillow, covered myself in the blankets.

    Knocks happened on my door.

    I ignored them.

    Why would anyone care about me?

    I am just a sick, broken boy who is used as a pawn by people better than me.

    A machine.

    That¡¯s all I¡¯ll ever be.

 Chapter 12: Knowledge Is Power... And Annoying To Find

    Sleep didn¡¯t find me that night. It evaded, didn¡¯t come forth like usual. Something within me just drove it away whenever it tried its futile approaches. So, I picked myself up from between the sheets, and sat up. My computer lay, closed at my desk. It truly would be a shame to lie awake all night and get nothing done.

    I slid out of bed, and sat on the very uncomfortable desk chair. It would be difficult to fall asleep on this. Good, I thought. Laziness has no place in me, not right now.

    I plugged in my USB drive.

    It booted up, and a memory hit me. I was extracting files from the CIA to help a client. And they were loaded onto my old USB drive.

    Instantly, I sat up and rummaged through my bag.

    Come on, come on, come on.

    Nothing. No flash drive. Just old clothes, and some emergency supplies. And-

    Strange. I thought. They took a USB drive, but not a loaded pistol.

    If that gun was gone, I would¡¯ve assumed they took away potentially dangerous items. But they must¡¯ve known, must¡¯ve known something to constitute that.

    I suppose I was right about the drive. It was much more dangerous and important than the gun. And unfortunately, the CIA saw it that way as well. But I could not let them keep it. I needed it back and I needed it back fast.

    I wasn¡¯t really thinking straight. I grabbed a burner drive and the pistol, before storming directly out of the room and nearly running straight into Seph.

    He leaned leisurely on the wall, chewing a leaf of what smelled like basil. He was wearing black pants, and a loose-fitting white cotton shirt. He looked me up and down. ¡°You do this every night?¡± he asked, standing straight from his earlier reclined position.

    ¡°No,¡± I muttered. ¡°W-why are you here?¡±

    The moonlight slid over his handsome form as he smiled slightly. ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t I be? It¡¯s the best time of the night.¡± He looked at me with a strange glitter in his eyes.

    I nodded, reserved. ¡°I¡­ guess?¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m not the subject of concern here.¡± Seph gestured to the lump in my pocket. ¡°You¡¯re the one carrying a pistol around.¡±

    I shrugged it off. I knew one thing: I couldn¡¯t let myself become the topic of conversation. So I matched Seph¡¯s energy with a grin. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t have weapons concealed under those clothes of yours.¡±

    He walked closer to me, so close that I could feel his body heat radiating upon mine. A small knife slid from his shoulder right down into his hand. He gripped it steadily in front of me. I wasn¡¯t sure if he was admiring the craftsmanship or me. ¡°You have no idea,¡± he breathed.

    ¡°Oh.¡± My conscious mind chose to settle for that meaning more knives. My unconscious thoughts were not as easy to beat down. ¡°So¡­¡± I said awkwardly, and Seph pulled back, the weapon sliding back to where it came from.

    ¡°Yes¡­?¡± he asked, suddenly back to a casual mood.

    ¡°I¡¯d better go.¡± I instantly started for the door, but he pulled in front of me.

    ¡°Woah there-¡± he said. ¡°Whiteford will kill you if she catches you out there.¡± He smirked. ¡°Unless I kill her first.¡±

    ¡°Are we plotting to assassinate Whiteford, or are you just making a point?¡± I asked, a tremble in my voice.

    Seph slid even closer than before. ¡°Whatever you want,¡± he whispered into my ear.

    I did not know what to say. ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re coming with me?¡±

    He smirked, and pulled out a pistol of his own. ¡°Of course.¡±

    There was a pause.

    ¡°So¡­ what are we doing?¡±

    I sighed. ¡°The CIA, did they confiscate your stuff?¡±

    He tilted his head slightly to the side. ¡°They tried.¡±

    ¡°You-did you get it back?¡± I asked.

    ¡°They never got it out of the room.¡±

    ¡°But if, say¡­¡± I trailed off, not sure how much information to give. ¡°They did manage to get one¡¯s items, where would they be?¡±

    Seph walked past me, instantly on the move. I scrambled after him. ¡°I-is that a yes?¡±

    He brought his finger to his lips, and we moved gracefully through the halls. When we reached the lobby, he pulled me against the wall. ¡°No cameras in the hall, but there are plantly here.¡±

    ¡°How the hell do you know that?¡± I whispered as we slid around the room, keeping close to the edges.

    ¡°Sometimes it pays to get information out of the people who we like the least.¡±

    Well, that narrowed it down to Jane, Janet, Vivian, or maybe Whiteford. I couldn¡¯t find a reason to hate anyone else.

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    We reached the edge of the lobby, and we entered the dining room. ¡°Under a table, quick!¡± Seph hissed, then there was a force in my back. Roughly, he shoved me down. He leaped directly after me.

    I panted. ¡°The fuck was that for?¡±

    He laughed wildly. ¡°The CIA keeps their cameras at 1 FPS, so they can sneak around if they need to. Plus no audio. Too easy to hack.¡±

    I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Must¡¯ve been a hella good source to learn all this.¡±

    ¡°Indeed it was.¡± He immediately lunged for the next table, and I followed. We continued the strange way of movement, reaching the other side within a couple of minutes.

    We panted for a bit under the final table, out of breath. I turned and stared at Seph. ¡°What now ¡®information boy¡¯?¡± I teased. I felt a bit wild. I hadn¡¯t done much that could be considered bad since the day at the cafe. It was a warm, full feeling surging in my chest.

    At it was. So. Fucking. Amazing.

    Seph winked, his dark hair wild. ¡°Turns out, the CIA are a bunch of anxiety-filled ¡®prepare-for-everything¡¯ pricks. So, they¡¯ve got backup measures everywhere.¡±

    He crawled straight behind the bar, and disappeared. I paused for a few seconds, staring. Seph¡¯s smirking face reappeared. ¡°You wanna get your shit back, right?¡±

    I hesitantly crawled after him, and turned to face the bar. A narrow, wooden staircase led straight into some basement-cellar.

    I stared, at a loss for words.

    ¡°Emergency exits,¡± Seph said. ¡°And a network of sans-camera tunnels to wherever your desperate heart desires.¡±

    I sat, then slid myself down the first few stairs, before shifting into a crouching position, then eventually rising to my full height.

    We descended down into the darkness, my bearings only being kept by Seph behind me. I took an unsteady step, stumbled a bit, before realising I had reached the bottom of the stairs. The air was cold and dank, everything smelling a bit of mold and wetness. The floor beneath me felt like rough stone. The slow drip, drip, drip of water in the distance filled my ears.

    I reached out for a wall, and grasped the slightly mud-coated stone. I recoiled at the texture, before again feeling along the walls. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me we weren¡¯t going to be able to see where we walked.¡±

    Warm breath was suddenly on my back, Seph behind me. ¡°I didn¡¯t know,¡± he whispered into my ear. Then, he grabbed my wrists. I made a slight gasping sound, which I¡¯m pretty sure made him smile.

    Not that I could see it, of course.

    He guided me forward, carefully picking through our surroundings. Rocks - I presumed. Seph released me, flinging me away from his warmth into a cold void.

    Then light blinded me.

    A flickering lightbulb had been turned on above us. Seph stared up, with a look of innocent joy. He looked down at me, still smiling. ¡°So there¡¯s the lightswitch.¡±

    Our surroundings were now more obviously visible. The tunnel was moss and dirt covered, carved purely into gray stone. Small, out-of-place-looking lightbulb installations lined the ceiling. Many tunnels branched out along different points. The ground was coated in bright white stones as well as some larger gray ones.

    Seph started off quickly, and I immediately followed. He occasionally glanced at the openings, each of which had a name carved above, like ¡®meeting 202.¡¯

    ¡°What are we looking for here?¡± I asked cautiously.

    ¡°I don¡¯t quite know¡­¡± Seph trailed off, stopping. ¡°Something to do with item confinement or storage.¡±

    He continued, but I stopped after a few more openings, staring at one of the names. Each of our names were written. Carved in was ¡®room 24¡¯, but a sticky note, saying ¡®Xarnon Agents¡¯ was below.

    ¡°Wait.¡± I said, causing Seph to stop and turn once more. ¡°We could have just come straight down here from our room?¡±

    Seph shrugged. ¡°Of course,¡± a mischievous look twinkled in his eye. ¡°But we would¡¯ve had to search the room, and where¡¯s the fun in that?¡±

    Without another word, he started forward. I hurried to keep up with him. ¡°Damn,¡± I muttered. ¡°They certainly have a room for everything.¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡± Seph muttered, stopping at a door about seven paces in front of me. I quickly caught up. ¡®Storage basement¡¯ was etched into the stone.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± I trailed off. ¡°If it¡¯s anywhere, it¡¯s probably here.¡±

    Seph gestured for me to go first. I cautiously started up the staircase, pulling out my pistol and pointing it forward. The wooden stairs creaked ominously under me. Well, shit. I thought. If there¡¯s anyone up there, they know exactly where we are.

    I emerged into dark space, my heart pounding. I whirled, pointing my gun at any hint of shadowy movement. Seph emerged from behind me. ¡°We¡¯ll be fine,¡± he said, almost shakily. ¡°They probably have orders not to shoot us.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if he was reassuring me, or himself.

    ¡°You don¡¯t suppose there¡¯s a lightswitch here?¡± I asked.

    He shrugged. ¡°Probably is. But turning it on could alert guards.¡±

    He produced a small, metal object that I couldn¡¯t make out in the darkness. There was a click, and a small light illuminated the space. Seph had a flashlight. But¡­

    ¡°Wait,¡± I said. ¡°You had a flashlight this whole fucking time, and you didn¡¯t bother using it?¡±

    Just like before, he responded: ¡°Where¡¯s the fun in that?¡±

    I sighed, and Seph began pointing the light around, while I matched his movements with my pistol. Many boxes with labels made using masking tape and Sharpie were present. Some were labeled: ¡®spare guns¡¯, others: ¡®chopped wood.¡¯ Most of it was just junk that I had no idea what the CIA would use it for.

    Dust enveloped the air, this space seemingly mostly unused. A locked metal door was eventually found, locked from their side. Seph approached the door, and stood near it, continuing his flashlight-based search.

    Footsteps sounded outside the door. ¡°Shit,¡± I muttered. Seph turned off his flashlight and darted behind a crate. I matched his movements, going as far back into the room as possible.

    Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.

    The sound of military boots marched forward.

    Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.

    They got louder.

    Clomp. Clomp.

    They stopped in front of our door.

    I reached up my hand to cover my mouth, and my pistol slid right onto the floor.

    Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!

    There was a small clack, as the gun landed.

    I slowly reached out, and pulled the gun closer to me. But instead of grabbing the shape of a pistol, my hand met a USB port. I pulled it closer, and felt its ridges. It was unmistakable, it was-

    The door creaked open, causing my stomach to do flips in my chest. My insides were a flurry of panic. I crouched down to make myself as small as possible, while my stupid brain kept mapping out all of the possible ways this could go wrong.

    A light flashed over the crates, illuminating the spaces near me.

    I was probably there for years, or maybe only a few seconds, before the guard sighed and turned around, closing the door. I picked up my USB drive and pistol, before standing up. The guard''s footsteps gradually receded.

    Clomp, clomp, clomp.

    ¡°Holy hell, Seph,¡± I gasped, standing up on shaky legs. I heard boxes shifting, and Seph standing up.

    We panted, a strange exhilaration in my lungs. ¡°Do you need to keep searching?¡± Seph asked.

    ¡°No,¡± I muttered. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here.¡±

    We left just as we came, walking down the creaky stairs and back into the stone passage. But this time, Seph stopped at the stone labeled ¡®Xarnon agents.¡¯

    He stared at it and shrugged. ¡°We better figure out how to get directly from here to our room. It¡¯ll be useful.¡±

    We started up the stairs, coming up into pitch blackness. ¡°What?¡± I muttered. The passageway just¡­ ended. No trapdoor, nothing.

    ¡°Try pushing the wall.¡± Seph suggested.

    I shook my head, but did it anyway. To my amazement, the wall opened easily after I applied some gentle pressure. It opened up, giving me a full view of our dorm room.

    And the scowling, bedridden faces of Les, Mel, and Naomi staring at me.

 Chapter 13: A Very Drunk Vivian Falls On Top Of Me

    ¡°Oh¡­ hi.¡± I said awkwardly.

    Les glared. ¡°Where the hell have you been?¡±

    I stepped out into the room, and Seph followed, closing the part of the wall that had opened behind him. I glanced into Seph¡¯s eyes, and shrugged. ¡°We were just¡­¡± I trailed off. ¡°Looking for something.¡±

    Les¡¯ eyebrows raised in suspicion. ¡°What was it?¡±

    I sighed, and pulled out the USB chip. ¡°The CIA took it.¡±

    Les reached to grab the chip, but I recoiled, bringing it closer to my chest.

    Les then stepped back, glaring directly at me. ¡°What¡¯s on it?¡±

    I wasn¡¯t feeling in a particularly gracious mood. After all, I was having the best night of my life and now Les came along and ruined it. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you like to fucking know?¡± I sneered, and turned.

    Seph grabbed me roughly, his skin now cold against mine. The stretched fabric along my neck pulled me so, so close to him.

    ¡°Listen,¡± he hissed. ¡°He doesn¡¯t need to know that¡­ but he¡¯s our leader here. So don¡¯t be a dick.¡±

    I sighed. But, he was right. I pulled away, and turned back to Les, who was looking at me with one of the most spiteful expressions I had ever seen.

    ¡°I truthfully don¡¯t know,¡± I said. It was half-true. ¡°A client wanted it, and I didn¡¯t quite figure out what it was. I didn¡¯t make it to deliver the data.¡±

    Les leaned closer. ¡°You think it¡¯s important?¡±

    I scoffed. ¡°It¡¯d better be.¡±

    ¡°And what was that?¡± Naomi asked, gesturing toward the part of the wall that had opened, now looking perfectly normal.

    ¡°Just a door,¡± Seph said quickly. ¡°Nothing else.¡±

    Mel quietly approached it, and no one made any effort to stop them. They quietly felt along the walls, pushing gently in a few specific spots. After about ten seconds of silence, there was a click, and the passageway opened.

    They quickly closed it again, and walked back to Naomi¡¯s side, without saying a word.

    ¡°So¡­¡± Seph trailed off. ¡°Can we just¡­ sleep now?¡± He slid his way directly into his room, and closed the door.

    I shrugged, and did likewise, closing the door on Les, Naomi, and Mel, who were all standing there - trying to process what just happened.

    I immediately slumped in my chair, holding the USB drive directly in front of me. I studied it, slowly turning it around in my fingers. It was familiar, so warm against my skin. The shape, the metal, everything.

    It was strange.

    I was in such an unfamiliar place. Hell, I had only been here for a week and a half. Already, my life had changed. In so little time, I had gone from working against the government to working with it.

    Strange, how life worked. Also strange how everyone had gone from hating and fearing me to trusting and supporting me. A little too strange¡­

    I slipped the USB drive into the computer and booted it up. The standard desktop screen showed. My files loaded. And I waited.

    Ping!

    The drive connected.

    Boop.

    I sighed. The file had flashed, and then disappeared. Of course they wouldn¡¯t make it this easy. Because with the government, nothing is simple or concise.

    I removed the chip, then connected it again.

    Ping!

    Boop.

    ¡°Fuck.¡±

    I rubbed my temples slowly. Come on, Cade! I yelled at myself. It is literally your job to bypass security!

    And yet¡­ I felt hopeless.

    I knew I could do it.

    But my body didn¡¯t.

    I sighed. Trying to do it won¡¯t hurt.

    I reached out, and flicked my desk lamp on. Instantly, the small room was illuminated, and a bit of heat began pulsating from the bulb. I blinked a few times to get used to the brightness.

    I reached into my drawer, producing a paperclip. With practiced efficiency, I unravelled the loop. Holding the USB drive plug up, I began to pick through it with my new pin.

    At first glance, everything seemed normal. All of the metal was in the right place. I slowly slipped the paperclip into the plug, slightly adjusting different parts to get a better view. Absolutely nothing.

    Damn, I thought. I might have to open this thing up.

    Unfortunately, doing that ran the risk of ruining the data within. But I had no other choice. If it failed, I would call the project a bust and move on.

    I carefully found the top of the drive. Thankfully, removing the cover would do nothing. And if the problem is physical, then the CIA already did this and managed to put it back together. Which did look good for my chances. Unless everything they did was within the data, like hiding a bit of code among everything else.

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    I bit my lower lip, and bent the paper clip again, making a spoon-like shape with a sharp end. I dug that into one of the small screws, and slowly began twisting it. It was tough not having a screwdriver, but I continued pushing.

    With a satisfying clink, the screw dropped onto the floor. I sighed, and continued working on the remaining three screws.

    One by one, they fell onto the floor, until I was ready to get rid of the most outer layer. I stuck the bent paper clip into a small bit under the plastic, and carefully applied pressure.

    I felt the plastic lift a little, so I worked the metal bit deeper. The process continued, until the plastic part came off with a clack.

    The inner bits were now exposed. I looked over the parts, identifying the key electrical components. The controller, the flash memory, the test points, and¡­

    Something unfamiliar. It was a little bit of extra circuitry attached to the controller. Well, that¡¯ll do it, I thought. The controller was the bit that would direct the data and allow the drive to properly interact with the computer. Any bit of extra wiring could stop it.

    But, the difficult thing would be removing it without damaging anything else. I brought it close to my eyes. This attachment was done carefully, but not carefully enough. There was a bit of space between the controller and the extra bit. I inserted the paper clip to draw both pieces a bit further apart.

    Three wires connected the two bits. I frowned. I could carefully remove the cap off of the extra part, and maybe cut a hole into the control area. Then, I could scope this out better.

    I repeated the process that I used for the outer shell with the extra attachment. It revealed a smaller, plastic container that didn¡¯t block the circuitry in, but kept it in one place. There was a mess of components that the three wires came into. But, that wasn¡¯t the hard part.

    I reached into my pack, and rummaged through it briefly. I soon produced my knife. This process would be hard. Cutting through plastic with metal wasn¡¯t easy, unless you had heat. I looked around, before my eyes landed on my lamp.

    ¡°Oh my god,¡± I whispered. ¡°I really don¡¯t want to do this.¡±

    Despite my better judgement, I did it.

    I walked right over the electrical plug, and stuck a bit of my knife into it. I rubbed it fast. After about a minute of doing this, sparks began to fly. I only wasted another two minutes continuing to do this. I then ripped the knife out, and began showing at the cover of the circuit. A cut started forming, but the process slowed after about twenty seconds of cutting.

    Damn.

    I repeated this slow method: heating up the blade, then cutting. Bit by bit, the cover wore down. Eventually, I was able to pull the plastic piece away, revealing lots more wires.

    I examined the setup closely. The three wires had been redirected from their past connection to go straight into the extra piece.

    Theoretically, all I needed to do was connect the chopped wires once more, and the data could transfer. I searched through the desk drawer, and grabbed some tape.

    A bit of bubbly excitement began to build in my chest. I was doing it! Just a few more steps, and I would have all of the information I¡¯ve been working for.

    I quickly cut through the wires. I then matched the thankfully different colored wires with the colors they were matched to. After a bit of tape, everything was final. I stared at the work I had done.

    Not shabby, I thought. But it would be dangerous to keep the circuitry exposed. I dropped to the floor, and collected each of the smooth, cool metal screws.

    I quickly positioned the piece of plastic, and inserted the first screw. I made quick work putting everything back together. After I had completed everything, I held the USB port up.

    It was a little more loose than before, but it was fine. Good as new - almost. A warm feeling of pride flared in my chest, along with a re-established confidence in my abilities. I had done that like it was nothing. And it felt quite good.

    I breathed in, feeling light and float-y. Any weight on my shoulders had since toppled off, leaving me free.

    I once again started the computer, and plugged in the drive.

    Ping!

    The file appeared. I waited, waited for the boop, for it to disappear. But it never came.

    I nearly whooped out loud. The file was there, waiting to be opened. I navigated my mouse to click on it, and opened it up.

    The data appeared in the ¡®notepad¡¯ app, and it was incredible!

    But it was also the most shitty sight ever.

    Encrypted.

    The data is fucking encrypted.

    ¡°Son of an absolute bitch,¡± I muttered, scrolling down. Symbols, numbers, letters, characters in different languages - it was all used.

    And it was all nonsense.

    I wanted to cry, but instead, exhaustion washed through me. There was an ache in the pit of my stomach and an elephant on my shoulders.

    I barely managed to close the computer before I had laid my head down and drifted off.

    ??

    I awoke, like every morning, to a blaring alarm. But this time - it was different. It was more urgent. I sat up, still feeling like I got absolutely no sleep.

    Last night was present in my memory, but it was really just a blur. A bunch of incoherent events that meant nothing to me now. I stood, and stretched. I was surprised to still be in my day clothes, but even more surprised to be at my desk.

    I stood shakily, and made my way to the door. Upon turning the knob, I came face-to-face with Vivian, glaring at me.

    I jumped back, startled. ¡°¡­hi,¡± I said cautiously.

    When Vivian spoke, her words were slurred slightly. Her movements were jerky, something not quite right about her. ¡°T-the fuck did you do in my tunnels?¡±

    I frowned. ¡°Your tunnels?¡±

    She flopped her head to the side. ¡°My tunnels.¡± She repeated.

    ¡°You - um - you¡­¡± I trailed off. ¡°I don¡¯t think I need to tell you that.¡±

    In an instant, she lunged, pushing me onto the floor. ¡°You, you, you,¡± she swayed a little. ¡°Did something in my tunnels.¡±

    She promptly fell directly on top of me.

    ??

    The girl swayed slowly as she walked through the forest. It was such a strange place, such a magical place. Especially to be in a place so ugly and brutish.

    Not to say where she was going wasn¡¯t ugly and brutish.

    Jeers and shouts from where she was going filled this place, this sacred place. They were ruining it.

    And for that, they would die.

    In due time, of course. Not much could be done tonight. She would maybe have a little drink, meet some people, and scope out the energy of this so-called ¡®secret bar.¡¯

    Of course, that was not how the night went.

    By the end she was chugging beer like it was the last drinkable substance on the planet. Playing cards flew across the bar like confetti. And all of the men were drooling after her.

    What a funny thing.

    When the girl finally emerged, babbling, with blurred sight, and the taste of far too many things still in her mouth.

    And when the girl emerged, much was happening on the other side of the world that she still didn¡¯t know about.

    But, damn, would she get hell about it later.

    ??

    There were shots outside of the central Russian military camp that day.

    Shots, so many deaths, so many wasted opportunities.

    But Valamir Uldrich just sat and watched through the window, a watchful spirit. But this spirit would not be giving blessings.

    He would serve the damned everything they deserved.

 Chapter 14: The Day After A Big Party Sucks

    The tang of alcohol lingered on Vivian¡¯s breath. Meanwhile my breath was nonexistent. I rasped, her heavy weight crushing me. With a grunt, I pushed. My arms strained, and the weight on my lungs lessened slightly. I took a deep breath, and shoved.

    There was a thud as Vivian¡¯s unconscious body hit the floor next to me.

    I took deep, gulping breaths, savoring the oxygen. It filled my lungs, gave me energy. I sat up, still dazed at what would happen. Vivian - the cold-hearted, stone-faced girl - had fainted on top of me, obviously drunk.

    There was a creak, and the sound of footsteps. Naomi stepped out, staring down at me. ¡°Cade,¡± xe said. Xe looked next to me, then directly into my eyes. ¡°What the hell?¡± Xe asked, xyr voice still calm.

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I trailed off. ¡°¡®What the hell?¡¯ indeed.¡±

    Xe stared, almost piercing my soul with xyr gaze. ¡°Not my problem, I suppose.¡±

    I stood shakily. ¡°Well,¡± I was speechless. ¡°I¡­ um. Huh.¡±

    Naomi turned away. ¡°Please just show up to the lesson on time.¡± With that, xe walked directly out of our dorm.

    That left me to take care of the drunkard. I sighed, and knelt down. I pushed Vivian to create a bit of space under her, and stuck my arms below her back. I pushed.

    With all the strength in my body, I lifted her an inch. I pushed a little harder, lifting her a little more. That was not a good idea. I gasped, as the weight overcame me. Every little bit of my arm was being pulled. All of them were tired. I didn¡¯t think I could manage to do this for any longer.

    My strength failed.

    There was a thud, and a sharp jolt of pain as Vivian landed directly atop my hands. I groaned, and pulled back my arms. Relief filled me, a light feeling. And yet, nothing had gotten done. I was back where I started, with even more heaviness in my body and much more pain.

    God¡­

    How out of shape am I?

    It was then that another door creaked open, and Les stepped out into the room. Thank god, I thought, and stepped towards him.

    He took a look at Vivian, then looked at me, then at Vivian again. He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. ¡°Yeah,¡± I began. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s up with her, but some help removing her from my floor would be welcomed.¡±

    He shrugged, and, without saying a word, lifted Vivian¡¯s unconscious body up like it weighed nothing. He gingerly carried her across the room and promptly set her down onto the couch. ¡°Well¡­¡± he trailed off. ¡°That¡¯s something to wake up to.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°We have a lesson today, right?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yep,¡± he said, and started walking that way. I followed.

    ¡°Naomi¡¯s already making her way down,¡± I added. He said nothing.

    We walked the remainder of the way keeping that tone, with no more words being passed between us. We reached the Sphere. All glass, even on the doors, was reflective, allowing no view of the interior. Les opened the door, and stepped to the side.

    I stepped forward without thinking.

    And was met with the barrel of a gun in my face.

    My instincts flared, my stomach instantly clenching and replacing the feeling of carelessness with a new weight of panic. I froze. I knew that any sudden movements would get my head blown off. I had seen it happen too many times before.

    The face behind the weapon was Janet¡¯s - her blonde hair ruffled and her face pale as a ghost. She wore a leather coat, her eyes red from crying. A sort of fire burned within her ghastly appearance.

    ¡°What the fuck?¡± I said, narrowing my eyes.

    Les took a step, still holding onto the door.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± Janet rasped. ¡°Or Cade gets his head blown off.¡± She paused. ¡°And don¡¯t try any of that ¡®criminal maneuver¡¯ bullshit. You know it won¡¯t work.¡±

    My head was slightly dizzy, the memory of pain flaring in the back of my memory. And the feeling I had been trying to suppress forever.

    Guilt.

    I had shot a man with a life, a family. These people knew him. And now he was gone. Gone because of me. Because of my stupid fucking decisions.

    I suppressed the thought once more. Ignored it by filling my brain with the present, the now. The fire burning within me. The strange desire to end the life of the miserable woman in front of me. Even more strange, how the thrill to kill this woman could beat down the pain of another one of his victims.

    Which was a list that was getting way too long these days.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± I growl.

    Janet¡¯s eyes darted from me to Les, me to Les. ¡°I want answers.¡±

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    Les said nothing, but I paled. Thoughts jumbled around in my brain:

    Does she know?

    How would she know?

    And most importantly:

    What about everyone else?

    ¡°Fine,¡± I spat. ¡°I¡¯ll give you your shitty answers.¡±

    Janet pressed the gun closer to my ear, and whispered: ¡°Where¡¯s Jules?¡±

    Officer Julia¡¯s face flashed in my mind. Where¡¯s Jules - how should I know?

    But I didn¡¯t say that. Dying didn¡¯t sound like a fun thing to do today. As Janet pulled back, I met her gaze. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I said plainly.

    Janet lunged, roughly grabbing me. She stuck the gun at my temple. ¡°Don¡¯t you fucking test me, boy.¡±

    ¡°Hey-¡± Les said.

    Crunch.

    BANG!

    ¡°FUCK!¡±

    I barely had a second to think. I brought my knee straight upward into Janet¡¯s chest. She made a strangled choking sound. My hand flew to her wrist, the other to her hand with the gun. Pushing her back, I wrapped my hand around the weapon.

    I slammed my head directly into hers. Pain erupted across my forehead, a burning that would probably bruise later. Janet¡¯s grip loosened. In a second, the grip of the cool gun was pressed against my hand. I squeezed tight, placing my index finger directly adjacent to the trigger. I pressed my body against Janet¡¯s, and pushed the barrel under her chin.

    ¡°I¡¯ll fucking kill you, bitch - I, I¡¯ll¡­¡± I trailed off.

    Janet was rasping, panting, but I had her locked tight. I could kill her now.

    I could.

    There was movement, and a click.

    Shit.

    ¡°Get the fuck away from her,¡± Whiteford commanded.

    Suddenly, I was back in reality. I stepped away, turning to see Officer Whiteford with a gun pointing directly at me. But that wasn¡¯t the face I was most interested in.

    Seph¡¯s brilliant eyes stared at me, in a mix of confusion and disbelief.

    But next to him, Whiteford¡¯s face was unmistakable.

    Pure fury.

    ¡°Drop the gun,¡± she seethed.

    ¡°Whiteford-¡± Les began.

    ¡°Shut up,¡± Whiteford hissed. She carefully creeped forward, and, keeping one hand clutched around her weapon, reached down. While she got lower to the ground, her gun¡¯s barrel was still kept at a perfect angle for shooting me.

    In her other hand, she clasped the dropped weapon. She slowly stood up, examining the gun. After about ten seconds, she looked at me pointedly. ¡°Where the hell did you get this?¡±

    I gulped. ¡°From Janet.¡±

    Whiteford opened her mouth wide, like she was about to yell. ¡°Wait,¡± I started, before she could speak. Her mouth closed. ¡°I-I know this looks bad,¡± I stuttered. ¡°But I wasn¡¯t the one who pulled the trigger first.¡±

    Whiteford turned to Janet. ¡°You fired the shot?¡±

    Janet stared at the grass below her. ¡°Yes, miss.¡±

    Whiteford tossed the gun behind her, where Sanchez seemed to materialize out of the darkness to grab it, before disappearing into the shadows once more.

    I blinked.

    With her now free hand, she turned to Les. ¡°As the one I trust the most here-¡± she glared at me and Janet, ¡°-what the fuck happened?¡±

    Les recounted the story. Including the fact that the bullet had very nearly hit him in the temple - if Janet had just been a slightly better shot. After he was done with his account, Whiteford turned to Janet. ¡°Is this true?¡±

    Janet nodded briefly. Whiteford then turned to me. I gave her a thumbs up. She sighed. ¡°Janet, you¡¯ll come with me,¡± she turned to me. ¡°Cade, you and Les can go to the lesson. You¡¯re late.¡±

    With that, she practically dragged Janet away, leaving me, Seph, and Les in stunned silence. After a few seconds, Seph rushed up to me.

    After reaching about a foot away from him, he slowed, as if remembering Les was there. Which made me wonder what he would do if Les wasn¡¯t there. I shook the thought from my head. Seph muttered to me, ¡°I was worried. When I heard the gunshot, I - well, I thought.¡±

    I put a finger to his lips. Little worry lines were etched around his nose. It was cute to see him concerned. Which was something, considering his usual badass vibe. I would¡¯ve kissed him if someone wasn¡¯t here.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I whispered. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t die without saying some certain things to some certain people.¡± His eyes narrowed, as if trying to make sense of that statement.

    There were many things I could have meant there.

    I guessed it was up to him to figure that out.

    Les cleared his throat, and I took a step back. ¡°We should probably get to the cadets.¡± He said softly - which sounded strange in his normal echo-y deep voice.

    He led our group into the Sphere. The entire group of cadets turned and stared as soon as we entered. Mel and Naomi were standing on stage, with the lesson already in full swing. Naomi frowned at our arrival, but continued teaching. It was obvious that xe had full control of the lesson, and we were not needed.

    Les pointed to the back of the class, and we made our way there.

    For the remainder of the few hours, we scrolled through the database. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was something. An activity. A breakaway from the crazy shit that has apparently been happening.

    Plus, reading though random interactions gave me a place to let my thoughts wander. It mentally pinned a few questions that I would need t find out:

    Where¡¯s Torres?

    Where¡¯s Janet?

    What¡¯s up with Vivian?

    Who is my client?

    That last one stuck in my brain. It was something that I could have easily found out just a few weeks ago. But now, with any connection between us lost, it seemed there would be no hope in recovering any part of that exchange between us. And that included having no way of figuring out what they wanted and why they wanted it.

    Everything else was possible to figure out¡­ but maybe not without a source. My only possible lead would be to worm out of Seph who he¡¯d gotten his information from.

    I glanced up at his face, his eyes narrowed and staring at his computer. Something in me melted. How could I even imagine picking information out of a person like that? I threw the idea away. But it lingered, faintly, somewhere in the mess that was my mind.

    ??

    Time seemed to have faded away. When Naomi and Mel approached us, their footsteps clicking on the concrete floor were the only thing that could keep me out of my work-trance that I had seemed to fall into. I looked up, seeing them approach slowly.

    Mel flopped down next to me on the stone cold floor. ¡°That happened.¡±

    Naomi sighed. ¡°It certainly did.¡±

    Les glanced between the two of them. ¡°Sorry?¡±

    Naomi looked to Mel, who was just staring up at the ceiling. Xe sighed. ¡°The Cadet¡¯s are fucking know-it-alls.¡±

    That made me sit up. From what I had perceived, the cadets had known nothing about hacking before. ¡°Exactly how are they-¡± he imitated Naomi¡¯s deep, calculating tone of voice, ¡°-fucking know-it-alls?¡±

    Naomi brought xyr hands to xyr temples, rubbing them slowly. ¡°They rushed into the assignment without listening, made some choices that would¡¯ve given Russia access to all our personal information, and said ¡®eh¡¯ at the end of the day.¡±

    Seph smirked. ¡°Someone must¡¯ve had some fun to be that hungover,¡± he joked.

    The words hit me like a slap to the face.

    Godammit, he was right.

    And if Vivian was drunk too¡­

    The dots were connecting. Vivian seemed to have some sort of extra connection to the CIA, or else she wouldn¡¯t have been able to go to this party.

    Something within me snapped.

    I stood, and started off toward the door.

    ¡°Hey, Cade!¡± Les shouted after me. ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Talking to someone,¡± I said plainly, before dashing out of the room.

 Chapter 15: I Am Not In Control Of Anything

    As soon as I had exited the building, I heard the other Xarnon agent¡¯s footsteps behind me. But that was expected. That was not what made me stop in my tracks. Officer Julia was responsible for that. When my gaze fell upon her face, the scene from earlier flashed in my mind. A gun pointed at me, a shot.

    I stood still, but the footsteps behind me did not step. After a few seconds, the sounds slowed, then stopped. Julia stopped walking, facing us. ¡°What do you want?¡± She asked, a sharp hint of annoyance mixed within her tone.

    I shook my head. ¡°Have you talked to Janet?¡±

    Her eyes narrowed. ¡°No, why?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°She just seemed to think you were¡­ in trouble, of some sort.¡±

    ¡°The fuck is your game, boy?¡± She hissed, taking a step closer to me.

    I stepped up, not bothered by how she towered over me by six inches. I smiled sweetly. ¡°Just checking in on you,¡± I said, honey in my voice.

    I promptly walked directly past her.

    Everyone followed, leaving Julia standing there, shocked and alone.

    ??

    We entered the main dorm building, no one stopping us. There was no one at the front desk, no one anywhere. For some reason, the CIA¡¯s control had lessened on us. They weren¡¯t always on us about something. From there, we made our way down the hallway in silence, stopping at our door. I hesitated, before twisting the knob and flinging the door open.

    I burst into the dorm, walking briskly toward the couch. ¡°Vivian, I-¡±

    I stopped.

    Vivian was nowhere to be found.

    I frowned. ¡°You sure she was really drunk?¡± Seph asked. ¡°Because I don¡¯t know about you, but I can¡¯t imagine getting off of a couch and moving three hours after fainting upon someone.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, she was¡­¡± I trailed off. ¡°At least, she seemed to be.¡±

    I took a few paces forward, examining the couch, as if Vivian might be hiding under it, or tucked within the mattress.

    She was not.

    I sighed, and walked toward Vivian¡¯s room. I reached out, but my hand stiffened just a few inches short of the door knob. What the hell was I doing? I wasn¡¯t about to just break into Vivian¡¯s room if she isn¡¯t in there.

    Or worse, if she was in there.

    I turned. ¡°Well, that seems like a bad idea.¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Les assented. ¡°But is there an alternative? We have to check on her.¡±

    I sighed. ¡°Fuck you and your actually logical decisions.¡±

    Turning around, I walked as close to the door as possible without touching it. Taking a little to long, I grasped the doorknob. A weight seemed to be building in my chest, pressing on my innards. I closed my eyes, and twisted the knob, pushing the door open just a crack to let me see inside.

    The sliver of a view I got was nothing special, just exactly the same as our rooms. My gaze was only able to land upon a wall, and a peek at what must¡¯ve been a closet door. I cautiously opened it further; bit by bit revealing the interior. There was a carpet, then the full closet, then a lamp, then a bed.

    I slowly slipped within the bedroom, cursing every event in my life that had led me to do this. Thankfully, Vivian was not hiding behind the door, waiting to jump out and reprimand me for entering her room. I just felt stupid for checking, but I pushed that down. In this operation¡¯s current state, stupid is far from the worst thing flying around.

    But something instantly caught my eye. A set of golden pistols on the desk, lying directly on Vivian¡¯s laptop. Next to that, was a stack of paper that had to be a foot tall. Damn, I thought, what the hell would she need that many papers for?

    A bit of cold struck me, something strange from inside. A strange sense of dread, stirring in the pit of my stomach. I drew back, hesitant to explore further. I quickly closed the door, and turned to face everyone else.

    What would I tell them? ¡®You know - I just pussied out and decided not to do this.¡¯ No. I spoke simply and quickly, my decision was made. ¡°Nothing, it¡¯s just a plain-old room.¡±

    There was a collective sigh and some grumbling, but they seemed to be fine with it. After some complaint, everyone moved to do their own thing. Seph and Naomi sat at the couch, Les was on his computer, and Mel retreated to their room. Accepting defeat, I walked to my quarters as well, to waste away for the remainder of that day.

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    ??

    Vivian did not show her face for three more days. Each day, we walked down, did a lesson with the cadets - who were thankfully acting normal again. We then went straight back to our dorm, with no news of war or Vivian or Torres or anyone. I spent my time working with every decrypter machine I knew, trying to make sense of the files.

    I scoured the web for the most obscure, powerful, and unique machines. But every day I would come up empty handed; no closer to solving any single character of the code than before.

    But, after the three days, when I had given up and sat down on the couch to watch TV with the rest of the Xarnon agents, who was to come in but Vivian - looking haggard and bloody - with scratches and bruises like dotting her skin. She stalked in, paying no heed to any of us. We, too, were silent.

    But when she reached the door of her room, Les spoke up. ¡°Hey! You can¡¯t just leave for three days after being drunk as hell, and then waltz in here all bloody and injured like that.¡±

    Vivian looked at him, tired. ¡°I¡¯m living a very full life right now.¡±

    Les narrowed his eyes, ¡°Vanishing on your friends and randomly returning looking like you went through a laundromat drying machine with a nail as your partner?¡±

    Vivian rolled her eyes. ¡°Minding my own goddamn business,¡± she snapped, before entering her room and slamming the door.

    I buried my head in my hands. ¡°Fucking hell,¡± I muttered.

    Seph stared at me. ¡°We¡¯ll get through to her eventually.¡± Les gave him a glance. ¡°Eventually,¡± he repeated.

    After a few second¡¯s pause, I stood. Naomi watched. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Xe asked.

    ¡°Just¡­ looking into something,¡± I said, before entering my chambers once more. It had been almost four days since I had gotten my hands on this data file, and yet I had still not gotten a single bit closer to discovering its secrets.

    Or discovering anything.

    I opened up the encrypted files, and got to work. I could no longer approach this normally by using decryption software from the web. I would have to get a bit more¡­ creative.

    My first idea was to do it by hand, but I dismissed that almost instantly. There is no way in hell I could decrypt something done by a CIA-level software by hand in less than a thousand years.

    An alternative would be to create my own decryption software. I had done similar things before, but only by having the encrypter right in front of me. Guessing the key might be some code that would take way too long to write, and maybe even longer to run.

    I slumped back. Why did I think I could do this? So far, every method would just be a waste of time or effort.

    An idea struck me: a stupid idea. An idea that would most likely get me killed or punished in some other way. But it was something. If I got the encryption key, I could easily decrypt it. But to do that, I would need to sneak around once more, but this time I would need to actually hack something. No more stealing devices then experimenting on them in the middle of the night.

    This time, the only thing I could do was to operate on whatever computer they¡¯d hooked this USB up to. And I could not steal that without people noticing. So I would have to figure out where the computer was, break into that room, give myself enough time to successfully get into it, grab the encryption key, put it on a USB, then get out.

    It was suicide.

    But it was the best thing I had. I put a pin in that idea, sticking it in the back of my head, and pulled out my phone, settling onto my matress.

    As soon is I saw the home screen, something soared within my chest, a bright hope, an idea.

    I opened my notes app.

    Just as quickly as the feeling had come, it was gone, vanished in the ever-swirling winds of my mind. Of course I wouldn¡¯t have written anything down about my client on something so easily accessible by external seekers.

    I got the strange sense of being stranded, alone. I was with people, but not really. Everything seemed to have some sort of goal, something to hide.

    Vivian gets invited to CIA get-togethers and goes away for a few days, coming back bloody and bruised.

    Janet pulls a gun on me after Julia is out of her sight for no longer than an hour.

    Torres is gone.

    And Whiteford¡­

    I didn¡¯t know about her. She knew everything here, but I got the sense that everything she didn¡¯t tell us was big. Important.

    But who was I to judge that?

    I didn¡¯t know a single thing.

    ??

    The next day, after a particularly slow-moving schedule, Whiteford came over some sort of speaker system:

    ¡°Attention all technology units. In light of recent events regrading the war, all technology-based lectures and lessons are henceforth cancelled. Only authorized personnel will be allowed to leave their current dorm building. I repeat, only authorized personnel will be allowed to leave their current dorm building.¡±

    I was in my room, wasting away in bed when the announcement came.

    ¡°Shit,¡± I muttered.

    At about the same time, I heard Seph yell ¡°SHIT!¡± from the other room.

    I smiled sideways, and emerged from my room. Vivian, was, of course, nowhere to be seen. Seph was playing some sort of card game with Seph and Mel, while Naomi was looking at something on Xyr phone.

    ¡°Well,¡± I said, making everyone¡¯s heads turn in my direction. ¡°That was something.¡±

    ¡°That was bullshit,¡± Les corrected, before saying ¡°go fish.¡±

    Well, I thought. You¡¯d have to be an idiot not to realize what game they¡¯re playing. Then, with an internal chuckle, I added: So you¡¯d have to be fifty percent of the population.

    That just made me think of rotting wounds and shooting people, a memory I did not want to bring up.

    But up it came. I sort of stumble-walked to the couch, and collapsed onto the fabric. I felt that pain in my chest, the same I had felt when thinking about every death I had ever had on my hands. And probably the many more that I had indirectly caused: people going broke and being forced into miserable lives.

    At my hands.

    I did that.

    Fuck.

    But somehow, being in this room, surrounded by people who I called friends¡­ it made it a little less bad. Somehow, making myself happy could get rid of the pain and suffering I had caused in the past. And that was bad, awful. I got to enjoy life while my victims did it.

    Victims.

    What a way to put it.

    But I had to accept it: I had victims. People hated me. Some would reel and curse the government for even thinking of working with me. That though spiraled out into a thousand different worryings. I shoved that to the back of my brain so I couldn¡¯t go down that path any further.

    Now that would be dangerous.

    As soon as the game of ¡®Go Fish¡¯ has finished up, I joined them for whatever card game would come next.

    That way, I could fight off the weight of the world.

    For now.

 Chapter 16: I Commit Spelunking

    A week passed without us being able to leave our dorm, and none of us getting any external communication. On the first day, we mostly hung around and relaxed. This continued into the second day, with minimal complaints.

    By the third day we were pacing our room.

    On day four, we walked the dorm building in its entirety.

    On the fifth day, the urge to leave was almost excruciating.

    At about midday, all of us were around the main room sprawled about: Mel, Les, and Seph on the couch. Vivian and Naomi at the desks, and me on the floor. Mindlessly, Seph flicked through channels. Vivian was scrolling on some sort of website with a text font far too small for me to read. Naomi was typing something up, and I wasn¡¯t nosy enough to try and look at it.

    And then there was me: lying on the floor, endlessly staring at my phone.

    Even though I was very nearly still, I felt the opposite of calm and content. A growing ball of energy was in my chest. It was a pressing weight: telling me to get up and do something. Run around, explore, anything but stay here.

    And I was feeling about ready to succumb to that urge. There was little-to-no chance of being able to walk out in the open without being caught by Whiteford. But, there was an easy way to get around here without being spotted.

    The difficult part was actually getting out.

    There was no way in hell I could just waltz out of the room without anyone questioning me. That meant I either had to get a good enough excuse, or get everyone else on my ¡®explore-underground-tunnels¡¯ plan. There was no rational decision making behind it. It was just¡­ something. Something good.

    Suddenly feeling like I needed to be discreet, my gaze flew upon the room.

    Les was smirking at Seph, and remarked. ¡°I thought we were watching TV, not a slideshow.¡± Seph just, with eyes half-closed, stared forward. Mel said nothing.

    Vivian and Naomi were both focused on their screens. I bet that if I had stood up right now, I could have quietly walked to the door. I would have been able to slip out too, if not for how goddamn squeaky the hinges were.

    I stood up with a sigh.

    As expected, Les immediately turned to me. He said nothing, and turned back a second later.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be going now,¡± I announced awkwardly.

    This caused Les to turn and face me once more. ¡°To do what?¡±

    ¡°Just walking around,¡± I responded. ¡°Alone.¡±

    Suspicion glinted in his gaze, but he ignored me, and went back to staring at Seph¡¯s rapid channel-flicking. For all I knew, Seph could be unconsciously pressing that button by now.

    I briskly walked out of that stuffy room and into the cool hallway. Air conditioning seemed to hit this area well. The feeling was refreshing, and filled me with a strange sort of energy. But I moved carefully. Even though I had every right to be moving around right now, being caught vanishing behind the counter would surely alert the CIA of my knowledge pertaining to the underground passageways.

    I tried to keep to the path that Seph had outlined for the two of us several nights prior, avoiding all cameras. The path was a bit blurry in my memory, but I managed to recreate it to a decent degree of success. There was no one at the front desk, thank god.

    I slid myself under the first table, the same kind of bright excitement fluttering in my chest as the first time I had done it. This time, however, it was duller. It was¡­ missing something. I shrugged that away, cursing myself for not being able to experience basic joy without Seph at my side to experience it with me.

    The floor was cool to the touch, but still slightly burned when I slid upon it. I made quick work of darting from table to table. Eventually, I reached the counter. I crept down the creaky staircase, emerging into the pitch-black room.

    Now where was that light switch?

    I groped around, feeling relieved and fulfilled at the feeling of rock, the softness of moss, and the sound of¡­ water?

    No longer reaching around for the light switch, I rushed forward. I felt along the wall, hearing a crashing sound of cascading water in the distance.

    Soon, I was running, rushing toward this new opportunity.

    The sound was no longer in the distance, it got louder, more prominent. And then it was just beyond a bend. No longer was the ground crunchy, but soft. Sand, I realized, I found sand.

    I stepped out into a whole different world.

    Gone were the small tunnels and stuffy atmosphere. In its place was a large, open cavern with a mystical air. A glittering lake stretched from one shore to another, its clear blue waters an open invitation to cleanse yourself. Vegetation grew on all cave walls, encompassing the edges of my view. To top it all off; a roaring wall of falling water came from someplace about twenty feet above and splashed into a point about a quarter of the way from the shore to the center of the cave.

    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Tunnels jutted off in four other places than the one I stood at, each with their own fluorescent light bulbs. Then I noticed a crack about ten feet to my right, just small enough to fit a human.

    I crept over, then slipped through. A lush environment greeted me on the other side. Trickles of water flowed through a dirt-covered floor, giving life to greenery everywhere. The tunnel was only three, maybe four feet wide, but it felt as if I was standing in a sweeping rainforest. I walked forward, slowly and cautiously. The moss was a soft carpet of comfort under me.

    After maybe fifteen feet of walking, I found it.

    A small cavern, about seven feet across. On one wall, A group of leafy stems in a tree-bush hybrid sprouted. It grew, a strange mixture of vines and tall foliage. But the truly brilliant part was the flowers. Everywhere, in every different shade of color, they created a painting. There were no leaves, only petals, petals everywhere. This vibrant rainbow grew over the back wall in its entirety. It became a coating of moss, with more colorful mini-flowers sprouting everywhere.

    Above, the cavern stretched out, becoming a hole in the earth. A small bit of sunlight came down from above, lighting the cavern. It was impossible to discern how deep I was - but I could be sure that the passage here from the staircase had to have sloped down eventually.

    Through a hole in the wall, the stream started, flowing perfectly through a canal of rocks. There was no way that had come into place naturally. This whole place was man made. But empty, I thought. There wasn¡¯t a single soul still walking around in here.

    So far, of course.

    I still hadn¡¯t managed to explore the other four tunnels yet.

    And I wasn¡¯t sure if I wanted to. Right now, I am comfortable staying here for the rest of my days. I lowered myself down onto the floor, revelling at the feel of being around plants again. Hell, I hadn¡¯t been in an environment like this for almost a whole month now. The ground was slightly damp, which was strange, considering that the stream supplying the plants with water was a good four feet away.

    I slowly leaned back, letting my head fall upon the floor. A sort of cool calmness overcame me, enveloping my senses and laying me to rest.

    The next thing I knew, my eyes were fluttering open to the feel of ice cold water.

    My instant first thought was that I had been found. I bolted up, a jolt of adrenaline starting in my stomach, then creating energy throughout my body. There was a BEEP and water started pouring.

    Shit!

    I stumbled through the narrow passage, streams of water coating my skin. A sprinkler system, I realized.

    I emerged into the main cavern, covered in water. Without a second to think, I heard voices and took off running. My footsteps threw up sand, blood roaring in my ears.

    Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!

    As I ran down the tunnel, no clue if I had been spotted or was being chased or was going to be shot, scenarios began to play in my mind. Anything from awkward conversations with Whiteford to being expelled from Xarnon and shot to make sure I wouldn¡¯t share any big information.

    It was only when I stopped to catch my breath that my panic faded. There weren¡¯t any footsteps behind me, and the voices I had heard had long since faded into the distance, creating an eerie silence. I cursed myself for making the bright decision to not take the time to flick a switch. But then again, I wouldn¡¯t be able to emerge through the Xarnon dorm secret passageway.

    I made my way through the dark, feeling along the wall as I went. Then suddenly there was something under my foot only halfway through the step. I swayed on my feet for a little bit, before regaining control and beginning up the staircase.

    I emerged behind the counter, and began my way back.

    After coming out into the lobby, my jaw dropped. It was not sunlight coming in through the large windows, but small streams of moonlight. Weaker, but far more beautiful in every way. Seph was right.

    This was the best time of night.

    Shaking that thought away, a small bit of panic set in on me. I had to walk back into the dorm without anyone getting suspicious as to where I was for about six or seven hours. Who knew how tired sitting around and doing nothing could make you? I thought.

    And on top of that - I had nothing to show for my efforts except a fancy cave and a fuck ton more questions.

    If Whiteford wasn¡¯t lying, Xarnon was, above all, a military operation. So why build it upon an underground network? I would understand if this was built originally for other purposes, which that underground would fulfill, but why use it again for this operation? Because, if the voices I heard down there were any indication, the area served some sort of use.

    In addition, why had Vivian said they were ¡®her¡¯ tunnels?

    And most importantly, who was she?

    Vivian. It seemed she was more than just another one of us. If one indicator was her showing up bloody and bruised not so long ago, another was how she almost always seemed to know something that no one else did.

    I slowly retraced my steps in reverse, crossing the lobby and entering the hall. There I was able to walk freely, allowing myself to slowly wander the halls.

    Something struck me, a cold panic.

    It was to do with the general emptiness of this place. Only at mealtimes were there ever people in the lobby or restaurant. So how could this be a full-blown dormitory building?

    I stopped by a few doors on my way back. The first door in sight ws about labelled ¡®006.¡¯ My memory could not dredge up which number we were to save my life. Quickly, efficiently, I tapped on the door.

    Tap, tap, tappity-tap.

    No answer.

    I tried again.

    And again.

    Maybe there¡¯s just some vacant space¡­?

    I moved onto the next door, and knocked. The same tap, tap, tappity-tap as before. Nothing.

    Move down.

    Tap, tap, tappity-tap.

    Nothing.

    I tried again, again, again, again. Down the entire side of the hallway opposite to ours. There wasn¡¯t a single person who answered.

    ¡°Well, shit,¡± I muttered.

    It was then that a patch of darkness on the wall caught my eye. It was a stairwell; plain and simple, built hastily out of white wood. They looked so weak that one step could cause the wood to crumble beneath my feet.

    As if drawn to the weak wood, I walked toward it steadily.

    Cautiously and slowly, I raised my foot and balanced on the top of the wood, not putting any weight on it. I switched my weight, feeling a bit more pressure building below my feet every second. Soon, I was fully supported by the wood. Supported. Thank god that it did not fall through.

    I started up the staircase, unnerved by the darkness above. I reached the top, where there was a turn. I took another step, and faced what seemed to be an impenetrable shadow - pure darkness.

    I reached out with my hand, stepping forward to feel for a wall-

    -and I touched a smooth black stone.

    My eyes widened.

    It was a fake.

    Everything was fake - this hotel - the ¡®guests.¡¯

    We were alone here. Which just made me wonder¡­

    If the CIA was hiding this, what else were they withholding from us?

 Chapter 17: We Play Battleship With War Boats

    ¡°Cade?¡± Seph called down the hallway as soon as I had walked back down the stairwell.

    Upon stepping forth into the center of the hall, he dashed toward me. As soon as he was close he stopped. He was panting nervously, his breathing heavy. ¡°I-um-¡± he stuttered. ¡°What the hell happened?¡±

    I shook my head, contemplating what to tell him. ¡°Well¡­¡± I trailed off. I realized how soaked my clothes must have been. ¡°Let¡¯s just say it¡¯s a long, complicated story with sprinklers involved.¡±

    Seph laughed, and lunged at me, wrapping his arms around my chest. It was¡­ an embrace. I stood for a moment, dumbfounded and unsure of what to do. I slowly leaned into it, returning the hug. When I first met Seph, I was stunned. He was brilliant and beautiful and a masterpiece. But with his smirks and cool demeanor, I thought things between us could never work out.

    But now, here he was, hugging me.

    And, his casual mood had faded in the time I¡¯d been around him. Hell, it started when Valamir almost called me a¡­

    Oh, shit.

    Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I felt very, very strange.

    Seph backed up, as did I. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was something. But, as we turned to return to our dorm, the realization I¡¯d had was nagging me. It was a fire on my skin, a wind of pure air in my lungs, a force making my already quickly beating heart speed up.

    Everyone in that room had probably presumed what Valamir was going to say about me.

    It was a foul word, filled with mud, spite, and hate.

    But it was a pointed insult.

    An accusation.

    Which meant Seph knew¡­ well, he knew¡­

    Fuck, he knows I¡¯m gay.

    ??

    Two more days were spent in our dorm room. For everyone else, they were days of angst, of itching to do something. For me, I had done way too much in one day that two days of peace didn¡¯t seem like enough to reflect on everything. I sat, playing games, watching TV, doing a bunch of random shit, nothing strange.

    But I still couldn¡¯t look at Seph the same way.

    Every joke, smirk, glance, or remark would now be carefully examined in my mind. There was a blurred line between joking and flirting, even I knew that. But that still didn¡¯t stop me from looking at every facial expression and vocal inflection.

    I tried to stop. I really tried.

    No matter what, my mind would wander directly back to Seph.

    On the third day since I went down into the tunnels, Whiteford¡¯s voice blasted the speakers once more: ¡°Sorry for the wait. I need all technology agents reporting to B-2 immediately. All technology agents to B-2.¡±

    The five of us in the main room looked at each other. Like always, Les was the first one on his feet, charging out of the room. The rest of us quickly followed. Mel dipped behind to knock on Naomi¡¯s door. I didn¡¯t wait, staying with the rest of the group.

    We walked briskly, our footsteps clanking against the metal floor. Two more pairs of the sounds appeared behind us, Mel and Naomi catching up. Les swung open the glass door, letting us push it forward again each time one of us walked through.

    As soon as we entered B-2, Sanchez was there. His blonde hair was wild, sticking out in every direction. His eyes were bloodshot, with dark bags hanging beneath them. ¡°Come in, fast,¡± he rasped. It was obvious that the past few days had not been easy for him.

    He led us to an operation room unlike any of the others we¡¯d been inside. It was a messy cross between the meeting room and informational gathering room - a circular room with rising seats. Each seat had a computer, as well as several other bits of equipment. Wire and hardware were tangled everywhere, creating a surreal environment. A blue diagram was set up in the front, with Whiteford standing in front of it.

    A second screen was beside this first one, complete with a line of other versions of the diagram, each slightly changed. A label lay at the top - ¡°Pending Changes.¡± Janet was to the side of it, approving or rejecting everything. Julia was beside Whiteford, discussing with her unlike she had ever before; in a friendly manner.

    About ten people sat in the various desks, barely filling up half of the available seats. ¡°You¡¯ll join them soon,¡± Sanchez began. ¡°We are trying to pin locations of Russian submarines and ships. We launched several Military units to their borders, threatening to march. In response, they deployed their own troops to sit at stations just south of the US - to apply equal pressure.¡±

    Les frowned. ¡°Can¡¯t you just get a drone shot of them?¡±

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    Sanchez shook his head. ¡°Conditions are foggy over the Atlantic this week. We believe that is why Valamir chose to deploy boats at this time.¡±

    ¡°Dammit,¡± Seph muttered. ¡°He won¡¯t make anything easy.¡±

    Sanchez chuckled slightly, before continuing. ¡°We have missiles ready in our own ships, and three armed drones. We don¡¯t know anything about Valamir¡¯s forces yet - save for one possible location of a warship.¡±

    Whiteford approached, turning to Sanchez. ¡°Are you done?¡± She said sharply. He nodded promptly. ¡°Good,¡± she turned to us. ¡°Now get the hell to work.¡±

    We quickly made our way to the computers. I booted mine up quickly, hammering the keys to input my username and password. Whiteford¡¯s tone had instilled a sense of urgency into me. There was not a second to waste.

    As soon as the computer was on, a window opened. It said:

    ¡°Welcome to the CIA TERMINAL, Cxde86!

    Receiving Instructions¡­

    ¡®Obtain targets based on incoming scans of the area.

    Open the map editor and add a branch to create your own map.

    Submit a fork request to merge the two maps.¡¯

    (Press Any Key To Continue.)¡±

    I quickly pressed ¡®A¡¯ and scanned the given programs. There was a map editor, as suggested, and a ¡®Drone Connectivity¡¯ app. I opened the latter. What met me was a grid of different maps. First, a normal picture. Nothing could be seen. There was then a heat map, with different shapes. There were a few other maps that I didn''t quite understand, but could still basically read.

    My eyes flicked over a possible target, three dots coming in and out of view. They were shown in two different maps. I quickly opened up the map editor, and submitted my changes.

    For about fifteen minutes, this went on in quiet concentration. I submitted five, maybe six edits. It was hard to focus on the exact numbers. All I knew was that fifteen minutes later, Whiteford had begun to talk again.

    ¡°All technology units, pause.¡±

    It was like being broken from a spell. I was instantly aware of how tired my fingers were, how my head ached, and how my back felt numb.

    ¡°There has been a clear target identified,¡± she continued. ¡°We have been given the clear to shoot.¡±

    ??

    The sailor looked onward into the mist. The shaking boat, the mist, the soft sound of the sea enveloped her. She had forever dreamed of sailing; and her dream was finally being fulfilled. If only it was under better circumstances, she thought. Sailing off to war was not her dream, but it helped it. If she was not brutally killed on the battlefield.

    She shuddered at the thought.

    She turned around to the man next to her, and opened her mouth. ¡°So, how are y-¡±

    BOOM!

    Everything was red.

    Everything was heat.

    Everything was pain.

    Burning, itching, crying. Just make it stop, why won¡¯t it fucking stop?

    Suddenly there was cold, cool. Where was her body? Where was her eyesight?

    There was no air. There was only choking, painful, suffering cold.

    Why her? Why now?

    She begged it to stop, everything to stop. She had no arms, they were missing. All of her senses were gone, all wrong.

    Wrong, wrong.

    Stop, stop, please stop.

    It stopped.

    There was one small bit of warmth, then darkness.

    ??

    Whiteford held a radio next to her ear while we all waited for the news. Eagerly, we expected a bit of goodness - a success in all of the failures. I held my breath, not ready to do anything without a clear sense of success.

    Whiteford smiled. ¡°One down.¡±

    I let out the breath I was holding, and smiled as well. Bright cheering erupted through the room for about three seconds. After that time was up, Whiteford held up her hands to silence us. ¡°Continue,¡± she said simply.

    Checking in with the map application, there was now a plume of smoke updating rapidly on the normal map.

    A few minutes of careful examination later, the radio erupted again.

    But this time, it erupted with screams.

    ??

    ¡°Valamir, sir¡­ they got one.¡± An attendant said.

    They didn¡¯t specify anything, but it was clear to Valamir Uldrich that one of his ships had been hit. He scoffed. ¡°It¡¯s no matter. We made sure to send all poor folk to fight, correct?¡±

    The servant only nodded. Valamri continued. ¡°So, no model citizens were lost. Meanwhile America has sent plenty of good soldiers out there.¡±

    ¡°We still don¡¯t know where the American ships are, sir,¡± the attendant reminded him.

    Valamir rolled his eyes. ¡°Then shoot wherever our ships aren¡¯t,¡± he commanded. ¡°It won¡¯t put a single dent into our firepower.¡±

    The attendant bowed. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± They then quickly left the room.

    After a few moments, a beeping began. Someone¡¯s voice crackled over the announcement. ¡°Firing in three¡­¡±

    Valamir paid no attention. He whispered into his private radio. ¡°Intercept the American transmissions.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± A man on the other end asked.

    Valamir smiled wickedly. ¡°I want to hear those bitches scream.¡±

    ??

    My heart fell.

    Whiteford¡¯s face paled. ¡°Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuuuuuck,¡± she muttered, beginning to pace. The radio of the screaming quickly cut off.

    The same gaping feeling opened in my chest as every other time Valamir had taken something. He stole my family. Now my pride. This time, he took soldiers that I may have trained alongside. I imagined our paintball captain¡¯s last moments; fire, pain, and death - either from the sea or the explosion.

    I tried to convince myself that it would be fine.

    After all, I probably didn¡¯t know these people.

    But for the pain I felt - I was very well the same one to shoot them down. Plus, I had just celebrated murdering a ship full of Russians. I was not better than anyone, not Valamir.

    Nope, I shook myself out of the trance. That bastard is nothing like me. I am better than him in every way.

    Then a thought struck me.

    A terrible, awful, cruel thought.

    ¡°Bomb the whole thing,¡± I said.

    Whiteford looked up at me. ¡°What?¡±

    I cleared my throat, and spoke again, louder this time. ¡°We don¡¯t have anyone left. Bomb the whole area. Make sure no one lives.¡±

    Les spoke up. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that make us just as awful as Valamir?¡±

    There was a cold that ran through me. I was right, I was-

    Seph¡¯s hand appeared on my shoulder. I looked up at him, my gaze softenting. My eyes devoured his face in every detail - and I fought the temptation to trace deeper, further.

    ¡°Do it,¡± Seph said. ¡°No one can make it out of that shithole.¡±

    Whiteford¡¯s lips tilted upward. ¡°Now we are talking. You may still be useful, agents.¡±

    She tapped her radio, and gave the command: ¡°Eliminate all targets. Leave none alive.¡±

    The room was silent. No more needed to be said. We all knew that hundreds of miles away, citizens were burning and drowning. They were in a sea of death, of tragedy.

    Serves them right.

    The savage thought surprised even me, but I forced myself to keep a straight face. Is this what I would have to be to succeed: an emotionless monster who could kill without remorse?

    If that¡¯s what was needed, then I would do it.

    I would have to.

 Chapter 18: Les Becomes A Rule-Breaker

    My eyes shot open. My room was dark, and the time could not have been any later than four in the morning, nothing earlier than midnight. I rubbed my eyes, whilst listening for the sound that had woken me to repeat. It was a soft ¡®thud.¡¯ It could have been anything, but I was not about to take any chances.

    Maybe it had been Seph, around at what was supposedly the ¡®best¡¯ time of night.

    Or it could have been Vivian, sneaking off to do something again.

    Worse, it could have been someone sneaking out to assassinate one - or all - of the Xarnon agents.

    I slipped out of bed, and reached under my pillow where I had hid my knife, just in case. I walked slowly across my bedroom floor, approaching the door. I heard a creak beyond, a reassurance that whoever was on the other side was still there.

    It had been three weeks since what was now known as the ¡°Atlantic Massacre.¡± The days following had been quiet, with little to no news coming in from the outside. After that, Whiteford informed us of having open communications with troops stationed in Russia. Shooting had not yet begun, but both sides were sending threats.

    Just a few days ago, rumors of Valamir successfully sending submarines into the Gulf of Mexico spread throughout the camp. It was unconfirmed whether they were genuine or not.

    Other than that, life had gone back to normal in the Xarnon campus. We taught the cadets, reaching the end of what could be considered our unit on human-mistake based hacking - including scams, code errors, and open-source program exploitation.

    But that night, the monotony had faded. Even though I was not entirely pleased to have woken up at such an ungodly hour, bits of excitement flared in my stomach.

    I reached for the doorknob, and slipped out into the main room. There was a loud creeeaaaaak, as my door slid open. Before I could even react, a figure had whirled around and stared at me. They were beyond the area where moonlight streamed in from the window, thus completely hidden.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± I hissed, pulling out my knife.

    ¡°Cade, drop the knife,¡± Les boomed in his deep voice. He stepped forward, letting me see the remainder of his face.

    I gulped, suddenly dropping my arm. ¡°Sorry. With everything going on right now, I¡¯m not taking any chances.¡±

    He chuckled. ¡°Understandable. But, pull a pistol out next time you hear strange sounds. A knife is a little weak.¡±

    I gaped at him for a second, and that was all it took. In an instant, I was pushed back and the knife had left my hands. When my balance was back to me, Les was already at my throat with the metal blade poised to kill.

    ¡°Damn,¡± I said.

    ¡°¡®Damn¡¯ indeed,¡± Les pulled back and handed me my weapon. He turned to walk away.

    Before he reached the door, I spoke. ¡°What are you doing, anyway?

    Les turned to me, dead serious. ¡°There is someone out there I need to talk to.¡± His gaze softened. ¡°But please try not to tell anyone. Vivian would kill me if she found out I was sneaking around late too.¡±

    Without time for another word to be put in on either of our parts, Les slipped away.

    My mind formulated a thousand different possibilities of what he could be sneaking off to do, each one more outlandish and improbable than the last.

    But there was one particular thing that he said which struck me. Les had said that Vivian would kill him if she knew he was sneaking around late too. So, Vivian is doing something more than just vanishing in the day, I thought. Now that I considered it, Vivian hadn¡¯t been leaving the group as obviously anymore.

    She must have been leaving at night instead.

    And there was one way to be sure that she wasn¡¯t here. But, that would require entering her room. And me walking into Vivian¡¯s room while she slept was not a good look, if she was still there. But her not sleeping at night made sense. It explained why she was in her room frequently, and why she always seemed just a little distanced from everything.

    Whatever she was doing at night was probably much more important to her than whatever the hell was happening in the CIA.

    I pushed down the bubbly nervousness, and walked toward Vivian''s door. Not allowing myself to hesitate, I yanked the door open as softly as anything could be yanked.

    My breath hitched, my nerves flaring as my gaze flitted around the room.

    Vivian wasn¡¯t there.

    I quickly slammed the door shut. The sound echoed through the quiet dorm room.

    Shit.

    Not ten seconds later, Mel had emerged from their room. ¡°Cade?¡± They asked softly.

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    I sighed, and turned to face Mel. ¡°Yes?¡± I asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s one in the morning.¡±

    I dragged my fingers through my hair. ¡°So it is.¡±

    Even in the dark, I could tell that Mel¡¯s eye roll was one for the ages. They paused, as if waiting for me to continue, before speaking. ¡°And there¡¯s nothing¡­ wrong with that?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s the best time of the night!¡± I mentally thanked Seph for giving me that phrase.

    ¡°Uh huh,¡± Mel said, their normally calm voice beginning to drip with sarcasm. ¡°I sure do love darkness.¡±

    ¡°Well, some people here-¡± I began, before clasping my hand over my mouth. Dammit, Cade! I cursed myself. You should definitely not say something someone specifically told you not to tell anyone.

    Again, there was a pause, as if Mel expected me to say more. After saying nothing didn¡¯t work, they prompted me: ¡°Some people here what?¡±

    ¡°Nothing,¡± I almost slapped myself. ¡°Absolutely nothing that¡­ has any importance whatsoever!¡±

    ¡°Then you can talk about your nothing,¡± Mel said, their voice skeptical. ¡°I need to sleep.¡±

    And then they were gone, with the light tap of their footsteps receding the only indicator that they were no longer there.

    I stood there, somewhat indecisive, but mostly needing to process all that had just happened.

    After being still as a statue for over a minute, I sighed, and returned to my room.

    The only thing I had gotten from this endeavor was another piece in a puzzle that seemed to be never-ending and complicated. And another night of what would probably be restless tossing and turning.

    ??

    If Vivian was missing that morning, I would shrug it off.

    Hell, if Vivian was the one missing that morning, I¡¯d be the happiest person in the world right now.

    But Les?

    When I stepped out of my room that morning after a restless night and didn¡¯t see Les in our dorm room, I assumed that Les had already headed down to the Sphere, like usual. So, I made my way down with Naomi.

    And then he wasn¡¯t there.

    And he still wasn¡¯t there ten minutes later.

    The Cadets were getting restless as all of us but Les sat in the back, just waiting.

    Seph looked like he was about to slam his head against a wall a few hundred times, hard. ¡°Has anyone seen him?¡± he whisper-hissed to all of us, only barely loud enough to be heard above the chatter flitting around the classroom.

    My gaze went to Vivian. On one hand, this was a scenario where it would be good to notify everyone that Les had left in the night and would probably not be coming. But on the other hand, Les had been very specific to not tell anyone.

    Maybe I¡¯ll just tell Seph later¡­

    I was suddenly very aware of Mel¡¯s gaze directly on me.

    And Mel too.

    The conversation continued, but my focus had drifted away from it. My mind picked up just where it had left off last night, taking my theories for why Les was leaving and running off with the, twisting complicated tales to describe his absence: him being a traitor, him trading away CIA secrets for cash, him having a secret lover, and ones that spiraled deeper, more crazy.

    I was snapped out of it, when Naomi asked: ¡°Cade?¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡± I asked, trying to sound as not just-woke-up-from-a-daydream as possible.

    Naomi blinked, and repeated xyr question. ¡°Would you be willing to fill in for the lesson?¡±

    In what could only be described as a sleep-deprived decision that had no thought behind it, I responded. ¡°Sure.¡±

    For the next thirty minutes, I tried my best at a lesson. The four other Xarnon agents were scattered in the back of the classroom and seemed to not be paying any attention to what I was saying.

    It was both a blessing and a curse.

    No one ever chipped in to tell me how bad I sounded, or how I was hunched over and missed half of the things that were said by the cadets. I tried to do some review questions, slurred my way through them, and was hit by loopholes found by especially attentive cadets almost every time.

    I then tried to go over some final content, but garbled my way through the speech.

    When I had almost finished up going through my messy lecture, Whiteford burst in. Never before had I been more glad to see someone burst into a room angrily. She marched right up to me, lowering her voice and leaning close. ¡°Where the fuck is Les?¡±

    ¡°I was going to ask you that,¡± I hissed back.

    She stepped away and turned to the cadets. ¡°Early dismissal,¡± she announced. ¡°Head back to your dorms.¡±

    No one looked all too surprised. They had all gotten used to random interruptions of someone storming in during a lesson. It seemed to happen all too often for my comfort. In about five minutes, the auditorium had fully emptied.

    Whiteford motioned for the four other Xarnon agents in the back to come up on stage. They quickly did so.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Seph asked.

    Whiteford rolled her eyes. ¡°If you haven¡¯t yet noticed, Les is missing.¡±

    ¡°We assumed he was with you,¡± Naomi said, raising xyr chin.

    Whiteford shook her head. ¡°And he wasn¡¯t showing up on the cameras either.¡±

    Oh, shit.

    Me, Seph, and Vivian all reacted at the same time.

    For any of us that knew about the tunnels, it was instantly clear how he had gotten out. Where he was was only for Whiteford to guess about, assuming that she knew about the passages - which was likely. I had barely explored, and had no idea how much farther that they went. For all I knew, Les could be out in the country by now.

    No one spoke.

    A million conflicting opinions raged through my head: ways of going about this situation, more possibilities, what to say next. And out of all the things whirling around inside me, there was only one thing that rose up to my mind.

    ¡°We have to go after him,¡± I said.

    Whiteford nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve already started to assemble a force-¡±

    ¡°No, I mean we have to. Us, the Xarnon agents.¡±

    Whiteford¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Why?¡±

    I was slowly beginning to panic - I hadn¡¯t considered her giving us this much resistance against the idea. Plus, nothing really backed it.

    ¡°I-well-I-¡± I stuttered, before clearing my throat. ¡°Who better to approach him than us? If he is¡­ frightened, he might not take kindly to having an armed CIA task force storm into wherever he¡¯s hiding.¡±

    Whiteford nodded, seeming to consider that. ¡°Perhaps. But you don¡¯t know-¡±

    ¡°We know more than you do,¡± Vivian muttered.

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    Vivian looked Whiteford in the eye. ¡°We know lots.¡±

    ¡°And we¡¯ve got a pretty good idea of where Les went,¡± Seph said, and gave me a pointed look. I nodded.

    Whiteford gave us a sour look. ¡°Fine.¡± We looked at each other, excited. ¡°But-¡± Whiteford continued. ¡°If any of you runs off in this endeavor I will personally oversee your brutal and public execution. Happy?¡±

    We nodded.

    ¡°Then we need to get you some protective stuff. And trackers.¡±

    I opened my mouth to question that last sentence, but Vivian beat me to it. ¡°Trackers?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yes. We¡¯re not going to let some of the most important agents in the world run free.¡± Whiteford snapped. After a moment¡¯s pause, she spoke again, her face and tone softened. ¡°But maybe, if you do good here¡­ you could do more on the field.¡±

    With those words, my heart beat a little faster. I imagined going out to Russia and ending Valamir¡¯s sick life.

    And then I could finally have peace.

 Chapter 19: We Take A Long, Stressful Hike

    Quickly, we were led across the campus into an area behind the combat field. It felt so empty with all of the soldiers off at war. Just behind the training area - which was surrounded by an aluminium fence - was a long, thin metal garage. It was a simple box shape, with a few metal doors.

    ¡°The armory,¡± Whiteford said, leading us forward. She walked up to a button next to the largest door, big enough to fit a whole tank through it. At a press, there was a beep, and the metal sheet slid upward and back, tucking itself into the roof.

    Inside was a large open space. It was lined with stations, each containing a basic set of a bulletproof chest protector and helmet, leather boots, gloves, and a gun hung above all of that. They were decently sized, but not two large. It could be held in one or two hands, but seemed to hold a large amount of bullets.

    ¡°Is all this really necessary?¡± Mel asked.

    ¡°For all we know, Les has been compromised and is being held by a specific task force sent out by Valamir. You must be ready for anything,¡± Whiteford responded, no amount of emotion behind it. ¡°So don¡¯t try and convince me to let you go without a few extra members.¡±

    I suppressed a groan. Of course they wouldn¡¯t let us run wild in the countryside. ¡°What about this thick outfit?¡± I asked, gesturing to the black leather coats that they have us wear.

    Whiteford rolled her eyes. ¡°It may look protective, but it won¡¯t to shit against a good shot.¡± She checked her watch, then looked back at us. ¡°I should probably leave. Your teammates should be here soon.¡±

    As if on cue, a group of three people walked in, dressed in full-black jumpsuits. The one on the left and the one in the middle had darker skin tones and black hair, the one to the right having a light but solid tan, their hair red. The one to the left had hair short-cropped and close to their head and deep brown eyes. The one in the middle had a long braid down to their back and light hazel eyes. Lastly, the one to the right had straight shoulder-length hair and blue eyes.

    They all looked to be in their mid-30s, with the one in the middle being the tallest, seconded by the one on the right. The person furthest to the left had a square face; the one in the middle had a round face; and the one furthest to the right had a sharper, thin jawline.

    ¡°And here is the remainder of your team,¡± Whiteford said. ¡°You can all gear up, and I¡¯ll be back soon to pick you up.¡± She promptly walked away without another word.

    The sound of silence prevailed for the next twenty seconds.

    After, the one on the right introduced themself. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Keira - she/her.¡±

    Keira glanced at the person in the walking, who promptly introduced themself as well. ¡°I am Markus - he/him, but I don¡¯t care what you call me.¡±

    Lastly, the one on the left smiled. ¡°I¡¯m Marcie - she/them.¡±

    Markus spoke next. ¡°And of course we know who you are.¡±

    We all nodded reluctantly. There was yet another pause, this one more brief. Marcie stepped forward, and she picked some equipment off the wall. The rest of us followed. I picked the closest bit of equipment that was not already taken.

    I slowly slid the bulletproof vest off the hooks first. As soon as it was no longer supported, I nearly dropped it on the floor. The sudden weight tipped my balance slightly. Damn, that¡¯s heavy¡­ I thought. I set it on the ground, and slipped off my overcoat. Struggling slightly against the weight and cursing my upper body muscles for never being truly built, I donned the vest.

    I then quickly clipped the helmet on and slipped my shoes off, replacing them with the heavy leather boots. After that, I slipped on the gloves, feeling the coolness of the fabric against my skin. I then replaced my coat. I looked up at the thing that completed the look. The gun.

    I grabbed it off the wall. It was surprisingly light and smooth in my hands, fitting perfectly. It felt¡­ right. Which was concerning, but only slightly.

    After all, we were at war.

    I looked over at Seph. Somehow, in the strange outfit, he still managed to pull it off. Though I would love to yank that helmet off to see his face in its entirety. Hell, I¡¯d love to yank everything-

    ¡­And I ended that train of thought before it could wander any further.

    ¡°Well, how do I look?¡± I asked, trying to get my brain back on the right track.

    Seph¡¯s eyes wandered across my body, and he shrugged. ¡°You look like a badass criminal going off to war.¡±

    ¡°Well, at least exaggerate a little,¡± I said, chuckling softly.

    Seph drew himself up, arching his back, fluttering his eyes and placing his hand atop his forehead. With a lean and loads of inflection and emotion, he said: ¡°Oh my god, Cade. You are the badass of badasses. The criminal of criminals. And what a massive gun you have. My, my, you don¡¯t plan to¡­ go to war?¡±

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    Everyone laughed, that is, save for Naomi and Vivian, who alway seemed to manage straight faces if they wanted to.

    ¡°And that¡¯s enough leaving you unsupervised,¡± Whiteford said, standing at the front of the door. It was obvious that she had seen at least part of Seph¡¯s monologue.

    Seph instantly went back to his usual self, if not a little more timid. ¡°We are ready, Officer Whiteford,¡± Keira said.

    Whiteford nodded. ¡°Good. Come with me.¡±

    She led us out onto the open lawn. The chill was obvious nowadays, as winter was steadily approaching. A light dusting of snow would likely follow the current frost-covered grass shortly. But, my coat did wonders against the cold.

    We reached a building just behind the one that we had entered the original time. With the organization of the campus, each column being a letter and each row being a number, this building was A-2. It was the tallest on campus, almost like a skyscraper compared to the low-lying buildings. Except it couldn¡¯t have been more than five stories tall.

    Whiteford briskly led us through the front door, not letting us even take a moment to stop and stare at the surroundings. I got glimpses through the crowd as we walked across the main floor - there were small meeting offices on balconies for the next two floors, before a roof, above which I presumed were the remainder of the floors.

    But Whiteford didn¡¯t lead us up; she walked straight to the back of the room. People on the way stopped and respectfully bowed their heads at our passing. As soon as we had made our way across the room, Whiteford stopped and stepped aside, motioning at a staircase in front of us.

    It led down into a sleek metal hallway. Small groves were dug in the walls, each with a bright blue light. ¡°This tunnel will lead you out into the countryside, near where he may have snuck out,¡± Whiteford said. ¡°Go. Do not return until the sun has either set, Les has been brought back, Les has been confirmed dead, or all but one of you is alive.¡±

    On that cheery note, she whirled around and left.

    Seph was the first to step forward. He warily made his way down the stairs. I reluctantly followed him. The rest of the group walked down soon after. The tunnel was eerily empty - our footsteps being the only sounds other than a faint whirring in the background. But another sound soon joined it. The sound of cascading water appeared in the distance.

    I almost gasped as I realized that we must be in one of the tunnels off-shooting from the waterfall cavern.

    ¡°All units, come in.¡± Whitefords voice crackled in my ear. I flinched at the surprise message. The rest of the Xarnon agents looked just as confused.

    Marcie, however, just lifted a finger to her helmet and responded. ¡°All units present, confirmed.¡±

    I felt up towards my helmet as well, and felt a button. Whiteford¡¯s voice came through the speaker again. ¡°Take the next left when you see a branch.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Marcie responded.

    We briskly headed down the hallway. As soon as we turned, the next instruction came. ¡°Follow this hallway and take a right at the staircase. Be careful, you will be out in a hilly field. There is little cover at that point. After that, spread out and secure Les.¡±

    Marcie, who seemed to now be the designated ¡®message-responder¡¯, responded with a confirmation that she had heard. We continued down the hallway until we reached the staircase.

    Another instruction came. ¡°You¡¯re on now, Seph. You have been chosen to lead.¡±

    I glanced at Seph, who seemed quite proud of his new position. He responded this time: ¡°Affirmative.¡± He then turned to us. ¡°Let¡¯s move. Get your guns ready, just in case.¡±

    He stuck his weapon forward, and crept up the staircase. Markus and Keira backed him, their weapons pointed diagonally. The remainder of us followed, unsure of where exactly to point our weapons. We emerged onto the plains. Seph ordered us to get in a circle, and we complied, creating a deadly ring of armed agents.

    There were ten seconds of dead silence. The area was bleak, with pale green grass stretching out across bumps upon bumps. In the distance was a forest, where you could see the peaks of the tallest buildings of the Xarnon campus. They truly stuck this place in the middle of nowhere.

    ¡°I think we¡¯re clear,¡± Seph said, pulling back. We matched him. ¡°Alright¡­¡± he began. ¡°I guess we should split up.¡±

    ¡°One of us will need to be with each group,¡± Markus said.

    ¡°Alright. We can do two groups of three, one group of two,¡± Seph said. He paused, as if thinking. ¡°Ok, Mel and Naomi can be with Markus. Me and Cade will be with Keira. And Vivian can go with Marcie.¡±

    Everyone seemed to have no problem with that. They all began nodding, and we went off with our groups. I approached Seph, and smiled. His face seemed to light up when I came close to him. Keira approached us as well. ¡°Y¡¯all ready?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yep,¡± me and Seph said simultaneously.

    Seph led us on somewhat of a roundabout route. ¡°We¡¯ll be going around in a somewhat arc-shape. We¡¯ll need to cover the small bits where people could nestle themself in between the hills,¡± he explained.

    The grass was crunchy under our feet as we trekked the first five-minute leg of our journey. We aimed to go further away from everyone else in order to cover more ground. There were little trees, each one being at least 20 meters away from the next bit of cover. We finally reached an entirely different area of the plain.

    The hills got steeper here, more variation in height.

    ¡°Well, if I didn¡¯t want to be seen, I would be up there,¡± I said, pointing to the tallest hill.

    Keira nodded. ¡°Being back there does seem the most logical place to cower.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s head there,¡± Seph said.

    ¡°O-¡± I began.

    And then I was on the ground and my head was spinning, spinning, spinning.

    ¡°What the fuck?¡± I mumbled, feeling for the bump on my head and trying to get up.

    I was shoved to the ground again. ¡°Stay down,¡± Keira hissed. ¡°There are possibly hostile units on that hill.¡±

    I blinked a few times, trying to clear my vision. Keira had shoved us behind a low bush. I could barely see dark figures moving along a hill in the distance.

    ¡°There has to be something going on here,¡± Seph muttered.

    While he was thinking, I pressed the button on my helmet. ¡°Possible hostile units moving along a ridge into your direction,¡± I said.

    Seph¡¯s eyes glanced along the path in which they moved along. ¡°They came from behind that hill.¡±

    Keira and I looked at where his gaze was. ¡°It seems so,¡± she said.

    Seph looked at the two of us, deadly serious. ¡°That must be where Les is.¡±

    As soon as Seph spoke that, gunshots erupted in the distance.

    ¡°Fuck,¡± the three of us said - almost at the same time.

    Keira rose. ¡°We¡¯ve got to go now, while they¡¯re distracted.¡±

    Seph blinked at her a few times. He bit his lip. ¡°Fine.¡±

    Without another moment to pause, we took off running, hoping no one would gun us down in the process.

 Chapter 20: A Cookie-Baking Hitwoman Treats Us To Dessert

    We came up upon the backside of the tallest hill in the field. Through the pounding of our footsteps and the blood thrumming in my ears, I was barely able to hear anything. Every moment stretched out, each second containing the possibility of death. It was a wild feeling, terrifying and freeing at the same time. As soon as we had reached the piece of cover nearest to the area, Seph ordered us to duck. It was a distant command, quiet in the storm of my thoughts. But, I complied.

    As soon as I hit the dirt, my head cleared. I took a few deep breaths, looking around. There, at the edge of my vision, was a wooden shack. It couldn¡¯t have been more than one room and a basement. The planking on the walls was old, torn up, and rotted.

    Four armed soldiers stood at the front, beside a door that was no more than a jagged sheet of wood. The soldiers were presented opposite to the cabin. Where the cabin was old and rustic, the soldiers were well-equipped with everything a modern guard would have. Their guns were up, ready to fire at any moment.

    Bits of gunfire could be heard in the distance. No one spoke on the radio. For all we knew, everyone else was already dead.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to shoot,¡± Seph whispered. ¡°I¡¯ll take the two on the right. Cade, you shoot the closest on the left. Keira, shoot the other one. Alright?¡±

    We nodded. My heartbeat sped up.

    ¡°Three¡­¡±

    ¡°Two¡­¡±

    ¡°One¡­¡±

    I gripped my gun tight, the trigger ready to be squeezed.

    ¡°Shoot,¡± Seph whispered.

    And then I was up, aiming, and shooting.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    There was screaming and blood everywhere. It was impossible to tell who was dead, who was dying, and who was unscarred.

    I dropped back onto the ground, and stayed there. My ears were ringing at the sound. After ten seconds, the ringing stopped. After twenty seconds, there was silence.

    ¡°They¡¯re all down,¡± Seph muttered.

    I looked up. He was walking over to the bodies, gun down.

    I rushed over, raising my weapon up at our surroundings. ¡°Shit, Seph, do you want to get us killed?¡± I said, looking around frantically.

    Seph stared at me, his eyes distant. ¡°Do you hear any gunshots?¡± His voice was shaky.

    Everything went quiet as I listened for the telltale sounds of a battle. But there was nothing. I shook my head.

    ¡°Exactly. Everyone¡¯s either dead, dying, or a victor.¡±

    That thought hit me. It was possible that we could stumble upon any of the Xarnon agents¡¯ broken bodies at any point. And most of a group would have to be dead or captured for the sides to cease fire. I just hoped that that side was the enemy.

    Giving in, I forced myself to look down at the corpses. The four were strewn about, skin pale and limbs spread out. Their weapons lay, discarded at the soldiers¡¯ sides. Each one had a bloody hold straight through it, two in the stomach, one in the neck, and another in the nose. My gaze fixed on the last one. Their face had collapsed in on itself around the area they were shot, while blood dripped out in lines across their skin. Flesh was torn up around the crater where a small bullet lay.

    After nearly vomiting, I looked away. ¡°Fucking hell,¡± I muttered.

    Seph grimaced. Keira came up from behind. ¡°They nearly killed you,¡± she said to Seph.

    He turned, raising his eyebrows. ¡°Oh really? I didn¡¯t notice that scary-as-fuck bullet skating over my hair.¡±

    Keira rolled her eyes, but I panicked. If Seph nearly died, how could the other¡¯s luck be any different?

    The door opened.

    ¡°Shit,¡± Seph muttered, turning his gun toward the door. Me and Keira did the same.

    The person who emerged from that house was strange, from their appearance to their outfit. They had wispy blonde hair trailing down their back. They had a small face with a button nose. Their eyes were milky brown, filled with depths that I couldn¡¯t even imagine. She wore a loose-fitting robe, the fabric barely covering her. It was bright purple, and revealed bits of skin. Her leg, parts of her torso, and much of her arms.

    Despite her ancient-looking clothing and bizarre style, she held a modern looking pistol pointed right at my face. I gulped.

    ¡°Three to one,¡± Seph growled. ¡°Lower your weapon.¡±

    With a dramatic turn of her head, she turned to Seph. ¡°Kind of rude of you to kill my guards like that,¡± she said. Her voice was silk, everything placed at the perfect tone. Every influxion carried weight, every word was pure music.

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    ¡°Who do you work for?¡± Keira asked.

    ¡°Honestly, you amaze me,¡± she said. ¡°I thought we had moved past sexism like that.¡± Then her tone turned harsh. ¡°I work for myself, bitch.¡±

    I flinched at the change. I opened my mouth to speak, before a call came from inside the house.

    ¡°Eda, what the hell is going on out there?¡± Les¡¯ voice called.

    I nearly dropped my gun and ran inside at the sound of his voice. Soon, he emerged alongside the woman, who he called Eda. ¡°Oh,¡± he said simply, his gaze flickering between the four of us.

    ¡°Surrender Les to us,¡± Seph commanded.

    Eda rolled her eyes. ¡°Surrender? He¡¯s here by choice.¡±

    Oh, shit.

    Les grimaced, his gaze lingering on Keira. Her eyes were fire, her glare piercing into Les¡¯ skull. My mind whirled through all the possible ways we could get through this. We could lie, say Les was captured. But, Keira would never go along with that. She would rat on us to Whiteford right away.

    So we just needed to make sure that she never made it to tell Whiteford.

    Wait..

    What the fuck am I thinking?

    But, Les¡­

    There was a choice here. Keira, who I barely knew. And Les, who I had known ever since I got thrown into this CIA shit. Keira, who would probably never talk to me again. Les, who I had spoken with recently. Les, who had become like a brother to me.

    I closed my eyes.

    And I turned.

    My weapon was now no longer pointed at Eda, but at Keira.

    Keira¡¯s eyes widened, as she glanced from me to Eda. ¡°Cade¡­?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Drop the fucking gun or I shoot,¡± I growled, trying to make myself sound intimindating.

    It didn¡¯t work. Keira just glared at me, about to speak. But Seph stopped pointing his weapon at Eda as well, directing it into the ground. He cut Keira off. ¡°I¡¯m sure there¡¯s an explanation for this.¡± He looked at me hopefully.

    I just shook my head. ¡°Drop it,¡± I repeated.

    Eda and Les were still and silent. ¡°Cade, don¡¯t do this,¡± Keira said.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to count to three,¡± I began.

    Keira swung her body around.

    BANG!

    Blood spurted out from Keira¡¯s chest. She blinked, and groaned. The light in her eyes faded as her body hit the ground with a thud.

    I stood, stunned, as Seph whirled around.

    ¡°The hell did you do that for?!?¡± he yelled at Eda, who hadn¡¯t even lowered the pistol she had used to shoot Keira.

    ¡°She had to die,¡± Eda said simply. She lowered the gun and turned. ¡°Out of the three of you, she was the only one who would give you away to that officer gal.¡±

    ¡°Whiteford,¡± I said, still staring at the newly made corpse of our team member. Just a minute ago, she was rolling her eyes at Seph¡¯s sarcastic remark. Now she was dead. Perhaps she had a family. And what about all that she could have gone on to do in the future? Only a few decades of life, before it was taken from her in an instant.

    The ever-growing pit of emptiness in my stomach seemed to grow a little larger.

    ¡°Yeah, her,¡± Eda said.

    There was a pause, before Les spoke. ¡°You¡¯d better come inside.¡±

    Seph nodded, and came over to me. He grasped my arm lightly, gently. His touch was pure warmth, like a blanket I could wrap myself in to hide from the darkness of the world. ¡°C¡¯mon,¡± he said softly.

    I let myself be pulled into the cabin. As soon as we stepped over the threshold, I was shoved back into reality. The smell of freshly-baked cookies drifted through the air. Bits of pine reached my nose as well. There was one room, with a bed in the corner. There was a curtain blocking off the sleeping area, but I caught glimpses of a soft, white mattress and a dark oak frame. There was a small, kitchen-like area, with a wooden table. There was a cabinet, portable stove, and mini-fridge next to it. The rest was a sitting room, with a table and wooden chairs - each of which had padded fabric atop them.

    It was¡­ cozy.

    Not the home of a killer.

    Les led us to the sitting area. Upon sitting, I discovered that the padded fabric was not as soft as it appeared to be. Eda headed to the kitchen, setting down the gun and replacing it with a sheet of chocolate-chip cookies.

    She walked over to us and set the food down on the table. The sweet aroma drifted around the room. I had to stop myself from sighing in the pure joy of it. Les reached for a cookie and took a huge bite.

    After swallowing, he spoke. ¡°So, you probably have a lot of questions.¡±

    Seph looked between the two of them. ¡°No shit,¡± he paused, then turned to Les. ¡°Why did you leave?¡±

    Les sighed. ¡°I had to see Eda.¡±

    Eda looked at the two of us. ¡°Quite the important matter,¡± she giggled to herself quietly. After a few seconds, she shook herself. ¡°Anyways¡­ I¡¯m Edalene, and Eda to him,¡± she motioned towards Les.

    ¡°Who were those people outside?¡± I asked.

    Edalene¡¯s face fell. ¡°They were my guards,¡± she said slowly. ¡°They¡­ worked for me.¡±

    ¡°You said you work for yourself¡­ So you were their boss?¡± Seph asked.

    Edalene nodded.

    ¡°What do you do?¡± he pressed.

    Edalene smirked. ¡°I kill people.¡±

    My brow furrowed. So that was why she had plenty of armed soldiers outside. And why she had not hesitated to kill Keira. The memory surfaced in my head, along with another pang of regret. Truly, her death was my fault. Yet another innocent life that was taken into my hands, and discarded by them.

    ¡°Why did you need to see her?¡± I asked Les. ¡°Why leave us?¡±

    Les shared a knowing look with Edalene, his eyes softening. ¡°She¡¯s¡­¡± he trailed off.

    Edalene placed a hand on Les¡¯ shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m his girlfriend.¡±

    Finally realizing what this was about, I looked away and blushed. Seph made a sound that could have meant that he understood, if not for the growly tone he added to it.

    There was a long pause before Edalene spoke again. ¡°So, Les has to get back?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°And he was taken in the night by a small group of Valamir¡¯s followers in the US. We killed them, and they shot Keira. We managed to get Les out unscathed.¡±

    ¡°And what of the others?¡± Seph asked.

    ¡°We¡¯ll explain when we meet up,¡± I responded.

    That seemed to take care of it. What it did not take care of was our reluctance to leave. We stayed still for a solid fifteen seconds. Edalene moved first. She walked back to the kitchen. ¡°Come on, take a goddamn cookie.¡±

    Me and Seph looked at each other, and shrugged. We each grabbed one. I took one bite and drifted off into another world. It was the best thing I had ever tasted. It was buttery and crunchy and sweet and salty and amazing. My mom had never been much of a cook, so I had never gotten homemade baked treats.

    Not that she was much of a mom, either.

    I shook the thought from my head, and finished eating the sugary treat. Afterwards, I stood. ¡°Well, we really should be going,¡± I said.

    Edalene¡¯s face fell. ¡°Well, do visit again,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s been lonely out here.¡±

    Les walked up to her, and they kissed briefly. I stood awkwardly still, not sure of whether to look away childishly or just pretend it wasn¡¯t happening. I tried not to stare, though I was 75% sure that I did.

    Afterward, Les came to Seph and I, who were standing next to each other at the doorway. ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± he said.

    Seph smirked. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go tell a lie to the most intimidating woman on the planet.¡±

 Chapter 21: Life Support Saves The Day

    We trudged through the wind-swept grass. A soft-breeze met the back of our heads. Everything was eerily quiet. Nothing came through our helmets. I managed to look away from the corpses strewn about in the area nearest to the house. After walking for two minutes, Seph finally broke the silence. He stopped in his tracks. Les and I turned to him. By the time our gaze fell upon him, he had already pressed the button on his helmet.

    ¡°Whiteford, we have secured Les. Keira has been downed and confirmed dead,¡± he said.

    The reality of Keira¡¯s death hit me again. No longer was I just sneaking around behind the CIA¡¯s back. This time, I had actually been responsible for the death of an officer. Not just an officer, a friend to Markus and Marcie.

    There was a crackle as we finally got a response.

    ¡°Thanks, Seph. Mel and Markus have been downed. Markus is confirmed dead,¡± Whiteford said.

    No.

    No, no, no, fuck no.

    Mel?

    Sweet, innocent Mel?

    She was shot. Shot but not dead. Probably dying.

    And then I was running, running without any aim. My footsteps pounded against the dirt. People were calling my name. But I did not stop. I ran, ran, ran until Mel was found. Until Mel was safe.

    They will not die.

    I will make sure of it.

    ??

    As soon as I emerged into the open building that the staircase connected to, I collapsed. But where I expected to face-plant into a cold, hard floor, I instead fell into someone¡¯s arms. They were strongly grasping me. I was righted again, where I was left standing, stunned.

    When I glimpsed black hair, I instantly thought Seph had somehow caught me. But that was foolish; he had been running behind me for the entirety of our journey here. I caught a soft face, but a hardened expression. And my memory clicked.

    ¡°Officer Torres?¡± I asked.

    He smiled, and nodded. ¡°Hello, Cade,¡± he said in his deep voice.

    I heard Seph and Les¡¯ footsteps get closer before they halted. ¡°Where were you?¡± Les asked, before I could put in the question myself.

    Torres shrugged. ¡°I believe that¡¯s classified. But you are the real one with something interesting,¡± he raised an eyebrow. ¡°I heard you were kidnapped.¡±

    Les rubbed the back of his neck. ¡°Oh, yeah - uh - rough affair.¡±

    Torres blinked. ¡°And I heard that Mel got shot.¡±

    I nearly fainted at the words. I managed to keep it together on the outside, but internally, my head was spinning and my stomach ached. ¡°Where are they?¡± I demanded.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly, but they would probably be in C-5, the hospital area. It¡¯s on the opposite side of campus, the triangular building. You can¡¯t miss it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I breathed, before rushing past him once more. I emerged onto the campus. It was somehow much colder there than outside on the hilly field. The gravel crunched under my boots as I ran. I heard the others¡¯ footsteps not far behind.

    No one else was out today, so I ran freely on the straight path to the Sphere, then on the curved way around it. At the end of that bend, the hospital building came into view. It seemed to be two stories tall, and was simply built. The walls were smooth and white, peppered with small windows. About three-quarters along the wall, a small door was stationed. At the sight of a clear goal, I sped up.

    I slowed down about ten feet from the entrance, nearly slamming into the glass before I came to a stop. I flung open the door, and stepped into the waiting room. It was empty, save for a short, plump woman at the counter.

    I walked directly over to her. ¡°Where is Mel?¡± I asked sharply.

    ¡°Room 103,¡± she said, sounding bored. ¡°She-¡±

    ¡°They,¡± I interrupted.

    The woman looked directly into my eyes. ¡°She was not looking well.¡±

    I fought the urge to pull out the gun I had strapped to my back and shoot the woman with a blank. Let¡¯s see how brave she would be after that. Instead, I just glared and walked promptly down the hallway.

    Room 103 was the second on the right. I flung open the door, and stepped in, Les and Seph just behind me. In that moment, when my eyes found Mel, my heart seemed to shatter in my chest.

    They were laying on the hospital bed, a bandage wrapping around the side of their forehead. Dried blood caked their faces. Tubes stuck into them from every which direction. A plain white blanket lay atop them, but it was dotted with red stains. Whiteford, Vivian, Naomi, and Marcie stood around the bed.

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    Their eyes flicked to me. Everyone looked pained to be here. A fresh wave of bitter and dark hopelessness washed over me. I felt tears threatening to spill over. ¡°Tell me they can make it,¡± I choked out. ¡°Please.¡±

    Whiteford just shook her head. ¡°We can keep Mel alive for a little while - a month at best. But there is no hope of full recovery.¡±

    In that moment, I broke. I could have been the one with a bullet stuck in my skull for all I knew. My brain was in shambles. All I could think was that I would never see Mel smile again. They were always so quiet, so small. But they had shown another side. They could have fun, could joke. And now they could never open up in the same way.

    Mel would dwindle in their bed, never getting out again. Maybe they would wake up for a few last moments. Maybe they wouldn¡¯t.

    I didn¡¯t know which was worse - never talking to them and having them pass on in their sleep. Or getting a few last moments with them, but forcing them to grapple with an oncoming death.

    Pain was the only thing I could know.

    I could never be happy.

    I opened my eyes. This time, I was not on the ground. Somehow, I had still managed to stand despite everything. And then I remember who did this. Edalene, who was a psychotic murderer. Edalene, whose workers were responsible for this. Edalene, who gave us cookies. Edalene, whom Les loved.

    But Edalene was kind.

    How could she do this?

    I stared at Mel¡¯s unmoving body. We all stood and stared. The repetitive beep of the heart monitor was all the sound that filled the space. We could have stayed forever in a cloud of grief. There was nothing that could be done. Nothing.

    Any amount of time from five minutes to seven hours could have passed before Whiteford spoke. ¡°We should be going now,¡± she said. ¡°There is much to do.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Les said, his voice hollow.

    ¡°Marcie, you are dismissed,¡± Whiteford began. ¡°And the rest of you,¡± she turned to us, ¡°You can go to your dorms. Due to¡­ this, you are currently relieved of your teaching jobs.¡±

    We nodded, and began the slow trek back to our rooms. Unlike the frantic journey here, the way back was quiet. Nobody dared speak. Time seemed to go in slow-motion. Every second lasted an eternity, eons passed before we stepped over the threshold of our dormitory.

    I sat on the couch. I felt like every single possible emotion had been sucked from me, leaving me with nothing but pure emptiness inside. I was nothing but a shell of the person I had been last night, when I had talked to Les leaving. I could have stopped him from leaving. I could have kept Mel, Markus, and Keira alive.

    But there was no going back now.

    The blood of those three was on my hands. And it would never be washed off.

    ??

    That evening was quiet. We all sat around, doing and saying little. Dinner that night was one of the most awkward experiences of my entire life. I longed to break the silence that hung over the table like a heavy fog, but could not find the way. It felt like we were all in a vow of silence to pay our respects to Mel and Markus.

    But I just had to say something. About halfway through the meal, I spoke.

    ¡°Naomi¡­¡± I began. ¡°What happened out there?¡±

    Xe looked down at xyr food. ¡°I-It was an accident. We never meant to get caught in the range of fire.¡±

    Seeing xyr face finally break from the calm, collected expression xe usually had sent pangs of regret through my heart. ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me if you don¡¯t want to,¡± I put in.

    ¡°No, no,¡± xe shook xyr head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Everything was going great until the soldiers appeared on the hill. Mel got so shocked, and they¡­¡± Naomi trailed off. Xe swallowed, and continued. ¡°They accidentally pulled the trigger. The bullet went wide, and poor Mel was so surprised that they jumped out of cover. The soldiers must¡¯ve been provoked or something by the shot, so they opened fired.¡±

    ¡°How did Markus get hurt?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Oh, he was the bravest of us. He jumped right in front of Mel and shot back. He shot two of the four before going down. Then Mel got hit and I had stayed still for the whole thing. Maybe if I had moved earlier, maybe they would have-¡±

    ¡°You would have died, and no one would have come back,¡± Seph growled. ¡°Now we might be able to speak to Mel one last time.¡±

    Naomi nodded. ¡°I know, but-¡± xyr voice broke, ¡°-but I can¡¯t tell myself that. I got some retribution. I brought hell on the remaining two. I shot them in places they probably didn¡¯t even know could bleed. I made sure I had fucked them up real good before going to Mel. That was when I found a pulse.¡±

    ¡°And you brought them back,¡± Les said. ¡°That sounds pretty damn hero-ish to me.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps, perhaps,¡± Naomi said.

    Of course, I didn¡¯t dare ask how it had gone with Vivian and Marcie. I was too scared to even put in a question with the former, and the latter was probably in a different dorm room.

    A dorm room that is not a fake built to contain us.

    After that small bit of conversation, nothing else was said for the rest of the night.

    ??

    Valamir Uldrich sat upon his throne of steel. No more would mock him for it. Anyone who tried was dead by now. And yet, people still bombarded him with their ¡®quick phone calls¡¯ that lasted hours where they complained about how hard it was to comply with his demands. Thankfully, he still had the girl with him.

    She never complained.

    She did every single thing he told her too, and she did it perfectly. Every bit of information given was added up into a pot.

    And if she didn¡¯t¡­

    Valamir broke out into a wicked grin at the thought of the idea. He waited for the day she would betray him, like everyone did. Not a single person was always loyal. Everyone tried to rebel. But he would shut them out.

    His attendants gave a cautious glance at his expression, not daring to show how confused they were at his sudden expression of what they would call ¡®glee.¡¯

    Heavy footsteps perked Valamir¡¯s attention. He looked across the steel hall. It was quite the place to sit. Two large windows showed the remainder of his campus below. There were large, metal double-doors placed directly at the middle of the opposite wall to him.

    The doors swung open.

    A tall, bulking figure burst through the door. His muscles glistened in the light, his tattoos almost blending in with his perfectly tanned skin. A gun, one of the largest and most powerful developed in Russia, was strapped to his back.

    ¡°Shooting has begun, sir,¡± he grunted.

    Valamir¡¯s lips twisted into a smile once more. ¡°Kill all that you see, regardless if they are armed or not. America has finally gotten themself into a true fight.¡±

    The man nodded. ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    ¡°Oh, and try to find outposts near the country. Our source has told us that they have set up temporary war camps just around the border.¡±

    The man smirked. ¡°Of course.¡±

    Valamir waved to dismiss the man, and picked up his phone.

    This time, he had news.

 Chapter 22: I Get Both News And Nightmares

    The news arrived on the Friday after Mel¡¯s hospitalization. That morning, snow had begun to drift down lazily, setting upon the blades of grass. It was a light dusting, but it heralded a greater blizzard in the future. The five Xarnon agents had stopped to admire the view in silence, when a coated figure appeared across the campus. We stood still as Whiteford approached the building and entered.

    A gust of cold air hit my face, and I blinked, shivering slightly.

    Whiteford¡¯s face was expressionless. Her black trench coat was thick, probably made of leather or another similar material. ¡°Word has just reached us from across the Atlantic,¡± she said. ¡°Shooting has begun.¡±

    There was a pause as that sunk in. The soldiers we had trained alongside were now across the world, fighting. Many were probably dead. I pictured a few of their faces, my mind conjuring up awful scenes of blood and carnage.

    ¡°Do we know anything about the casualties?¡± Les asked.

    ¡°Fifteen confirmed dead on our side, and about thirty Russian bodies were found. It looks like they were waiting for an excuse to go and kill us all,¡± Whiteford said gravely. ¡°It is said that they sometimes shoot corpses just to make sure they didn¡¯t survive.¡±

    I shuddered at the thought. No one said anything for another few seconds. Then, Seph broke the silence. ¡°What now, then?¡±

    Whiteford bit her lip, before turning towards the diner. ¡°Follow me,¡± she said. ¡°We can talk over breakfast.¡±

    The six of us walked toward the carpeted room. A fresh bit of pain flared in my chest at the thought of Mel not being able to join us for dining any more. No longer could we joke over a good meal, no longer could we make bad attempts at normal conversation. We sat at the same table the full group of Xarnon agents used to eat at.

    There was, after all, no need for an extra chair.

    I ordered something simple today, just eggs and toast, with sausage on the side. The food arrived, fresh, within five minutes. As soon as the plates were down and the waiter was gone, Whiteford began briefing us on the situation. ¡°The command was given for small groups in the north to advance. It was unclear which side shot first, but three groups encountered Russian soldiers. Two of our men made it out alive. Three more were found dying, and the rest were already dead. It was unclear whether all of the Russians had been killed.

    ¡°We believe at least one made it alive to spread the word, because a large group marched on one of the lower locations, still in the north. The Russians were eventually defeated. All casualty numbers are estimated - about thirty Americans dead. Fifteen Russians were seen retreating, but we do not know the numbers of the original army. Two other forts were marched upon. Both were seized by Russia. The latest intelligence was that our troops plan to take it back.¡±

    ¡°So Valamir knows the location of our forts¡­¡± Naomi said, trailing off.

    ¡°That was the most concerning bit,¡± Whiteford said. ¡°We don¡¯t know how he figured it out, but we can¡¯t afford to turn on each other and throw around accusations.¡±

    ¡°We also can¡¯t deal with our information continually being sold to Russia, either,¡± I said.

    ¡°Any news from our allies?¡± Les asked, changing the topic.

    ¡°Canada believes that most computers have been recovered. They plan to share their solution with us soon. They are sending ground support as we speak,¡± Whiteford said.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t they have us do that?¡± Seph spoke up. ¡°You have a group of hackers right here.¡±

    Whiteford looked down at her plate. ¡°Well, you see, Canada¡­ they didn¡¯t quite like the idea of this operation. They were asked to help fund it, but refused. They don¡¯t want to work with us if we hire criminals.¡±

    ¡°So you lied and said it was called off,¡± Naomi guessed.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Whiteford looked up. ¡°I told them the funding would be redirected to the military.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think lying to your allies is a good idea,¡± Vivian put in. I was shocked to hear her speak, as she usually kept quiet during group conversations.

    ¡°You want us to throw you back in prison?¡± Whiteford snapped. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be here if not for that.¡±

    There was silence. Her anger at the topic was strange, especially compared to the fact that we were talking about Americans being slaughtered earlier. You would think that global politics would be a softer topic.

    I nearly laughed at myself aloud for thinking anything about politics could be ¡®soft¡¯.

    We finished the rest of the meal in silence.

    When we had finished and were standing to leave, Whiteford stopped us. ¡°I know that I said you all are relinquished of your services,¡± she began. ¡°But I do need something from you. Next week.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked, as possibilities were already appearing in my head.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you then,¡± she said, and walked promptly out the door, across the lobby, and out into the cold. She left us standing in the dining room, with no idea of what to do for the rest of the day.

    ??

    A week and a half passed uneventfully. We did not leave the building, for fear of the cold. We walked across the entirety of the dorm area a couple of times. However, I never shared anything about the fake staircases and made sure no one strayed near them. I spent about 75% of my free time just staring at my phone. The other 25% was spent trying and failing to get anything done on the projects that I had let fall to the back of my head - figuring out how the virus spread, and working on decrypting the USB data.

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    Nothing, no matter what I tried, could decrypt the data. My earlier plan of trying to find whatever software the CIA used to encrypt it and copy that surfaced in my head a few times. But, after every day, I lay in bed, reflecting.

    My life was a mess - that was sure. And now I was mixed up in the third world war. I was fighting for the chance of possibly having a future.

    But I didn¡¯t know if I could ever make it out of this mess.

    It was just day after day without news. I had side projects that seemed to contain all of the information I needed, but nothing succeeded with those either. So I just had to hope that there was a possibility I could come out of this. Away from bombings, from hacking. Into a life with Seph.

    It seemed impossible.

    But it was the only thing that kept me going.

    ??

    I awoke into a beautiful reality.

    The sun was shining, the birds chirping. I rolled out of bed, almost as if I could forget everything. In our little apartment, I could live. Stuffed animals lined my bed, with sheets of sky-blue. Light wood made up the frame. Little toys were strewn about across the floor. I had my white desk and laptop that my parents let me play games on.

    Or maybe more than playing games, I thought with a wicked grin. I had been slowly learning more about computers and the way they interacted.

    I had begun to think of myself as somewhat of a tech genius. Maybe even a hacker. I always bragged to the other kids at school of how good I was. They didn¡¯t dare mess with Cadeyn, the badass criminal.

    ¡­Not that I really was badass.

    Or a criminal.

    But I learned that having power and a way to harm someone is a boost for your popularity. No one dared mess with me. None of them ever had even tried. But if they did¡­

    Well, I wasn¡¯t too sure about my actual ability. I had never gotten an opportunity to test myself.

    I stood there for a while, unsure of what to do. I could have gone down, but then I would have to face my parents. And I didn¡¯t really want to after what they had done last night. Memories flashed in my head, but I pushed them down. The wounds were too fresh, and the bruise on my face still stung.

    For what they did to me, they will die.

    The thought surprised me. I did not know where it came from - if I had thought it or if it had just been dropped in my head by someone else, some god. For my mental health¡¯s sake, I hoped for the latter.

    After staying still for much too long, my parents called my name from downstairs. ¡°Cadeyn!¡± Mom shouted. ¡°Get your ass downstairs and eat some food!¡±

    I scrambled down the stairs. When I made my way across the main room, I got a good look at my parents¡¯ faces. For some reason, they seemed content where they were. It was as if yesterday had never happened. But I knew better. I could never live the same life as before. I felt a dark, kind of thrashing energy thrashing in my stomach.

    ¡°Your cereal is on the counter,¡± Mom said.

    I looked away. ¡°Fine,¡± I said, my tone dark.

    Dad looked down. ¡°Now, don¡¯t be giving us any problems,¡± he said.

    I sat at the table, stirring my spoon through the mixture. ¡°I don¡¯t see any problems,¡± I muttered.

    ¡°What was that?¡± Dad asked.

    ¡°I said that there are no problems!¡± I snapped. ¡°I¡¯m fine and you are not.¡±

    Mom stalked over to me. ¡°Don¡¯t talk to your father like that,¡± she scolded.

    ¡°It¡¯s true!¡± I said. ¡°There is nothing wrong with me, you all just-¡±

    ¡°I am not having this fight again,¡± Dad cut me off. ¡°You just need to change, and stray away from that stuff.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to change,¡± I sniffed, and turned away. I didn¡¯t get how my own parents could be so disgusted based on a boy I liked.

    ¡°There¡¯s everything to change,¡± Mom said. ¡°You can be normal, like the other kids. Or you can live with your vile ways and burn in hell when you die.¡±

    I turned away, saying nothing. As soon as I took the first bite of food, a jarring vision shot into my head. Red fire danced through my head, my eyes focused on the tall apartment building burning in front of me. There were screams as I stood still. I knew there was someone I had once cared about in there, being burnt to a crisp. But I was torn.

    A clear though surfaced in my head once more, as startling and uncalled for as the last:

    I¡¯m glad they didn¡¯t make it out.

    I shook the thought away, and ran. Because I wasn¡¯t eating cereal anymore - and that was probably good. I ran until I reached a long hallway. I turned and was lost in another world again. A winding mess of lockers and ceiling tiles.

    School: I assigned the word with this place.

    But, shouldn¡¯t there be people?

    Shadows of laughter and joy flicked into existence at the thought. But, it faded as soon as it had come. I took footsteps hesitantly; unsure of what would come next. I couldn¡¯t quite wrap my head around everything, nor could I remember where I had come from.

    ¡°Cadeyn¡­¡± A voice whispered. ¡°Hello.¡±

    I recognized his voice. But, it couldn¡¯t be. He was gone from my life so long ago, and I swore to never think about him again.

    He is to fault for everything.

    Again, a voice in me, thinking the uninvited thoughts. They were the things I shoved down.

    Kill him.

    There wasn¡¯t a pause.

    I had no control.

    Suddenly I was flying through the air and landing on his helpless form. His face was twisted, but I could still recognize it. Not for long, I thought, no longer needing any external force of darkness to compel me. I brought my fist down on his face.

    There was a satisfying crunch, and his scream filled the air. His nose was twisted now, blood dripping from it and all over my hands.

    I punched again.

    And again.

    His screams became shriller and shriller as I tore him apart. I felt my fingernails digging into skin, cutting through muscles and flesh. After a while he stopped screaming. Blood coated everything as he was becoming twisted beyond recognition.

    I dug into his stomach, feeling the slimy intestines beneath.

    I tore, and tore.

    I ripped apart everything I could feel until I was sitting upon a pile of bone, mangled flesh, and guts; all floating in an ocean of blood.

 Chapter 23: I Defy My Bedtime

    I jolted upward. My stomach was thrashing and throbbing with a constant weighted pain. I could still feel blood coating my arms, legs, and face. I blinked a few times, trying to get my bearings. Upon looking around, I confirmed that I was in my own room, safe. I did not know anything beyond that, however.

    After that strange dream, I wasn¡¯t sure what to think of¡­ anything.

    I should probably be concerned for myself.

    But I wasn¡¯t.

    Which would have been concerning to me, if I cared.

    I glanced at the clock on the wall, which revealed that the time was 3:14 in the morning. I groaned, and sat up. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I knew that that whole thing had been a dream. But, it had felt so real. Every sensation felt as if I was there in the moment. My memory of it was rapidly fading, and I desperately grabbed at the mental bits of thought.

    Many said dreams are curated from your experiences, but I truly never had killed someone so brutally with my bare hands, despite the rumors that people loved to throw around.

    I stood up.

    My knees felt a bit wobbly, and everything felt off.

    ¡°I need a drink,¡± I groaned.

    I reached down to grab my water bottle. As soon as my touch found the cool metal, I shook it a few times. Nothing - it was empty.

    ¡°Fuck,¡± I muttered

    I managed to drag myself across the floor and push open the door. With my half-asleep state and drooping eyes, I managed to make out Seph¡¯s figure sitting on the couch. With my body half-slumped over, I took a step toward him.

    ¡°Cade!¡± he rushed up to me, grabbing my shoulders. I felt warmth at his touch, which spread through me - somehow energizing me enough to speak.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll have water,¡± I muttered.

    His brow furrowed, but he nodded. ¡°Water, water - yes.¡±

    He led me over to the bathroom, kind of leaning me on the wall while he turned on the sink. Seph ran his hand through the water a few times, as if checking the temperature, before drying his hands and pulling me gently over to the counter.

    I leaned down, blinking and searching for the sweet relief of hydration. After a few seconds, I felt the water hit my tongue. I licked thirstily, drinking and savoring the cold feel of the liquid running down my throat.

    After a length of time that I could not name nor perceive in that moment, Seph pulled me away. Suddenly, a feeling of clarity returned into my brain, fighting back the fogginess that had occupied it before.

    ¡°God,¡± I gasped, shaking my head. ¡°Sorry about that.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Seph said softly. After a moment''s pause, he asked: ¡°What happened?¡±

    I grimaced. It felt embarrassing to even say it out loud. It was childish, truly. ¡°Just a bad dream. A really bad dream.¡±

    He nodded, understanding. After a few seconds, he seemed to realize that he was still holding me. He pulled back.

    Without thinking, I grasped his wrists. Seph let out a soft gasp, and I almost did as well. I wasn¡¯t sure why I had done it, but¡­ it felt right. Just so perfectly right.

    ¡°Cade?¡± he asked, sounding so small; nothing like his usual demeanor.

    I pulled myself closer, and closer, until our noses almost touched. ¡°I-I¡­¡± I stuttered.

    Seph smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t speak.¡±

    And then his lips were on mine. I was stunned for a second, before nearly falling into him. I had no idea how he stayed up, but he did. He was warm and wonderful. Every second was ages, and I hoped that it would never end.

    But it did.

    He pulled back, leaving me panting, gasping for all of the air that had seemingly been sucked out of my lungs. My eyes found his, and I melted from his gaze. And he was smiling, laughing. Everything seemed to glow at that moment, when I was shocked and he was standing in front of me. I felt a pull, a pull so strong for me to go into his arms.

    The pull was then physical, as Seph grabbed my wrist and whisked me into the main room. I felt my legs go out as I crashed down upon the couch; my breath was taken from me once more. Seph fell down beside me, pulling me into his arms. I lay upon his chest, staring up at the ceiling.

    ¡°Oh,¡± was all I managed to say.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Seph asked. ¡°Is that all you have to say?¡± His voice was breathy and beautiful.

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    I smiled. ¡°I have a lot more to say.¡±

    Seph leaned into my ear. ¡°Then say it,¡± he whispered

    I flipped myself over. ¡°Words are futile,¡± I responded in the same manner as Seph.

    And then I kissed him again, thrusting my body against his. I clutched the side of his stomach, his skin soft but rugged at the same time. My eyes were closed, but my other senses felt enough. He was amazing and incredible and so many other things all at once. My thoughts could not encapsulate it all - not even close - and my memory failed me. Words were not enough to describe that moment. I wasn¡¯t sure anything could ever be enough.

    All of the greatest poets in the world could scribble their love and laments, but they would never truly reach how good it felt. Everyone in the world was nothing but dust compared to this boy with me. And he would be with me for the end of time.

    I had no way of picturing a life without him anymore.

    Everything before now was worthless, nothing but empty moments with empty people.

    For all I knew, Seph could be everything in existence; nothing else truly did matter. Except, in everything, nagging thoughts still persisted. I clutched him as tight as possible, covering myself in his warmth. But I still could hear the cries of death, final breaths taken on the battlefield, and Valamir¡¯s awful voice.

    I tried to push away the thoughts - I couldn¡¯t let him creep in and ruin one of the best moments in my life.

    My tongue reached further, meeting his, as I tried to push myself into this moment. I wasn¡¯t optimistic about being able to live much longer. I had to do everything now, love Seph now, let him be my now.

    When I finally drifted off, I was still held in his arms.

    No more dreams chased me, and it seemed only an instant that it went from moonlight to sunshine filtering through the window.

    I sat up, blinking a few times to clear my head. I felt so much better than I had ever before. Every bit of myself I had lost seemed to have been filled. I could almost forget about everything with Valamir and the CIA.

    Almost.

    I stood, looking down at Seph. He slept peacefully, a soft smile on his lips. I was tempted to wake him, and get him back into his room. But I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to disturb his sleep. I dragged my finger across my face. ¡°Shit,¡± I muttered. I had no idea what to do now. I had been waiting for this, but¡­

    Now that I was with him, now that I knew he loved me, I didn¡¯t know what to do.

    I kind of stood there for several minutes, frozen. I heard a door opening, and I practically leaped onto the couch opposite to Seph, trying to make sure it looked like I had always been there. it didn¡¯t work.

    Vivian emerged from her room, her eyebrows raised.

    ¡°Hey,¡± I said, trying to sound casual.

    She narrowed her eyes, and said nothing in response.

    I smiled, but inside, my head was filling with the sound of blaring alarms. My brain was screaming over the ruckus, making sure to remind me that Vivian might find out. I knew she snuck around at night sometimes, and the possibility of her walking in on me sleeping in Seph¡¯s arms was much too high for me to not worry about.

    Vivian promptly walked out the door, probably heading to get breakfast. I sat still for a little while longer, waiting for either Seph to wake up or someone else to come out into the main room. About two minutes later, Seph shifted. I watched as his eyes fluttered open and he slowly raised his head. His eyes found mine.

    Our gazes locked in a moment of silence, before I opened my mouth to speak. ¡°Seph-¡± I began.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he smirked. ¡°They don¡¯t have to know if you don¡¯t want them to.¡±

    I shook my head, but that was my true concern - especially if Whiteford found out. I wouldn¡¯t put it past Vivian to use that information as a leverage, nor would I put it past Whiteford to punish us if she discovered it. That panic constantly fought with the joy I felt. I had finally gotten to be someone¡¯s someone. Someone who I cared about, and cared back. No, someone who I loved and loved me back.

    He stood up. ¡°But I won¡¯t keep it a secret if it isn¡¯t needed.¡± He leaned in closer, ¡°I just want you.¡±

    I stood in turn, brushing his hand and following the motion with my downward gaze. ¡°I know,¡± I said softly. ¡°I know I love you and hiding it isn¡¯t right, but¡­¡± I looked up into his eyes, ¡°¡­maybe don¡¯t tell anyone yet?¡±

    He nodded, and kissed me briefly. My heart jumped as a jolt of heat spread through my body like a wildfire. I leaned back, and my body physically jolted when I heard a door opening. I whirled around, positioning myself beside Seph to make it look like we were 100% not just sharing an intimate moment. But, when Naomi stepped out from the door, xe didn¡¯t look like xe suspected anything at all.

    ¡°Hi Cade, hi Seph,¡± xe said.

    ¡°Hi,¡± we said, almost in unison.

    ¡°Are we all waiting for everyone to wake up?¡± Naomi asked.

    ¡°I mean, Vivian already left,¡± Seph glanced at me as I said that, and I remembered he was asleep when that had happened. ¡°But, she¡¯s¡­ y¡¯know¡­ Vivian.¡±

    Naomi nodded, making xyr way to sit upon the couch beside me. Seph sat on the couch opposite, and I took my seat once more.

    ¡°I got rudely awakened last night,¡± Naomi mentioned after a pause. My heart dropped into my stomach, my whole existence seemed to have become more weighted.

    ¡°By what?¡± I asked, barely able to keep myself from stuttering.

    ¡°The sink,¡± xe said.

    ¡°Sorry about that,¡± Seph responded. I looked up at him, curiosity and nervousness coursing through my veins at the same time. ¡°I woke up thirsty.¡±

    Of course, I didn¡¯t know why I had ever worried. He promised not to tell anyone.

    About ready to change the topic, I waited for a bit to make sure no one had any more to put in, then spoke. ¡°Any ideas about what Whiteford wants us for later?¡±

    Naomi shrugged. ¡°Probably some big news she¡¯s withholding-¡±

    ¡°-or confirming if it¡¯s true,¡± Seph interrupted.

    Naomi raised an eyebrow. ¡°Are you¡­ defending her?¡±

    Seph shook his head harshly. ¡°No, no, no. She can be a bitch sometimes, but she is good and sure of what she does.¡±

    ¡°And what about whatever¡¯s between her and J&J?¡± I asked.

    There was a pause. ¡°J&J?¡± Seph inquired.

    ¡°Janet and Julia,¡± I clarified. ¡°There was clearly something bad between them when I arrived, but it doesn¡¯t look like they really hate each other anymore.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s something weird there,¡± Naomi said. ¡°I just don¡¯t know what.¡±

    ¡°And Janet interrogated Cade and Les at gunpoint,¡± Seph put in.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know what was up with that, but Whiteford did something with Janet that fixed up the situation,¡± I said.

    ¡°What that something was is the question,¡± Naomi said, causing us all to fall silent in our own thoughts for a few seconds.

    ¡°Julia was certainly pissed afterward as well,¡± I said.

    There was a longer pause, about ten seconds, before Seph stood. ¡°Well, I suppose they are sleeping in.¡±

    His words brought me back to the present, away from my wandering thoughts. ¡°Yeah, we should better head to breakfast, shouldn¡¯t we?¡±

    He nodded, and Naomi stood as well. ¡°Let¡¯s just hope this one is not nearly as eventful as the last,¡± xe said. ¡°I¡¯m getting a little tired of this war bullshit.¡±

    As we walked to the lobby, I could only hope that we would make it out of this tired, not dead.

    Dead like Mel.

    A sudden and jarring thought struck me, so quick that I had to stand still.

    Someone needs to pay.

 Chapter 24: The CIAs Architecture Makes No Sense

    After four days of hesitation and reluctant contemplation, I had made up my mind. That day, I stayed in my room with my computer, planning how I might sneak around and reach the area where they would have encrypted the data. I had finally decided that any other ways of going about getting the data decrypted were foolish. I pulled a map from the lobby and laid it down upon my desk, my laptop and some water to either side.

    I traced my fingers across the various tunnels and examined the structures. There were a few possibilities. On one hand, it could be in the network of underground tunnels. It could also be located in one of the B buildings that I had been in, where it seemed there were plenty of computer-filled rooms. It could also be in one of the A buildings, most of which I was unfamiliar with.

    I decided on going out three times; once to each location until I had found the encryptor. The easiest, and first location that I planned to visit, was the tunnels. I thought that I could make it through there alone.

    But, my thoughts did wander back to Seph. I would definitely feel a lot safer creeping around with him than by myself. However, my determination to do a quick solo exploration down in the tunnels did not waver. Beyond that¡­ I was quite sure that I would have to have a partner if I was to go into a normal building. There would be a lot more people in there at night than down in the tunnels, I presumed.

    I flipped over the stolen map, and grabbed a pencil from my bag. I stood and stepped out into the main room for a sharpener. Les and Naomi sat on the couch, and Seph was absent. Vivian sat on one of the high chairs stationed at counters around the edge of the room. Vivian glanced at me briefly - for about three seconds - before looking back down at her phone. No one else paid me any attention.

    Despite myself, I felt a bit of panic flare in my chest at Seph¡¯s absence. I had not spoken with him much, nothing more than polite conversation, but I liked to know where he was. After the affair with Les that ended in Mel getting shot, I was wary of anyone sneaking away.

    So, of course, I¡¯ll do it instead of anyone else, I thought whilst sharpening my pencil in the old-styled crank sharpener.

    Blowing the bits away, I crept back to my room as fast as I had arrived. With the newly sharpened pencil, I sketched a quick drawing of the tunnel system as I had perceived it. I recorded the secret crevice, the branching pathways, and the main area containing the lake. Off to the side, I detailed a quick map of one of the tunnels that we had been in, one branch leading out to the plain and the other just dead-ending, as I had no clue where that one led.

    I folded the map. Hopefully, I will be able to add to it tonight. Pocketing that and the USB drive, I turned to my computer. I had opened up a blank text file, and all that was written was: ¡°Go down to caves tonight.¡±

    Sighing, I shut the computer and sat upon my bed, grabbing my phone. I checked the time in the corner. It was only 3:45, meaning I had six or seven hours before everyone was in their room if they went to bed early, longer if they stayed up. I contemplated getting out and talking, but it would be better if they all assumed I was already asleep during my ¡®expedition.¡¯

    Perhaps it would be good for me to rest¡­?

    I bit my lower lip and decided that I would allow myself an hour of scrolling before getting to sleep.

    ??

    Seven hours went by pretty damn fast.

    I was in bed most of the time, drifting in and out of a restless sleep. A few times I had deemed rest impossible, before falling back into my half-slumber just a little while afterwards. I wasn¡¯t sure how long it had been before my eyes found the clock, which read 10:52. I sat up quickly, glancing around. My senses flicked into alertness.

    I checked my pockets quickly, confirming that the USB drive and scuffed paper map were still there. My gaze found its way to my bag, lit barely in the lamplight. Reluctantly, I picked up and pocketed my gun. I hoped that it was not necessary. I could barely bring myself to shoot who I thought was an enemy soldier without any time for hesitation. I was unsure of how I would react on my own, with enough time to rethink my actions, when faced with someone who I could call a ¡®colleague¡¯ of sorts.

    I emerged into the main room slowly. I froze when I saw the TV still active. But, my nerves creeped away when I saw the form of Seph sleeping peacefully upon the couch. I smiled briefly at his sleeping form, drawing my eyes across his body. He was smiling slightly, a sight which brought uplifting warmth to my chest.

    After a few moments of pause, I crept over to the wall. Now that there was no supervision, I could attempt to open the secret door like Mel had. I found myself not finding any sadness or grief from the thought. It concerned me: how I could grieve so much yet feel nothing. All I was aware of was a growing emptiness, a chasm that had somehow grown from the small crack in my soul before. Whatever Seph had done to heal it was gone now.

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    I began pressing on the wall, grasping for the memory of what Mel had done. After a long time of hesitation and second-guessing, I completed what I believed to be the pattern. There was a long pause. Nothing.

    I stepped forward again, pressing on different parts of the wall this time - similar to the last but slightly off-position. Still, it didn¡¯t work. I stood and thought back for a second. Was there anything special about the pattern? In my mind, I pictured what Mel did, but with lines connecting the mental dots.

    My eyes widened. I traced the pattern that was now in my head. Upon the wall, gently pushing upon each of the points. Almost as if some magic had occurred, the door loosened with a click. The symbol was, after all, just a rough outline of the CIA¡¯s logo. I slowly opened the door and slipped into the dark staircase. I carefully brought the heavy wall-door back inward, where it settled with another click, settling me in darkness.

    For a moment, nothing was visible. Then, my eyes adjusted to the little bits of light that somehow made their way up into the passage. Slowly, carefully, I descended. I noticed the brightness of the passage increasing as I made my way downward. I tested each step before pressing my weight on it, feeling around with my foot to check if it was stable.

    Eventually, my shoe found crumbly stones. I steadied myself, listening for the sound of cascading water. It was distant, but present. I pulled my gun out of my pocket, securing it tightly in my hands. I flicked off the safety but made sure my fingers stayed off of the trigger. I couldn¡¯t have myself pulling it accidentally or too quickly.

    Then again, I wasn¡¯t sure giving myself time to hesitate was a good thing either.

    I crept down the narrow passage, my eyes getting glimpses at the cave walls. The sound of the waterfall grew louder and louder; the tunnel increased in brightness rapidly. Soon, the sound filled my ears, leaving nothing else to be heard.

    When I spotted the opening, I instantly pressed myself against a wall. I slid forward along the cool, damp stone, revelling in the feeling it gave me to finally be away from the stuffy dorm room. I turned my head, looking around in my new view of the cavern for others. Thankfully, there was no one else in the vast expanse of sand.

    I stepped out, feeling a glow of freedom flash in my chest. As quickly as it lit, it was gone - replaced by the oppressive nothing that lay in the pit of my stomach. I sighed, and pulled out the map. I looked at each of the tunnels. Just prior to my eyes finding their entrances, they looked over the small crevice. An urge to rest there as I had before hit me, but I quickly suppressed it.

    The first tunnel was pure metal, with lots of thin, winding pathways branching off from it. The second path was similar, but more straight. Small alcoves lined the walls. My memory connected the design on that tunnel to the one we had been in before. I mentally imagined a path that headed from the branch on the main tunnel to here, although I could not really guess accurately how long it was. The third tunnel was much exactly like the one I was in, with natural rock walls and scattered rocks on the floor. The last tunnel was constructed of a fine wooden frame. It seemed to be smaller than all of the others, except for the natural one. A bend was placed just a few paces in, making it impossible for me to get a glimpse at what lay beyond it.

    I decided that the best way to move forward was to approach the nearest tunnel - the one constructed of pure, smooth steel. I walked around the cave, keeping to the wall as much as possible and making sure my gun never dipped into too low. I reached the spot just to the side of the tunnel. Taking a deep breath, I spun around quickly, pointing my weapon forward and placing my fingers on the trigger.

    Nothing, I breathed a sigh of relief. The tunnel seemed to stretch on for quite some time before it ended at a door. The small, branching tunnels were littered around carelessly, scattering in every which direction.

    I started forward, briefly glancing into each tunnel as I went. There seemed to be no logic to the design; jagged edges led the tunnels in a zig-zag pattern that made it impossible to fully see where they ended. But I kept walking, intent on getting through the door at the end of the hallway. It seemed to hold some significance, if only for the fact that it was the single doored passage in a tunnel filled with open entrances.

    After spending a painstakingly long time slowly creeping toward the end of the passage, I pressed myself against the wall next to the door. I intended to push it open but stay just out of sight. If anyone came forward to investigate, I could then attack.

    I gritted my teeth, clutched the handle, and pulled.

    The force of my own pull sent me nearly flying to the opposite wall. ¡°Shit!¡± I exclaimed, steadying myself. The door had not budged.

    Forgetting my intent to carefully enter the room, I grasped the handle again, pulling softly. As expected, it did not open. I crept over, and peeked through the doorway.

    My heart dropped, my stomach suddenly turning sour. I saw the glimpse of people approaching the door on the other side. I barely got time to glimpse the room beyond before I turned and ran.

    The people were too close to the door for me to even consider getting into the cavern and hidden in time. Before I could even truly comprehend my thoughts or the decision I had made unconsciously, I slipped into one of the jagged hallways. I halted as soon as the opening was out of sight, crouching down in the shadows. I saw the hallway continue, but didn¡¯t dare follow the path myself. I had no clue how deep this could go.

    I heard loud footsteps out in the hallway. A deep, gruff male voice spoke. ¡°Could it have been one of the soldiers?¡± he asked.

    A woman responded, her voice on the deeper part of the spectrum as well. ¡°Those bastards don¡¯t know how to behave here, always sneaking around.¡±

    I was confused. Who were these ¡®soldiers¡¯? I had thought that every soldier was either on a task force or at war.

    ¡°Should we check?¡± the man asked.

    There was a pause, before the woman said ¡°yes.¡±

    I crouched down a little lower, a deadly mistake.

    My shoe squeaked slightly on the floor.

    I heard footsteps coming my way.

    And I ran.

 Chapter 25: I Commit Crimes... Again

    My feet thudded against the floor. I heard people from behind, scrambling after me. But I did not stop or turn to fight - I had to maintain their suspicion that I was some sort of soldier. Whiteford probably wouldn¡¯t like it if one of her ¡®prized hackers¡¯ was caught sneaking around in an underground network that only a few were supposed to know about. Then again, I wasn¡¯t sure how prized we were anymore. Mel¡¯s life was cast away like it was nothing, even though Whiteford fought so hard to get Les back.

    After all, he was the true important one.

    I skidded around a corner, and nearly ran into a door. ¡°Fuck,¡± I muttered. My hand flew to the handle - which was, of course, locked. ¡°Fuck!¡± I repeated, louder. A growing sense of urgency twisted my stomach, slowly rising into cold panic.

    The truth settled in my head that I would have to either face them or force open the door, one of which would be a lot more efficient.

    My mind was made up quickly. I whirled around. All I could do to hide myself was to pull one of my arms in front of my head; the other pointing forward, finger resting on the trigger.

    There was movement as a burly body came around the corner.

    BANG! BANG!

    I fired two quick shots without hesitation. The man grunted, and swayed for a second as if gravity had paused for a bit of added drama. I saw the two bullets lodged in his chest, surrounding a bloody mess.

    There was a scream, and I lunged forward. The burly man hit the floor just as my eyes locked onto the next target and I open fired.

    The woman screamed again as the bullets collided with her skin, before her scream was cut off abruptly. Her body flopped onto the ground like a ragdoll.

    The bullets had penetrated her body in several places. Runs of dripping blood stained the fabric of her loose-fitting clothes. My mind had not yet comprehended anything, nor had I any sort of conscious that I had left in me told me that what I did was wrong.

    Because it wasn¡¯t.

    At the thought, my hands moved to my head, gripping it as if I had a migraine. That was the second time I had had a thought so dark and intense in real life. Before, I had thought that it was something only my dream-self could experience. By now, I was fully aware that some part of me, deep down, thought these things.

    But I couldn¡¯t think of it as ¡®some part of me.¡¯ Truly, it was just me. And I couldn¡¯t feel dirty or wrong because I wasn¡¯t letting myself.

    ¡°What the fuck is wrong with me?¡± I asked in a whisper, to no one in particular.

    I was standing over two bullet-pierced bodies, with the gun that committed the deed firmly grasped in my hand. I was sure that someone had heard, and even surer that I had run out of bullets to shoot with. And yet, even though I should have been feeling something¡­ I just couldn¡¯t. Any hint of remorse was squashed by whatever gaping emptiness filled me.

    I looked down at the bodies, my eyes examining the result of what I had done for the first time. The woman was on her back, eyes staring off into space. Her grey shirt was stained with a dark redness, but her jeans were unscarred. She had short, black hair down to her shoulders. It was perfectly styled and gelled, with a strange sort of unnatural shine to it. Her face was round, her eyes blue and her lips thick. A simple gun was in her hand. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t as good as mine, but it could contain bullets that might match.

    I leaned over, and found seven bullets, which seemed to be a little strangely sized compared to the ones I usually used. I jammed them into my own gun, and they thankfully fit. I was lucky to have the model I had, which was meant to be compact but carry as much bullets as possible. It was not a handgun that one would come by legally.

    Approaching the other man, I leaned down next to him too. He had a muscular frame and no hair, with tattoos covering nearly every part. His face was square, and his head was bald, except for the ink. I sighed at the sight, and muttered aloud to myself. ¡°Goddammit, when are people going to realize that being fully tatted up doesn¡¯t make you badass or sexy?¡±

    I quickly took his bullets as well, loading them up. Together, I got 14 shots. If I was lucky, that meant I could kill 14 people who might stand in my way getting out of here. Or perhaps only 7, if that was what it took to make sure no one knew who was truly behind the killings.

    I heard people shouting outside, clamoring. About five different voices mingled together, but I couldn¡¯t be sure.

    It was then that I did something incredibly stupid. My mind, damn the broken thing, decided that the best thing to do in that moment was to yell. I tried to distort it, make it gruff, but I was sure at that moment that I would be caught.

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    I heard murmuring from outside, followed by pounding footsteps.

    I sighed. ¡°Fuuuuck me,¡± I grumbled, holding my gun straight.

    The next few moments were a blur as people whirled around the corner. I pulled the trigger six times, and my ears filled with the sounds of my own shots and the screaming of those in front of me.

    Five people laid on the floor when it was over. I stood frozen, waiting for the possibility of another person.

    There was a flicker of movement as someone whirled around the corner. I flung myself to the side before they were even in position.

    There were two shots, one by me and the other by the person in front of me. There was a clink as hsi bullet hit the wall behind me, and a groan when my bullet hit him.

    I grimaced at the shot¡¯s aim. ¡°Right in the dick,¡± I muttered, standing up and wincing.

    No longer wanting to wait around for more people to come along, I ran. I kept my sleeve in front of my mouth, as if obscuring half of my face could somehow hide my identity. I took a leap over the bodies, not letting myself see their faces for the fear that it may trigger the remorse that seemed to have been suppressed so far.

    I turned and dashed forward. Two guards ran from another tunnel. WIthout hesitation, I raised my gun and shot.

    The first one seemed to not have seen me by the time I had pulled the trigger, and dropped down easily. The second hit the floor and tried to set up his large army-style gun in a good position. I shot at him before he even got a chance to position his weapon. From the distance I was at, it was hard to see the gruesomeness of the kill, but my mind did paint quite the lovely picture.

    Panic began to set in as I ran once more, unsure as to whether someone might live to see my face but too scared to use up extra bullets. ¡°Fucking shit,¡± I grumbled as I approached the tunnel, clutching my gun with a deadly tight grip.

    I stumbled my way into the tunnel, grasping the walls to feel out the text. I was barely able to get an idea of what each carving said. ¡°No, no, no,¡± I murmured as I checked, ¡°no, no, shit.¡±

    My breathing accelerated as a cold, persistent worrying settled into my chest. Twice I felt an ¡®X¡¯, causing a glowing bit of hope to flare in my stomach before being snuffed out when I felt the letters after. The third time, my fingers felt an ¡®A¡¯ after the ¡®X.¡¯ I continued feeling, grasping for the letters.

    I heard frantic footsteps crunching over the rocks. My fingers moved faster, until I finally made out the full word ¡®Xarnon.¡¯ I flew inside the passage, scrambling my way up the stairs. I flung open the portrait door and collapsed onto the carpet with a thud.

    ¡°Faaaauuuuuuck,¡± I groaned.

    ¡°Cade?¡± I heard Seph¡¯s voice ask. At the sound, I fell into grim acceptance that I would be caught. ¡°Shit, Cade,¡± he said, now standing above me.

    I looked up, becoming aware of the loaded gun in my hand. ¡°Oh,¡± I said weakly, tossing the weapon away.

    Seph leaned down, grabbing my hands. ¡°Blood?¡± he asked, holding my red-covered palms for me to see.

    ¡°There is a perfectly good explanation for this,¡± I said, looking away.

    ¡°Hm?¡± he asked. ¡°The only possible explanation I can see is you running around killing CIA folks.¡±

    ¡°Well, when you put it like that¡­¡± I grumbled.

    Seph¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Holy fuck. No, no¡­¡± he stood up and began pacing. ¡°You didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°I did,¡± I said simply.

    He whirled on me. ¡°Why?¡± he hissed.

    ¡°They attacked me first!¡± I said. ¡°They should¡¯ve just minded their own damn business.¡±

    ¡°Did anyone see your face?¡± Seph asked harshly.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    Seph¡¯s body seemed to relax. ¡°Thank God.¡±

    There was a pause, before Seph offered his hand. I took it, and was immediately whisked up and into his arms. Before I could even react, his lips were on mine. I gratefully kissed him back.

    Seph was the first to step back. ¡°We¡¯ll have to see about this tomorrow.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Sleep sounds great.¡±

    I let go of Seph, suddenly feeling even more cold than before. I slipped into my room, collapsing upon the bed. I stared up at the ceiling, unsure of what to do next. There were thousands of ways I could be caught: someone could have seen my face, my fingerprints could have been found, or plenty of other things.

    I forced my eyes to close, pulling the sheets atop my body. After a few minutes, I groaned at the sudden heat and removed the sheets. I changed my position once more, only to feel cold creep into my bones after another few minutes of trying to get rest.

    I sat up, wiping my brow. For some reason, sleep evaded me. I tried to seat out any bit of tiredness that I could feel in my body, but just got buzzing energy. I lay back down on my bed, just sitting and staring upward, hoping for a bit of drowsiness to summon itself.

    My thoughts began to wander in the absence of all other stimulation. I thought back to how easily Whiteford had discarded one of us, and how security measures had lessened a lot after we started training the cadets. I also thought back to all of the jobs Whiteford had promised we would do, although the only thing we had accomplished was submitting a few bits of information while attacks were happening.

    No one had even talked about the information-gathering on Russia¡¯s cyber attack in ages.

    Which did remind me¡­

    I stood up once more, walking over to my desk. I opened my laptop and booted it up. I grabbed the file of every cyber interaction, scanning all of the information we had spent days pouring over yet finding nothing. We had figured out how to filter for an international exchange of malicious files, but not how to add anything else.

    Maybe we couldn¡¯t specify the country, but perhaps specify the distance? I wondered, trying to rekindle the extinguished flame of this investigation.

    I got to our filter code, which was just a line that barely worked among the jumble of other commands that none of us could read. If we tried to add too many filters, something would always break. But, perhaps just a simple one could make it through whatever wall was stopping us from applying too many complicated requirements.

    I entered the necessary line of code, and saved the program. I re-activated the ¡®filtered_data.exe¡¯ file we had made when we first discovered how to perform search queries. I crossed my fingers as the program booted up, praying that it would succeed.

    The filter activated, and a list popped up. There were 370,000 results. I sighed. It was a bit better, but still definitely not perfect.

    With that small bit of progress done, I closed my computer, flopped down upon my bed, and prepared for a sleepless night.

 Chapter 26: I Witness A Public Execution

    I awoke the next morning to the annoying sound of Whiteford¡¯s voice blasting over the speakers with a message on repeat. I rubbed my eyes and sat up with a groan, reluctantly listening in on what the announcement was saying.

    ¡°Due to recent events,¡± I winced, realizing what the ¡®recent events¡¯ were. ¡°A mandatory gathering has been commanded outside of The Sphere. Arrive as soon as possible. We will begin in approximately fifteen minutes.¡±

    I stood shakily as the message repeated, donning my clothes and emerging into the main room. I saw no one else, so I assumed that they were either already there or still in their rooms. I promptly walked out the door, not wanting to wait in my room any longer.

    A bit of buzzing anxiety grew in my chest as I approached the area. The seconds felt like ages as my mind spun with all of the possible consequences of Whiteford discovering what I had done. My body was suddenly heavy, as if there was a half-ton weight in the pit of my stomach. I could be killed; that was certain. Perhaps they would spare me due to my skill, after all, they had forgiven me for murdering the old man in the cafe. But I was sure that I would be severely punished if I was found out.

    Before, my life had begun to regain hopefulness. And now, it had returned to the grim acceptance that there was no chance of happiness for me. I would always be nothing more than someone shunned by society, thrown in prison and feared by small children.

    ¡­Maybe not that last one.

    After far too much time that I spent walking and thinking, I emerged onto the lawn. I was first bit with the cold, and cursed myself for not doing any of the external clothes the CIA had provided us - if only just my leather jacket. Shivering, I crossed my arms and pulled my posture inward, trying to warm my arms. While doing that, my gaze found its way forward, examining the scene in front of me.

    Whiteford stood with a makeshift podium upon the steps in front of the Sphere, elevating her just above the standing crowd. I approached carefully, making out Seph¡¯s face. His expression was grave, and you could tell that his sleep was not quite restful. Naomi was next to him, but Mel, Les, and Vivian were nowhere to be seen.

    I mentally smacked myself. Of course Mel wasn¡¯t there, they¡¯re¡­

    A new wave of crushing grief came to my already shitty emotional state. I cut off the thought before it could do any more damage to me, settling next to Seph.

    We shared a look, his eyes full with a mix of unidentifiable emotions. Naomi stared ahead, xyr expression neutral.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be starting shortly,¡± Whiteford said. Her voice was raw; everything about her seemed to be strained. She seemed almost¡­ sad.

    Shiiiiiit.

    I bit my lower lip in anticipation. I had no affirmation of my safety, but the overall ignorance to my presence by everyone was enough to slightly quell my anxiety. The crowd was silent, and the overall mood weighed down on us like a heavy fog. For any outsider, we could have been attending a funeral.

    Then again¡­ I suppose we were here to grieve.

    Or, everyone else was. I was here to hide, to blend in. I could not stand out or draw too much attention to myself. I was sure that a bit of digging could uncover enough to get me easily caught. Any search would reveal that I had gotten the USB drive out of the storage and had CIA bullets in my gun. This would lead to the knowledge that I was sneaking around and actively using my weapon. By then, it would be easy to figure out who had committed the crime.

    I saw the last bits of people come out, including Les showing up at the opposite side of the crowd. Vivian crept to the back, putting herself out of sight. The steady stream of officers arriving came to a slow end, and Whiteford began.

    ¡°Last night, in the deepest parts of the campus, we lost ten brave soldiers.¡± Whiteford began, confirming my guess on exactly what this meeting was about. ¡°They were shot and killed while on guard duty. We do not yet know who the killer was, or their motive. But¡­¡± she trailed off as if for a dramatic pause. ¡°We do know that they are standing in this crowd.¡±

    They found me, they found me, they fucking found me¡­ my brain chattered whilst the crowd murmured.

    ¡°The murder was committed with CIA-style bullets, and camera footage proves that no one entered or exited the area through any methods that are not in the campus. Not a single person went in or out of campus either.

    ¡°In addition to this, the campus is not on a lockdown investigation. No one is permitted in or out,¡± Whiteford said. The crowd was silent at this, as if stunned. ¡°There is one more thing that was learnt last night,¡± she continued. ¡°We found a traitor amongst us who was in open communication channels with Russian military operations in the south.¡±

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    I processed that information, making the connection that Valamir must¡¯ve gotten some troops into the Caribbean as Whiteford suspected may have happened.

    ¡°Our initial suspicion was that she was the one who committed the killings, but she was in captivity all night. This leads us to believe that we have more spies amongst us.¡± Whiteford paused again. ¡°Everyone should be ready, as we will be searching for and removing the disloyals amongst us. Traitors, be warned.¡±

    At those words, screaming filled our ears. Two armed soldiers pulled a small woman from the door of the Sphere. She had raven-black hair and deeply tanned skin. Her eyes were large and emerald-colored. She was covered in bruises, and bits of maroon blood dripped from her forehead. She flailed against her bindings - tight roped binding her wrists together.

    Before anyone could even react, one of the two soldiers brought his gun to her temple. There was a loud shot, and the screaming stopped.

    Blood spurted from the wound, landing droplets onto the soldier¡¯s fronts. Squishy grey matter inside flew in every direction. The woman swayed on her knees, a gaping hole in her head where the side of her head once was. I caught a flash of the fleshy interior of her skull before she was promptly dragged away.

    Whiteford took one last glance at the crowd before whipping around and slamming the Sphere doors behind her.

    The crowd was shocked, staying silent as they stared at where the gruesome spectacle once was. Now, there was a small blood stain, as well as dirt from the woman¡¯s clothing.

    It had dawned on me that there was a very high chance that I would be caught if I didn¡¯t hide the USB, and perhaps the bullets in my gun as well. It would be easy to see that they were the exact model that the ones used to commit the murders were. The crowd began to talk again, quietly. Leaving me to lean over to Seph and say ¡°Well, that was one hell of a spectacle.¡±

    ¡°Certainly,¡± he responded, his voice slightly shaking.

    I grabbed his arm lightly. ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡±

    He slowly turned his head, his eyes meeting mine. ¡°Yes¡­ let¡¯s.¡±

    We backed away from the crowd, following in the footsteps of the few others that chose to disperse early. Naomi trailed not far behind.

    Not wanting xem to overhear what I said, I leaned in close to Seph and whispered: ¡°Russian spy, huh?¡±

    The ghost of a smile touched his lips. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me you were working for Valamir.¡±

    ¡°I was going to get to it eventually,¡± I responded, pulling back and glancing forward once more.

    I pulled the door to our dorm building open, stepping aside to let Seph in. I contemplated just continuing to walk with him, but decided to stay long enough to let Naomi through. Seph seemed to see what I was doing and stepped beside me.

    Naomi¡¯s walk seemed to quicken, and xe nodded to us as xe reached the door. The three of us walked back to our room together in silence. Upon arriving, I immediately entered my room without a word, leaving Naomi and Seph in the main area.

    I reached into my bag and yanked out the USB and gun. I pulled out the gun, and opened the magazine, yanking out the ammunition. It clattered upon the floor as I carelessly dumped it. The gun, however, I set down gingerly. I pulled the bullets together into a pile, and contemplated what to do.

    On one hand, anything but disposing of them posed a great threat to me. There were plenty of ways that they could be found, and just that would be enough to put me to death just as easily as they had done with the Russian woman. But, if it came down to it, I would probably need the bullets to defend myself at some point if I continued to search around.

    I wasn¡¯t even sure if I could make it out of this base, but I could sure as hell try. And, having a loaded gun would definitely help my chances in that scenario.

    After a long time of sitting on the ground, I picked up the now empty firearm and placed it back into my bag. I took the bullets into a cupped hand and slipped them into my pocket, my eyes and brain now set on a new task - finding a suitable hiding place. I slipped the USB into my pocket as well, deciding to find a separate hiding place for each item.

    The room was still mostly bare: just a desk, a bed, and a closet. Even if I could find a loose board, those were the first searching place for investigators. I needed a better hiding spot. Sure, the files on the USB were on my computer - but a physical backup really would come in handy in case anything was ever compromised.

    My best hiding place was the garbage bin, just under the bag inside. We were responsible for taking out our own trash, so no one would stumble upon it accidentally. Even if they did, I could just say that I meant to throw it in the bag. I quickly set it at the bottom of the can, and replaced the plastic bag.

    Now came the hiding place for the bullets. That would be much more complicated, as if someone found them, they would definitely be suspicious.

    Unless I made them look like my own bullets.

    I pulled one of them out of my pocket, slowly examining it. The making was fine, beautiful even. Not a single curve was out of line. Which was a lot of care, considering this was just an object to pierce one''s body when shot towards them. There was a ¡®CIA¡¯ carved into the metal. My first thought was to apply paint and even everything out, but a painted bullet would look quite suspicious.

    I could burn the metal and twist it to be unrecognizable. That was a good choice, I decided. Even though the bullets might not fly as well, it would be better than nothing. The hardest part of that task would be just getting fire, but I was sure that I could manage. But, maybe with some help.

    I stood up again, walking out into the main room. Seph sat on a bench, looking at something on his phone. ¡°Seph¡­?¡± I asked.

    He looked up. ¡°Hm?¡± he asked in response.

    ¡°Could you come into my room for a second?¡±

    His eyes flashed with something I could not recognize. ¡°Sure,¡± he responded, standing and slipping his device into his pocket.

    I led him into my room and over to my desk, making sure he closed the door behind us.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Seph asked me.

    Without giving a verbal response, I dumped the bullets onto the table, quickly pushing mine from the CIA¡¯s.

    ¡°These,¡± I pointed to the pile of CIA bullets, ¡°Are the bullets I used to kill eight of those who died that day. These,¡± I pointed towards mine, ¡°Are the bullets used to kill the other two. I need them to get burnt and bent out of shape.¡±

    His brow furrowed as he glanced from the two piles. ¡°Well,¡± he said after a while. ¡°I¡¯m not the one who can help with that.¡±

    I frowned, before realizing that he had more to say.

    ¡°But I know someone who can.¡±

 Chapter 27: Im Perfectly Sane, I Promise

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be fucking joking,¡± I said, staring at Vivian¡¯s door.

    ¡°Do you want to know where you can get a lighter here or not?¡± Seph asked.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if we could do the old fashioned:¡± I mimed rubbing two sticks together with my hands.

    ¡°Because that¡¯s slow and impractical,¡± Seph said. ¡°Vivian has plenty of little trinkets in her bag - I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll lend us one little lighter.¡±

    ¡°Have you met Vivian?¡± I asked. ¡°She is the queen of the entitled bitchdom.¡±

    Seph sighed. ¡°Give her a chance. I promise she¡¯ll be fine with it.¡±

    ¡°And if she¡¯s not?¡± I asked. ¡°What if she demands something in return?¡±

    ¡°I suppose we just meet her demands,¡± Seph said, knocking.

    The seconds after the last knock dragged on, as if we spent a whole hour standing in front of that door, waiting.

    Vivian opened the door just a crack, peeking through and grumling: ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°We were wondering¡­¡± Seph trailed off, glancing at me.

    I sighed. ¡°We want to borrow a lighter,¡± I said in a monotone.

    ¡°Why?¡± She asked.

    I looked at Seph, before turning back and shrugging. ¡°No reason.¡±

    Vivian paused, as if considering pressing us a little more. She then sighed, and slammed the door.

    ¡°Welp, that¡¯s that,¡± I said.

    ¡°No, she¡¯s just grabbing the lighter. She doesn¡¯t like people seeing the inside of her room.¡±

    My brain instantly brought the memory of me sneaking around inside her chambers to the top of my memory. I said nothing in response.

    Sure enough, Vivian opened the door and handed us a green lighter. ¡°Return it in pristine condition,¡± she said. ¡°Or I will slit both of your throats.¡±

    She closed the door again. Seph turned to me and smiled. ¡°A real charmer she is.¡±

    I shrugged, and carried the lighter over into my room, setting it down on the table. Seph settled in next to me.

    ¡°Well,¡± I picked up the lighter. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll just do it then.¡±

    ¡°Mh-hm,¡± Seph said, nodding.

    I flicked the lighter on, summoning a small flame. With the other hand, I grabbed a CIA-style bullet. Pinching either side and directing the logo towards the flame, I brought the metal to it. Nothing happened at first. After a little bit, I felt the metal begin to grow hot on my fingers. I lowered my body downwards into a half-crouch, trying to keep my hands level.

    My gaze checked the melting progress. The metal was becoming a little more liquid-ish, and the logo was beginning to fade. But, it wasn¡¯t good enough. I felt bits of pain on my fingers as the metal heated more. I gritted my teeth, pressing down as hard as possible to create a second source of discomfort that distracted me from the first. With a grimace, I jabbed the flame further into the metal.

    ¡°Son of a bitch!¡± I exclaimed, dropping the bullet when hit with the overwhelming heat. My gaze found its way to my hands - which were reddened from the heat. ¡°Fucking burned myself¡­¡±

    Seph grasped my palm, and he shook his head. ¡°Not a burn yet, but be careful next time,¡± he scolded.

    I looked into his eyes, and his gaze softened. After a moment, I broke eye contact, and reached down to collect the dropped ammunition. I poked it first, and was glad to feel that the metal was much cooler. I hesitated for just a second, before wrapping two fingers around some of the cooler spots and raising it up to examine my work.

    The ¡®CIA¡¯ written on the bullet was nearly unreadable, and the carving could have said anything. It was bent out of shape slightly, but that would have to do. I grabbed my gun and loaded it in. Thankfully, it was still good enough. I looked back at Seph, smiling. ¡°Well, there¡¯s one,¡± I said.

    He shrugged. ¡°I suppose it worked.¡±

    ¡°You ¡®suppose¡¯?¡± I teased, swinging the gun around.

    ¡°Shit, Cade - be careful with that,¡± he shrunk away from the weapon.

    My mood dampened, seeing him like that. I sighed, setting the gun on the table and removing the bullets. ¡°Yeah, I suppose playing around with weapons is not the best idea.¡±

    Seph rolled his eyes. ¡°¡®Not the best idea¡¯ indeed.¡±

    After a moment¡¯s pause, he picked up the lighter. ¡°I¡¯ll do the next one.¡±

    I nearly sighed with relief. ¡°Thank you,¡± I breathed, sitting down on the bed. I was hit with a sudden wave of exhaustion, and had to fight the urge to just fall asleep right then and there. Instead, I just let my body fall down onto the mattress, but didn¡¯t dare close my eyes.

    I heard the click of the lighter, and the sound of Seph¡¯s heavy breathing. Normally, the sound would be unwelcome and annoying. But here, it was comforting; one constant in a world of chaos and unpredictability. My gaze stared straight up at the ceiling, trying so very hard not to let my thoughts wander.

    But, they did.

    Like a sudden weight placed upon me, I felt the air escape from my chest. I got plagued with true, bitter hopelessness. It struck in waves, pounding in my chest. Blood began to roar in my ears, as I tried not to react or dare show a sign of what went on within me.

    Like clockwork, the cycle had repeated. I went on with my day, trying to keep whatever bits and pieces of me that were left together. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes I could avoid everything and focus only on the task at hand. I could push myself harder and harder, work more and more - but still feel nothing. Downtime stacked on me just as much a looming task would to a normal person. For me, it was just another opportunity for my mind to revel in its own suffering.

    It could be worse, I tried to remind myself, as everyone had always done.

    I know.

    That part of me spoke again, the one that before now had only spoken for pain and violence. But now¡­

    I don¡¯t need to be like this.

    It spoke again. Or, I spoke again¡­ I couldn¡¯t tell anymore.

    I can¡¯t stop it.

    I can.

    What the fuck is wrong with me?

    There¡¯s nothing wrong with you.

    You¡¯re not supposed to hear someone in your fucking head.

    I waited for a reply, but none came. Almost as if it was in the distance, I heard Seph talking. I could not make out what he was saying; the words sounded almost¡­ muffled.

    I sat up, forcing the world around me into clarity. I was suddenly aware of a pounding pain in my head, which I tried and failed to ignore. Seph was smiling, holding up a bullet clear of the CIA¡¯s logo.

    ¡°Good job,¡± I said, my voice hollow.

    Seph¡¯s brow tightened in concern. ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked.

    A spike of painfully bubbly anxiety erupted in my system. He¡¯ll think I¡¯m crazy¡­ I am crazy.

    I blinked a few times. ¡°Yeah,¡± I forced out, trying to make my voice sound less pained than I felt.

    ¡°You want me to do a few more?¡± he glanced down at the pile of bullets. ¡°I think I¡¯ve found a pretty good method.¡±

    I nodded, first slowly, then faster. ¡°Yes, yes¡­ I would love that.¡±

    Seph offered me a half-smile before returning to his work. There was a moment of silence before I decided to speak.

    ¡°Seph?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yeah?¡± he responded, not looking up.

    ¡°They¡¯re going to find me,¡± I said.

    Seph froze, the fire still melting the bullet. ¡°What makes you say that?¡± he asked stiffly.

    ¡°Not now, but they will figure it out eventually,¡± I sighed. ¡°I mean, they¡¯re the fucking CIA.¡±

    ¡°Sure, but you¡¯re fucking Cade. You¡¯re uncatchable,¡± Seph reminded me, back to focusing on what he was doing.

    ¡°They caught me once,¡± I said.

    ¡°They¡¯ll never find out,¡± Seph said darkly. He sounded so sure of it that I almost wanted to believe him.

    ¡°What makes you say that?¡± I asked, staring off into the distance with unfocused eyes.

    ¡°If anyone ever discovers it¡­¡± Seph trailed off, his lips twisting into a sadistic expression. ¡°We¡¯ll make sure they don¡¯t make it halfway to Whiteford¡¯s office.¡± He dropped the now completed bullet, picking up another and starting on it.

    ¡°It would look suspicious¡­ another agent dead.¡±

    Seph looked up at me. ¡°A true killer never strikes only once,¡± he said. ¡°Make it look like a crazy Russian bastard who infiltrated our ranks.¡±

    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be hard, I guess,¡± I added. ¡°They assumed that much already.¡±

    Seph nodded, finishing up another bullet. He turned to me. ¡°You want to do the next one?¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± I said, shrugging.

    We flipped places, me now positioned in front of the desk and Seph sitting upon my springy mattress.

    I grabbed the lighter and a bullet, hesitating before setting fire to the metal. I turned to Seph. ¡°What¡¯s your ¡®pretty good method¡¯?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Hold the bullet steady, two fingers at each tip, and let the fire only graze the metal, not penetrate it.¡± Seph explained.

    It sounded pretty reasonable. ¡°Thanks,¡± I said, positioning my fingers and the lighter like he said and activating the flame.

    Instantly, I felt the difference. Instead of the heat licking my fingers through the metal, I only felt a faint warmth from how close they were to the fire. I checked on the logo, seeing that, although it didn¡¯t melt as fast, it was still working.

    ¡°There we go,¡± I said.

    At the edge of my vision, I swore I saw Seph¡¯s lips tilt upward into a smile. ¡°It¡¯s almost like being back in the days of being a criminal,¡± he remarked wistfully.

    ¡°Except nowadays we have actual peace and quiet,¡± I said.

    There was a pause. ¡°Peace and quiet isn¡¯t always a good thing,¡± Seph muttered.

    I looked up, staring directly at him. ¡°What?¡± I asked, half shocked, half relieved that he felt the same way as me.

    ¡°I¡¯m just saying that being left alone to your thoughts isn¡¯t great if your thoughts are awful company.¡±

    I had no clue of how to respond to that. I could say ¡®same¡¯, could say that ¡®peace and quiet are good¡¯¡­ but none of those sounded right. And, the second option would just be an outright lie. So, I just managed a ¡°Hm,¡± and went back to my work.

    After a bit more silence, I checked the bottom of the bullet. The ¡®CIA¡¯ logo was fully removed. I picked up another bullet and continued.

    At some point, Seph pulled out his phone and began looking at something on it. I didn¡¯t really mind, as the quietness helped me focus on my work. I forced myself to only think of checking in, making sure there was some variety in my task so that my limbs could not go on autopilot and leave my mind to wander.

    Before I realized it, I was finishing up work on the final bullet. I set it down, the logo cleanly removed, and sighed. ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± I said.

    Seph looked up from his device. His mind seemed to take a moment to process before he spoke. ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± he began. ¡°You want to bring it back to Vivian now?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I suppose that would be the next thing to do,¡± I said simply, standing.

    Seph tucked his phone in his pocket, and stood to follow me. We made our way towards Vivian¡¯s door once more, and I knocked thrice before stepping back.

    Vivian opened the door and peeked out. ¡°You¡¯re finished?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yep,¡± I said, handing over the lighter.

    Vivian took it in her hands, turning it over and inspecting the state the lighter was in. ¡°Good enough,¡± she decided.

    At the words, Seph scoffed.

    Vivian gave him a pointed glance, to which he rolled his eyes. I looked between the two of them, unsure if I had just witnessed some sort of psychic communication.

    Vivian turned to me next. ¡°Next time you want to go on a murder spree, cover up your face better. Three more have dropped dead because you were careless,¡± she said.

    Without missing a beat, she whirled around and slammed the door on us.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be fucking joking,¡± I said, staring at Vivian¡¯s door.

    ¡°Do you want to know where you can get a lighter here or not?¡± Seph asked.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if we could do the old fashioned:¡± I mimed rubbing two sticks together with my hands.

    ¡°Because that¡¯s slow and impractical,¡± Seph said. ¡°Vivian has plenty of little trinkets in her bag - I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll lend us one little lighter.¡±

    ¡°Have you met Vivian?¡± I asked. ¡°She is the queen of the entitled bitchdom.¡±

    Seph sighed. ¡°Give her a chance. I promise she¡¯ll be fine with it.¡±

    ¡°And if she¡¯s not?¡± I asked. ¡°What if she demands something in return?¡±

    ¡°I suppose we just meet her demands,¡± Seph said, knocking.

    The seconds after the last knock dragged on, as if we spent a whole hour standing in front of that door, waiting.

    Vivian opened the door just a crack, peeking through and grumling: ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°We were wondering¡­¡± Seph trailed off, glancing at me.

    I sighed. ¡°We want to borrow a lighter,¡± I said in a monotone.

    ¡°Why?¡± She asked.

    I looked at Seph, before turning back and shrugging. ¡°No reason.¡±

    Vivian paused, as if considering pressing us a little more. She then sighed, and slammed the door.

    ¡°Welp, that¡¯s that,¡± I said.

    ¡°No, she¡¯s just grabbing the lighter. She doesn¡¯t like people seeing the inside of her room.¡±

    My brain instantly brought the memory of me sneaking around inside her chambers to the top of my memory. I said nothing in response.

    Sure enough, Vivian opened the door and handed us a green lighter. ¡°Return it in pristine condition,¡± she said. ¡°Or I will slit both of your throats.¡±

    She closed the door again. Seph turned to me and smiled. ¡°A real charmer she is.¡±

    I shrugged, and carried the lighter over into my room, setting it down on the table. Seph settled in next to me.

    ¡°Well,¡± I picked up the lighter. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll just do it then.¡±

    ¡°Mh-hm,¡± Seph said, nodding.

    I flicked the lighter on, summoning a small flame. With the other hand, I grabbed a CIA-style bullet. Pinching either side and directing the logo towards the flame, I brought the metal to it. Nothing happened at first. After a little bit, I felt the metal begin to grow hot on my fingers. I lowered my body downwards into a half-crouch, trying to keep my hands level.

    My gaze checked the melting progress. The metal was becoming a little more liquid-ish, and the logo was beginning to fade. But, it wasn¡¯t good enough. I felt bits of pain on my fingers as the metal heated more. I gritted my teeth, pressing down as hard as possible to create a second source of discomfort that distracted me from the first. With a grimace, I jabbed the flame further into the metal.

    ¡°Son of a bitch!¡± I exclaimed, dropping the bullet when hit with the overwhelming heat. My gaze found its way to my hands - which were reddened from the heat. ¡°Fucking burned myself¡­¡±

    Seph grasped my palm, and he shook his head. ¡°Not a burn yet, but be careful next time,¡± he scolded.

    I looked into his eyes, and his gaze softened. After a moment, I broke eye contact, and reached down to collect the dropped ammunition. I poked it first, and was glad to feel that the metal was much cooler. I hesitated for just a second, before wrapping two fingers around some of the cooler spots and raising it up to examine my work.

    The ¡®CIA¡¯ written on the bullet was nearly unreadable, and the carving could have said anything. It was bent out of shape slightly, but that would have to do. I grabbed my gun and loaded it in. Thankfully, it was still good enough. I looked back at Seph, smiling. ¡°Well, there¡¯s one,¡± I said.

    He shrugged. ¡°I suppose it worked.¡±

    ¡°You ¡®suppose¡¯?¡± I teased, swinging the gun around.

    ¡°Shit, Cade - be careful with that,¡± he shrunk away from the weapon.

    My mood dampened, seeing him like that. I sighed, setting the gun on the table and removing the bullets. ¡°Yeah, I suppose playing around with weapons is not the best idea.¡±

    Seph rolled his eyes. ¡°¡®Not the best idea¡¯ indeed.¡±

    After a moment¡¯s pause, he picked up the lighter. ¡°I¡¯ll do the next one.¡±

    I nearly sighed with relief. ¡°Thank you,¡± I breathed, sitting down on the bed. I was hit with a sudden wave of exhaustion, and had to fight the urge to just fall asleep right then and there. Instead, I just let my body fall down onto the mattress, but didn¡¯t dare close my eyes.

    I heard the click of the lighter, and the sound of Seph¡¯s heavy breathing. Normally, the sound would be unwelcome and annoying. But here, it was comforting; one constant in a world of chaos and unpredictability. My gaze stared straight up at the ceiling, trying so very hard not to let my thoughts wander.

    But, they did.

    Like a sudden weight placed upon me, I felt the air escape from my chest. I got plagued with true, bitter hopelessness. It struck in waves, pounding in my chest. Blood began to roar in my ears, as I tried not to react or dare show a sign of what went on within me.

    Like clockwork, the cycle had repeated. I went on with my day, trying to keep whatever bits and pieces of me that were left together. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes I could avoid everything and focus only on the task at hand. I could push myself harder and harder, work more and more - but still feel nothing. Downtime stacked on me just as much a looming task would to a normal person. For me, it was just another opportunity for my mind to revel in its own suffering.

    It could be worse, I tried to remind myself, as everyone had always done.

    I know.

    That part of me spoke again, the one that before now had only spoken for pain and violence. But now¡­

    I don¡¯t need to be like this.

    It spoke again. Or, I spoke again¡­ I couldn¡¯t tell anymore.

    I can¡¯t stop it.

    I can.

    What the fuck is wrong with me?

    There¡¯s nothing wrong with you.

    You¡¯re not supposed to hear someone in your fucking head.

    I waited for a reply, but none came. Almost as if it was in the distance, I heard Seph talking. I could not make out what he was saying; the words sounded almost¡­ muffled.

    I sat up, forcing the world around me into clarity. I was suddenly aware of a pounding pain in my head, which I tried and failed to ignore. Seph was smiling, holding up a bullet clear of the CIA¡¯s logo.

    ¡°Good job,¡± I said, my voice hollow.

    Seph¡¯s brow tightened in concern. ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked.

    A spike of painfully bubbly anxiety erupted in my system. He¡¯ll think I¡¯m crazy¡­ I am crazy.

    I blinked a few times. ¡°Yeah,¡± I forced out, trying to make my voice sound less pained than I felt.

    ¡°You want me to do a few more?¡± he glanced down at the pile of bullets. ¡°I think I¡¯ve found a pretty good method.¡±

    I nodded, first slowly, then faster. ¡°Yes, yes¡­ I would love that.¡±

    Seph offered me a half-smile before returning to his work. There was a moment of silence before I decided to speak.

    ¡°Seph?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yeah?¡± he responded, not looking up.

    ¡°They¡¯re going to find me,¡± I said.

    Seph froze, the fire still melting the bullet. ¡°What makes you say that?¡± he asked stiffly.

    ¡°Not now, but they will figure it out eventually,¡± I sighed. ¡°I mean, they¡¯re the fucking CIA.¡±

    ¡°Sure, but you¡¯re fucking Cade. You¡¯re uncatchable,¡± Seph reminded me, back to focusing on what he was doing.

    ¡°They caught me once,¡± I said.

    ¡°They¡¯ll never find out,¡± Seph said darkly. He sounded so sure of it that I almost wanted to believe him.

    ¡°What makes you say that?¡± I asked, staring off into the distance with unfocused eyes.

    ¡°If anyone ever discovers it¡­¡± Seph trailed off, his lips twisting into a sadistic expression. ¡°We¡¯ll make sure they don¡¯t make it halfway to Whiteford¡¯s office.¡± He dropped the now completed bullet, picking up another and starting on it.

    ¡°It would look suspicious¡­ another agent dead.¡±

    Seph looked up at me. ¡°A true killer never strikes only once,¡± he said. ¡°Make it look like a crazy Russian bastard who infiltrated our ranks.¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t be hard, I guess,¡± I added. ¡°They assumed that much already.¡±

    Seph nodded, finishing up another bullet. He turned to me. ¡°You want to do the next one?¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± I said, shrugging.

    We flipped places, me now positioned in front of the desk and Seph sitting upon my springy mattress.

    I grabbed the lighter and a bullet, hesitating before setting fire to the metal. I turned to Seph. ¡°What¡¯s your ¡®pretty good method¡¯?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Hold the bullet steady, two fingers at each tip, and let the fire only graze the metal, not penetrate it.¡± Seph explained.

    It sounded pretty reasonable. ¡°Thanks,¡± I said, positioning my fingers and the lighter like he said and activating the flame.

    Instantly, I felt the difference. Instead of the heat licking my fingers through the metal, I only felt a faint warmth from how close they were to the fire. I checked on the logo, seeing that, although it didn¡¯t melt as fast, it was still working.

    ¡°There we go,¡± I said.

    At the edge of my vision, I swore I saw Seph¡¯s lips tilt upward into a smile. ¡°It¡¯s almost like being back in the days of being a criminal,¡± he remarked wistfully.

    ¡°Except nowadays we have actual peace and quiet,¡± I said.

    There was a pause. ¡°Peace and quiet isn¡¯t always a good thing,¡± Seph muttered.

    I looked up, staring directly at him. ¡°What?¡± I asked, half shocked, half relieved that he felt the same way as me.

    ¡°I¡¯m just saying that being left alone to your thoughts isn¡¯t great if your thoughts are awful company.¡±

    I had no clue of how to respond to that. I could say ¡®same¡¯, could say that ¡®peace and quiet are good¡¯¡­ but none of those sounded right. And, the second option would just be an outright lie. So, I just managed a ¡°Hm,¡± and went back to my work.

    After a bit more silence, I checked the bottom of the bullet. The ¡®CIA¡¯ logo was fully removed. I picked up another bullet and continued.

    At some point, Seph pulled out his phone and began looking at something on it. I didn¡¯t really mind, as the quietness helped me focus on my work. I forced myself to only think of checking in, making sure there was some variety in my task so that my limbs could not go on autopilot and leave my mind to wander.

    Before I realized it, I was finishing up work on the final bullet. I set it down, the logo cleanly removed, and sighed. ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± I said.

    Seph looked up from his device. His mind seemed to take a moment to process before he spoke. ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± he began. ¡°You want to bring it back to Vivian now?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I suppose that would be the next thing to do,¡± I said simply, standing.

    Seph tucked his phone in his pocket, and stood to follow me. We made our way towards Vivian¡¯s door once more, and I knocked thrice before stepping back.

    Vivian opened the door and peeked out. ¡°You¡¯re finished?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yep,¡± I said, handing over the lighter.

    Vivian took it in her hands, turning it over and inspecting the state the lighter was in. ¡°Good enough,¡± she decided.

    At the words, Seph scoffed.

    Vivian gave him a pointed glance, to which he rolled his eyes. I looked between the two of them, unsure if I had just witnessed some sort of psychic communication.

    Vivian turned to me next. ¡°Next time you want to go on a murder spree, cover up your face better. Three more have dropped dead because you were careless,¡± she said.

    Without missing a beat, she whirled around and slammed the door on us.