11-24-2019, 08:48 PM
Unknown location, Lauchenoiria
24th November 2019 – 1am local time
The building had a surprising number of people in it. From the outside, it looked abandoned, like the people working there had all fled during the war. But inside, it was busier than it had been since it was used as a warehouse. Coming down the path outside were two people. One, a man who did not like others to utter his name, pushing a young woman, bald and weak, sitting in a wheelchair.
“I would tell you that you don’t have to be here, Jessica, but we both know I’d be lying,” the man said, staring straight ahead and not looking at the woman.
“You’re right, Gabriel, I have no choice,” the woman hissed, her voice still quiet and sore, but full of fury. “Because God forbid I disobey you. God forbid I don’t jump when you call. God forbid I want my own life. Or even just to survive.”
“Do not use my name, Jessica.”
“Oh, does it bother you? Maybe I’ll stop then. Of course, you never stopped for five minutes to think the last time you gave me an order. You never thought to warn me, to warn us that it could get us killed!”
“You’re an angry little thing, aren’t you?”
“You are lucky my body is weak or I would kill you. And don’t think I wouldn’t.”
“I believe you, Ms. Cassidy. However, I am your superior officer and if you continue to show me that disrespect, or show me it in public…”
“I’m already dying, Mr. Fleming. What more can you do to me? And you wouldn’t have brought me here against my doctor’s wishes if you didn’t need me. So, tell me? What’s so important that it required dragging me out of a hospital in the middle of the night?”
The man, Gabriel Fleming (if that was even his real name), didn’t answer. They arrived at the entrance, and Fleming nodded towards a security guard who let them pass. He took ahold of Jessica’s wheelchair once more, pushing her down the corridor into a room. Inside was an assembly of maybe 30 people. Jessica recognised some of them, but others were complete strangers to her.
Fleming left her next to the others, and went to talk to a woman standing near the front of the room. Jessica knew the woman, they had met once. Jae Chung, who had brought the USB that had revealed Charissa Clarke’s true identity. A valuable addition to the Resistance’s side in the peace talks, and one Jessica would be ever grateful for. She relaxed slightly. If Chung was here, then whatever Fleming was going to say couldn’t be too bad.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Fleming turned to face the gathered people, “you are now part of a taskforce dedicated to identifying, tracking down and eventually capturing Kerlian sleeper agents. We will, at all times and with no exceptions be looking to work under the radar. Bear in mind that these individuals may be highly dangerous. We must track them down before they can do as much damage as that first one, Clarke, managed last year. Any questions?”
The people in the room all glanced around at each other. Aside from Jae Chung, Jessica also saw another couple of hackers she’d worked with before and liked enough (though they weren’t nearly as good as her, of course). She was conflicted. On the one hand, she did not want to work with Fleming again. Nor did she want to do anything dangerous again. Yet… the Kerlians had hurt her. And as she remembered, a rage inside her burned, and suddenly she wanted nothing more than to hunt down Kerlian agents.
“How many people are part of this taskforce?” someone asked.
“The people in this building at the present moment and nobody else,” Fleming answered. “However, I am about to contact my counterparts in Shuell… I believe they have skills that could aid us here. We have information that would be useful to them. After all, Auroras are as much of a threat to them as they are to us.”
“If we end up working with Shuell does that mean we will be… utilising tactics that are not normally utilised in this country?” someone asked.
“Well,” Fleming chuckled. “That is not your department, so don’t let it worry you. The people in this room will be part of the investigative team, led by Ms. Chung here. She will give you your orders. Any further questions?”
“Yes,” Jessica found herself saying. “When do we start?”
Fleming smiled widely at Jessica, the kind of sadistic smile she had only seen before on the face of a Kerlian torturer.
“Immediately.”
24th November 2019 – 1am local time
The building had a surprising number of people in it. From the outside, it looked abandoned, like the people working there had all fled during the war. But inside, it was busier than it had been since it was used as a warehouse. Coming down the path outside were two people. One, a man who did not like others to utter his name, pushing a young woman, bald and weak, sitting in a wheelchair.
“I would tell you that you don’t have to be here, Jessica, but we both know I’d be lying,” the man said, staring straight ahead and not looking at the woman.
“You’re right, Gabriel, I have no choice,” the woman hissed, her voice still quiet and sore, but full of fury. “Because God forbid I disobey you. God forbid I don’t jump when you call. God forbid I want my own life. Or even just to survive.”
“Do not use my name, Jessica.”
“Oh, does it bother you? Maybe I’ll stop then. Of course, you never stopped for five minutes to think the last time you gave me an order. You never thought to warn me, to warn us that it could get us killed!”
“You’re an angry little thing, aren’t you?”
“You are lucky my body is weak or I would kill you. And don’t think I wouldn’t.”
“I believe you, Ms. Cassidy. However, I am your superior officer and if you continue to show me that disrespect, or show me it in public…”
“I’m already dying, Mr. Fleming. What more can you do to me? And you wouldn’t have brought me here against my doctor’s wishes if you didn’t need me. So, tell me? What’s so important that it required dragging me out of a hospital in the middle of the night?”
The man, Gabriel Fleming (if that was even his real name), didn’t answer. They arrived at the entrance, and Fleming nodded towards a security guard who let them pass. He took ahold of Jessica’s wheelchair once more, pushing her down the corridor into a room. Inside was an assembly of maybe 30 people. Jessica recognised some of them, but others were complete strangers to her.
Fleming left her next to the others, and went to talk to a woman standing near the front of the room. Jessica knew the woman, they had met once. Jae Chung, who had brought the USB that had revealed Charissa Clarke’s true identity. A valuable addition to the Resistance’s side in the peace talks, and one Jessica would be ever grateful for. She relaxed slightly. If Chung was here, then whatever Fleming was going to say couldn’t be too bad.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Fleming turned to face the gathered people, “you are now part of a taskforce dedicated to identifying, tracking down and eventually capturing Kerlian sleeper agents. We will, at all times and with no exceptions be looking to work under the radar. Bear in mind that these individuals may be highly dangerous. We must track them down before they can do as much damage as that first one, Clarke, managed last year. Any questions?”
The people in the room all glanced around at each other. Aside from Jae Chung, Jessica also saw another couple of hackers she’d worked with before and liked enough (though they weren’t nearly as good as her, of course). She was conflicted. On the one hand, she did not want to work with Fleming again. Nor did she want to do anything dangerous again. Yet… the Kerlians had hurt her. And as she remembered, a rage inside her burned, and suddenly she wanted nothing more than to hunt down Kerlian agents.
“How many people are part of this taskforce?” someone asked.
“The people in this building at the present moment and nobody else,” Fleming answered. “However, I am about to contact my counterparts in Shuell… I believe they have skills that could aid us here. We have information that would be useful to them. After all, Auroras are as much of a threat to them as they are to us.”
“If we end up working with Shuell does that mean we will be… utilising tactics that are not normally utilised in this country?” someone asked.
“Well,” Fleming chuckled. “That is not your department, so don’t let it worry you. The people in this room will be part of the investigative team, led by Ms. Chung here. She will give you your orders. Any further questions?”
“Yes,” Jessica found herself saying. “When do we start?”
Fleming smiled widely at Jessica, the kind of sadistic smile she had only seen before on the face of a Kerlian torturer.
“Immediately.”
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