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*BANG*
That moment is still fresh in her mind. From the sound of her ears ringing from the gunshot, to the smell of gunpowder hanging in the air, to even the pain in her wrists from the recoil. A decade later and it was still as vivid as the moment she experienced it.
Her eyes welled with tears as she saw Abraham give her a weak smile, the man clutching at his bloody chest where the fatal bullet had hit him.
“No. No no no no no!!”
As he fell backwards, the girl dropped the gun and ran to him. But just as her hands reached out to him, his body vanished into ash and embers.
The only thing that remained of the man’s memory was a twisted piece of metal sticking up from the heart of the cinders. Carefully, the girl gently pulled the metal fragment out and clutched it tightly to her chest. It was the bullet that had taken Abraham’s life. Though she wanted nothing more than to throw it far away and forget this nightmare, holding the metal fragment close seemed to bring his parting words to mind.
“Promise me that you’ll keep living…”
“I promise,” she sobbed, “I promise I will.”
“Hey, Ari, wake up.”
A gentle shaking rouses the woman from her sleep. As she comes to, she feels something warm running down her cheeks. Looking down at her was a familiar looking young man with a worried look on his face. His warm blue eyes were filled with worry.
“You were having the dream again, huh?”
“Yeah.”
Arianne lifted herself out of bed and wiped the tears away. Back when she and Dwight got together, she would have felt embarrassed at him seeing her crying. But she knows better now, and how even he’s haunted by similar visions in his sleep.
“Need a moment?” he asked, voice soft.
“No, I’ll be okay. What time is it anyways?”
“It’s almost 8.” Dwight grabbed Arianne’s glasses off the bedside drawer and put them on her, “We need to get ready for the meeting.”
“Oh right. Forgot about that. Don’t worry, I’ll be ready quickly.”
Blazing through her morning routine, the woman got into her work uniform in what she would consider record time (“Don’t eat and dress at the same time! You’ll just get dirty!” Dwight had snapped at her while she scarfed down the breakfast he got her.) the two were off to the IPC offices before the hour was up.
Compared to the sterile and almost threatening appearance of her fellow IPC officials’ offices, Branch Director Cao’s own office felt almost homey. Blinding white walls had been painted a calming blue color, while the floor had been given a faux-wood appearance compared to the countless plain tiles used elsewhere. On the walls, photos of her travels and paintings that caught her fancy hung proudly. And in her numerous bookshelves mixed in with the nick-nacks she fancied were books of all kinds, from novels to manuals to even comics.
Even the meeting room that was attached to her office had been made her own, with the most notable change being that instead of the usual meeting desk and high chairs there was a large coffee table with seats ranging from sofas to love seats to, strangely, a rocking chair.
As she made her way into the meeting room, she was glad to see that most of her subordinate agents and volunteers had made it to the meeting on time, even if a few of them still looked to be half asleep.
“Is everyone here yet?” she asked, her clear voice snapping even the drowsy to attention.
“Those two lil’ kids haven’t bothered to show up.” Gabriel spoke up. The dismissive way he referred to his younger companions seemed to have earned the ire of his wife, who smacked him on the thigh.
“They should be here soon, madam.” Tanya responded, “They messaged me a few minutes ago that they were parking.”
“Oh, we’re not seeing our two tourtereaux up here for at least half an hour then.” George added, “Even showing up an hour ahead of time didn’t save me from running circles in there.”
“Don’t!...Write us!...Off!”
Rushing into the room were Dwight and Arianne, the two looking like they had run up the stairs to the 7th floor meeting room.
Director Cao checked her watch, 9:00 on the dot.
“Congratulations you two, you made it just in time.
“Yaaaaaay,” Dwight cheered weakly before letting himself slump into the sofa Tanya was sitting on.
“Sorry for this. We ran up from the parking lot to here.”
“Its fine. The important thing is that you made it,” The director pointed to one of the empty chairs, “But please, take a seat, I have something important to tell you all.”
Once everyone had been settled in, Director Cao lowered the curtains and turned on the projection device on the table.
Displayed before them was a map of the country of Vershinamira as well as the photos of several ground agents.
“First thing’s first, I’m afraid our mission into the Podnozju region was a failure. One of our agents was killed.”
Off to the side, she could see Gabe take George’s hand, as if to help ease the younger man’s fears.
“While we managed to rescue most of the other agents, Captain Bennett remained in Syndicate hands. According to reports, he had offered himself up as a hostage in exchange for our agents to be extracted.”
She could sense the tension in the room. Ten years ago, these people had survived an ordeal together, one that she herself had a hand in investigating. So she couldn’t blame them for how they were feeling. So the director was quick to add,
“Due to his high profile status as a Captain of the International Police Coalition and a veteran of the Ten Points War, its very likely Captain Bennett is still alive.”
“Do you know where they took him?” George asked, his voice shaking with fear,
“At the moment we don’t, but considering that prior to failure the agents reported that Syndicate officials were preparing to return to their main headquarters, its safe to assume he’s no longer in Vershinamira.”
In the middle of the anxious silence, there was only one person who was willing to cut through the tension.
“Ms. Cao, if I may?”
The director let out a small sigh of relief,
“You may speak.”
“Thank you.”
Tanya stood up, looking over her fellow survivors for a moment. Once she seemed to find the courage again to speak, she started,
“As you know, the Syndicate has carried on some of the traditions of the Committee. The most prominent of these being the killing game that me and everyone in this room is...intimately familiar with.”
“But they’ve been using it for stifling dissent in their territories,” Maria finally spoke up, “While the Committee’s games were cruel, there was still this ill-gotten belief that they were serving the betterment of the world. Not the Syndicate.”
“That’s right. Like that orphanage they used to break the faith people had in the churches of Eizenherz.”
“W-What orphanage?” Dwight asked,
Director Cao shut her eyes,
“Apologies for not mentioning it, as I know someone like you would feel strongly about such a thing. But...about a couple years ago, an entire orphanage of children run by the Catholic church in Eizenherz were taken and forced into a game similar to your own.” The woman pinched the bridge of her nose, a migraine setting in from the memory of the videos she saw, ”The results of the bloodbath were broadcasted all over the country.”
“The message was clear,” Maria added, “No one will protect those you love from us. Not a government. Not a church. No one.”
“I see…”
Dwight slumped back, looking pale. Sensing his distress, Arianne moved over to his side and began to rub circles against his back. With him in caring hands, Tanya decided to continue,
“Anyways, as I was saying, its possible they will try and force Hector into such a game. As the sight of an IPC captain being forced to kill civilians in order to survive will surely shatter the morale of people still holding on for us to save them.”
“And what do you propose we do in this regard,” Director Cao asked,
Tanya squeezed her palms tight. She seemed disgusted by what she was about to recommend, but deep down knew it was the only way they could guarantee their lost friend’s safety.
“We...we send someone into that game and extract him ourselves.”
The woman shut her eyes tightly, expecting her fellow survivors to blow up at her. Asking how dare she consider sending someone into that hell once again. But the blowback never came. Instead, something else happened.
“Haaah, guess there’s really no other choice, ain’t there? Going back, hmm...”
“C’est la vide. But if it’s the only way….”
“It might be the third time, but for one of us…”
They all seemed to be genuinely considering who to go. But just as conversation began to spark, Director Cao cleared her throat,
“While I can see the value of this plan, there are two issues I can see with it. One being that risking so much just for another agent doesn’t seem like the smartest choice. Second is that we have no way of being able to even know how to take part in their game.”
“E-Excuse me, Director?”
Dwight broke into the conversation finally, the young man looking surprised even at himself,
“I-If we assume that they record everything that happens, then there has to be a place where they send those recordings too. The agent we send in can then also break into the recording systems and see where their broadcasting destination is. We’d then have a better idea where the Syndicate’s HQ is at.”
“Hmmm, fair. But then if we were to consider who to send with that kind of qualification…”
“You only have one choice.”
Arianne stood up, fear written clearly on her face but a defiance in her eyes.
“Of everyone in our branch of the IPC, I’m the only one you can trust that matches that criteria.”
“N-No, Ari you can’t!” Dwight shouted “I-I won’t let you go back there!”
“Who else can do it, Dwight? Tanya is out because they know her and would take her out back to be shot for betraying them. And any other agent in my department is also out of the question because of how stupid loyal they are to Chief Wolfrum. They’d get Hector killed.”
“If we don’t have any choices then...I’ll do it! I’ll go!”
“And how will you get into their systems?! You can barely log onto our own systems!”
“I’ll find a way! Even if it takes ages, I’ll—“
“Cease your fighting this instant.”
Dwight and Arianne both looked at the director. Despite being taller than her, the two visibly shrunk under her intense gaze. Once they had a moment to cool off, the Director let out a sigh,
“If neither will let the other go, then perhaps the way to solve this is to have the two of you go.”
“What?!” Now it was Tanya’s turn to be indignant, “What do you mean send them both?!”
“Officers Aiken and Hatcher are both skilled in different aspects, with the former a prodigy among our cybers agents and the latter a powerful asset of our security wing. And as the two are already intimately familiar with each other, I’m sure I can trust that both of them would ensure not only the safe return of Captain Bennett, but also their own.”
At that, Tanya couldn’t argue.
“I know it isn’t favorable, but from my position, this seems to be the most sensible choice given what we know and what we need to accomplish.”
She then added,
“But that still doesn’t answer the question as to how we’ll be bringing our agents into the game.”
“I…” Tanya bit her lip, “I know a way.”
“You do?”
“I still have some connections that trust my story over whatever the head of the Syndicate told them about me. So I could use them to put their names into the coming game, framing it like a personal hit.”
“And you can trust these people will get our agents in?”
“Yes, I can almost guarantee it. They...they knew me and my beloved.” she answered solemnly, “So framing it like its something for both our sakes will make sure they put them in.”
Director Cao looked upon her agents. All of them had this sense of trepidation upon them, but there was also a tension. Like they had to act now. As the leader of their branch, part of her job was alleviating their anxieties.
“So...we have our infiltrating agents and a way to get them into the game. Anyone opposed to this plan, or willing to offer an alternative?”
None spoke up, as expected.
“Very well then, we’ll iron out the details in the coming days but I hereby announce the official start of our operation.”
Normally, the group would cheer at the start of an operation. But perhaps because of what this meant this time—a return to the nightmare they left behind—the group was far more restrained than usual.
“For our friends.” Gabe and Maria said as they walked out.
“For our loved ones.” George and Tanya assured themselves.
“For everyone’s sake.” Dwight and Arianne muttered to no one in particular.
And with that, the pieces are now all in their place. Years of planning, now put into motion. Now the real battles begin.
Bonds will fracture and shatter.
Love will turn to hatred.
Faith will turn to blasphemy.
Abandon it. Abandon all of your hope, for the only way you and your kind will be able to open the door to paradise is to crawl through this hell of pain and death.
Ah, I wonder what kind of tale will be spun from the lives that I’ve trapped here? What future they’ll call forth? Aaaah, I can’t wait...