Just As Suddenly… part 2

When Felix made it to the chief’s office, he knocked, “Permission to enter.”

“Granted.” The chief responded.

As he went inside, he found the chief sitting in front of her desk with a somber look.

“Chief, I saw two new faces earlier.” He said as he closed the door behind him and stroke the skin beneath his blue eye, “One of them… had different colored eyes.”

“Ah yes. Rico and Kaitlin. The two of them recently underwent the implementation, so they’re currently under observation while the professors run routine tests.”

“Right. Routine tests…” A white room flashed in his mind for a moment, before immediately shaking his head, breathing in, then exhaling deeply, “So why was I summoned here? Do I have my next mission?”

“Aren’t you eager. Before that…” The chief walked up to Felix, closing onto him at an uncomfortable distance, “Did your eyes really turn blue?”

”Yes, I believe that was in my report during the reconnaissance.”

“I may have glossed over that part.”

“You just… glossed over my report?”

“I just didn’t get to read it properly back then. Just what the hell did they put in you to make your eyes glow in the dark anyway?” The chief sighed as she walked back to her desk.

“You tell me… You’re the one with the information.”

“Back in my day, we didn’t have that kind of body altering drugs or cybernetic enhancements. We relied solely on our own wit and our weapons—”

“Chief, you’ve told me this story enough times.”

“And I’ll keep telling you about it until I’m satisfied.” The chief responded as she lit up her cigarette.

“About the last mission, the girl in the armor, um… Agent CT-2…”

“Carol Thomas wasn’t as “critically wounded” as you said she was. Her armor took the brunt of the damage. Thanks to you, Cygnus now owes us a favor for securing their tech and keeping one of their agents alive.”

“So her name was Carol? I’m glad she’s alright. And any survivors?” Felix sighed with relief.

“None. Everyone in the factory was found dead, save for the one you caught.”

“... I see.”

The chief’s gaze lingered on Felix’s cold expression, before lighting up her cigarette, “You got there late, and Cygnus’ CEO wasn’t exactly being cooperative with their information. But from what I can piece together, Miss Carol was lured out to steal her armor.”

“Right… the man said he wanted to sell it and get his family out of debt.” Felix’s eyebrows curled, “But how could they possibly have known she would show up?”

“They didn’t. A couple of robins were discovered dead two days after your encounter. So they sent in one of HERCULES Bulwarks, just to be sure.”

“I see.” He nodded, “And the weapon I brought you?”

“Our scientists are doing what they can, they’ve detected traces of radiation from the weapon. Advanced piece of tech. We’ll get more info on it later, but for now, the eggheads are too scared to crack it open.”

“Care to explain why I’m not involved in this briefing?” The door opened as Maria nonchalantly waltzed in unannounced with dark bags under her eyes, dressed in a pale-yellow shirt with a white pizza printed in the middle.

“Marie.” Felix greeted, his head leaned against the sofa as he looked at her.

“Because this is a solo mission.” The older lady answered.

The chief raised an eyebrow, “You’re supposed to be analyzing the key. Are you done?”

“No…” She sighed, “It has a multi-layered encryption lock on it. Why would a key be locked?” Her voice grew low and curious.

Felix patted the seat beside him, and Maria sat down grumpily with her arms crossed.

“That’s for you to find out.”

“You sure you want your multi-billion dollar weapon walking unsupervised in Japan?” Maria folded her arms, Felix’s eyes twitching.

“It would be good for Felix not to rely on you so much.”

“I don’t rely on—”

The chief swiped the holographic screen his way. On it was a photo of a young blonde girl. As Felix skimmed through it, a particular detail caught his eye.

“Hm?” His hand hovered over the screen, “A pop idol?”

“This is the daughter of Takeuchi Sakurai.”

“Obsidian Industries heiress,” Felix uttered, “Why don’t they just use their own operatives?”

“Yeah, if it’s professional help they were looking for, why did they pick Felix?” Maria scoffed.

“Rank eighty-four, Ernesto Hansen, fifty-two, Andrea Vergara, twenty-seven, Warren Antonovich, all riddled with bullets alongside four Robins.” Chief removed her glasses and wiped them.

Caught off guard, Felix didn’t know how to respond. Noticing this, Maria let out a bitter joke, “Poor word birds. Guess that means they finally recognize Felix’s ability.”

“Actually, Felix was their third choice. Sir Takeuchi wanted the highest-ranked ‘esper’ available. But since they’re occupied, that leaves you.” She said, putting her glasses back on.

“Esper?” He echoed.

“It’s what everyone from Project ASTRAEA will officially be referred to from here on out, to differentiate you from the Enhanced Humans, like Project HERCULES’ Bulwarks, or Project CHIMERA’s chimeras.”

“Project Chimera?” Maria echoed as gears started to turn in her head.

“I guess it’s better than Homo Lucerna or whatever…” He shrugged.

She turned to him, repulsed, “Oh god, is that what we’re called? Esper sounds so much better.”

“So, Mister Takeuchi chose me as a last resort, huh?” He smirked.

“The Director was also bothered by how Aetherion intervened when you were in pursuit of Lewis Shaw.”

“Even though we intervened with Cygnus?” Maria scoffed.

“We saved a Cygnus operative, while Aetherion intervened with ours. Anyways, the higher-ups raised an eyebrow when you suddenly jumped ranks, after being stagnant for so long, they wanted to see where their funding went, so Obsidian decided to borrow you for twenty-four hours.”

“So, an exhibition?” Felix asked, “Seems like a hassle to travel all the way there if I’m just staying for one day.”

“Didn’t you say you were the best agent here?”

“I’m not saying I can’t do it.”

“I think this might interest you.” She slid another screen his way, barely contained any information.

“Golden Survivor?” He read outloud, turning towards the chief, “Is this the target?”

“His hired gun name. No background, no images of him either. All we know is that he’s male, and that he’s close to one of the heiress’s friends.”

“Which one?”

“We don’t know.”

He sighed.

“That’s helpful.” Maria scoffed.

“The robin who collecting this info was killed before they could deliver the details. Phone shattered, body in a dumpster, covered in ashes that we believe were handwritten notes.” The chief clarified.

“Yikes.”

Felix covered his face with his palm, “I see…”

“There’s one thing we were able to salvage… a torn-up piece of paper in his pocket that said Jackal.”

His lips widened ever so slightly upon hearing the words she uttered, “Jackal… huh?”

“Weren’t all of his accomplices in Cocytus penitentiary?” Maria interjected.

“We doubt it’s actually him… but using speculation from the intel the Robin System’s collected, he might be forming a new little band of terrorists, a new set of “Fangs”, if you will.”

“But, why target her instead of the CEO himself?” He muttered outloud.

“Taking out the higher-ups might be a task too difficult for them. But in targeting an official’s family members during the concert, it’s basically a declaration that he’s not afraid of us.”

“And if it’s a distraction?” Maria asked.

“Doesn’t matter. We still can’t let her die.” Felix cut in.

“That’s right. You hit the most vulnerable point, and suddenly, everything shifts. If her true identity will be exposed to the public, it’ll become a widespread scandal. Protecting the CEO is one thing, but we’re supposed to protect his family too. And if she dies in front of a crowd— that’s something we can’t afford. If possible, we would like you to detain him.”

“Understood.” He nodded.

“You will leave tomorrow morning. Preparations are being made as we speak. For now, you just get some rest. Or you could start right now, if you so prefer.” The chief snickered.

“So then, can I join? If only for sight-seeing.” Maria chimed in.

“Marie…” Felix spoke.

“Fine, fine. You suck as a bodyguard. You know that, right?” She sulked.

“Then I guess it’s time to prepare.” He stood up and stretched his arms out.

“Before that…” The chief answered as she reached for something under her desk.

“Cake?” Maria mumbled.

With a curious look, Felix asked, as he walked forward, “What’s the occasion?”

She pushed up the bridge of her orange-tinted glasses, “Congratulations on being promoted to rank eleven.”

Both Felix and Maria walked up and took a slice of the chocolate cake on her table. Maria sat back after taking her portion, her feet up on the chair as she enjoyed the cake with a smile on her face, while Felix continued to stand as he took a bite.

The chief asked with an approving smirk; “So, how does it feel to no longer be the Black Cat of Ruin?”

“Has anything changed really?”

“I see, then let me rephrase my question, how does it feel achieving Luna’s goal for her?”

“Reaching the first rank is a means… not an end.” Felix grumbled after taking a bite from his cake.

“Luna?” Maria mumbled out.

“Has Felix not told you?”

“My mentor.” He cut the chief off, “The one I told you about before.”

“So that’s her name…” Maria muttered to herself, her tone and expression grew cold.

The short-lived party ended as the day faded into night, and a new day dawned.

~