Chapter 1 - Mission (Part A)

Chapter 01 – Mission (Part A)

Crux is an organization that operates in the shadows of the world’s united military, Perseus. The organization’s motto: “Our stars shall never fade!” Crux’s mission is to maintain civilian peace and safety within their respective country, thus the establishment of branches within each continent. Perseus eliminated the most prominent threats of global human extinctions in the year 2032. However, there still exist sporadic appearances of distortions throughout all smarties in the world. In order to maintain civilian peace and safety, this information is not disclosed to the public, nor is it permitted to be widely known.

Becoming a Crux operative is an opportunity bestowed to only a select few throughout a country. Students in high school who maintain consistent high scores in all subjects are scouted to join via email marked as spam. If a student opens the email but do not respond within the allotted time frame after opening, the email deletes itself without a trace. However, if a prospective students were to open the email and enroll into Crux Academy, they are offered a ten thousand in worldwide secured digital currency. In exchange, they must never speak of Crux nor any affiliations to anyone outside of immediate family; the family must abide by these rules as well.

There is much to be discussed about the organization Crux, such as its history, Crux Academy, and more. But for now…

*************

Female Operative: “Atria Unit, Operative 42-1 Mare, online. In position. Teammates, are your coms on? Report.”

Dob: “Operative 42-2 Dob reporting. Visual and voice com at 100%. 42-3 Barlow, status please.”

Barlow: “….”

Dob: “42-3, can you read us? Please respond.”

Barlow: “….”

Dob: “42-3!”

Barlow: “Oh, sorry! I wasn’t paying attention,” he replied sheepishly.

Dob: “Crap like that will cause us to lose points, airhead!”

Mare: “Never mind the points! Operative 42-3, stay sharp! How’s the situation near the distortion front?”

Barlow was positioned on top of a thirty-two foot building, surrounded by a crowd of buildings of various heights and bright, colorful neon lights and advertisement videos. A distortion the size of a normal house door was to the right of him, hanging in mid-air. After observing the distortion, Barlow relayed his information on the voice com. “The distortion is stable. No signs of any unusual activities. It should be easy to dispel, but I’m not sure if our target is still in the surrounding area.”

“Are you not sure because you don’t see it, or are you unsure because you weren’t paying attention?” Dob taunted disdainfully.

“Knock it off, Dob! Now’s not the time for that!” Mare, the leader of the Atria Unit, promptly scolded. “What’s your position, Dob? Is our target showing up on your visual com? Barlow can’t dispel that distortion unless we locate and destroy it.”

Dob, who was positioned in an empty park, was scanning his surroundings on his visual com’s infrared mode. “Nah, not pickin’ up on anything ‘cept the trees and such.”

“Dammit,” Mare muttered, slightly frustrated. “Where could it possibly be?” As soon as she uttered those words, a small, black object whizzed by her. Not sparing a single second, she relayed her findings on the voice com. “URO spotted! It flew past me! Its speed is fast! Going into pursuit! I’m in the northwest center of the entertainment district!”

“Mare, wait!” Dob relayed.

Mare quickly readied her Quasar and pursued after the URO, an Unidentified Radiant Object. She briskly ran alongside the windows of the tall buildings of her surroundings, leaping over and parkouring forward from numerous neon signs, building fixtures, and hover vehicles in order to catch up to her target. Soon, the URO came into clear view, still a distance away from her. The URO was identified as a bat-like creature, not unlike the properties and color of a distortion. Mare catapulted herself into the air in order to place herself above the URO, activating her Quasar, emitting a brilliant light shaped as a large battle lance from the weapon’s hilt against the moon illuminating the vibrant city’s landscape. “You’re mine!” Mare shouted with cunning glee.

The moment she launched herself toward her target, the contour of an unknown person swiftly flew diagonally downward, slashing the same target in a blink of an eye. As soon as the shadowed figure was out of sight, the URO suddenly imploded, its energy particles promptly dispersing into nothingness among the air.

Mare landed onto the ground below her, visibly confused and ticked off. “Hey, what’s the big idea!? Who’s the thief that stole my kill?”

VR Simulation program terminated.

The setting around the Atria Unit gradually faded away, reverting into the reality of a large auditorium classroom. Mare angrily removed her VR helmet, Dob and Barlow calmly removed theirs. Most of the class, including Dob and Barlow, were agape at the person who were in their presence. A man, aged 25, with black hair, amber brown eyes, and a gentle yet unchanging emotionless expression, clothed in the uniform of Crux’s top operative division.

“My, looks like we have a celebrity in our presence,” the teacher spoke, with a seemingly permanent smile and closed eyes. “Class, this is Operative 01: Sirius, the strongest operative within the entire Crux organization and the top graduate student at Crux Academy!”

The class erupted in small chatter among themselves. “It’s Operative Sirius!” “He’s handsome!” “Do you mean Sirius the Undamaged?” “They call him the Undamaged because he’s never been injured in any of his 200+ missions!”

“T-the strongest operative?” Mare was taken aback in comic bewilderment.

“I’m surprised you didn’t know nor recognize Sirius, Mare,” Barlow teased.

“Hey, I don’t need to hear that from Captain Airhead of the Space Brigade!”

The teacher ignored the students’ squabble and continued to address Sirius. “What brings you here today, Sirius?”

“I noticed that testing was in progress as I was walking around the academy. Thought I’d log in through Crux’s com to observe.” Sirius speaks in an unchanging, emotionless, matter-of-factly voice. It’s been said that he has always spoken this way, but nobody knows the reason why.

Sirius turned towards the three students that were participating in the simulation exam. “Mare, Dob, and Barlow, I assume?”

“Y-yes, sir!” Mare said, immediately assuming formal position, which was unnecessary.

Sirius began his evaluation. “Barlow, pay attention more to the mission. Your lack of attention may endanger your comrades and could very well cost them their lives. Dob, save your bickering for after the mission, and remember that you are in no place to look down on your comrades, considering that you are in the same grouping as them. And Mare, never run off on your own. You may be the leader of your unit, but if a unit isn’t working together and have each other’s back, then it isn’t a unit but a fruitless competition.” Sirius turned towards the class to address them all. “In Crux, no one acts on their own accord. We must all work together to preserve civilian peace and order. If one person falls on our watch, whether citizen, student, or operative, then we fall along with them. Let classmates’ flaws become a valuable lesson going forward.”

“Yessir!” the class responded in formal unison.

The automatic door to the auditorium, located in the back of the classroom, opened. In walked a man, aged 22, with bright orange hair, also clothed in the uniform of Crux’s top operative division. He had a cheerful yet laid-back air and attitude about him. “Heyyy, Sirius! There you are!” he shouted from at the top of the auditorium. The class averted their attention and, embarrassingly, towards the new visitor.

“Who is that guy? Why is he so loud? Does he have any manners?” the class erupted in murmurs once more.

“He found me,” Sirius muttered under his breath.

“Sirius, buddy! You walked off the moment you saw me! I was going to invite you to lunch! You aren’t trying to hide from me, are you?”

“Could you be any louder, Procyon?” Sirius said. It was indeed true; Sirius logged into the simulation exam to avoid Procyon first and foremost.

“Whoa, did he say Procyon?” a student said. “He’s the seventh strongest operative of Crux!” The murmurs resumed again.

“I apologize for my comrade’s lack of formality,” Sirius said to the teacher, among the murmurs and Procyon’s shouting. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be on my way.”

“Hey, Sirius! You aren’t trying to leave without me, are ya?” Procyon was still shouting from the back of the classroom. “Heyyy, Sirius!”

*************

Some time had passed from when Sirius exited the classroom to Procyon chasing him down around the academy. Whether Procyon had managed to catch up to Sirius, or Sirius finally giving in to have lunch with Procyon to shut him up, the two were now at a diner in their residence city, Gossport. Gossport is not unlike the simulation exam the students were participating in. In fact, the simulation city is modeled after Gossport. From the neon lights, constant advertisement videos, hovering vehicles from cars to trucks to trains, and even the parks and crowded buildings of various heights. There were also bridges and highways that lead to neighboring districts.

In Gossport, and other smart cities around the world, the people are always connected in some way. Not only through roads, bridges, housing, education, and transportation, but also online presence, social media, the news, the latest trends, influencers, and so on.

“You just had to show off, didn’t ya?” Procyon playfully teased, casually flinging a potato fry into his mouth.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sirius responded, staring out the window up towards the hovering vehicles that passed by on the partly cloudy day.

“Sure ya do! Interrupting the exam, giving the class advice on how to become better operatives. Gotta uphold reputation of being Crux’s number one operative, right, ‘Pokerface’?”

“When are you going to stop following me everywhere I go whenever I’ve returned from a mission?”

“Aww, c’mon, don’t be like that. I only want to hear about your missions, your school days at the academy, or any advice or wisdom you may want to pass on to me!” From being slightly let down to starry-eyed wonder, Procyon always retained his laid-back, friendly demeanor, just as Sirius is always serious and emotionless.

“I have nothing to say.”

Procyon flung a couple more potato fries into his mouth and glanced at the owner of the diner working behind the counter, happily serving customers their meals. The owner had an electronic left arm and a right cybernetic eye, with a normal, human right arm and left eye. How he ended up in that state is anyone’s guess, but everyone in the life have their untold stories.

“The people of Gossport, as well as other smart cities, are diverse, of various ethnicity, backgrounds, age, status, profession, status, and salary,” Procyon began. “It didn’t used to be like this before the near global collapse of humanity that happened a hundred years ago. Yet, no matter how different they are, everyone embraced technology. Without the advanced technology and how widely available they are to citizens, a better standard of living wouldn’t have been achieved. With the presence and establishment of smart cities, crimes are always at a low. Life on earth has improved almost tenfold compared to the times prior to the year 2030. It’s almost as if the crisis was a blessing in disguise.”

“Is that so? What’s your point?”

Procyon dipped a potato fry into ketchup, slightly less relaxed as he usually is. “Sirius, what makes you - ” Before Procyon could finish his question, Sirius’s phone received a call.

“Operative Sirius reporting. Yes. Yes. Of course. I’ll be right there.” Sirius ended the call.

“Heading out?”

“Hm. Your question is going to have to wait. HQ is requesting me. A high level mission has been assigned.”

*************

Sirius stood before the stairs of a towering, massive building: Crux HQ. Located in the center of Gossport, its presence an intimidation to some, a marvel to others. To some Crux operatives, it’s just another day at the office; for other operatives, a castle. But for Sirius, no matter where he'd go in the city, Crux HQ always loomed over him. Always.

He silently clinched his fist and proceeded to climb the steps. Upon reaching the top of the stairs and at the entrance, the verification process initiated. The small microchip implanted on Sirius’s left ear flashed red repeatedly.

“Scanning…
Operative 01 Sirius.
First authorization granted. Requesting second authorization. Please enter your personal identification number.”

Sirius input his PIN number.

“Personal identification number verified. Entrance authorization granted.”

Various personnel greeted Sirius as he walked through the lobby, in which he returned the favor, making his way to the elevator. Once onboard, he entered a certain number on the elevator keypad and was taken to a certain floor within the building, proceeding to walk towards a large grey door, the only door present on that particular floor.

“Operative 01 Sirius, present,” he declared dutifully.

“Yes, you may enter,” an orotund voice behind the door responded.

The large door opened and Sirius entered into a spacious boardroom. A large wooden table was in the middle of the room, surrounded by five chairs on both the left and right. At the end of the table was one chair, behind it a large monitor with miscellaneous data and video footage. Between the chair and the monitor was the man who spoke.

“Welcome, Sirius. Glad you could arrive on such sudden timing,” the man greeted. He was a well-built man, though slightly scrawny. His presence, however, was of one that commanded respect on cue, no matter whom or where.

“Vice Commander Saturn,” Sirius returned the salutation. “It’s an honor to protect the stars. I don’t see Commander Jupiter present. Couldn’t be bothered to come to the mission briefing?”

“Now now, Sirius. Commander Jupiter is presently away on business.”

“Of course he is,” Sirius spoke with flat sarcasm. Reverting to formal tone, “What’s this about a high level mission?”

Vice Commander Saturn cleared his voice and began the briefing. “A distortion has been detected in the plains outside the city.”

“In the middle of nowhere?”

“Yes. It appeared suddenly during the early hours of this morning. Distortions commonly appear within smart cities, and operatives are quickly dispatched to eliminate them. This is the first time a distortion has been recorded outside of any smart cities. Leaving it to nature could pose a serious threat to not only Gossport and any nearby civilizations, but to the entire world. Sirius, your mission is to travel to the location of the distortion and to dispel it, immediately.”