Somebody snitched. That one was obvious.
“How did it get out if you haven’t left your location, then?” Rica asked a fellow agent.
Currently seated amid a tension-suffocated room, Anna sat silently as the two repeatedly threw each other under fire for a piece of information strictly prohibited to be publicized that reached the media, thus making it to thousands of headlines in just a matter of a few hours.
“I-I don’t know, Rica!” The agent, who was a few years younger than them, was subtly freaking out. Anna could tell from his fidgety hands and the heavy drops of sweat on his forehead. Who wouldn’t, anyway? This will reach the Minister in no time. “I just dozed off for, like, five minutes and I woke up to see the transfer complete on the monitor! It’s not my fault!”
Anna scoffed, having to hear enough of his stupid excuses. “That’s entirely your fault. You slept while on duty and completely brought down your guard, leaving the Ministry’s archives open to any hacker. Had you not been hungover that morning from drinking too much last night, you wouldn’t have passed out and left our files exposed.”
He paled. “H-How did you know I…I drank?”
“I saw your credit card’s transaction history,” she simply replied, crossing her arms over her chest.
“You need to apologize to the Chief before the Minister,” spoke Rica. “We can’t help you on this one.”
Their fellow sighed. “It’s fine. I’ll be suspended but I’ll be alright…I hope.”
“Suspended?” Anna repeated, her eyes following his retreating. She lowered her voice, making sure he won’t hear before raising a brow. “It’ll be worse than that.”
“Shh!” Rica placed a finger on her mouth as she neared. “Don’t tell him that. He’ll just be more nervous.”
They both watched him leave, silently muttering a ‘good luck’. The Ministry never takes it easy on punishing their agents, especially when they did something as dangerous as this.
“We still have one last exam in two hours,” she added. “Then we have to gather another update with Rioteco in Florida. Let’s go?”
The week passed by like a flash. For Anna, manslaughter, and torture is a common things to witness daily, sometimes commit. In her line of work, there is no gore she can’t handle. She’s seen it all. One may be fooled by her angelic features and never think about what that face does for a living.
This was her life.
And this is fine.
She merely blinked when the blood splattered across her face. She casually wiped it away and walked out of that building. She had just finished a solo mission that took her months to finally get close to her target and leave without any trace. While wiping her pistol, she stops to look at a man in a hoodie, stealthily moving across the block with his back to her. She noticed he was eyeing her vehicle. Her eyes squinted to have a glimpse of his face that hid under the hoodie but the darkness of the night was covering it.
Who is this man?
He had a big build, muscular too. Despite that, his moves were light and fluid. He looked almost experienced. She quietly hid behind a light post, watching him slowly inch her car and when he almost succeeded lock picking her car, she cocked the gun and aimed it to his skull – making sure he feels the coldness of her pistols nuzzle.
“What do you want?” She coldly asked, the freezing deadpan tone of her voice sure to send shivers down a normal person’s spine.
The man froze but didn’t say a thing. They were locked in close-range combat if ever he fights back. But he didn’t. She frowned when the man chuckled.
“Sorry, I thought this was my car,” he said, his voice ringing a bell in her ears. Anna’s brows twitched but she didn’t open her mouth to say anything. How he, an assumed civilian, manages to chuckle amidst a gun pulled to his skull is beyond her. The man casually walked away with his hands in his pocket and even faintly whistling.
Her eyes followed his back until he turned a street and disappeared from her sight. Her suspicion never disappeared. As quickly as she could, she took a zip lock bag from her trunk and slid her pistol inside. She made sure the nuzzle would come in contact with his hoodie for the machine to be able to trace him. A few days later, another frown creased her forehead as she received her pistol in a new zip-lock bag.
“We’re sorry, this DNA doesn’t exist,” the researcher she asked a favor from shook his head. “I don’t know how it’s possible as well, but we couldn’t look for the owner.”
“But you recorded it, right?”
He nodded.
“That’s alright. Thank you, though.” They bid their goodbyes as Anna released a sigh. They couldn’t trace it because his DNA doesn’t exist in this world. They’re the most credible people she can go to look for DNAs and yet they couldn’t do it. Who was that man, then? Was he just an imagination? No, it couldn’t be. Suspicions and baseless assumptions arise and cloud her mind even during school. She couldn’t focus because of that hooded man that tried to picklock her car. What if he was just a beggar? But that was a branded hoodie, for sure, and he smelled far from a beggar. Not that they should have a specific smell. Besides, if he was a beggar they still would be able to trace him.
She’s sure it wasn’t a mere accident. He acted too stealthy only to mistake a car. If she is his target, then why her? She has mastered the art of blending her whole life. Nobody would take an interest in her. She trained to be invisible, yet how did he see her?
“…and Divina Anastasia.”
Her ears perked at the mention of her full name. Right. She was still in school. The last she understood was that the professor was announcing partners for their thesis, the final requirement of every degree. Anna failed to hear who her partner was but when her blockmates stood up to near their partner, she knew her partner will just come to her. She looked up when a pair of shoes stopped in front of her seat.
“Hi.” His deep voice surprised slightly surprised her. He was a tall, lean guy who dresses properly in a white dress shirt and a black tie with black slacks. His wavy hazelnut hair was barely given attention as it remained slightly tangled and looked as if hand-combed. He looked…decent, at least.
“Hey. You are…?”
“Max.” He nodded at her.
Seriously, this man keeps surprising her. Most men would shake hands with her whereas he would casually nod. Holding back a chuckle, she smiled and nodded back.
“I’m Anna.”
He looked around before pulling a nearby chair. He leaned back and looked down at his wristwatch as if waiting impatiently.
“Can you send me your email?” He asked, not looking at her.
Although confused, Anna still nodded even if he wouldn’t see it, and grabbed a piece of paper. He could just ask for her number and text her since that’s more convenient, but alright. She wrote her civilian address on the paper and gave it to him.
He took it as the professor announced the end of her subject, urgently standing up.
“Great, I’ll mail you whenever.”
“W-Wait…”
Before she could utter anything, he was already out of the room with his long and fast strides. She could merely follow his pace. For the first time since she could remember, she was rendered speechless.
With her mouth hung open and her hand suspended in the air, she looked around and realized what he said. ‘Mail her whenever’? Did he think their thesis would take only a day’s work? And when did he ever ask for her permission to take the lead and decide without her?
What…What a jerk.
Max went directly to his car after they were dismissed. He zoomed through Manhattan traffic and reached the HQ in less than an hour. He was still five minutes late, despite him leaving the campus as early as he could."I apologize for being late."Multiple pairs of eyes fell on him as soon as he entered the room. Its windows were covered by thick curtains, almost cloaking the entire room in darkness, if not for the hologram screen on one end of the room. In the middle was a long table full of men in suits, and a man in a wheelchair at the end.Max skimmed the looks on their faces—curiosity, disapproval, nonchalance, and many more were present in the faces of over twenty men at the long table. He tried to catch sight of the man at the end’s face, but thought it’d be nothing he wants to see, so he decides against it.“Take a seat, Agent Gomez.”He accepted the offered seat to him, and the meeting commenced. He listened quietly to the updates for the recently completed missions. The usua
It had been three days after the partners for thesis work were announced. Three days since he asked for her email. And three days… of her waiting.Anna is not the ideal woman to be kept waiting. Her patience is as short as the lifespan of her victims—which is not long at all. Does he intend to be one of her victims? She’d gladly kill him off for wasting her time.Rica caught her sharp glare as she placed down their lunch. “You look like you’re enjoying our day off,” she greets sarcastically.She quietly looked away and took a burger from her plate.“Is this still about your thesis partner? That hot foreign exchange student?”“He is not hot,” she sourly argued. “He looks unkempt. His hair looks like a muddy mop.”“He is hot,” Rica counters, munching on her own burger. “He’s already famous, too. Still not as famous as Yezekael, though.”Ah, Yezekael Ferrer. The campus resident playboy. She knows him. She needed to know about him if she wanted to stay under the radar. Getting anywhere ne
The email was, to say the least, brilliant.It contained a list of his proposed topics for their thesis—complete with the problem, its background, and his proposed ways to mend the problem. There were also some case studies with supporting materials. There were ten proposals. She read through all of them and was thoroughly impressed.They were interesting, unique, and meticulous proposals. They could win as the best thesis for each one of these. They could land the top marks if the results were just as interesting as the study.However, she couldn’t help but list down each proposal’s flaws. New and fresh, yes, but they had their own reasons as to why they weren’t studied enough, or why his proposed solutions won’t work. He was smart. But she was smarter.She starts typing her reply, commenting on every proposal, and articulating her thoughts as best as she could. Now that she knows her partner is actually competent, perhaps just a little slow, she is relieved. His proposals were also
“I think we’ve got a pretty chill mission this time,” said Rica as they sat next to each other on the couch, sharing a tub of ice cream, and watching the nth episode of some mystery crime series they found on Netflix.They were both in their pyjamas, as it was a weekend, and their faces were unrecognizable with the animal-patterned facial masks occupying their entire face. Rica’s hair was additionally curled around heatless curlers.“Right?”“Mhmm.” Anna unintelligibly hums in agreement, her mouth full of ice cream, her eyes glued to the screen. “That murderer’s quite intelligent,” she comments, her attention focused on the show.“As long as he hides the body correctly, he could be hired as part of the Ministry’s clean-up department.” Her friend beside her agrees, her attention smoothly shifting from one topic to another. “Ah! By the way, do you know Mika, my partner?”“Who?”“Mika, my partner in the thesis.”“Ah. What about her?”Their eyes remain on the TV as they conversed, easily
They say to keep your friends close, but your foes closer.Since it’s difficult to distinguish her enigmatic thesis partner, Anna thought to keep him very close, regardless of what he’ll turn out to be.Thus, they spend the next few days together, working on the thesis. She did not know if she could call it quality time, since there were barely any words unrelated to the thesis that were uttered to each other, but nevertheless, they spent long hours of the day in each other’s company. That was good enough.Anna used it to study their research topic, which was duly approved by their professor, even giving them a compliment that said: ‘Interesting. I am looking forward to the outcome of your study.’ Which is no pressure at all.“I have bad news.”Max came in one day, his laptop in his arms and his hair a little bit messier than yesterday. His expression was not so good. He sat in front of Anna with a frown.“Our respondents canceled.”And he had all the right to be problematic. That was
Anna looked down and found her feet buried knee-deep in snow. She looks around to see herself in the middle of a snowy taiga, the full moon at its peak and illuminating the dark forest.“Where am I?” she whispers to herself.It took much effort to move her feet and traverse the deep snow. As she walked around, she felt uncomfortable with the eerie silence. There was no noise at all.Still, she kept going.Anna arrives at a small clearing, where the shine of the full moon rests on an array of large rocks. She approaches the rocks for no clear reason and finds a wolf on the ground. Whimpering. Breathing weakly.Its black fur looked as if it absorbed all the light of the moon, but not its energy. It looked almost lifeless.Anna kneels to the wolf. It was breathing shallowly. It was huge but looked so small and weak.“Are you okay?” she asks and tries to caress it, but the wolf weakly opens its eyes and they meet gazes.She saw herself.Anna stumbles back and the world darkens.She sharpl
Just this year, the Institute confirmed that her wolf had weakened.They did a test after observing her shortly, and they saw her wolf’s power weakened. They never found out why. Anna also never discovered why, or how, her wolf weakened. But she was the first to feel it then. Back when she was young, she could hear her wolf’s voice. She could talk to it. But after some time, that voice gradually disappeared. And she felt when her spirit would dim—it meant her wolf was struggling inside.She never knew why.But until now, it is one of Anna’s biggest secrets.The Institute’s top agent is growing weaker.If this accidentally gets out and their enemies catch wind of this, they will definitely not sit still. That’s why she’s very sensitive and insecure about this topic. Because she is the Institute’s biggest asset, and if she falters, the Institute will be in danger.After that match, Anna did not linger in the HQ any longer, because if she had, they would’ve suspected something was amiss.
Yezekael was already awake at 4 AM.He was stretching on the track at East River Park, jogging a few laps around to warm up, and stretching by the bleachers. They have a semifinal match later today for the NYC Rugby Cup, a tournament for rugby teams all over New York. They made it to the semifinals and Kael had no plans to stop there. For the four consecutive years he’d been captain, they always came home with a trophy.By 8 AM, he did a roll call on their reserved field, and they were practicing in no time.The NYU Rugby team used to be a forgotten team. He had been a rugby player before entering NYU, so he was dead set on joining the rugby team. His performance shone through and with his friends, they rebuilt the rugby team. And with his departure in a few years coming fast, he must train his juniors to ensure their team’s longevity.After the practice match, he huddled the team together. They were all drowning in sweat, heaving, and obviously tired, but they were all ears for what
“If you want her, just say so.”Jonathan teased as soon as they entered their car. The rest snorted, more openly now.Mark quietly starts the engine and drives them to the field where the match will occur. This year, Columbia University is the host of this rugby union and so they had the home-field advantage. But it didn’t matter. They will win regardless of advantage.“She’s interesting,” was all Kael could say. “Don’t you think so?”“Sure, man. Whatever you say.”Kael looked out the window, the boys noisy and rowdy behind him as he sat on the shotgun. His fingers mindlessly fiddle with his lips.“She’s hiding something. I am almost sure of it.” Mark suddenly blurts out after a few minutes.“How so?”“It’s my first time meeting her, so I don’t know for sure. But she’s too composed and too controlled. She’s careful and tries hard to look… normal.” He glances at Kael at a stoplight. “So, sure, she is interesting.”Mark is the observant type. He’s quiet, but know he’s always watching. I
Yezekael was already awake at 4 AM.He was stretching on the track at East River Park, jogging a few laps around to warm up, and stretching by the bleachers. They have a semifinal match later today for the NYC Rugby Cup, a tournament for rugby teams all over New York. They made it to the semifinals and Kael had no plans to stop there. For the four consecutive years he’d been captain, they always came home with a trophy.By 8 AM, he did a roll call on their reserved field, and they were practicing in no time.The NYU Rugby team used to be a forgotten team. He had been a rugby player before entering NYU, so he was dead set on joining the rugby team. His performance shone through and with his friends, they rebuilt the rugby team. And with his departure in a few years coming fast, he must train his juniors to ensure their team’s longevity.After the practice match, he huddled the team together. They were all drowning in sweat, heaving, and obviously tired, but they were all ears for what
Just this year, the Institute confirmed that her wolf had weakened.They did a test after observing her shortly, and they saw her wolf’s power weakened. They never found out why. Anna also never discovered why, or how, her wolf weakened. But she was the first to feel it then. Back when she was young, she could hear her wolf’s voice. She could talk to it. But after some time, that voice gradually disappeared. And she felt when her spirit would dim—it meant her wolf was struggling inside.She never knew why.But until now, it is one of Anna’s biggest secrets.The Institute’s top agent is growing weaker.If this accidentally gets out and their enemies catch wind of this, they will definitely not sit still. That’s why she’s very sensitive and insecure about this topic. Because she is the Institute’s biggest asset, and if she falters, the Institute will be in danger.After that match, Anna did not linger in the HQ any longer, because if she had, they would’ve suspected something was amiss.
Anna looked down and found her feet buried knee-deep in snow. She looks around to see herself in the middle of a snowy taiga, the full moon at its peak and illuminating the dark forest.“Where am I?” she whispers to herself.It took much effort to move her feet and traverse the deep snow. As she walked around, she felt uncomfortable with the eerie silence. There was no noise at all.Still, she kept going.Anna arrives at a small clearing, where the shine of the full moon rests on an array of large rocks. She approaches the rocks for no clear reason and finds a wolf on the ground. Whimpering. Breathing weakly.Its black fur looked as if it absorbed all the light of the moon, but not its energy. It looked almost lifeless.Anna kneels to the wolf. It was breathing shallowly. It was huge but looked so small and weak.“Are you okay?” she asks and tries to caress it, but the wolf weakly opens its eyes and they meet gazes.She saw herself.Anna stumbles back and the world darkens.She sharpl
They say to keep your friends close, but your foes closer.Since it’s difficult to distinguish her enigmatic thesis partner, Anna thought to keep him very close, regardless of what he’ll turn out to be.Thus, they spend the next few days together, working on the thesis. She did not know if she could call it quality time, since there were barely any words unrelated to the thesis that were uttered to each other, but nevertheless, they spent long hours of the day in each other’s company. That was good enough.Anna used it to study their research topic, which was duly approved by their professor, even giving them a compliment that said: ‘Interesting. I am looking forward to the outcome of your study.’ Which is no pressure at all.“I have bad news.”Max came in one day, his laptop in his arms and his hair a little bit messier than yesterday. His expression was not so good. He sat in front of Anna with a frown.“Our respondents canceled.”And he had all the right to be problematic. That was
“I think we’ve got a pretty chill mission this time,” said Rica as they sat next to each other on the couch, sharing a tub of ice cream, and watching the nth episode of some mystery crime series they found on Netflix.They were both in their pyjamas, as it was a weekend, and their faces were unrecognizable with the animal-patterned facial masks occupying their entire face. Rica’s hair was additionally curled around heatless curlers.“Right?”“Mhmm.” Anna unintelligibly hums in agreement, her mouth full of ice cream, her eyes glued to the screen. “That murderer’s quite intelligent,” she comments, her attention focused on the show.“As long as he hides the body correctly, he could be hired as part of the Ministry’s clean-up department.” Her friend beside her agrees, her attention smoothly shifting from one topic to another. “Ah! By the way, do you know Mika, my partner?”“Who?”“Mika, my partner in the thesis.”“Ah. What about her?”Their eyes remain on the TV as they conversed, easily
The email was, to say the least, brilliant.It contained a list of his proposed topics for their thesis—complete with the problem, its background, and his proposed ways to mend the problem. There were also some case studies with supporting materials. There were ten proposals. She read through all of them and was thoroughly impressed.They were interesting, unique, and meticulous proposals. They could win as the best thesis for each one of these. They could land the top marks if the results were just as interesting as the study.However, she couldn’t help but list down each proposal’s flaws. New and fresh, yes, but they had their own reasons as to why they weren’t studied enough, or why his proposed solutions won’t work. He was smart. But she was smarter.She starts typing her reply, commenting on every proposal, and articulating her thoughts as best as she could. Now that she knows her partner is actually competent, perhaps just a little slow, she is relieved. His proposals were also
It had been three days after the partners for thesis work were announced. Three days since he asked for her email. And three days… of her waiting.Anna is not the ideal woman to be kept waiting. Her patience is as short as the lifespan of her victims—which is not long at all. Does he intend to be one of her victims? She’d gladly kill him off for wasting her time.Rica caught her sharp glare as she placed down their lunch. “You look like you’re enjoying our day off,” she greets sarcastically.She quietly looked away and took a burger from her plate.“Is this still about your thesis partner? That hot foreign exchange student?”“He is not hot,” she sourly argued. “He looks unkempt. His hair looks like a muddy mop.”“He is hot,” Rica counters, munching on her own burger. “He’s already famous, too. Still not as famous as Yezekael, though.”Ah, Yezekael Ferrer. The campus resident playboy. She knows him. She needed to know about him if she wanted to stay under the radar. Getting anywhere ne
Max went directly to his car after they were dismissed. He zoomed through Manhattan traffic and reached the HQ in less than an hour. He was still five minutes late, despite him leaving the campus as early as he could."I apologize for being late."Multiple pairs of eyes fell on him as soon as he entered the room. Its windows were covered by thick curtains, almost cloaking the entire room in darkness, if not for the hologram screen on one end of the room. In the middle was a long table full of men in suits, and a man in a wheelchair at the end.Max skimmed the looks on their faces—curiosity, disapproval, nonchalance, and many more were present in the faces of over twenty men at the long table. He tried to catch sight of the man at the end’s face, but thought it’d be nothing he wants to see, so he decides against it.“Take a seat, Agent Gomez.”He accepted the offered seat to him, and the meeting commenced. He listened quietly to the updates for the recently completed missions. The usua