I watched as Astral's head dropped down and her body went limp. I let go of her and stood straight up and the Handler took out the O-port from the back of her neck and raised her up from her arms. I reached into the jacket pocket of my cheap black suit and pulled out a vape. The Handler walked up to me, Astral swinging from his shoulders and gently hit my arm.
"Good work JS40891. I'll put her in the van, you keep watch." he said as he entered the woods with her.
I spun around and casually waved him off.
"You're welcome!" I yelled out as he disappeared into the forest with Astral. I put the vape into my mouth and pulled in. The burning taste of banana began to build up in the back of my mouth. I blew out the smoke into the sky above. A nice long column emerged and lingered in the cold of the air before breaking apart and disappearing again. I stared out where the cloud once was before my attention was pulled towards the banquet hall. A group of young girls had run out of the building, huddled together like a group of penguins. The girl in front was screaming Astral's name. I pocketed the vape and looked back into the woods. I looked out for any sign of the Handler returning before I heard a very angry "You!" coming from behind. I turned around to see the group of girls now approaching me.
"Can I help you with something?" I asked. The girl leading the charge, an asian with a red dress, walked up to me and slapped me across the face.
"What did you do to Astral?" She said, her anger and anxiety clear as day.
"The cutie? I don't know." I said, keeping up my act from earlier. "Did she come outside because she wanted me after all?"
"Don't play games with me." She said, "I can make your life a living hell so you better answer me."
"Calm down, Amelia." I looked up to see a woman in a long elegant gold dress walking towards us. I cursed my luck. The last thing I needed right now was Two coming up to confront me in the middle of a job. She was One's top advisor and partner. She runs all of Alphacom so she technically had all the power in the Order, yet she was still subject to One. The true owner of Alphacom and leader of The Order of the Twelve. Everything about One was a mystery. No one outside the main Twelve knew their gender or basic appearance. What everyone in the Order does know was that with his/her contacts and resources, he/she was the most powerful person in the world.
"What seems to be the problem here?" Two asked in her calm motherly tone. It sent chills down my spine.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Wintercoat. Astral ran off to talk with this peasant but she seems to have disappeared. I thought he might have done something." Amelia told her distressed and innocently.
"I'm sure she just needed some time to herself." Two told the girls. "Why don't you go inside and get yourself drinks. I'll teach this young boy some manners."
The girls nodded their heads and walked off. As they did, I heard Amelia mutter under her breath.
"The best way to teach peasants manners is with a bullet in their head." She whispered to a friend. That friend started chuckling as they headed back inside.
I rolled my eyes. I've dealt with harassment like this for all my life. Every last person in the Order and Alphacom treated me like I was nothing. It was more annoying than rage inducing but I still didn't stand for it.
"Jeremy." Two said as her calm tone turned cold and harsh. "Do you care to explain yourself?"
I looked straight into her eyes. Still annoyed from Amelia's comment, I told her in a harsh but nonchalant tone, "Orders from One, madam. Astral has a new mission."
"What!" she exclaimed. Her eyes widened in shock. She whipped out her phone and started tapping across the screen.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm calling One, I'm going to try and change his mind." She said
I stood there for a solid second trying to process the information. "Okay, I have several questions right now. First, One is a dude? Second, you have his number? And third, why bother calling him? You know he won't change his mind."
"He's right, you know." I turn to see the Handler walking back from the woods. "It doesn't even matter anymore. I already gave her the code. Mission is underway."
Two stared back and forth between the two of us. She took a deep breath before putting her phone away.
"I'm still talking to One about this." She said before spinning around and following the girl's path back to the party.
The Handler tapped me on my shoulder and ushered me towards the woods. We began walking back to the van. I wasn't calming down fast enough so I fished out my vape again and took another hit.
"You know that's a bad habit." The Handler said as I blew the smoke out my nose.
"Yeah, well it's not like it's going to kill me." I said, putting my vape back in my pocket. He chuckled. A moment of silence passed before he spoke up again.
"Three fucked up." he said.
I looked at him with a confused look. "I'm sorry?"
"That deal Three made with the Chinese. It was directly against One's orders. Peace between the three nations might complicate our goals." He explained.
"You mean your bottom line." I said.
He put his hand in front of me, stopping me right there. "I'm serious. Things are about to change, some for better and others for worse. But, if we play our cards right, we might end up on the winning side."
"Or end up getting deactivated." I said.
"Well last I checked, you're the hybrid here." he said chuckling. He walked forward a bit more but I stood for a second. I thought back to years ago. I felt an anger rise. A thirst for revenge started appeared but just as quickly subsided. The thoughts disappeared and I became aware of surroundings again. The Handler had stopped and waved me on.
"Come on now, vans just a bit farther." I jogged up to him and after a second, we finally reached our black covert van. I went around and sat on the passenger side while the Handler went for the wheel. I looked back behind the seat to see Astral sitting in a chair built into the side of the van. She was still wearing her dress but she seemed to have something placed across her body. I looked a bit closer to see... rope?
"You tied her up?" I asked the Handler.
"It's in case she falls." He said
"Yeah, try explaining that to the checkpoint officer." I said sarcastically
"I think it will go smoothly." He said joking around. We both chuckled at the joke as he turned the keys and the dirt road ahead lit up from the headlights. I looked out the window as the van began to move. The white mountain glowing in the dark.