{The Past, 1990s, Quantico, Virginia, United States...}
Robert wasn't sure if the modern testing standards had become higher, but he thought taking all the exams to become an FBI was much harder than becoming a CIA agent.
There were a lot of physical fitness requirements. He had to run 1.5 miles, do a 300 meter sprint, pushups, sit ups, pull ups. He also had go through psychological tests and an intensive interview, which was to make sure he never lied about anything. The ghosts have helped calm his heart rate so even when he was lying, they couldn't detect a thing.
As for the physical fitness test, fortunately, Robert remained to be a 23-year-old man, and he had great strength and stamina because of his superpowers, so he finished the physical tests with flying colors. He was almost going to finish the 1.5 miles run within 3 to 4 minutes but realized that would be too fast. He would look too suspicious, so he slowed himself way, way down. He finished 1.5 miles using 7 minutes, but that was still the best record in FBI history.
After becoming an FBI agent, one of the first cases that Robert was assigned to investigate was a crazed man, Todd MacVay, who was very unhappy how FBI handled a shootout incident in Oklahoma.
This crazed man, Todd MacVay, was a recently discharged veteran. He said an FBI hostage team sniper, Lonnie Hiroki, shot and killed two innocent people at the shootout in Oklahoma. One being a woman holding a baby. The second being a pedestrian who was just walking near by. The pedestrian was Todd MacVay's friend. He was simply trying to hide inside the house to avoid any shooting.
This incident was brought to a trial. In court, the sniper, Lonnie Hiroki, claimed that he was shooting at the civilians because he heard they might try to shoot FBI helicopters. But even the judge found out that Lonnie Hiroki was lying. Because there was never any helicopters nearby.
Even though there was an investigation on the shootout, Lonnie Hiroki was never charged with a crime. However, the FBI did admit fault at the shooting. So the government paid millions of dollars to the family of people who were shot.
At one point, Lonnie Hiroki was named by the media: "The Biggest Tax Money Spending Public Employee." "Tax Money Blood Sucker" because he alone cost the government millions of dollars. He was the one who fired those bad shots but all the taxpayers ended up paying the money.
Robert Smith actually called Todd MacVay on the phone. He wanted to tell Todd he knew about the incident, and he understood what he was mad about. Robert wanted to pacify Todd.
"Todd, maybe I can ask my boss to re-open a trial and bring Lonnie Hiroki to justice."
"There's no use. This system is unfair. The system is broken. If you ask for another trial, that's just another way to spend more tax money on this lousy killer. I don't understand why the legal system is protecting awful people like this. Just let Lonnie Hiroki get his punishment. Why do all the taxpayers have to be responsible for his problem?"
"I understand." Robert answered.
But Todd was still angry: "No, you don't understand. You are also a public employee. If there's something wrong, the legal system is going to protect you. The law is on your side. What about us? What about civilians just like us?"
"I'm sure I will be held responsible, Todd."
"No. I was a sniper, too. I was in the military. I know Lonnie Hiroki had the advanced 308 caliber high-powered telescoped equipped rifle. He was more than 200 yards away. Do you understand? A sniper is a sly animal. A coward. A cold-blooded coward. He can see you. But you can't see him."
"But, that's what snipers do. They had to be very well-trained to do that."
Todd MacVay laughed, "This has nothing to do with training. This is about their personality. Do you understand?"
Robert was on the phone but he could feel Todd's wrath. Todd continued to explain:
"A sniper can watch you. Ready to shoot you at any time. He could watch you using his high-powered telescope, following you when you smile, when you frown. Watching you take a sip of water, watching you talk to someone else. Even though you are acting just like a normal person, he can be cold-blooded enough to pull the trigger and kill you. And, you never even see his face. He is hiding so far away."
Todd stopped. Robert was picturing the image.
"So tell me, what was Lonnie Hiroki's F* -ing reason to shoot a woman with a baby and a man walking by? He watched them, hiding behind his equipment. He is a f* -ing coward. Never had the f* -ing guts to confront anyone face to face in his life."
Todd MacVay then angrily hung up the phone. Robert was unable to persuade him.
Robert was angry, too. He had never thought about a sniper being sly, conniving, scheming. Maybe Todd had a point.
Todd MacVay was still outraged, too. He believed the legal system was just protecting their own law enforcement people, making civilians pay.
So, Todd MacVay threatened to place a bomb in a financial district in a major city. They believed Todd chose a financial district because that is a place where people were only focused on computers and numbers. No one would have time to look up and take care of other things.
And, it could be everywhere. Many big cities had a financial district-- New York. San Francisco. Chicago. Most cities in New England. Have you seen how many rich guys living in New England? The FBI's bet was on the East Coast. The guy definitely wanted to bomb somewhere East Coast.
But Robert had the information that no one had. The ghosts had told Robert, Todd McVay would place the bomb at a place where Todd's anger came from, which was Oklahoma City.
Robert tried to tell his superiors, Todd would bomb somewhere in Oklahoma. Maybe they should start looking into Oklahoma City.
Robert's boss didn't believe him. No one ever believed Robert's warning.
In the end, the bomb was not placed in any of the big cities on East Coast. It was in Oklahoma City. Just like what Robert predicted. It was the largest bombing conducted by an American citizen.
Robert Smith had fore-warned his supervisors. But no one listened. No one believed him. He was frustrated.
What was the use if he had the superpowers but no one would believe him? He complained to the ghost.
"Guys, I'm so tired of everything. Every time I tried to do something, I just fail. I used the information you told me, but no one would listen. What was the point? You guys should just leave."
"Maybe it was meant to be. Sometimes, there are things you can't stop in life." A ghost tried to comfort Robert.
"No. I can't accept that the bombing was supposed to happen."
"Come on, Robert. You have to learn from the mistake then. Next time, don't report to your boss. Next time, you act on your own."
But Robert didn't do that either. He was tired of everything. He did learn one thing:
Never trust a sniper.
That is why, later when Robert became a recruiter, he skipped a former sniper.
Robert thought: "An army sniper trying to transition to be an FBI? That's bad news. That's very bad news. Pass. I don't want to create another reason for another Oklahoma City bombing. Snipers cannot be trusted. They are conniving, cold-blooded animals."
What Robert didn't know —and what the ghosts didn't know — was that this sniper Robert passed on would come back to Robert's life. And this sniper might become a huge problem....