Freezing. An understatement when describing our current location. With every step I took, my legs disappeared deeper into the bed of snow that stretched for hundreds of kilometers. Fresh snow pelted my thick jacket as the howling winds drove past me. And worst of all, I was with a person who showed me just how weak and fragile my body was.
"ACHOO!" I sneezed for probably the tenth time.
"That's a loud one, Roberts!" Mr. Han shouted through the wind. "Be sure to not get sick!"
Unlike me, who wore five layers of warm clothing, he only wore his usual Chinese robe and nothing else.
"Shut up you weird lizard!" I shouted back. "Stop showing off!"
He only chuckled at my suffering even more.
The blizzard grew worse before we arrived at our destination. Just our luck! So, we found a nearby cave to use as our temporary shelter until it subsided. It wasn't perfect, but we had a few meters of rock to protect us from the slashing winds and an old-fashioned camp fire to keep us warm.
"Damn it," I cursed under my breath. "Why am I stuck in Antarctica with you out of all people?"
"Hey, that hurts," Mr. Han feigned offense. "It's not my fault that I'm immune to all elemental effects."
I sighed. "You're right. I'm just pissed that my first mission after coming back is located in this frozen hell hole."
"Oh you'll get over it," he said as he pulled something from his sleeve. "Here, eat this protein bar. It ain't your wife's cooking but it's something."
I took the plastic-wrapped treat from him and immediately devoured the dry, dense, chocolate flavored bar with a bit of water to wash it down.
"The Department should really invest on better food," I complained.
"Not when you're in Antarctica they won't" he chuckled. "Or a desert. Or in any survival situations really. That's why lots of youngsters like being stationed in the cities. Lots of food to go around."
"Well, whatever," I said as I made myself a bit comfortable in my blanket. "Can you give me the case files already? I know you like keeping me in suspense but I'd rather know what I'm getting into."
"Boo you're no fun," he pouted and pulled out a brown envelope from his sleeve. "This is one of the first big fish that got caught up in the feeding frenzy your in-law instigated."
I raised an eyebrow as I rummaged through the documents. "Big fish huh? So I'm assuming the smaller fish out there are knocking each other off the board?"
Mr. Han, pulled out an entire s'mores-making kit and began roasting some marshmallows before turning to me again. "Well, yeah what'd you expect," he chuckled. "Even today, a lot of them got arrested when your wife visited the office."
I immediately jumped. "What?" I exclaimed.
"Oh relax," he said as he assembled his first s'more. "She was there to deliver your lunch. She had her bodyguards with her and my people were surveilling her so it's all fine. In fact, they're having dinner right now."
I sighed. "I always forget that you're actually competent," I chuckled.
"Hey!" he exclaimed. "I'll have you know I didn't get to where I am by being lazy, young man."
"Ok grandpa," I quipped.
*Ping* *Pong* [You have a message!]
Within the confines of the cave, Mr. Han's ringtone echoed throughout the walls. He immediately fished his pockets for his phone.
"Huh," he said with a raised eyebrow.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I asked Rosemary to keep an eye on your wife while we were gone and I just received her report," he replied.
"Anything wrong?"
"Nah. She just sent me some pictures of burritos and a very risque photo of Alejandro Lopez with nothing but a towel covering him."
*Ping* *Pong* [You have a message!]
"Oops those were meant for my eyes only. Soz boss. Crying laughing emoji," Mr. Han read. "Well, seems they're having fun without you, Roberts."
I chuckled. "Rosemary's a good person. I'm glad you sent her to befriend Maria."
"Now I don't know what it is you speak of child," he feigned ignorance as he handed me a s'more.
I accepted the sweet treat and dove back into the documents.
"So, can you brief me now?" I said. "I'm starting to get real cozy so I'd really like to form a plan in my head before I fall asleep."
"Well, let's do our usual question and answer briefing," he replied.
"You always like those huh," I smirked.
"You know it," he winked. "Now first, look at the news articles that are included in it. What do you see?"
I rummaged for said articles and spread them out on my lap.
"Hmm... Man stranded in sea came back... Woman lost in an airplane crash found... These are all cases of missing people suddenly appearing years later," I replied.
"Good. Now can you tell me if there's anything strange with them?"
I scanned the articles again. People turn up all the time. Some people were more alive than others but they certainly happen. Except...
"These people... all turned up on the same month everytime," I said. "November every single time. And all alive..."
"Sharp as usual I see," he chuckled and took a bite of the s'more he made for himself. "And what happens in November?"
"The Fantasia Summit," I immediately answered. "It's a month where the entire world's eyes are plastered on the island and our defenses are the weakest."
"Ping pong 100 points for you," he clapped. "Criminals usually do a lot of their crimes on November since that's when our security's the weakest. But this one in particular revives dead people under our noses."
My eyes were still captured by the articles. There was no way that this many missing people survive year after year. A doctor. A lawyer. A housewife. There was nothing that tied them together except that they all went missing.
"These people died didn't they...?" I trailed. "At least the real them."
Mr. Han paused and blew on a freshly roasted marshmallow. "The underworld calls them 'The Miracleworker'," he answered. "Ever since magic and science merged, identity theft via plastic surgery has reached a realm beyond simple replication. People can now change into the perfect height, weight, face, fingerprints, and even mannerisms to imitate someone. The only problem is that there can never be two identical people in the world."
"Right... Even twins have a different set of fingerprints," I mused. "So this person makes sure that missing people stay missing and then they sell their entire lives in the black market."
"Precisely," Mr. Han replied.
"And we're in Antarctica because?" I asked.
"Some of The Miracleworker's previous clients got too giddy when news of the Rodriguez Cartel's collapse spread all over the globe," he replied. "They made some big moves and equally big mistakes. We caught some of them but we need the real bodies to nail them in court."
"And the bodies are here?"
He shrugged. "Best intel we know says they're here. No info on the perp though. Hell, we don't even know if we're chasing a man, woman, Earthling or Fantasian."
"But if we can find the bodies, we'll have leverage on the clients and hopefully some info on this Miracleworker," I concluded.
"That's the plan!" he said as he stretched. "In any case, we better sleep. We have a long day ahead of us at the dungeon."
"Excuse me, the... what?"