Skylar walked into the medical bay to unlock it only to find that someone had already beaten her to it. "Diana? Not again!" She rolled her eyes walking past the snow-white-haired woman who stood in front of the glass pod inside which Hunter was, admiring it.
"You're just mad someone who isn't even part of the medical team is beating you here," Diana said.
"Wrong. I'm mad because you're being creepy," said Skylar as she put on her coat.
"How's this creepy? I'm worried for my husband is all," said Diana.
"And where exactly did this marriage take place?"
"In my head?" Skylar sighs while Diana finally peels her eyes off the pod and turns to the doctor. "It's good you came here, saves me the trouble of finding you. Camille gave me a new mission for you," said Skylar.
"If this is your way of making me search for rare leaves again --"
"Of course not," Skylar interjected. "We're doing a full dive when she gets back."
"Whoa. She was serious about not telling Olivia?"
"Apparently."
"Well, that complicates things. What am I supposed to do if I see her in one of those Drumalak family events?"
"You could simply not go?"
"I've never missed one; that would raise suspicions."
Skylar nods. "You're right."
"What's the mission?"
"Extract Max."
"Ah. I miss that pain in the butt. This should be fun."
"Says the actual pain in the butt."
Diana smiles. "Am I going solo?"
"Yes."
"Amazing. I'll be heading there now." Diana began towards the door but stopped just a step away from it. "Don't you think she's taking too much risk?"
"What?"
"Camille. If the plan fails, they know he is alive, and they'll know she tried to pull off something. Olivia and The Archaeons aren't known for their forgiveness."
"The mission must not fail then."
Diana sighs. "It mustn't."
.
.
.
•Federal Republic of Brownvale
Diana was seated in a fancy restaurant enjoying her meal when one of the waiters approached her. "Would you like anything else, ma'am?" He asked with his hands behind his back.
"Yes," she replied setting the fork and knife on each side of her plate. "A bottle of your most expensive wine, and have a cup delivered to the beautiful lady in red over there," she said pointing to a brown-skinned woman with long curly brown hair and vibrant brown eyes sitting on the other side of the restaurant. The waiters follow the snow-white-haired woman's finger to the brown-haired woman before smiling at Diana. "Yes, ma'am," he nodded before walking off to the back.
Later, the waiter returns with the drink and heads towards the brown-haired woman's table. As he placed the drink in front of the brown-eyed woman, her eyebrows crooked. "I don't remember ordering this," she said.
"Ah, compliments of the lady over there," the waiter said pointing across the room at Diana. The two women's eyes meet and Diana raises her glass at her mouthing the word 'cheers' with a slight smile on her lips before turning away from the brown-haired woman.
...
Diana exited the restaurant and a tinted car pulled up in front. The year four student had not called a cab but knew a car would be waiting for her given her actions moments earlier. "Fancy car you've got here," said Diana as she got into the car.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" asked the driver, the brown-haired woman from the restaurant. "We cannot be seen together, this could jeopardize my entire operation," said the brown-haired woman.
"Calm down, Max. It's not like I'm famous or anything."
"Tell that to your white hair. One glance and anyone can tell you're part of the Drumalak family."
"That's not true," said Diana. "This is the twenty-first century, people could dye their hair for fun."
"Your eyelashes are white, Dee."
"Fair point."
"Why are you here anyway?" The brown-skinned woman asked.
"Camille orders. I'm supposed to bring you back home," said Diana.
"Already? The situation here in Brownvale isn't any better than it was when I was deployed."
"Thank you for admitting you've done nothing during your stay here," Diana said while Max rolled her eyes.
"Did you at least figure out who assassinated the Chancellor?"
"I don't know much. The Laundry was in charge of investigations," she stated.
"The Laundry?" Diana raised an eyebrow. The group was a component of the Bureau tasked with "cleaning up mystical organizations' mess" as Olivia liked to put it, and ensuring non-mystics do not learn of the existence of mysticism. "Why the hell would they be conducting an investigation?" She asked.
"Beats me, but The Bureau put them there so that must only mean one thing ..."
"Olivia's trying to hide something."
"All I could gather from my investigation with the local authorities is that the cause of death is by poisoning and two young adult girls were responsible."
"These girls show up on any facial recognition scan?"
"Nope. I think they are Homeland Security Service agents, one of them recently showed up on the Public Safety and Demon Control agency's wanted list."
"If the H.S.S. are responsible then it would make no sense for Olivia to try to cover it up. Maybe they are members of a black ops team for the Bureau?"
"You may be right. The Archaeons' presence here has significantly increased since the Chancellor's assassination."
"The twins?"
Max shakes her head. "A military organization calling themselves 'The Ibrahim Group'. Their leader is a non-mystic human named Ibrahim and local intelligence says the group is fully funded by a company called the Obelisk."
"Let me guess: the Archaeons own the company."
"That is correct."
Diana sighs. "Earlier you mentioned that we can't be seen together. Why is that?"
"After the Chancellor's assassination, Ibrahim was one of the first to act. He blamed the opposition for the assassination and claimed to be 'restoring order'. Many senior officials were arrested or killed for their part in the assassination until another group called the White Flaggers began opposing the Ibrahim Group. While the Ibrahim Group now control most of southern Brownvale and have been using the territory as their base, the White Flaggers have managed to restore order in the north but finding out the Archaeons fund their direct rivals have made them adopt anti-Drumalak ideologies."
"I take it you work with the White Flaggers, then ... Joining an anti-Drumalak group? Way to show your true colors, Maxine Esposito."
"Oh shut up," Max rolled her eyes. "Why does Camille want me back at Sector 5?"
"We thwarted a ship headed for the United Republics. It contained many mystics and non-mystics that had been missing for some time. The Archaeons owned the ship," said Diana.
"They really are the ugly ones among the Drumalak family," said Max.
"Olivia is from the Ra branch of the family, she's not any better," Diana stated.
"So Camille's finally going to act against the Bureau?" Max asked.
"That's the plan. She thinks she's found a secret weapon to defeat the twins and the other Archaeons," said Diana.
"Is it one of the three weapons of Infinity?"
Diana laughs. "No, it's a person," she replied.
Max drives into a warehouse where she parks the car. "Who?"
"Hunter Heffernan."
---------