Maxine sat on the ground panting heavily. After Jason shot a portal at her, she appeared here, in a small white room and a door at the other end.
Whenever she walked towards the door, it got farther away. The shifter looked around the room, the door seemed to evade her no matter how fast she ran or walked. 'This is an illusion,' she deduced. "Regardless, there must be a way to break out."
As if on cue, a portal opened in front of her, and Jason walked through. The Archaeon had an expression the curly-haired woman couldn't get a read on. She rose to her feet, her eyes fixed on the pearl white-eyed boy.
The brown-skinned woman couldn't use her abilities but was certain that if it came down to it, she could beat the pearl-white-haired boy in hand-to-hand combat.
Jason closed the distance between them and hugged the Alpha Sector agent.
'???'
"Thank you," said the Archaeon.
Max smiled as she thought back to what she and Skylar discussed not too long ago.
/////
"If the mission fails," Skylar started. "I'll need you out of the Archaeons' villa," she said.
"Why? I've built a rapport with the target, I feel even if the mission fails I could stick around until you come up with a new one," Maxine argued.
"No," Skylar shook her head. "In one of your earlier reports, you said Jason is a sponsor of the White Flaggers right?"
"Yes ..."
"Then that means if the White Flaggers suddenly appear in a location only a few in the Villa know about, they'll know there's a mole in the Villa and conduct an investigation. They'll find out during the investigation that Jason sponsors the Flaggers and will probably conclude that he revealed the location. Since you're his assistant, they'll assume you knew and will prosecute the two of you. Jason gets a slap on the wrist and you get imprisoned ... or worse."
"So I should run?"
"I never said that," Skylar replied. "If the mission fails, I want you to try to kill Karl."
"What?"
"Don't kill him, just try to."
"But then I'll be caught."
"Hopefully. Jason would believe you did that to protect him and help break you out," said Skylar.
"I see. Since he'll be the prime suspect, he'll believe I made the attempt to make it look like I was the one bankrolling the Flaggers with his money."
"Exactly."
////
"It's nothing," Maxine replied.
Jason runs his hand through his hair. "It's all my fault," he said. "If I hadn't been helping the Flaggers they wouldn't have grown strong enough to attack us."
Max placed her hand on Jason's shoulder. "You did what you thought was right," she said.
"I'll make sure no harm comes to your sister," said Jason.
"As I said before, I can protect my sister," Max stated.
"Not as well as before. My father would --"
"Your father believes I'm dead, right?" Max queried to which Jason replied with a nod. "So I don't think he'll be after me. I'll be safe if I avoid him, the twins, and Kilian ... I'm sure he'd ask about my absence soon."
Jason nods. "That makes sense."
"How's Rogue?"
Jason shook his head. "It's not looking good ... He's with our healer now but I don't think --" Jason sighs. "I should leave," he turned to Max. Where would you like me to open a portal to?"
"Thornbridge."
Jason opened the portal and Max started for it. "Maxine," he called out just before she jumped in. "Let's meet again soon."
...
Maxine was sitting on a bench wearing a baseball hat and a face mask. She checked the time on her phone before sighing. Someone sat on the other side of the bench but Maxine paid them no mind. "Have you seen Vertigo, miss?" The person beside her asked, Max quickly recognized the voice as Skylar's.
"No, I had carrot cake for breakfast though."
"Don't turn, someone's watching," Skylar said, raising her phone to her ear. "I left something buried in the sand under your foot, you should dig it up later by sunset."
"I heard Olivia is lobbying Parliament to disband the Alpha Sector," said Max.
"We'll be fine but someone has to pay for the Sector's recent rebellion."
"Anyone in mind?"
"Don't worry yourself too much Angel Dust. This is plan C and everything is going according to plan.
Skylar rose from the seat and continued her imaginary call until she disappeared out of sight.
Maxine remained in her seat for another half an hour, checking the time on her phone every now and then before leaving. Later at night, the curly-haired woman returned to the location and dug up the sand to find what the Medic had left for her.
She found an envelope which contained money, a keycard to an apartment in Thornbridge and a new phone. Maxine smiled before walking away with the envelope.
***
"My name is Hunter Heffernan and I was one of the two operatives in the mission in Dreieck," the sprite introduced himself.
...
"Mr. Heffernan, during your operation, the Alpha Sector was doing a 'full dive'. Can you tell us what that means?" The Chair asked.
"I believe during a full dive, every ongoing mission is halted, no new mission is assigned, and the Alpha Sector cancels all communications including among teams in the Alpha Sector."
"But you received a new mission during the time, why is that?"
"According to the director, it was because of spies."
"Do you think there are spies in the Alpha Sector?"
"The Dreieck operation was assigned to me once I'd made my recovery from the injury I suffered at River Pot, I didn't meet anyone else so I don't think I'm the best judge but I believe she meant spies in the Bureau."
"Did Ms. Lovelace mention who exactly these spies were?"
"No," Hunter shook his head. "Just that the Bureau could not be trusted."
"Did Miss Lovelace believe the Director of the Bureau, Ms. Olivia Ra was not to be trusted?"
"I'm not in her mind so ..." The sprite shrugged.
"Thank you." The ranking member turned to the Chair. "Thank you, Madame Chair," he said.
"Gentleman yields back. Chair now recognizes lady from Southwest, Mrs. Cho for five minutes," said the Chair.
"Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. Mr. Heffernan, thank you for being here today. As members of this committee, our very first and top responsibility is to protect and defend, protect and defend the mystical secret and security all over the realms. When I look at this case, I see a lot of inconsistencies and I'd like you to clear it up for me. Earlier the Chairwoman mentioned your first stop in Dreieck was Erste Winkle which, as you said, was where your target was but you also said the Retribution was in Dritte Winkle. Just how many missions were you two involved in?"
"Er ... It was one mission that broke up into multiple ones. Our mission was initially to spy on the Arch --"
"Mr. Heffernan, please refrain from mentioning names of individuals outside the Alpha Sector unless you're asked to," said the Chairwoman.
'Seems Skylar was right, these people are doing their best to shield the Archaeons and punish the Alpha Sector for Dreieck.'
"Right," Hunter nodded. "My partner and I were to spy on persons A and B ..."
...
"Did you meet Ms. Lovelace before your injury?"
...
"How did you know the location of the Retribution?"
...
"How did the director contact you in Dreieck?"
...
"Did you fight the Retribution all by yourself?"
...
"Mr. Heffernan, what I don't understand is why you didn't contact anyone outside the Alpha Sector especially when you weren't affiliated with them before your injury."
.
.
.
Hunter sets the bottle of water on the counter before turning to Skylar who lightly tapped his shoulder. "You did well," she said.
"You sure? They were grilling me in there, I feel like I didn't do anyone any favors."
"Hunter, you did well," said the aqua-blue-haired woman.
The sprite sighs. "So you're next?" He asked.
"My testimony was before yours," the medic replied. "I think a member of Hecate's coven is next," she added.
"An old friend of hers from her coven days?" Hunter asked.
"A newbie in the coven Camille spoke with while we were doing a full dive. I think the girl is also representing Hecate and is going to answer questions about Camille's behavior while she was in the coven."
Hunter raised an eyebrow. "She's going to answer questions about stuff she doesn't know?" He asked.
"I'm sure they prepped her well. You want to listen to her testimony?" Skylar asked.
"I think I need a break ... Camille is after her right?"
"Yes."
"I'll be in attendance then."
.
.
.
Hunter slid into the row where Camille and Skylar were seated and sat next to the former. "I thought they were going to question you again?" He asked.
"I thought so too but apparently they have a new and important witness."
"Our next witness," said the Chair, drawing the audience's attention. " ... Is the director of the Public Safety and Demon Control agency, Jade.
Hunter turned to the door in surprise as the dark brown-eyed woman walked into the Parliament.
-----