IRENE'S P.O.V
I pushed open the transparent doors after mentally convincing myself that I had to come here. The lobby was the same as I left it. The organization still deceived people that it was just a small Journalism firm but it's heart told a different story. The idea of hundreds of spies actually working for a Journalism company never ceased to amuse me.
Without hesitation, I headed to the secluded back flashing my ID for the device to pick up and scan. Once confirmed, the Transport "elevator" was disabled from cloak mode and opened a pathway to enter. I entered it awaiting the expected sight, as it closed behind me.
PING~
It opened up slowly revealing the vast field with HQ right in the center. HQ was built in a weird way, with the journalism firm built as a cover. The transport "elevator" was the bridge between the firm and HQ, which opened into a brand new location.
The grasses gracefully swayed to the tune of the mild breeze. I stood there gazing at the big globe surrounding HQ which was just a walk away. There were so many measures to prevent the entry of intruders. Part of my hair engulfed my face, blocking my gaze. That was my cue to finally go in. I walked to my dorm room ignoring everyone that passed me by. Even though I started this mission less than a week ago, I haven't been here in a while. I grabbed the little picture frame on the desk. It was the only picture I had with my parents actually smiling, like they were proud of me. But anyone could tell straight away that they were forced. I was astounded at my self control, for not smashing this frame into tiny bits till now. I placed it back on the middle shelf. I glanced around the spacious room and realized I had missed an important detail. I couldn't play the videotape on my computer. I let out a small sigh
***TRAINING SESSION
ADVANCED SIMULATION ROOM
"Team K; Cade, Honour. The floor is yours", Agent Sky announced, gesturing them to their positions. They both stepped into the training boundary, as the previous team exited. Standing back to back anticipating the signal to begin, Cade made a cocky smirk. The others started hailing and cheering him on in a familiar way. Well, he was nicknamed the "The Next ace of HQ", as the main group called it. Agent Sky suddenly glanced back with a serious expression, his fierce glare instantly made the noise die down. Looking closely at the ipad, he asked
"Ready?"
"It's about time!!", Cade yelled as he took a battle stance, while Honour nodded in confidence. Agent Sky taped the big red button on the side of the room. The countdown had begun. A loud noise echoed throughout the room. But it was soon followed with many robots swarming from each side firing lasers at an amazing speed in their direction. They did a somersault in opposite directions from their original position. Kicking, Punching, dodging, leaping and disabling any robot they saw in an instant. It didn't take long before they were standing beside a pile of disabled and dismantled bots. The other trainees were more than impressed, however the final decision lied in Agent Sky. The anticipation was slowly killing the trainees' curiosity. Agent Sky finally opened his mouth to say something, after what felt like ages.
"Your speed and combat skills were excellent however, there was absolute absence of teamwork, reliance and dependency in general"
"52 percent. Work hard on that, any objections??", With a pokerface, he concluded.
A loud gasp was heard from the trainees. Honour didn't say anything still trying to process the corrections at her pace. On the other hand, Cade stepped forward, cackling and clapping in disbelief.
"We dismantled each and everyone of those robots in an instant" He said pointing to the pile. Agent Sky looked at the pile for a brief moment.
"You did", he agreed without any sense of doubt
"It is clear that we completed the aim of the mission even you know this would have been a success in a real-life. What more is there?", He challenged
Agent Sky sighed. He already knew what this was going to turn into. He always loved dealing with this over and over.
Agent Sky pointed to a slight cut on Honour's arm, making everyone stare including Cade. Agent Sky knew that came from the laser grazing her uniform, which could have been avoided.
"There's no doubt that your own skills are good alone, but teamwork is key. That could have been avoided, if you actually worked together, simultaneously having each other's backs.
"That, Cade, is what makes it a TEAM mission. Are we clear now?". This earned an immediate scoff from Cade
"Dependency won't help the mission in any way. And besides my goal is to complete the aim of the mission. If my partner can't keep up, then she will be left behind"
Walking a little further towards Agent Sky, he lowered his tone, smirking.
"We all know a few sacrifices have to be made for the sake of the mission right?"
At that moment Irene walked in and stood beside Agent Sky. The trainees watched as she just casually walked in there. The argument was put on hold for a while. Realizing who She was, Cade's eyes widened in shock but quickly shot his familiar dubious smirk again.
"Ohh, It's a pleasure to finally meet the infamous weak spy senior with family issues", he announced but this time the other trainees didn't chuckle or sneer. They wouldn't dare do that to any senior.
"Mind your words Cade", Agent Sky ordered, breaking his reserved attitude for a split second. Irene on the other hand, just ignored him like trash on a sidewalk. She turned to Agent Sky asking
"Are you almost done here?"
Cade's ego was visibly hurt when Irene didn't falter at his words. Nevertheless he pushed against the boundary.
"I've always wanted to see just how weak you're. If you're not scared take me on now!!. , He demanded raising his voice a little
"This will prove that my skills are more than enough without any useless partner", he said addressing Agent Sky. Honour came slightly pushing through to the front to observe at a better view. The hall of trainees was filled with gasps from different directions.
Agent's Sky's attitude towards what was happening was quite neutral. Irene wasn't one to throw herself into a fight no matter the reason, but here she was, taking on a junior
She directed her cold expression to Cade
"Sure", She said effortlessly clenching her fists. Cade smirked with satisfaction. All the memories she had been bottling up before now were accumulating to their brim. Irene needed to let them out some way or the other and this just seemed like the perfect opportunity. Seemed like a win for her; getting to maintain her sanity for a little while longer and also putting a junior in his place.
"Clear away from the boundary", She instructed.
As they left, Cade immediately lunged at Irene with a punch. She swiftly grabbed his left arm, twisted it a little and flipped him over. He was just able to sense that at the last minute and landed on his feet. This time he tried giving her a side kick, she did a backflip easily evading the kick. She instinctively saw that he was waiting for her to land, to strike her off balance. She did a split, totally surprising him. The second he was still stunned she gave him a leg sweep making him lose his balance and fall to the ground.
"Yield", she smirked as she pointed her clenched fist directly over his face
"In your wildest dreams", he uttered as he gasped for breath. Cade tried to throw a jab even while on the ground. When Irene noticed this, she grabbed it with her other arm twisting it in the other direction making Cade grunt in pain.
She walked over to Agent Sky's side soon after having no spare time for Cade's attitude. He also got up soon after, struggling with a broken arm. The other trainees were shocked that their star trainee was easily defeated. She looked back at the child who was glaring at her while fuming furiously because of the embarrassment. Irene with a neutral expression eyed him and said
"Don't you have any respect for yourself... Humiliating yourself this way", This earned sneers and side chuckles from the rest while Agent Sky just observed in silence. His glare on her just intensified in response.
"If this was a real mission, your overconfidence would have been the death of you", She uttered gazing at him dead eye in the face
*****
DOLCE MANSION
IRENE'S ROOM
Tap Tap~
Tap Tap~
Looking at nothing in particular, her fingers gently struck the desk rhythmically, though it wasn't her intention. She continued this for a while wondering why paranoms did this. Did they do it because of a personal vendetta or just because he could?. Why do they possess people, extracting their life essence. Do they actually depend on our life essence to survive? If quick enslavement of the human race was their true motive, why wait till the eclipse? What is so special about an eclipse? Thinking back now, nothing really adds up from the stories we were told. Are they also hiding things from us?. What really happened in the past?. These were questions that lingered around her mind without giving her time to answer anyone.
"Slam!!"
The noise of an object falling echoed throughout the room jolting her away from her reasoning. Irene turned to the direction of the loud sound. Walking towards it, she crouched down, picking it up.
"They never divulged too much into the secrets of paranoms. Maybe this book will hold some answers", Irene said hopeful, ironically, in a low tone.
"The Real Paranormal among us", by Matthais Slyven, She repeated the title in her thoughts over and over
Just as she was about to open the book, One of the butlers knocked on her room door without saying anything. Irene closed the book that was halfway to being open, putting it away in a secret compartment. Irene approached the door, opening it half annoyed. His expression seemed calm and normal like usual. Irene didn't know all the servants working here, but she was sure she had never seen this one, not even once. Seconds later, he let out a cough clearing his throat
"Miss Irene, Mr and Mrs Dolce have safely arrived back from their trip", He announced
"And?", Irene queried
He replied almost immediately
"Mr. and Mrs. Dolce are finally back home and demand you come meet them downstairs", he said dropping the worst bombshell on Irene