Having been initiated into the group, Cain was given the designation Beta-6. No one used their real names to maintain secrecy and protect everyone if one person was caught.
Cain found the members were very welcoming; however, other than some armor and weapons, there wasn't much of a reward for joining.
All he was told was that the Family was hiding secrets that would cause all hell to break loose if uncovered. This organization, which didn't have a name, aimed to uncover these secrets and take over by destroying the Family.
As of the current situation, the Organization has over a few thousand members and operates in cells throughout the city. Only the leaders of each of these cells knew how to communicate with the other cells.
One of the first things Cain learned from talking to other members was that there was said to be a headquarters where the real leader resided, but no one had a high enough clearance level to go there.
"It seems I'll have to prove myself soon. This will be a good way to progress toward my goals. But first, I have to check on the fake back at the library."
Since he joined the organization, Cain was given the option to no longer live as a vagrant. The organization offered him a bed in one of their safe houses. He was already given the required passwords and entry codes.
Heading back to the library, Cain stealthily entered, hoping to not get caught by the spies of the Family.
He found his mist ghost and took over again. Thankfully, the ghost didn't need to take over a body and simply remained in the same spot reading during the duration Cain was gone. Other than grabbing food of course.
Cain acted as he did before, learning about the Complex. But this was all an act, he was simply waiting to meet the inspector again; he had already read all the prevalent knowledge. Anything important was already erased from these books.
It wasn't two days before Zoe returned. This time, she didn't ask Cain when he was leaving but asked if he wanted to stay in the barracks along the complex's wall. Of course, Cain refused and instead informed her he was going to stay at Jinx's Gin.
Even after hearing this, Zoe smiled and left.
As she did, Cain smiled and whispered to himself, "It seems Jinx's Gin is also under surveillance. I'll have to catch a vagrant for one of the ghosts to use. While I'm here, I should also temper myself... I have grown far too weak mentally, I've lost my edge."
As the thoughts of a weak will came into his mind, Cain felt a wellspring of emotions. He didn't think it was a good or bad thing. He actually leaned more toward it being good; after all, it meant he still had his humanity.
But humanity, in itself, was a weakness for him. Cain had to have nothing in his way. Nothing could restrict him if he was to gain power. He needed to be able to take any path to reach his goal, even the ones he would have never walked before.
For even those paths repulsed him.
'I truly am thinking of becoming an inhuman monster....but it's required, it's the only answer I can find.'
Over the next few days, Cain made the body double for Jinx's Gin. The double would work for Jinx and sleep there, repeating every day while also heading to the library.
Cain, on the other hand, joined back with the organization vying for the Family.
Working for the organization wasn't hard, but it was boring. Most of the time, they were on standby with nothing to do.
This made sense; they couldn't grab too much attention too frequently or they would face the wrath of the family.
The missions Cain did go on were just watching soldiers of the Family and recording their patrol patterns. He was almost tempted to let one of his ghosts do the mission for him; there was no excitement in these paltry jobs anyhow.
Thankfully, the organization was going to do a big mission. They planned to enter the compound and try to find out some of the Family's secrets. This required very stealthy people, so the respective leaders of each cell had to choose people to send.
For Cain's cell, the leader decided to do a competition to choose, one which Cain easily won. For the first time, he was allowed to go to their headquarters.
Cain was blindfolded and brought with the rest to meet their leader, the one who started all of this and the fight against the Family.
...
The blindfold was removed from Cain; he looked around to see himself surrounded by people in the same situation as him. Before them was a scholarly man sitting behind a desk.
"I am Omega, I created your leader and the one heading this next mission. Those among you will be chosen to break into the Family's compound; you will split up into groups and try to find anything that could reveal the secrets the Family holds. But not before proper training."
Omega clapped his hands, and some of the rebels stepped forward from the shadows.
"You all have talent, but it needs to be refined. These fellows will be your instructors for the next two weeks. By the end of the training, I hope most of you will be ready to help us uncover secrets that have long been hidden."
Everything was very quick and orderly. The trainees were brought away by the instructors and taken to where they would spend the next few weeks. And for these next two weeks, Cain "trained".
He was far better than the instructors, and it wasn't hard to get on the list for the mission. With everything in place, he only needed to wait for the mission and use it to skyrocket his position.
...
It was a foggy night; much of the Complex was blanketed in a thick fog that couldn't be seen through.
Moving through the fog, two people headed toward a massive compound.
It was decided that each team would be in pairs for this mission to maximize efficiency and speed. Being caught was game over no matter the number of operatives, so having only two people per team allowed the organization to keep its strength in case half the teams were caught.
Cain's teammate was called James, but that was only a nickname.
James was the only person who attempted to talk with him during their training period.
Although James was kind, Cain wasn't that social, even if doing so would be good for his image; Cain still had his pride. He had not yet fully immersed himself in being the mastermind that manipulates others; such an act required strength, charisma, and the energy to act in such a way.
"Our entry point is up ahead; we have to use a nearby warehouse to jump the fence. Then we should head to this building near the edge of the compound; it's pretty far away and seems to hold some purpose."
James briefed his teammate while pointing to a hand-drawn map made by the Organization's information gatherers.
Cain nodded and said, "I know; we should be extra cautious. Once the others get caught, the whole compound will be on high alert."
"Beta-6, you shouldn't say that. Maybe none of us will get caught." James spoke like an optimist.
Cain rolled his eyes as the two continued with their mission. As they planned, they reached the warehouse.
The warehouse itself was used to hold materials and food temporarily before being sent out.
Swiftly climbing onto the roof, the two jumped over the barbed fence and reached the other side under the cover of fog.
Flashlights were beaming throughout the heavy mist; Cain and James moved fast to find cover.
"First step done; now let's head to that building."
Keeping their cover, James led the pair through the maze. The fog may have been protecting them, but it also inhibited them from easily finding their way.
There were multiple times when the two intruders had to stop and hide. Getting this far wasn't easy; the compound was the core of the Family; and there were hundreds of guards all around the premises.
Unironically, Cain already knew where they had gone; he long spread out his mist to mix with the gray fog surrounding them.
In light of how he chose to act while in this territory, Cain held back from taking charge and simply gave James hints on where to go, slowly guiding him in the right direction while keeping safe from being caught.
By now, the pair was close to their target. However, suddenly, a massive alarm rang throughout the compound.
"Someone got caught."
"What should we do?" James started to become apprehensive.
Cain laughed lowly, "We continue, of course; the guards are being drawn to where they were found. For the next few minutes, we should have no interruptions. Only when we're leaving will we have problems?"
His words calmed James down; with the fog, escape had a high chance of succeeding even if the guards were actively looking for them.
It wasn't long before they successfully reached their target building, Cain saw it was only a small shack. However, when he inspected the inside, he saw a dark staircase heading down.
"Ominous," Cain commented.
James gulped. "Yep."