02.
"Aah, this job really sucks."
"What else is going on?"
Max, who was walking alongside me, questioned as I made a pained sound at the message in front of me.
"Alpha team Leader Ellis has paged me, what the hell is she talking about again..."
"Are you talking to yourself again?"
"Yeah, and it's going to be bloody."
It's been two months since I've been a SWAT team leader.
I was the highest ranking member of the team, chosen to fill the vacant position of Bravo Team Leader.
I'm more used to following orders than giving them, and it's been a pain in the ass.
The safety of my crews in the field depends on my decisions.
If I give the wrong order, they will scream and die.
It was the first time in my life that I was in this position, and the stress I was under was considerable.
On top of that, I'm constantly being dragged around by the cranky senior Alpha Team Leader, Lieutenant Ellis?
I seriously want to write my resignation.
"Maybe I should just slap him and run away..."
"Oh, no, I'm not even kidding. Without you, who else would fill the void?"
"Ugh... I still have a few more years to go before I can get my pension..."
I'm going to die of overwork before I get my pension.
Whether he realized it or not, Max smiled and waved at my burning insides.
"Cheer up. I'm going to go write a report."
"Report? What report?"
"The evaluation report on the new goggles. It's due next week, so I figured I'd have a little time to compile and organize the crew's evaluations."
"Aha."
The report would be requested by the company that funded the goggles.
Those guys were good at scraping together the odd data point and using it for marketing.
"I'll see you later, then."
"Yeah, have fun."
I wave to Max, who dips his head in a slight bow.
He disappeared down the hallway at a steady pace, and I started on my way.
I felt sorry for Max, knowing that he had a lot on his plate, but my current situation was no better than his.
I walked on, feeling sorry for myself, and before I knew it, I was at the door of Inspector Ellis's office.
-Identification complete.
The security system confirmed my identity and unlocked the office door.
"Hah..."
I hadn't even gotten inside yet, and I was already sighing.
I wonder how much worse it will be if I go through that door?
Part of me wanted to turn around and run, but reality is cruel.
I stepped inside the office, struggling to keep the fear at bay.
.
.
.
.
.
"What if we let them into the room at this time, I'm sure I told them over the radio that we were throwing flash grenades?"
"That's because Robert's crew misunderstood my instructions and entered-"
"It's the job of a team leader to give precise instructions so that his men don't make mistakes, Rogers, and that little mistake could have cost us enough lives."
"...Inexcusable."
As usual, I'm stuck with Lieutenant Ellis today.
She goes on and on about my mistakes in the last operation and how I'm not a team leader.
I couldn't argue with her as she pinpointed exactly what I had done wrong.
It's not in my character to put a steel plate over my face and avoid responsibility when it's clear that I'm at fault.
I could only silently take Lt. Ellis' points with tears in my eyes.
While I secretly marveled at her stamina to speak nonstop for an entire hour, her sermon, which seemed to go on forever, finally came to an end.
"...I hope you will keep in mind what I have said, and perform better on your next mission."
"I'll keep that in mind."
My face stretched with a sense of liberation.
She must have noticed my reaction, because she looked at me with a strange look in her eyes and spoke.
"And I have a message for you."
"What it is?"
"There will be a new member joining Team Bravo as of today. She was recommended by 'Eden', and they say she has completed their own training curriculum."
"...?"
I pause, questioning her words.
A chill ran down my spine as words and meanings began to form in my buffered brain.
"...So the new recruit will be assigned to my team?"
"Yes."
"And you're saying... that she was recommended by Eden, one of Nova City's three largest corporations...?"
"Yes, that's right."
For a moment, I felt like I'd been hit with a sledgehammer to the back of the head and forgot what to say.
Could she be playing a joke on me?
I even entertained such a ridiculous expectation.
As I stood frozen in place, Lt. Ellis shot me a confirmation.
"As an aside, I can't be sure, but it appears that there was a deal made higher up the chain of command in exchange for her acceptance."
"No way..."
"If that officer is seriously injured or killed, we're going to be in trouble, so make sure he gets as much attention as possible."
"Wait, wait, wait... Why is such an important person being assigned to my team? Isn't it normal for Lieutenant Ellis to be in charge?"
I questioned Lieutenant Ellis in a last ditch effort.
Common sense dictated that the Alpha Team Leader, Lieutenant Ellis, who had more experience and authority than me, should be in charge of these VVIPs.
But her response to me was cold.
"After the last time my team was wiped out, the brass decided to put her in charge of Rogers, who hasn't done much damage yet, rather than me, who has a history of wiping out my teammates, so you'll just have to comply."
"..."
I couldn't argue with her words, which had a bitter edge to them.
She was a ticking time bomb, no matter how one looked at it.
I decided to use my years of social life experience to duck out of the way.
"Okay, I'll take care of it."
"I'll send you her profile separately; she should be in the Bravo Team living quarters by now, so you can go get it."
"...Wait, what did you just say?"
I snapped.
Lt. Ellis' casual remark, as if it were no big deal, hit me like a ton of bricks.
"I said that the new recruit would have arrived at the Bravo Team living quarters."
"..."
I glare at Lieutenant Ellis, instinctively sensing I'm fucked,
"That's the end of the transmission. You may leave."
She nodded in understanding and allowed me to move.
Now that I've secured my physical freedom, all that remains is to run like hell.
"Good luck!"
"Take care."
I quickly nodded to Lieutenant Ellis and began to run for the office exit.
Luckily, the office doors opened immediately, as I didn't have to go through any special identification on the way out, and I sprinted down the hallway of police headquarters.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck..."
I knew the personalities of the members on our Bravo team all too well.
I knew they'd do all sorts of nasty things when they realized they had a new recruit.
What if our VVIP recruit got tired of all the attention from day one and complained to Eden?
Not only will the pranksters be fired, but I, the team leader, will be blown to smithereens.
And my precious pension will go down with it.
"Please don't be late, please, please, please..."
I didn't even bother waiting for the elevator, so I ran straight to the stairwell.
Boom!
I kicked open the stairwell door and ran in, and a feast of stairs spread out in front of me.
"Damn it...!"
There's no time to calmly descend.
I immediately grabbed the railing and launched myself downward.
Thud!
I endure the bone-jarring impact of the landing and launch myself to the next floor.
Over and over, without stopping, until I reached the second floor, where the living quarters were.
Tsk-tsk-!
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"
"I'm coming through!"
I slam the stairwell door open and dive into the second floor hallway, causing several passing officers to jump in surprise.
I ran with all my might, narrowly avoiding crashing into them, and forcing myself to keep my wits about me when I felt like I was going to faint at any moment.
"Gotcha!"
The entrance to Team Bravo's living quarters finally came into view.
The thick security doors of the dormitory and the blonde woman standing in front of them.
It was obvious that she was the new recruit Lieutenant Ellis was talking about.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
"New recruit there?!"
Her head snaps around in response to my voice, and a pair of blue eyes stare at me.
"You mean me?"
"Yes, I mean you...!"
As I glide to a stop in front of the newcomer and calmly catch my breath, she looks at my rank card.
"You happen to be the team leader of Team Bravo?"
"Yes, I'm the team leader. You haven't been inside the living quarters yet, have you?"
I nodded my head in affirmation, and then asked her the most important question of all, and the answer came back...
"No, I haven't."
"Hmm... Good..."
I felt a rush of relief wash over me.
The worst was averted.
I'd saved my pension.
Beep!
"!"
As if on cue, the file from Lt. Ellis popped up in front of me.
I tried to skim through it with a much more relaxed mindset.
"...Huh?"
Until the words, never to be dismissed lightly, turned my mind into a blank slate.
Lack of ethical thinking.
Lack of social skills.
Lack of common sense.
...Requires periodic injections of a class 1 inhibitor produced by the Eden Group.
"...Ahaha."
"...?"
Now I had to admit it.
Today, we have a super-sized nuclear bomb on our hands.