While the winds hummed and whistled, visions of an old rundown warehouse came flooding back in the boy's thoughts, filled with fire and screams. Hazy, short and fragmented.
In the darkness, sitting inside a rattling cage, and a voice that boomed with anger from the other side of the door.
"That was the experimental!"
There was a vision of a syringe with blue and yellow fluid. Then one with a twisted hand buried in rubble as it reached for the sky.
Followed by the sound of soft giggles, and the voice that asked, "Well, we can't have that. How about I name you instead? What if your name was…"
Two-Zero-One's mismatched eyes shot open. The azure glow in his right eye had disappeared, and returned to being a dark copper. The skies above were nearly pitch black, partially obscured by the branches.
"Oh good, y'er still alive. Gave me a scare there." A familiar feminine voice sighed with relief.
He found himself lying on a log, still within the woodland, still surrounded by snow.
In front of him was a small crackling fire with barely any wood to sustain it, let alone keep him warm.
A snowy-haired woman stood nearby, wearing sunglasses, and a green, four-leaf clover necklace dangling over her black suit.
"I was only s'posed to watch ya from afar, but since ya didn't come back, I had ta look fer ya. Lucky ya weren't wearin' that white cloak, otherwise I'd've never found ya." Her tone was a complicated mix of rattled and relieved, any semblance of formality she had in the radio had completely vanished.
His body was heavy and sore. It was already difficult trying to sit upright, but the added sensation of the soaking cold was dragging him back down. As he settled upright, he noticed the black coat wrapped around his body.
He took off his headset and asked, "What… happened?" His voice was raspy and barely audible.
"That's what ya get for not preparing properly." She sighed, echoing his words mockingly, "What was it you said? Get to the cliff, shoot, get back down, right?"
"... right." He answered meekly.
She let out a deep sigh, "Them higher-ups prob'ly knew about the blizzard, and yet they forced ya' out here anyway. Cold-hearted bastards, I swear, risking your life like that…"
The boy blinked twice, staring at the crackling flame.
The white-haired woman adjusted her sunglasses, "I was tryna order you to return. But ya acted on your own accord, tried ta play hero, let the CEO get shot in the arm, get yerself beaten up by hail, disappear soon as you were done, and—"
He shuddered in fear, recognizing that the woman was his handler, and was listing down his mistakes, "I'm… I didn't—"
"… and ya saved a life…" The small flame lit up her smile, "You're a good, kind person, aren't you?"
Memories of all that transpired, of all he did, flashed in his mind. The face of the heiress, the blood-stained wall. Bile immediately built up in his mouth again — a disgusting taste that he immediately spat out, shivering in both revulsion and frost.
"Oh, gross." The white-haired woman's facade of professionalism quickly dropped as she watched him vomit.
"I killed… someone…" He muttered out with a clogged, nasally voice. His stomach churning.
"That's right… Yer first assignment was to take someone's life. You killed someone for the first time."
The white-haired woman pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and began wiping his chin. "That ain't something a thirteen year old should ever experience. But you also kept the heiress alive, s'well as every other bloke there. Don't forget that."
"… understood." He nodded.
She tossed the vomit-stained handkerchief away and him a mug full of a dark, brown fluid, "Drink this, should warm ya right up."
His fingers quivered as he took hold of the mug. The warm wisps rising from it were clearly visible. The heat was soothing to his stiff palms.
"But… what about the CEO…" He whimpered.
She sat down beside him and added, "That tough old bloke'll be fine. I'm sure he's just glad his daughter's alive. Grats, ya succeeded in yer first mission."
Relief washed over him, and he took a sip, only to stick out his tongue as soon as he tasted it, "…This isn't chocolate?"
"Ya can't tell me you've never had coffee before. Guess it's only the finest for the Professor's masterpiece." She spoke in a carefree manner, ruffling his hair.
"Masterpiece…" His eyes narrowed as he lowered his gaze.
The woman laughed awkwardly in response, trying to shrug off the remark, "Sorry. Didn't mean to offend. It's only been a year since the implementation, hasn't it. Wounds still prob'ly fresh, ain't it?" She blurted out tactlessly.
"... Every day has been the same since then..."
The white-haired leaned back and exhaled softly, her breath visible in the icy air, "If ya want me honest opinion, I can see why the Professor has so much faith in ya. Them higher-ups wanted ya to runaway with your tail tucked between yer legs to humiliate the old doc…"
She stretched out her arms forward, continuing with a louder voice, "But ya proved you were worth every damn penny they spent."
Startled, he responded, "Thank you, miss Nocturne…"
"Nocturne is me codename, call me Luna… Luna Aster."
"Miss Luna, I'm…"
"Felix, right? Everybody in the agency knows about ya."
"Right…" The boy, Felix, absent-mindedly took another sip from the coffee as he was lost in thought.
As he reflexively spat out the bitter drink, Luna covered her mouth and giggled to herself, "Still don't like how it tastes? Let me fix that."
She took the mug off his hands, "Stay here for a minute, the car's parked right outside from here."
Left alone in the woods, he shivered. Though his body was still stiff and sore, he inched closer the small flame.
The crackle of fire filled the silence as he brought his hands closer to it. The warmth returned feeling into his hands, and he began stretching his fingers.
"… saved…" He whispered in raspy voice, recalling the heiress' expression and how the CEO embraced her. His face relaxed, and he took long, deep inhales.
Only for a cold gust to wipe out the flame, leaving only the charred wood and crackling embers.
The heated air faded instantly, turning his relaxed expression into an annoyed pout as the snow began to pour over his head.
He properly put on the black coat that was draped over his shoulders and blew warm air into his hands.
Branches creaked, and the sound of snow crunched, signaling her return, "Ah, it looks like the fire went out. But it looks like that black coat suits ya better."
The white-haired woman handed the mug to the shivering boy. As he took another sip, he immediately blurted out, "Sugar?" The taste was now much sweeter than before.
"Two creams and three sugars, to be exact. It's me favorite." She answered warmly as she sat down beside him."
"It's… nice… thank you." He hurriedly chugged down half the drink to warm himself up.
"In spite'a everything ye went up against, ya stood y'er ground and survived a hailstorm, an' somehow completed yer first mission. No wonder them scientists keep tryna turn more people like ya… " She mused as she gazed towards the night sky.
Flustered, he gazed into his coffee. The blue glow radiating from his left eye reflected in the dark drink. He sipped through the cup.
The wind began to howl, and snow started dropping from the branches.
"Time to go. Any longer and the cold's gonna kill the both of us."
"Back to the agency?" His eyebrows curled, there was a bitterness to his question.
"Ya ain't dead, but y'er still beaten up badly. So let's get ya to a hospital first."
"Ah, mhm…" He nodded.
Sensing the dilemma in his voice, she then commented, "After that, how about we go to uh…" She placed her hand on her chin, "Well, y'er too young for a pub. So how 'bout we go anywhere you like?"
"Somewhere I like? But… I don't really know anywhere…" His hands squeezed the cup.
"Then I'll show you places."
"Ah, okay. Thank you…"
"Truth is, I should be the one thankin' you."
"Huh?"
Luna suddenly slapped his back with a cheery smile, before walking towards the car outside the woodland, "Hurry up, agent."
He hurriedly finished the coffee and followed her out of the woodland. As he stepped out, he saw the open skies, waves of light dancing with blue, green and cyan hues.
"Them scientists really want to turn more people like ya. Eventually, there was a breakthrough in their research, did ya know that?" She stood just a few meters away from him, her white hair swaying in the winter winds.
Luna lifted up her sunglasses and turned to face him.
"Miss, your eyes…"
Her eyes radiated with an orange glow. The same color as fire.
"… Technically I ain't at your caliber yet, but thanks to your DNA… you're not alone anymore."
Iridescent auroras danced in the distance, yet her eyes stood out the most to him. Her eyes radiated with the color of the fire, no, the color of sunset, "Y'er still a long ways from becoming the light of the future… But don't worry. I'll teach ya."
The car engine started. The heater hummed as Luna drove. Felix sat in the back of the car, sharing the space with a red spear lying in the back.
His face pressed against the window, the monotonous black and white flashed by, coming and going, yet the blue glow in his eye remained ever stagnant. Unlike those ephemeral moments that quickly disappear, he will always remember the taste of his first coffee, and the warmth he felt in his chest.
As the exhaustion set in, his eyelids grew too heavy. The last thing he saw was Luna's white hair waving back and forth from the driver's seat.
*
As the years passed, Felix sat on the blue leather chair.
"Felix?" A soft voice called his name.
He opened his mismatched eyes, meeting the gaze of a young black-haired woman seated across from him.
"We're here. Are you ready?" She asked.
He squeezed the four-leaf clover dangling in front of his shirt, glancing out the window and the darkness outside, he answered, "Yeah… I'm ready."
~