Chapter 2
Birth of a Phantom
While the two agents caught their breath, the lights inside suddenly flashed open with a blinding white light that revealed the expansive interior. White walls with a green tint, with floors were divided into sections, resembling a mix of a shopping mall and something akin to an office area. Only certain sections were lit up, as it looked to be still under construction.
Felix walked over to the fountain, washing his face with the cold water.
A holographic interface flicked out from Maria's watch, a thin blue screen that displayed a map of the building's interior.
"Uh-oh…" She blurted out.
"What?" He let out a gargled breath.
"This doesn't look like the map they gave us."
His mismatched eyes widened slightly as he remembered the robin's words, "Construction… they renovated the entire building. We need a plan."
"They patched the map mid-game, but the quest stays the same." She shrugged and spoke in a wistful tone.
"What?"
"Don't worry about it. It'll be more fun this way." She pressed her watch, and the holographic projection vanished.
Maria moved forward towards the atrium, while Felix followed behind, scanning their surroundings, listening to the sound of voices and footsteps.
With measured breathing, they navigated deeper into the facility, darting from cover to cover, moving through the spaces where the artificial light could not reach them.
They ascended up the staircase, crouched under it's railing, creaking with every step. And rushed towards the first door they saw.
With a light push, Felix peaked through it, only to see a bright glare. As the two entered, they were met with the hum of fluorescent lights, it's bright light bouncing off of the hallways.
"Where are we headed?" He asked.
Maria pulled out a knife, glancing up at a blinking camera mounted in the corner of the hall.
"A lot's changed." She chucked the knife towards the camera, shattering it, "But since the security cameras still work, I doubt they changed the location of the surveillance room."
"So we take out communications and leave them blindly looking for us?"
"Yup."
They moved through the halls as silently as possible, yet he noticed the faint sound of footsteps through the other side of the corridor.
"Go, go!" He whispered.
She opened the green door, and they were struck with an unexpected sight.
Shafts of moonlight shined down, revealing the lush greenery and blooming flowers. The faint scent of disinfectant hung in the air, mixing with an earthy aroma that seemed out of place.
"A garden?" Maria muttered.
Bushes and fauna arranged between a network of rocks, and the sound of flowing water echoed from a rectangular onyx base in the center. Perched atop it was a golden dragon statue, holding a sun, illuminated under the moon's glow.
"What even is this place? I thought it was a shopping mall." She whispered, staring at the statue.
"They could be making a military facility disguised as a commercial district." He replied, looking not at the statue, but at the moon shining over them through the glass ceiling. His gaze wistful.
"That explains why it's crawling with guards. The surveillance room should be right over there."
Both of them headed toward the door at the far end of the room, his iron-heeled boots crunching against the rocks as he marched through the stony path.
But he suddenly stopped in his tracks, raising his hand, signaling Maria to stop as well.
A guard in a bloodied uniform stumbled out of the surveillance room.
Felix whipped out his cobalt pistol, and shot a silent pulse of energy. Three concentric, invisible waves rippled through the air, reverberated through the man's body.
As the guard collapsed to the white rocks, Felix murmured, "Something's wrong…"
Maria turned to him as he lowered his weapon.
"He wasn't running toward us. He was running away from something."
Pressing his back to the wall beside the door, Felix nodded for Maria to proceed. She eased the door open, but as Felix was about to attack, his eyes widened.
Inside, there was a scene of carnage. The flickering monitors cast pale, uneven light over the corpses on the floor, blood pooling beneath them.
"Well, someone beat us to it." Maria marched in.
Felix gulped, looking away.
"Queasy? I'll just be a minute, you keep watch outside. Just gotta disable what communications they have here."
"No, I'll be fine." He crossed his arms.
"Suit yourself." She said, hopping over the three dead bodies. "Hyup."
As she focused on the screens, Felix pressed his hand against his chin in thought.
He remembered the words twitchy eyed guard, "Who are you? Are you with the intruder?!"
Someone else already managed to get here before us. That explains why they were already on such high alert outside.
But as he attempted to piece things together, a sharp groan escaped his mouth.
Maria turned her head towards her, "You alright?"
"Yeah… It's just… from earlier." He clutched his aching fist, "Are you done?"
"Just about. At the very least, won't have to worry about them knowing where we are." She said as all of the screens turned into static. There was no visuals left.
But as soon as she finished, a shout erupted from outside. Both two of them turned their heads towards the door. Several sets of footsteps could be heard on the rocks.
Trapped in a small room in an unfamiliar location, Felix pressed his back just behind the door, a bead of sweat rolled across his face as he aimed his cobalt gun.
But Maria rushed over and pushed him against the wall.
"What are you—?"
"Shhh… you're still in uniform." She whispered with a finger against her mouth.
He nodded.
"Now play dead."
"Gahk!" He grunted as she burrowed her fist into his gut. "Bollocks…" He weakly whimpered, falling to his knees.
When the guards made it to their surveillance room, they were shocked by the sight that greeted them.
A man stepped in with a horrified look, the static light reflected in the pool of blood.
"Sir…?" Maria spoke softly, sat on the ground next to Felix, "Please help us…"
Startled, the guard looked at her, "What… happened here?"
"I didn't see… an intruder came in from behind… and shot us."
Maria saluted, taking notice of his uniform, which appeared to be slightly different from the rest. There was a golden badge on him.
"Men, there are survivors! Come!"
"It's alright, sir. I can carry him." She said, putting Felix's arm over her shoulder.
Felix groaned, and she got up with a lowered gaze, avoiding eye contact and hoping they would not be caught a second time.
As the two of them stepped out, the head guard squinted his eyes and inspected the two intruders closely, "Have I… seen you both before?"
"This one's in bad condition, sir. He's lost a lot of blood!" She spoke rapidly, evading the question, "We have to hurry or else he won't make it!" She squealed as Felix vengefully pinched her shoulder tight.
"Take them to the infirmary." A bead of sweat rolled down the head guard's face.
"Yes, sir!" The guards shouted.
There were a total of six guards, including the head guard, accompanying them out of the garden.
While Maria carried Felix on her shoulder, one of the guards approached with a faint smile and asked, "Do you need any help?"
She lowered her gaze, "We're good. Could you just tell us where the infirmary is?"
"It's on the third floor, you both should take the elevator."
"Alright, I'll just take him to there myself."
Both of them were escorted by one of the guards to the elevator. And as they walked, one of the guards muttered to the head guard.
"Sir, the two of them…" The guard whispered in Chinese, staring at the two agent's torn up uniforms.
The head guard responded in a low, measured tone, also in Chinese, "Despite our efforts to keep the first guy from breaking out, these two managed to break in. They massacred everyone outside and broke through the iron gate. Play along. Keep your distance. Don't get killed."
Felix, who was several steps ahead, did not ignore their conversation. His eyes darted over to Maria, who seemed either oblivious or was unfazed.
She boarded the elevator with Felix still on her shoulder, but as she turned around to salute, she was greeted by the sight of several pistols aimed at her.
The guard accompanying them had a wide grin on his face as he pulled the pin out of a grenade.
"Here's a gift, new recruits." The guard sneered and tossed the explosive in before the metal doors could close.
Maria's face curled into shock as the bomb flew towards them, but Felix's silhouette appeared before her, kicking it back towards them.
"V.V.!" He yelled, and the two agents took to the sides behind the doors.
The guard's grin faded as the explosive struck his forehead and dropped to the ground, while the rest of the men ran away in panic.
Fire and shrapnel slipped past the open doors half a second before the elevator shut tight, piercing into him.
As they began to ascend, Felix suddenly stumbled to the floor, clutching his right arm.
Maria sat next to him and noticed a dark, deep red stain on the light-brown uniform he wore, "Your arm…Was this from his grenade?"
"It's nothing. Just a graze… Bullet-proof coat, remember?" He blurted as he pulled out a small bottle full of pills marked with a medical cross from his pocket.
"Painkillers aren't gonna fix the problem at hand... or, at arm?" She giggled slightly at her own pun.
"It's not the problem."
"Then… what is the problem?" She asked as a drop of sweat dripped down her worried face.
"Why were they speaking English?!"
"Why are you still hung up on that?"
He let out a sharp "They were talking to each other in Chinese while they spoke to us in English… they knew we were intruders from the start…"
"Right." She let out a low sigh, "Let's head straight to the infirmary."
"I said I'm fine, I'm more curious how you're unscathed…"
"Just like you, remember? Enhanced senses, reflexes, speed and strength and all that, not to mention I'm—" For a moment, her eyes widened as she looked at him.
"And you're…?"
She placed her hand on her hip, "I'm an Elite Agent, too."
With a soft laugh, Felix scratched his cheek, "Ah… That's clear now, sorry for doubting you."
"Huh, that's the first time I've heard you laugh a non-asshole-ish laugh."
"Is that right, well if we make it through this, then you might be able to hear it again someday." He stood up, still clutching his arm and asked, "So, we head to the central database now?"
"The garden wasn't in our map, who knows what else they changed outdated. This place looks like an entirely different building." Maria shook her head in dismay as the holographic display popped out.
"Then I guess we're on our own. Take out your grappling hook." He said, randomly pressed on the elevator's buttons.
"Hm, why?"
Felix whipped out his pistol, pulled out a silencer from his hip, and aimed at the hatch above them.
"What are you doing?"
Maria covered her ears.
Four successive shots reverberated inside the bright, white elevator, breaking through each of the hatch's corners. His hand trembled with every shot.
"It's just a graze… just a graze…" He winced.
He holstered his pistol back under his coat and rolled his shoulder, "There's probably a dozen expecting us on the next floor."
With the hatch broken open, he climbed up the sides and pushed through, "They at least won't be able to use this elevator."
From above the elevator, he stretched his hand, and she took it.
The elevator stopped on the third floor. As soon as its metal doors opened, heavy clicks could be heard just before a hail of bullets began to tear its interior apart.
Wisps of dark smoke emanated from the decimated elevator, and the thick scent of the gunpowder filled the air.
With rifles clutched tightly by their side, the guards all got into formation and cautiously entered the damaged structure. Yet their coordinated efforts were wasted, as they looked up and found that their targets had already long left.
~