At the top of a mountain, in the distance, a man with a sniper rifle could be seen, accompanied by a young woman who was indicating coordinates to him. The man was James, a war veteran, known as the best assassin/soldier. His gray hair was already a sign of the years he had accumulated in his career. He had served a secret organization since his childhood, where he was trained to be the perfect soldier, without emotions. That's what he thought... until a series of events would lead him to question everything.
James had no family, and after completing his missions, he spent his free time watching anime and manga, especially a series called Pokémon, which a colleague had recommended to him. Life had left little room for other interests, but Pokémon became his only form of escape.
While observing through the sniper scope, the voice of the young woman next to him, Sara, interrupted him:
— Sara: "Who's next, James?"
— James (focused): "Jake, 20 feet to the left of the Sedan."
James moved the rifle and fired, the bullet piercing the air and hitting the target.
— Sara: "Bullseye! Tom and Jeff, 30 feet to the left."
James fired again, reloaded, and fired once more.
— Sara: "Bullseye again!"
— Sara: "Psycho, 70 feet to the right!"
James quickly moved his sight to the right, but the target, Psycho, had hidden behind a van.
— Sara: "He's hiding!"
James clenched his teeth, unperturbed, and said:
— James: "You should have indicated sooner."
Without wasting time, he fired through the van, and the bullet hit Psycho, who fell lifeless to the ground.
— James: "Mission accomplished. We're leaving."
Sara, visibly upset, replied:
— Sara: "But there are still more mafia members. We could eliminate them."
— James (coldly): "The organization didn't assign us the assassination of six men. I'm not killing anyone else."
— Sara: "But there are key people down there! They could resume their activities. We can't allow that."
— James (looking at her seriously): "We are not heroic vigilantes. We are tools that follow orders. The organization wants the structure to remain intact. There might be undercover agents among them. We can't eliminate them without permission. We have fulfilled our mission. We're leaving."
Sara did not reply further, but her face showed a mix of surprise and anger.
They both headed to the car, but before James could get in, he saw a drone with an infrared camera flying over the area. Without thinking, he moved Sara out of the vehicle and shouted:
— James: "I'll drive!"
— Sara (surprised): "What's happening?"
— James: "We've been detected. Full speed ahead!"
The car started moving at high speed, while Sara clung to her seat.
— Sara: "Why?!"
— James: "A drone detected us. It will follow us if we don't turn off the lights."
— Sara: "What do we do now?"
— James: "Do as I say. The border guard will come soon."
Sara looked through the rear window of the car, seeing several combat vehicles approaching. A soldier shouted:
— Soldier: "Vehicle found! Let's go after it!"
They quickly started shooting, and James' car became the target of their bullets.
— Soldier: "The suspects opened fire!"
— Commander: "You can intervene!"
James gripped the steering wheel tightly, while the machine guns on the car responded with fire. But in the middle of the chaos, James' car exploded.
Flashback
James recalled his plan:
— James: "If there's a drone, it's over. Its infrared camera can see the heat of the engine. So we'll leave the lights on as a distraction."
— James: "Sara, hang your weapon on the roof and run a cable through the trigger. When the vehicle jumps over the bumps, the weapon will fire automatically. The drone has an excellent camera, but only one. So it will prioritize the most obvious target. When we jump out of the vehicle, while they follow us, the drone will shoot. If we're lucky, they'll hit the gas tank."
The car exploded just as James had planned. After the chaos, they both jumped out of the vehicle and hid.
— Sara (complaining about the pain): "James, my leg hurts!"
James quickly approached, saw Sara's wound, and started working to stop the bleeding.
— James: "Let me help you. Don't worry."
While James was healing Sara's wound, he thought about what had just happened. "If the drone found us, it was a slip-up by the mafia."
— James (in a low voice): "We'll wait until dawn."
Sara, still in pain, responded:
— Sara: "We won't escape in the dark."
— James: "The ground is cold. It will make us visible in the infrared cameras. So sleep
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