2 hours later

The rest of the unit all entered the break room at the same time, meaning I could immediately press a button on my left gauntlet, which caused the room’s furniture and counters to flip into the floor, being replaced by highly advanced duos of projectors that shot out a dark blue light, quickly forming a map of somewhere in Egypt.

“Good. Everybody’s here. Now, to get straight to the point, our mission is to infiltrate a factory, one of Robert’s longest standing bases in our fight. While there, we will extract any information regarding his whereabouts, locations and details of other bases of his, and any other important information we can get our hands on.”

“How do we even know we’ll find out where Robert is in there?” Isabelle asked, crossing her arms and leaning back slightly.

“Great question,” I replied, before adding, “The intel Cooper has given us says that he’s been sending spies to watch over this factory, along with a few other of Robert’s essential bases. They report seeing Robert entering and exiting the factory on a weekly, sometimes daily basis.”

“That’s good to know and all, but… how would we even know where to look? We can’t just rush in there blindly and check every single corner,” Rose said, clearly trying her hardest not to offend me.

“That’s why I’ve made an x-ray scan with one of my satellites to determine the exact layout of the factory, leading me to believe the most important places to check are—”

”Wait wait wait,” Isabelle interrupted, “You have a satellite?! How could you get permission for something like that?!”

Ignoring her, I continued, saying “The most important places to search for information are the office and the control room.”

“Wait, don’t ignore the question! Why, and how, do you have permission to have your own satellite?”

“I’m a super genius. That’s how.”

“But… how could you get permission to own one?!”

…

“I don’t. But, even if the government did find out, I doubt they’d care. I’m too useful to them to disagree with me.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Now, can we get back to the task at hand,” I added, speaking to the whole room.

“Good. Now, here’s the thing: Cooper has made it clear that he doesn’t want anyone knowing about our mission, making this top secret. Absolutely no one, especially not civilians, can see us. Is that clear?”

Everybdoy nodded, except for Isabelle, who simply grunted in acknowledgment.

I was about to continue, but I noticed Luke was staring directly at me… smiling. For a second, I dismissed it as him staring at Isabelle, or him being super focused on the briefing… but the thought never left my mind.

Something felt… familiar. Warming, inviting. Almost like…

I shook my head, and the holograms started to fizzle. I pressed a couple buttons on my left gauntlet’s computer, and the fizzling stopped, before the hologram went from forming a map to showing a 3D layout of a factory longer than 5 blue whales.

The factory hologram slowly spinner around, starting first with the backside, a pair of giant doors with holographic tricks going in and out of the doors, facing the others in my unit.

“So, here’s the plan. All of you will enter the factory using a supply truck with two of you as the driver and the passenger, with the rest hiding in the back.”

I stared at Dylan, waiting for his response, to which he nodded. Seeing that, I then said “We have a spy there who will help sneak you all in, but I’d highly recommend not using him ti get out, except as a complete last resort.”

A small bit of country accent leaking in my voice, I added “Y’all will head to the office overseeing the factory and search for information there. Meanwhile, I’ll sneak in through one of the roof vents, make my way to the security room, and extract any information I can find there. Then we’ll regroup at the entrance to the security room.”

“Any questions,” I said, pressing a button to turn off the hologram.

…

“Good. We move out in ten minutes,” I finished, before the room’s walls and part of the floor flipped around once again, turning it back into a break room.

Luke and Isabelle started walking out, Isabelle walking far behind Luke, with Rose looking at me concerned before eventually stepping out.

Issac and Dylan waited until everybody was gone, then, Issac ran up to me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and lifted me up into the air.

“Yes! We’re finally gonna avenge Creation Town!”

Dylan coughed, and Issac released me, saying quietly “I mean… no, don’t do that. Revenge isn’t worth it…”

I scoffed, and stepped out of the room, with only two opposing things on my mind.

Pure, unbridled hate… and… him.

Once I get the room, Issac stepped down Dylan’s side, and sighed, locking his hand with Dylan’s.

“Why try to stop him if we know he’ll do this anyways?”

“I’m not trying to stop him,” Dylan corrected, “I’m trying to make sure he’s doing this for the right reasons.”

Issac giggled.

“You make no sense sometimes, you know that, right?” Issac rested his hand on Dylan’s cheek.

Dylan quickly smooched Issac on the lips, and said in response “You love it. Don’t deny it.”

Issac laughed again, and said “Never said I didn’t.”

They smiled at each other, for about a minute, before Dylan turned around and left the room. Allowing Issac to release his faked smile.

Guess being gay is the new norm. XD