Dan

Dan saw nothing but a faint dark orange color. That was when he relaized his eyes were closed. He slowly cracked his eyelids open and his eyes were met with a harsh light shining down on him. Dan glanced around and noticed both his eyes were perfectly fine. He wasn’t suffering blurred vision nor did he only see out of one side because of one of his eyes succumbing to the overuse of the glare ability.

He looked down and was no longer in his standard combat armor. He was laid onto a bed and all around him he saw machinery and equipment he didn’t recognize. These strange machines all hooked up to him via tubes connecting to his arms and legs. He couldn’t move.

“He’s awake,” Dan heard beyond the curtain. It sounded like Allen’s voice.

A gloved hand poked through the gap in the white curtain and violently jerked the fabric aside. Dan never thought he would be so grateful to see Jane Sunheiser. She looked at him, maintaining her regular steeled expression. Dan squinted and noticed Jane’s eye twitch as she looked at him, breaking her stoicism for a brief moment. She walked closer to him and stood beside his bed. She reached down and touched his shoulder.

“How are you feeling?” Jane asked.

“I can’t move, but I’m alive I think. Unless I died and this is hell. So nice of you to join me Jane,” Dan said smiling.

Instead of grilling him for such a juvenile joke, his squad leader returned a smile to him. “You’re lucky to be alive. When Michael brought you in, your pulse was weak and you struggled to breathe.”

“That bad, huh?”

“We had to grow you a new eyeball. You were fucked up,” Jane said. “Your injuries were so numerous and each compounded each other so much that you gave our doctors and medical technology a good exercise. You’ve been in this bed for three weeks.”

Dan remembered vividly his battle on the hotel rooftop. While Li and Angie held off the other Kodak agents, Dan took it upon himself to fight Kate and Adam alone by himself. Sucha foolish battle that almost got him killed and pushed his mind and body beyond their normal limits.

“By the way, you have some visitors,” Jane said. She stepped back and allowed Li and Angie to come forward.

Li was still fully armored with his silver stealth outfit. On the other hand, Angie’s wardrobe was a jarring contrast to Li’s. She appeared off duty, having her strawberry blond hair flow down naturally while wearing a dangerously short black skirt that didn’t reach below her fingers and a form fitting pink shirt. Even if he didn’t get a new eyeball, Dan could tell Angie wasn’t wearing a bra.

Unfortunately, Dan didn’t know subtlety and Angie picked up on his awkward gazing. “I’ll let that slide Dan. After being in the hospital for so long, you need a good sight for sore eyes.” She turned around and did a pose that emphasized her figure. “Like what you see?”

Even with his limited movement, Dan shifted uncomfortably in his hospital bed at her carefree attitude. Li simply gave her a sideways glance. Dan could tell the squint from Li’s eyes that he too wasn’t impressed.

“I’m thankful you didn’t become a nurse if this is the etiquette you bring to a hospital. Plus, I think Dan has seen better than…this.”

Dan didn’t hold back his snickering at Li’s disparagement. Angie twirled back and gave him a death stare and an open mouth.

“Ugh, rude. That was for Dan’s eyes only.” She then switched her gaze on Dan. “And fuck you too for laughing. I have better jokes than Li even on my worst day.”

Li also laughed a bit. “Well unlike you, I’m here to show my gratitude to our teammate and to wish him a speedy recovery.” He stepped closer and leaned over Dan. “I certainly hope to never encounter you as enemy with monstrous strength like that. You’re a fearsome agent.”

“Thanks Li, but don’t give me all the credit,” Dan said. “I could learn a thing or two from you about stealth. And thanks for those throwing knives. They helped in my fight against those two assholes.”

“I’m surprised you even survived round two with Kate and Adam, considering how taxing your powers are,” Li said.

“Too bad I didn’t double tap to confirm my kills. I just couldn’t hack it,” Dan said. He help complete the mission, but he probably failed to successfully kill off two of his most hated enemies.

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Dan’s HUD popped up a message in front of him.

Congratulations!

You have reached Tier 1 | Level 19.

You have earned 5 stat points.

***

Mission completed.

Time: 03:39:26

Total kills: 10 Kodak agents

Favorite weapon: PX300 Silenced pistol

Efficiency rating: B

100000 credits earned | Numerous unlocks now available at the all Alpha armories

“Holy fucking shit,” Dan said. “That’s a giant payout.”

“The one hundred thousand credits you mean?” Li said. “I haven’t spent mine yet. Still deciding on how I could improve my stealth loadout.”

“You’re such a buzzkill,” Angie said. “Why not splurge on a heavy weapon and mix things up a little?”

“When I get out of here, I’ll have to go do some shopping in the armories,” Dan said.

Another gloved hand shoved one of the curtains further out of the way and two more agents stepped forward to meet Dan. His face lit up when he saw Allen Draco and Michael Cynosa.

“It’s good to see you guys,” Dan said.

“I heard you were quite the beast out there, kid,” Allen said. “From what your new friends told me, you had a rematch with those two assholes from our little raid to crush the rebels. Heard you gave Kate and Adam an asswhooping to remember. I couldn’t believe it, so I had to ask Michael to back up their stories.”

“Yeah, even I’m shocked,” Dan said.

Allen smiled at him. “You’re getting into the big leagues Dan. You got the serums back and you took on some tier twos in direct combat and lived? This is big, kid. I hope you know how impressive that was, even if we remove your lack of experience out of the equation.”

Dan looked over to Michael and noticed a strange dark mark under one of his eyes. It looked like only one of his eyes had a dark circle.

“Don’t worry about me boy,” Michael said, rubbing his darkened eye. “Jane was… mildly upset with the state you were in and laid the blame at my feet for putting you in so much danger.”

“So… she clocked you in the face and gave you that black eye?” Dan asked.

“I was understanding and had forgiven her. Aren’t I generous?” Michael said.

Jane was still in the room and stood further back compared to the rest. Even in the bright lighting shining down on Dan and Jane being in the shadows, he could still see Jane giving Michael the meanest side eye he had ever seen. She emerged from the shadows and joined everyone else.

“Even with my protests with Michael putting you in such danger, you made me proud today,” Jane said.

“Wait, you’re talking to me?” Dan said.

She went past him and continued. “You’ve become even stronger and more battle-hardened as an agnt over the course of this heist. The road doesn’t get any easier from here. But at least you know what is expected of you in the future.” She looked to the side at Dan’s teammates. “Your teammates have potential like you. Though, I’ll be taking the opportunity to dissolve Angie Bloodliner’s terrible taste in fashion.”

Angie’s expression at having Jane criticize her wardrobe made Dan laugh so hard he got concerned about rupturing an organ.

“With all due respect Ms Sunheiser,” Angie began. “That’s rich coming from the literal marketing mascot of the Alpha Corp. Come on, I thought us girls are supposed to have each other’s backs.”

“Correction, I’m not a ‘girl,’ I’m a fully grown woman with a professional image to maintain,” Jane said, her tone remaining as serious as ever. “Aside from that, both Li and Angie will be absorbed into my squad, effective immediately. They’ll fill out our low numbers and give you new teammates to work with Dan. I hope you’ll appreciate this decision.”

Dan smiled. “That’s fine by me.”

“Oh hell yeah!” Angie said. “I get to work with Jane Sunheiser and you too? That’s amazing.” She gave Li a scowl. “I guess that’s worth putting up with Li.”

“Keep your voice down,” Jane ordered. “Remember you are in a hospital.”

Angie shrunk and covered her mouth with both hands. “Sorry,” she muttered.

Michael cleared his throat and the entire room immediately stood straighter and kept silenced, except for Jane. She still gave him side eye.

“Dan, Li, Angie, you all exceeded my expectations on this mission. You helped me successfully steal back the container and get back the batch of Arctic serums. Against all the odds, you guys successfully took back important assets for the shard, and for that I can’t thank you enough. Actually, I think the one hundred thousand credit reward wouldn’t do it justice.” He turned to look at Dan’s two teammates. “You two will quickly struggle to keep up with Dan at this rate. As another bonus for helping me on the heist, you two will both be receiving retroactive upgrades to the Arctic serum. All out of my own pocket.”

Li and Angie stared back at Michael. It was as if both of them were caught in a dream.

“Oh my god, are you serious?”

“So that means, we could potentially gain the same powers as Dan?” Li asked.

Dan’s initial reaction was excitement and happiness for his two teammates. But then the anxiety set in. Would those two also begin experiencing the same dreams and hear the same demonic voice as he did?

Li stroked his chin and said, “I’m not sure how Dan’s berserk rage mode would help me with my preferred methods involving stealth, but I guess I could figure it out later.”

“Are you kidding me?” Angie said. “I get to become super stronge for a brief period of time and punch out fools above me in rank? Sweet.”

“Of course, I do have to ask this of both of you. Do you accept going through the procedure?” Michael said.

Li and Angie exchanged glances with each other.

“I’m in,” Angie said, grinning ear to ear. Li gave a simple nod.