Opening the door, he heard the rumbling noise of people inside. It was past eight o’clock in the evening when the man summoned the gang. Alastor knew the importance, but he just hoped that whoever he was, he should make an exemption for the timing. Tin and Ken were arguing. Although Alastor couldn’t get the gist of the topic, he wanted to make them shut up. The thing that conveyed his thoughts was his behaviour. The grim look in his eyes sent a chill down Ken’s spine even without looking at him.

“Hey, what’s up with you again? Why the gloom? Looks like someone skipped a meal,” Ken jested, his way of warding off Alastor’s grim presence.

“Just leave him be, Ken. Come back here; we’re not done arguing,” Tin said. They rambled again.

“Could you guys please shut up for a couple of minutes? Why aren’t we starting to discuss this meeting yet?” Alastor asked flatly.

“Uhm, because the pretty boy is not here, and Linda is – Oh, there they are.”

The chamber doors opened. Linda entered the room with a man clad in a flamboyant outfit. He was wearing a flamboyant outfit, red long-sleeve polo along with trousers and a red scarf twist on his neck. His name is Cid Philson. Despite his rare appearances in a mission like this, he was considered a reliable asset to the organization. He was working with their group for the past few months, with the exception of meeting Linda occasionally. Normally, a spy like him would solely focus on his designated task given by his superior, alone, but Linda requested his assistance from the director for this assignment due to the lack of social network.

“What took you so long?” Ken asked.

“Oh, you know, I have to pick this guy up at the entrance because he doesn’t want to get lost,” Linda explained.

“What are you, a nine-year-old?” Ken mocked.

“Well, let’s just say that I have a terrible sense of direction.” Cid scoffed.

Alastor was confused by how they casually talked.

“You guys know each other?” Tin asked.

Alastor offered a shrug as he had no idea who he was. They met once before he visited their hideout, and other than that, he could not recall any other occasions they had met.

Ken came closer to his ears, whispering, “Dude, back when we were in the Glade, he was our senior. He’s famous for being known as a ladies’ man.”

“Why are you whispering?” Tin suddenly joined and startled Ken.

Linda sighed and felt sorry for Cid. “Just don’t mind them, and please have patience.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’m used to it,” Cid shrugged off the comment.

However, their conversation was soon interrupted by a commanding voice.

“Hey! Will you guys stop gossiping!?” Linda squawked. “Tin and Ken, will you guys act according to your age?”

“We are acting based on our age!” the two replied in unison. Alastor struggled to recall who Cid was, but a flash of recognition hit him as he noticed the resemblance in his face. Cid now has blonde hair and a shaved beard, whereas he used to have dark hair. The only similarity that remained was their ochre-colour eyes.

“Listen, we all have one chance to expose, get inside and extract the data bank. If we mess up, they might increase their security.” Cid started with a caution. The bright glow of the white bulbs illuminated the spacious room, which featured a large table at its center, surrounded by control panels and buttons. Tin was decoding a device they stole from the Jules market, with everyone listening intently to Cid’s explanation.

“You’ve gotta be careful too, aside from those armed guards, they also have weapons inside, and they’re not happy with what you did. So, listen to me, alright? Tin, are the blueprints ready?” Cid asked.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Just wait, here we go,” Tin replied as she pressed a button. A giant, old chemical factory appeared on the screen, with a massive cylindrical-like structure standing tall behind a large building.

“This is Kayon Chemical Factory. It’s been abandoned for the past eight years until now,” Cid explained, swiping through the profile list until he found the person involved in their mission. The others marked as eliminated were small fries that they already dealt with over the past few months. When he found the person he was looking for, he pressed the button. “This fatso, Don Trifalgo, he’s the one who bought that plantation. That place had turned into a delivery service partner of Kelby Hives. Now, I know that you guys know this pig.”

“Of course, we stole his item at the Jules market, and our superiors have already briefed us. Why are you repeating this discussion?” Ken said.

Cid snorted, indicating his boredom before continuing, “Yes, Atta boy, but that’s not all of that. He’s just a puppet, a proxy. Your actual target is this guy.”

Cid pressed the search bar and entered his code at the top of the login members. Linda paused her movement and keenly observed who he was talking about as he opened the secret files of the Glade. The figure of a man in a white trench coat and all black tuxedo caught her attention.

“His name is Theo Koel Juvel. He is the CEO of the Kelby Hives, and while they may not have known him, he is a certified ‘King of Douchebags’. He is the number one suspect of those rumours of biological weapons that were circulating. This guy is a different kind of monster.”

Ken sat and rested his arms at the table. “I don’t think we should dig in that much. Look, we have the pieces of evidence from the stolen Data Bank and the energy dampener in our possession. Why don’t we just copy a file to another Data Bank and wait for the right moment to assault them, and then give the evidence to the police?”

“Wow, that’s a great idea. We should have just given a copy to the police and assault them as the clients wanted, without digging deeper into their menace. You’re a genius, Ken.” Cid said. His tone was sarcastic.

“Yeah, right?” Ken happily congratulated himself, but the others were stuck in their pace, trying to comprehend the situation. Then, Cid’s loud voice cut through the silence.

“No! We will not hand them a copy, and we will not stop right there. Listen to me, they might have already created a bioweapon generated from the experiments.” He cleared his throat. “Powerful weapons and if we’re not careful, things might go critical. We can’t trust anyone under any authority. If Trifalgo managed to get passed by the authorities despite being a criminal, you could also imagine that Theo had some gripped of several officials.”

Ken finally realized the gravity of the situation and looked down, pulling a face.

“Uh, question,” Alastor raised his hand, “I’m curious. This blueprint. Are we looking at the new or outdated one?”

“Uhh, the outdated one.”

“Figures,” Alastor mumbled, disappointed.

“Look, there’s no way I can get an actual blueprint of the place. So please bear with my presentation, okay?” Cid said.

“Do you think we should skip the part where we plan on how to take him down and consult with the directors about the change of circumstances? Our original mission was to gather data, but the preceding info changed a lot of things for the worse. We can’t ignore this.” Tin said.

Cid promptly replied, “Here’s the thing, kid. I am an agent, a spy, if you will. There’s a mission that is waiting for me, and the higher-ups won’t stop bothering me. So, yeah, my time is limited, and I can’t jeopardize the trust of my collaborators. Are we cool with that? Because I know that any of you can find a way to convince them.”

As Cid looked back at the screen, Linda pressed a button, opening a tab for a video call. Cid was about to cancel when an image of a man appeared on the screen. He was surprised by whom Linda was calling. It was one director of the Glade, Rod Hidalgo Fey

Cid let out a sigh and cursed under his breath, “Oh, shit.”

Rod’s face was emphasized on the screen, forehead was profuse with sweats, the papers behind was disarranged and the attendant hastily move from places to places. Cid stood back as if he had seen a ghost. Linda pushed a button underneath the table and dragged the tab to the giant screen, causing the image to be displayed on the wall. “Sir, there have been changes in circumstances regarding the mission,” Linda began to narrate what Cid explained to them, and the plan was laid out. The mission was scheduled to proceed that night, and they hoped that they would uncover the secrets of the man.

Rod’s face twisted in a scowl as he listened to Linda’s report. “What kind of changes?” he asked gruffly.

Linda took a deep breath and continued, “The information that we have gathered suggests that there may be a bioweapon in development at the Kelby Hives, and we believe that the CEO, Theo Koel Juvel, is responsible. We cannot afford to wait any longer, sir. We need to act fast.”

Rod’s expression softened slightly as he considered Linda’s words. “Very well,” he said. “Proceed with the mission as you see fit. But be careful. We don’t want any unnecessary casualties.”

Cid was delighted by the fact the mission was still on go, but with him being part of it, he could feel his soul leaving his body. He had something else to do other than securing information that he was feeding them. He wished he could just have ignored their request before.