The neighbourhood was finally quiet. People were back from work, resting in order to fight another day. For the first time in a long time, I had completely different plans from them and it felt good.
My living room was illuminated only by the light from the TV screen and a tiny blue flame stubbornly clung to my finger, unresponsive to my attempts to make it move. Cedric leaned beside me for the thousandth time, he usually would nod or frown, sometimes he would say something under his breath, but he always managed to go back to pacing.
Meanwhile, sweat trickled down my back forming a puddle on the floor. No matter how many times I would wipe my eyebrows, my eyes would start burning again in the very next moment. The flame was my sole focus.
Perhaps not wanting to leave me to face all of this alone, Frank steady support could be found on the couch, a magazine covering his face, a thunderous sound echoing from beneath it. I had his undivided attention.
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The sun was showing himself again and every part of my body ached. The repetition was exhausting. After ten minutes of practice the strain would increase to a staggering amount, forcing me to stop. That being said, the constant training didn’t bother me, the fact that I could push myself this hard again was already amazing. What truly worried me was if my colleagues would be satisfied with just me putting the effort in. Add to that, the entire time I was practicing Cedric had a frown. He would cross and uncross his arms. Put a hand on his chin. Sometimes his eyebrows would furrow just to relax again, making it impossible for me to get a read over his stoic presence.
As the day passed, we kept pushing my ability further until something caught my attention.
Cedric took a pocket watch from his robe and I was instantly captivated by it. The device had an elegant feel to it. I’ve had a passion for railroads since I was a little boy. Once upon a time my bookshelves were filled to the brim with books and movies about the period, so I could say without a doubt in my mind that this model would not look out of place in a movie about 1920’s railroads.
The only thing that made my statement untrue was a single detail. When Cedric pulled it out in the daytime, the absence of any color led me to question what I was seeing. It was not translucent, it was darker than pitchblack. It went even beyond vantablack. Add to that, I knew for a fact that every single agent in our branch had the same time ability that I had, which only served to increase my interest.
Cedric made no effort to appease my curiosity though, which left my inner spy working overtime, watching him closely waiting for him to use it. As he walked by he would scribble something on the devices’ lid and the faint trace left by his pen made me wonder what this thing was supposed to be. All the while, his dark face looked like stone marble, shifting slowly from one expression to the other but not reacting to match anything I could perceive. Everytime he caught my glimpses, he would put it away and ask me to continue what I was doing.
An entire day went by like this until finally Cedric raised his hand.
“I’ve seen enough.”
Free at last, free at last. I let the sofa take the brunt of my helpless carcace. Heaving and still sweating, I was joined by my most loyal man. God blessed the little bugger.
Speaking of blessings, there must be somebody up there looking out for me, because at the corner of my eye I see a goofy man coming out of my kitchen with a tray in each hand. His attire might be able to please Gordon Ramsay himself or piss him off. A coin toss, really. A greasy hair with the tallest chef’s hat I ever seen followed by a spotless white apron. Frank wasn’t much of a teacher or a cheerleader, but the man’s timing was undeniable.
Frank lifted the lid on both trays. “Voilá” This time he cooked steaks along a simple charcuterie board with all types of cheeses. Upon closer inspection I could see that it was Wagyu beef, which confirmed my suspicion that the ingredients they were using were being transferred and stored with them somehow. Cedric tea set and herbs were proof enough of my transfer hypothesis, but the beef hinted to him not only being able to transfer products but also keeping them preserved for a long period of time.
“Tonight, we feast!” Frank roared, one fist closed upon his heart, the other raising a spatula in defiance of only God knows what. Our chubby chef squinted his eyes at me, to which I responded with an ‘Aye, my captain,’ making him look thoroughly pleased.
Handkerchiefs comfortably tucked in, we ate to our hearts content. My stomach was growling, having the kind of appetite that I almost forgot I could have. It seemed like it really was a brand new day.
“How did my boy do, Cedric?” Frank pinched my cheek like an affectionate grandmother, I didn’t like it, but decided to humour him for a while.
Cedric slowly finished chewing before he answered the question. “Well enough, I suppose.” He looked up to the ceiling, as if trying to remember something. “The readings were good.”
I tilted my head.
Frank gestured to me. Not something I should worry about probably.
“There is one thing we should tell you, my dear Ernie.” Frank stretched his arm, attempting to hold hands with Cedric. My bald coworker moved his own at an astonishing speed right before they could touch. “Your daddy and I will be leaving soon, Ern.” Frank raised his hand over his forehead, palm facing outwards.
I put my fork down, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“We’ve been here with you for more than two weeks now and it was fun.” Frank looked apologetically.
Cedric’s deep voice hummed in agreement.
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“But even these spare bodies can’t deviate from our mission for this long,” Frank explained.
My body stiffened. I look over Cedric trying to find a clue, some sort of sign that Frank was joking again. I didn’t see it.
“Spare bodies?”
Frank swirled the wine he was holding and just shook his head. “A conversation for later.”
Hatred stirred inside me, but I nipped it on the bud before it could reach my face. I remind myself to take baby steps. I don’t want this impatience to fester inside of me. Justified or not.
“When do I get my crash course about all the things I seemed to be completely unaware of?” I asked.
“You will have meetings with other agents on a weekly basis,” Frank said, staring intently at his wine glass. I could see something inside of it, a silhouette perhaps. At this moment I saw a concerned expression briefly flash before returning to his usual demeanor. “On top of that, you will have to subscribe to the database and join the leagues.”
The hairs on my arms stood up as I heard that. “The Western Leagues are a meat grinder, especially in America. Are you sure that you invested so much just to see me die?”
“We won’t let you die. Any mission you take you would be mentored and we will provide additional skills to increase your safety. I can’t promise that you'll never be at risk, but I will promise that we will give you the means to thrive and protect you as much as we possibly can,” Frank said.
“What about choosing your profession or this business being about longevity?”
“I tried to fight your conscription as much as I possibly could, but we faced some opposition. Bottom line is this, you can’t work for us representing our interests if you are not part of a league. You are officially a powered human, the 28th amendment compels you to conscript. It is a good opportunity to learn, we just have to be extra careful. It will further your career Ernest, I guarantee it.”
“But what if I don’t want to be a fighter like you two?”
“Worst case scenario, I can make sure you only do administrative work. It wouldn’t be ideal, but it is possible. You won’t be forced to put your neck on the line.”
Cedric scoffed. I wasn’t surprised that he was paying attention, it seemed like his everwatchful demeanor was embedded in his DNA, but I never saw a reaction like that.
“You want it, don’t you?” Cedric asked.
“I beg you a pardon?”
“You would probably enlist regardless, but you want to hedge your bets, am I right?”
Frank’s eyebrows rose. “You are volunteering for the meat grinder?”
My gaze goes down before looking Cedric in the eye again. They had a certain spark to them, some youthful glow in another old carcass. They were also brown like Frank’s, but his color was much deeper. The complexity was all there to see in a single glance. I got a little upset with myself again. I knew he was perceptive, but not that perceptive. It seems it will be a while until I can catch up with those two, so I told the truth.
“What can I do? There isn’t a single artistic bone in my entire body.”
Frank snorted, Cedric chuckling along as he shakes his head.
“But in all seriousness though, if you want me to have any confidence in you from here on, you better come correct with your promises. I wouldn’t like to be a sitting duck in one of the most lethal institutions on the planet.”
“Deal,” Frank responded.
He then looked straight into my eyes. “One last thing, before we leave there are some details that I would like to tell you about in person. As you already know our Company is a very dynamic and complex enterprise, to put it mildly.” He took the napkin from his collar. Put his hand on the inside pocket of his suit looking for something.
“Our branch is known as the Orion Branch after our founder which I have the honor to succeed.” He found whatever he was looking for, and put it on the table with a light thud.
“Each branch has their own rules and is known for different specialties. Ours has a reputation for being highly skilled and experienced.”
Even though I didn’t feel comfortable about interrupting his speech, I felt like I was missing something important here, so I just asked.
“All due respect guys, this seems like a vague way to describe something that I would assume almost every good agent should have, but I can’t help but feel like there is something more to it. What exactly do you mean by it?”
Even Pringles left his slumber to witness the answer. With one eye open in order to conserve energy.
“That’s a fair question.” Frank stood silent for a while. Fork lightly tapping on the table. “One of the ways we are different it’s because of the strict policy we have towards learning everything by ourselves.
“Instead of imprinting?”
“Correct, but also manipulating raw energy instead of a more effective source.” Frank lifted his hand from the table, behind it was the same strange clock that Cedric uses. “However this radical choice, as some might put it, has several drawbacks.” He taped on the lid several times before I realized that he was actually typing. “There are two that are very important, but they are not the only ones” His mouth held a thin line and his hazelnut eyes an intense gaze.
He continued. “First we can’t evolve one particular tree without mastering the previous steps. If you imprint, you just have to be strong enough to handle the upgrade, so we are slow to progress when compared to them.”
“Even more problematic is the fact that the way to improve is elusive sometimes so we might not even have a way to progress at all. That is a risky bet, but we make considerable effort to mitigate our losses.”
Frank handed the clock to me. It felt cold to the touch. I could feel it buzzing in my hand.
“There is a second reason as to why our way of doing things is harder. Since we can’t just buy our way through upgrades, sometimes we won’t have the basic upgrade requirements to open a tree we might need.” Frank crossed his arms. “Open the lid Ernest.”
My fingers gave a slight twitch when I followed through, the lid opened with a satisfying click.
“Welcome back Agent Montgomery.
The official Orion Horologium was gifted to you by Agent Francis Orion Carruthers. Would you like to have it synced to you? (Y/N)”
“Yes.”
“Horologium is synced and binded to you. New features are now available. Time-capsule is available for renting. The Wanpan storage unit is available for safekeeping.”
My eyebrows rose immediately as I snapped my fingers in one swift motion. “You circumvent your problems with progression by manipulating time itself.”
Frank grinned while Cedric had a more discreet smile.
“When you’re right, you’re right, baby!” Frank cheered, winking at me.