Name: Zach Williams

World: Earth

Gender: Male

Age of Death: 24

Subject Zach was born into an economically challenged family located in one of Earth's most powerful nations, the United States.

Gambling losses incurred by the subject's father, who later fled the country, led to a complete depletion of the family's wealth.

The complications that followed this led to the subject being abandoned by their mother at a very early age.

Coinciding with these events, the nation's higher authorities promoted a branch of their intelligence agency known as Dark Cove to an independent organization.

Dark Cove was presented as a solution to national security threats under circumstances where other branches of defense were limited due to a need to operate under legal boundaries.

Naturally this meant Dark Cove didn't have to answer to any laws that were set by the government, something the higher-ups knew would not be popular with public opinion, so all information regarding its activity had to be kept under wraps.

It was deemed a necessary evil where the results made up for the methods used, and the public wouldn't understand it.

Due to the need for secrecy, normal recruitment methods could not be used since trusting normal people to stay quiet on such a large scale was too risky.

What they needed was an unquestioning loyalty to Dark Cove and complete control of their members, the best way to accomplish such a task, presumed by the leaders of Dark Cove, was to train up children from a young age under heavy indoctrination.

As part of this recruitment process, the newly abandoned Zach was taken from the streets to be transformed into an elite agent under a special environment created by the organization.

This special environment pushed the children to be more competitive using a variety of harsh tactics where residence, food, clothing, and much more necessities were all based on performance compared to their peers.

Originally Zach did not show promising results, failing to compete with the majority of other trainees, so he had to survive on rags for clothes, scraps for food, and overall terrible living conditions not much better than what he would've had living on the streets.

That wasn't all though, trainees were made aware of who performed better or worse, creating social divides between those at the top and those at the bottom like Zach, leading to his social ostracization.

Many of those at the bottom resigned themselves to their fate and stopped trying, but not Zach.

After years of enduring the harsh treatment of Dark Cove combined with brutal training, he was able to finally compete as one of the top recruits among his peers.

Sadly this did not come without long-lasting effects to Zach's mind.

His rise was largely due to establishing an almost fanatic belief in Dark Cove, glorifying them as if they were a benevolent deity who had saved him from the depths of hell with a second chance at life.

Even when he was no longer unwelcome by the others, he refrained from any meaningful social connections, dedicating every second to self-improvement in order to pay back the organization's leaders for the large debt he owed them.

This wasn't a random or unexpected turn of events by any means however, it was the product of the non-stop indoctrination that the administration of Dark Cove had instated while the minds of their future soldiers were under great stress and early in their development.

Finally, at the age of adulthood, the trainees were sent on individual missions to assess the practicality of the organization and based on the results, adjust funding of Dark Cove as necessary.

Zach's mission required infiltration of a civilian naval carrier with high-profile targets that were to be eliminated, for the greater good.

*****

As I was approaching the site of my mission I couldn't help but be nervous about it all, the danger and permanence that failure could hold, but in an instant I reinforced my will.

All the training I went through wouldn't be wasted, I would show Dark Cove my worth and repay them for what they had done for me.

Cruising along the waters at night, I observed my surroundings from atop the tactical jetski I was riding.

The dark waters were illuminated by the full moon over the horizon, reflecting the white light back.

I was so far from land that the scenery seemed almost never-ending, even while traveling at such high speeds.

Sometime later a bright yellow dot entered my view, the location of my mission.

The dot soon turned clearer and clearer as I neared it, transforming into the sight of a gigantic white yacht adorned by bright lights and large stripes of black paint.

Slowly and stealthily I began to approach the back of the boat where a docking area for smaller vessels was located.

Once more, the weight of the situation entered my mind and I was reminded that failure was simply not an option now.

I quickly calmed myself down and brought my focus back to the task at hand.

From the intel I had received, my main targets were two billionaires who had been suspected of funding enemies of the state as well as avoiding tax payments using loopholes in the legal system.

Although there was not enough evidence to pin them down in a court case as required by the nation's laws, they still needed to be stopped one way or the other.

Their elimination was not only key to stopping the enemy but also bolstering the state's defenses since a large amount of their wealth would be rerouted back to the state, preventing it from once more aiding enemies.

Once situated in the docking area, I disembarked my vehicle and quietly entered the luxurious boat, meeting a hallway of exposed pipes traveling the walls and ceiling in different directions, an area I was sure hadn't been visited even once by the actual owners of the vessel.

Right before an approaching turn in the halls, I heard footsteps and swiftly took cover near the corner.

A man in a suit wearing an earpiece passed by, a holstered gun resting on his hip.

It went without saying that the ship had an armed security entourage which is where the need for professional assistance came in, not to take away the mutual importance of discretion that an agent of Dark Cove would offer.

From the position I was at, a quiet take-down would've been child's play but I decided against it, there were too many unknown variables about the security measures of the boat to risk such a thing.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The lack of response from even a single guard could result in a full lockdown of the ship, making my task a lot more difficult or even impossible.

Upon continuing, I finally reached a door fitted with a circular window on it showing the dark skies outside.

Before going through the door I took off the tactical body suit I was wearing to reveal a black tuxedo underneath.

There was an ongoing party on the boat so I was advised to disguise myself and blend into the environment until I found my targets.

As I wandered in search I couldn't help but notice the lively atmosphere.

Everywhere I looked there were small groups of people talking, some were very serious while most seemed to be friendly and light-hearted, all the while lavish drinks and food were being served.

One platter of food especially caught my attention, it was something I had only seen in my textbooks that were designed to explain the cultures of the world.

'Maybe I should try some...' I thought to myself, but after some deliberation, I resisted.

'No, stay focused on the mission, you're not here to mess around.'

As I stayed on the lookout I spotted a kid sitting on one of the couches holding some weird device, not at all matching the theme or crowd of the party.

He was wearing a white shirt along with a pair of cargo shorts that, compared to the tuxedos and dresses of the other people there, made him greatly stick out.

Adding on to that, there was not a single other person of his age here from what I saw.

I was told to keep my interactions to a minimum so as not to leave behind clues for the investigations that would follow, however seeing the odd kid sit there provoked my curiosity.

I had to wait for the targets to show up either way and this was my first chance in a long time to talk to someone outside of Dark Cove, what was the worst that could happen?

I walked up and opened up with a question about the thing I was most interested in.

"Hey kid, what's that you're holding?"

He jumped up slightly, as if he were exiting from a stupor, and turned over to my direction.

"...Uhh, it's a Gameboy." The kid responded awkwardly.

I remembered in my basic education course in Dark Cove learning about devices that looked similar to these called phones, devices common to the normal citizenry which could be used for a vast array of purposes like accessing a large network of information.

The closest thing to it I had ever interacted with was a computer as part of my data extraction course.

We didn't have any of these back at the base because as the higher-ups always told us, our information network was far greater and made these devices obsolete, sadly I didn't have the authorization to access most of it.

The name Gameboy however didn't ring any bells for me so I thought that maybe they were an improved version of the phone and asked.

"Is that a new design of the phone?"

The kid looked confused and weirded out for a moment before answering.

"No... it just plays games."

Now I was also confused.

While I never personally wasted any time playing games I would still occasionally glance over when some other trainees played games like tag or hide and seek, so I still knew what they were.

What I didn't know was how one would go about playing tag or hide and seek using the small device.

I always learned best through practical experience, one of the reasons why I was the best fighter among the Cove's trainees, so I decided to try it out for myself.

"Do you mind if I give it a try?"

The kid still looked confused but also a little happy when I asked.

"Sure, here." He responded as he handed over the gadget, "I didn't expect anyone at this type of place to be so interested in a Gameboy."

With a quick explanation from the kid and a few minutes of trial and error, I managed to get a hang of it.

I was completely entranced by the device's ingenuity and creative design.

This was the furthest thing from my expectations when I thought of games but I would be lying if I said it wasn't an entertaining experience.

I was so engrossed in the device that I only broke out of my trance minutes later when a man who appeared to be a guard approached us.

"Your father is looking for you sir Alex, please follow me this way."

The boy's expression turned apathetic at the guard's message.

Silently he got up from his seat and followed him through a door that led inside of the yacht.

I watched them leave until I remembered that I was still holding his Gameboy.

Without a second thought, I chased after them so I could return it.

Dark Cove always emphasized how important it was to repay debts and after the boy was kind enough to let me use his Gameboy, it was only right in my mind that I returned it to him.

After entering the door they went through I was greeted by another hallway that led to many more doors, and upon closer inspection of them, I saw one door was slightly ajar.

I quickly ran into the room and scanned for any signs of the boy, but instead, I found the two targets I was supposed to eliminate along with the guard from before.

"Who is this, what are you doing here?" One of the targets questioned.

Remembering what I was here to do, my training kicked in.

Without responding I dropped the Gameboy and speedily locked the door.

Before the guard could pull out his gun I took out my silenced pistol and bashed him in the head, effectively knocking him out.

Wasting no movement I raised the gun and aimed it over to one of the billionaires.

A moment of silence ensued in the room, though one could still hear the muffled chatter of the party outside which bled through the walls.

Just as quickly though, it was broken as the men began trying to negotiate with me for their lives.

'Only one thing left to do...' I thought with my finger over the trigger of the gun.

The familiar feeling of squeezing the trigger played in my mind, something I had done so many times preparing for this moment that I could perfectly recreate the sensation in my head, only difference this time being my choice of target.

Suddenly my ears started to ring, my breathing got heavier, and to top it off my vision blurred.

Now that I was actually in the position to take someone's life, I was having second thoughts about it.

But I couldn't fail Dark Cove, not after all they did for me.

My hand crept to pull the trigger as my mental reservations started to loosen.

Milliseconds before I finished the job, the bathroom door of the room opened.

Everyone inside the room froze yet again, including me.

"Wait, you're the guy from before! What do you want with my dad?"

Standing in the doorway was the odd kid from the party.

My head rushed forth with even more thoughts of what I needed to do now.

I owed the boy a debt but the success of my mission was on the line, I was faced with a dilemma that made me hesitate even longer.

Before I could come to a decision a loud bashing noise sounded from the door of the room.

Shaking away the complicated thoughts, I managed to regain myself just as the door was broken down and two guards with guns entered.

Without any more thinking my training kicked in, I pointed my gun and shot both of them before they could react.

...

In the peripherals of my vision, I saw the horrified faces of my targets and the boy.

My mind ran full of thoughts once again, but knowing I was now on a timer, I started to run out the room without a sparing an extra second, dashing for my getaway as I frantically bumped into party guests.

Finally making it back to the docking station, I jumped on my escape vehicle and tried to start the engine with my hands trembling, only for my hands to tremble even more after hearing the echo of multiple footsteps sound out behind me.

Reaching my location the guards began to fire their guns as I sped away at full throttle, just barely escaping a bullet-filled death.

The sound of guns firing kept ringing out behind me, though with the increasing distance between us, their chances of hitting me diminished by the second.

Thinking I was safe again I started to calm down, but then one last bang rung out, sending my lower back screaming into a mind-numbing pain.

*****

Zach's mission was declared a failure, and his was the only one among his peers.

The other agents had made astounding successes, displaying the effectiveness of the organization to those in charge of allocating resources leading to a large budget increase for Dark Cove.

Due to Zach's injury at the end of his mission, his lower body was left paralyzed, denying him any chance of going back out to the field to make up for his shameful failure.

His loyalty however, was still recognized by the higher-ups who in no way would allow an asset they had spent so much on to waste away, so they assigned him the trusted position of record keeper.

Even with things eventually panning out for Zach, his mental status had taken a nosedive from what he had experienced, resulting in a fixation on entertainment devices, a fixation that grew as he managed to acquire them through his newfound freedom with his position.

Consequently, this also made him delve deeper into the society which he was estranged from and over time his obsession expanded more and more until it reached movies, TV shows, and lastly books.

Fictional, non-fictional, and semi-fictional stories transformed into entertainment allowed Zach to expand his knowledge of the world and with that his sense of morality.

After years and years more he came to a realization.

Dark Cove was not a morally just group.

The assassination targets of his mission were found to not be guilty of the accusations after deeper investigation yet weirdly enough, they later ran for important government positions.

Consulting the records of his mission also showed that there was no evidence to suspect them of colluding with any enemies of the state either.

Zach then came to know of the true purpose of Dark Cove, something that was a lot more sinister and selfish than what they were told.

It was a political tool used to puppeteer the government by a select few officials.

In an attempt to be the so-called good guy of his own story, Zach slowly began publicizing the physical copies of Dark Cove through the internet after secretly gaining access to it.

Not too long after, Zach was tortured until he made a clear confession to his crimes and later killed without the public ever knowing he was the one who had leaked that information.