The luxury car passed through the countryside with ease. The same farms and country side that had been there for ages stretched out as far as the eye could see. The bland scenery made the journey last a lifetime.
“Tentin.” Sam spoke up to the driver of the car.
Tentin looked back at his passenger. “What can I do, Sam?”
“Can you change the music, please? I want something a bit more upbeat if I’m about to set foot in the Institute again.” She slumped back down into her seat.
“You got it.” Tentin started to flip through the music on the dashboard of the car. He turned on the radio as he looked for something Sam would enjoy.
An announcement about the presidential elections came on the air. Reynold Tehporp was ahead of the other candidates by a landslide. He held a majority of the country’s votes, one of the first times in years that something like this had happened. Sam had seen some of his ads on the T.V. He was unusually charismatic, while appealing to all walks of life in the county.
It’d be nice for something good to come out of the elections for once. Sam smiled as her favorite song started to blast out of the car’s speakers, and in good timing. The car had just started the climb up the mountain, trees sprouting all around the road.
The luxury car passed the sign marked “The Institute of Science.” She never knew why the Institute used the sign as a façade; no one would ever think to come this far out of their way. The drive was always painfully dull.
Tentin drove the car up the small road. Soon, a small guard booth placed at the gated entrance came into view. A tall wall, topped with barbed wire, surrounded the compound, deterring any would be intruders, not that there would be any way out in the middle of nowhere.
Tentin slowed the car to a stop when a bulbous security guard came out of the booth. The guard waved them down and stepped up to the driver side window. Tentin rolled down his window and smiled at the man, “How’s it going?”
The guard nodded, “Not bad .” He inspected his tablet computer for a second and looked back up at Mr. Tentin. “Do you have any business here? I’m not expecting anyone today.” The guard snapped a quick picture of Tentin. His tablet then searched the Institute database for Agents. The computer came up empty. “Hmm.” The guard started the search again.
Sam started to wonder how she would get in. She never really thought this through. She quit the Institute a year ago, and now she had no way inside.
The camera on the side of the guard’s booth suddenly turned to face the car. The guards tablet pulled up a picture of Mr. Tentin, with an access granted prompt at the top of his screen.
Sam smiled and nodded at the camera. She knew someone was behind letting them in, and she couldn’t wait to see him.
The gate opened up and Tentin began to drive down the long driveway up to the Institute. “This is the first time I get to see the famous ‘Institute’.” He glanced backwards at Sam, “Excited.”
Sam pulled her gaze from the forest inside the Institute’s walls, “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” Sam grabbed her bag from the floor of the car and checked inside, “More like a rich guy using his money for an exotic hobby. It’s come a long way from when it was started.”
Tentin chuckled. If it was anything like the landscape inside the walls, he would enjoy it.
The car entered the gravel parking lot in front of the Institute. Sam looked around at the cars filling it. There was more black SUV’s now, only a few civilian cars were in the lot. Sam couldn’t remember the last time she saw this many Institute Agents. Something was off.
Tentin parked the car and the two started off for the entrance. He patted his coat where he kept his pistol. He looked around at all the black cars, “What’s with all the black? You’d think this would be a funeral home.”
Sam smirked. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she would find out soon from Eddie. She opened the large wooden door. She glanced at the plaque next to it and shook her head. It was changed to ‘Breaburn’s Institute’.
“Place seems a bit stiff.” Tentin flicked the plaque with his finger, “That the Breaburn guy you punched in the face?”
Sam nodded.
“Hmm.” Tentin just shrugged, “This should be fun.”
They entered the large lobby, which looked the same it did a year ago. Sam noticed one difference above the receptions desk. A large portrait of Breaburn hung over the desk, but she felt like it loomed over the room like a massive shadow. It radiated a creepy aura Sam couldn’t shake off, like it kept staring at her no matter where she went.
“What do you mean there’s no contracts?”
A loud voice pulled them from their observation. “There’s a stack of them right there.” A young man in a black beanie was hanging halfway over the reception desk. He stood the tips of his toes sticking out of some flip-flops. Brown cargo shorts were loaded and bulging with unseen items. His teal Hawaiian shirt flapped gently as he set back down on his feet. “Screw this joint, I’m done with this.” He swatted the stack of manila folders to the floor and stormed out.
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Sam had seen this guy once before in all her years at the Institute. He was the youngest Free Agent the Institute had. His appearance was off-putting, but he was quite deadly.
He passed Sam and Tentin, “Have fun with these dicks.” Hepointed back at the receptionist with his thumb and smiled at them before leaving through the thick wooden doors.
Sam looked at Tentin and shrugged, “Off to a good start.” They both walked past the reception desk. Sam glanced down to see the same receptionist there had always been.
“Can I help you?” The receptionist tilted her head up slightly, peering at the visitors over the rim of her glasses. She looked back down at the manila folders and began to collect them.
Sam quickly hid behind Tentin, “Don’t let her see me.”
Tentin rubbed his hands together, “Don’t worry, I got this.” Tentin puffed his chest out and marched around the desk. “I think you can help me.” Tentin let his most handsome smile creep onto his face.
The receptionist raised one eyebrow and stared the man in the face, betraying no expression. “Do you have an appointment?”
Tetin leaned one arm against the desk, “I don’t have an appointment.” He looked around the lobby nonchalantly, “But I didn’t know it was that easy to get a date with a girl as beautiful as you.” He turned and stared into the receptionist’s eyes with a lustful gaze.
Sam shook her head and snuck off down the hallway to the tech room. She would find who she needed to there. Sam knocked on the door and waited for a response. Normally she would have snuck in and scared her friend, but she could tell he was a bit high strung from the phone call in Haiti. She didn’t need to get her face blown off by scaring her friend.
She knocked again, but there was no answer. Sam pushed the door open and peered inside. She could see the same old room that had been there since she started working for the Institute.
Sam took a few steps inside and shut the door behind her. Sparks were splashing about the back room, accompanied by bright lights dancing across the walls. Sam made her way to the back room when she passed a glass display case. Sam looked at all the prototype machines that had been used on missions in the past. A large box with an antenna protruding from the top of it sat foremost and front of the case.
Five years ago she had been saved with the help of that machine, and the man who built it. It was such a long time, but it felt like only yesterday. Sam sighed and continued to the back room. She stuck her head around the corner and gazed on a large machine with a man welding some metal to the front of it. He was harnessed up in the air by a pulley system installed in the ceiling.
Sam could see the machine had two large legs holding it up, with what looked like a spot for someone to sit in. Two arms had emerged at the sides of the machine, only partially constructed, but there nonetheless. Parts and wires were strewn about the floor like debris in a war zone.
The man flipped up his mask and turned the fuel to his welder off, “Nice of you to join me.” The man turned around and started to lower himself to the ground with a button on his seat. When he reached the ground he gave a goofy smile, “Not that it’s nice here at all.”
Sam ran up and hugged him. As she grabbed him, they both flew backwards into the air. They bumped into the machine and swiveled back to where they were before. “Eddie, it’s been such a long time.”
Eddie unbuckled from his seat and walked over to a machine on the wall, “Too long if you ask me.” He flicked some switches on the wall and walked back into the main room. A faint hum filled the room.
“How’d you know I was here? Normally I scare the crap out of you.” Sam followed him into the main room.
Eddie held up his left arm. A small wristband with a screen mounted on it was wrapped around Eddie’s arm. He turned to her and tapped it a few times, “I installed tripwire sensors, as well as cameras,” he pointed up around the room, “Just encase I need them.” His face turned somber as he looked to the ground, “It’s been creepy around here lately.”
“What’s wrong? You seemed pretty stressed on the phone.” Sam pulled her phone out to message Tentin. The screen on her phone was jumbled around; the picture was dancing around her screen. Sam could hear a faint screech coming from the speaker. “My phone is messed up. I can’t reach Tentin.”
Eddie pointed to the back room, “The switch I flicked on was a scrambler. I think Breaburn is watching me, but I can’t be sure. We can talk freely while we’re in my workshop.”
Sam pocketed her phone and leaned up against one of Eddie’s tables, “Why do you have all this extra security? Why do you think Breaburn watching you, Eddie? Just tell me what’s going on here, before I turn you into my punching bag.”
Eddie smiled faintly before he looked out his window, “You saw all the Agent vehicles in the parking lot, right?”
Sam nodded.
“At first I thought it was just bad luck. Free Agents kept dying in the field, or they just disappeared without a trace.” He walked over to his desk and pulled out some papers, “But then I noticed more and more Agents around, and not only that, but that some of the Free Agents had crossed over to be an Agent. That’s never really happened before. The Agents did more jobs around the Institute until most of the Free Agents had been pushed out. Only a few remain.”
“One less now.” Sam thought back on the young man in the Hawaiian shirt.
Eddie threw the papers down on the table. “I did some digging, and it turns out that Breaburn had been sending Free Agents out on level four or higher missions, and without backup.” Eddie looked up at Sam, “It’s murder.”
Sam rifled through the papers, “Not even Agents can do that kind of work alone.” Sure enough, Breaburn had been sending Free Agents out on top priority missions without any sort of help. “Why would he be doing this?” She flipped through the pages and every Free Agent had ended up dead or missing, just like Eddie had said.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to find out.” Eddie leaned against his worktable. There was a knock at the door. Eddie quickly reached beneath the table and pulled out his shotgun. He pointed at the door, ready to fire if he had too.
Sam reached over and lowered his gun, “It’s alright. You can stop being so paranoid.”
Tentin poked his head through the doorway, “Is this a bad time?” He closed the door behind him and stood next to Sam. “I got a date on Friday, but I think I’m going to blow it off.”
“Eddie, this is Mr. Tentin, Tentin, this is Eddie.” Sam pointed to each of the men.
“Nice to meet you.” Tentin nodded. “So what is this all about? I thought we were here for that Breaburn guy, the creepy one in the painting.” He pointed towards the lobby.
Eddie set his shotgun down, “He’s in briefing right now. I saw one of the last Free Agents there, Sam you have to do something before Breaburn takes over the Institute.”
“Takes over the Institute? I think you’re jumping a bit too far.” Sam crossed her arms.
“You saw the painting, and the plaque. I’m sure he is trying to take over and force the Boss out of his own Institute.”
“Okay, just calm down.” Sam turned to Tentin, “We’ll go to the meeting,” she turned back to Eddie, “Just stay put, we can handle this.”
Eddie nodded, “Just be careful.”
“It’s all good. I have her back.” Tentin smiled, “We’ve faced badder things together than some creepy, old dude.”
Eddie’s face was stone cold, “Don’t underestimate him. He’s more powerful than you think.”
Sam nodded, “Noted.” Sam turned to Tentin, “Let’s go before the meeting is over, I’d love to see Breaburn’s face when I stop by.” Sam grinned, “Maybe I will get another swing at it.”