The Midnight Agents of planet Meesach were renowned for their assassinations planetside. But, the Agents, as members of an interstellar grade world, were not limited in their work to the planet. Many criminals and nefarious actors would recognize the dangers of remaining on Meesach and take any opportunity to flee pursuit. This led to the Agents branching out across the local group and taking on assignments away from home.

Shadowmaster found himself on an off-world mission shortly after joining the Midnight Agents.

"This will be something of a test," Selene had said. "We want to see how you handle yourself as an independent agent.

"Doctor Razan has fled the planet following an exchange with an organization that has been gaining some attention. We want you to find him on a space station in the Endegy star system.

"The good doctor should be in possession of a data chip. Your job is to recover the chip and terminate Razan."

Shadowmaster had left agent Selene without a word and hopped to Juniper Station through the teleportation array.

Before continuing his transit, the player stopped over at the player hideout that Koll Luna called home.

The NPC looked up from his tinkering to see the taciturn player.

"Hello," the man said with familiarity. "Do you have a quest to turn in?"

Shadowmaster shook his head.

Koll scrutinized the player for a moment. He seemed to be coming to his own conclusions.

After a time lost in thought, Koll sighed.

"It's just a prototype."

The player nodded. He'd seen Koll tinkering with the device. A [Stealth Unit] that would briefly render its user invisible, or at least close to it.

The NPC shrugged. He already knew the principle for creating the device, so parting with the prototype wouldn't set him back.

Koll updated his store menu and said, "Go ahead."

Shadowmaster drew up the menu and found the [Stealth Unit] set to an absurd 5,000 credits.

After a moment's thought, the player purchased the item and closed the menu.

Watching the credits roll in, Koll Luna smiled ironically.

"The cooldown window's pretty big. Be sure when you want to use it."

With a nod, Shadowmaster turned and left the NPC to his tinkering.

The ship he chartered to the Endegy system wasn't particularly swift and Shadowmaster spent a week training in the ship's arcade. Even in a game within a game, the player could gain experience points to apply toward his character.

This function made the long periods spent by players traveling across the great distances of Cosmos enjoyable.

Finally, the Endegy System opened before the vessel and the ship docked with its local space station. Just the location where the target was staying.

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The station was a mess in comparison with Juniper Station. Whereas Juniper was clean with a silver sheen to almost every surface, the grime and rust of the Endegy space station could be seen everywhere. Litter could be found in every corner and the populace of the station looked and smelled as though the water treatment processors of the station needed repairs.

The ship Shdaowmaster had arrived on would only remain docked for 2 days, leaving the player little time to find and deal with Doctor Razan. But, the player was quite adept at finding secrets within the game. Even without asking many questions.

Shadowmaster swapped his ominous battle gear for plain clothes with a hood. The items were gray and brown and fit in with the rather dreary garb of the natives.

For hours, Shadowmaster wandered through the decks of the station, hoping to hear word of the illusive doctor. Fortunately, the player had come to find that if he simply listens, the NPCs will share the information he needs freely.

Shadowmaster snuck up on a corner where a pair of natives was busy discussing random matters.

"The governor has to do something," one woman said. "The drinking water is near poison."

Her fellow sighed, "Yeah, but he won't. I get the feeling that it's a conspiracy to clear out the station."

"Hmph. Bastards. Atleast there's a new doctor on the prominade."

"Hmm. Yeah, I heard about him. But, he seems a bit sketchy."

"Why do you say that?"

The woman spoke in a hushed voice, "I heard that some of his patients turn up missing."

Shadowmaster continued listening until the NPCs departed.

The player's thoughts were certain. This would be the Doctor Razan he was searching for.

Making his way to the promenade, Shadowmaster located the clinic where the target worked.

From a distance, he confirmed that the appearance was that of Doctor Razan.

As the NPC patients filtered in and out, the daytime hours of the station came to an end. As the final patient left and just before the clinic closed for the night, Shadowmaster activated the [Stealth Unit] and slipped inside. He snuck into the back room and waited for the doctor to finish in the front.

It didn't take long for the [Stealth Unit] to deactivate and when Razan entered the room, he froze.

Before him stood a battle-hardened assassin in ominous gray and black combat armor. A black bandana hid the assassin's face and an aura of death emanated from the man.

Razan's teeth clenched and he painfully swallowed the saliva in his mouth.

With a shaky breath, the doctor said, "It wasn't my fault."

Shadowmaster cocked his head to the side.

"I- I didn't know what they were planning! If I did, I never would have edited the Spikers."

At this, Shadowmaster felt his attention captured.

[Fallen Light] came into his hand and the player stepped forward.

Doctor Razan flinched and struggled with his hands to pull out the data chip Shadowmaster had been tasked with procuring.

"H-Here!" the man said with desperation.

The player took the item and looked at Razan expectantly.

"It was the Origin Seekers! Not me. I was just a fool they hired. Please spare me."

Shadowmaster waited. But, all the NPC did was repeat his final line.

Without much satisfaction, the player pierced the NPC's heart. Whatever the truth about Razan's missing patients was, the Midnight Agents had tasked him with an assassination.

He waited for the [Stealth Unit's] long cooldown to end and snuck out of the clinic and off the promenade. The rest of the time was spent in the arcade of the ship he'd arrived on.

A week later, Shadowmaster reported to Selene.

The attractive woman took the chip and said, "Good work."

She smiled.

"I'll be in touch," were her final words before departing.

Melissa came out of the Full Dive with a satisfied expression on her face. She'd had another productive gaming session with the completion of the Midnight Agents trial. And she'd uncovered a secret behind the Ravenous Spikers.

The young woman picked up her phone and pulled up the game forums. She was about to drop a bombshell on the community.

[Ravenous Spiker Conspiracy: The Origin Seekers Behind It All – Anonymous]

A smile played across Melissa's lips as she watched a torrent of messages fill up the thread.

[Herculean Monk: Source?]

[Justin Tyme: +1]

[Anonymous: Who cares? That's just the Juniper Station player's issue.]

[Retrogamer: I think it might be true. I've seen the Origin Seekers out recruiting people. They seem pretty shady.]

More and more comments came in. While only 1,200 players out of millions were even playing on Meesach, the wider Cosmos community was closely watching the goings on of Koll's band.

Melissa Cho smirked, satisfied to be the harbinger of such significant news.