The Agency
The following comes with a big disclaimer... I hate the title. I struggled with it and I'm not happy with it. So I'm going to work on it but I'm open to suggestions. Thanks for reading.
by Claire (Hindsy)Olivia Harper pushed open the door to be met by Mrs Wilson, hands on hips, shaking her head. Trying to shift the bags she was carrying to one hand to enable her to extract a bunch of keys from her pocket, Olivia tried not to let her sigh sound so loud.
Before she could escape however, the downstairs Patrol started the complaining. “It really won’t do. I mean, I’m not one to complain, but even you have to admit that is ridiculous.” Mrs Wilson cocked her head in the direction of the door to Olivia’s right. The door which seemed to be concealing a full eight piece rock band from the noise level currently being emitted.
“I’m sorry, I did tell him to keep it down, but he gets carried away.” Olivia managed to keep hold of the bags she was carrying as she found the key to allow her entry to the flat. “I’ll tell him again. Sorry.”
She didn’t allow Mrs Wilson a chance to respond as she closed the door on her.
Once inside, she dropped her keys onto the floor, shifted the bags again to both hands, and kicked off her boots. She walked towards the front of the flat, heading for the kitchen.
“Jesus Fucking Christ Peter, turn that shit off.” Her voice was aimed at the open doorway she passed.
Bags deposited on the kitchen table, she took two beers from the fridge and followed the music back to the living room.
Peter Morgan sat in front of a bank of computer screens, feet resting on the desk while playing a hand held computer game. Olivia hit the off button on the stereo as she passed, silencing the loud rock music that he had been listening to.
“You’re meant to be on surveillance.” Olivia’s tone indicated this was a well versed script, and one which she didn’t expect any argument from.
Peter didn’t turn, simply took one hand off the game to accept the unseen beer he had quite clearly expected to be handed to him. Olivia complied, although she hoped the slap around the head hadn’t been expected.
“We both know there’s nothing to watch at this time of day.” He put the game down, and swivelled his chair around to face her as she dropped onto the couch.
“When did you last see movement?”
“I haven’t. Been here since you left at ten and there’s been nothing.”
“Anderson?”
“Still out of it I think.”
“He’s due on soon.”
Peter nodded offering a quick look at his watch, “He said to wake him twenty minutes before we need him. How did it go?”
Olivia shrugged, “Nothing new. Two more teams lost, another pulled out before they got a chance to do anything.”
“And us?”
“Stay on high alert until told otherwise.” Olivia nodded towards the equipment spread out before Peter. “Did you get a chance to look over the recordings from last night?”
He sighed, “You don’t need me to tell you what’s going on over there.”
“Numbers are increasing.”
Peter nodded.
Olivia stood up, stretching as she did. “I’m hitting the hay for a few hours.”
“I’ve got a meeting with Alpha 2.”
“I’ll get Anderson up and you can do the hand off with him. When are you due back?”
Peter shrugged, “I’m heading over to do a briefing on the increase rate of population, I’d like to think it’ll take an hour, but you know what McAuley is like.”
“We’ll call you with an emergency if you’re not back by dawn.”
Olivia was at the door before she turned, “Please don’t turn that music back on. That old bat next door is coming close to calling the police. We could do without having to explain all this stuff.”
Peter smirked, “I’d love to see the look on their faces.”
“Please?”
She took his silence to be confirmation.
Olivia found the third man of their team fast asleep in the flats only bedroom. Saul Anderson was lying face down on top of the bedcovers, wearing only a pair of shorts.
Olivia waited until she had stripped down to her own shorts and pulled on a vest before she stepped towards Anderson’s bed.
She laid a hand on his shoulder, and gently shook. Anderson instantly came awake, sitting up in the bed and turning to Olivia.
She smiled as if in apology for the interruption to his sleep, “You’re on in twenty minutes.”
Anderson raised both hands and removed plastic ear plugs from his ears. “Sorry?”
Olivia laughed as she climbed into her bed, “I was amazed that you slept through Peter’s rock concert in there.”
Anderson swung his legs over the bed, reaching for his discarded trousers. “Been working on them for a few days, they work brilliantly.”
“Where’d you get them?”
“They’re my spare ear pieces. Took them apart, took out the electronic middle and replaced it with some of that thick gel and rubber sealant in our packs.”
“That stuff’s explosive.”
Anderson walked to the door, “I don’t plan on getting a naked flame anywhere near my ears when I sleep. Besides, it’s either that or we walk around like zombies from lack of sleep.”
Olivia reached for the now discarded ear pieces, “Mind if I try them?”
“Help yourself.”
“He’s heading out soon for a meeting with Alpha 2, so if you need me just come wake me.”
Within five minutes of Anderson leaving, Olivia was fast asleep.
Olivia felt as if she’d only been asleep for a matter of minutes when she was roughly shaken awake.
“What time is it?”
“Just after ten.” Opening her eyes, she immediately noticed the panicked look on Anderson’s face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Get up, kit on and get your ‘tronic’s on too.”
Olivia was on her feet, reaching into a kit bag lying at the foot of the bed. “What’s going on?”
“Peter’s inside.”
“What the hell is he doing?”
“He didn’t have much choice; they caught him on his way back and dragged him in.”
Olivia was now dressed in basic combat trousers and long sleeved top. She pulled on a protective vest, and strapped on a utility belt before sitting to pull on boots.
“Do we have visual inside?”
“The heat camera’s have been blocked somehow, I’m getting a white hot block on screen.”
“Any sound?”
“Nothing.”
Olivia knelt on the floor and pulled a case out from under her bed. Laying it on the mattress, she opened the case revealing a full arsenal of guns. “I knew the bugs would be found, we’ve never managed to get ears into any of their facilities.”
“I thought the neutraliser would be enough to conceal them till we at least got some info.”
Olivia strapped a holster around her right thigh, and loaded a hand gun into it. She added a second hand gun to a slot on the belt, and dropped a box of ammunition into one of the many pockets of her trousers.
“I’ll go call this in, see what-.”
Olivia shook her head, “No, no call. Not yet.”
“But you know we’re supposed to-.”
“If you call this in, they’ll tell us to step down until they send a full unit in. We were only meant to observe, a team of three were never going to get access alone. By that time, he’ll be dead.” She closed the case, leaving it sitting on the bed. She reached for a small aerosol can which was clipped to the belt that hung around her waist. She flipped up the lid of the bottle, and starting with her hair proceeded to spray the contents of the can all over her body. She moved from the top down, and when she reached her boots, she handed the can to Anderson and turned around. He started from her boots and worked his way back up her body, spraying the transparent contents over her entire body. When empty, he threw the can onto the bed.
“Are we seeing his chip?”
Anderson sniggered as he pulled the bedroom door open, nodding towards the hallway to indicate Olivia should follow.
Once in the living space, Anderson took a seat at the numerous screens, using a keyboard to call up a particular image. A radar type map appeared on one of the screens, with a red dot blinking near the centre of the screen.
“I don’t get it, I thought you said he went in.”
“He did. I saw them carry him in.” He nodded towards the screen. “I’d recommend when you go outside you watch your feet, as you’re apt to fall over Peter’s left arm.”
“You are shitting me.”
“That blip hasn’t moved. Either they pinpointed the chip and removed it, or they took the easy option. Which do you think is more likely?”
Olivia reached over and turned one of the monitors towards her, making it easier to see. The screen currently showed what appeared to be a red haze over most of it, with a solid white block in the centre.
“What have they done?”
Anderson shrugged, “I have no idea. Up until an hour ago it looked normal.”
“I’m going in blind?”
Anderson nodded, “Which is why we need to call this in. We don’t know what we’re facing.”
Olivia shook her head, “We don’t have time.”
She was at the door before Anderson could react. “You give me twenty minutes, and track it. If my chip becomes stationary, then call it in. If the cameras pick up any sign of trouble, call it in. But let me at least try to get to him before we lose everything to Control.”
Anderson didn’t get a chance to reply as Olivia was already gone.
He moved to the window where a street light illuminated the dark path as she dashed across the empty road outside their rented view point, and disappear inside the apparently dilapidated warehouse opposite.
As Olivia entered she had to reach for the small air purifier mask which was attached to her belt. She held her breath for the length of time it took to slip the mouthpiece on and hit the ‘on’ switch. As she lifted the nose guard over her nostrils, she was grateful for the clean, odour free air that now washed through her system. She reached to her right ear and tapped the hidden ear piece once.
The voice in her ear was immediate, “I’m here.”
Olivia knew Anderson was expecting no response, knowing she would remain silent as long as possible so not to give away her arrival.
“Take first door on the right, and be careful. It opens onto possible Nest 1.”
Olivia stalked the five feet between the main entrance and the first door on the small narrow corridor she was on. She kept her breathing as controlled as possible, keeping her eyes fixed straight ahead for any signs of movement.
Reaching the door, she moved to press an ear to the wood. Nothing. She held a hand up flat to the surface, checking for any signs of heat, or cold. Nothing. She moved back to stand to one side of the door, bracing herself flush against the wall.
“I’ve got you. Do it fast and drop.” Anderson’s voice was very calm in her ear, and she hoped he was picking up the same reaction from her, via the many vitals her body armour was monitoring and feeding back to his computers.
Olivia reached for a small pouch on her belt, and pulled out a small black sphere. The ball sat easily between her thumb and forefinger, and as she squeezed it gently she felt the smallest vibration from within its rubber shell. She reached for the handle on the door beside her, opening it slightly before throwing the ball inside. As she pulled the door closed behind her, she dropped into a protective crouch where she stood, covering her head with her hands.
She counted only two seconds before the high pitched screaming from within the now contained room started.
“I’m here, and I’ve got you, just stay where you are.” Anderson still remained calm in her ear, even though her own heartbeat almost drowned him out. “Nice use of the Chucker. Big flash, and from the sounds I’m getting through your earpiece I’d say that was a big hit.”
She closed her eyes, trying to block out sounds coming from behind her, through the wall. She focused on Anderson’s voice, trying to draw her attention away from the pitiful shrieks that even after only a few seconds had started to diminish.
“Count to five and I’d say it’s ok to go in.”
She reached for the pistol attached to her leg as Anderson spoke. She released the safety catch, and readied the gun for the inevitable first shot as far as she was concerned. Slowly she raised herself to her feet, and moved to stand in front of the door.
“Take a deep breath and just go.”
She counted to five inside her head, taking a deep intake of breath between each number. As she reached number four she held the door handle in her left hand, her right raising the pistol to eye level. On the five, she stepped forward quickly as she threw the door wide, moving her left hand quickly to steady the gun.
She needn’t have worried; the Chucker had done its job. She moved beyond the door frame, scanning the room. The windows had been covered with thick heavy blankets, stapled around the edges to the walls to ensure no light came through. The light from the hallway behind her was enough for her to confirm the room was empty. She spun around and moved back into the hallway from which she had just come.
“Nest 1 clear. I say that like I know how many nest sites we have in there.” Anderson’s voice in her ear made her jump.
“Enough.” The first word Olivia had spoken since entering the building, it conveyed the double message she knew Anderson would pick up on. This was not the time for jokes, simply because they were unaware of the situation they found themselves in.
Three months of surveillance on a seemingly abandoned electronics warehouse had brought them to this point. They had entered the building twice previously, to plant what they hoped would be enough of their equipment to offer them not only audio but visual information on its most recent inhabitants. As Anderson had pointed out before Olivia entered the building, both had been rendered redundant. They had planted simple listening devices in the main corridor she now occupied, but they could assume the chips had been detected quickly as they had never gotten any feed from them. A simple camera had been installed just inside the main door, but again it had given no reading back and from where she stood now Olivia could see it had been removed from the interior wall on which she herself had planted it.
“Anything?” It was almost a whisper, but she knew he had heard her.
“No. Just take it slow. Can you put the head cam on for me? Another set of eyes might help.”
Without taking her eyes off the corridor in front of her, Olivia reached for a pouch on her belt. Undoing the stud fastener, she took out what looked like a small plastic hook. Taking it, she looped it around the same ear which contained her earpiece link to Anderson. She tapped it gently when it was in place.
“I have eyes. Go slow.”
Olivia allowed herself one more deep intake of breath before moving off. The corridor before her grew darker as she left the main entrance, all interior windows having received the same treatment as the windows in the first nest area. As she passed one of the windows she reached to tug the blankets, but found them stuck tight.
“They’d have used anything possible to keep them up there. You’d only find wooden boards beneath. I’d say shoot through them, but it would only draw attention to you.”
“They know I’m here, the message would have gotten out from Nest 1.”
“Don’t waste ammo, and don’t run the risk of ricochet.” A small pause before Anderson spoke softly, “I’m getting a high rate on your heart beat Morgan, I need you to calm down before you go any further.”
Olivia sniggered, “And just how do you suppose I do that?”
“Stop, breathe deep and clear your mind for just thirty seconds.”
Withholding the sarcastic comment that was bursting to escape, Olivia did as she was told. She closed her eyes trying to concentrate on her breathing. She had counted to eighteen before a deep voice interrupted her relaxation attempt.
“I really wish you wouldn’t use that so-called neutraliser potion, it just makes your stench ten times as worse as we’re used to.”
Olivia’s eyes flew open and she found herself face to face with a figure who brought immediate fear to her already racing heart. For the last three months she had studied pictures of possible targets, examining hundreds of photos of both sexes as they came and went from this building. The man standing before her however was nothing like what she had expected.
“Your friend Peter said you were attractive, but he didn’t do you justice.”
Olivia lifted the gun she still held in her hand, raising it to point directly at the man before her. He simply smiled, shaking his head even as Olivia spoke, “I’m only here for Peter. Bring him outside, let him go, and I’ll leave.”
Standing six feet tall, dark hair falling to his shoulders, he simply shook his head and sighed, “I can’t do that. You know I can’t.”
“My partner has already called for back up. Within a few minutes this whole facility will be swarming with Agents like me, armed with weapons that will reduce your entire population to dust.”
He stared her in the eye, a small smirk playing over his pale lips. “Your partner would be Agent Anderson.”
Olivia tried not to show her surprise that he knew this information.
“Saul Anderson, worked for The Agency for 6 years. Remained a sub-agent that whole time. You on the other hand Ms Harper, have been with them for just three years and already you have control over a surveillance unit. Didn’t you ever wonder about that?”
As he spoke, Olivia realised her hand was shaking. The gun held out in front of her was quivering in her line of vision. “Who are you?”
The smirk now became a grin, and Olivia could clearly see the pointed incisors of the monster before her.
“While I am here, you can call me Mariusz. My family here know me as that.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Do you want to put your gun down now? There really is no point in you brandishing that.”
Olivia tried to steady her hand, keeping the gun pointed at him. “This gun is holding wood based pellets, designed to penetrate your outer dermis before exploding into splinters which run through your blood stream until they reach your heart.”
Mariusz sighed again, “We do have skin, just like you. Our dermis as you call it may not have the same colour or texture as yours, but it is fundamentally the same material.” He took a step towards Olivia, “And since our blood doesn’t exactly flow through our bodies, the idea of your wooden pellets seems rather redundant to me.” Another step towards Olivia, and he was able to reach out and take the gun from her grasp. “But then, Saul knew that when he designed them. Didn’t you Saul?”
Olivia felt her whole body deflate as she heard the voice behind her, “I’m surprised that simple flaw wasn’t noted before.”
Olivia let her arms drop to her side as she turned her head to confirm it was Anderson standing behind her.
Mariusz was now standing at her side. She visibly recoiled from him as he reached an arm around her shoulder. Persevering with the contact, he rotated her body until they both faced Anderson. “You did well waiting until we got our numbers so high.”
Anderson shrugged, “I can’t say it was easy. Morgan’s antics alone made me want to send him over here weeks ago.”
Olivia allowed her anger to flourish as she spat at him, “How could you.”
Anderson smiled, “What? How could I sit and watch as you two plotted to destroy the future? How could I listen to you verbally attack my brotherhood? Or how could I sit back for so long and endure the vile stench coming from you both while I starved myself? Which of those would you like me to answer first?”
“You don’t have any of the signs. Teeth, temperature… all normal. And you haven’t been feeding.”
Mariusz squeezed her shoulder, “Impressive isn’t it. Although we should say it wasn’t hard.”
Anderson nodded, “You only ever read my temp when I was suited. I wired my vital lead so that it gave a false reading. And as for the teeth, a few minutes with a file took care of them. Since I was drinking from blood packs rather than killing my own prey, I didn’t exactly need the fangs.”
Olivia, finally admitting her own demise couldn’t stop the tears that sprung from her eyes. “When?”
Anderson stepped towards her, “I watched The Agency from their inception. You guys intrigued me.”
Mariusz laughed, “You intrigued all of us. What did you think was going to happen? Did you really think we weren’t going to notice you, notice your little instruments as they appeared in our homes? Did you expect us to just sit back and let you develop torture instruments that would be used on us?” He reached for the pouch on her belt, withdrawing a chucker and rolling it between his fingers. “Do you have any idea the pain these cause? Can you imagine your body burning from the inside out, finally exploding while you are still aware of the sensation? We may appear cruel and unkind to you Ms Harper, but when faced with this kind of alternative, what would you have us do?”
Olivia shook her head, “You have to see that you have no future, not really. You may sustain some semblance of a life for a few years yet, but eventually we are going to eradicate your kind.”
Mariusz laughed loudly, “We have cells in every major city in your world. Saul here isn’t the only one of us inside your Agency. If we really wanted to, we could have a war with your people in less than a week, and I can assure you we would win.”
“Then why wait?”
Mariusz turned his attention to Olivia, looking deep into her eye, “There are so many good reasons why we are currently holding back. But only one that matters.” Before Olivia knew what he was doing, he dropped his face into the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply.
Olivia panicked, craning her neck away from him, “Please don’t.”
Mariusz spoke with his face pressed against her throat, “I want to so badly.”
Anderson’s voice was closer when he spoke, “But it’s not part of the plan. Not yet.”
Mariusz stepped back from Olivia, his eyes dark, “I know that.”
Olivia was almost afraid to ask, but couldn’t stop herself, “What plan?”
Anderson was reaching for her arm. She tried to step away from his grasp but to her dismay she simply found herself backing against Mariusz.
With both arms in their grasp, she was raised off her feet as they led her away. The corridors were dark, but the lack of light didn’t seem to hamper their journey. They made their way further into the seemingly deserted building.
“Where are you taking me?”
They both ignored her questions. Arriving at a door in the rear of the building, the little party stopped walking.
“Don’t you want to see your friend Peter? After all, you were worried enough about him to come over here.”
Olivia felt her knees weaken, afraid of what was behind the door in front of her.
Saul reached a hand to the door, turning the lock and gently pushing the door, allowing it to swing inwards.
Olivia’s knees did give way, and for a second she felt her head swim, sure she was going to pass out. It was only Mariusz’s words that keep her focused. “You pass out, I can’t promise what I’ll do with you.”
She tried to tear her eyes away from the sight before her, but the look of intense fear on Peter’s face kept her attention. “What are you doing to him?”
Mariusz led her by the arm into the room, stopping before the apparatus holding Peter in place. He was strapped to a metal table which had been lifted into an upright position, so that he was facing out into the room. His eyes were prised open with clamps, while his mouth was bound with a gag of sorts. He was naked except for a pair of tight fitting shorts. One arm was pinned outstretched, attached to a tube which appeared to be circulating his blood through a series of machines behind the table. Where his other arm should have been, ragged skin and tissue hung around the clear remains of bone. Olivia hadn’t stopped to note the removed limb out on the street, but she knew now Anderson hasn’t exaggerated when he said Peter’s arm had been ripped off before he was led away.
Olivia could see another set of tubes attached to each of his legs; these contained a clear liquid which she couldn’t identify.
Mariusz let go of her arm, turning to face her. “Peter is helping us. Just as you will.”
“Helping you with what?” She was afraid of his answer but had been unable to withhold the question.
Anderson’s grin widened, “We may be perfect hunters, posses the ability to destroy your kind, but we do have our flaws.” The grin disappeared and was replaced by a genuine look of sorrow, “What good is a master race of superior beings if we are still ruled by something as simple as the sun.” He looked at Peter, “We are just like you in so many ways, yet that one difference is holding us back.” He raised the chucker he still had in his hand, “When something like this tiny device still has the power to destroy us, we will never be able to rest.”
Olivia turned back to Peter, “I still don’t understand.”
Mariusz smiled, “We need someone to study, someone who is immune to the sunlight now, and who may become a perfect test subject when we spread the virus.”
Olivia shook her head, “You can’t be serious.”
Saul moved to the back of the room where to Olivia’s dismay she noticed a second table, this one empty.
She took a step backwards, her brain trying to conjure up an escape from this nightmare. Mariusz let her walk backwards, he knew there was no where for her to go.
“They will come for us, you have to know that. When we don’t report in, The Agency will send agents here. They know where you are.”
Saul laughed as he wheeled the table to a position beside Peters. “You seem to forget who filed the progress reports.”
Olivia stopped in her tracks.
“I made a recommendation just over an hour ago that this unit step down. The building we were observing has been deserted for the last 48 hours, suggesting the nests have moved elsewhere. There is no reason for the Agency to send anyone out here Olivia.” He offered her a sincere smile as he spoke, “We came into this mission together. Aren’t you glad the three of us get to see it through together?”
A scream rang out through the small room, and only as Olivia dropped to her knees did she realise it was coming from her mouth. Hysterical and defeated she simply lay there as Mariusz stepped towards her, getting ready to prepare her for an altogether different future than the one she had planned for herself.
Read More
