Agent X

xx| 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝙴𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 |xx

They all looked so innocent, but one of them was a traitor.

Another knock sounded at the door. Before I could get up, Professor Nyryn beat me to the door. Dawn's voice said,

"Sorry we're late. We just got a little bit carried away with training."

"I'm sure it's fine," Professor Nyryn said. Dawn and Jef hurried over to us.

"Glad you could join us," I said, sounding very business-like. "Take a seat and we'll get started."

Jef sat next to Finn, taking the last seat on the couch. Dawn quietly stood nearby, blinking at the two, full couches.

"Do you want me to pull up a chair?" I asked.

"Naw, I'm good," Dawn replied. She parked herself on the arm of the couch by Dari.

"Okay, let's begin." I reached over to the coffee table and opened the file for Operation BR100. "Our options for agents to follow are either Agent Fox or Agent Saber. According to the file, Agent Saber is leaving for WAOIC headquarters on July third, and Agent Fox is going to WAOIC headquarters on July fourth. Each one has benefits and drawbacks.

"The advantage of going for Agent Saber first is that if something happens we love his tail, then we can have a second chance following Agent Fox. Additionally, we will likely arrive sooner if we try to follow Agent Saber."

"Sounds like a no brainer to me," Ty said. "More time and opportunity sounds like a pretty sweet deal."

"There's only one problem, though," I continued. "Agent Saber is in New York City."

"So?" Ty said.

"New York City is made up of five burrows," I explained. "We don't know which one Agent Saber is in. It would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. Agent Fox, however, is in Siren, Wisconsin. It's a small town, meaning a higher shot at tracking her down.

"oOooh," Ty said.

"We also have an extra day to track down Agent Fox. So I've decided that we're going to follow her."

"Whatever you decide, chief," Dawn said.

I nodded. "Good. Now here's the plan. We're going to split up into two groups when we arrive in Siren. Dari, Finn, and Jef will be Team A, the rest of us will be Team B."

"Why aren't you on Team A?" Dawn said. "You're The Lead, afterall."

"It doesn't matter," I said. "It's just to distinguish between the two groups so I don't have to say everyone's names."

"Why don't we split up into pairs?" Dari suggested. "We can cover more areas that way."

Ordinarily, that's what I would have done. But unfortunately, after what the Director told me this morning, I knew that was out of the question. Dawn and Jef's placement was strategic, since they weren't a part of Team Summit. I needed at least one person I could trust in each group. And I had placed myself in the larger group so as to keep an eye on more people.

"No, I think we should try to stick together," I countered. "There's more security in numbers in case Fox were to fire upon us."

Fortunately, no one pressed the issue. That was one good thing about being The Lead. No one questioned my authority.

"Are we just going to roam the city looking for Agent Fox?" Finn asked.

"I'll discuss that in a moment. I need to tell you the Operation's timeline first."

In actuality, I was trying to buy time for myself. I was embarrassed to admit that I hadn't thought of that. But I had determined a timeline for the operations. I decided to focus on my preparations for the time being, hoping I would have a stroke of brilliance before I had to address Finn's question.