The Algorithm

Chapter twelve - Kill Count

"Roman lanterns." The purple-eyed man answered. "And thank you."

"You're welcome."

After their short discussion on fashion accessories was over, Nooroo returned his attention to Plagg. "Where have you been?" The purple-eyed fox said. He wasn't trying to be snarky, his tone implied he was just making conversation.

"We're in the middle of a war Nooroo, not all of us have the privilege to take strolls." He answered bitterly. "I'm sure you've heard Marinette was injured on her assignment." Nooroo adjusted his tie and nodded his head, clearly taken aback by his comrades' hostile words. Adrien realized the reason for Plagg's sudden animosity. He obviously didn't like the idea of people going out for strolls while Marinette was barely clinging to life.

"I was deeply troubled to hear what had happened to her. How is she doing?" Adrien felt extremely uncomfortable being in between these two, but felt that if he weren't, Plagg would probably already have a hand wrapped around the smaller man's throat.

"If you'd bother to check on her, you would know." The grim figure started coldly. Nooroo didn't respond, he just directed his gaze away and nodded, accepting defeat without even putting up a fight. Plagg seemed to give up the battle, the realization hit him that arguing won't help Marinette in any way and it wasn't appropriate to bicker in front of the kid. The tension in the room quickly cooled.

"Are you two done now?" Tikki uttered, tired of their childish antics.

"Yes." The two men said in unison. Nooroo seemed to be the first to cave when it came to apologizing.

"I'm sorry Plagg, I didn't mean to come off as insensitive." He remorsed. Plagg shook his head.

"I shouldn't have jumped down your throat like that. I'm just worried about her, you know?" Nooroo nodded his agreement.

"We all are." He said, settling the disagreement.

The three of them then proceeded to explain everything to Adrien. How Plagg and Tikki had found Marinette when she was sixteen, or at least believed to be sixteen since no one knew her real age, in an Akuma facility. They found out what she could do, and how they could use it against Akuma. They did however leave Luka, Chloe, and Alya out of their story. The loss was still a heavy burden on them all. They went over the past three years at GUARD and how Adrien would need to stay here with them until they can guarantee his safety.

"But I have a family." Adrien protested. "My parents are going to be worried." Plagg put a hand up to stop the oncoming string of questions that usually exited Adrien's mouth.

"Your parents live in Italy while you go to school in Paris right?" Adrien nodded. "You can call them anytime but you can't visit or tell them anything about GUARD. Understand?" Adrien already didn't see his parents often but it still hurt to know he won't see them for who knows how long.

"But what if Akuma targets them?" He asked, concern evident in his words. Tikki smiled at him warmly.

"We put an undercover security detail on them. Akuma won't dare harm them." She explained.

"Now!" Nooroo said with enthusiasm. "Here is our favorite superhumans file, have a look, she will be your personal bodyguard and she will train you in some basic self-defense once she's recovered." Adrien still had his doubts about Marinette's health and whether or not she would be okay but he appreciated his optimism. "Although," Nooroo began. "Many of her past missions are classified." The blonde nodded in understanding.

Adrien was handed a file made of thick pale paper. When he opened it, all that was inside were a few very official-looking pictures of the bluenette and a stack of paper. All of them had paragraphs of text but it was all covered in black marker, making it impossible to read. Only a few lines on the first page were left in the top left corner. What little text was left able to read was brief.

FIRST NAME: MARINETTE
LAST NAME: UNKNOWN
DATE OF BIRTH: UNKNOWN
ETHNICITY: UNKNOWN
AGENT NUMBER: 1492058
CODE NAME: SIREN
GENDER: FEMALE
HEIGHT: 165 CENTIMETERS
WEIGHT: 56 KILOGRAMS
EYE COLOR: BLUE

But it wasn't the fact no one knew her full name that grabbed his attention, but instead, it was the small line written right underneath her eye color that read...

CONFIRMED KILLS: 431

Before Adrien had a chance to react to the kill count, the door to the room swung open. A woman with tan skin, whose face was covered in freckles and a mess of orange and red wavy hair barged in.

"Trixx what is it?" Tikki asked.

"Marinette." She said breathlessly, she had obviously run to give them the message. Her voice matched the woman who had spoken through Marinette's bracelet. It was nice to put a face to the name, Adrien thought.

"What about Marinette?" Plagg asked urgently.

"She's awake."

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Word count: 2197 (Not counting this)

DKJFLKASDJFLKAHGJFKGHFKJVNMVHNASDJKLHTJKDGHRUI YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY NOW ADRIEN GO TO THE GIRL YOU LOVE

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