Agent X

Disappointments and Eurekas

It was horribly painful for everyone seeing X in that condition. He was trying his best to not writhe around and make everyone feel scared about it, but the pain was almost unbearable at this point now, and what made it worse was that it was hurting with even greater intensity than the first time it happened.

A strangled yell or two even slipped past his trembling lips when it got too much for him to bear. One of the teammates, in desperation, even tried to come forward and help him, but X wiggled away from her before she could touch him and worsen the pain and the situation.

The pain slowly but surely abated after a while, leaving X in a pathetic heap on the floor. The after effects of the pain was still acting upon him, leaving his back sore and aching even after the intense pain quelled down.

It was quite embarrassing, X felt, when he was collected enough to compose thoughts that didn't comprise of him screaming about the pain.

He hated being so vulnerable in front of them. He actually hated being vulnerable in front of anyone, but the fact that these people barely knew him made the embarrassment much more acute and sharp.

'You are so brave, Agent X.' One of the coders said in a soft voice. He looked up to see a face full of admiration and grim courage staring back at him. She extended her hand to him in a reassuring manner. He didn't feel quite so ashamed when she was being so encouraging to him, and in a gesture of trust, slipped his hand into hers.

She helped him stand up by gently pulling him up and supported him when he wobbled due to the lack of strength in his legs. The rest of the team scrambled to ease him into one of the chairs by holding him tightly and lowering him down.

Someone offered X a tall glass of water, which he gratefully accepted and downed in one large gulp. He was just beginning to thank whoever gave him water when Shell came rushing in again, this time with the bright gleam of triumph shining in her dark eyes.

She halted in her tracks when she saw him sitting on a chair, surrounded by everyone again. 'Did it happen again? Did the code not work?'

X craned his neck to see her through the mass of bodies, and nodded slightly in affirmation. Shell let out a sad sigh and ran a hand through her hair.

'I'm so sorry X. I could have prevented this if I was just a few minutes early!' She grumbled with a frustrated sigh. He was about to assure her that it wasn't her fault at all, and that he had chosen to do this in spite of the risks when something she said dimly registered in his head.

'Wait, did you say you could have prevented this? How? Did you find out the solution to the map?' X gasped with drawn eyebrows. Shell's forlorn expression cleared momentarily as she remembered what she'd come to say.

'Oh yea! I'd come here to tell you that Snow has cracked the code, per se. I don't know how we all missed this earlier. I mean, we're literally six coders working on it and we still couldn't figure it out.

Anyways, Snow observed the map and just randomly told me that the whole thing looks like a puzzle! That's right. The whole fricking map is a riddle for us to solve!' She exclaimed in an amused albeit irritated tone.

Everyone, including Agent X, immediately slapped their foreheads as their brilliant minds instantly made the connection. Of course it was a puzzle. Why didn't we see it beforehand?

Shell laughed at their stumped faces, 'It's okay, guys. It didn't even register to my brain till Snow pointed it out. What's important now is figuring out that map in the puzzle style.'