REMEMBRANCE | an ejen ali fanfiction

06 | At the End of the Road

When Alicia and Moon left to the mamak, they were surprised to find it closed. As far as she could remember, it was never shut. When her dads were off for the day, other agents would take their place for the night shift.

Seeing the metal blinds rolled down was almost a jarring experience, like the world's stopped spinning or a close friend's sudden disappearance.

"Is it a break day?" Moon suggested meekly, sensing Alicia's confusion. "Maybe it's for some super-secret training?"

Alicia glanced at her. Never in her life had she heard of a public MATA hideout shut down, even only for a single day. Their life never allowed them a day off, as their line of work was essential for the safety of the entire country.

Her stomach churned uneasily, but she managed a feeble nod. "Maybe."

Never in her life had she wished for a harsher day of training more than today.

* * *

Her prayers were gone unheard.

The pair stared at the backdoors, locked by thick metal chains and locks wrapped around the bar securely. No doubt would there be more security hidden behind that door, filled with extensive passwords or biometrics that regular intruders couldn't hope to bypass.

There were the vents and windows, but they doubted they would need to resort to that.

"Maybe they're waiting for us somewhere else?" Moon pressed, tense.

It'd been well over half a year since Vikram's exposure and the near destruction of Cyberaya, but the paranoia lasted well over its due time. Vigilance was a good thing in agents that their mentors worked to instill, but a city-wide threat and mind control was a better motivator than most.

Moon was coming up with excuses for the phenomenon, but even Alicia could see the gears in her head steaming and clogging from endless possibilities, none of them good.

"I can try to call them," Alicia offered, trying to soothe her nerves, but that is a lie within itself. She'd already called them the moment she the metal blinds from a distance, and it always went to voicemail.

Moon shook her head. "I texted Uncle Rahul," she admitted, waving her phone, "but none of my messages are sending." Her device beeped. "Oh, wait, I got a message."

While Alicia was racking her head for explanations, Moon scrolled fervently down her screen, eyes wide as she read every incoming notification, her phone ringing endlessly. She narrowed her eyes at most of them, typing back with equal vigor.

She whipped towards Alicia, shoving the screen in her face.

"Internships are cancelled!" she revealed, showing a conversation from their group that Alicia muted the day it was created. "Everyone's coming back to Cyberaya. Iman's already on her train."

Alicia flicked through the messages. "Cancelled? No one told us anything!"

Iman: So... I'm on the LRT ^_^;

Khai: Huh, why??? Did you get kicked out?????

Roza: Oh no, if Iman got kicked out, I'm doomed

Zass: +1

Iman: No... the agents there told me to head back to the Academy because it was cancelled...

Iman: I think there's an emergency there...

Mika: GUESS WHO GOT FIRED YOOOOO

Mika: Wait Iman you too?!!

Mika: Ah shucks, did you eat cereal too loud as well??

Moon: What happened to you? O_O

Mika: Nothin' much! I had a stand-off with armed robbers in a shopping mall, had a dance-off with zombies, went on an adventure across Singapore with a talking bird, played a doomsday minigame where if I get a question wrong the bad guys will blow up my friends