Arkangel || A Winter / Karina / WinRina Adventure

The Company

In the middle of the night her eyes snapped open. She heard men talking nearby. Before she could react, one of them grabbed her ankles and pulled her out from beneath the cardboard. The three men stood around her.

"Well, what do we have -"

Min struck with extreme speed and force. With one swing of the knife, she'd sliced each man across the stomach. Then she jumped to her feet, wrapped her fingers around the knife's handle, and with lighting-quick punches, she broke each man's nose.

"Call her off!" one of the men screamed, blood pouring from his nose and stomach.

"Ok, you can stop Min, you're safe," a man's voice said. "You three get back to the van. You'd better patch yourselves up, because we can't show up in a public hospital like that."

Min wiped her nose. "The cuts aren't fatal. Trust me, I know the difference."

"Who would have thought that a homeless drifter in Seoul could take down three operatives trained in close-in combat? For once, the reality is even better than the promises. My name is  Parker, and I am a field operation director for the United States Central Intelligence Agency. I'm also your handler from now on. We've been monitoring you for a few years. You are Kim Min-jeong, 19, a graduate of an abusive home and 8 years of juvenile detention. At a young age you lost someone you cared about, that led to you..." He waved his hand around the alley. "To this."

"Make no mistake," Min said, "Don't you or any of your people refer to the person I lost. Never use his name. Had he lived, I wouldn't be this thing that I am."

"I get it. I'm just here to offer you a job, if you can learn to contain and channel the rage you're always feeling. The downside to the job is that you'll be in constant danger in some of the worst places in the world. But the upside is pretty cool. You'll get to save lives, sometimes thousands."

"I don't know you. Why don't I just kill you now? You just had three guys try to kill me."

"I think you're too curious to do that. Deep down, despite your Robin Hood act, I think you want out. You're born to be more. Plus, there is something we can help with. We might be able to find your friend, or at least find where he is buried. On top of that, we'll serve you up the names of the officers who assaulted him, and you can do whatever you want with them, no questions asked and no consequences."

"Let's say I agree. When do I find out about Well?"

"After you've completed a one-year tour."

"So you know where he is, but won't tell me?"

"A better way to think about it is to remember that one hour ago, you knew nothing. At least I've given you a way to get the answers you're looking for."

Min sighed. "What's next?"

"You'll spend six months at The Farm, our training facility for agents in Virginia. But for god's sake, look around you. You live in garbage, and have no friends and no loved ones. Anything is a step up from this."

"You know nothing about these people."

Being torn from Well had broken something in her. Maybe this was a chance to leave the crumbs of warm feelings she had behind, and finally embrace what was left. Not Min, not Winter...

Arkangel.

"I'll do it. But let's get one thing straight. If I don't like who you're asking me to kill, well... tsk, tsk, tsk..." She drew her finger across her throat.

"Fair enough," Parker said. "Just bear something in mind: you have no idea what we are capable of, so before you make threats, remember that they can cost you dearly. Now that we've cleared the air, there's just one thing left, your code name. You are Arkangel. Get in the habit of using it. That code name is reserved for the best operator we have. It's an honor. But you have to realize that this means that Kim Min-jeong is dead. Do you understand?"

"Who cares about her?" Winter said. "She was weak, so she died in the cold eight years ago."