Connected

Failure

He wrote a play; by day and night 
He strove with passion and delight; 
Yet knew, long ere the curtain drop, 
His drama was a sorry flop. 

In Parliament he sought a seat; 
Election Day brought dire defeat; 
Yet he had wooed with word and pen 
Prodigiously his fellow men. 

And then he wrote a lighter play 
That made him famous in a day. 
He won a seat in Parliament, 
And starry was the way he went. 

Yet as he neared the door of death 
They heard him say with broken breath: 
'For all I've spoken, planned and penned, 
I'm just a wash-out in the end.' 

So are we all; our triumphs won 
Are mean by what we might have done. 
Our victories that men applaud 
Are sordid in the sight of God.

~Failure By Robert William Service~

MR PO

My nerves were on edge. My team called in, saying they needed to meet. The woman upstairs wanted a report and I could only tell her about the meet, so she came along. I sat with her in her stretch hovercar. She had that steel look on her face which shook me to my core.

I had no idea what to expect with this woman. Nor did I know what was in store for me when we arrived. The Hovercar set down in an alleyway dimly lit by the neon lights of the skyscrapers above.

I sent six of my best men and women after them. Only three stood before us now.

She climbed out of the hovercar as soon as it touched the ground and I followed close behind, climbing out right after her. She walked swiftly despite the high heels currently strapped around her feet.

How did women walk in those?

I pushed the thought aside as she approached my officers, and almost a second later,she was yelling.

"So? Who fucked up?" She demanded,her arms folded as she tapped her shoes against the floor.

The group looked around at each other,I could tell neither of them wanted to be the one to blame for failing the mission.

"I asked a question! Who lead this operation?"

Thankfully,not me.

I'd only given target coordinates and their main objective, capture and restrain Zephyr 30-03-22 and bring him back alive. That was my order. What did those idiots do? Bring live ammunition to try and capture a target alive, and get three of my best men killed.

I wasn't the one behind planning or any guide to major fuck ups, that fell on Hal's shoulders.

Hal stepped out from the other two, standing in front of both,complete in his black combat fatigues, his rifle hanging lazily by its strap.

"I led the operation ma'am. I take full responsibility for my failures."

Her foot stopped tapping. For a few moments she did nothing but stand there,staring at him with a steel look.

She nodded her head, and strangely started clapping her hands. She smiled,chuckling as she applauded the man in front of her. Hal smiled awkwardly,then started laughing as well. It was intoxicating. In an unnerving way. I wanted to laugh with them. Everyone was laughing now, and soon,I couldn't help but join in. Then, in a near blur of movement, she reached for my hip and yanked the pistol from my holster. Gunfire ringed in the night air,  Hal was dead before anyone even knew what happened.

His body was limp on the ground, a fresh bullet hole had formed in Hal's right eye,which bled his eye juices and brain matter out onto the street. His remaining two former companions behind him stood in shock, with one having some of his blood splatter on her cheek.

She was a cute girl.

Hal was a good kid. One of the best I'd ever trained. Too bad he fucked up.

"We,don't fail. Do you understand?! Mogwai Corp DOES. NOT. FAIL. "

The girl seemed shocked,her face went pale.

The missus' phone rang, making her cuss as she reached into her jacket pocket,answering her cell.

"Hello?"

An anxious expression found its way on her face and she smiled nervously. "Miss Akido! How are you today!"

Akira Akido was calling? Had to mean that news about the facility attack reached her already.

She spoke to her for a few more seconds before she put away her phone,glaring at the troops. "You see what happens when you fuck up? Now I need to do damage control. I swear you're a bunch of fucking amateurs."

She turned to me, shoving the pistol against my chest. "You find that robot. I want him. You have him found and you bring him to me ALIVE. No fuck ups this time or its your head on the chopping block. And you don't want that do you Po?"

I shook my head silently as she walked back to the hovercar.

"You coming or what?"

I turned on my heel and stepped inside, sitting on the far side of the hovercar.

"I want that robot,synth,whatever the fuck he is. Find him. Bring him to me. Alive. I can't weaponize him if he's dead."

She let out a sigh, her jaw tightening. "I need to go meet the young cunt Akido now because someone did a shitty job at training our spec ops team."

"I'm sorry Ma'a-"

"I don't want to hear it." She said,staring at me with intensity that made me feel as if her gaze were cutting into my soul. "You don't get to talk. The only words I wanna hear from you, is "I got the job done." And right now,you haven't got it done yet. I'm not going to give you a second chance Po. Get it done."