Olympus: The Agency (Book One)

11. Sanity is Relative

Tartarus was on the roof of the hotel, his rifle resting against the vent. He had the most boring part of the assignment, but equally the most important. Sure, Zeus and Apollo needed to get this "Junior" out of the plant, but without Tartarus watching over them like a God, they weren't going to get far.

Tartarus smirked as Alice appeared in his vision. She seemed more energetic, but he didn't want to break her. In truth, Tartarus was becoming a little attached to his A.I. She was useful, far more useful than an ordinary spotter.

'What's happening to you, Alice?'

Alice frowned, her ears drooping. 'It's an Agency protocol. Captain Nevada wants his Agents to be the best they can be, so he puts limiting code into the artificial intelligence. If we get used to much, the code locks us until we dock with our assigned ship.'

'Seems like a design flaw,' Tartarus said, picking his rifle up. 'I could never do math as well as you can.'

Alice checked Tartarus's rifle, and she immediately grew more tired again. She sat on the vent in a huff, her tail swishing in annoyance.

'It's not fair!' she exclaimed. 'I just want to help!'

Tartarus looked through his scope, searching for Zeus and Apollo.

'You are, Alice. I'm not alone.'

Zeus and Apollo walked up the main driveway to the security booth in front of the power plant. The plant was sleek in its design, with few windows and many supports and reinforcements around the building, likely to protect the precious machinery within. The security guard in the booth barely glanced up from his magazine when Zeus approached the window.

'Pass?' the guard said. Zeus placed his hand on the DNA reader and waited. After a series of beeps, the guard checked the monitor.

'Is there a problem?' Zeus asked politely.

'No problem, sir,' the guard said. 'Computer says you have clearance from President Frost. What's she like?'

'Oh, President Frost?' Zeus said, thinking on his feet. 'Interesting woman. Little known fact about her... she likes toffee.'

The guard seemed satisfied with this information, and buzzed the two Agents in. Zeus and Apollo walked as quickly as they could without drawing attention to themselves.

'So, where is Junior?' Apollo asked under his breath. Thankfully, his comms still picked up his words.

'Junior told us he'd lead us to him when we arrive. I guess we just have to wait.'

Zeus looked at the guide by the entrance. It fizzled slightly, then showed a green dot by the reactor floor.

'I think this is our direction, Apollo,' Zeus said, tapping the dot. 'What's your weapon status?'

'I had a cannon, but Tartarus drained it. So, a handgun and an assault rifle. You?'

'Handgun. But don't forget we have Tartarus on overwatch.'

Apollo glanced out the window at the hotel. Somehow, the hotel seemed darker than it did before.

The two Agents made their way through the building, not stopping to take in the sights of people working and machinery whirring. When they arrived at the reactor, they were presented with a new problem.

The door was locked with a high-end security pad, and neither of them had the code.

'Junior?' Zeus asked hopefully, but there were no cameras in this hall. They had to figure this out on their own.