"Wait, wait, wait," I waved my hand in front of me and wide eyes. "We are going on a what now?"
Owen sighed. "One of the directors ordered us to do this secret espionage mission," he said slowly while we all stared at him, dazed by the news.
4 months have passed since that fine day and our team has been going on team missions at least once a month but more often twice. Most of the time, the mission types are different from the previous ones thus we get to constantly learn more things and upgrade our gear.
I remembered Echo saying something about our team's gear being the most advanced and the most versatile team according to the stupid list again. I didn't want to hear more about it and tuned her out completely during her rant about our team.
I had thrown myself into training my abilities since doing computer was stressing me out thus I told my brother I will be taking a break. Now, I have a good basic understanding of my abilities, I just need to experiment and test to learn more about them.
Now, we are getting called to do a secret espionage mission by a director. A secret mission tends to be dangerous but espionage on top of that is another story, it is for a hidden Xenophian base at the border of our galaxy and it is apparently big which is the worst news.
"It's a director order, we can't disobey anyway," Caleb said as he crossed his arms while Echo and I glanced at each other. "When are we leaving then?"
"Tomorrow, so rest up and get ready at the spaceport," Owen said and we nodded understanding before splitting up to get everything prepared.
Our mission uniforms' appearance hasn't changed that much with it being sleek and futuristic, with a form-fitting design that contours to the wearer's body. The uniform is predominantly black, with metallic, coloured accents and detailing.
However, the uniforms now are made completely from nano-fibre technology that can change colour and pattern to provide camouflage and blend into the environment. The helmet is also black with metallic coloured detailing and a visor that can be lifted for greater visibility.
By the time we prepared everything, we were already on a spaceship and heading for our destination. "CONE, double-check all gear," I muttered nervously as I walked in circles.
"All systems are up and running, Nova," a female voice said with a hint of robotic.
"Nova, you are going to walk a hole into the floor," Owen commented
I look at him before looking down at the floor. "The floor is made out of reinforced metals, how am I supposed to walk a hole into reinforced metals?" I asked in disbelief.
Owen shrugged. "At least it got you to stop walking, nothing bad is going to happen so just calm down," he said calmly.
I chuckled dryly. "People say that and something tends to go wrong," I muttered before sighing and sitting down on the floor. "What is the plan?"
"The plan is for us to go there and check it out first, apparently is a one-way in and out so you and Caleb are very likely needed to go in with the Xenophian mode that you guys built," he said with a smirk.
I groaned. "But that mode is so uncomfortable," I whined. "Though, it is very cool to have but so uncomfortable."
Owen grinned. "You guys built it, might as well put it to use," he said before looking around. "Have you seen the love birds?"
I shook my head. "Probably cock pit considering we are getting close," I said as Owen nodded before walking in the direction of the cock pit.
Soon, we landed on a red rocky planet that was literally next to the edge of the galaxy. "So, where is this base?" Echo asked as we all stepped off the spaceship.
"Here," Owen said as a location marker appeared on our helmet. "That's base, we need to somehow get into the base."
We nodded in understanding. "CONE, active all jet boots," Caleb said before the soles of our boots turned into jets and we started to fly.
We quickly flew in the direction of the marker before turning on our camouflage, we landed on the ground since we were close. "Echo, Caleb," Owen said before both of them disappeared to scout ahead.
I spread my mental sense and we walked towards their direction before finding them behind several big rocks. "How is it?" Owen asked before we hid behind the rocks as well.
The base was considered small but I assumed that most of it are underground considering that the mission said it was large. It had several guards standing by the entrance and a couple more around it, clearly a one-way in and out.
"There are no vents or anything, since this is a Xenophian base, we need to be careful about their technology as well," Echo said as Caleb nodded in agreement.
Owen nodded. "Echo and I will create a distraction," he said while we nodded and they both walked away from us.
I stared at the cameras. "Those cameras seem like it's from ours, Caleb you think you can generate an electric field for us to get there without being seen?"
Caleb hummed. "Do you know the entrance code?" I nodded. "We will figure out the rest once we get in then."
I took a deep breath. "It feels like I'm back in the secret room again, this time I'm out in the open," I spoke telepathically to him.
Caleb chuckled. "I was always out in the open, hopefully, I won't get caught this time," he said as I nodded in agreement.
We heard a loud bang in the distance before noticing all the guards going over. "Let's go," he said as I put I felt static in the air and I manipulated everyone's sight within my range.
We ran to the entrance as I entered the entrance code and an elevator door opened and we stepped inside. The door closed and it started to descend, I glanced upward and noticed there is a typical elevator door and I will take note of it.
I noticed Caleb's emotion is slowly going away from the calm before I manipulated it back down. "Thanks, I didn't think that keeping myself calm in this situation is this hard,"
I chuckled through the link. "To be fair, we are not different from being trapped right now and they can't even help us," I said before the door opened and we were in a big common area. "let's get to the security room."
I not only kept our cover as Xenophian but also made them all barely notice us as we walked through the corridor while reading their thoughts. I soon located where the security room is and we headed there immediately.
We stopped just outside the security room before Caleb used his electricity to open the door while I made everyone inside barely notice the entrance. Once the door opened and stepped into the room, I adjusted our cover as we looked around the room to see there are just about a dozen Xenophians here watching all the cameras.
I pursed my lips and passed the console which was thankfully empty and put a remote control bug there. "Owen, can you use the controls and plug the bug in?" I asked him even though I let all of them know.
"On it, you guys are doing a good job," he said as we quickly left the security room and adjusted our cover.
We didn't walk for long until a 3D map appeared on our helmet. "What the hell, there are vents. Whatever, let's go to the bathrooms and we can look over the information," I said as he sent the agreement through the link.
We both entered our respective gender bathroom and into a cubicle and relaxed slightly. "Okay, now we need to figure out all the security of this place," I said as I started tapping on my arm but kept the covers up for both of us.
"Their security is tight but is just as many blindspots," he said. "The problem is the main control area."
The main control area cameras are Xenophian technology thus the normal way is out of the question. "The only way I can think about is that we replaced someone here for a couple of days," I muttered lowly.
"Agree, any Xenophian fancy your taste?" he said cheekily which made me purse my lips.
"Couples? It would be best since we would be in the same room," I asked.
"Sure, how about the two that work as scientists? We can also figure out what they are doing," he suggested.
I hummed. "Sure, want to greet them in their room?" I asked and he acknowledged it before we left the bathroom. "This might take a few days, I'm sure you saw how tight the security is, we are going to impersonate 2 Xenophian," I told the group that is above ground.
"Alright, we will be around then," Owen said before we found the couple's room.
We went in and the place was quite messy but it was a manageable mess, there was a desk filled with scientific papers, a double bed with 2 side tables and an attached bathroom
"Let's go to the bathroom and wait," I said as I walked towards it with him following behind me. The bathroom was fairly big compared to the room since it had a tub, a wardrobe, a toilet and 2 sinks.
"Is this supposed to be common for Xenophians to have their wardrobe in the toilet?" Caleb asked as he stared at it.
I shrugged as I sat down at the edge of the tub. "Can you feel cameras? I want to save energy," I asked.
He shook his head. "There are no cameras in both room," he said before leaning against the sink.
I immediately dropped my ability and reveal our uniform, I looked at the wardrobe. "We should change to Xenophian mode so that we can blend in better as much as I hate it," I said with a wary smile.
Caleb sighed. "Why did you even suggest this mode when we were building this," he grumbled. "CONE, Xenophian mode for me and Nova."
Soon our suit just got tighter and tighter, I close my eyes as my helmet turned soft and started sticking against my face. Once it stopped, I opened my eyes and touched my face to find the rough and leathery texture of my new dark, reddish-brown skin, a long flexible tail and about a foot taller than my normal height.
"Thank goodness, I spent a ridiculous time playing in this form," I grumbled as I licked my teeth to feel the sharp edges and clenched my fist and feel the sharp claws.
"I hate this mode," Caleb grumbled with a similar appearance. "Let's see what is there to wear."
Once we opened the wardrobe, we saw nothing but normal shirts, lap coats and pants. We both sighed in relief before I looked at the door. "The girl is back," I told him as I glanced at him.
"Can you just make both of them tired enough that they collapsed on the bed?" he asked as I nodded.
Soon enough, I felt her mind calm down and fell asleep. "Do you want to wait for the guy to come back?"
Caleb nodded. "That's for the best."
The moment he finished that sentence the guy came in. "Speak of the devil, they are both in the room now," I said while making him feel sleepy and he collapsed faster than the girl
I nodded at Caleb before we went out to see two 6 feet tall Xenophian sleeping peacefully on the bed. I never got the chance to observe this close to a Xenophian before, the most we got are details about them from reports but that is it.
The Male Xenophian is clearly larger and more muscular than the female with broad shoulders, powerful arms, and muscular torsos. The female Xenophian is slightly smaller, leaner, and more athletic build, with long, graceful limbs and a slender torso that seem to build for agility.
We both touched our arms and a light scanned each of the Xenophian and I could feel the nanotech material shifting. I looked down to see my black suit had turned into a reddish-brown colour, I touch my mouth to feel the sharp teeth and claws
I looked over to Caleb to see him almost the same as I am but clearly bigger, stronger and more dangerous with large and almond-shaped, blue, intense irises and long, pointed ears. He looked at me and nodded before we each took out a mask and put it over the couple to make them sleep until we want them to wake up.
We waited for a minute before I touched the female's forehead and started reading her memories before taking her skills. Much to my delight, she is a scientist in the digital sector while the male is in engineering.
I opened my eyes before touching the male's forehead and did the same thing. Once I was done, I looked at Caleb, who seemed rather nervous, sitting on a chair at the side before walking over to him.
"Don't be so nervous, everything will be fine," I said softly since I didn't want Xenophians to hear us.
He glared at him which looked pretty scary with his current appearance. "Easy for you to say when your mind is not the one getting tampered with," he grumbled softly.
I chuckled lowly. "Well, is not like you didn't see this coming and is not like I haven't been getting your mind used to me tempering with it," I reasoned.
He sighed in defeat. "Just get it over with," he said softly and closed his eyes.
I touched his forehead and insert the memories and skills but kept them separated from his original memories. I also gave a few mental inducements just to help him blend in better with his new identity.
I removed my hand after I was done but he still has his eyes closed, I looked over at the two Xenophian before carrying both of them to the tub in the bathroom which was able to fit them both. I also took everything they have on them before turning to the wardrobe and changing into new clothes.
I took a set of new clothes for Caleb as well before walking out to see him still in the state which will be sometime before he snapped out. I left the clothes on the bed and started putting on all the things the female Xenophian like the watch, badge and bracelet.
I left the things from the male on the bed as well before checking the time, I typed in a request of having dinner in the room for the next several days which was soon accepted due to the high ranking these two people had. Caleb started moving out of the corner of my eyes, I looked over as he opened his eyes and looked at him.
"You got ready-," he slapped his hand over his mouth as he looked at me with wide eyes because he just spoke in a completely different language.
I grinned. "There is no way you will be able to talk like a local Xenophian without some mental inducement," I said in a completely different language as well.
Caleb sighed and looked at me with narrowed eyes. "What other commands did you do to me?" He asked as he stood up and started wearing the clothes.
"Nothing much, just when you step out of the room door, you will act more like the Xenophian than your current self, this includes your partial mindset as well," I explained as he looked at me with wide eyes as I just smiled innocently.
He took a deep breath and put everything on. "This is a one-time thing, I'm not doing this ever again," he grumbled as I remembered something before jogging back to the bathroom.
I went toward the sleeping Xenophian and touched both of them. "CONE, extract small DNA samples and adapted the male to Caleb while the female to me," I muttered in the normal language before a small screen appeared in front of my eye saying it is done.
I turned around to see Caleb looking at me with his arms crossed. "So you can speak normally while I can't?" he grumbled while he glared at me.
I grinned and sent the image before me to the normal team link. "The new and improved Caleb!" I cheered at the image before he glared at me harder while Echo dying through the call. "I made your girlfriend happy and share a sight that you will not ever do again with her, let her have it," I said to him.
He sighed and walked out of the bathroom with me following behind. "This is going to be torturous," he grumbled.
"The torturous part is when need to kiss in public, what do you mean?" I said calmly as his body stiffened. "Thankfully, this pair is quite private about their love life so we can hide most if not all of it."
"Thanks, mercy," he said as he sat down on the bed.
"I have food sent to our rooms for the next few days for dinner and breakfast but for lunch, we need to get our own though I don't even think we need a few days considering this girl works in the digital sector," I explained as I laid down.
Caleb opened his mouth before a loud knocking was heard, I sat up properly as he went to the door and open it. "Dinner for Vaxir and Zethra," a guy Xenophian said while handing over to trays.
"Thank you," Caleb said before closing the door and walking back to me with a glare. "I didn't even need to step out of the door to feel myself changing," he said lowly while handing me my food.
I shrugged as I took the food. "I need to act prim and proper like a lady as well as be active, you know that is the last thing I normally do," I said before looking down at the food. "I'm just thankful that we can actually eat the food."
He sat down next to me as I have begun to eat. "Both our diets are not much different from each other but I couldn't imagine eating something that I can't eat," he said before eating as well.
I hummed in agreement. "Anyway, I'm going to the digital sector tomorrow, so learn as much as you can, even though we have their skills, it will still be difficult," I told him and he nodded in understanding.
After we ate and put the trays outside for pick up we went to sleep since we still needed time to fully absorbed their memories and understand them.