Secured Facility
Present Day
"FILSS, do you have any information on all of the Freelancers? Like if they are alive or not?" I ask.
"Certainly." She replies and a list pops up on screen.
Agent Florida
Status: KIA
Agent Maine
Status: KIA
I re-read that part of the list again. The Agent Maine is DEAD? I wonder how many troops and ammunition had to take him down..
Agent Ohio
Status: MIA
Agent Idaho
Status: MIA
Agent Iowa
Status: MIA
Well at least the triplets are alive.. I hope.
Agent Georgia
Status: MIA
Agent South Dakota
Status: KIA
Low-key, I will miss South even though we never agree on anything.
Agent North Dakota
Status: KIA
High-key, I will miss North. Besides York, he was like my other older brother.
Speaking of brother, I made it York's status.
Agent New York
Status: KIA
KIA..
I don't know if I'm reading this list correctly anymore.
"FILSS.. i-is my brother really dead?" I hesitantly ask.
"I'm sorry Agent Alaska but your brother is.. dead." She responded sadly.
"How."
"He was shot by Agent Wyoming during a mission with Agent Texas."
"And is Wyoming still alive?"
"Wyoming died to a simulation trooper with an alien energy sword." FILSS replied.
At least my brother was avenged but not in a way I expected.
I keep scanning through the list until I find a certain name of a certain Freelancer I thought was dead.
Agent Carolina
Status: Active
Ok am I seriously reading this correctly?
"FILSS, pull up all other Freelancers that are active in the field." I ordered.
"Sure thing." The list condensed to three Freelancers:
Me, Carolina, and Washington.
My eyes lit up in shock as I read the last name.
Wash is alive?
~~~
Mother of Invention
Many years ago
I run through the halls of the ship trying to get to the training room. I just got word from FILSS that something went wrong in the training room while I was having a training session with the new equipment they just received.
It was a week after Church was, unfortunately, removed from my head. I woke up in the Recovery Room not able to remember what happened. To this day, I don't know what happened to him or who knocked me out. I'm determined to find out who did it but right now isn't the time.
I dash past soldiers and scientists and arrived at the Training Room entrance.
"Open the door FILSS." I ordered.
"Opening training room doors."
As the doors were opening, I quickly slip past and my heart stopped.
My brother was somewhat covered in pink paint and was laying, unconscious, on the floor. The rest of the Freelancers were getting a leture on how there are "no rules on the battlefield."
I stand at attention quietly and observed what was happening. Doctors were tending to Maine, Wyoming, York, and a new agent I have never seen before. The new agent was a girl and had black armor with a gold visor. I looked up at the training score board and saw that she won all the rounds, leading up to the incident under the name of Agent Texas.
Impressive.
"You are all dismissed."
I snap back into reality and followed the rest of the agents out of the room. I catch up to Agent Washington, one of my best friends in the Project. He is very skilled in Knife Combat and with a few weekly lessons on sharpshooting with me, he's #6 on the Leaderboard.
"Wash, what happened?" I slow my pace to match his. "Why is my brother laying unconscious on the ground, with his visor all cracked? Who exactly is Agent Texas?"
Wash puts his hands up and chuckles. "Easy now Tiger. I can't answer your questions all at once."
I poke his side, smiling inside my helmet at the nickname he gave me during one of our training sessions. "At least tell me what happened."
He smirks and explained what happened as we walk around the ship. ".. so Agent Wyoming and Agent Maine decided it was a good idea to use live ammunition on the floor."
My mouth dropped. "Isn't that against the rules?"
"Yea, but the Director says that there are no rules on the battlefield." Wash scoffs.
"That's somewhat true, but if they want their soldiers to survive training and go into battle then they shouldn't use acutal bullets. Or they'll be killing us one by one." I say logically.
"You and your logical thinking." Wash chuckles.
"Is there something wrong with that?"
"Never." He assured me.
I just smile inside of my helmet but then it disappears as hear Wash say something I would never expect him to say.
"Just one of the reasons why I love you." Wash whispered, probably just to himself.
It was barely audible so I'm not sure if that's what he said.. but does Agent Washington love me?
"Did you say something Wash?" I ask to see if what I heard was correct.
" I.. uh.. was just talking to myself.. nothing important." He sounded startled by my question. Huh, so he did say it. Interesting..
"Ok then.." I say.
After a few minutes of walking in silence, I ask, "You up for training tomorrow morning?"
"Always." He replies.
"See you then unless I happened to run into you later."
"Yea.. see you."
Wash and I part ways and I walked back to my- well my brother's and I's- bunk in hope that he is there.
Then it hit me.
He would be in the infirmary, getting treated for his eye. He won't be in the bunk for a long while.
I sigh and I open the door only to see my brother laying on his bed watching Griffball on his holo tablet. He is dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt. He looks at me and smiles. "Hey kid sister."
"Hey big brother. I thought you would be in the Infirmary." I say as I take off my helmet and set it on my nightstand. A strand of brown hair falls in front of my face as I sat down on my bed. I try to blow it away from my face but it just falls back down.
"The Doc is letting me stay in my bunk as long as I don't do anything stupid." York take one good look at me and asks. "You ok?"
I sigh and turn to see the slight concerned on his face. "To be honest, not really."
"You want to talk about it?"
"Well I don't think it's a big deal," I start. "But I think Wash may think of me as.. more than a friend."
"He has been talking about you a lot lately.." York says.
"He has?"
"Whenever we are just chilling or doing whatever, he somehow manages to bring you up in a conversation. North and I think he definitely has an eye on you." He winks at me which makes me roll my eyes.
"How can you be sure though? He acts like a normal friend to me." I ask, bringing my knees to my chest and laying my head on them.
"You probably don't notice as much but he's slowly acting a little different around you." York puts a hand on my shoulder. "If you want, I could go and ask him-"
"No." I say. I push myself off of the bed and head towards the bathroom to take off my armor, leaving a confused York on my bed. I stop at the doorway and look back at him. "He's nice but I don't need any guy as of right now. We have a War to win. Besides, I got my big brother."
My brother smiles at me. "Can't argue with that."
I smiled back and close the bathroom door behind me. I let myself slide down to the ground. Wash and I are just friends right? Surely he doesn't think of me more than that? I shoo the thought away and get ready for bed.
[Edited]