7th September 2311 10:36 EST - If Europa was the capital of the Human Confederate's future, it still paled in comparison to the illustrious and alluring architecture of Earth.
Even in the short time, Jason had been in Moscow, he had found it impressive and daunting. It spoke of the magnificence of many centuries of history and development while carefully hiding a mysterious dark side to its society. When arriving in Berlin just twenty-four hours ago, it too had a splendour and mysteriousness that equalled but differed from Moscow. Jason marvelled at its beauty and murkiness.
Apart from the underground, Europa had conformity, structure and an eagerness to be overwhelming to the little people that littered its streets. Both Moscow and Berlin had their conformity, and their structure, yet their archaic nature made them seem like they had glorious imperfections everywhere you turned. Like Europa, the buildings reached for the sky, and the traffic littering the heavens seemed to attempt to block out the sun, but walking through the lower streets underneath the recently refurbished Brandenburg Gate felt like Jason was stepping into two different time zones.
Earth, in its loss of identity between multiple eras, had something beautiful that Jason had not seen anywhere else before.
Apart from the weather.
Even in the few days on Earth, he had experienced, rain, wind, sun, sleet and a thunderstorm. Where Europa's weather was regulated and predictable, Earth was anything but. While the sun was out now, a glimpse of a darkened cloud in the distance had put Jason on edge.
Thoughts of the weather and architecture quickly fleeted away as he recalled his objective in the Central European State Capital.
Proviski had lit the way for Jason to come here and establish contact with Jacqueline Donnelly. The wild goose chase which Vladimir had set him on was bizarre and disconcerting. Donnelly had been out of official contact for months, yet somehow she had given Vladimir the instructions to send Jason to Berlin.
Standing outside of a bank, as people briskly entered and exited, Jason's nerves felt far more tense than normal. The security on the planet was state of the art. Wherever you walked, wherever you stood, the Earth security department knew who you were and whether you were authorised to be here or not. Jason was not.
As far as the Human Confederate and United Solar Military were concerned, Jason was still recovering from his last tour, so to be on this planet, where his every move was likely being scrutinised, meant he was placing a massive amount of trust in his godfather and the fake identity that had been established for his infiltration.
"Welcome Mr Standerwick" the soothing voice of a woman echoed through his ears as he stepped into the bank. It did not stir the calm that was intended. Who was Mr Standerwick? He hoped that the identity had been created specifically for the mission, but wondered if Mr Standerwick existed somewhere while Jason skulked around as his doppelgänger. Would Mr Standerwick be working right now in Titan or Callisto, unaware of his stolen identity, or perhaps drinking on a beach on Earth, just a few thousand kilometres away? If he did indeed exist, he was probably enduring the sites and sound of the prison moon Io.
"Ahh, Mr Standerwick, welcome, we have been expecting you."
The accented voice of a man walking towards Jason had brought him back to the here and now, realising that all thoughts of understanding his made-up identity were futile. He was on a mission, and nothing else mattered apart from the success of that mission.
The professional-looking man, in his tight-fitting black trousers and tailored black smooth jacket, extended his hand towards Jason, which Jason grabbed instantly and shook with vigour.
"I had not expected to be greeted by a real human," Jason responded.
The grey-haired man, his hair slicked back in unison, rubbed his carefully trimmed pointed beard. "Here at Deutsche Commerzbank, while a lot of our facilities are automated, we believe that a human touch is always welcomed by our clientele."
"That I agree," Jason responded.
"I believe this is your first visit to the beautiful city of Berlin?" The man asked, eager to continue their small talk.
Jason had studied his identity, Mr Standerwick, extensively, but it still brought him unease when asked personal questions in fear of making a mistake. "Indeed, yet, unfortunately, I will not get the opportunity to experience it further."
"Ahh, I understand," the man responded, "you are on a timescale?"
Jason nodded, "Yes, yet I will certainly aim to return at a future opportunity." He replied, attempting to keep the conversation cordial.
"Then please follow me, we will have everything set up ready for you momentarily."
Following the man through the tall marble halls of the great bank made Jason want to just sit and admire the architecture and how the tall unnecessary Roman styled supports rose to the heavens.
"Impressive, no?" The man responded as he studied Jason's admiration.
"They are, I'm impressed with how the modern and the ancient so easily work together in harmony," Jason commented.
The man chuckled, "Ahh, yes, almost poetic don't you think?"
It was at that moment that Jason could see a small glint in the man's eye. It was cybernetic, likely incredibly expensive and focused on Jason's mannerisms and responses. Since he had walked into the bank, he had not seen any security, however, he knew they were there. As the eye studied his posture, his mannerisms, his heartbeat, if Jason made a wrong move, the man who was so casual in his discussions would likely pass on his concerns to the security teams and the mission would be over before it had even begun.
"The safety deposit box, I'm assuming I will have complete privacy?" Jason asked, casually switching the conversation back.
"Absolutely," the man replied, "our booths are completely separated from the outside world. No one can hear, see or feel anything that goes on inside your booth."
"And what happens in case of an emergency?" Jason asked, testing the waters of the secrecy.
"Alas, on very rare occasions it happens. Should you deem it necessary, we have a system where we can confirm contact every five minutes, a button to press when challenged, to confirm no emergency exists."
"It is not necessary, but good to gain insight."
Jason was led towards a large vault-like door which instantly opened on their approach. As they both walked into the room, what Jason saw in front of him was magnificent.
Stepping forward the room was dark with a glass pane standing between him and what appeared to be a bottomless pit. Within the pit, the booths were lined up, seemingly floating in nothingness in a honeycombed formation. As the two men edged towards the glass door, looking down, one of the booths was floating its way up towards where they stood. As it ascended, all other booths around them dispersed, bringing the man's claims of secrecy more to reality.
What technology was this that they could achieve such a feat? The question was of little consequence but something that would intrigue Jason for some time to come.
As the booth slowly slid towards the door, clamps burrowed into it before the glass door opened, and the entrance to the booth became visible.
"Please enter Mr Standerwick. Once the doors close, your privacy is absolute. You may feel small gravitational effects as your booth returns to the vault, but I urge you not to be alarmed. We deem it necessary to keep these effects just so you are aware that you are no longer attached to the entrance."
'Gravity well generators?' Jason thought, still trying to learn how this room functioned.
"Thank you, Mr?" Jason asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me. Jürgen König, a pleasure to meet you."
"Thank you Mr König, you have been most helpful," Jason responded before entering the booth.
As the door hissed behind him and the glass wall gradually turned opaque, Jason could feel the jolt of the gravity well generators in action. Mr König's suggestion that it felt as if he was alone was correct, causing Jason to feel briefly at ease.
"Welcome Mr Standerwick," a calm relaxing female voice echoed throughout the room, "I am AVA, your artificial virtual assistant. Should you have any questions I shall answer them to the best of my ability. Should you need any sustenance, please just ask as this facility can provide you with a selection of beverages and snacks during your time in this booth. At this time, you have one secure message awaiting your viewing. Shall I play?"
"Yes," Jason responded as he sat down on the carpeted table in the centre of the room. As the lights dimmed around him, the holographic head of Donnelly appeared in front of him.
"Jason," Donnelly started, causing him to wish that she was in the room with him. "I apologise that I have been impossible to reach over the past few months, however, due to the nature of the mission, complete radio silence has been an absolute necessity. Not a day goes past that I don't think of your smile or laughter, and I long to embrace you as my own once again."
Jason felt his heart skip a beat as he listened to her calmed voice once more, it almost felt like an eternity since he had spoken to her, laughed with her and kissed her, yet despite how much he yearned to embrace her once more, the mission was always paramount.
"For the last few months I have been establishing myself as a key member of the Duchess Inga Heissenberger's security detail," Donnelly continued, "and this has been no easy task. To say that the Duchess is paranoid would be an understatement. All of her staff are vigorously vetted and to even gain access to her home requires several background checks from multiple law enforcement agencies within the Confederate. Having managed to gain access to her facility, deep in the Atlantic Ocean, getting word to the outside world has been near impossible. After a considerable amount of time and effort, I have managed to gain backdoor access to their security system, hence why I have finally managed to contact General Proviski, and in turn providing you with this brief."
Donnelly's face looked agitated as she continued, "Jason, I've been instructed to assassinate her." She took a deep breath, her voice cracked as the words betrayed her mouth. "During my time here, after gaining the Duchess' confidence, has been nothing short of exceptional. Despite sometimes coming across as supercilious, she is kind, caring, wise and passionate."
Jason watched as Donnelly's eyes appeared to moisten as she explained the women who she had been tasked to kill. The pain in her eyes was apparent, and saddening in equal measure.
"This has not been my first assassination, and it will unlikely be my last," Donnelly explained, "yet this feels more bizarre than any I had dealt with previously. Jason, she is classed as a traitor, yet while accessing her security network, I glimpsed into the real reason for her call to death. Names, dates, locations, unredacted and carefully categorised concerning and including Operation Rebirth. Lists of people, who I and others have been ordered to assassinate for knowing too much about the Operation. Civilians who have disappeared, or soldiers that have been removed, all to keep the Operation under wraps. It's not everything, and nothing that I can tell links directly to General von Striken, so far, yet it's condemning, seriously condemning for a lot of mid and high profile figures within the USM and Human Confederate."
Jason could see the tears streaming from Donnelly's eyes as she looked up to the sky in disappointment. "I'm a war criminal, Jason. By blindly following orders, I have killed innocents, and I must kill one more to keep this information secure." Closing her eyes, she wiped the tear off her cheeks. "Today, I never thought I would ever do this, but I am asking you to also commit war crimes and assist me with this assassination."
Jason felt like he had just been punched square in the stomach. The realisation that what he and the members of the Blue Ravens had been asked to do was almost unbearable. It didn't matter how he tried to spin it in his mind, these were war crimes. He had longed to become a hero for the Human Confederate, even if it meant that his actions were not known by the wider public, and in doing so had become the one thing he never wanted to be, and the switch between hero to villain had been so subtle and effortless that it was frightening.
His soul was damned, Donnelly's too. Now he was determined to take down the one true war criminal who would do anything to keep his reputation intact.
"The mission must succeed," Donnelly continued, "failure would raise too many questions. The Duchess," she took a deep breath before saying the next words, "must die, but we also need to gather that data so that her and many others like her did not die in vain. I have arranged everything for you to get here and provide you with the necessary information to help me complete the mission."
"I understand that you may be extremely reluctant to assist me with this task, yet with the investigation that will ensue after we complete the assignment, this is the only way we can both complete the mission and obtain the vital information on Operation Rebirth while remaining incognito. If I felt I could call on someone else, I would; I did not want to get you embroiled in this, but you are the only one I can trust implicitly. One day I will pay for my crimes, but my biggest crime of all will be making you an accomplice. I'm so, so sorry."
As the holographic image disappeared, Jason was left in the room devoid of life. He stared endlessly at the space where Donnelly's face once materialised feeling a bout of nausea throughout his body. Standing to his feet, he looked to the ground, taking deep breaths to avoid sickness from taking over. In moments he would need to examine the contents of the data, likely encrypted within the message, to prepare for the mission ahead. In the meantime, he needed to get grips with his new reality. In a few days, he would be assisting in the assassination of a civilian, simply because she knew too much.