After the quickest possible welcoming of two new agents ever, I headed over to my room, in hopes of getting a good shower to cool off.
Of course, Trixie had to drag me over to the living room and brief me about the mission.
I hadn't willingly let this happen- Trixie had turned off the hot water in the shower, not to mention also preventing any water from reaching my room. So it was either not oblige and survive without a shower, or face Trixie's wrath in the living room.
I went with option two, since showers were my life.
Naturally, Trixie had only invited me. Yay. Another one-on-one period that I could spend dying inside.
"Hello, Jayden! I knew you would come!" Trixie said cheerfully the second I arrived.
"Yeah, against my will," I muttered. "Please tell me you didn't permanently rid of my room's water lines."
"Oh, that?" Trixie sighed. "I only disabled it. But mission briefings are important and crucial, y'know. You can't just miss one out."
"If they're so 'important and crucial', then why didn't you invite anyone else?" I said. "It's not like I'm going to be the only one going on the mission."
"It's easier to give the mission information one-on-one," Trixie said. "So there's only one person's worth of questions you'll have to deal with."
I couldn't argue with the logic- but why me? I would be much better off getting a briefing with Kylie at this point. Trixie's just going to use any excuse she can find to hug me at any moment.
Trixie studied my face, noticing my exhausted expression. A look of sympathy filled her eyes, and she stood up.
"You look tired," she noted. "Go get some rest. I'll leave a note telling you when to meet for the briefing later."
Hallelujah! I could finally get some time to be myself by myself. And a hot shower with a nap would do perfectly at this time.
--- POV switch to Agent Benjamin Ripley ---
I was sent back to the Academy to give the higher-ups an update on what we were doing and what was happening. Traveling on the plane and train once again, of course it had to be me playing the messenger and going back.
The second I arrived, I noticed something- the campus was unusually silent. At the time when I arrived, there were usually people all around, doing extracurricular activities. Unless there were a surprise assembly, this wouldn't be the case.
Silently creeping into the Academy doors, I tapped a keycode into the entrance and waited for the doors to sing open.
I was met with a hallway full of... nothingness.
Dust coated the floor. There wasn't a human being in sight. The hallway was empty, and I could see it was the same for all the other places within my eyesight.
What happened?
Where did everyone go?
Did the Academy close down?
"Ah, I see you've finally arrived," a voice said from behind me, jerking me from my trance.
I turned around to find the principal of the Academy standing behind me, arms crossed, face spread into a wide smile.
"Wh-what happened?" I stammered, looking around at the empty, hollow halls. They were sad, portrayed by the fact that nobody had walked in them for at least a month.
"The school closed down," the principal cackled. "All of the students were sent home, oblivious of you agents, who were dispatched to London."
"B-but the ball! The dance happened just a few days earlier!"
"After that event, the president of the CIA decided there was no use of the school. He closed it down, since he thinks the FBI and the CIA are already enough to protect America."
I collapsed onto a heap in the floor, trying not to released the sobs locked up in my chest. All of my training in the past few years... all my hard work... all my friends I made.... gone!?
This couldn't be happening. I was dreaming, wasn't I? Wake up, Ben! Wake uuppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppPPPP-
I burst up from my airplane seat, head spinning.
"Where am I?" I stammered, looking around. When I realized what had happened, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
"The Academy hasn't closed down?" I asked Alexander, who was sitting next to me, playing a game on his phone.
"Ben, what has gone up with you? Of course, the Academy didn't close!" he said, an expression of confusion displayed on his face.
I laughed. Nightmares could be extremely evil to me, but the real pleasure was when you woke up, realizing that everything was merely a dream. I was still Benjamin Ripley, and the Academy was still up and running.
Life couldn't be better than this.
--- POV Switch: Agent Jayden ---
I was awoken by the familiar sound of a clattering plate.
Jerking up, I found myself stuck in a weird position on the bed. In a half-haze, I looked around the room to find Kylie standing at my bedside with a platter of goods.
Her face was half-red when she realized that I was topless, and she quickly blocked her eyes and starting backing away.
I pulled up my sheets, taking a look at the foods that she had brung me. It was a mix of foods, stretching from chips, a juicy steak, a drink in a wine glass, and a decorated cake for dessert.
I was speechless. "Did you cook this?" I asked, waving to the food.
Kylie nodded, getting even redder. "I learned a few things when I was younger about making food. It's nothing, though."
"Nothing!? This a world-class meal! Thank you!"
I genuinely meant this, unlike many compliments I threw to Trixie.
Kylie slightly nodded her head. "You're welcome."
With this, she quickly backed out of the room, closing the door behind her.
I took another look at the food. God, this woman was a hell of a cook. I'd bet she'd be enough to impress Gordan Ramsay, though when it came to him, I wasn't exactly very sure.
Getting out of the bed, I threw on some clothes, checked my social media, and took a quick look at myself in the mirror.
"Hello, Jayden," I said to the mirror.
The mirror did not respond.
Walking back to my tabletop, I lifted the platter, placing it down on the bed. It was only then when I realized that there had been a note placed neatly under the plate for the whole time.
In Trixie's handwriting, it read the following:
"Meet me for mission briefing tonight at Oh Two Hundred Hours, stat."
Two AM?! What did this girl think, I was a night owl? Unless I had an atomic clock with a built-in self-destruct mechanism when the alarm rang, I wasn't going to wake up at that time.
Well, unless Trixie closed my water again and blackmailed me. In that case, I was either going to murder her in her sleep or reluctantly oblige.
I went with option two, since I knew that Trixie probably would struggle me into a hug before I could manage a jump on her in the middle of the night.