The Life of a Spy Chapter Four

-Sorry about his being late, I have been working pretty much nonstop for the past few days.-

"Mr. Cairo." Mr. Washington said in his usual no-introduction fashion as I walked in the room, "We have knowledge of a meeting of contraband. The blueprints of highly classified operations regarding are Capital that in the wrong hands could cause damage to the structure."
Mr. Washington was siting in the staff room, or more like his personal office. There wasn't much too it, the boss was not too keen on useless things like decorations. It was only a long metal table with simple chairs all along it that took up the middle of the room with Mr. Washington sitting at the head of the table with a stack of papers in front of him.
He pulled down his glasses and set them down on his desk before continuing to speak.
"You're training record has me convinced that you are more than qualified to take on this team mission." He said, "You will be working in a three agent group with another rookie such as yourself and Mr. Berlin, a colleague of mine who has been in S.O.D.I.A. as long as I have. Mr. Berlin is located in Conference Room 92 where you and the other rookie will be given all details by Berlin. Dismissed."
The whole conversation lasted for less than three minutes and I was already on my way to meet my crew leader Mr. Berlin.
As I made the walk down the paths and down the elevators, I reflected on the meeting with the head of this branch of the organization and thought about how quick and clear it all was. I had gone in, no introduction, was told the basic description of the mission, then left.
Quick and precise, a rule of the organization.
Before long I was at the door of the Conference Room and holding the knob in my hand.
"Mr. Cairo." The man inside said with his back turned toward me as I entered, "Ready for the mission status?"
"Yes sir, I am." I replied.
This conference room was much smaller than Washington's, with no long desk, but a few small desks and a projector. It reminded me of a classroom.
"All we have to do now is wait for Lady Madrid to join us and we can get started. Oh, by the way, I am Mr. Berlin." He turned around and saw the face of my mentor for the last ten years, the man who essentially took me out of my old life and put me in S.O.D.I.A.
"Mr. Berlin." A voice entered from the door, a young woman walked in with a purposeful stride and a sharp look in her eyes. Her long red hair pulled in a ponytail that dropped down to her shoulders. "Lady Madrid, ready for instructions."
"As poise as always eh, Madrid?" Mr. Berlin commented, "This is your colleague Mr. Cairo, the new recruit that I had just finished training only a few days ago."
She turned her eyes to me and I saw her eyebrow raise in a question, disbelief evident in her face.
"Just out of training? Why so soon?" She asked, keeping her eyes on me. I felt the sweep of each eye as it moved over my body, as if all my weaknesses were being appraised in that one look.
I knew that this was going to be an interesting mission, and it was only my first one.

The Life of a Spy Chapter Three

Since I first joined I was put under intense mental and physical exercises all for the purpose of creating the next top agent. Upon entering the S.O.D.I.A progam, I was stripped of my past, my name, and ultimately my identity. All new recruits were given the new name of a nation's capital around the world. I was given the name of Cairo, the capital of Egypt. There is no process to how they choose the names, they just choose from a list. As the list of nations capitals I was sent to various countries to learn the languages and different cultural aspects.
I learned many forms of hand-to-hand combat as well as complex combat patterns that are carried out by agent squads on their missions.
Needless to say: I quickly fell into the pattern of things.
The rules were to be obeyed at all times, all commanding officers were the final word on all matters, and no socialization, unless otherwise dictated, was allowed between recruits.
So that was the routine of things for the next ten years. The usual teenage angsts that were pretty much nonexistent during this period of training. I never felt any anxiety, and I never felt the need to want anything unnecessary.
I only knew my place in S.O.D.I.A.

Now at eighteen my long stay as a disciple had ended and I was given my final test. A series of rigorous tests that were specifically designed to probe the abilities of the student. Some are said to have died in the first few minutes of the test.
I passed with flying colors, much to the dismay of my peers.
"Ah. I see you graduated." My old teacher announced clasping his hands together, "I take it you enjoyed your last few years?"
I could tell he was being sarcastic but I answered truthfully.
"I did enjoy my training." I spoke in the standard monotone voice that every young agent had.
"I'm glad to hear that. I spoke with the higher ups about you." He paused as he spoke giving me a side look with a small grin, "And they are very impressed with you."
That statement actually stunned me.
"Why would they be impressed with me?"
"They know of your talents. You have always been the quickest to learn, top of the class both physically and mentally. They believe you are ready for a serious mission."
My eyes instinctively rose. It was very unusual for a new graduate to be asked for a mission this soon. Usually new operatives spent a year or two on intelligence gathering with a more experienced leader.
"It is an honor sir." I said bowing slightly.
"No. It's not." The man replied.
I recoiled at the remark.
"If it was I would have congratulated you. Have I?" The teacher said stepping in closer.
"No sir. You have not."
"The mission they want you to attend is a Class 3."
"Class 3?" I was shocked. Class 3 missions are only two levels below the most hazardous missions: Class 1, they were mostly suicide missions. They operated with an "At any cost" procedure that ended with lives lost.
Class 2 missions were less severe but they were still dangerous for all those involved.
Class 3 missions that was mostly renaissance and retrieval, marked for those who are to capture enemy operatives or illegal contraband. Still, it was a very dangerous class to start out in.
"Yes a Class 3 retrieval. We have reason to believe there will be at trade-off of illegal contraband in the coming weeks. The staff believes you should assist." The man said.
Before I could say anything the phone rang.
"Yes." the man said then hung up no long after answering.
"Your presence is requested." The teacher said as he turned.
I nodded and left for the meeting room ready and willing to do what is asked of me.

The Life of a Spy Chapter Two

I walked over to the bed and picked up the briefcase, the only thing in this old house that had any sense of belonging at this point.

It was time to leave.

I slipped back out of the dead son’s room and down the hallway with the warped walls hanging overhead and the living carpet that seemed to try and hold me back. When I finally got to the front door I knew that once I was through the door to my previous life would be closed forever and a new world would be open for me to explore.

“What have you got there?” The man asked when I returned to the military base.

“Just notes.” I replied walking into the building as quickly as possible.

“Notes?” The guard asked questioningly but seemed to believe me. For all he knew I could have bombs in the briefcase or something else they wouldn’t want in the Special Operations Department of International Affairs command complex. I would have Mr. Washington hear this soon.

At least I thought it would be later that I saw him.

It was not long after entering the complex did the man who chose me for this fate appeared in the hall on his way outside the complex.

“What do you have there?” His cold voice echoed over the walls and I instantly froze. I instinctively held onto the journals tighter as I turned to the man with the power of life and death in his hands.

“Notes.” I replied hoping Washington would listen like the guard did.

It was a long shot that missed completely.

“The first and most enforced rule in the S.O.D.I.A academy is to respect all authority. What do you have and where did you get it?” Washington asked in a calm voice that made the shivers I was feeling in my spine develop their own shivers.

“They are my journals.” I said feeling my voice deflate.

“And what do you plan on doing with them?” The man asked slightly annoyed.

“I…” I started.

“I believe the point of this program was to erase your past. Did you not agree with that?” The man asked, his eyes darkening.

“I just thought…”

“You weren’t thinking.” He said with absolute authority, “You were not to retrieve anything from that house. Or did you not know…”

I cringed and felt my eyes water with stinging tears.

“Hand me the journals.” Washington ordered slowly, “I will dispose of them.”

I wanted to pull them close but I knew I Had to give them up. Slowly I put the handle in my leader’s hand. He took it quickly and dropped it in the hands of another guard behind him.

“Now I will excuse your insolence, this one time. I demand total respect.” The man said leaning in closer, “have I made myself clear?”

I was shaking and barely muttered,”…sir…”

The Life of a Spy Chapter One

“Once you are chosen, there is no way to be ‘un-chosen’”

“So this is the shell?” I asked eyeing my clone suspiciously. It was a very good copy with the hair parted the same way his is naturally, the nose and mouth shaped the same but there was no real light in the eyes.

“Yes, it is. The plan is that this will enter your home tonight and make itself known to your family as you. At a predetermined time int he night this clone will unexpected "pass away" making your family believing it to be you.” The man said almost in admiration.

I nodded. “Then I can undergo the training?”

The man nodded and chuckled replying, “You almost sound eager. Many fear the training years. We aren’t bound by more ‘common’ laws'.”

“Why would I fear it, it’s not like my life was anything to miss.”

“We’ll see…” The man said as he walked away. Before he left the room he whispered something to the guard at the door. The guard nodded and the man left.

So the plan was in motion.

The following morning the clone passed away and caused my parents to do exactly what was expected of them. After discovering the clone's demise they contacted medical attention and before long would be on their way to hospital.

There was a fake doctor in position that would give them the news about what had happened and that there was nothing they could do to save me.

I smiled and giggled a bit from across the street hidden by my old neighbor’s bushes, then I cursed myself for acting so childish, but I could not help it. I entertained the thought of this being a practical joke that a normal child would come up with. I would pop out of nowhere and yell surprise! and we would have a good laugh.

I knew all too well that this was not a game or a trick.

The ambulance left soon after and I knew my parents were gone as well, probably one was with my body and the other racing for my siblings.

I sprinted across the street and climbed the few stones steps up to the door and entered my old home, one that once welcomed me in with open arms.

Now I felt like a stranger intruding in someone else’s home.

I crept up the stairs, past the framed eyes and painted smiles, ones that watched me as I ascended up those steps I had so many memories of.

Once at the top I took a peek into the rooms, taking my last good looks at them.

My parents room, my brother’s, my sister’s they were all the same.

But the air was becoming heavier and more suffocating. I felt as if I would panic if I stayed in this house too much longer.

I now turned to my door, the one at the end of the endless hallway.

The carpet slid under my shoes as if unwilling to let me progress to my old room, until I gripped the biting knob of my door and entered the dark room, smaller than I remember.

I had a reason to be there, and I was not going to let my growing panic keep me from achieving it.

Sitting on my bed was a briefcase and inside that briefcase I knew housed the reason I came. My journals from the moment I could write were inside of it, and I could not leave them behind.

-~-