Chapter 1 - Smirk
His blue eyes lazily opened halfway, Epsilon instinctively crossed his arms and cocked his head to an angle when he saw the OPS agent march out of the elevator and into the Citizen's Promenade. He almost netted himself as many additional years to his sentence with his ever-present smirk as he did with his unruly comments.
"Woo hoo, another operation from the Office of Peace & Stability," he snarked.
Natalia "9" Woo did not look amused at the play on her name. Of course, it was somewhere near the four thousand, six hundred and fifty-eighth time she'd heard it, and probably the seven-hundred and tenth time it had escape the lips of this man in particular while in her earshot. Her emerald hair contrasted sharply against her vermillion OPS agent coat and glistened in the artificial light of the Citizen's Promenade.
"Listen up, worms. A high-ranking citizen is out there in a hot zone, and you Sinners are going to get her before a rival panopticon does. Details have been sent to your Accessories, so get out there!" she barked and she turned to leave.
"I don't suppose you'd like to fill us in a little beforehand, Natalia, my sweet?" The comment came from the team leader, laden with sarcasm.
Nina rolled her eyes and Carlos chuckled, while Uwe elbowed Epsilon in the rib. "Cut that out."
Natalia scowled, gritted her teeth and clenched her fist that didn't have a tablet computer in it. How did she get stuck dealing with this crew of troublemakers? And how in the name of Percy Propa did Epsilon "Fencer" Epitaph, of all people, end up as the team leader?
"I don't suppose I would," she spat, not even bothering to face the speaker as she stormed away.
"For the greater good!" Epsilon crowed, raising a fist into the air as she disappeared into the elevator.
Natalia didn't even bother threatening to extend his sentence. She knew threats were futile; This one required action - prompt, swift, and aggressive. For all the trouble he caused, however, Epsilon wasn't all bad. No matter how much she extended his sentence, he rebounded with a vengeance and took on enough extra operations to clear off the extra years before she could even pick up her dry cleaning the next day. It was like a game; He committed crimes, she dealt out punishments. It was a vicious cycle, yet at the same time a beautiful harmony, and it got things accomplished for the panopticon. In fact, in his sector, he was among the top contributors to the Gross Panopticon Product. Many called him talented, and many looked up to him as some sort of folk hero. She really couldn't complain... Much. Her only concern was his penchant for rebellion. What would happen if he decided to head a revolt? Would a force of OPS agents be enough to stop an entire panopticon of Sinners? For that matter, would anything short of a Retribution be enough? Natalia shook her head. This wasn't the time to be thinking about such things... or that troublemaker, Epsilon Epitaph. That had to be a code name, that couldn't be his true surname, could it? Confound it, there she went, again.
Back in the Citizen's Promenade, the sinners were discussing the encounter.
"I tell ya, I think the temperature drops ten degrees when she walks in," Carlos remarked.
"Well, let's see what this one's all about," Epsilon said. "Carla, what new operations are available to undertake?"
"A new voluntary operation has been issued. Operation CT507: Extraction. Primary objective: Citizen at large in restricted area. Deliver citizen to RRU for extraction. Locate citizen's missing kitten and return it along with her. Find the kitten or don't come home," The coffee-haired Accessory robotic companion cheerfully piped up.
Epsilon rolled his eyes. Uwe scowled at him and Carlos shook his head. Nina was the only one who seemed to show any interest or enthusiasm, and that was probably only because someone had used the word, "kitten."
"Well, it's not as bad as the time she sent us after that patch of wild strawberries," the team leader observed.
"No, that one was better, because strawberries stay put," Carlos debated.
"Point," Epsilon conceded.
"But that poor girl and her kitty! I hope there's a nice, big Abductor waiting for us out there," Nina said to nobody in particular.
"You know, if you weren't such an arrogant son of a jerk to her, Natalia might actually give us some missions that did the 'con some good," Uwe said gruffly to the snarky team captain. "Maybe, if you pulled the Thorn out of your -"
"Uwe," grinning, Epsilon looked the man in the eye, placed one hand on his shoulder and shook an index finger at him with the other, "You're absolutely right. But what fun would it be, if I didn't harass my superiors a little bit, now and then? Besides, it's a breach of the People's Charter to launch an Ibara thorn device at a person's posterior."
"They're OUR superiors," Nina chimed in. "We're all forced to tag along on these frivolous outings she's so bent on giving you, spending our resources and sometimes risking our lives for your shenanigans."
"And we have a lot of fun!" Epsilon raised both hands about shoulder-high, speaking defensively. "We get away from the office for a little while, bring back some goodies, and get a pat on the back from some authority or other. It's not a bad gig! We're not getting shot up on some faraway battlefield over a barrel of oil or a bale of pinestraw."
"We're also not decreasing our debt to the state, either." Even Carlos was getting tired of his captain's rash antics and the resulting punishments. "Sentence reduction: One year."
Nina's emotionless expression spoke volumes. "One year, Epsilon. We're never going to clear our sentences and become Citizens!"
"Kittens are good for morale, you know." Epsilon's final argument fell flat.
"It's not even OUR kitten!" Nina burst out, "Citizen's don't hang out with us, let alone TALK to us, unless they have to. They tell us we smell funny. I don't really smell funny... do I?"
Epsilon glanced at Carlos, who quickly turned his gaze to Uwe, who pressed his middle finger and thumb to his temples and heaved a sigh, eyes closed.
"Let's just go and get this over with," Uwe's weary voice suggested.
Epsilon sheepishly nodded, and the crew left the Citizen's Promenade to prepare for the mission. Little did anyone know that the mission they were about to undertake would forever transform their captain, probably the team, and perhaps even the entire panopticon, itself.