"State your designation."

"X5-452."

"452, you have a new solo-mission. Some of the 09ers have been causing quite a bit of trouble for us. The mission parameters are outlined here in this packet, you'll leave at 0700. You'll be excused from training this evening to familiarize yourself with your mission. You must not fail. Do you understand, 452?"

"Yes sir, Colonel Lydecker."

"Good. You're dismissed 452."

452 marched out of Colonel Lydecker's office. Inside she was rejoicing. Those damn 09ers ruined everything for her when they ran off, and now she was going to get a chance at payback. Payback's a bitch.

She tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder, secretly missing the pre-mission days when they all had buzz-cuts. It was so much easier. She entered her barracks and sat down on the bed, opening the folder.

She read her mission at top speed. Apparently an 09er had been stirring up trouble with some guy named Logan Cale who liked to call himself "Eyes Only" and make cable hacks. Logan, what a prissy rich boy name, she thought. She had had a target named Logan on one of her first assignments. He was a prissy rich boy with sweaty hands and a stutter and the world was well rid of him thought 452.

Her assignment was fairly simple. Find out what Logan knows, terminate if necessary.

When she was sure she knew her mission from the inside out she lay down on her bunk to get some sleep, she hadn't had any in a few days and she'd definitely need it tomorrow.

452 woke up at 0600, feeling refreshed and excited to be going on a mission again. Especially one where she would get to pay back that bitch 453 for all that time she had to spend in psy-ops because of her. She felt like singing as she showered, retrieved her civilian clothes and swung by the armory.

"Looking good 452," said a voice as she approached the garage. She grinned as Paul poked his head out from behind a motorcycle. She and Paul had an understanding. 452 brought Paul illicitly obtained goods from the outside and Paul allowed 452 to have her pick of transportation.

She favored a black Ninja motorcycle which she lovingly referred to as her baby, and Paul was only too happy to oblige for a small price.

"What's it going to be this time Paul?" She asked.

"Can you get me some of those cigars again?"

"Can do."

She strapped her pack to the back and climbed on her baby, revving the engine.

"Now, 452 remember what I said about – "

He didn't get a chance to finish because Max lay on the gas and shot off, whooping and laughing as she sped towards the gate.

"See ya later Paul!" she yelled as the gate opened to let her out and she switched gears. It felt so good to be on a motorcycle again, her hair blowing in the wind, knowing that she wouldn't have to run drills with everyone else today, maybe even for a few days.

So it was with eager happiness that she sped towards Seattle, Washington, ready to take on her mission.

Her name was supposed to be Krystal on this mission, and she hated it. But orders were orders and she was now Krystal Long. She carefully parked her baby in a deserted ally, hidden behind a dumpster and jumped the 10 feet or so to the first level of the buildings fire escape. She quickly climbed to the roof top and did some quick calculations. Yes, she was sure that she could swing from this roof to the other and enter through that sky light.

452 was grateful that she had stopped outside the city and put on her cat burglar outfit, for it was almost full night and then she could get on with her plan. She went about securing her ropes and making sure she had all the equipment she needed for this particular break in. By the time she was done, it was pitch black. A light was still on in her target apartment, but she could watch more easily from that roof, so she decided to go ahead and go.

She executed the swing perfectly, detached the rope at exactly the right moment and landed gracefully on her feet. She scaled the slight incline of the roof and peered into the dingy glass of the sky light. There he was. She focused her eyes on the face; yes it was the same on in her mission briefing packet.

452 waited silently and patiently for the man to give up on his desk work and go to bed. Her muscles were beginning to cramp from sitting still for so long but she ignored them as Manticore had taught her to ignore such things. Finally she let out a sigh of relief as a pixie-like blonde woman entered the room wearing nothing but a men's t-shirt. She watched as the woman put her arms around the man—Logan—and whispered something in his ear that was unintelligible even to 452's transgenic hearing. She grinned triumphantly as he got up and followed the woman towards what was presumably his bedroom.

452 waited what seemed an appropriate amount of time before carefully lifting the glass pain of the skylight and dropping the rope into the apartment. She slid easily down the rope and dropped the last few feet to the floor silently. The apartment was full of low moans and feminine gasps that sounded like the work of a faker to 452. Taking a quick survey of her surroundings, she sat down in the empty chair in front of his computer, plugged in and began downloading all of its contents.

This mission was a piece of cake thought 452 as she was carefully zipping the stolen information into the pocket of her black jacket. She was almost sad that the mission had gone so easily, it had been forever since she'd had a solo mission, what with having been in psy-ops for the past six months. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she failed to notice the lack of sound in the apartment. So it wasn't until she heard the slight creaking of a floorboard that she registered that she had been caught.

Logan Cale was standing in front of her wearing only a pair of blue plaid boxers, holding a gun pointed straight at her heart.

"Don't move. If you move, I'll shoot."

"Well that was quick," she grinned at him. "It would seem to me that you have some unfinished business in that bedroom, or was that just acting class in there?"

452 saw the blonde, who had appeared half hidden behind the doorway, blush at this remark. "See, Loggie bear? Your girl knows what I'm talking about."

She took advantage of his spluttering consternation to blur across the room and take a flying leap out of his window. Apparently she hadn't distracted him as thoroughly as she had wished for she felt the bullet tear through her right shoulder blade just as she was bursting through the glass.

452 managed to ignore the pain enough to mostly save her landing; she stumbled a bit, but still landed on her feet on the tiered roof an apartment a few floors down. She turned her head back toward the apartment she came from to see Logan and the blonde peering out of the broken window and looking straight at her

452 cursed her own stupidity as she scrambled down the remaining floors via the fire escape, pressing her gloved hand to the exit wound the bullet had made just underneath her collarbone.