"What did you find?" Six demanded as she entered the Lecture Hall folloed by Sarah and Eight.
The others were crowded around Malcolm who was scrubbing through the security footage. Sam told them that his father had found a clue to Four and Nine's kidnapping.
"He's about to play the footage now," Seven told them as they took their place by the others. They all watched the screen as Nine and Four practiced against one another, testing their powers. Sarah had to look away when she saw John.
After a few minutes of practice, the two were on their way to the stairwell when John was shot with a tranquilizer dart. Nine and Four fended them off for a short while before they were overpowered by mysterious armed men. A few were shooting the darts from a nearby rooftop and a few more descended from the ropes of a hovering helicopter.
Nine and Four could've easily taken them had they been at full strength, but they were probably a little tired and drained from their training session, and both were shot with tranquilizing darts.
"Here's the interesting bit," Malcolm informed them as John and Nine were taken into the helicopter. Everyone watched intently, but Sarah hovered by the doorway. She felt tears sting her eyes when John went down. She couldn't bring herself to continue watching.
On the contrary, Six felt anger boil inside her from the footage. The others had pitiful, solemn looks on their faces, but Six was furious. These bastards would not get away with harming her friends.
All of them continued watching until the security footage video just cut away. It was met with a blast of static, some whispering voices barely audible beneath the crackle of static.
"What is this?" Marina furrowed her brows.
"Keep watching," Malcolm reassured.
They all watched the flickering, glitching static. After a few seconds, the normal pictured returned. The helicopter was already flying away in the distance with their friends. No insignias or logos marked the vehicle, no possible indicators to help locate Nine and Four.
"What was that static?" Six pressed.
"An interruption in the security feed," Malcolm explained, "which is highly unusual. That usually suggests that a third party has hacked into the system and is manipulating the footage."
"It must be the people who took them," Sam sighed, "can you trace them?"
"I'm working on it," Malcolm pursed his lips.
"Maybe I'm just hearing things," Eight said hesitantly, 'but did anyone else hear voices in the background?"
Ella nodded fearfully. Seven looked down, a confirmation that she heard it too.
"Can you isolate the audio so we can see what they are saying?" Six asked.
"Of course," Malcolm typed a few commands into the keyboard and played back the recording, "I've isolated the image and tried to make the voices more acute so we can hear them clearly. Here it goes."
"We've got two assets. Both male."
"Confirmed. Begin transport."
"Already underway- wait."
"What? Report."
"There-there's another strike team here."
"Another strike team? One of ours?"
"No, I don't recognize them. Was another strike team issued?"
"There's no record. Hold fire, we don't know if they're hostiles."
"They're taking the assets!"
"Do not lose them, or the mission will fail."
"The assets are attempting retaliation."
"Can you get in there?"
"We are on another rooftop. By the time we arrive, the assets will be gone."
"Damn it."
"Awaiting instruction."
"..."
"Assets are being contained by opposite strike team. Awaiting instruction."
"..."
"Strike Team to Control. Can you hear me?"
"..."
"Assets have been taken. I repeat, assets have been taken."
"Message received. Report to Control as soon as possible."
All of them stared in shock as the recording ended. Sarah left the room. Eight looked behind him and followed her out. The rest remained speechless.
"What-what does this mean?" Marina muttered fearfully.
"It means we have no damn idea on where John and Nine are and no clue on how to go about finding them," Six bristled with anger.
"Let's remain calm," Malcolm advised, "I can still do some digging."
"Can you track where those voices were coming from?" Sam asked.
Malcolm nodded, "I already issued a locator. The results should be available any second." He typed a few commands into the keyboard and eyed his screen, "the transmissions seemed to have occurred from both Chicago, Illinois and Washington D.C."
"Sam, you mentioned that you saw what looked like FBI agents?" Malcolm asked.
His son nodded.
"FBI headquarters are in Washington D.C. and they have a field office here in Chicago. This must've been a sting operation that went sour when that mysterious third party showed."
"So let's go to the FBI," Six cracked her fingers, "take the fight to them. Show them we're not afraid and we won't quit until we get Four and Nine back."
"But they don't have Four and Nine," Marina countered.
Six clenched her fists.
"I'll see what I can do to try and identify the third party," Malcolm assured them, "until then, everyone should stay low and keep a wary eye on your surroundings. Though they lost two of their assets, there's no stopping them from taking the rest of you. Take care."
0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Sarah?" Eight called after her as she walked quickly down the hall, trying to wipe her tears, "Sarah, are you alright?"
She sighed and came to a stop. Eight sounded genuinely concerned.
"I-I'm fine," she stammered, "just worried for John and Nine."
"We all are," he replied darkly, "but we can't lose hope."
"How…?" she said in a small voice, "you all are extremely valuable and precious, and they know that. Why else do they hunt you all over the world?"
"We've survived despite the impossible. Sarah, our planet was destroyed, our people slaughtered, our cities ruined, and we're still here. I know John, you know John. He is going to make it, he's unstoppable. There is no way he'll concede to them."
"You're right," Sarah nodded, feeling her confidence slowly build, "If anyone can do it, it's John. I-I needed that. Thank you, Eight."
"Of course," he touched her arm comfortingly, "come on, let's go meet up with the others."