Chapter 16: Most Wanted
"Ooh, careful, careful…" Jessica winced as she felt a sharp pain in a pretty fresh bruise she had on her chest. "Hey, careful around the breasts, too…"
"Well, either I can clean over your bruises or you can continue to be dirty over like half your body, it's your choice."
"I didn't say stop, I said careful…" Jessica was currently naked in the bathtub, sitting in a pool of filtered, non-harmful cleaning water, with Vanessa sitting to the side to help her clean up, using a bar of soap to do the job. Jessica could've done it by herself, yes, and there was barely anything stopping her, but she was in a lot of pain currently and was still exhausted, and Vanessa volunteered to help out. Jessica had just opted to not fight it; Vanessa had seen her fully naked twice before anyway.
"Aren't crazy vigilantes that fight criminals at night supposed to be good at pain tolerance?" Vanessa asked, now going softer with her bruised areas.
"I used to be…" Jessica scoffed. "…Guess I got softer… more fragile…"
"Yeah, admittedly, you have… but you know what? You're still pretty damn tough. Taking on a group of Octolings like that… wow… I wish I had been there…"
"I only won because I jammed a metal spear in them, it wasn't exactly a fair fight. If I had continued on without a weapon, I'd… honestly be dead…"
"I'm glad you're not. Plus… who says you need to be strong all the time? You won out using your wits, and that's more useful overall. So, good job."
"More like I got lucky…" Jessica then took the soap back and started washing down her legs.
"Jess... you being self-detrimental right now isn't helping anyone… The Underdogs are out there. They're killing people… like Susan… so we do whatever we can in these fights, alright? And I know you did your best given the odds…"
"...I guess…" She sighed, before turning to her. "You know… you haven't been bad company… kinda makes me glad I roomed with you instead of staying with Dana or whatever…"
She playfully rose an eyebrow at her. "Not bad? As in I'm not great?"
"You're…" She paused to find the right word she was just about to use. "…Good." She couldn't help but smile a little.
Vanessa giggled a little. "Damn. Well… I guess I could consider that a promotion." She then stared at her for a moment. "You know… I haven't seen you smile in a long time…"
Jessica looked down. "…Yeah… I guess you wouldn't have… I don't even think I've smiled since… Cuttlefish…"
"I like your smile. Reminds me of when we were younger."
"...I miss being younger. Everything was so much simpler back then." She put the bar of soap aside. "No Agent 3, no responsibilities… a family…"
"Family is something we both lack, you know. And you know what I just realized? You're not acting like such an emotionless robot anymore… you're actually expressing stuff now. Other than frustration and anger, at least."
Jessica looked back up at her, the slightest ever smile present. So slight it was hard to see, but it was there. "I… guess I've been getting better… but this thing with Daniel…" What little of her smile was there faded away again. "…It still brings up memories of what happened…"
"...I know… and I've been thinking about Susan a lot… but hey." She cupped Jessica's cheek. "At least we have each other, right? I may not be Bridgett or whoever, but-"
"You suffice." Jessica cut her off, nodding. "…And I don't even think I've ever thanked you…"
Vanessa smiled. "And you'll never have to."
"I…" She looked down. "…may know one thing I can do for you…"
"And that is?" She replied, even though she was pretty sure she knew what she was talking about.
Confirming Vanessa's suspicions, Jessica leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on her lips, and reached her hands out of the tub to grab her cheeks. She definitely seemed a bit more… passionate with it this time, which was a pleasant surprise for Vanessa. Vanessa reached around to wrap her arms around her partner to pull her close, and was being equally as passionate with it, just enjoying her presence for the moment.
Jessica was enjoying the moment as well, and eventually, Vanessa reached one hand to softly grope her already exposed breath. She broke the kiss to sigh, and Vanessa immediately used the opportunity to kiss her neck. "Mmm~" She softly moaned as she felt the stimulation, holding the back of Vanessa's neck. Then Vanessa moved down, sucking on her breasts for a moment, as Jessica let out another moan in response and shivered, getting hornier and hornier by the second.
"Let's take it to the room…" She whispered.
Vanessa grinned a little and nodded, taking her hand to lead her out of the tub. Jessica stopped real quick to grab a towel and dry herself off a bit, but quickly followed Vanessa to her bedroom, wanting some action as soon as possible.
As soon as they were there, Vanessa suddenly grabbed her and shoved her down on the bed, before crawling on top of her, pinning her down. She kissed her for a moment before sitting up straight, straddling her stomach, and decided to tease her a bit by slowly unbuttoning her shirt. Jessica was watching intently, and even grinned up at her, very turned on. Vanessa, who was happy to see such emotions coming from her, grinned back, before dropping her shirt off and tossing it aside. Up next was her bra, which she also slowly took off in a pretty slow and teasing manner.
Jessica was getting pretty wet and her breathing was heavy; Vanessa was aware she didn't want to be kept waiting for much longer. She reached behind her and teasingly rubbed Jessica's womanhood a bit, which caused Jessica to immediately moan and lean her head back.
"Mm, you like that~?" She asked seductively.
Jessica nodded desperately. "…Please… I want more…"
"So do I…" She crawled off of her and slid down her lower garments, leaving them both completely bare and ready. Then, she crawled over to her, kissed her another time, and then positioned herself so that her crotch was just barely hovering over Jessica's face.
Jessica immediately stuck her tongue out and began licking at her folds, prompting Vanessa to moan lovingly. But Vanessa wasn't about to just sit and enjoy the feeling; without warning, she leaned down so that she was laying on top of her, and then began passionately licking at Jessica's folds all the same.
Jessica whimpered in surprise and then moaned, but didn't let herself stop, using her tongue and then her lips to pleasure her partner. She still didn't seem too experienced with it, but Vanessa didn't mind; she was still getting satisfied nonetheless. Vanessa, on the other hand, was quite experienced, and was putting much of her focus into making sure Jessica had a very intense orgasm.
And an intense orgasm was just what Jessica was about to get. Between how horny she had let herself get before and all of Vanessa's current movements paying that off, the growing tension that she was feeling was intense on its own, and she was twitching a little just from the pure building pleasure of it all. It felt really good, and it was driving her to eat Vanessa out as well with more and more vigor.
For Vanessa, the feeling was quite mutual, and both of their moans were starting to fill the room. She brought her fingers into the mix, quickly rubbing Jessica's clitoris. Jessica decided to do the same, wanting their experience to be as mutual as possible, and soon enough, she was getting closer and closer and then finally dangerously close to releasing. With all the intense feelings getting to her, she ended up breaking her mouth off, leaning her head back and moaning.
"H-Holy fuck… I-I'm gonna-" She couldn't even finish her sentence as her orgasm hit her hard, and she violently shook and twitched in response, an accidentally loud moan escaping her mouth at the same time.
Then it was Vanessa's turn to orgasm, nearly just as hard, and with that, the two girls climaxed together, shivering against each other to the sound of their passionate and loving moans.
What followed after that was a of a long, intense, yet pleasureful night of the girls sweating and moaning together in the bed, and it culminated with them lying under the covers, cuddling up with each other as they peacefully dozed off. It hadn't just been meaningless sex like the previous two times, either; for both of them, even Jessica, it was a mutual and romantic experience, and for once, Jessica was able to sleep without feeling like total trash. It was definitely the best night she had experienced in a long time, maybe even ever.
Finally, the two woke up together the next morning, daylight creeping in through the windows. As soon as they both shifted awake and locked eye contact, Vanessa smiled. "Morning, beautiful…"
"Hm…" Jessica replied. "…Um… thank you… for last night…"
"Heh… you're very welcome…" She brushed Jessica's hair a little. "You definitely seemed more… happy…"
"...Yeah… I guess…"
Vanessa leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Almost makes me forget that there's still a psychopath and his gang of terrorists we need to track down…"
Right. Work. That was still a thing Jessica needed to worry about. After the somewhat brain-melting experience they had last night, she had kind of forgotten about all her problems, but now, she needed to pull her head out of cloud nine. She sat up. "I… think I need to check up on Mia… Ayesha mentioned her when she threatened all my friends over the intercom, and I doubt she was bluffing..."
Vanessa sat up as well. She hadn't yet told her about the Inky Cheeks massacre. "Yeah, I think you should… Maybe we should tell her to leave the city, to be honest…"
"Probably…" She grabbed some fresh clothes from the dresser and slipped them on, before locating where she had left Mia's phone number. She turned to Vanessa. "Can I borrow your phone?"
Vanessa just nodded and tossed it to her, which Jessica casually grabbed out of the air. She immediately dialed Mia's number, casually waiting as it rang, but to her dismay, it instead went to voicemail.
"Shit…" Jessica collected herself as soon as the little beep sounded. "Hi, Mia, this is Jessica. Something came up, and… as sudden as it is for me to say, I think it might be smart for you to the leave the city. I wasn't careful enough and I think the Underdogs know about what you told me, so… stay safe. Pack up. Don't answer the door if anyone knocks. Call me back as soon as you get this so that I know you're alright." She hung up and sent the voicemail.
"...Jessica… I didn't tell you this yet, but… I think that the Underdogs already came after her overnight…"
"We don't know that." Jessica said, just trying to stay positive about things. "I think they were busy enough hunting me down."
"I'm not sure that makes a difference… they do seem to have a lot of people…" She looked down. "Jessica… there was another massacre at Inky Cheeks…"
"What!?" She turned to her.
"They again killed everyone inside… if there's any good news, I did some slight research and found that while Mia was at work at the time, she wasn't killed… I think she got away… either that, or she got captured…"
"...Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"...I guess I just… didn't wanna ruin the mood…"
Jessica looked down nervously, and then suddenly went to grab her jacket. "I'm going to find her."
"Woah, what?" She stood up, surprised. "Aren't the Underdogs still looking for you? Didn't they have entire choppers after you just to find you?"
"Vanessa, one thing I learned while being Agent 3 is stealth. Doing things carefully, not getting caught, and going completely undetected. I'll be fine." She put her jacket on.
She groaned. "Jess, I hate to remind you, but last time you got cocky, your apartment got blown up and here we are today…"
Jessica immediately turned to her, immediately agitated at her remark. Vanessa gulped, realizing she made a mistake.
"...Look, Vanessa, last night was great… really, it was honestly perfect, and I've decided that I do really enjoy your company. But I'm not asking for your fucking opinions here. Mia is out there and in danger, so I'm going to find her, a couple helicopters getting in the way or not."
"...Then what about the rest of the Splatoon? Didn't you say Ayesha threatened them too?"
"Unlike Mia, they should be safe for now." She looked down. "I don't know, I'll figure out what I'm doing about them later…"
Vanessa walked up to her, still bare naked, and put her hands on her chest. "…Then… be careful… please? I don't want you doing anything stupid and life threatening just because you have that goo inside you…"
Jessica stared at her, nodded, and then stepped away. "I'll be back."
Vanessa watched her nervously as she left, disappearing out the front door.
With her hoodie on once again, and sunglasses despite the cloudy weather, Jessica silently made her way down to Mia's place, avoiding basically anyone who was even Octoling. She was also being wary of any potential helicopters that were looking for her, but thankfully, there didn't seem to be as many as the night before.
She wasn't even sure Mia would be at home right now; if the Underdogs did attack Inky Cheeks and were looking for her like Vanessa said, then she likely would be either hiding or captured already. She did, however, need to at least disqualify her home, and maybe even look for clues there. But she wasn't about to knock on the front door.
Completely missing the presence of police cars, Jessica snuck up to the apartment building where Mia lived around the back, analyzing the outside to figure out which apartment was hers off of memory. Looking around to make sure she was alone, she super jumped up to the fire escape, climbing up and beginning to look through windows.
She wasn't seeing too much at first. People talking or getting into arguments, a couple lonely people reading books or playing video games, an old fat guy watching television on a recliner, a couple having sex… okay, she didn't need to see that last part, but thank god no one was looking out their windows to see her.
Finally, she came to an apartment with the interior she recognized and was looking for, but to her dismay, the scene inside wasn't pretty at all. Her mouth opened in surprise a little and she felt like her hearts had skipped a beat.
Mia was already beyond dead, many metal spikes protruding from what was left of her pale, torn apart corpse. The spikes were holding her up, too, leaving her corpse in almost a standing position above her pool of ink. Gulping in surprise, Jessica crawled in through the smashed window to get a better look. Upon getting a better look at her face, she guessed that Mia had died overnight, many hours ago. "No… no, no…"
She couldn't help but tear up a bit. Despite having built the nanotechnology, Mia never did anything wrong. She was an innocent Octoling and fan of Agent 3 who was just trying to get by in Inkopolis, even if her chosen career was questionable. But, Jessica didn't let herself stand around and mope for long. Clenching her fist in anger, she immediately began searching the apartment for clues, anything she could use to help her find the Underdogs.
It was obvious that the police had already arrived here, because they had left crime scene tools behind. She didn't know where they were at right now, but she guessed they were on break. In the corner of the apartment, Jessica noticed there were two out-of-place chairs, with a piece of duct tape and some rope on the floor. She knelt down, thinking: it was obvious Mia had been interrogated by the Underdogs. For what, though? Were the Underdogs trying to ask her what she told her? Or did Mia know of something else?
Jessica went back to examine the corpse. Her face was obviously relaxed because she was deceased, but her general posture told Jessica that she had been attempting to flee the apartment when the spikes activated and protruded from her. But if she was actively being held hostage and tied up, how was she even able to flee at all? She ran through a few scenarios in her head. Maybe she was somehow able to free herself and attempted to escape, but was stopped lethally on the way out. Or… maybe they set her free? No… that wasn't adding up…
There was no knife in the her possession or in the area, though. If she didn't set herself free, then who did? She couldn't shake the feeling that Daniel was directly involved with this. Daniel indeed wasn't really around during the lab incident the previous night, it was only Ayesha that spoke to her on the intercom. And if it was Daniel…
Maybe… Daniel set her free? And someone else killed Mia for him? Could it be possible that Daniel was starting to regret his ways and rebel? She looked down, in deep thought. If Daniel was starting to rebel against the Underdogs, then he'd be in serious danger right about now. She needed to find him as fast as she could and get answers, one way or another. And maybe, if she was lucky, there would be a part of Daniel left that could still be redeemed. Or… maybe she was just getting hopeful. She didn't know.
Her thoughts were interrupted, however, as she suddenly heard footsteps coming toward the apartment. She was unable to do much of anything as the door suddenly opened, and multiple police officers stepped in casually, holding coffees.
"Quite the crime scene, huh?" One officer sighed.
"Hell yeah… I don't even know why I get surprised in this city anymore…" The other replied. "This has got to be the most gruesome things I've ever seen, though."
"It's the same thing that happened with Trey Jefferson. No doubt that these are connected. The lab, too. It's the same exact spike protrusions in all three cases."
They were both completely unaware that Jessica was currently in the apartment, hiding in her squid form behind the kitchen counter. She had wanted to jump straight for the window, but she hadn't been fast enough. She was hoping that she could make a run for the window when the officers weren't looking, but unfortunately, more officers were also coming in from their break and spreading throughout the apartment, looking for even the smallest details in the crime scene. She couldn't stay there for long.
"God… dammit…" She mumbled under her breath. This job was seriously annoying. She wasn't even sure how she was gonna escape either, there were too many officers.
"Keep investigating this." She could hear one officer command. "I'm gonna head back to the lab and do some comparing and contrasting. Mia Harper is connected to that lab and we're gonna find out how." She definitely recognized that voice… It belonged to who was probably the most annoying officer she had ever met, Detective Johnson.
'Nice to hear you again, asshole…' She thought to herself.
"I'll call you when I'm there." She could hear Johnson step out, as the other officers continued their search.
She was remaining hidden behind the counter, but it didn't feel like she was gonna be able to stay hidden for long. The apartment layout was too simple and they were actively searching basically everywhere. Not even underneath the couch was safe. But she couldn't get caught, either, that'd just be a big problem for everyone. And if things didn't go her way, it could throw off the entire mission for her.
It didn't take long for her current hiding spot to become compromised; an officer entered the kitchen to do his own search there. She had to get out of there now. Still in her squid form, she cramped up against the counter as much as she could, slipping away silently. As long as the officer wasn't looking down, she'd be safe, but she knew that wasn't gonna be a permanent safety net. Quickly and yet silently, she slid past the bottom of the counter to make her way out of the kitchen like a snake, and was soon in the living room area, where she had even less room to operate.
She only had two exits: the window, or the front door. The window was definitely her best bet, but either way she sliced it, it was gonna be tricky to get passed. Or… maybe she could get out in an air vent?
One look around confirmed that no, all the air vents she could see were by the ceiling. The window was still her best bet. But she had to make her move. Silently making her way in the general direction of the window as soon as no one was looking in her general direction, she ended up temporarily ducking under the living room table, although there was an officer right next to it.
She ended up hiding under here for several minutes. It probably wasn't her best hiding spot choice, but then again, not like she had a lot of those. At the moment, there just wasn't any good opportunities for her to run for it without being seen. And in fact, this hiding spot was about to become compromised too, as the officer that was standing nearby was getting on his knees to look under. Had she been spotted?
The officer, who was about 2 seconds away from seeing a black squid hidden under the table, was stopped in the process as another officer spoke out to the apartment. "Hey, you guys, I found something!"
Multiple officers dropped whatever they were doing to go over and check up on whatever the new evidence was, including the officer that just about caught her. Jessica accidentally let out an audible sigh of relief, but thank god, no one seemed to hear.
In fact, with all the officers distracted like this, she had an opportunity to flee straight to the window, she just realized. Mostly everyone was now huddled into the corner of the apartment, and there wasn't anyone by the window or on the way there. Now was probably her only chance, her one golden chance. Slithering out from under the table, she began heading right for the window somewhat quickly, but thanks for her cockiness once again, something went very, horribly wrong.
One officer, who she didn't even see, suddenly got up from behind the couch and stepped directly on her, immediately causing her to audibly grunt in surprise. He looked down in confusion. "What…?" Jessica stared up at him, realizing she was just caught, and it only took the officer another second to realize he was staring at a squid. "Hey, there's someone he-"
In a desperate attempt to shut him up, without even thinking really, she suddenly turned back into her humanoid form and tackled him, swiftly knocking him unconscious with a quick blow to the head.
Of course, every other officer immediately turned to the sound, and saw Jessica, in her full humanoid form, standing above the unconscious officer. "Oh, shit…" Jessica muttered.
One officer grabbed his radio to call Johnson. "It's Agent 3! We've got Agent 3 he-" He was cut off as Jessica suddenly took the officer's splattershot and splatted him on the spot, and then ducked behind the kitchen counter again as every officer in the apartment also pulled out their weapons to fire their ink at her.
She took a deep breath as she stayed behind the counter, none of the ink really getting on her. Any officer that attempted to come around to find her also got splatted as she immediately fired at them once they came into view, and thus, it turned into a waiting game of when she was ready to come out.
"Drop the weapon and come out with your hands up!" An officer commanded. "Now!"
She couldn't just stay there forever, she realized, and at that moment, the officers were also coming up with their strategy. To hell with it. The situation was already bad, she might as well just run for it and hope for the best.
After taking another deep breath, she suddenly came back out, splatting a couple officers with great precision. They also opened fire, but were barely able to land any hits on her as she made her way to the window and leaped out, heading down the fire escape.
"She's getting away on the fire escape!" One officer updated Johnson.
She had to get to the ground so that she could safely super jump away, and used her squid form to squeeze her way down, swiftly falling past all the steps and then making it down to the ground below unharmed. She took a moment to breathe, thinking she had been fast enough, but of course, she wasn't. Someone was already down there, waiting for her.
"Get down on the ground!" Detective Johnson yelled at her from behind, holding her at direct gunpoint ."Get your hands behind your head!"
Being held at gunpoint like this, she was now absolutely powerless. "Shit…" She muttered.
"I'm not gonna ask you again! Drop the weapon, and get down on the ground with your hands behind your head! Now!" He yelled.
Reluctantly, she obliged, dropping the police splattershot at her feet and sinking to her knees, putting her hands behind her head. Johnson immediately went up to her and pulled out his cuffs. "I don't know where the hell you've been… but finally… we fucking having you…"
He was about to grab her arms and secure her in the cuffs, but suddenly, Jessica reached back and grabbed him instead, swiftly disarming him before turning around to knock him down. He fell to the ground with a desperate grunt, and Jessica flipped him over, instead placing the cuffs on him.
"Son of a…!" Johnson yelled when he realized what just happened, Jessica still standing over him. He turned back to her, actually smiling a little. "Oh… you're good… I've never, ever had a criminal use that move on me successfully…"
"Forget I was ever here, Detective." Jessica talked down to him. "I'll do the same…"
"Absolutely not." He growled. "I'm not gonna let you walk free after all the shit you've been pulling…"
Jessica sighed and began to walk away, not wanting to linger for too long. "Of course you won't… it's nice seeing you again." She said sarcastically. "Last time I saw you, you were just hellbent on getting a suitcase from us."
"For good reason! Are you people aware that you're vigilantes? Are you aware that vigilantes are against the law and oftentimes dangerous?"
"I'm done making my arguments about that. See you around, Detective." She said as casually as she could, even if deep inside, she was quite nervous after what just happened. Now, with her incredible luck, she had the police to worry about again. Without another word, she sank back down into her squid form and then shot off in the direction of Vanessa's place with a super jump.
"THIS ISN'T OVER!" Johnson yelled as she was leaving. "WE WILL FIND YOU! YOU HEAR ME!? WE WILL CATCH YOU!"
Later
"I… I don't understand… why isn't my apartment safe anymore?" Vanessa asked.
"Because the police know I'm alive again… and if they trace me to you… they're gonna come after you, at this address." Jessica replied, currently packing her clothes into a duffle bag. "I'm sorry, but… now we've gotta hide…"
She sighed and looked down. "…All this happening, and not even Mia could make it…"
"I'm sorry… I know I probably should've been better…"
"...Yeah… you should've." She said passive-aggressively, earning an annoyed look from Jessica. "Where even are we gonna hide?"
"I don't know…"
"We can't just be on the streets, that's too risky."
"I know…"
"What do you know, dammit!?" She suddenly snapped. "You got caught! Again! You jeopardized our mission to go out and find Mia! You told me you were gonna be careful!"
"I was careful."
"Not careful, enough, obviously! Now what are we supposed to do!? Live in the sewers!?"
Jessica suddenly dropped her bag and turned back to her. "Dammit, I said I'll figure it out! I don't need you to get all angry with me now, out of all times!"
"I have every right to be mad with you! I warned you this could happen, and you didn't listen! You got cocky again!"
"You wanna talk about cocky!? You're the one who went out and stupidly got involved with this, which resulted in innocent lives being lost! How about you tell Susan's ghost why she had to die, huh!? Or are you too afraid to admit that her death was ultimately your fault!?"
That shut Vanessa up.
Jessica stared at her, awaiting her answer, and sighed when she got nothing. "Whatever… will you just fucking pack up, please?"
Vanessa was about to oblige, but both of their attention was caught by the TV. To their dismay, it was currently showing breaking news, with a picture of Agent 3 on the screen. "...Oh no…"
The news cut to Detective Johnson, in an official recorded police statement. "We can indeed confirm at this time that Jessica Murdock, otherwise known as vigilante Agent 3, who was previously thought dead by the police, has been recently been found to be alive and active in Inkopolis. She now sports shorter hair and black ink. We can confirm that no other New Squidbeak Splatoon members are involved with this, but Jessica Murdock is currently operating under her own direction, and we are now officially marking her as dangerous, and possibly tied to the recent terrorist attacks. As of now, she's currently high up on the list of Inkopolis' Most Wanted."
The news went on to request out of the viewers that they report anything suspicious relating to Agent 3 straight to the police, but Jessica wasn't exactly listening. Instead, she was clenching her fist in anger.
Vanessa noticed. "…Jess…"
She suddenly picked up a random dish that was sitting on the table, and threw it straight at the TV, breaking them both. "Son of a BITCH!"
It wasn't just Jessica and Vanessa that were getting this news. All around the city, on televisions and phones and other devices everywhere, people were either watching the news or reading into the recent reappearance of Agent 3. Slowly, the whole city was again starting to realize the vigilante was back. Some people were happy to know she was still alive. But overall, a large portion of the city was instead infuriated, and even terrified. Many people were just no longer feeling safe in Inkopolis.
One of the screens that happened to be broadcasting this news was one of Hugh Ward's, on his wall in his office, which he was staring up at. He sighed, not too happy to hear the news himself.
Daniel soon entered his office, his Executioner mask on. "…The whole city knows now. Jessica Murdock is still alive."
"I can see that…" Ward sighed, looking down. "…I wanted this to be quiet… but the idiot went and got herself caught…" He then turned to Daniel. "If the police find her before we do, we lose our chance to kill her."
"I'm aware."
"So we need to hurry." He sighed. "…I've decided that we're taking the search back to Vanessa Reyes. She was with her at Inky Cheeks."
Daniel was already aware of this, but he stayed silent as if it was news to him.
Ward walked up to him, staring at him threateningly. "Find Vanessa Reyes, and then Murdock. I want them both dead within 48 hours. Or else… I'm going to give Ayesha permission to execute our Executioner."
Daniel fell silent for a moment before responding. "…Understood…"
"Then get to work…" He turned back to the screens. Daniel stared at him from behind, before silently leaving for his mission.
Hey, everyone, just one quick thing I wanna say. This will likely be the last chapter I publish before Christmas Day, but right now, I don't have any intention on doing a Christmas special chapter for NSS:OD, as I have little time left to actually write one. I will say that I did technically write a Christmas special as a standalone one-shot earlier this month, that focused on completely different OC characters even if it was for Splatoon, but I just haven't decided yet if it's something I want to publish or not. If I do publish it, it'll probably go up on Christmas Eve. Anyway, with that said, all of you have yourselves a Merry Christmas! Thanks for reading, and I shall see you again soon.