Cobalt and Tangie stood in an empty hallway far off from the main traffic, but by no means were they in the clear from being seen, having spotted plenty of guards on their way to the rendezvous point beforehand. They were going over the plans and exchanging observations they made until they got the orders from Pastelle about the current objective. Pastelle gave them the coordinates to the control room and a final order before she'd have to mute for a while. She would handle the distribution of the first flash drive to the control room by handing one of them to the chief workers. From there, it was up to Cobalt and Tangie to recover it and leave no trace behind while also locate the surveillance room and place the second flash drive in for the next phase. During the initial hack, Fuchsia would upload her virus into the system software and manually shut down all systems. Once the lights cut off, that was Azule's chance to get into the target's room alone and make the kill-if he failed at any point, he'd have another chance when the cameras would get shut off by Kosami to make the kill, but the gamble was on the first attempt since it'd warrant the most suspicion. From there onwards, it would be about escaping before anyone else became aware of what happened to the future Prime Minister.
"All right. We'll split up from here...take care of yourself, Tangie." Cobalt said with the least bit of concern, trusting Tangie's experience to pay off in critical moments like this. She was a Citra after all and known for delivering at the most crucial times.
"Yep, I'll see you once this is done. Pastelle, where are the locations again?"
"Surveillance room is on the 5th floor. Control room is on the 8th…plenty of guards crowding the 7th level onwards, so be alert." she said in a brisk tone as she speeds down the halls, keeping her awareness up for any possible surprises. She was on her way to the 8th floor to deliver the flash drive like the plan earlier suggested. "Tangie, get in a good position to infiltrate the surveillance room on my command. Cobalt, take the stairs to avoid running into anyone until necessary. I'll leave my mic on, so you guys can hear what happens during the exchange."
Fuchsia's fingers move like lightning, the sound of keys punched furiously as her focus intensified on the screen. Since they were in a cafe, they had to make sure not to look suspicious, so Fuchsia had multiple tabs open to make it look like she was doing other things on the computer. "I'll begin hacking once the drive is inserted. I'll let you know how long of a window I can create but at worst, I'll only be able to have it up for half of a minute. Right now, I'm now I'm making preparations-should be quick."
"That's fine. I can get to his room once you give me the opening." Azule responded calmly, cracking his knuckles with anticipation. He was on the 3rd floor and had been avoiding the hallways as much as possible, also taking the staircase.
"Will do, I can handle any sentry and guard in the vicinity. Captain, I'll open up a path for you." Cobalt said, skipping flights of stairs with power leaps and wall jumps.
"Same here, on my end I'll work to get rid of some of these guys on my way to the control room." Tangie said, being the only one to take the normal route and lookout for anyone suspicious.
"Depending on how the first run goes, I can also make some adjustments to extend my part. But, I can assure you that you'll have enough time to get the kill, Azule. Also, be careful while taking the stairs. Some cameras might be placed in there too." Kosami added, sitting forward in anticipation of the major moment.
Cobalt gave a condescending laugh, "What cameras…?" he said, sheathing his signature blade and continuing his run as the furious swipes of the blade cut the cameras into pieces like a scissor would to paper.; Azule looked up and spotted cameras and decided to simply blend in with the environment since the stairwell wasn't well lit-he'd be able to sneak into the blind spots and avoid being seen. Luckily for them, the guards in the surveillance room hadn't been paying attention to the stairs since nobody usually took them.
Pastelle grinned, hearing the swift slashes of Cobalt's blade on the camera. She admired the unit Azule constructed, having heard from Parker that there was a time when Azule didn't know anybody other than his sister, but now here he was surrounded by people who loved and cared for him far enough to commit treason, "You have a fine team, Azule." She said with genuine admiration and slight hint of envy, recalling how the team seemed to be surrounded by some strange fate.
On the 10th floor, it was modeled similarly to the lobby with a joint of both lodging and entertainment. There were some small shops and restaurants on this floor as well an opening to an outdoor patio-a giant balcony of sorts. The architecture and style of the building were one of the key selling points of the Molewell company, with untraditional styles that manage to work once in the hands of the correct visionary. At the patio sat Maya and Callie. Callie was indulging in a plethora of foods, currently eating a fried rice bowl with chunks of tofu in it; she'd been dining at nearly every stop so far and made her way to this floor once she heard about the 10th floor, dragging her partner Maya. Maya was uninterested with everything this hotel had to offer, preferring to return to her serious duties instead of being a foot soldier for the Prime Minister. She sat in the comfortable chair-leaning back, one leg over the other and dressed in her olive green military uniform, the brim of matching colored cap covering her red-velvet eyes that shone like jewelry in the moonlight when she looked up to her comrade. Her lime hair brought out her pale complexion-the long braid flapped in the wind as a strong breeze overtook them, covering the path that hit her face with her hands, showing her matching black and olive gloves.
Callie continued munching, "Say Maya, we've known each other for ages-agree?" she said with her mouth full, looking to abolish the silence between them.
Maya nodded, "Since I was a kid, yes." She said in her usual deep and intimidating tone like a high authority.
"So... why is it we never have girl talks when we see each other? I always thought I was your favorite...Wait, don't tell me-you prefer Marie over me!?" she concluded with a stunned expression, her cheeks filled to the brim as she reached for her drink; Maya-Agent 3, kept a straight face trying to avoid showing disgust towards her longtime friend for her sloppy manners.
Maya closed her eyes and sighed, "I've been busy lately with my assignments. So, my apologies if I haven't been as close like I used to."
Callie shook her head waving her free hand, "No need to apologize. You've always been this way...except for that time when you became a mother for the first time and after having that last boy."
Maya's expression changed instantly, "I have no clue what you mean…" she responded with a perplexed expression, her tone slightly becoming livelier by the end of the statement.
"C'mon Maya, don't play that game with me. You know exactly who and what I'm talking about."
Maya stayed silent, her perplexed expression vanishing as she relaxed her muscles-unintentionally smiling a bit as the fond memories of her early maternal days came back to her. Callie smirked, noticing the glow in Maya that made her such a delicacy to know and treasure. Callie leaned forward-ready to encroach on her comrade's personal life, "Back then, why did you get together with him? I didn't think there was anyone on the planet lucky enough to have you...although you seemed to be rather friendly with that samurai at the time. What was his name again?"
Maya shook her head with a smile, smelling the gossip her friend was trying to dig up. "That's in the past Callie. I already made my choice and I'm content with it. I'm thankful I was able to have four beautiful children that mean everything to me. Romance isn't something for me anymore, and he knows that, too."
Callie frowns with displeasure, "Aw don't be that way! You still look stunning for your age…" she looked over the table, admiring the curvaceous figure of the agent that was currently hidden by the uniform. "You still look as good as you did those many years ago...to be quite sincere, you actually look much curvier than before."
Maya silently chuckled, "That's baby fat. You should know, since you've got two kids of you own."
Callie shuffled in her seat-pouting, "Hey now, I'm trying to talk about you! Don't change the subject, sneaky little devil."
"You started it by attacking my weakness, didn't you?"
They both burst into laughter. Indeed, for experienced warriors like them who'd seen and done everything, the wonders of childbirth were the only thing to melt the hardened core they spent their careers crafting to be impenetrable. But the innocent and heartwarming smiles their kids gave them was all it took. Although Callie loved her children dearly, she wanted to keep them out of the spotlight until they were old enough to handle it-keeping their birth a secret from the media; as of the current date, they were both 15 and 10 respectively.
"Say Maya, how did you feel seeing Azule again?" She said in a suddenly meaningful tone, her expression transitioning to a serious one; Maya's eyes lowered as she sprouted a pained smile.
"I wanted to cry, Callie. He's grown so much since the last time I saw him. It's different to how it is with Sky since I can monitor occasionally since she's Agent 5. But my sweet prince...I'd be lying if I said I wasn't contemplating on revealing my identity to him right-then and there."
Callie nodded with understanding, "It was quick thinking of you to use an alias and change your appearance so seamlessly...but did you have to use Luna of all people…? You know how Luna felt about those kids, especially Azule."
Maya's eyebrows trembled, "I-I know...she loved those kids unconditionally and was proactively against them going into the orphanage."-she gave a frustrated laugh as tears streamed down her face- "She was willing to give up her position in the army as a special operative, so she could take care of them during the war…"
Callie-too had a pained expression trying to hold back the tears for their fallen comrade Luna. The Special Operative who had a bright career as one of the strongest warriors on the planet...and the original Agent 4. Maya quickly recovered and took a calming breath, knowing that she couldn't show this side too often since it was unbecoming of her Agent 3 persona. But when it came to Luna, it always pained her sharply remembering her since to Maya, Luna was more than just an apprentice, she was a rival, comrade, best friend, and a sister-even. Maya had an unbelievable weight as the strongest warrior in the region of Inkopolis, shouldering most of the public burden as the icon responsible for most of the notable national news highlights of recent memory. Starting and ending Great Turf Wars and leading to the current living of Octarians on inkling soil in a separate yet somewhat equal lifestyle.
Callie set her bowl down and took up a napkin to wipe her face, "You had no other choice-though, right? If Azule knew your identity and began to have the relationship he had before the war, he'd get dragged into the military, right?"
Maya nodded.
That was the reason why she had to lie to his face and pretend to be someone else, for if he began to have a relationship with her or his father-he'd be dragged into the military like his eldest siblings were. She had a choice back before the war start to carry all four of her children and groom them to be war dogs for the military, or to sacrifice two and let the other two live their own life and possibly make a better future than the one they'd find in staining their hands with blood. Maya thought she'd made the best move for their future...until she saw Sky become Agent 5. That was when she realized her failure as a mother, that even when she thought she made the best move for her children, they still somehow found their way back to the death sentence of becoming a weapon for the military. Before abandoning them at the orphanage, her children had undergone a ruthless training through their father who was grooming them to become weapons for the military as the next agents in line, much against her and Luna's wishes. She knew that having children had softened the hardened exterior that not even the father of her children could break, but when it came to her kids-she abandoned everything and put them first.
"Before the war, I was given a choice. I chose to take Lime and Verde because they were more developed and better equipped for war. I could trust in their prodigal talents that they wouldn't be harmed. But my precious Sky...my sweet Azule...I couldn't stand the image of having to bury them." Her voice shook as she had their imager in her thoughts-unable to fathom losing either of them to the embers of war, but her face still as stern as ever. "They weren't ready to go into a war. I didn't want to lose them. They had such a different mindset from Lime and Verde...I had to keep them protected at all costs."-She buried her face in her palm as she shook her head- "That night when I saw Sky become inducted as Agent 5...seeing her wear that uniform with that resolved look in her eyes. I knew that I had made the wrong choice once I saw that."
"Wha-"
"I'm saying that something happened at that place, Callie. My daughter's eyes told me the whole story: She had been battling something, something that not many could endure and power through off sheer willpower. That sharp glow in her blue eyes told me she wasn't the same child I left back then...and then seeing Azule…"
She paused, getting up and taking another breath to calm down. Callie understood that Maya must have a lot going through her mind that she couldn't even manage to express having kept everything suppressed for such an extended period. "Go take a walk and clear your mind, Maya. I understand."
Maya nodded-heeding her comrade's advice and left.
Back inside the building, Pastelle arrived at the control room, knocking on the door before entering. Television monitors and computers filled the room with barely any space to walk around through all of the cramped space. She hops and dances over the chords in the grey room to reach the chief of the operations room, striking up a conversation with him before putting the plan into action. She hands him the flash-drive with a serious expression and no hesitation nor trembling in her flow of movement. "I was ordered by the PM himself to bring this. He said he wanted to try his hand at how to do coding, so he be of better help to the nation."
The chief raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Really now? Why would he want to do that?"
"His claim is that in this age where technology is continuing to break its own limits, cyberattacks are going to become more apparent than ever before. He wants to go down as the leader who helped revolutionized the tech age of this era by doing it himself instead of simply giving out legislations." Pastelle said convincingly in a cool and calm demeanor, but the chief still wasn't so sold on her.
"Why couldn't he deliver this himself...? I understand that as an agent you guys are on the same power as the highest of ranks but, this seems all so sudden."
Pastelle smirked, "Would you prefer to disturb him right now of all times? He told me that he urgently wanted to get to work as soon as possible. He even hooked up his laptop, so he could begin. I can notify him that you're not being responsive, and you can deal with the consequences…"
The chief began to sweat a bit once he thought about what might happen to him should he continue to call Pastelle's bluff. "Alright, I'll do it. But we don't ever speak a word of this to anyone, got it?"
Pastelle nodded, "I hear you loud and clear…" she said as she handed him the flash drive, exchanging the device from her gloved hands to his bare ones. She left afterwards and gave everyone the signal to go and get moving, giving a cryptic message that the chief's fate had been sealed. Azule decided to get off at the 10th floor and take his adventure through the halls since he felt the anxiety rushing through his body the more he climbed the stairs, maybe he needed some fresh air before reaching the target's room a couple floors above. For Cobalt, he didn't waste any effort getting in position on the 8th floor-studying the guards and their routes, his sheathed blade at his right hip. Tangie was also in position on the 5th floor, scouting the area for where the surveillance room was located-following the directions Pastelle fed her. Fuchsia got to work immediately starting the hack once she saw the reading on her screen that the drive had been inserted. Nothing but codes ran across her screen as she typed like a robot-her eyes static as her fingers operated on their own. Kosami got herself set up, waiting for Fuchsia's signal.
A dozen minutes pass by before Fuchsia's typing halts, she exhales audibly and pressed one last key. "The darkness shall take over in three...two...one…"-on command, all the lights in the building shut off- "I was able to get to the main system and shut it down for about fifteen minutes. Use this time wisely while I head back to the van; I'll keep communicating from there."
"Roger that." everyone responded with a spark in their eyes, ready to begin the climax.
Cobalt's red eyes glowed in the darkness, catching the attention of the blind guards who sensed his overwhelming blood lust. In a split second, the grunts and jeers of many guards are heard as swift sound of jabs fill the hallways, and then the sound of a door opening to a room of panicking workers struggling to get any sort of power in the room. Cobalt was putting everyone to sleep for the time being, making sure no one in the building would interfere. On the lower floors by Tangie, people were shrieking in fear and stumbling into one another while others just took out their phones and used the flashlights. Tangie took this chance to show her martial arts side, spotting some guards using their flashlights to light the way and attacking them in a swift manor-grappling the bigger guards by aiming for their pressure points and putting them to sleep as well. After both had finished their deed, Tangie took out Kosami's flash drive and followed her orders, putting the drive in the designated slot before closing the door and leaving the room. All was going according to plane; 10 minutes were left until the lights would come back on.
"Status report, everybody." Pastelle commanded.
"I've completed my job in knocking everyone out and placing their bodies in a hidden part of the room. I also took the liberty of locking the control room and hiding the key in a nearby plant. They should all be unconscious for about a quarter of an hour." Cobalt responded, making his escape back through the staircase, sliding down the stair railings with his sheathed blade; the sparks illuminating the darkness as a loud screech produced.
"I just uploaded the flash drive and now I'm waiting for Kosami to finish. I knocked the people on my floor out for a decent amount of time, so there's no worry about me getting caught." Tangie answered in a relaxed tone waiting for the newest member to show her talent.
"Azule, what about you?" Pastelle asked, but no response came. She asked again, thinking that he probably didn't hear her, but when silence came after her question yet again, she felt that something was up.
On the 10th floor, Azule crouched on the railings of a balcony-frozen. His skin was pale with shock as though ice water filled his veins, his pupils dilated and his jaw dropped-his index finger over the mask that covered his mouth previously. Across from him, looking down at the ground far below was none other than the woman he had so desperately thought disappeared from his life. The howling wind blows eerily between them-her braid flapping in response and his bun rustling gently by the gust. Azule blinked, his lips quivering as his eyes stayed focus on the woman in front of him as she slowly glanced at him with a tilt of her head.
"M-mom…?" he said in a gentle tone like a cub who had been ravaged by the terrors of the world, just now finding the safe sanctuary they so desperately needed: the warmth of the mother lion. He felt confused about what should happen next, unsure if this was truly the right time to finally see her. It all felt too surreal to see her stand before him just as he was about to make a defining move in his life and future...could this be a warning sign?
A pained expression on Maya's face was enough for Azule to know that this wasn't supposed to happen. A multitude of fears stemmed from this encounter as he struggled to think rationally; his audio was still on, so the others could hear his conversation-they too were shocked by what they heard, including Pastelle, who knew of the situation at hand unlike the members of Squidcom who don't know the true story of Agent 3. Maya looked at her son in the eyes, her red-velvet embers matching the melancholy hue of his blue. "It's been a while, my sweet prince." she said in a soft-spoken tone, fatigue and frustration latent as her eyebrows dropped, a faint smile appearing.
Azule clenched his chest, feeling the same abstract heartbeat from before-the same he had before having a heart attack. His breathing became uncoordinated as he struggled to find the words he always wanted to tell his mother. "Mom...I…"
"..."
A tender embrace. That was all it took for the fear and anxiety in Azule's heart and mind to disappear. Instead of feeling his desperate-failing heartbeat, he heard the faint heartbeat of his mother, resonating with sad melody it sang she tightened her wrap around him. This was really her. The woman for his memories. The lady he often got compared to. He had a suspicion that he met her earlier at the tournament, but after this hug he knew. This woman was indeed his mother.
"Mom...I…" his eyes trembled as he still struggled to find his words; Maya narrowed hers, realizing the message in his heart wasn't the same as the one he was trying to convey.
Sensing that disturbance like the veteran warrior she was-her guard was raised immediately, and she loosened her grip on him, instead showing him a death stare sent ferocious chills down his spine.
Azule shivered with fear as his mother's stare pierced through him, "Mom...what's…"
"There's darkness...hatred...revenge. I can feel it in your heart. You're here with sinister intentions toward somebody."
Azule shrunk with fear as he realized his mother was as supreme of a being as he idolized, "N-no mom! It's…"
She held up her hand, silencing him.
"I don't know why you harbor these feelings, but I can make a guess that they've been brewing for a long time. A grudge of sorts."
Everyone listening on the mic gasped silently at the keen intuition of Azule's mother; Pastelle had a nervous sweat, worried that the plan might get ruined by the most dangerous variable possible: Agent 3.
"Go." she said authoritatively with her chin raised and her eyes looking down upon her child.
"...?"
"Do what it is that you have to. I will turn a blind eye to this. Whatever you're here to do, make it swift and stealthy like the clothes you're wearing."
Azule immediately realized the blessing he received from his mother and quickly advanced forward, turning around to glance at his mother one last time-thinking, would he see her again? That question loomed in his mind as he contacted Pastelle to let her know his status as he makes his way to the top floor. 3 minutes until the lights came back on.
