A cold hand ran over her forehead and other parts of Elise's face.
"Hello? Can you hear me?" asked a voice with a very thick German accent. The hand continued to feel around her face.
Elise's eyes fluttered open and was immediately blinded by a bright light overhead. "Agh, what the hell?"
"Oh, good. You are still alive," said the voice.
Elise sat up cautiously and slowly turned her head to her right, finding sight of a man who wore a red stained lab coat. Could that be blood? "Who are you? What happened to the Administrator?" Elise asked as she held her head. She felt around and suddenly went over a huge lump.
"I am the Medic. Und the Administrator is nowhere near here..." the Medic informed. He turned around and smiled at her. His hair was neatly parted to the side, with a little cow lick at the front. He had bright blue eyes and round thin framed glasses that seemed too small for his face. Also, he looked kind of old... or maybe it was just fatigue.
"Here... where exactly is 'here?'" Elise circled her arms that gestured around the room for emphasis.
"We are currently in the Medical Bay, at 2Fort."
Elise stopped her treading movements and stared at the Medic. "What's 2Fort?"
"What is 2Fort? Fräulein, this is the war grounds for this battle. How do you not know? You did get accepted here, didn't you?"
"Battle? War?" Her head was spinning and the bump throbbed. "What country declared war?"
The Medic rolled his eyes and sighed as he placed a bunch of bloodied medical utensils on the other side of the bed. "You ask too many questions," he answered. "I would have assumed that the Administrator would have already told you about this, but I guess her old age has already taken a toll on her brain." Medic laughed. "All you have to know is that this war is only for land, that is all. Blutarch and Redmond Mann are the idiotic brothers who stupidly convinced their father to buy this land. But really, this land is completely useless. They hired many of us mercenaries to battle for it. No country has declared war. Personally, I think it is a waste of time. But, it does pay good."
A war... Elise surely didn't apply for a war. She thought that she just had to do some dirty work and get a large reward afterwards. In her mind, she imagined stealing a jewel from a museum, or robbing the government, you know, easy stuff like that. But fighting a war? Now that's something that she didn't expect.
"This is really messed up."
"Ja, it is. Now, take two tablets every four hours," Medic said as he handed her a bottle of red pills. "These should hopefully help with the throbbing and blurry visions. Other than that, you are free to go."
Medic set a small cup of water on the table on her right and took a folder into his arm, walking over to a large desk that she didn't even notice. Elise got up from the medical bed and took two pills and drank it down with some water. A warm tingling sensation washed over her immediately, and she exhaled through her nose in a relaxed manner.
In her dazed mind of relaxation she went for the door, stopping only a few feet away. "Uh, where do I go?"
"Just go anywhere, it's not hard to find your way around the place."
With that, the Medic got tangled up in his paperwork and didn't look up. Elise opened the door and walked out without any further questions.
Somehow, Elise managed to find a long hallway that had red tiled floors and cement walls that cracked in many areas.
"How the hell did I get into this mess?" Elise asked herself. She didn't expect anyone to answer her, but a petit voice sounded.
"Well, let's see... after your application to RED, we looked over your work and are pretty impressed."
Elise screamed in surprise and stopped walking, taking her time to catch her breath that she carelessly breathed out. "Who the hell are you?"
"Oh, my apologies. I should have introduced myself. My name is Miss Pauling, I am the Administrator's assistant."
Miss Pauling? Elise replayed the recent memory.
"Welcome to Reliable Excavation Demolition." The Administrator said. "Miss Pauling, if you please."
Elise shook her head and blinked a couple of times. "You're the one who hit me in the head earlier!"
"Yes, I am. Sorry about that. Anyways, let's get started." Miss Pauling said without much thought of what Elise said. She took hold of Elise's arm and turned her around to walk with her. Miss Pauling wore a purple shirt and had glasses that pointed primly at the temples. Her hair was put up in an low bun that bounced on her neck and her height... wasn't all that impressive. "You have been assigned to be a Spy, mainly because of your previous works of theft and espionage. As a Spy, you must keep as much information to yourself. Although you will be joined with your team, you cannot tell them anything. Your life is meant to be a secret. That being said, they can't know where you're from, why you're here, and what your name is. Keep your emotions in check, and always stay informed and composed."
"Is it too late to retire?" Elise asked cautiously as soon as Miss Pauling took a breath.
"Yes. Matter of fact, you are not allowed to leave this company until the battle is won." Miss Pauling stopped and stood still for a couple of seconds. She turned around and said, "repeat what I have just told you, please."
"Uh, I am a Spy, and I can't tell anyone anything."
"Hmm," Miss Pauling pondered for a second. "Good enough. You pretty much summed it all up." They continued to walk down the dim hall. "It is best for you to stay in uniform, and you are never to remove your mask for special purposes."
Mask? What mask? Elise lifted her hands and touched her face, feeling nothing but fabric. Then she looked down to her hands. They too were covered in red gloves. "When did I get this stuff?" Elise asked as she padded around her body. She was wearing a slim red suit and wore leather shoes. "I feel like a dude right now..."
"If it makes you feel any better, I took the liberty of dressing you."
"That just makes things more awkward..."
"Moving on!" Miss Pauling announced. "You are not the only Spy. There is another, but you will be the only female on the team."
"I can't help but to feel like I'm already being taken advantage of."
"Here we are," Miss Pauling ignored Elise's statement as she opened a red door.
Elise took a quick look around and saw many other red doors surrounding hers. She entered when Miss Pauling was out of the way and examined the tight area.
"It's not much, but you'll have to make do. You have uniforms in the closet, and other feminine clothing necessities in the drawer under the closet."
"Okay," Elise peeped. "Is there a kitchen?"
"Of course, right this way."
They walked out of the room, closed the door, and turned a corner that once again, had a long hall. They walked for a couple of seconds and stopped beside of an open doorway that was larger that the others. Elise didn't want to enter the area just yet. She just peeked her head a bit, but she couldn't see anything.
"This is the kitchen." Miss Pauling stated. "I must be going. Welcome to the RED team."
"So do I just-" Elise stopped. Miss Pauling was nowhere to be seen. "What? She was here just a few seconds ago!"
"Hello there!" a male voice clipped tight with a Texan accent greeted.
Elise jumped and turned around, meeting sight of a short man with goggles on who wore brown overalls with a red shirt under. "Um, hello?" Elise responded timidly.
"Is that a question?" the man asked sarcastically with a laugh in between. "I'm just playing with you, I'm the Engineer." Engineer held out a gloved hand.
"Hi, Engineer..." Elise took his hand and shook. "My name is..."
"Your life is meant to be a secret. That being said, they can't know where you're from, why you're here, and what your name is."
"I'm the Spy." Elise straightened her back and held her head high.
"My, you've got a mighty fine voice. Almost feminine..."
"Yeah, I'm a girl." Elise blurted out.
Engineer took off his goggles and put them on top of his hard hat, his face blushing. "Oh, well, uh, it's a pleasure to meet such a fine lady, such as yourself."
"No need to be formal, Engineer."
"Well, um, I guess I should introduce you to the guys. Follow me."
The two of them walked side by side into the open area and like the snap of a finger, all eyes were on them. The area was filled with men in red clothing.
"Hey fellas, look at what we got here! It's our new Spy!" Engineer shouted with a wide grin.
"He looks like a girl," said a boy with a thick Boston accent. He wore running shoes, a baseball cap, a red shirt, and had two dog tags hung around his neck.
"That's because I am a girl," Elise informed.
The boy's thin body jumped out of the couch and ran straight towards Elise. "Hiya! I'm Scout."
Scout jumped out at Elise but fell flat on his face when she took a step to the side. She took this chance of silence to look around the area. It had what looked to her like a living room, a dining area with an island, and another room that had an open doorway.
"Well, c'mon fellas, introduce yourselves." Engineer said to the other men.
They all smiled with hungry looking grins.
"Oh boy, this doesn't look good..."