Date: 9/8/2016
By TDHOOKE
It started in first person perspective. An agent was debriefed on a mission taking place at a base deep in the forest in a Northern state. I do not remember what the base produced, who owned it, or why it existed. Infiltrate as an intern studying the facility and stay behind after closing, then hack their database and search the premises for evidence of any foul play. The base was a giant warehouse, boasting four to six stories of high-tech research facilities. As an intern shadowing an experienced lab tech, I got to get a grand tour of the building prior to spending the remainder of the day doing boring intern things. On my lunch break, I walked by the security room and sent headquarters the IP address and told them to loop the minute of footage after the day shift left and to disable all other security measures. I made a few friends throughout the day, being the class clown that I am. The one that I remember was a young black man with 4:00 after-shadow and a white lab coat. He noted my intelligence and, at the end of the day, told me with a shine in his eye that he couldn't wait to see the difference that I would make in the world. After class, I hid behind a ton of pallets prior to close. I came out of hiding and began my mission the moment that everyone working the dayshift left the building. Having hacked the system earlier, all of the doors were unlocked. It was a walk in the park. I went back to security and knocked out the guard watching the cameras with a quick blow to the throat. After getting the information needed to begin my investigation, I assumed the role of a lab tech via a uniform found in a nearby locker room and began the ascent upstairs into the high clearance area that we as interns were forbidden to go. I forget what I found that was so incriminating; I'm leaning towards a state-of-the-art bomb. I called it into headquarters and they told me good work and to evacuate to the pick-up point. As I'm walking out the door, a guard rounds the corner and makes eye contact with me. He reaches for his holster, but my draw speed is faster than his is by a landslide. I whip my sidearm out and put a silenced bullet into his head. Blood splatters violently unto the wall behind him before his body hits the floor like a sack of bricks. I sprint to the body to hide it, but it's too late. An alarm sounds and a mix of guards and late-night techs in white lab coats begin pouring through the doors. To spare a life is a noble thing indeed, but when they know your face and could identify you in a lineup, it is also a stupid thing to do. I sigh deeply as I allow my mind to leave my body to spare it of the massacre that I am about to commit. I draw my second sidearm and aim for heads, guards as priority targets and fleeing personnel as secondary targets. Body after body falls almost in rhythm with the last as my pistols mechanically mow through masses. The first-person experience for this was very realistic, as I used my crosshairs for every shot that I lined up. The lifeless corpses pile by the door until all stand but one woman, who is curled over a body in the fetal position with tears in her eyes. Without thinking, I pull the trigger. CLICK. Empty clip. I tried the other. CLICK. Empty as well. She lucked out, "Go. Now." She nodded and did not hesitate in sprinting away. I reloaded both clips and stared for a brief moment before the door to my right opened. I aimed both guns at the door immediately lowered them when I saw who it was. The black man who I had befriended earlier in the day stood in the doorway. His look was not one of fear, but sheer disappointment and sadness. He turned and walked away, leaving the intense aftermath emotions to settle into the fiber of my being. "I can't wait to see what kind of a difference you make in the world." Now in third person perspective, we're back at the headquarters. The directors are talking over pictures of the facility that I was just in erupting into flames and burning to the ground. They were concerned that I was not seen at the RSVP, and were sending out a search party to hopefully recover me in the case that I had not burned to death. The phone rings. They all thought that it would be me, but it was another one of the directors ringing in. They flew out to the sight to observe it before joining the rescue party in attempting to find their missing agent.