System Nullification

Chapter 2

 "Austin... I thought we were going to go on this job together, just like the times you would go on a job and bring tourist trainees along..." I whined. "Except now I'm not a trainee anymore and I'll actually be able to do something!"

 The only reason why I address Austin so casually is because he's my dad's friend, and he told me to call him Austin since I was learning to talk.

 "Sorry Iris... the bank robbery isn't too bad, only one person was in sight according to the people you'll be working with," Austin said. "You'll be safe."

 "But see, here's the thing. They're strangers," I argued.

 Austin sighed, replying, "Come on, Iris. You're a sub-leader now. I know how much you hate the awkward feeling that comes with being near people you don't know. But if you don't overcome that, how are you ever going to become a team leader?"

 "They're all grown men that might think I'm inferior to them," I shot. "How would I be able to work with the likes of them?"

 "Let me assure you that you might be assigned with men that are a lower rank than you are," Austin noted. "Sometimes you've gotta speak up for yourself. You're not always going to be alone with just your friends. These guys are supposed to be your allies. Treat them that way."

 He definitely had a point there. I crossed my arms, but before I could stubbornly argue, he said, "I've got to go. I have to work on more rankings and such. And hey, on the bright side, I'll be assigning you your team soon, leader and pupils and all. This will be the last time you won't be higher than anyone, and for this job, there is no team leader."

 I huffed, said bye to Austin as he walked away, and thought, "Too bad I won't know anyone. Excuse me if I interact with my school friends more than my co-workers. Excuse my social awkwardness that comes when I first meet people. Hell, excuse my entire life."

 I took out the communicator, which was basically a smartphone with secret governmental functions. I opened up to the job I got assigned to, and it seemed my teammates were meeting at the bank. According to them, the robber was trying to escape, and one of them was trying to catch the robber. I groaned, running and making my way to the bank. The amount of reluctance I had for doing this job was way too high, but if I skipped out on it, I'd probably lose my rank, or worse.Things didn't exactly get better when I made it to the scene. "Huh, I didn't know we were having a little girl on my team," the tallest man on the team sneered.

 I wanted to stare him down, but considering the fact that all of these guys were taller than me, I looked down at my feet and listened to the conversation, praying we'd get something done.

 "Excuse you, Fred?" a man a few inches taller than me corrected him. "Did you mean our team?"

 "Oh, sorry," Fred answered. "I'm used to leading a team."

 "This is why you got ranked down, jerk," the third man said. "You only thought of yourself as the high and mighty leader."

 "Fuck off, Jared," Fred hissed. "Or should I say, Mr. Silver Rank?"

 "Hold up," I thought. "I'm working with a silver rank?"

 "Excuse me if I can't fight off three people at once! I could kick your ass anyday! You can't even lead a team properly!" Jared retorted.

 I checked my communicator. I knew I was with Jared and Fred, but there were other two men named Henry and Noah. Which one out of those two was with us, and which one was chasing after the robber?

 Wait a second, why the hell did they send only one of them after the robber? "Guys... stop fighting," I maintained my composure. "We should do something about the robber."