Purgatory

Chapter 25

My first mission was sent to me through a private message, and I read through my objectives as I suited up.  The mission itself was simple to a degree, and I wasn’t thrilled with the prospects.  I was to follow a man from his home in the suburbs to his job in the city, and then continue my observation throughout his work schedule and then back at home.  It sounded monotonous and boring, and I had to wake up incredibly early to make it to his house before he departed.

Suits for the observer class were more light weight to allow for easier stealth.  My katana and rifle were both secured to my back, and instead of a sound proof helmet, I had an apparatus that covered my nose and mouth to keep my eyes unblocked and my head movement more free.  There were no lights on the armored padding, and the neck piece was the only part with wires snaking out of it to various points on the suit.  The bracers were lined with spikes that could retract back into it, and I was equipped with two hidden knives in my boots.

“You’ll rarely use your weapons,” Midvar informed me as we rode the lift to the surface tunnels.  “But when you need them, you’ll be glad you have them.”  I rolled my shoulder before stretching my arms out nervously.  I looked over at the guardian, eyeing his well plated suit that mechanized his hulking mass with tubes and lights.

“Why are you wearing that?” I asked him curiously.

“Because if you screw things up I’ll need a lot more than what you’re wearing,” he replied matter-of-factly.  A brief smirk crossed his lips, and I thought I was about to die of shock.  Did this man just crack a joke?  My nerves nearly made me jerk with an anxious chill, and I wondered if I was dreaming.

It was all rather vivid, however, and I began to wonder why Midvar was being even remotely friendly to me.  Perhaps his heart was rediscovered with the previous night’s confrontation.  Or perhaps his amusement was for himself and not meant to be shared with me.  I’d rather believe he was warming up to me.

The trek to my target’s neighborhood was far too long, and I wished Purgatory would figure out a method of fast transportation through this realm.  It was an hour and a half’s time of walking that would have likely taken 15 minutes or so.  It was still dark as we reached the cookie cutter house at the end of a cul de sac.  The time was 6:43 in the morning on a cold November’s day, and the lights were bright against the darkened façade.

“Garage,” Midvar whispered to me as he pointed two gloved fingers towards a metal wall.  We jogged up the sloped driveway and pushed our way through the garage door.  Inside the garage was immaculate holding two identical sedans neatly spaced and almost completely parallel to each other.

My target opened the door leading from the house and pressed a screen to open the garage door.  The sedan closest where he stood lit up as he unlocked the doors, and Midvar and I melded through the backseat doors to take a seat in his car.

“Why couldn’t we just meet up with him in the city?” I asked Midvar.  The guardian glanced at me briefly with half-lidded eyes before looking back to the front. The target was saying his good-byes to his lover before he entered the car and began his journey through traffic.

Traffic was just like crowds, but with bulky vehicles instead, and worse because there was no escape.  Despite the man leaving before rush hour, he still managed to hit heavy traffic.  The AR GPS system displayed his programmed route with a purple line on the road and stated the cause of traffic was due to an accident 4.3 miles ahead taking up the two right lanes.  Traffic signs linked with the car’s system to estimate his travel through the congestion would take him 24 minutes with no alternate routes.

Flashing blue and white lights lit up the morning sky as the sun began to rise.  We passed by the wreckage that the state DOT was clearing, and I watched the scene curiously.  Paramedics were loading the last victim of the crash into an ambulance, and a slender woman stood next to the emergency vehicle passively.  She slowly turned to look in my direction, and our eyes locked for a moment.  She was the figure I had seen before.  Her dark eyes followed me with a familiar and haunting gaze until we passed by a police car.  I could not find her after that, and looked out the back windshield curiously.