Metanoia

Hydra, Vruydon: Chapter 25

    The mission was not one that was of big importance. Just scout a building and make sure nothing too fishy was going on. There was no need for any large amounts of weapons. No disguises to be in motion or personal briefings about any suspects to look out for or any symbols or signs to find. Everything was put simply to Renjun, walk around every so often in the assigned floors, check if everything was alright. Than meet back up at the roof to overlook the building itself. And if anything was in fact going to go wrong, let Sicheng handle it and make a report to the company.
    Lucas and Kailani were going to be on standby for any calls about any out of hand activity. They were partially in charge of sending in the back up just in case things got crazy. Otherwise everything about the mission would be calm and easy to execute.
    This was the first time Renjun was tasked with anything close to espionage since he was paired up with Sicheng. In all honesty it was quite relieving to actually be put on a mission in the first place. Although he was skeptical of it in the first day or two, now the brunette was craving for some outside travels. He hadn't been out the whole time and now that he had a chance, it was a great way to understand. To understand how the city of Vruydon viewed everything. Viewed Hydra. He wanted to understand what impression Hydra gave to the citizens and how they did it.
    But that wasn't the only thing giving him energy. It was also the idea that he could learn some important skills. Sicheng was an espionage agent after all, perhaps Renjun could pick up on a few things. Than he could use them for the ulterior motive. He already was able to reengineer that camera. All he had to do now was find a way to do the same to every single one in the building. Either that or go and find the control room to control the whole system in one go. Regardless of choice, the brunette knew that he would have to find a much for stealthier way to go around. The student doing work act would get old at some point and people would get suspicious.
    And as he opened the company doors to be greeted by the city air, the fact only became more clear in his mind. His eyes squinted at the sunlight. Even if it was a cloudy day, the natural lights weren't that normal to his eyes. Not after being coped up inside. The buildings were taller than ever as he lifted his head up to the sky only to see towers breaking through the clouds. Windows were either tinted or lit up as workers sat at their desks to do tasks unbeknownst to Renjun.
    He didn't have enough time to look too long as Sicheng escorted him down the steps. Both were dressed up in a casual manner. If casual meant wearing some of the most expensive articles of clothing that the runaway had ever seen. Turns out his mentor really did have an eye for fashion. Or he had an eye for disguise and lies.
    There was a large limousine park by the side walk and the chauffeur greeted them with a tip of her hat. Her hair was platinum blonde with eyes that were light brown, in a cream coloured hue. Opening the door for the two she smiled slightly.
    "Where to?"
    Sicheng said nothing, only handing her a set of papers held together with a paper clip. Than he closed the door and left Renjun to find a spot in the car to sit. Which was hard considering how large it was. In the end he settled to just stay where he was. The agent on the other hand, easily went over to where the snacks were located and chose his pick in treats.
The memory of Lucas's conversation with him rung out in his head and he recalled how his mentor acted the day before. Despite a whole week of this guy continuously giving him the cold shoulder, he had tried to perform a kind act. Of course it could have all been a bribe, knowing that Renjun was getting tired of all the work. And maybe Sicheng could tell that the brunette would consider accidentally sabotaging things. Which was probably a large risk considering what department he was part of. However, Renjun had learnt quickly that the agent wasn't one for kind gestures just so things could be done.
If he messed up, Sicheng could effortlessly clean things up. Even at the expense of some wounded teenager. So in retrospect the gesture was an actual act of kindness and not some sort of manipulation tactic. Which relieved the small teen quite a bit. 'Perhaps he was trying to reach out to me yesterday.'
The brunette stared out at the scenery passing by, all the citizens doing their own work and living their own lives. Albeit more normal than what was going on with his, he could find some sort of kinship with these people he never knew. And it pitied him that they were so blind to what was happening behind the scenes. He was sure this was the case for his classmates as well.
Mentors buttering them up and making them think that everything was fine when actually the intentions of Hydra were twisted in every sense. Well most likely not in every sense, but it was damn close enough. Renjun went through the faces of his classmates in his mind. Kuzma was probably having a fear-fest twenty four seven with Doyoung; Kailani was obviously having the time of her life hanging out with Lucas; Saige was not really one to talk much about how Yuta was treating her; Riya and Zuri were having fun in the labs maybe trying out cool science experiments; Mei must be feeling the same with her work in the archives; Jadon and Alberto were cooling down a lot more with Johnny and Mark; and Vinzent and Elisabeta. There was no telling how they were doing with the guard patrols they were assigned. Probably furious about the mediocre job they had been given.
No matter, in the end no trainees but Renjun and Jeno knew what was happening. Sure they could get on these teachers good sides and build some kinds of camaraderie. But how far could they really get without some sort of hitch breaking the bond? It already happened with his old friend. Whose to say it won't happen now?
They had stopped by a much older building, similar to the one Renjun was chased in before. It looked pretty outdated compared to the tall, technologically advanced buildings. With its short stature and run down walls that were long overdue for a decent paint job of some sort. The balconies and windows gave a good hint on the fact that it wasn't any sort of business focused building either. It appeared to be much more homey, possibly an apartment building of some kind or an old hotel. The latter was correct in the end as he saw the old sign at the front.
"So we're going to look around a hotel?"
"Yes." Sicheng responded immediately as if knowing Renjun would ask. "It's a new project on Hydra's part. We are tasked to scope out the floors every once in a while to check if any shady business is happening behind closed doors. Although I highly doubt that." He pulled out a small pistol, handing it over to the brunette. "If anyone is getting too sketchy than shoot them with this, the dart will only knock them out. It'll give you enough time to call me over and we can put them aside for later."
'He's making it seem like the person would become a meal.' He stifled a shiver and carefully took the gun, tucking it into the holster. "How do I know if their sketchy or not?"
"I think you can figure that out for yourself. I trust your judgement." Sicheng opened the door. "You did do all that work mostly by self direction."

Jeno slumped against the wall of the training room, letting out a large sigh of exasperation. It had been over the twentieth time he had been on this floor since he was assigned to Jaehyun as a mentor. The dark haired male seemed very attached to this particular part of the building and insisted that his student be as well. So he set up a system for the white haired boy- get at least sixty hours in the training room every month. And with everything that was going on, with other classes and actually going around with Jaehyun, Jeno had to use a lot of his free time to do these things.
    He unraveled the bandages around his fists, hissing in pain as the wounds on his knuckles got hit with fresh air. The athlete made rapid work in disposing of the bloodied bandages and disinfecting the wounds. He let the water run across his hands and stared in the bathroom mirror. His eyes traveled across his white hair, sweaty and stuck to his forehead as his pink irises roamed about how much more fit he had become in the short span of time he had here. Bruises and cuts patterned his exposed skin, showing off how much effort he was using to get on his teachers good graces. He had changed a lot since he had encountered Renjun that day.
    The student smiled a bit remembering the once blond boy stubbornly accepting Jeno's offer of joining him on the mission. It must've been over a month or so since they had first officially met. But truthfully, anyone could have fooled him into thinking that they spent much longer by each others side. They had worked together in the forest to fix Renjun's truck; they had traveled through unknown lands; they had hid in the hotel to plan the rest of their mission; they had joined the company together. The time they spent by each others side built a lot of trust in each other. Jeno remembered the moment when Renjun got hit by the dart. He remembered how horrified he was.
    And he still was. Ever since that moment, he had worried for the brunette. Perhaps after seeing the multiple times his companion had showed weakness, or at least trusted him enough to show these weaknesses. Maybe that was why he had become so protective. Or when Vinzent proved to be such a threat as soon as he mercilessly threw Renjun onto the ground, poised to hurt him that much more. Maybe he never wanted to see his classmate cry again or be hurt in any way.
    It just didn't seem right. Someone like him shouldn't be exposed to things like that. It didn't matter to Jeno if his friend had gone through chases and bullies before. He wanted to protect Renjun, hold him tightly in his arms and shield the brunette from all the danger that could happen.
    A drop of water hit his shoe and Jeno snapped out of his trance. The sink was practically overflowing with water and was starting to spill onto the ground. In a panicked manner, he turned of the tap and speed over to grab a towel and clean up the mess as the rest of the water drained into the pipes. He couldn't help but think of what Renjun would say now. Most likely something chastising and salty that would be accompanied by a light smack on the head before helping him fix the mess.
    Jeno chuckled a bit imaging the brunette's cute face scrunched up in disappointment for his air headed behaviour. He could imagine squishing those cheeks and kissing his nose with a simple no worries. He could imagine Renjun's face turning red because of it- "What am I thinking?"
    The white haired boy blinked a bit, startled by his train of thought. Pausing in cleaning up he stared blankly at the small puddle of water being absorbed by the towel in his hands. Kissing? Blushing? What was going on through his mind? Was he becoming too open to things that he could even possibly imagine something as calming and perfect as a relationship with Renjun? There it was again. Words. Perfectly fluffy, sweet words being implanted in his mind.
    Jeno huffed out another sigh and lifted his head up to see a figure in front of him. "H-hey! Wait wrong room!"
    "You keep forgetting." A bob of purple hair shook back and forth. "This is a public bathroom. In this case that means to anyone. Private washrooms are in the other door."
    "Right." He stood up and smiled at Saige, completely embarrassed.
    She stared at his beat up hands than down at the puddle. "Making a mess I see."
    "Not much...." The white haired boy tried to defend his cause, but he didn't really want to talk to anyone about it. "I was just treating the wounds from training."
    "Yeah I can see that too."
    Tilting his head, Jeno found himself wondering something in particular. How could this person be the same girl he saw in that building that night? The kind, gentle big sister to small Megan as they wandered around the shops. All he could see now was a quite, closed off girl who seemed to have no interest in anyone else. It had made him curious ever since the day he signed up, but right now when they were alone, it was extremely prominent.
    "Hey can I ask you a question?" He whispered, as if there was someone else in the room when they were clearly the only two present.
    Her muscles stiffened and her eyebrows furrowed with worry. Nonetheless, she took in a deep breath. "Shoot."