Undercover

Assignment

    I think quick. My first mission? Am I not going to receive training first? How do they know I'm prepared for this? I have so many questions, but I'm going to have to trust Ryan on this one. I stand up and follow Ryan to the line leading to Park. We reach the back of the line and I look around. I tap Ryan on the shoulder and ask him, "Dude, I see little to no adults here. Like nobody over the age of 18 besides Park and Zack. Why is everybody here so young?" Ryan shrugs. "I actually don't know. I'm assuming that kids and teens are less likely to take part in government business. If the public has that mindset, it's easier for kids and teens to join." I agree hesitantly. Aaron and Jordan make their way behind me in the line as I look at the two dangling chandeliers in the ballroom. I can't imagine how fancy all of this is! We have high tech gadgets to secret agents to ballroom assemblies. It all looks very unique and diverse.
Ryan and I finally make our way to Jay Park. He gives Ryan a small pamphlet. Jay tells us, "there is a rogue agent in the city of Acacia, Texas. only an hour walk, or a couple minute drive." Ryan nods. "Ryan, your primary job is to train Daniel and show him how agents complete missions. The rogue agent goes by Chamberlain. The only info we have on him is that he hasn't been active for the last couple of months and isn't responding to his pager or attending any assemblies. We lost full contact with him and we need you to find him and bring him in." Park looks at me and gives me a small skinny metal cylinder. "This is a memory remover, the one I showed you yesterday. Here is the deal. If any adult, I mean any adult sees you, shine this light at their eyes. They will forget everything in the time of five minutes before or longer given you change the setting. If a kid under the age of 18 sees you, leave that to Ryan. Adults are very untrustworthy people to entrust the agency with." I reply "yes sir," and we leave for the next people in line. Ryan and I sit back down at our table and we come across someone else sitting there I haven't met yet. Curly blonde hair, light skin, and seems to be about my age. He's on his phone as I begin to speak to him. "Hey, did you get your assignment yet?" He looks up and answers. "Oh, yeah." And returns to his business. Yeah no he doesn't wanna talk to me. I look back at Ryan and ask him, "How do we complete missions? I mean do you have a number I can reach you with, or do we just meet up at one place?" Ryan says, "I have a number, here." He gives his phone to me, and I type in my number. "I'll just tell you where to meet me tomorrow, since that's when we begin our hunt. Assemblies are usually once or twice a month so if we find Chamberlain before August 11th, which is our next assembly, you will be able to earn credits toward silver tier." I nod in understanding. The guy with curly hair looks up from across the table. "You two are going on a rogue hunt? Bro that's crazy. Agents here haven't received a good mission in months. Work these days are slow, that's why I'm still on bronze." Ryan agrees. "Honestly, I don't even remember the last time anybody here got a rogue agent assignment, not even the white jackets over there." I turn around behind me and see three white jackets at their own table talking to each other. "Ryan, why are white jackets such a big deal?" "You earn a white jacket from the WPA when you complete a very hard assignment, or have been in the force for a long time. Looking at the three white jackets over there, you see Zack White, Dylan Miller and Mahith Bandi. Zack has been in the agency for over ten years. Bro that's longer than some agents been alive. Mahith has mastered the Ninja stars, Katanas, and Kunais, and is in the middle of mastering the Tekkens. Dylan Miller is not from here, but is currently the most skilled Ninja star handler in the state of Louisiana." I stare in awe. "Wow, then that means they're very skilled. How about Jeffrey Park? Didn't he master the blindfolded star technique? Why isn't he a white jacket?" "I really don't know that myself, I mean he's very skilled at that, but I know there are people around the world who mastered the blindfolded technique before him, or maybe he turned down the position." Aaron and Jordan return to our table and sit down. "What are y'all's missions?" He asks me and Ryan. Ryan answers, "rogue agent on a kid named Chamberlain." "No way!" Jordan exclaims. "We got the same mission!" Aaron agrees. "We haven't gotten any good missions back where we live in Kansas, so we thought the missions would be better here." "That and, we spent summer vacation here." Jordan whispers. I wonder. "Ryan, Aaron, Jordan, do you think we can, you know, work on this assignment together? As like a group?" Aaron and Jordan pause, "do you think we can still receive credits if we don't stick with our partners?" Jordan asks Aaron. "I mean, I think so. It's worth a shot I guess." I turn to Ryan next to me, "Are you up for it?" He shrugs. "Yeah! Let's do it." The kid with curly hair gets up and looks at me. "I gotta go, I have somewhere to be, and the assembly is almost over anyway, can I get your number dude?" He hands me his phone and I type in my number. I stand up. "I'm Daniel." "Timothy." We shake hands. "Catch you later!" And he leaves the room. "Who was he?" Jordan asks. I shrug. " I don't know, I just met the dude!"
    An hour passes and everybody receives their assignments. The four of us sit and begin to talk about the mission. "What does your pamphlet say about Chamberlain?" I ask Ryan. "It says that he lives somewhere in Acacia Texas, silver tier, and went missing about two months ago. I don't get it, if he went missing two months ago then why are they having agents look for him now?" Aaron and Jordan shrug. Agents are beginning to leave the room. Park says out loud. "Thanks for coming everybody! See you all next month on the 11th of August!" The room empties and the four of us continue to discuss our mission. Jordan says, "This is Impossible! I mean, we don't even know where to start! Acacia Texas is simply where he lives. We don't know where his last mission was, we don't know what he looks like, he could be anywhere in Texas at this point." Ryan's eyes widen. "Daniel, do you have a computer at your house?" I nod. "Yeah," "do you think we can come over for a little bit? I think we can get a head start on this mission.
The four of us walk out of the building and begin to follow me towards my house. Ryan tells me, "the earlier we complete the mission, the more credits we get toward our tiers. We need to find Chamberlain ASAP." We arrive around my house. "Hey mom," I say as we quickly as we make our way upstairs, I close the door to my room. The three look around and see my flawlessly neat room. "You're very organized," Aaron says, Jordan and Ryan agree. "Thanks," I say as I turn on my computer. "Ryan, here it is." Ryan sits on my chair and snickers. "Daniel, why is your wallpaper a picture of some dude in a metal suit-" "ITS IRON MAN OKAY RYAN? Just get to work!" Ryan laughs and types up something on my browser. WPA ... Chamberlain .. missions .. I turn to see Aaron and Jordan sitting on the edge of my bed. Aaron looks up from his phone and tells us, "I found a bit more information on Chamberlain. He's an 8th grader at Acacia Jr High, and his first name is Tucker." Jordan shakes his head. "Okay, we know his name, but that really won't get us anywhere." Ryan says from my desk, "I'm sure this will make up for it," he waves his hand at us to come closer and the three of us look at the computer from behind Ryan. "Dude, you hacked into the WPA database." Jordan says in surprise. "It really wasn't that hard." Ryan answers. "The WPA files have a very weak encryption system so it was fairly easy to crack. It says here that Tucker Chamberlain was a slow moving agent, not completing missions for months at a time." I look closely and scroll down on his profile. "130 lbs, weapons of choice are kunais, and his current mission was to hunt down another rogue agent." Aaron wonders. "Maybe the agent he was trying to track down captured Tucker and held him hostage or something." Ryan types more into the system. "Nope," he says, "His mission was to find a kid named Jacob Lutz, but he was at the assembly today. Tucker is definitely up to something." Ryan clicks the mouse on Tucker's rogue agent mission. He was supposed to find Jacob Lutz at the Acacia Grand Hyatt Hotel, or somewhere around that area." Jordan nods. "Hey, that was last months assembly spot. We can start finding clues there tomorrow morning." Jordan and Aaron back away from the computer while Ryan gets up from my chair. I say to the three, "Do I have y'all's numbers?" They nod. Jordan replies, "We should meet up at the Hotel entrance at 10 o'clock. We can grab breakfast before we start." "Sounds like a plan." Aaron says. Ryan turns and looks up to me. "You think you're ready for this? I mean, bronze tiers don't usually receive rogue agent assignments as their first." Jordan laughs. "I know right! My first assignment was to shut down some nerd who tried to use advanced technology in public. Took away all of his toys and wiped his memory. Worst first mission ever." Aaron agrees. "Yeah, and I had to mentor him. Wasn't fun." Ryan says to me seriously. "Rogue agents can be unpredictable. They can come out of any direction and use the memory flash on you right away and you'll forget nearly everything. They can take you as hostage and use you for information. I hope you know this is what you're getting yourself into." I look back at Ryan and nod. "Yeah, I'm sure this is what I wanna do, but as long as we're all working together, we can be as strong as warriors. I may not know what I'm doing right now, but I can always learn. What do you say Ryan?" Ryan nods slowly. Aaron says to me with a smile. "Warriors huh? I like that name!" I put my hand out. "To the Warriors?" Aaron puts his hand in, Jordan puts his hand in. "Come on Ryan, what do we have to lose? Ryan gives a stern expression, but then gives out a quiet smile. He puts his hand in. "To the Warriors."
    I walk Aaron Jordan and Ryan out of the house. The three exit the door. And turn back to me. "Tomorrow at the Acacia Hotel at 10?" Jordan says to me in confirmation. I nod in agreement. "I'll see you guys there." I look at the sky to see the sun setting. "Ryan do you think you can be traveling on your own at this time?" Aaron says to me, "don't worry, the two of us can keep an eye on him before we get back to our hotel room." I nod and give a final wave for the day. "See you guys! Tomorrow's gonna be an interesting day." The three wave simultaneously and walk away. I close the door and go back to my room. I take my jacket and shoes off, and I jump onto my bed and stare at the ceiling. Tomorrow. My first actual mission, with the help of my newly made friends. Bro. I'm finally able to process the entire agency and before you know it, I'm attending my first mission tomorrow. Just as I thought my life could get any more boring, it all went haywire from a quick trip to Walmart.