Department H.
Miss Havishma took off her oversuit and dropped it on the couch before filling two cups on the table with tea. She picked them both and passed one to Steve who collected it and sat on the couch, following Miss Havishma's action.
"So?" She asked, setting her cup on the table.
"I planted a recorder on the ship without their knowledge and was able to get rather confusing information from their conversation." The orange-haired man tapped into his watch and a video projected out and began playing.
The camera was only facing the wall of the ship and got only recordings of when they passed by and that of the words they spoke.
After listening to the dark-haired man's conversation with the Tzerian, Havishma picked up her cup from the table and took a sip.
"Time traveling is real?" The orange-haired man queried.
Miss Havishma looked into the agent's eyes for a moment before speaking. "May I?" She gestured at his watch
"Yes, of course."
The dark-haired woman tapped on the watch and deleted the video before leaning back in her chair. "You are dismissed agent, return to Scarlett's side and keep her safe."
Steve opened his mouth to speak but held back his words. He got up on his feet and strolled out of the pad, leaving Havishma alone with her thoughts.
Once the agent was out of the pad, Miss Havishma got up and walked towards a corner. She placed her hand on the wall and stayed that way for a moment. A while later, the wall slides open to reveal a hidden room.
Miss Havishma entered the room to join a few other agents who were already inside. They were all invested in various activities and didn't spare any time to look up as she stepped into the room. The dark-haired woman put on a lab coat and gloves before moving to join one of the men. "What is the progress?" She questioned.
"We are still at a forty-five percent success rate," he stated. "One among the three C-50s we took from the laboratory before the explosion had to be executed on a live broadcast, so we can only perform two tests before we'll have to implement it on the active C-50, if the project is successful of course."
"It will work, I'm sure of it," she asserted, recalling back to the video presented to her by the commander of the Star fleet.
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"Can you believe it?" Scarlett said to Steve while pacing from one end of the room to the other. "Miss Havishma actually thinks I'd be a good Prime! She recommended me as a Prime candidate."
The joy could be seen all over the face of the daughter of the former Prime Starr as she paced all around the place. She stopped and turned to the orange-haired man, realizing he was completely lost in his thought while tapping the desk in front of him with his index finger.
"Steve? Steve, are you okay?"
The former Rain 24 snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at the sky-blue-haired lady. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine, what were you saying?"
"Come on, Stevy… you are not just my bodyguard, we are buddies, you know you can tell me anything right?"
The orange-haired man pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh. "I… I've been gone since the Moonfour war happened and now that I'm back, everyone and everything is different, everyone seems to be plotting in secret, I'm just confused and don't know what to do, or who to follow."
Scarlett pulled a chair and sat next to the once-called Storm 67. "You don't have to worry about anything. Just follow me and I'll fix it all, I'll take everything back to normal." She placed her hand on his hand and smiled.
"This is going to hurt, and I'm sorry, but you are not going to be the next Prime."
The sky-blue-haired lady's face morphed into a frown. "What?" She said while pulling her hand away from his.
"It's the truth. Did you feel the energy in the Prime Hall?" He paused. "I don't think Miss Havishma meant what she said, maybe she did and she was impressed, but I don't think she wants you as the next Prime."
"W-why… why do you think so?"
He ran his hand through his orange hair and groaned. "I don't know, that's what I'm trying to figure out."
Scarlett angrily rose to her feet. "Please do not say things you are not certain of, especially not to me, and most especially not about our superior Miss Havishma," she added before rushing out of the pad.
He shut his eyes and shook his head, letting her words sink in.
Somewhere in The Realm.
Emerald Klay sat quietly in the passenger seat of a space car while Madeline drove. The latter kept glancing over at the former who mercilessly bit on her index finger while looking out the window.
"What's on your mind?" Madeline asked.
At first, the agent of ARCHER intended to give her boss the silent treatment but she dropped her hand and turned to the yellow-haired woman. "We would have avoided all this from happening you know," she started. "We would have stopped the death of yet another great man on this Planet but you just simply let it happen."
Madeline furrowed. "What are you talking about?"
"You know damn well what I am talking about!" The black-haired lady barked. "You and I both know that Miss Havishma's accusation on Storm 01 was all a lie but you just sit and let it happen… I…" she paused for a second but let herself continue.
"I am honestly disappointed in you… what that People said about you keeping ARCHER in check was not true. You only keep on fighting if it's a small threat like Damiano, but when it comes to Miss Havishma, you always let her have her way… no wonder she was selected to join Department H in your earlier years and not you. I feel embarrassed working for a disappointment like yourself… you know what? I quit, I'd like you to drop me off here please, and thank you."
Madeline was utterly speechless. She drove the car to the side of the road and parked. Emerald attempted to open the door but it didn't budge. She turned her head to see the yellow-haired woman typing into a device she was holding.
After a moment, Madeline passed the device to the black-haired lady who hesitatingly read the content. Her eyes widened in shock after reading it. "Is this true?"
"Yes, one of our agents was present in the cafeteria when the Electro agents attacked. They never had the real Storm 01."
"So the man they brought to the meeting was…"
"A clone, perhaps," Madeline Gurley completed.
"I'll admit I just sat and let Miss Havishma have her way, but I do have a subsequent plan."
Emerald rubbed the back of her neck and grunted. "I err… I'd like to drop off here please."
"Sure." Madeline unlocked the door, allowing the silky black-haired lady to exit the car. "Emerald," she called.
"There are possible sightings of Ace McClain in the underground, please report in as soon as you can, I'd like your expertise on it," she added before driving away.
Emerald dug her hand into her hair and let out an exasperated sigh.
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1826.
Zoda, Winter Weir.
The planet, Winter Weir is the home of the Weirs. Divided into three parts it was: The Underground, Zoda, and the Realm. The realm is for the wealthy, not just any type of wealthy, crazy wealthy, and the underground is for the broken, the poor.
After the recently failed uprising, the leaders banned the rampant travel between regions. It is only allowed after long soul and body-wearing procedures. Or if you are super rich. This made it impossible for people to leave their region.
A boy in a blue hoodie and black trousers with a bag strapped around his shoulders quickly ran into a house and closed the door shut, breathing heavily, he rested his back on the door, breathing heavily while he listened to his pursuers retreat. He exhaled heavily before throwing his bag on the floor. The moment he entered the sitting room, he covered his nose as the sting of alcohol slammed him.
"Dad?" He mumbled.
He looked around the room and saw his father completely wasted on one of the couches with bottles of alcohol around him. It wasn't the first time, and he believes it won't be the last, but he hasn't gotten used to it. Every time it affects him differently. He had tried talking his father out of it, but every time he did, he got a scoff and a tap on the shoulder.
"Hey, boy. You back already?"
He shrugged off his father's words and took off his hoodie while speaking. "I got laughed at again at school," he stated.
"For what reason?" His father asked.
He sat on a chair and picked up a knife and an apple that was on the table. "Same old."
His father hissed and turned to the other side, knocking down a bottle as he did.
"I'll come over one day and smack some sense into their ass," he uttered. "Coco is surely a cool surname."
The young Coco shook his head. His father had mentioned those words before and he knew they were just words. He probably won't recall the conversation they just had.
"Why did I even bother?… What a mess," He muttered under his breath.
"Did you say something?" He yelled. "How about you go out and play with some of your friends boy!"
He rolled his eyes and made his way out of the house with the knife, and threw the remaining piece of apple into his mouth. He gazed at the bustling streets of Zoda. He then looked up as three spaceships flew over his house. They were the resource collection ships of the Quantum Realm Corp. An industry in the Realm that makes all the technology of Winter Weir. They travel even to the underground to collect scraps and they contribute largely to the production of equipment for Department H.
He smiled as he imagined himself driving the ship. Since he was smart enough to learn about the Quantum Realm Corp. He had always dreamt of working there as a pilot. But like the word, he can only dream of it.
BOOM!
He jolted as he heard an explosive noise from his backyard. He turned in that direction and walked towards it, putting the knife in his pocket. Slowly, the dust cleared, and he noticed a figure in it. A man in space gear walked out to the open and took off his helmet. The boy recognized the uniform. It was like that of the troopers of Department H.
"Finally," the man said while letting out a sigh.
"Wh-who are you?" He stuttered.
The man didn't say anything until he was completely out of the smoke that had risen. "I am, the future."
….
ns 15.158.61.48da2
