Alpha Agent 2: A Cyberpunk LitRPG | Weak to Strong Progression Fantasy (A Progression Cyberpunk LitRPG Series), page 6
“Well, that’s Jane for you. She takes discipline on the job to an extreme,” Michael said. As Dan continued following behind the agent, Michael asked, “Do you know what the best part about being someone my age, Dan?”
“I’m drawing a blank, sir,” Dan said with brutal honesty. “Before I met you, I never thought about living past the age of twenty considering the shithole I was growing up in.”
“I see,” Michael said somberly. “The best part of aging is seeing your peers grow. Sometimes change isn’t for the better and that is unfortunate. But when it goes the other way, you get to see the people you care about become better. They achieve the goals they set for themselves, pass on your teachings onto others, or simply become better people. I’ve trained many agents to be who they are today…”
Michael appeared to be deep in thought about something and Dan kept silent, thinking it was best not to ruin the moment.
Dan didn’t know how to react when he heard Michael’s laughter after saying something so profound and serious. “Out of all the people I have trained, I’d say Jane has changed the least out of everyone.”
The two of them laughed harder than they probably should have at the comment.
Michael stopped at a wide set of doors that slid open. One door slid aside fully while the other got jammed midway through and stayed stuck.
“Well, I’ll have to inform maintenance about this door again,” Michael said.
Both walked in and Dan spotted two agents standing at the end of a large glowing table.
“Alright everyone, our last member is here,” Michael said. He pointed his thumb back at Dan. “This is Dan Orion. Dan, meet your new teammates.”
Dan walked up to the agent on the left. The agent took his helmet off. Without it, he was about as tall as Dan was. He appeared to have East-Asian features with dark hair and long bangs that obscured his eyes. Both of them extended their gloved hands and shook.
“Dan, I have briefly read your published mission report in crushing a local rebellion in Amethyst,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with someone who is associated with the famous Ms. Sunheiser. My name is Li Phantom.”
Li wore a strange variant of the Alpha long coat. This one was an awesome silver that had odd scale textures on his arms and torso not unlike a snake. Li’s voice was light and calm, a stark contrast to Michael’s deeper and more commanding tone. His handshake, however, was a different story. Li’s grip was surprisingly strong, which led to Dan performing a brief scan of the agent’s stats. The HUD fed him the info.
Agent: Li Phantom
Age: 21 M
Shard: Alpha Corporation (formerly Spec Ops Hellhound)
Rank: Tier 1 | Level 22
Strength: 22
Agility: 33
Endurance: 25
Intelligence: 30
Healing Factor: n/a
Reflex: Superior +
Dan was taken aback by what he saw. Li was six levels higher than he was and all of his stat categories other than strength surpassed that of his own. Dan especially fixated on Li’s choice in putting points into agility.
“That’s quite the amount of points you have in agility. What kind of shit do you pull off with a stat like that?” Dan asked.
“I’m a stealth specialist,” Li stated. “I require the points of agility to perform the acrobatics needed to get to hard-to-reach places and gain the advantage over my foes. My enemies usually don’t know what killed them until after I slit their throat or a silenced round penetrates their skull.”
Dan looked down and noticed a pistol model that differed from the Initiate pistol. Li’s handgun, which was strapped to the right side of his silver coat, was an unknown model with a thick attachment to the barrel which Dan assumed to be a silencer. In Li’s other hand, he spun a smaller lightweight version of the regular combat knife.
Li raised the knife up to his torso and held it out to Dan. “It’s a throwing knife. My farthest kill with this was thirty-seven meters while in a pitch-black environment.” Li pointed the knife towards a specific part of his own neck. “An unlucky Kodak agent took one of these to the carotid artery. Even an agent can’t survive that.”
“What the hell,” Dan muttered. “You should show me your throwing arm sometime.”
“Yeah, yeah,” the second female agent said. “We get it, you have a huge dick. Stop being such an asshat and move aside.”
A hand grabbed Dan by the shoulder and turned him with such surprising force that he almost stumbled. His body sluggishly faced a female agent who stood at around eye level with him.
The agent in front of him was a young girl with strawberry-blond hair. Dan would be surprised to hear if she was above twenty. She had big glowing pink eyes with magenta mascara.
“Uh, Dan, this is Angie. She’s the younger sister of one of my colleagues,” Michael said.
“Thanks, Michael. But I can introduce myself just fine,” Angie waved dismissively. “Hi Dan. You already know my name so I guess the only thing left is for you to get to know me on the field.”
Dan pulled up her stats as well.
Agent: Angie Bloodliner
Age: 20 F
Shard: Alpha Corporation
Rank: Tier 1 | Level 18
Strength: 20
Agility: 24
Endurance: 22
Intelligence: 21
Healing Factor: n/a
Reflex: Superior
Dan could feel himself sweating just from looking at both of their stats. It seemed that he was the one with the least experience.
“I can’t wait until I get to blow shit up,” Angie said with the same glee as someone seeing a puppy for the first time. “I’m getting so tired of patrols around the city. I’m not the fucking police, I’m an agent!”
Angie got up in Dan’s personal space to the point where only a few centimeters separated their noses.
Dan blinked twice. “Well, at least you’re taking on this new opportunity with the rest of us.”
The agent giggled so much that Dan questioned how she even chose this line of work in the first place. She calmed down a bit and said, “Your eyes are a very unique shade of hazel. Are they natural?”
“Uh… yeah? And thanks?” Dan said.
“Wow, lucky bastard,” she said. “Cosmetic eye surgery for hazel is super expensive. Out of all the eye colors you can pick, it’s ten thousand credits. Seven thousand for pink.”
Michael cleared his throat and that got the attention of everyone in the room. “There’s a fifth member of our little crew. Tim Corsair has already positioned himself behind enemy lines and will be our hacker. Unfortunately, you won’t be shaking hands with him.”
Dan’s HUD notified him on an incoming call from another agent. Tim’s name popped up in front of him and Dan accepted.
“Good to meet you all,” Tim said. A small pop up window appeared in Dan’s center right view and he saw an agent in a dark room illuminated by nothing except the ambient glow of a screen in front of him. Tim had a tanned complexion with a shaved face and slicked-back greasy hair. “We’re going to pull off a heist, boys and girls. Hope you guys are ready to be thieves.”
“Now that introductions are out of the way, I’ll go over how this mission will play out.” Michael pointed at the table. “Gather around.”
Dan and everyone else walked around the table to various positions surrounding the glowing surface of the desk.
Michael stood across from Dan while Li took up the left side. Curiously, Angie stood beside Dan’s right and leaned forward. He could see Angie looking up at him in his peripheral vision.
“Listen up, agents, we’re on a time crunch on this one. By the time we land in enemy territory, we’ll only have four hours to get the job done,” Michael said. Outlines jutted out from the glowing ambience of the table then formed into rudimentary blocks resembling buildings. A basic city model formed in front of them. “As Tim spoiled earlier, we’re going on a heist. What are we stealing? A shipment container that holds something important to the Alpha Corp. This asset is the highest possible priority to take back. The shard will not tolerate failure, especially not with my reputation.”
“This container, Chad Eisenworth told me it contains a batch of the enhancement serums you guys use to give us our abilities,” Dan said. “Is that true?”
“Correct, my boy,” Michael said, pointing at Dan. “I’ll do you one better. None of you have the clearance to know this, so I’ll keep it brief. The serum within the container isn’t just any serum, it’s the Alpha Corp’s ace in the hole to create the next generation of agents to crush the other two shards into oblivion. It’s a newly developed project by the Alpha Corp, and you can imagine that having a batch stolen doesn’t sit well with the higher-ups. That’s where we come in. We’re going to steal it back.”
“Why only four hours, sir?” Li asked.
“The container has made a temporary stop at a hotel called the Revelation. The truth is that the hotel is just a front to the public. It’s a high-end establishment on the outside, but a secret meeting place for Kodak officials behind closed doors.”
One of the blocks flashed red, which Dan assumed was the hotel.
“The Kodak strike team who stole the container has been crippled by losses at the hands of me and my previous team. They also took additional casualties thanks to Jane Sunheiser being sent in to investigate their partnership with a local rebel group. So, the enemy has chosen that hotel as a temporary stop so that their forces can lick their wounds and possibly call in more backup to help transport the container away. If we don’t recapture that serum, it will forever be lost.”
“And if the enemy is in possession of this newest version of the serum, that’s bad news for all of us,” Li said. “They could study it and create their own rendition to use against us.”
“Exactly,” Michael said. “The stakes are high on this one. Failure is not an option. Our team consists of the five of us.”
Dan couldn’t help but feel a combination of excitement and nervousness thinking about this mission. It didn’t take a genius to assume that simply raiding the hotel wasn’t going to work. With only five agents, it wouldn’t be possible from a numbers standpoint. He also assumed that this container had to remain intact. This was Dan’s first mission that required subterfuge and subtlety to succeed.
“As I said earlier, Tim Corsair will be our hacker. He’ll be providing you all with spoofed IDs for easy entry into the hotel, executive access to restricted areas, various types of recon drones, and remote hacking if possible.”
“Just don’t expect miracles,” Tim said through the channel to all members.
“So we’ll be checking in as guests at this hotel?” Angie asked.
“Correct, so bear with me and be patient, Angie. You’ll get to blow stuff up when the time is right,” Michael assured.
“I hope so, sir,” Angie said in a low voice. Michael had clearly rained on her parade.
“I have a question,” Dan said. “If we’re checking into this hotel with fake IDs, how are we carrying all of our necessary gear inside? Don’t tell me we’re going to fight enemy agents with sticks and rocks.”
“That’s where you and Li come in,” Michael said. “You two will enter first disguised as arms dealers representing Cresh manufacturing, one of Kodak’s subsidiaries. You two will supposedly have an important meeting scheduled with some Kodak VIPs in the upper floors. You will each be carrying a briefcase containing new weapon models and prototypes. In reality, these briefcases will have your personalized gear and equipment for this mission. Get it now?”
“That sounds exciting,” Li said. He narrowed his gaze down at the table. “How can we guarantee that they won’t sniff the smoke we’re blowing up their pants? I find it hard to believe that a hotel owned by a shard would allow clients to walk through the door with concealed weapons. Wouldn’t they have metal detectors, bodyguards armed to the teeth, and other security systems like gun turrets that will mow us down on the spot?”
Michael glanced at the stealth specialist. “Being arms dealers, you will be granted a special exemption, of course. They’ll be none the wiser. Once you and Dan get settled in, you will be responsible for finding the container, securing it, and lifting it to the roof. That’s where you’ll get your ride out of the hotel.”
Li nodded. “Understood, sir.”
“Normally, only two tier two agents would be necessary for getting the container to the roof. The two of them could lift the container and have the speed and reaction times to counter any resistance while covering themselves as they carried it. But since the container is bulky and heavy, two tier ones such as yourselves will need extra help. A third agent, which will be Angie, will have to be there to cover you guys or cause a distraction to take attention away you while you’re carrying the payload.”
Michael turned his gaze towards Angie. “As for you, you’ll be the third guest to check in to the hotel. You will also be an arms dealer with the same alibi. In your briefcase, you’ll be carrying the heavy stuff. I’ll be equipping you with a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher, a grenade launcher, and other weapons such as remote detonated mines, EMP grenades and so on.”
“I got it,” Angie said grinning, showing her unnaturally bright white teeth.
“How big is this container?” Dan asked.
“Roughly the size of a funeral casket in length, width and height,” Michael said. “The weight of the entire batch of serums should be manageable for tier one level of physical strength.”
“What about you, sir?” Li asked. “What will you be doing?”
Michael flashed a glance in Li’s direction before looking down at the ambient glow of the table. “I’ll be in the shadows. I’ll be studying patrol patterns and sniper positions outside of the hotel. Establishments like this will be guarded like mini-fortresses. I’ll be working to weaken and undermine their forces so that by the time they figure out the container is missing, it’ll be too late to notice that they’re nowhere near full strength to respond. Plus, I have a score to settle with a particular set of Kodak agents.”
Dan and Angie looked at each other before he asked, “A score to settle? You have beef with someone?”
“You could say that. There are these twin Kodak agents who are high-level. One of the twins took part in the hijacking of that container while it was being delivered. When me and my team intervened to deal with the enemy… let’s just say I lost some good people. Kodak wasn’t any better, but the twin survived and still managed to steal the container. Her and the sister will be our biggest individual threats.”
Michael glanced at Dan and said, “That particular agent’s name is Lola Odyssey, and her sister is Colleen. Dan, you must already be aware that Lola took on Jane Sunheiser in a battle during your mission to crush rebel activity in Amethyst. And she walked away from that fight while leaving Jane severely injured. That’s how scary just one of those twins is.”
Dan locked eyes with Michael. Every syllable of what Michael said hit him hard. Jane was the most powerful agent Dan had ever met, save for Michael himself. He also recalled his brief fight against Lola when he tried hunting her down. It was a miracle he walked away from that encounter. An enemy agent matching and even getting the better of Jane paralyzed him.
“And her sister Colleen is no joke either,” Michael said. “I heard a bit of idle chatter from the enemy’s comm lines thanks to Tim, and the way they speak about her doesn’t bode well for us. Apparently, the remnants of that Kodak strike team think that Colleen could easily take me on any day of the week.”
“That’s impossible,” Li interjected. “You’re a tier four agent, one of the most powerful agents who ever lived.”
“I know,” Michael said. “That’s why it’s important for all of us to stick to the plan. Our priority is the container. No unnecessary moves. Do not actively seek out combat unless the enemy is in the way of mission success. Is that understood?”
“Yes sir!” everyone said in unison.
One thing lingered in Dan’s mind. If this was such a highly dangerous mission for tier ones such as himself and the others, would the reward be proportional to that danger?
“What kind of compensation do we get for mission success?” Dan asked.
“That’s an odd question to ask,” Li said. “Duty to the Alpha Corp is its own reward. We should all be thankful that Michael chose us to partake in such an important mission. Assuming we survive, our combat record listing this particular success alone would prop up our careers as agents. That would be sufficient for me.”
Angie rolled her eyes at that comment.
“Ah yes,” Michael said. “I understand that with how important this mission is and with how short we are right now on agents ranked tier two and above that this is a serious undertaking for all of you. If we succeed, all of you will get a payout of one hundred thousand credits and will be allowed to unlock special gear that is normally exclusive to tier twos and above. As far as I’m concerned, completing a mission like this already puts you at tier two level in terms of competence. Will that suffice?”
Li stared wide-eyed at Michael while Angie gasped.
Dan asked one more question. “I’m still a newbie. What can a hundred thousand credits buy you?”
Angie looked at him as if he’d just asked what color the sky was. “Um, it’s enough to buy two big heavy weapons from the armory and the ammo for any of them—a minigun, a rocket launcher or a crack shot cannon.”
“Well then, any other questions?”
When no one said a word, Michael followed up with, “Good. Before we get started, I’m going to put you three through a brief training exercise to test out your teamwork. It won’t take long.”
Chapter 7
