The Game

Mission 2 Prep

Mission 2 prep begins in silence. Matt greets everybody but there's a weird fog in the air. Matt felt it last night and he tried to ask me what was up but I couldn't tell him. I didn't want to tell him. It's embarrassing that one of my best friends doesn't trust me. Matt tells us to read our assignments and that we'll put together the mission plan once we are done.

Theran starts tapping away on his tablet and then looks up. He spins his tablet around to face the rest of us at the table. On his screen is the mission for the Medic.

"What the -?" Matt leans in trying to get a better view. Before he can say anything else, Myles adds his tablet to the mix. His mission for the Vehicle Operations position.

"It's an extraction," I state after taking in each tablet and having fully read my own assignment.

"What?" Cassidy looks up at me and soon everyone's eyes are on me.

"Well, I'm the Chameleon and my job for this mission is to get into some building, locate the subject and report back to Team Leader. This information, along with that of Myles and his sketchy white van, and the medic being on hand. I'm assuming this is an extraction and whoever or whatever it is that we're extracting is obviously wounded." When I finish speaking I look over to Matt and see that he is nodding in agreement.

"Natalie is right," Tom speaks up from across the table. "My mission requires getting into The Pierre Roux Plaza system and keeping the cameras off of Natalie all while directing her to the subject."

"Who's the subject? Or what's the subject?" Cassidy asks the question we're all wondering.

Matt goes back to his tablet and his eyes slightly glaze over, I can't tell what his emotions are but they don't seem to be good. When he finally speaks, his voice is cold and hard.

"It looks like we've been tasked with retrieving a defecting agent."

"A traitor?" Myles asks and Amilia slightly sits up in her seat. It's not noticeable to anyone else but I see her change in demeanor.

"It doesn't say traitor. This agent was injured when fleeing. She was shot by enemy fire. Not friendly and has requested immediate extraction." Matt reads off more information as it appears on his screen. When Matt mentions the agent is a female Amilia's interest heightens. Tom looks over at me and raises his eyebrows.

"See, they know when to give us new information." Tom says quietly and urgently, leaning across the table to talk to me. I shoot him a look but turn my focus back to the discussion.

"How do we get her out?" Cassidy asks, keeping this meeting moving.

"Well, as Natalie mentioned, she will be going in first to scope out the Plaza. Cassidy, you and I and Jamison will be standing by and when she reports back, we will move in for extraction. Depending on the situation, Natalie will assess and report back if we need the medic to move in with us or if we can extract first and have Theran care for the subject once we've gotten her to the van." Matt looks around the table pausing to see if anyone objects. When no one says anything, he continues. "Tom, you will have to be alone for this mission. Amilia will start with you to make sure your lines of communication are properly working then she'll join the rest of us at the Plaza and get the rest of us situated and monitor from the van with Myles.

Myles, after this meeting is done will you make sure Amilia knows where to get a motorcycle or small vehicle to get from Tom's location to ours? You do know how to ride a motorcycle, right?" Matt asks after Myles agrees to show her.

"Of course, I did quite well in that class. And I seem to recall I did better than you. Hm" Amilia smile smugly at Matt then laughs and Matt just laughs too.

"Good. Alright, we will finalize the plan tomorrow. We will meet in here tomorrow morning. Tom, find the schematics for the Roux Plaza so we can start learning the layout. I should have more specific information on the agents location tomorrow but it's still a good idea to study the location. You never know what might happen."

Before Matt even finishes speaking, Tom is already getting into the city's plans and finding the layout and blueprints for Roux Plaza.

"Unless anyone has any questions or concerns, I think we can finish this up. Just remember everyone, our mission is being labeled as highly classified. So keep all this information to yourself." Matt ends the meeting and everyone starts chatting.

"Man, I'm hungry." Myles leans back in his chair stretching before he stands up.

"You just ate breakfast," Amilia comments but stands with him.

"That was like four hours ago," Myles complains and Amilia rolls her eyes.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration but I agree I'm hungry too, anyone interested in grabbing some lunch?" Cassidy looks around the room and most everyone is in agreement. Even Tom heads out the door with them. He stops before walking down the hall.

"Are you coming Natalie?" Tom turns back to ask me. He asks out of an automatic reaction and I wave him on deciding to stay back and I notice Matt has too.

"I've got a few things to do before I can eat," I respond to him and he jogs off to catch up to the others.

I wait a few minutes to make sure everyone is out of earshot then I make my way over to where Matt is sitting staring at his tablet.

"What's going on?" Matt looks up at the sound of my voice. He looks around the room noticing we are the only two people left.

"It's nothing," he shakes his head and stands up. I stay quiet and let him open up to me when he's ready. "Why would they give us this mission for our second assignment? Loralee clearly mentioned that the first few missions were more of a scavenger hunt, to see how the team works together."

"I was wondering the same thing. This seems more real than what I've heard about The Game, especially for our second mission."

"Me too. The past seniors usually discuss their first few missions with everyone because they're never this dire a situation. Why throw us right into the thick of everything? Do you think other groups have missions similar to this?" Matt holds onto his tablet, he looks strong yet I can tell he's concerned. He shakes his head, Loralee stated that the missions were scavenger hunt adjacent, she never said anything bout real life experience with a serious target. "Ask your friends about their missions. Be subtle though. Our mission is highly classified but who knows what the other teams missions are classified as. Tonight before bed we should work out a plan since you are the first piece in our mission tomorrow."

"Sounds good." I follow him to the door. "I'll let you know what I hear about the other teams."

Matt nods and we part ways. Matt heading after the rest of the group to grab lunch while I head back to our room, needing to make a quick stop before lunch.