Critical Crossing

Mission Two: Welcome to the CAS

I open the doors to what appears to be an office building in the middle of downtown. As I walk in, a receptionist at the desk greets me by name. I raise a hand in response and continue walking to the stairs. I open the metal door that leads to the stairs and instead of walking up, I walk behind the stairs and press in one of the bricks on the wall. Slowly, the tiles on the floor open a path which leads to a set of stairs that leads further down. I begin walking down the stairs and press another brick on the other side of the entrance which closes the tiles.

As I walk down the stairs, a large room comes into view. It contains a handful of large monitors and many people in rows and rows of desks on computers, constantly chattering to one another or into their headsets. The typical scene of an FBI, CIA, or some other secret organization base in the movies. Unfortunately, that is just the kind of thing that the Ambassador is into. Once I reach the bottom of the stairs, I make a sharp U-turn and start walking through a hallway to the very end of the hall where my superior officer's office is. The blinds are closed so that I cannot see into the office. The more I think about this business that we are supposed to discuss, the less I look forward to it.

I lightly knock on the door and, without waiting for anyone to say anything, I walk into the office. As I begin turning around, I notice a young woman with long blond hair in a ponytail, fair white skin, a light brown jacket, and blue jeans is sitting in one of the two chairs in front of my superior officer's desk. Behind the desk is my superior officer clacking away at his keyboard, staring down the computer screen. His face remains as serious as ever with his graying stub of a beard and his black hair with gray streaks. He wears a black suit with a black tie and has a golden lapel pinned to his collar indicating his position.

"It wouldn't hurt for you to at least let me tell you when to come in," he says.

"Not like you were doing anything private anyways," I say. He glares at me for a moment and then sighs.

"Anyways, take a seat," he says, gesturing to the open seat.

"I hope this isn't anything too serious. What did I do now, not breathe the way you wanted me to during the mission?" I say. The girl sitting next to me simply listens in, seemingly surprised by the way I talk to my superior.

"Joel, you know we don't monitor things that seriously," he says, "Otherwise I doubt we would actually have any agents."

"Sometimes it sure seems like you do," I say. He glares at me again. I know he wants to yell profanities at me like usual, but he refrains from doing it, probably thanks to the girl sitting next to me.

"Anyways," he says, dismissing the previous atmosphere, "Agent Patterson, this is Charlotte Castman, a Junior Field Operator who will be starting her first field operations soon. The Ambassador has asked that I pair Agent Castman with you so that you may train her, considering your missions usually come with overwhelming success over the other agents."

"Hold up, a partner? I didn't ask for this when I started," I say, rising from my seat.

"I'm sorry, Joel, but I can't refuse a direct order from the Ambassador. I know when you first joined, you told me you work better when you're alone. However, the Ambassador told me to pair this young woman with the best agent I've got."

"This is fucking ridiculous," I say, "And how the hell am I supposed to do my missions with another agent with me? Aren't most of them solo jobs anyways?"

"That's the thing," he says, "From here on, I will be assigning you missions where it's possible, or sometimes necessary, for another agent to be on the scene. That way, Agent Castman will learn how to act as a group, unlike certain agents we have." He stared directly at me while he was saying that last part. In retaliation, I simply glare back at him.