The Gifted (ONC 2023)

Chapter 6 Not Good Enough

"That's a serious accusation," Tommy Palmer fixed his rimmed glasses. He was usually the silent type that valued his privacy and rarely socialised with other agents, but Aleks heard he was one of the most dependable agents. His eyes were fixed on her, his aura flashing with a rosy suspicion. "Maybe that's what Rioters want us to think. To sow the seed of discord among us."

"It may be so," Zeleke noticed. "But it's not something we can ignore. The fact remains that somehow Rioters knows far more about our agents and gifted identified by us than should be possible. I'll get our cybersecurity teams to look into possible data breaches."

"And we should keep our eyes open for anything that seems out of the ordinary here in GSO headquarters," Regan added solemnly.

"Agreed. But there is no point breaking our heads over this without enough information." Stephen nodded. "It's late already. I say we should call it a day. Zeleke, update us when you have reports from our IT guys." He turned to Aleks and Toni, giving them a small smile. "As you two might suspect already because you were exposed for the top secret information, we want you to join our team on the gifted kidnapping case."

Toni puffed out his chest. "It's an honour, sir."

Stephen laughed. "Don't get all flustered, young man. I bet it won't be as glamorous as you imagined. Here are the case files I need you to read." He pushed two encyclopedic-thick folders toward Aleks and Toni. "It's quite possible you will find something we missed there. A fresh set of eyes is always appreciated." He turned back to the people at the table. "Everyone has their tasks, so let's finish for today and let's get back to it on Monday. Hopefully, our young friends here will be all caught up on the case then."

Aleks and Toni nodded eagerly, and chairs scraped the floor as everyone slowly shuffled towards the door. Stephen stopped on his way to the door to put his hand on Toni's shoulder. "Good work today, lad. I'll be expecting great things from you."

"I won't let you down, sir!" he replied, not hiding his grin.

When everyone else left the room, Regan said, "Don't let all the praise get into your head, Toni. You still have much work to do to keep up with your new teammates. Starting with studying those case files."

Toni took a heavy folder with apprehension. "That's a lot to read."

"Then you better start now. Off you go. I want to have a word with Aleks."

A cold crept up Aleks' spine. She had a bad feeling about this. Whatever Regan wanted to discuss with her was probably nothing good.

Toni patted her shoulder encouragingly. "I'll save you some dinner before all the best bits are gone."

"Thanks, Toni."

When the door closed, Regan's heavy gaze stopped on her. "Come now, Aleks. You might want to sit down."

Aleks reluctantly walked up to the table and sat two chairs down from her supervisor. "Is it something bad?"

"Not as such. Depends on how you decide to take it."

"That's... not encouraging."

Regun rubbed his jaw covered in stiff dark stubble and looked at a report in front of him. "I've got a confirmation from our R&D department that the latest tests of our gifted detectors yielded promising results. They should be fully functional by next week with some minor tweaking."