Agent (Book 1)

Chapter 34-Nolan

34

Nolan Hood

Agent: 21

Mission: Not Applicable

Date: September 12th, 2089

Time: 1000

    After some heavy conflict with the nurses, I was finally cleared to go to training, with a few stipulations. One, being, that I can only stay for an hour with minimal physical activity. Despite how I feel about my condition, they claim that I'm still very weak, and need a chance to take things easy before springing back into action. Although I don't necessarily like the limitations, it's nerving to see how everyone will react to my return, as well as the certainty of traitors now walking among us.

    And what's worse, every time I allow my thoughts to wander to Rap, a cold fury such as I have never felt, takes me whole. I know, deep inside, that we'll be torn apart one by one if we don't make a move soon. Maybe it's Rap's reluctance, something, that just sets my teeth on edge. And Lynn, I believe that she knows it too, that we have to take action before things take a turn for the worst. If they haven't already. Stubborn as she is, she'll always stand at Rap's side. 

    I can tell that everyone's a little surprised to see me back in training so soon, but everything goes on like usual. I spot Lynn, deep in conversation with the blonde girl who had assisted on my rescue mission, but I avert my eyes almost instantly. For a moment, I almost wish they wouldn't have cleared me. 

    Kamal (apparently the new trainer) begins to speak, and I turn my attention over to him, as he announces today's agenda. There's a cast over his wrist. "I've arranged something...a bit different," he starts. At once, the room quiets. His eyes are trained on the notepad in his hand, surely the source of today's activity. "By order of the commander, we will be having a 'pressure point' test, if you will. A mock interrogation." His eyes tend to waver on a few agents specifically. "We've been working on our mental strength for a while now. Show your commitment by withholding information from your enemy."

    So, Rap has decided to make a move after all. His initial plan for this activity shines through loud and clear. Where the agents are drawn into the open, exposed, is where they're named as a subject for trial. But if we're really as trained as we've claimed to be, then this will be a real trick. Still, even I can't deny, it was a worthy plan.

    We're called up in numerical order (based on agent number) so there's only one other agent scheduled before me. No surprise there. Most of the agents in this round are relatively new. As usual, the training schedule has been changed, so different agents have been placed in this hour today. The first man to step up, being one of them.

    The young man sits down into the chair as Kamal binds his wrists to the arm rests and flips on the fluorescent table light standing next to him. He dims the overhead bulbs.

    There is a real strategy to what Kamal is doing here. I listen as his questions remain quite cool at first, and he builds them steadily, as he continues. I recall Tenor's technique in doing this, and I realize just how similar they are in terms of questioning. Kamal doesn't hesitate to get in your face either. The agent up for interrogation gets through easily, barely showing a glimmer of hesitation beneath his gaze. However, had this been a real sentence to questioning, Kamal for surely would've ripped into him like a hunk of raw meat.

    I'm up next. I step up with steady hands, though the stares that find me are more nerving then the actual exercise. Kamal quickly binds down my wrists (which reminds me painfully of shackles) and the lights go down.