Overwatch (editing)

To the East!

2

I nod and take my last glimpses of Kiersten, my hometown.

Things move quickly in the Los Angeles International Airport. I've never seen LAX so militarized and locked-down. The Foresight professionals steer em this way and that then hold me in the terminal until they earn clearance. I let the agents know I'm grateful, but I feel like the security was too obsessive.

They essentially hold my hand until I'm seated in a private jet bound for Beijing.

From the window I wave to the F-15s pilots flying in formation off the left wing. The Air Force escort peels off somewhere over the Pacific, about an hour before I see mainland Asia.

I also wave to the Su-27 pilots, who salute me from their cockpits. I'm told the U.S.A. has a reputation for training the most skilled pilots in the world. Therefore, it seems strange to me that they are this sensitive with their airspace.

When the plane lands and taxis on Asian soil, I feel nauseous and like someone is watching me.

I'd heard about the strange happening in this nation. The Bristolian news called it an infection and first appaeared about a month prior. I hoped the United States would sort it out on its own. I guess they haven't.

I don't know what infection brings with it. I'm being rushed to a joint briefing which I hope will answer some of my questions.

•••••••••

Someone get me out of here. I wanted some information and not an all-day lecture. Why am I even helping the United States? I thought the U.S.A. and the Collaborated Quarters had an unofficial Cold War going on?

I put my face in my hands before a member of Ops tugs at my arm. I growl and yank my arm away.

I still feel like someone is close. Very close. Not these Ops guys or the Asian officials. Someone else. Someone dangerous.

The Asian Federal Bureau of Investigation make me memorize protocol. They might as well drill into my skull and shove standards in there.

When I was in Kiersten I never thought I'd miss California's beaches. I feel the sand stick to the areas between my toes and smell the sunscreen on my Latino skin. I listen to the waves at first but after a while they crash soundlessly. I look around for an explanation for the mute tides then realize there are no waves and I'm stuck in a quieter briefing room. The FBI agents present their "finest warrior, of unmatchable strength and unfaltering dedication."

But of course I already know who it is. She needn't even put a boot in a room as a hint.

Kassandra "Sorrows" the Vampire of the East.

The broad changed her look since I last saw her. I loved her hair before it was dyed dark red.

I want to see her face. She avoids my gaze and I hate it. Look at me. Look at me. Why did you leave? Look here.

She got piercings, too. Ears and studs across her eyebrow. Her skin is still pale from the vampire disease she was born with. There's no doubt in my mind she inked the skin beneath that leather.

She still won't acknowledge me. I'll stare until she looks. "Agent Nine, were you paying attention?" says the directing Asian agent, "Dunderhead, like the rest of the Bristolians, I see." The Asians laugh loudly, including Kassandra.  I forgot. She's one of them now.

The Asian continues, "Your agency has lent you to our ordeal under some conditions, one of them being that we deliver this to you." I have no idea what the agent is talking about but I nod like I've been expecting whatever this is.

The Asian slides a small, dark case across the desk. I feel the chrome Foresight emblem on the lid. The looks across the Ops members' faces tell me this isn't something I should open in front of our enemies.

The briefing drags on even further. I'm barely awake.

"The first report of infection came from a remote area away from the city. You are to locate the origin of the virus and explore the characteristics of the infected," says the FBI agent.

"You mean you don't know? Are you Asians too afraid to face them yourselves?" I blurt out.

Kassandra glares at me from across the table, looking like she's fighting the urge to leap across the room and strangle me. Truthfully, I feel traces of Luminescence from her direction. At least the Inner Feline never changes.

"I am aware you and Miss Sorrows have history preceeding this mission?" the agent wonders aloud. The air in the briefing room turns steamy; its one of those tense moments that could end if someone tells an unfunny joke.

"Yes, we do," Kassandra stated, "However, I'm not here for Mr. Godinez or anybody else. I'm here because it's in my best interest the human race survives."