It's a Spy vs. Spy World

Chapter Three (EDITED)

Chapter Three (Edited)

"Well I wasn't really having second thoughts before, but now...." Rick commented trailing off as he took his first look at HQ. Okay, so I'll be the first to admit HQ isn't exactly the Taj Mahal or anything, rather, the outside is about as aesthetically pleasing as the place we had just taken Rick from (so really he should have felt right at home). However, unlike his old foster home HQ looked like crap for a reason. Nobody in their right mind would believe that twenty feet below this old, broken and rundown factory was actually an elite training facility for spies and that is exactly what made the location so perfect!

Although Rick was completely unaware of the genius of the location so he just stared at the building his expression a mixture of curiosity, confusion and slight disappointment. I shot him a look that I hoped he understood meant 'get over it' and then I walked up to the factory door. The door was on its last legs, practically falling off the hinges and if someone didn't open it the proper way it would tear right off when pushed open. The trick is to only open it a little; only the amount of space you actually need to get through. It's sort of a stealth training thing I suppose. Either that or HQ just doesn't want to pay for the repair, plus it kind of blends in with the whole old decaying building vibe that the factory has going on.

I slinked through the door leaving it perfectly intact behind me and then as if right on cue I heard a big crack and a bang. I turned quickly, not surprised in the least to see Rick on the ground where he had dived to avoid being hit by the door he'd ripped off. I sighed. For the whole hour or so I'd known him he hadn't done a single thing that'd impressed me or demonstrated why Caesar had chosen him. It was disappointing really.

"Sorry!" Rick apologized quickly.

"Richard it's fine. It needed to be fixed anyway." Caesar said with a patience that I knew I would never be able to master. I, on the other hand, stood there and held back my laughter at Rick's stupidity. I reached down and grabbed him by the shirt sleeve and hauled him up. I watched him as he brushed himself off then strode deeper into the factory towards our true destination.

"You coming Ricky?" I asked. He frowned when I said Ricky and seemed about to correct me, but I just ignored him and continued to walk away trailing behind Caesar who had somehow taken the lead again.

It took us a minute or two to walk through all the winding hallways that at one point had been offices of some sort in the old factory but we soon reached our destination. Once there I opened a door that led us into a room that looked exactly like every other one we'd been through before except this one had red laser beams floor to ceiling that blocked the way to a set of stairs which led up to the final door we would venture through. The objective was that Rick would have to make it past all the beams without touching them to make it to the door. All of us who came here had to be able to make it through the beams or there was really no point in us being here at all, if you couldn't do it then you just weren't good enough (it's a ridiculously easy task, I mean I did it as a seven year old). Overall. it's just a room with few laser beams that give a small shock to anyone who touches them, so it's not even very dangerous and not so much a security feature as a game really.

However, there's a secret to it; you don't really have to go through the beams at all. There is actually a hidden stairway which is not trapped that offers an alternate route. Although, no one tells you this, new recruits are supposed to figure it out on their own if they are truly determined to not go through the lasers. So in all actuality it is only partly a test of agility and physical strength and more a test of observation skills and abstract thinking. Let's just say most people go through the beams a few times before they realize there is a different route, it is very well hidden. Very few people see the secret staircase on the first try. My friend Bridget figured it out on her first try, she was seven too but she's just smart that way.

Rick just looked at Caesar and I as if to say 'no way I'm doing this.' Caesar only smiled encouragingly in reply. I seriously doubted Rick could do it though, if today's events had been any indication of his talents I would probably have to come to his rescue in less than a minute. He may be shocked to death if I didn't save him.

"Richard just remember; notice things." Caesar told everyone this only most of us don't understand it right away. Rick was not an exception, he just looked at Caesar like he wanted to say 'thanks for the crap advice'. Caesar patted Rick on the shoulder and we stepped out of his way so he could give the beams a shot. The more I looked at him the more sure I became that I'd have to save him.

Rick took a deep breath to calm himself. He looked back at me and winked. I wondered briefly what that was but I didn't wonder for long because just then he quickly set off. Literally. It was kind of amazing. He did a series of flips and jumps and even scaled part of a wall to avoid the beams. It was all very parkour-esque and I was downright amazed with him. I had definitely underestimated him much to my dismay. Caesar and I walked up the hidden stairs and to the door watching as Rick completed the beams in a record time second only to yours truly. I must have looked as amazed as I felt because Rick shot me a smug look. Caesar didn't look surprised at all and I suspected that this was at least one of the reasons he'd chosen Rick in the first place, although there couldn't possibly be much else to him. Could there?

I really wanted to wipe the smug look off his face but I chose to just ignore him. He wasn't the only one who could do parkour. Caesar had taught me. He'd taught me almost everything I know. Besides everyone can do it here at HQ, I was only amazed in Rick's case because I had seriously doubted he could do it or anything for that matter.

I walked over to the door and punched in the thirteen digit code and stepped aside to let them through. As Rick walked through I tripped him but I did it in a way that made it seem like he had just fallen on his own. He stumbled and almost fell to the ground, but he managed to catch himself just in time. Rick turned back around to glare at me. I had succeeded in wiping the smirk off Rick's face.

Caesar rolled his eyes as he walked through the door and said in a chastising tone, "Jessica, don't get angry when others do something good too." he laughed but I knew he wasn't completely joking. He meant it. Fine, I guess I can be sort of a bitch sometimes but whoever you are reading this you better forget I ever wrote that or I'll kick your ass!

Once through the door we continued down a narrow, completely white hallway with only a dim light leading to an elevator at the other end. It was a one way elevator leading to only one destination: our top secret underground spy training facility otherwise known as HQ.

There was only one button on the wall and Rick looked at it excitedly.

"Can I press it?" he asked eagerly, like a kid who was deprived of button pressing when he was little. He probably was. How sad. Rick didn't wait for an answer he just reached out and pressed it. Then, big surprise, the elevator doors opened. I rolled my eyes for about the tenth time since I'd met him as he looked disappointedly at the button. He'd probably been expecting some big explosion and then boom the elevator would be there. But instead all he got was an elevator that slid open quietly. No poof. No bang.

We all entered the elevator and I was thankful again for how spacious it was (I like having lots of space if you have not already noticed). The elevator was no ordinary elevator with regards to space since the max capacity is 30 people or more if you all don't weigh too much. In fact, it can hold all of us AITs (agents in training) here at HQ if we don't mind squeezing in.

Inside, the elevator was devoid of buttons to press (probably much to Rick's disappointment) because the only way it went was down as there is a whole other elevator for going up. We took the 15 second ride in silence and I could practically feel the anticipation and excitement rolling off of Rick in waves no matter how cool and calm he was pretending to be. I couldn't even blame him though, who wouldn't get hyped if they were making their way down into a secret underground base which held a top secret training facility for young spies? When the doors finally slid opened Rick's eyes widened and for the first time since his arrival at HQ it seemed we had not disappointed him.