Agent Chetiri

Chapter 1

Very few of us are what we seem.

-Agatha Christie

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It has always been said to never judge a person by their cover, for it could lead to misconceptions and possibly awkward situations. But as you walk along the streets, you cannot help but wonder:

What secrets lie beneath the surface, waiting to be revealed?

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After her escape from Operation Chetiri, Alexa had moved to England under the alias of "Alexandra Abbott". She had pooled together the money she had received from her assassinations (which barely covered her tuition and living expenses) and went to study at King's College for computer science. It was a lovely college, and she was prosperous and content. Her social interaction skills were still subpar and to be frank, she had not made a single friend. After six long (and somewhat lonely) years, she had obtained her master's degree in computer science in 2008. Although Alexa did not graduate at the top of her class, she was fairly close and placed second to a man whose name she could not recall.

After her studies had finally concluded, she used her degree to land a job in network security at Enigma Technologies, a technology company based in London. She worked in the network security branch on developing new ways to improve the company's security software, which protected banks and businesses around the city. Alexa worked as a regular employee for two years before deciding to reach a higher position where she would have better pay and more access to the technology at the office.

Alexa believed that the best way to protect yourself from hackers was to become one, so she used her spare time learning the art of hacking. It had taken two more years before she implemented this newfound knowledge in their security system, which helped her to rise above the ranks to become the head of network security in her department.

It was only fair to say that life for her was quite good, but she could not help but become bored by her job at Enigma Tech. Her co-workers were rather dull, only speaking to her on businesslike terms and to be completely honest, she wanted to do more than protect the businesses and banks of London. She wanted to go further somehow, but she did not where to go from here. Her answer would later come from a rather unexpected place, more specifically, at the Barbican Tube station.

Alexa walked out of the Enigma Technology building at around 8:13 PM on September 10, 2012, wrapping her jacket around her. It was a rather exhausting day and she found herself feeling drained. She had worn a black blazer today, paired with a white sweater that had small, blue stripes. Unlike any businesswoman, she had actually worn flats, like a sensible person and a pair of comfortable black slacks.

She jogged down the steps and scanned her pass before taking a seat at a bench. The platform was not very full at the moment, save for the occasional person coming into the station. She pulled out a book on computer viruses from her purse and began to read until her train arrived.

Alexa had gone about ten pages into the book before she heard soft footsteps from the staircase beside her. She did not look up and flipped to the next page of her book. Moments later, she heard the footsteps coming her way before the person sat down next to her on the bench.

"Computer Viruses: from Theory to Applications by Eric Filiol. Certainly an unusual choice," they said.

Alexa looked up suddenly to meet the eyes of a man who looked to be about her age, with tousled brown hair and green eyes. He wore glasses and she found him rather cute, if not, handsome. She dropped her gaze immediately, almost afraid to look at him for any longer and stared at her book. He seemed familiar somehow and she really couldn't place why this was so. Her brain scrambled to form a complete and appropriate sentence in response and after a moment, she finally spoke.