Undercover (Phan)

Chapter 29

Phil's POV

My childhood was...interesting, to say the least.

Once Martyn and I were old enough to know about The Red Core, it's job and it's values, we both knew that we wanted to be a part of it. We kept everything we knew a secret, and we did a pretty good job at it. My mother is a part of more of the business side of the agency; negotiations, planning out missions, and so on. My father, however, was more on the physical side. He was always the one going out on the missions, conducting them, leading them; he was one of if not the most respected agent there.

Our parents began training us at a young age, but always told us that if we ever changed our mind and decided we didn't want to be associated with the agency after all, we were free to do whatever we wanted as long as we kept the family's affiliations with the agency a secret. However, Martyn and I both became extremely invested in The Red Core and everything it had to offer.

My father had been doubling at the Eden agency and The Red Core for as long as I can remember. I grew up with stories of Dan - or Agent Ten, as I should say. So the irony of him being the one that was sent to assassinate me is hilarious. I never knew what "Agent Ten" looked like, and I didn't know that that specific agent would be coming after me to assassinate me. Before Dan, I'd never encountered an Eden agent, so I guess I didn't know they would really send someone so young to complete such a mission. I was suspicious of Dan the entire time, but I never really wanted to believe he was working with Eden until I heard his phone call this morning. However, "Agent Ten" was the only agent I knew of young enough to be going out on super dangerous for Eden and be after me, which is how I was able to conclude Dan's true identity.

Martyn and I are both really invested in the idea of out-going missions. However, Martyn is more interested in doing things to defeat or spy on rival agencies, as our father did, whereas I'm more interested in helping the people that have been affected by other agencies in bad ways even though they're innocent. That's why I decided that I wanted to work in the Search and Rescue department of The Red Core; I want to help people.

I technically don't start training for another three weeks when I turn eighteen, but my parents have taught me a lot and since my family holds such a high position at The Red Core, I'm very knowledgeable about the agency and how it works. I myself hold a very high position there as well, and I don't even technically work there yet.

The Red Core is very exclusive though. You have to know someone from there in order to get in. Most of the people who work at the agency is the relative of someone else there, but because of that, everyone gets along with each other pretty well, so it's a pretty good system. Once in a while, we get people from other agencies who want to switch over to ours - we've even got a few people who betrayed the Eden agency to join us. And even the people there who aren't relatives are all very good friends with each other and know each other really well. I personally know almost every person who works in my sector of The Red Core.

I'm quite worried about what will happen when Dan and I get there though. "Agent Ten" is infamous in the world of secret agencies. He's known by dozens of agencies around the world for being a ruthless killer and for being amazingly skilled for as young as he is. That's actually part of the reason why I gained trust in him even after finding out who he is - or was - this morning; he could have fought me back. When I pinned him against that wall, he could have easily whirled around, taken the weapons from me and killed me.

But he didn't.

However, just because I've been merciful doesn't mean that everyone else at Red will be. They know Dan only as "Agent Ten", master assassin. They don't know him as Daniel Howell. They don't know that he's actually really gentle and sweet. I'm hoping I can use my respected position at the agency to protect him. They'll treat him fairly, as they do with all of their prisoners, but there still very well may be consequences.