Echo

Chaper 8: The Message

Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! I am in the midst of studying for my upcoming finals, so I am posting this a little early to compensate for next week, which promises to be the busiest EVER between school and holiday parties.

I am so grateful to you all for your encouragement and kind words, it is easy to keep writing when I have so much wonderful feedback to go on.

Oh, and if you haven't seen the show Almost Human with Karl Urban yet, you should :)

- -
Echo

TRAITOR.

It was emblazoned on the wall in bright red paint that could have been mistaken for blood, save for the shade which you knew from experience was too bright of a crimson. When real blood dried, it turned an ugly brown color. It was written over the fourth murder victim's cold corpse. She lay spread eagle on the bed, in a similar fashion to the other three, a knife wound in her chest and her sightless eyes directed at the ceiling.

Leonard rolled a sheet over her in a strangely delicate way considering the type of man he was. You watched him until he caught you staring, at which point you looked away, mildly embarrassed.

"The first one didn't have a message?" Omega inquired, settling herself into a nearby chair with good grace.

"Nor did the others," Delta answered.

You sighed through your nostrils and turned away from the message, knowing the definition of the word, but wondering what it was doing there above the dead cadet. The others had been killed in precisely the same way, but none had had any sort of signature left behind. This was the first.

What did it mean? You weren't the type of person who was skilled at solving puzzles. Perhaps that was why, this time, they had chosen to bring Omega along. She was among the smartest in the group, and more likely to see what the rest of you didn't.

Omegas were always a little more intelligent than other agents, which was why, when they joined the organization, they were categorized into class "O".

Part of the reason why all of you had strange names was due to the fact that the handlers needed a way to identify your skill sets. They had determined that there were roughly 24 classes of assassins, and had long ago chosen to dub the agents by Greek letters. That way, when a higher up needed to give one of you an assignment, they could pick and choose a person for the mission without ever having to personally meet you.

Alphas were class "A", and fittingly given a name that alluded to superiority, because they were all natural leaders. Betas were class "B", also leaders, though a bit less willful than Alphas, and often put as second in command on group missions.

If there were multiple agents on an assignment, it was almost guaranteed that there would be an Alpha and a Beta. Most of the other names were derived from the Greek alphabet, yours and a few others being the exception because in the English language, some of the Greek letters started with the same letters in the English alphabet. Echo had been chosen instead of Epsilon because it was simpler, and Eta was too close to Zeta and Theta. Maia and Hera were other names that they used, you knew, which were taken from mythology like yours.

You were placed in class "E" for a few reasons. One of them being that you were compliant, easygoing, and generally obedient, making the name "Echo" circumstantially appropriate considering that it was a form of reflection. What they did not tell you to your face, but what you inherently knew, was that class "E" agents weren't really free thinkers. It also usually meant that you were fast, well trained with knives, and good at taking down big, slow targets, making you perfect for infiltrating the private residences of well-guarded assignments.