What It Comes After

Prologue (The Forgotten Tragedy)

Tuesday, August 22nd, 2.079

Anneke sighed. It was not the first time she had been sent on such spying missions, but it was the first time she had been sent into a city surrounded by an extremely secure 'electric dome', which, according to rumors, few people passed through on their way in, but almost no one came out. And if it was about that scientist's hideout, it was worse: nobody knew what was going on inside, because the few who had the courage to enter and leave alive (and these were always fewer than those who had entered), were simply... not the same. It was as if they were reset...

Luckily for her, our spy had a series of inventions that would allow her to enter without being discovered, all manufactured by a handful of scientists who were also the ones who had asked the agent to be part of this mission: the Jennings siblings.

"Agent 21, have you entered the city yet?"

A voice spoke from her James-Bond-type Smart Watch. It was her boss, Louis O'Neill, who was also the head of the entire British cyber police and espionage corps, and outside of work, Annie's best friend

"No, sir, I'm programming the electrical switches the Jennings gave me so I can get into the city... you know, because if I get in without breaking the dome system, I'm gonna get an electrical shock of no less than a million volts" The agent shuddered at the thought, as she finished programming the last electrical disturbance. "Sir, I am ready to enter the city; at your service, sir"

"All right: I give the green light to enter; repeat, green light to enter"

"Okay..." the curly-haired girl swallowed and nibbled at the ends of her scarlet red dyed hair. Louis... I'm telling you this as a friend, outside of work, okay? She was nervous and her boss noticed. "If I don't survive... tell Connor I love him. Tell him not to mourn me, to go on without me. To make something of his life and not just be a failure. Will you tell my brother, Lulú?"

"..." the redheaded officer was in a sea of tears. This was a dangerous mission, and he feared losing the person he trusted most, his best friend.

"Louis...?" the girl noticed that her colleague was affected, so she kept silent to respect how he felt. After all, she was scared too, and she was afraid she wouldn't come back alive.

That emotional moment was destroyed by Sally Jennings, the middle sister of the science trio, who was irritatingly desperate.

"Guys, could you save the tears and the cheesiness for another time? We're on a mission where every second is crucial"

The officer looked at her a bit annoyed, but just wiped away the tears and got back to the serious business.

"Yes, you're right, Miss Jennings. Agent 21 - he addressed his friend once again — You have the green light to enter"

"Understood, sir - and without knowing what would happen, she threw an electrical alterator towards the dome, and then jumped into it herself. She felt a small electric shock go through her whole body which made her shudder. When she opened her eyes, however, she noticed that she had succeeded: she had gone through the dome. She breathed a big sigh of relief and then contacted her superior to tell him the news"

"Phase 1 of the mission was a success, sir! I'm waiting for new orders, over"

"That's great news Anneke! the youngest of the Jennings brothers, who was also there, was happy to hear that the mission was working. "Soon everything will be the same as before..." the guy thought, optimistic"

"Yes, that's good news, but you better not distract Agent Danae Lutherson, or this will all get f-"

"Sally, can you stop being SO nasty? You're distracting me. Oh, and don't call me by my first name, you know I hate it" The dark-skinned girl released all her impotence with the nasty woman of science.