“And if Kenwar betrays us?” Van asked.
“Not if, my friend. When. When Kenwar betrays us, we’ll see what it looks like! We’re transferring him to our facility right now. Once he’s inside of these doors, he’ll be at our mercy. He might think he’s so smart, but the moment he gets into our pods, we can choose whether or not he’ll get those very important saline drips pumping through his arms. Essentially, he’ll be our own prisoner if he tries anything funny.”
“Neil, this seems like a terrible idea. On all accounts. Don’t forget, Draco still has some method of killing people trapped inside of the pods.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get you. That’s why I’m here to ask you to do something for me.”
“What?”
Neil grinned again. “I need you to flip in Draco’s favor. I want you to be our own double-agent.”
“A double-agent? That’s a little crazy,” Van said. “I’m not really cut out for the spying kind of life. I could barely lie to my own team about my name.”
“Espionage isn’t about lying, my friend; it’s about gaining trust. If your mark trusts you, they’ll be the ones to convince themselves that you’re on their side. Since Kenwar is already convinced that he’s pulling one over on us, he’s confident. You can use that confidence to take advantage of him. All you gotta do is make him feel like he’s suckering you, and he won’t even notice as you gain access to all sorts of information!” Neil said with a grin. “It’s the perfect plan!”
“It’s a terrible plan,” Van said. “It’s terrible and I won’t be a part of it.” He paused and looked at the stone-cold expression on Neil’s face.
“Do I really need to resort to violence and threats to motivate you again?” Neil asked. “I thought we were past that.”
“Hey, if you smack me, you’re going to be on probation! All I gotta do is tell Sang and she’ll complain about you!” Van said. He had taken precautions to make sure that his two CIA buddies, Neil and O’Hara, wouldn’t be able to physically accost him anymore. One such precaution was that Sang was to be fully informed of all of the threats levied against him. She would take his side in case of an emergency.
“Argh, fine, whatever,” Neil said as he stood up. “You’ve got a choice here, Van. Either you can step up and be a team player, or you can cost us this mission. It’s up to you. With the brass breathing down our necks, we don’t have a lot of options. My strategy might not be the best idea, but it’s something. Sang won’t be able to pretend like she’s a double-agent due to the fact that she’s not a gamer. You’re the perfect guy for this job because you have a vested interest in gaming. Kenwar will think that your love of the game has driven you to join Draco. We’ve got one good shot at this. Whatever information you can steal from him during your conversations will get right to our superiors. We can prevent a full-blown internal investigation and, best of all, we can keep the operation running.”
Van slowly nodded at that. Neil was making some level of sense. “It’s just really risky…” Van said. “What if Kenwar’s plan hinges on getting us back into the game with him? What if there’s some way he can hurt us?”
“Then he’ll be committing suicide. If you guys die, he dies,” Neil said. He leaned in close to Van’s face. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Van sighed. “Alright, if this is really the only way we can keep the mission going, fine. I’ll pretend to let him flip me, or whatever.”
“Great!” Neil said. “Well, get some rest. You’re going back in first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Don’t I need any kind of training?” Van asked.
Neil shrugged. “There’s nothing that you can learn about espionage between right now and seven in the morning that will help. Try to let him talk as much as he likes and always act like you’re conflicted. Should work like a charm.”
“Is everything we do around here so ramshackle?” Van shouted as Neil walked out. He sighed heavily and looked at his bed. This mission was getting more complicated by the minute.
“I’m starting to wish none of this had ever happened to me,” he mumbled as he fell onto his mattress. Things had been so much easier back when he was just a simple gamer, trying his hardest to become a professional player. Now he was stuck working with a Draco spy who might have the ability to kill him and Sang at any moment. As Van drifted off to sleep, he felt deep regret overtaking him. Maybe things would have been better if he had just chosen to walk away from this job once and for all.
Van’s sleep was fitful that night. His dreams were increasingly focused on the conversations that he had been having with Sang and Neil. In his dream, he was carrying a massive bag full of bricks. He knew that no matter what he did, if he dropped the bag, he would be in a lot of trouble. Yet, he also knew that, if he kept carrying the bag, he’d eventually fall over dead from exhaustion. The dream was troubling enough that he woke up with his fists clenched around his sheets. The piercing scream of his alarm continued until he managed to tap the snooze button. The alarm repeatedly blinked 7:00, eliciting a groan he couldn’t hold back.
“Hey, you awake?” Sang asked as she poked her head in the door.
“You ever hear of knocking?” Van mumbled as he tried to roll over. It was way too early for him to even consider getting out of bed.
“Sorry, champ, but we gotta get up,” Sang replied. “Lots to talk about with the team.”
“I’ve heard we’re getting a new friend,” Van said as he slowly got out of bed.
“Yeah, I’m not so happy about it, but O’Hara says it’s for the best,” Sang said as she dropped a tray of eggs and vegetables on the nightstand. “This should help you out a bit.”
“So, what are your thoughts?” Van asked as he slowly began to eat. He was hoping there’d be some Cwake with his breakfast, but to his dismay, there was no drug to be found. Ever since they’d begun working with multiple branches of the government, Neil had stopped supplying Van with the life-giving pill. He supposed it was for the best, since he would easily have traded away his future health just to feel awake right now. Perhaps that was what addiction was like.
“Well, he’s obviously up to something, but then again, it’s impossible to tell just what he’s going to be doing,” Sang said. “So, we’re going to have to work with what we’ve got. Just keep an eye on him.
Van paused to consider whether Sang knew that he was supposed to be doing some kind of double-agent shenanigans. Perhaps Neil would have left her out in order to sell it more. He didn’t want to say anything, just in case he was supposed to keep the arrangement secret, so he merely nodded instead.
“Anyway,” Sang continued, “we’ve bought ourselves some time with the higher-ups with his presence. They’re willing to give us about a week’s extension before we have to give a formal report.”
“Formal report? Is that bad?” Van asked.
Sang shrugged. “Well, if we have a good deal of information to show the government that Draco is up to some seriously shady things, we’ll be in the clear. However, if we don’t have anything to show except for accusations and the testimony of the two of us, well… this senator isn’t going to be too happy with us.”
“Ugh, this job is just getting better and better, isn’t it?”
“You learn to deal with it,” Sang said. “I’ve rarely ever had a job in the CIA not immediately get derailed due to politics, either internal or external. It’s just something that you constantly have to worry about when you’re in the government.” She shifted around a bit more. “So, what’s our next step for our merry band of adventurers?”