Chapter 1

Alarms rang throughout the facility as people ran about checking monitors and panels. For some of the newer recruits this was something they had never experienced before, but for Ravi Sinha, as the head of this facility this was something he had experienced several times during his years here. He forced himself to walk slowly down to the operations floor, he felt as excited as the new recruits, a simulation completion with these numbers wasn’t something that had happened before, but as the head of this facility he maintained a dignified appearance as he made his way to the closest Laboratory assistant.

Ravi Sinha wasn’t a tall man, he was someone on the shorter end of the average height in the world, it was something he was painfully very aware of and hated. As such he did everything he could to try and stand out in other ways. He had long black hair tied in a ponytail with golden rimmed glasses that contrasted poorly with his dark brown skin. To top it off he wore a white lab coat, something no one wore in the modern day as it was so cumbersome and hard to move around in.

“How much longer?” Ravi asked the Lab worker closest to him.

“We’re going through the last remaining safety checks, we should have him out in a few minutes, sir.”

“Excellent, tell the doctors to inform me as soon as he wakes up. I’ll be in my office if anything comes up,” said Ravi as he walked off without looking back.

Back in his office, Ravi pulled out the communication crystal he had hidden away in a hidden panel on his desk. It was one of his prized possessions, it was an extremely expensive item and something that had been handed down to him by his predecessor, it was the only way to contact the person that was sponsoring their research.

Ravi made sure the door to his office was locked before activating the crystal. Sitting down on his chair he activated the crystal and waited for a response. He sat and stared at the blue glow coming from the crystal, waiting for it to turn green, which would indicate that the person on the other side had activated their crystal as well.

“What news do you have for me today, Ravi?” said a coarse and rough voice. The voice was different every time he had contacted it, sometimes it was a man, sometimes it was a woman, and it was never the same pitch or tone.

“We’ve had another person complete the simulation, sir.”

“Two in the same year? Now that isn’t something that happens very often. Boy or girl? And how are their scores?” asked the coarse voice.

“It’s a boy and you’ll be pleased to hear that his scores are the best we’ve ever recorded. He managed to get a 91.7%, sir,” said Ravi with a hint of pride in his voice.

“91%! I never thought I would see the day when someone broke the 90% mark!” exclaimed the coarse voice.

“91.7% sir, it was almost 92%,” corrected Ravi mildly.

“What’s his gift?” asked the voice excitedly.

“We don’t know yet, we’re still in the process of undocking him from the system. I just thought that you would like to know about him as soon as possible, sir.”

“You did well, Ravi. He’s the kind of person we’ve been hoping to find since we started this project. He may finally be the one we’ve been waiting our whole lives for, the man who would kill the King!”

There was a sharp intake of breath by Ravi, as he heard the idea finally spoken out loud by someone else. Someone to kill the King, had they finally succeeded? Was this boy the one to make all their sacrifices worthwhile?

His train of thought was broken as the person on the other side of the communication crystal continued speaking.

“Ravi are you still there?” asked the voice.

“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. I just got lost in my thoughts for a bit.”

“I can understand why, but we can’t be dreamy eyed at this critical point, we have to make sure he fully realizes his potential. Right now, he’s just statistics on a piece of paper, I want the best to be training and teaching him. Call them back from whatever missions they are on, this is now your number one priority. And contact me again as soon as you find out his gift!”

“But sir, I can’t call all of our best officers back from the field, some of them are collecting critical resources to help us keep functioning!” implored Ravi.

“The next time you contact me, give me a list of these critical resources you need, I’ll see what I can do about it. And remember Ravi, this boy could be what this project has been working towards for all these long years, I won’t tolerate failure in his education just because our finest were out rummaging for inconsequential things! If you disagree with me, I will replace you with someone who agrees with, am I making myself clear?”

“I understand, sir. I’ll contact you once we know more,” said Ravi as he reached forward and deactivated the communication crystal with a deep sigh. He didn’t like the idea that he was replaceable, but he agreed with their sponsor about the seriousness of the situation.

He looked at his watch, 1700, there was enough time to send a message out to field operatives before nightfall.

“Right then, time to start getting things ready for our genius,” said Ravi out loud as he got up with a smile and spring in his step that had been missing for years.

An oddly matched pair made their way down a long and well light corridor, they spoke in whispers so that the soldiers stationed at regular intervals couldn’t clearly make out what they were saying. They walked with a brisk pace, clearly eager to reach their destination.

“How long has he been awake? Is he coherent?” asked Ravi.

“Yes, he is coherent and has been awake for almost an hour now. One of the nurses found him sitting up when she went in to check up on him.”

“Did she talk to him? Has anyone spoken to him? Don’t lie to me, doctor,” said Ravi with slightly squinted eyes.

“We know how to follow protocol. You will not find my staff lacking in that matter, the soldiers posted everywhere though, I cannot say the same for them, I doubt they could even spell the word ‘protocol’,” said Dr. Ivanovich as he looked at Ravi with raised eyebrows.

Everyone that met Dr. Ivan Ivanovich for the first time couldn’t believe or accept that he was a doctor. He was six feet tall with short blonde hair and blue eyes that made ladies swoon if they looked at them for too long. Unlike Ravi he tried his best to not stand out, this could be seen in his posture and clothes. He slouched all the time to appear smaller than he was and wore a dark blue shirt with black pants.

As they had such contrasting personalities everyone expected the two to not get along, and if anyone heard their bickering that was the impression one got, but they were best friends and their bickering was proof of how honest and frank they were with each other. The foundation of their friendship had been necessity, they needed a united front as heads of the civilian faction of their rebel group, the military faction had a separate leader and he had far more power than the two of them, as his soldiers had access to all the weapons on the base.

“We both know that there isn’t much we can do about those idiots, now come on, the only thing that matters is that he meets us before Zacharias,” whispered Ravi, “and it looks like he is one step ahead of us in this race.”

Ravi and Ivan both slowed their pacing as scowls formed on their faces. Two heavily armed soldiers stood on each side of the door that led to the Observation Ward. Both soldiers saluted in unison as they approached and took a half step to block the entrance completely.

“I am sorry, sirs, entry into the Observation Ward is restricted until General Smith arrives, said the soldier on the right.

“And when will Zacharias arrive?” asked Ravi.

“Sooner than you would expect,” said a smooth voice making both Ravi and Ivan jump.

Zacharias Smith wasn’t a tall and distinguishable man, he was someone with a common man’s face, short black hair and thinly built. It was this natural gift of looking mundane and of no consequence, which had helped him become one of their most decorated and celebrated spies. It was only due to his failed assassination of the King that he had to retire from active service. With his cover blown, and his face revealed to everyone it was impossible to work in the field as a spy. And it certainly didn’t help that people still talked about how Zacharias Smith after failing to assassinate the King had slaughtered scores of soldiers before making his escape.

It was propaganda of course, he had barely managed to escape alive, but people needed hope. So, the story was spun, and Zacharias made a hero for the oppressed. He adapted to the new role and rose through the ranks quickly to finally become General of the Rebel Army. Since taking over, he had shifted the tactics of their soldiers from hit and run tactics to a war of espionage. They had never had so many spies planted in the Capital and Royal Army before. He had single handedly changed how the war was fought and the greatest benefit of his changes was the reduced number of casualties.

“It’s uncanny how you can walk without making any footsteps!” said Ivan.

“Old habits, they aren’t easy to forget,” said Zacharias, “so gentlemen, tell me, is the news I’ve heard true? Someone broke the 90% barrier?”

“Yes, and we are wasting precious time here, just so you can gloat about your information network,” said Ravi impatiently.

“A network that keeps us alive and one step ahead. A network that you have put in jeopardy by cancelling missions,” said Zacharias as he signaled for the soldiers to step aside and open the doors for him.

“Our sponsor has promised to provide the resources we need,” said Ravi as he walked one step behind Zacharias, he knew where this was heading, it always led back to the same thing with Zacharias.

“And yet he could not do that for us earlier, my kind Doctor, you must agree that it is highly suspicious behavior, and we shouldn’t trust this man!”

“I don’t think any of us trust him blindly, General. But we can’t survive without his funding,” said Ivan.

“But we can, if you two would just let me try my assassination plan instead of this madness we have been wasting time at for years!” said Zacharias.

“We tried it your way, you almost died, and we lost a lot of good people in the process. The next time we try it, we need the right candidate, and I am sorry to say no one in your team of agents fits that description. Look, I know how you feel, we have all lost a lot over the years, but we have never been closer to our goal, 91%, this is our chance. Please be patient a little longer!” exclaimed Ravi.

“Every single day we wait, is another day people have to suffer! I’ll be patient one last time, but if this boy fails, I am taking matters into my own hands, whether or not you two agree with me,” said Zacharias with a finality in his voice.

The official first chapter which isnt the prologue is finally out! Thanks for waiting patiently and hope you like it!

As always take care and stay safe out there, we live in a crazy world.

Anderoth