Going Rogue

“Agent Bentley, can you hear me?” a crackly voice is transmitted through my earpiece.

“Yep,” I say, excited at the prospect of another mission. I have been working with Moonfire Intelligence for three years, and what can I say? I just adore the adrenaline rush that overcomes my bones every time I am assigned a new operation to complete. 

“So, what do I have to do today, Hunter?” I ask, and wait for a response.

“It’s Harlow,” says my partner, Hunter Green, through the speaker. “He recently found files from our database which could ruin all our plans if he opens them. You have to track him down… and I hate to say this, but it would be dangerous to keep him alive.”

My lips part in surprise.

“You mean… kill him?” I say, shocked.

“Well, he knows too much, Rosé. Allowing him to survive would be a danger to our organisation if he’s read those files.”

Elijah Harlow is the Director of R.O.G.U.E., Moonfire Intelligence’s rival organisation. His agents mainly deal in underhanded operations, selling secrets (usually lies) against the government. Now that he’s got his hands on those files, it makes him quite a formidable foe. 

No matter how formidable, however,  I have never been ordered to kill any of our enemies or contenders before, so it is surprising to receive a kill order for the very first time.

“How much does he know?”

“A lot. Enough to take down our entire organisation. Mostly intel about how we built Moonfire Intelligence up from the ground, and how we get our information.”

Oh, dear. If Elijah has that data, there’s no telling what he can do.

“We’ll send another agent into the field with you,” continues Hunter, “Jeremiah Frost. Just in case you chicken out.”

I snort, shaking my head. “I never chicken out.”

I can almost hear Hunter smiling through the microphone. “We’ll see, Agent Bentley. Anyway, the operation starts tomorrow. Agent Frost will meet you outside Headquarters. Remember – take out Harlow, get our data back. Make it quick and clandestine, in and out.”

I nod, before remembering that he can’t see me, and then I quickly say yes.

I can’t wait to get back in the field.

                                                                        –

I walk up to the Moonfire HeadQuarters, dressed in a plain black hoodie and jeans. In operations like this, it’s better to blend in than to stand out. If you look closely, you can probably see the faint outline of my gun underneath my hoodie, but people these days are so self-absorbed that they are unlikely to notice.

I see a scrawny boy with messy curls standing under a tree near the main entrance. I can tell that he is my new partner, Jeremiah Frost, by the emblem of a moon engulfed by flames emblazoned on his jacket. The emblem of our organisation. 

I stroll over to him, as inconspicuous as possible, and he looks up as I come closer to him. He flashes me a small smile, his bright green eyes crinkling at the corners.

We walk together a few kilometres, getting closer to the place that Moonfire told us we would find Elijah Harlow. Jeremiah constantly tries to make small talk on the way, but I remain curt and abrupt (borderline rude) since I have learned from an early age never to make friends with your business partners. After an hour or so of walking, we reach a deserted, eerily quiet building – more of a shack, really. The original colour of the walls has long since faded away, covered by layers upon layers of graffiti. It seems like just the sort of shady place where Elijah would meet his cohorts.

Sure enough, about five minutes later, I spot a tall man in a suit, looking somewhat out of place in the barren area. His hair is neatly styled back, and large glasses rest on his pointed nose. Elijah Harlow. 

Next to me, Jeremiah lets out a strange kind of feral growl and lunges forward at our target. He tackles Elijah to the ground, and after a few kicks to the stomach, Elijah is rendered weak, and unable to fight back. Jeremiah wraps his arms tightly around Elijah’s neck, holding him in place as I raise my gun.

Perspiration trickles down my forehead, and my nerves tingle with a strange mixture of excitement and anxiety. Taking a deep breath, I pull the trigger, and a loud BANG! fills my ears.

I watch, as he falls to the ground like a rag doll, crimson blood spurting from the wound. I’ve done it. For the first time, I have killed someone. I cannot deny the slight twinge of guilt I feel in my chest, but I know that I must always be loyal towards my organisation, and if this is what it entails… I am willing to do it.

Elijah Harlow steps over Jeremiah Frost’s lifeless body, and smiles at me.

“Well done, Agent Rosé Bentley. Welcome to R.O.G.U.E.” he says, holding out his hand.

I grab his hand, shake it, and smile.