The Liberal Assassin

Terminated. Again.

Slamming down the keyboard in frustration, I let out a low m.o.a.n. Khronos glanced over and patted me on the shoulder with wise understanding eyes.

"We don't have a choice now. Rion erased the digital archives of all these people. I'm sure Spencer isn't even aware of it. Knowing how careful my guardian is, there must be some physical copies lying around in his office."

Well, Spencer was the paranoid type with old school tendencies. I had no doubt about the existence of hard copies but the problem was searching for them. Personally, the office was the only place I refused to enter as the Night Walker even if it was to drive Spencer bonkers.

Khronos grinned and wished me luck. I died a little inside.

"Do you even know how his office looked? It's a dumpster in there! I'll never find it!"

Khronos chuckled good-naturedly and gave me a pat on the back. Instead of consoling me or suggesting a better solution, the scientist gave me a thumbs-up.

"Better reasons to start immediately. There are still three more weeks before your mansion is ready, I know you can do this."

Three weeks is an awfully long time but with the amount of snooping and sieving, I foresee three very torturous weeks ahead.

***

Snooping.

Evading.

More snooping.

Copying.

Even more snooping.

Digging for doc.u.ments.

Snooping again.

The monotonous process over the last two weeks nearly drove me insane while the new mansion's construction progressed smoothly. Khronos took the time to repair the training room which spoke a lot about the time I spent torturing myself. It was not unusual to find myself crashing onto Nash's couch every wee morning, dead to the world.

Finally, on the third day of the third week, I found the last folder containing the remaining evidence of the Parliament's crimes. If this wasn't an undercover mission, I would have shouted and danced in joy. The dizzy sense of fulfilment dissipated quickly when logic took over. This was only the first part of the very huge puzzle with so many missing pieces that still needed work on.

"Whatever. This calls for a celebration on my part," I muttered to nobody in particular.

It's time to quit my job as an office boy. Spencer had free labour for the past two weeks without even noticing. As much as I wanted to leave things the way they were, I couldn't. Whatever doc.u.ments I touched were sorted to the right folders and filed into the right cabinets according to alphanumerical order. I must say, the office finally looked less like a dumpster. The desk that had been buried beneath piles of paperwork can now be seen even if I didn't know if Spencer noticed the difference. He probably never bothered to find out who was behind the miracle called filing, simply thankful to the anonymous angel.

Stretching my tired limbs, I decided to take the scenic route back with the copy of those doc.u.ments. Swiftly leaping and making my way to the rooftop, I took in the beautiful city lights. Skyscr.a.p.ers like this were perfect for stargazing.

"Hey Mia, do you think they would be angry at me when they find out? I think they would be. Then again, I'm more afraid of them stopping me. What do you think I should do?"

The stars only blinked silently. The Sirius star shone the brightest and I was reminded of Alastair. As annoying as the boy was, he was the only one back at the Academy I could confidently call a friend.

"What would Alastair say, huh?"

Knowing the boy's character, it would be something along the lines of 'let the stars decide'. His carefree nature was always getting him into trouble. Despite that, he had never once judged me for the way I was and accepted everything with open arms. However, his naggy side and overly adoring behaviour could definitely use some work.

Tugging at my hair in frustration, I g.r.o.a.n.e.d. It did nothing to alleviate my current distress, only serving to waste more time. Deeming it too troublesome to think about it, I gave up. There were too many things to do and worrying about something that couldn't be done was at the bottom of my list.

After making the best decision to run away from my current problems, I hit the button on the side of the communicator. "I'll be coming back with the last copy. It's now your turn to work."

Khronos' voice crackled. Incoherent words and muffled groans in forms of unspoken complaints greeted my ears. I rolled my eyes at his predictable antics.

"Stop complaining old man… I did the hard part of going through over a hundred thousand files for them. All you need to do is compile the evidence. It's not even needed anytime soon."

I didn't fully register his reply with icy wind blowing directly in my face and I let it slide. Instead, I told the scientist to brace himself for my grand arrival and set the coordinates on the charged orb. In a flash, I was back at base with a dishevelled green haired man before me.

The first thing I did was wrinkle my nose at the stench.

"How did you let it get so bad after just a few weeks?"

The man in question only g.r.o.a.n.e.d.

"Rigging every security system in Luna isn't the easiest task you know? You ask for the impossible sometimes."

"And yet you've done it," I pointed out. "Here is the copy of the data."

I passed him the chip and almost gagged when he closed in. That was definitely not body odour. The scientist simply didn't have it in him to monitor his personal hygiene level.

Trying to put as much distance as physically possible, I grimaced at his zombie-like state, I suggested for him to take a shower and a nap before continuing.

"Slave driver…" he muttered but accepted the chip anyway.

The moment he shifted his focus to the large holographic images in front of him, I excused myself. I was almost certain the man was going to ignore my suggestion and continue with what he was doing. Well, at least I tried. He could be a slime infested demigod for all I care if he does his job well.

With the pressing issue out of the way, it was now time to check on Ignacio and Rush's progress.