[WP] In a school for assassins and mercenaries, you're a beloved lunch lady. You ruefully realize that you're the only person nearly everyone trusts. Then you get framed for placing hemlock in an administrator's meal. The school board rushes to fire you, throwing the academy into turmoil.
*****
At this point, it was important for me to take stock of all that we had discovered within a single day just to clarify our standing, the lead-up to this point, and our course of action going forward.
The time was 11 PM, and we were headed for the room of Caprice, one of the graduating 'students' at Spyder, a top-secret facility which was known in the creme de la creme of the underworld for its longstanding history of training some of the most infamous and skilled mercenaries and assassins. It was completely independent of manipulation by governments and world powers but still took high-paying, top-tier, and top-secret dirty work from them.
Around 2 PM that day, a test revealed that the food delivered by me, Maria Hernandez - the cook and the only person everyone could trust at this facility - was laced with hemlock. I was fired, but then I managed to prove my innocence and I was welcomed back.
In a strange turn of events, we discovered that the Weapons Instructor, Eunice Sandler was murdered and butchered in her office, and within that period, the lights went off and Inosuke Kubo, the Unarmed Combat instructor was killed. We had a little confrontation with a man who tried to kill Amanda and found an ally in the person of Nina Alcott, and after a brief altercation, discovered the existence of a canister that the late Inosuke had kept within his coat when she confronted him about it.
The said canister had been stolen just 30 minutes ago, by someone who we suspected to be Caprice.
The present met us in the dormitories, where we spotted a cluster of students at the entrance to a room. Amanda began moving sharply before Nina called her out.
"Remember, I'm supposed to be behind you, Amanda. And by the way, we're in enemy territory right now for all we know, one of those students could be waiting to stick a knife in you," Nina said.
I nodded. "From the way, the night's been going, they could cut off the power supply anytime now again, and that's certainly not a situation we'd want to be in."
Amanda quickly pointed her gun upwards and fired a shot into the air. The students all froze where they stood as she stood behind them, allowing Nina and me to enter the room. "You guys find the canister, the students will debrief me on what the hell happened here."
It was Caprice's room of cause, and there she sat on the ground, her back rested on the wall and a wide stab wound in her abdomen. The same injury we had seen on Inosuke's body. But her right hand was also bleeding. Nina rushed to her left hand and opened it, seeing the canister in it.
But then, Caprice flinched and looked up at Nina with weak hostility in her eyes, before her eyes settled on me and she calmed. "T-That's...it's...damn, hemlock!"
"Caprice, who attacked you? Do you have any idea who it could have been?"
"Neck, hands. Scratches. I fought..." she weakly brought her hands up to show what she meant, and I saw the bits of skin lodged in her skin. She had fought her attacker back. But that didn't make any sense. Caprice had to be a skilled f=operative, being the best in her class. The only way she could have been attacked as if it was a surprise attack by someone she was very close to-
"Viper?" Nina asked, way ahead of me already.
"NO-" she exclaimed, her eyes widening as strength left her. "Viper - in danger. Tech Unit... answers... Fenderson Shipment... Last two weeks..."
We were losing her, she was only alive because of a strong will to live and a sense of duty on her part. And because of that, we could get these scraps of information from her. The Fenderson Shipment last two weeks was the last shipment that brought food supplies. How did she know all this?
"She turned to me then, her eyes deadset and the sheer determination in them shining through. "You're the only trusted. Student killer, and ICT unit involvement," she whispered a Nina shifted backward and left the room, sensing she wanted us to be alone. "Amanda is the target, but they want Spyder destroyed. A silver box under my bed. Code is 4351... please-"
She was gone.
Caprice had fought for so long and kept death at bay successfully all the while, but there was only so much she could do. But she did not die in vain, because she came with valuable answers.
There were four different instructors in the ICT unit since it was so big and involved many crucial aspects of current mercenary/assassin work. Did she mean that the whole unit was involved, or one of them was? And then she said Viper was in danger as well, and something about a -
I went under her bed and there was a cavity carved out in her mattress where a silver box hung suspended by a net. I dragged it out and carried it with me. Nina and Amanda stood outside with Viper, whose eyes were red as he kept looking at Caprice, absolutely devastated.
"We're going to the most secure place in this facility - my office," Amanda said. "We'll be comparing our information obtained there."
Needless to say, it was a dark day for Spyder. In one day we had recorded the deaths of six people, and unless action was taken as quickly as possible, that toll was bound to rise soon.
*****
To Be Continued.
