The Fallacy

I never realized what a lonely person I've become until I attended this party.  I stood in the corner of the ballroom, watching as all the agents intermingle happily together.  For some of them, I've known for many years, even before our mission. They were my co-workers and allies; and yet, I couldn't convince myself to walk over and socialize with them. Despite living in Chateadef for over five years, I still felt like a foreigner among their presence.

It didn't help that it was dumb celebration, after all; one I didn't feel like celebrating in particular. It was a final goodbye before our departure back home.  The Agency wanted to congratulate all the hard work everyone has done for the operation. As to what sort of work each agent did, I had no idea.

From across the room I watched my intelligence officer walk toward my direction. He looked quite out of place among the many agents. He was a short and skinny; quite old, even for an officer. There was a frail look about him, as if any of the agents could have easily pushed him to the floor. What he lacked in physical intimidation, however, he easily compensated with his power among the Agency. I shifted in my stance upon realizing that he was approaching me.

"You're awful quiet tonight. Everything okay?" Lawrence said with his piercing eyes. He wore a convoluted smile as he offered me the champagne in his hand.

"Yes, I'm fine," I said while taking the drink.

He nodded in response, standing side by side with me. It was silent for a moment before he spoke again.

"Beautiful house, isn't it?"

"Quite," I said. I looked around at the wooden carvings on the walls and the crystal chandelier that hung in the middle of the ballroom. It was one of the most prestigious homes I've ever been in for this country. "When was it built?"

"At the end of the century," he said. "Owned by the Duke of Castro. It was his vacation home until recently." 

"Until recently?" I said as I turned my head at him.

"He was imprison," he explained. "Believed to have some sort of affiliation with the Traitors."

I slowly nodded in response. Anyone with possible connections to the Traitors, the Agency interrogated them. The fact that the Agency imprisoned him showed that their suspicions were pretty accurate.  Still, it was odd that a Duke from another country would participate in the revolts.

"But that's the fate of any traitor, I suppose," he continued. "All of them eventually become caught and imprisoned.They have this fallacy they'll win against us, wouldn't you agree?" He shifted his eyes at me.

"I've never understood them, that for certain," I said.

"The reason being because there is nothing to understand. The only understanding is that they are violent and defiant men, and therefore a threat to our security and peace."

"All men are violent," I said bitterly while taking a sip of the champagne. I've never met someone who didn't have a streak of violence in them.

He smiled in reply. "Violence is part of human nature. Unfortunately, most mankind do abuse it for the wrong reasons."

I furrowed my brows together.  I never thought there was a good reason to use violence. Even my life as an agent, where I'm protecting the security of others,  I never thought the brutality involved ever justified my job. I said nothing in response to Lawrence, as it wasn't worth arguing over.

"Are you looking forward to returning home?" he asked when I remained silent.

"Of course, why would you even ask?" I lied.

"Don't seem very excited. Something the matter?" he asked, raising one of his eyebrows.

He was right, compared to most I looked unenthusiastic. Looking at the group left of me, their excitement was obvious. Most couldn't restrain their eager anticipation of returning back home to their families. I had no such feelings.

"It's not like we're departing tonight," I said. "I don't get excited about things until it becomes a reality."

"Everyone's flight is taken care of, don't worry. Our leave will become a reality soon enough," he said, smiling as he took a sip of his champagne.

I glanced up at him. There was something unnerving about his smile, like he knew something I didn't.  I smiled weakly in response.

"Have you received your air flight ticket?" he asked.

"No, it should be coming in this weekend, right?"

"It should be in now," he said, twisting his head in my direction.

"Oh, John probably forgot to tell me. I'll find out now," I said, glad to find an excuse to leave his presence.

"You do that," he said simply,  his eyes were fixed on me as I walked away.

  John was conversing with another agent in the middle of the room. I noticed his demeanor was quite lively around her, with more smiles I've ever seen on him than in the past two years collectively. It looked uneasy on his face, as if he was hoping it came across genuine. It must have worked, however, as she was grinning warmly back at John. Their conversation became clearer to me as I approached them.

"So I'm told you're the star of the night. The reason why we're here," said the agent. She playfully touched him with her clutch.

My mouth opened in protest but quickly closed shut. I portrayed his wife for so long, it was easy to forget that we weren't actually married.

"I was only fulfilling my assignment, it was nothing special, really," he said, shrugging. "The Agency wanted one last information, and I was able to get it."  I rolled my eyes at his remark. I was just as responsible in receiving that information as he was. I should give him a break, as he was only trying to impress her. But then again, he really doesn't deserve one.

"Well, I owe you my gratitude" she said, lightly touching his arm. They stared at each other, smiling, until I interjected.

"Hey honey," I said to John, enwrapping my hands around his arm.

The agent was taken aback by my sudden appearance. John, however, scowled at me.

"Funny," he said under his breath."This is Ise. She's the agent who plays my wife."  He rubbed his neck with the arm I enwrapped myself in, forcing me to let go.

"Oh, pleasure to meet you," she said while shaking my hand. "I'm Janelle."

"Pleasure is mine. Are you two good friends?" I asked.

"No actually, we just met," she said.

"I've worked with John for many years, I've known him for quite a bit."

"Oh really?" she said politely.

"John's a great guy, a good team worker," I said while patting my hand on John's shoulder. "Especially during that last mission, he called the office and filed the reports after I gathered the intel. It was a big help."

"Oh, John told me otherwise," she said, confused as she glanced at John. He quickly gave me scowl before shaking his head at Jenelle.

"We both received it. She's joking, she thinks she's funny. Did you want something?" he asked impatiently to me.

"Lawrence wants to know if we got our tickets," I said.

"No, ours got lost in the mail," he said shortly. "Anything else?"

"Yeah I'm leaving, so meet back at the house." I said, patting his cheek. It was moments like these we could be a married couple for I knew exactly how to annoy him. "Bye now, nice meeting you Jenelle." I shook her hand.

"Me too," Jenelle said as she glanced behind my head. "Oh, I just spotted my officer. I have to speak with him, sorry, I'll see you two later." She quickly left.

John glared at me, clearly annoyed, and walked away as well. I couldn't help but smile in response. Maybe this is why I have no friends.

I left the ballroom and entered into the dark hallway. I glanced at the beautiful wood carvings of the house, noticing the slight chips and stains on the walls. The house was old, but beautiful. Nothing I would have normally seen here in Astonia, as its citizens were normally poor. While Astonia has greatly improved since I've lived here during childhood, in some areas of the city the poverty was still clearly an issue.

As I passed the staircase by the front door, I noticed there was a small gate blocking the steps. I paused, wondering about the story of the Duke.  Why would a Duke, of all people, become part of terrorist group that wasn't involved with his country? With his marble floors and gold decorative, obviously money wasn't a motivation for him. What was?

I turned when I heard one of the officers talking with a mike, he was making a congratulations speech. Good. They'll be distracted. I jumped over the gate and walked up the staircase. 

  The hallway became narrower, with it being longer in length. There were several doors attached to it, all of them closed except the room at the end. I walked to the end of the hallway and stepped into what seem to be a lounging room. There wasn't any dust on the stands, nor did any of the sofas had coverings. It was obvious that this house was being used by someone in the Agency.

I hesitated before I searched the room. If someone was living here, should I really be snooping through their things? I wanted to stay and continue looking. However, I hated the invasion of my own privacy, and would be furious if someone was looking through my stuff. Before I could even leave the room, sound of shuffling steps came from the start of the staircase.

Adrenaline rushed though me. I wasn't suppose to be up here.

The room had another door that led to a closet. My hands gripped the old knob and quickly pushed it forward . My ears were pressed against the door, listening to their approaching steps.

"This can wait, can't it?" said a man irritatingly.

"No, it can't," said another man sternly. I recognized his voice, it was Lawrence. "Have you checked with all your agents, have they received their tickets?"

"No, I haven't spoken to all of them," said the other man. "But for God's sakes Lawrence, this is a party. I won't be pestering them over a trivial ticket."

"You will be," said Lawrence firmly. "This was a command given by our department. You wouldn't want me to report your incompetence, do you?"

The man said nothing. It was clear that even the officers were afraid of him.

"Besides, I don't think you understand the importance of this assignment," Lawrence continued. "Operation 6 will commence even sooner than expected."

I blinked in surprised. I've never heard of Operation 6. I pressed my ear harder against the closet door.

"And why is that," the man retorted.

"You know I have no information regarding that matter," Lawrence sneered. Even without seeing him, I could tell Lawrence was lying.

I could hear the other officer sigh. "Anything else, you wished to speak to about? Otherwise, I'll be returning to the party."

"That was all," Lawrence said. "Except, were you informed of our meeting tonight, after this evening?"

"No, what meeting?" said the man shortly.

"The details for Operation 6," he simpered.

"No, I wasn't. Why wasn't I informed earlier?"

"Apparently, the Agency didn't believe you were important enough to include."

The officer remained silent. If it was anyone else, I think the officer would have protested.

"It begins here in half of an hour, once everyone leaves," Lawrence eventually said. "Don't be late."

With that their conversation ended, and both of them left the room.

I laid on the floor of the closet, entertaining what I just heard. Obviously, all the agents needed to return home before Operation 6 can begin. But this was confusing to me, because how can they engage it when all the agents have left? Normally, intelligence officers organized and supervised, whereas agents were sent to follow through with the operation. Why were we considered unnecessary for this mission?

    It was possible that the only work required from the agents was to receive intel. If they wanted to keep Operation 6 confidential, it would explain why the goal of our mission was so vague.  Before I left, the Agency told us we were protecting Chateadef's security from any possible threats from Astonia. It wasn't common knowledge, but I knew tensions were forming between the two countries. I assumed Chateadef was sending spies as an precautionary. However, now I'm not as certain.

  Lawrence did mention that there was a meeting regarding it in a half an hour. It would be interesting to eavesdrop into that meeting, find out what exactly Operation 6 entails. Although if  I'm caught, I could get into serious retributions from the Agency, even fired maybe.  I grinned when I remembered the advice another agent gave to me years ago.

Effective agents know that rules have be broken.

She was right. If you want something, regardless of what it is, you have to take a risk. I pulled my phone from my purse and read the time 10:06. The meeting was too close for me to do anything else but wait. I closed my eyes and pressed my head against the wall, waiting for the meeting to begin.