Lagos State, Third Mainland Bridge
There are two types of agents in the Defense Agency: Special Agents and Elite Agents.
Sara Ahmed, also known as Agent X, is an Elite—assigned to capture the assailants responsible for a recent murder and theft, and to retrieve the stolen relic.
Making her way across the bridge, she thought back to the mission briefing given to her by the Branch Director.
---
FLASHBACK!
"I'm sorry to put your previous mission on hold, but this new assignment takes priority. An important relic has been stolen, and I need your tracking expertise to retrieve it."
"Among your teammates currently deployed, you're the only one available. I wanted to assign this to another Elite Agent, but the assailants' threat level—while high—is still undetermined. You understand, right?"
"Moreover, there's a spy in the branch division. You'll be operating under the radar for now—as a standard Elite Agent. I don't want to take any chances. The rest of the information is in the file. You're dismissed."
"Oh, and Sara—don't overdo it. Come back alive. That's an order."
---
Recalling the last part, Sara smiled. The Branch Director had always been strict... yet strangely endearing.
SIGH!
"Well, that's the Director for you," Sara said with a chuckle.
She looked out the window. It was raining, and the sky was dim. Traffic on the bridge was intense, with horns blaring from all directions.
"Some things never change, I guess."
She glanced at her watch.
"Should be soon now."
As if on cue, the traffic began to clear. But just as the congestion eased—
BOOM!
An explosion erupted. Flames roared, threatening to consume everything—until they were sucked into a vortex and vanished.
Oddly, there were no screams. No panic. Only one car had been hit.
---
Hahahaha!
"I told you—we were being tracked. It's been two days. I bet they've sent Elite Agents after us. But no agent could survive a TRCL-4 bomb. Not when caught off guard."
"Good thing we set up the Isolation Barrier beforehand. It separates our space from reality and concentrates the blast... Magic really is convenient."
"Only for those who know how to use it."
"But that was a sports car. Probably just one person inside."
"All the more reason I'm laughing!"
Their mocking laughter continued as the two figures—the relic thieves—approached the burning wreck.
Lisa laughed louder until Malcom, the larger and more serious of the two, froze. He'd noticed something. A silhouette emerged, walking through the flames—unharmed.
He raised a hand to silence Lisa.
They both stared.
Malcom's face darkened.
Lisa whispered, tension creeping into her voice:
"This is going to be a tough fight."