6 hours earlier.

I just finished my daily training and am sweating heavily. I power down my training simulation and get out of my basement-cum-training ground.

My house is a small two-story building. I am currently the only person living here. Trust me it gets quite lonely. Neither I am a student nor do I have a job where I have to go office every day. It gets pretty boring while sitting most of the time in the house, only getting out to get everyday necessities and doing my daily training. My parents are on a vacation. More precisely, they are out for a world tour for almost two years now. It will be at least another year before they are back.

[Huhhh.... Maybe I should go on a vacation too.]

I sigh. I wonder where Mike is now. I miss him. I miss my best friend.

I sit down on the sofa in the ground floor to cool myself off. I am feeling incredibly hungry after that tedious training, so I decide to eat something.

[Jude?]

"At your service sir."

A male voice answered me politely.

[Prepare a chicken dish. The same one you prepared for yesterday's dinner.]

"Right away sir. Estimated time is 10 minutes."

[Also, make it large.]

"Estimated time is 15 minutes."

Now, hold your horses. I meant when I said I am the only person here. Jude is a household AI. In this year 3019, everyone has a central AI installed in their house. Jude is connected to every portion of the house and DNA imprinted to me. So, as long as I say it and it's within AI's functional capabilities, Jude will do it.

I decide to laze on the sofa until food is ready. After some time, Jude calls out to me.

"Sir, you ha..."

[Food?]

"No sir, you have a video call from chief."

'A call ... I thought food was ready ... wait a minute. From chief? Finally!'

[Answer the call.]

Hologram of a man in his 40's appeared in the middle of the room.

"Good evening Roy, How are you?"

[Good evening chief. I am fine, as usual.]

"Are you busy tonight?"

[No.]

"I have a job for you. Can you come over?"

Like I thought, he has a job for me. My last job was nearly two months ago. I need this job or I will definitely die from boredom.

[I will be there within three hours.]

"Don't be late."

[I won't.]

Hologram of chief vanished into thin air.

'Tonight huh? Chief normally doesn't tell me the job completion date. Wonder what's so important. Anyway I should take a bath then eat my fill. One can't think on an empty stomach.'

[Jude, food ready yet?]

"Almost sir, just a few more minutes."

I take a quick bath. Jude informed me that food is ready and waiting at the table. I complete the whole serving, go to the garage to get my car and drive out.

I reached my destination within two hour. The guard at the entrance greeted me politely.

"Welcome back Roy. Here to see the chief?"

[Yeah.]

"Go on in."

I drive inside the building, park my car near the gate.

"Auto drive online. Radar systems online. Defense systems online."

Three red bar becomes green in my car's holographic display. Although there was no need, being safe is always better than being sorry. Satisfied, I started walking towards the elevator.

For those who are wondering, I am 23 years old and a special agent for hire. Government hires people like us to do things otherwise impossible legally and we get money in return. Only catch is, if we are compromised, government will deny any connection and withdraw all support.

Don't think I am a hit man. I am not some cold blooded guy who will shoot anyone for money. I made an oath to my father only to kill those who deserve it. Till this date, I have taken many jobs and have not killed a single people. Chief also knows my policy and only assigns me to infiltration jobs.

Also, don't think I am something like James Bond. I don't have any fancy gadgets or fancy watch. During infiltration, all I can count on is my weapons and some skills. I am more like a ninja.

My dad is a special agent for hire too. In fact, it is him who taught me the basics.

There, the elevator has reached top floor. I put all the thoughts at the back of my mind and get out of the elevator.

"Kaushik!"

Neha, chief's secretary exclaimed after she saw me exiting the elevator. She leaves her desk and walks over to me. She is a bit giddy. Wonder what happened.

"You are early. Chief is a bit busy at the moment. You will have to wait."

[That's no problem. I can wait a bit.]

I sit on a couch kept directly in front of Neha's desk. She also takes a seat beside me instead of her chair. For some reason, her cheeks are a bit red.

'Is she blushing?'

"Hey Roy, you here for a job?"

[Yeah. Job's tonight, to be specific.]

"Whaaaat!?"

She exclaimed a second time.

"Oh great. And here I gathered nearly half my courage."

Neha pouted. She liked Roy for some time now. She never had the chance to leisurely chat with him, true, but she liked the mysterious aura about him. It gave off a sense of responsibility. And any girl in their right mind will try to get close to a responsible man.

'I think... I get the picture. She probably wanted to ask me for a date, most likely tonight. Now she is pouting because she won't be able to ask me cause of the job.'

[Hey Neha?]

"Y..yes?"

[Are you free tomorrow evening?]

"Ummmm, yes ... yes, I am free."

[Then, do you want to have dinner with me?]

Her cheeks flushed red. She looked away from me and muttered "Yes, please".

I laughed a little at her cute response.

"Geez, stop laughing."

[Sorry, not possible.]

She punched me lightly on my arm.

'She seems to be a nice girl. Anyway, I will find out more if I spend my time with her.'

Neha was going to continue punching me when she looked at the chief's office and instead of punching me, blushed furiously again.

"Koho (sound of coughing) ... Are you done with the documents chief?"

I followed her gaze and found the chief standing at his office door crossing his hands, lips curled up into a small, warm smile.

"Yes I am done. You can take them with you later. Roy you can come in now."

[Later.]

"Yeah, see you later Roy."

I pushed the chief's office door open and entered the room. The room was a simple one, with a computer and a bundle of documents piled on the chief's desk, a small balcony attached at the east side. I took a seat and asked directly.

[Where?]

"Oya, you already accepted the job?"

[Both you and me know that you will only assign me infiltration jobs. So I have no reason to refuse.]

"HAHAHAHAHA ... You think that you have figured me out huh? Maybe next time I will give you an assassination job."

[Considering one in a billion chance that will happen and also considering you won't brief me yourself, hand me the briefing document.]

"Trust me when I say this. This job is an interesting one, even for you. Here you go."

Chief hands me the briefing documents and I go through it. I took a moment to think and asked chief for confirmation.

[You want me to infiltrate Atlas Corporation and steal data from their main server?]

"My sources tell me that Atlas has been smuggling a lot of high end machineries, although none of it can be traced back to them. They are also tightening their security. I very much doubt it is to make their employees comfortable. Call it a hunch."

[I see.]

Atlas Corporation is a big industry. If they are 'tightening' security, I am certain it will be something beyond just security guard and security camera. Maybe motion sensors, drones and what not. Even though I am confident in my stealth skill which has earned me the nickname "Mysterious Roy", it would probably be wise to have some help. And only one name comes to mind.

[I know I have already accepted the job, but ... can I make a small change?]

"Way ahead of you. I have already called Michael. He should be here any minute now."

Rightly so, just within a minute, a blond head peeked into the room.

~ Can I come in chief? ~

"Please do."

The blond haired boy walked into the room. One can tell from a glance that he is well trained. He looked at me and waved his hand.

~ Hey man, how're you doing? ~

[Pretty good. You?]

~ Super good. You accepted the job? ~

[Yeah. I was waiting for you.]

I left the chair and walked towards my best friend. I reached out and gave him a strong hug.

[It's damn good to see you Mike.]

~ Yeah, it's good to see you too. ~

I felt a strong return hug. Yep, right now I am most relieved person in this world.

We separated after a bit and we both took a chair. I briefed Mike on our objective. Then I turned to chief.

[Is there anything else we should know chief?]

"No."

[Then we're off.]

"Be sure to pick up the parcel from Neha. Godspeed."