Monday used to be my favorite day of the week. I never had much to do at home, but at work I could keep busy and really focus on something useful. Now I'm not sure anymore. It's not that I'm worried about my personal safety, though I have to admit that was also a factor. What kept me anxious was the fact that I didn't know where would I be sent or what would be asked of me.
"System manager, are you there?" I activate comms and the system promptly replied.
"Yes, I'm finishing compiling data for today's mission."
It's already 10AM and there's nothing for me to do here. I could complain, but it would be pointless. Besides, I know the system manager wrote the report for Friday which meant he or she had to stay even longer hours.
"Now that I think about it, are you a he or a she?"
"You can't ask personal questions."
"I'm not even curious, it's just for the sake of knowing how to refer to you."
"You can use 'it' to refer to me. This will take some time, go make yourself useful somewhere else."
"Understood." I stand up and head to the break room. I could use a second coffee and who knows when will I be able to have another cup. I lingered a bit on the hallways engaging in the usual office gossip when Ericssen came up with a stern look on his face.
"Did you guys see what's the posted salary for the new position available?" He looked around then whispered to the group. "It's close to seven figures." That caused a commotion in the group, the kind of fuss I don't like being a part of so I swiftly went to the break room where I would meet with someone I never expected.
It was a woman around my age dressed in an ill fitted suit. It was oversized and she wore comfortable shoes that somehow made her appear shorter than she actually was. Her hair was ruffled and there were bags under her eyes not even her big glasses could hide. She didn't wear any make up, that much was obvious. She contrasted heavily with the agents next to her who dressed neatly, but she also didn't look anything like the picture I had of her in my head.
"Tasha?" I probed and the woman tilted her head for a second before realizing it was me.
"Hi, Bob. How are you?" She said softly, nothing like the storm of a woman she seemed to be in the restaurant.
"Good. I shrug."
"Hey Tasha, you're not going to introduce us to your friend?" One of them said in a mocking tone.
"She wants to keep him all to herself." Another one joked.
"No, it's nothing like that. You don't understand." Tasha blushed heavily as she adjusted her glasses.
"We'll give you some alone time." The friends parted amidst laughter.
"They don't mean it, it's just banter." I said after silence was made, but when I turned to look at Tasha there was no trace of the shy agent I just saw.
"Are you following me?"
"Calm down, I didn't know you worked here."
"Listen, Maggie doesn't know I work at the FBI and it must remain that way. One word about it and I'll make your life hell." She threatened.
"That's fine." I shrug then turn to leave, but a hand presses on my arm and I turn back to see Tasha looking me in the eye.
"They think we went on a date yesterday, let's keep them thinking that." I nod hurriedly and release myself from the grip. She really is stronger than she looks.
I wonder whether I had seen her before or not, but there's lots of agents I see in passing and I don't really pay much attention to them. It's also not usual for me to go to the break room at this hour and since they went in group, it means it's routine for them.
By the time I went back to what I call my new office, the system had already finished with the paperwork and the new mission was waiting for me.
"The book we found in possession of the criminal you arrested is one that leads to an unclassified dark dimension. It means the missing people are most likely dead by now and there's nothing we can do for them. However, that doesn't mean the agency can leave things as they are and you will be tasked with exploring said dimension."
"Hold on a second. Dark dimension sounds too dangerous for me. Shouldn't I go through the basic training first?"
"Dark dimension sounds bad, but 99% of them are just empty worlds and there's nothing to worry about. In a sense, they're safer than regular worlds. The problem with dark dimensions is that people who end up in them are never prepared. Without supplies, it's almost impossible for them to survive, let alone return. We believe that world is safe, though, since the criminal admitted he accidentally entered that dimension and learned psychokinesis there. About your basic training, it was presented to the director but she refused."
"Just like that?" No wonder they have few agents if they can't even train us properly. The system asked me to get ready and I barely had enough time to close my eyes when the familiar dizziness had already taken over. The new world was dark or maybe it was just night, but the cosmos seemed closer. I could see planets and moons with mysterious orbits, some moving fast as if they really were close.
"It seems water and food are okay, but there's no atmospheric presence of any kind."
"What do you mean?" I ask breathing normally, only then I realize I'm not really breathing. My lungs move, but I don't feel air going out. "how is this possible? I can hear myself, but there's no air."
"Don't try to make sense of things with the logic of our reality. Maybe air just doesn't exist in this world, but it also means that you don't need it."
Looking around there are signs of life, but not exactly plants I could recognize. There's a green moss growing here and there, other than that the landscape is barren. My first intention was to just look around, but then I notice what seemed to be foot tracks and drag marks.
"How should I proceed?" I ask for instructions after informing the system. Soon after the footprints were highlighted which allowed me to follow them despite some of them being too faded.
"If you find anyone and they're still alive, you will need to head to the extraction point. It's around sixty miles from your current position."
It wasn't that exploring a dark dimension sounded like fun, but being so far from the extraction point meant I would probably need to spend days in this place which only made it worse. However, I can't complain considering the fate of the people who disappeared here. The psychokinetic criminal whose name I didn't bother to learn used the book to trap innocent people in this dimension. It didn't matter how bad things got for me, I knew they had it worse. What I didn't know was how bad it actually was.
This world's night was ominous but beautiful in a way difficult to put into words, but when dawn broke it came with a scorching heat I could barely endure. I watched as the terrain became lively with creatures emerging from their burrows. I didn't linger on their alien look and just hoped into the first hole in the ground I found.
"You're running out of time." The system manager warning forced me to head out of my shelter and continue the search. Thankfully, the footprints didn't stretch far and I found the survivors huddled together in a burrow. They told me their stories as we ran towards the extraction point where something that looked like a tear in reality hovered in the air.
Three out of four people made it alive, the last one had passed away the day before. It was only thanks to the abilities they gained that they were able to survive, but it was also due to them that they couldn't return to their normal life once they came back. The agency has a protocol for these cases and it applies to everyone the same. Even if they are victims, people with special abilities can't be allowed in our world without control.
A medical team awaited for us once we returned and they took care of our burns. Needless to say, the survivors were in poor condition though after a quick evaluation doctors said they would recover soon.
"Good job." The system said. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought the system's monotone came charged with sarcasm.
"I was late." I clenched my fist, feeling for the first time the weight of being a field agent.