Time: 24:00

Location: The enemy's secret base

Agent 24601's POV

I inch my way on a tiny ledge of the building; my back pressed tightly against the boreal, cement wall. The bag on my back is making it tougher to remain balanced, but it is not burdensome for I only brought what was necessary for a successful mission. I dress in all black in order to conceal myself in the shadows. I wear a bullet proof vest over my long sleeved shirt. In the back pocket of my pants, there is a small army knife in case of emergencies. My belt includes a holster for luger pistol containing 9mm Parabellum.

My goal; retrieve the flashdrive from within the building. How will I do it? There's an entrance to the air duct system on the side of the building fifty feet off the ground. Once I get there, I will crawl through the infinitesimal space to find the room that holds the flash drive. I will wait for the signal from my partner in this mission, agent Champ (short for Champmathieu). I will have an ear piece in and when I hear a beeping sound, I know that he has cut the security cameras off. Then I will retrieve the flash drive from a safe without being seen or heard and my partner and I will then return back to the base. It's all part of our mission; Bring Recalcitrant Enemy Alliance Down or "BREAD", the code name we use for it.

I silently continue my way shuffling on the ledge until I get to the entrance of the air ducts. I undo the zipper of the backpack and reach into it. I my hand closes around a small screwdriver; not my ideal choice of tool for the job because it takes some time to take out the screws, but it is lightweight and easy to fit in the bag.

I unfasten each of the screws slowly, but soundlessly until I am able to remove the metal and slip inside. It's a tight fit for me, but I can still crawl through the air ducts. It is pitch black in there and I can't see anything. I manage to squeeze my bag so it is in front of me and grab a miniature flashlight from it. I also grab a map of the air duct system so I can tell where I am going.

I shine the light over the map; the light doesn't illuminate much of the paper so I have to move the adjust the flash light often. I look over the map trying to decide which is the quickest, but safest route. Some routes are quick, but I would have to risk making too much noise. Some ways are safe, but will take too long. I finally find a route that won't take me too much time to get there and is safer than most. 

The air ducts are like an insane labyrinth and is hard to navigate, but I slink along trying to ignore the cramps in my neck and arms. Once in a while, I will pause for a few seconds before continuing to rest my arms and stretch them out, but I know I always have to keep moving. This is no game; I can't just redo it. I only have one shot to get this right.

I finally make it to the passage way into the room that contains the flash drive needed for mission BREAD. I take out the screw driver again and begin to work on unfastening the screws for this vent. After about four mintutes, I get the vent open. Now all I have to do it wait for the signal from Agent Champ.

The boss planned this so Champ will cut off the security cameras about two mintutes after I arrive at the entrance to the room. He estimated how much time it would take me to get here and how long it would take Champ to hack onto the security system and disable it. He timed our mission perfectly in my opinion and so far, it has been playing out as planned.

I hear a quiet, high beeping sound coming from the ear piece in my ear; it's slow and steady. That's the signal. I drop down as quietly as I can from the vent. I briskly make my way over to the high tech safe on the other side of the room. Slowly I turn the dial and eventually get the safe to open. I grab the flashdrive and turn to climb back to the vent when I see a figure standing in the doorway.

I scramble to reach for my gun; I would have been faster, but I was caught by surprise. I wrap my fingers around the pistol and aim it at the figure. I am about to shoot when the figure whips out its gun as fast as lightning and shoots. I feel impact on my hand and I drop my gun. I look to see how bad my wound is, but there isn't any blood. In fact, there wasn't a bullet. Protruding from my wrist is a small tranquilizing dart.

I begin to feel the effects. My head starts spinning, my thoughts are beginning to become jumbled and the world is darkening. I feel drowsy and want to just shut my eyes and sleep. 'No you can't sleep, you have to get out of here,' I tell myself, but I ignore myself. I fall to the ground and darkness overwhelms me.