The time it took Agent Delta to fire up the Interdimensional Warp Drive was enough for me to get my shit in order. Two hours to be precise. Or in rounds of hot chocolate, 20 rounds-- from those fancy British teacups of course (there wasn't any other kind onboard.)

"Ten seconds to the jump," Agent Delta announced over the speakers. "Hold on to something."

I fastened the seatbelt of the large white leather seat I was on. The white metal door some feet away slid open and Agent Theta speed-walked inside and secured herself in the nearest chair with its seatbelt. "The bar, Agent Epsilon, really?"

I shot her a weird look. "You're saying it as if this bar isn't filled with only hot chocolate and fruit juice dispensers." My eyes darted around to the polished black cuboid-shaped machines at the four corners of the room.

"The Curator has agreed to add an ice cream dispenser, remember? And--" She was cut short by the sudden propulsion of the spaceship.

I always recalled how glad I was that the Curator gave us this ship. It was beyond rare to find a ship that could perform interdimensional travel while always shielding its crew from the side effects like extreme dizziness and temporary hyper color blindness.

My eyes were shut throughout the jump but my body registered the chaos that resembled a hundred airplane turbulences. At last, everything stilled.

When I opened my eyes, Agent Theta's skin was looking blue, her hair, white, the walls red, the dispensers, pink. Okay, maybe not always.

"As I was saying," Agent Theta unbuckled her seatbelt before rising. "You need to be at the medical center for automatic checkups, not the bar."

The way my heart warmed at her display of care. "You worry too much, I'll be fine." Everything was returning to its original color now.

"At least boost your chip." She tossed a syringe to me.

I rose it to my eye level, examining the glowing white fluid inside. "To be honest, I'm a bit skeptical about these Boosters."

"E, the Curator told us that it's perfectly safe."

"Then why does my body revolt every time I take it?"

She shrugged. "Mine too but I think it's just adjusting to the effect."

"Lovebirds onboard, say hi." Agent Delta's mocking tone filled the bar.

I stuck out my middle finger at the camera that floated by the top left corner of the room.

Agent Delta snorted. "Right back at you. And I hope you've boosted because things are not looking good for the Agents here."

Agent Theta gave me an encouraging nod before looking at the camera.

"Open communication line, THETA." She said and the ship's AI responded. Bar and cockpit Synchronized.

"D, where are we?"

"Mademoiselle, we are hovering in the air-polluted skies of WARZONE WORLD. Basic stats; this planet is ten times the average size of Earth and the humans here have been at constant war almost from inception. The upside is that we'll be up against semi-archaic technology."

I stuck the syringe into the side of my neck and when the needle made contact with the chip, a sharp tingle ran through me. The content of the syringe was funneled in with the chip's vacuuming function. My pupils dilated and my body began to tremble. But being used to this, it was easy for me to set the empty syringe down on the arm of the chair. In less than ten seconds, my body calmed down and I could feel a surge of energy. Like I could take on an army. It was more than steroids, my abilities were boosted like a supersoldier.

"Agent Delta," I cracked my neck. "What's the status of the Agents here?"

"The Energy Tower on this planet is right in front of our ship and inside, somewhere in the middle, I can read Agent Nu and Agent Zeta's chip signatures. I'm initializing x-ray now and. . .my suspicion was correct, they are being held hostage."

"Mhm." I stood and clenched my fists. "Agent Theta and I will head to the teleportation chamber, you keep the ship cloaking in midair and beam us down as close to the Energy Tower as possible without being seen."

***

We were beamed into the ruins of a broken-down building. It had cracked concrete walls and a huge hole in the center of the roof. It must have been a bungalow judging by the size. The both of us were dressed in camouflage, custom-made by the ship's AI in the dressing room to match the exact uniforms the men in front of the Tower wore; from the helmet down to the boots and even the machine guns. Sitting with my legs stretched out, I spied two things; a large hole beside us that we could use to move out and a beautiful red flower growing just by the edge of the hole. Basking in the sunlight that streamed inside. Been a while I saw a flower.

The crunching of marching feet became audible from outside. I held my breath till it faded.

Agent Theta tapped me to get my attention before pointing at her chip. I nodded and pressed the side of my neck. In my mind
an invite to join a telepathic communication server popped up and I mentally accepted.

Immediately, I heard Agent Theta. "D, beam down the sonic wave generator."

The red eighth feet cube-like boom box appeared in front of us, and the weary bricks of the building rumbled in protest. Thankfully, they stopped and Agent Theta inched forward to examine the screen just below one of the speakers. "O my stars, this thing's not charged!"

"Hey," Agent Delta replied. "I'm not the one in charge of inventory, blame it on Agent Mu when next you see him. I'm just the pilot."

"It looks like it can run for five minutes," I observed on the screen. "Let's make the most of it. In and out."

"Okay, so I've scanned the area. Here's what you two need to do; once you activate the device, you both make a break for the Energy Tower. Barge in and take the stairs to your left, that one currently has fewer guards on it. Then make your way to the ninth floor, that's where the agents are. Untie them and bring them to the window where the ship will be waiting. And voila! Mission accomplished."

"We can do all that in five minutes?" I argued. But apparently, Agent Theta was sold.

Her finger hovered over the 'Activate' icon on the screen. "You might want to block your ears, E."

Acknowledging with a nod, I double-tapped the sides of my helmet and the enhanced sound mufflers inside automatically latched onto my ears muting the environment.

She hit the icon and immediately a ten seconds countdown started. We needed to put some distance between us and the device before it did its job so I gestured at the exit hole. Agent Theta held my hand and faced me. I couldn't see her expression behind the tinted face shield of her helmet but I knew she was feeling tense. After all, it wasn't every day we ran straight into the lion's den. I squeezed her palm reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'll cover you. I'm ready when you are."

"I'd wait longer but the Sonic generator is about to go off." With that, she hightailed towards the exit hole. I was right behind her, stopping for barely three seconds to pluck the red flower and stick it in my cargo pants. A gift for after the mission.

A soldier in the wartorn terrain barked at us as we ran closer to him. He wasn't wearing a helmet so I could the veins bulging on his soot-covered face. Seeing as we didn't slow down, he pointed his assault rifle at me.

Without breaking stride, I looked back at the ruin, wondering how long it would take before the darn device activated. And then it did. The sheer power of the sound waves breaking through the ruins. Squinting, ring-like waves were visible in the air. My gaze switched back to the soldier who had now doubled down, clutching his ears with his mouth wide open--probably screaming.

"Only five minutes." Agent Delta reminded us. We were sprinting at speeds comparable to a cheetah. Soldiers were crumpled all around us, hands on ears. The Energy Tower was just a few meters out. It looked like a normal military guard tower, four rock solid walls and all--but there was nothing normal about its origins. The guards at the base were immobilized, it was looking all so easy. . . until we tried the door. It was heavy as a vault and sealed shut. I channeled all my force into a kick and the door only dented.

"D," Agent Theta relayed telepathically. "We have a bit of a situation down here."