Though she wasn’t running, her heart pounded hard in her chest, and her erratic pulse thudded in her ears. To say she was nervous was an understatement. This was her red test. Once she terminated the mark, she would be a full-fledged, field-ready agent.

She pulled the needle out of her doctor’s coat pocket, and she picked up the beautiful model-esque’s IV tube and held the needle point to the injection area of the tubeline. 

Every part of Elle knew this woman was bad and there was plenty to warrant her death, but Elle couldn’t do it.

The door opened unexpectedly, and therefore, Elle, put the needle back in her pocket. She spun around and assumed it was an actual doctor for the woman. It took a lot to create the diversion to get the woman’s guards on a wild goose chase to a false threat, and Elle wasted the window to finish the task because Elle’s conscience laid the guilt on thick.

“D-doctor,” she sputtered nervously.

“Hello, doctor-,” The man looked at her with scrutiny.

That’s when Elle realized he was trying to look for her name tag, which she took off. She matched the real doctor’s hair and eye color, but the features she couldn’t quite manage, so it was safest to just not wear the picture ID badge. The guy was a fake like her, but if he was sent in to assassinate the target, why did she have to come do this?

Grounding herself into a defensive stance, the man quickly jab kicked her, which she deflected, swiping her forearm away from her body. She counter attacked with a hook punch, which he dodged by jolting back as he slapped her fist away. They sauntered in a kung-fu battle dance. The tall, lanky man was older than her. The age difference was his loss and her gain. For a girl she was tall and cut, but the fight was still a challenge.

She managed to get consecutive hits to his gut and face, which collapsed him to his knees. To knock him out, she decided to do it with flare, with a roundhouse spin kick, but abruptly he foiled her plans by grabbing her leg mid swing and swiftly rising to his feet. He continued to spin, holding Elle by the leg and swung her into the wall behind him. The pain radiating through her body from hitting the wall wentaway by the time she landed on her side, on the cold, cream linoleum floor.

Before she could get back on her feet, the man grabs her by the throat and slabs her up against the wall. With a dull, lifeless look in his eyes he proceeded to choke her and clearly he intended to kill Elle.

“No one will hurt Mara. Zave wouldn’t want that.”

Elle tried to break free, but it was no use, she couldn’t muscle her way out for he was freakishly strong… stronger than her and she was genetically modified for super strength right when she hit puberty. She was supposed to be stronger than ten men.

Her vision tunneled as her lack of air caused her to lose consciousness.

“Don’t worry, Zave wouldn’t let me kill some newb, a sucker for the system that created her, either. Okay, your hair and eyes can change color and you can change your face a little? Prometheus III really is more fascinating than Prometheus II. Night-night, girly.” The man commented as he punched her out cold in the blink of an eye.

___

An electric zap from her wrist woke her up. The hospital bed of her target was empty, except for a small device on the pillow. It sort of looked like a smartphone from the 20s. She picked up the black device and a video played. It was the woman Elle was assigned to kill.

She was definitely younger and way more supermodel-looking. Her blonde hair was up in a messy bun, and she looked unbathed.

“Zave, I’m alive. I know you think I died back at that hotel with Tucker, but we didn’t die. World War 3 is just a diversion. The Jessenes started war with China to take over America, but you may have figured that out now. It’s five years later and the Civil War amongst the Jessenes and the Eagle Patriots prove to reveal the big picture, and I honestly don’t see America surviving in one piece…

“There’s something else you need to know… I was pregnant… and I didn’t lose the baby. I went to France and in Lyons, I gave birth. For her protection, I placed her in the countryside with an old friend- Sammi, do you remember her? Anyway, if we never make our back to each other, will you do me one favor, will you keep an eye on her?

“Oh, and I named her Arielle… don’t make fun of that name! I love you. I always will.”

The video glitched and cut to another one. This time it was the man who just beat her up and almost killed her.

“Hi, Arielle, if you’re watching this I was, well, Theus was successful at stopping you from killing your birth mother. Spectrum, which trained you, cannot be trusted. They claim they’re the remnant of America’s Best from the CIA, NSA, FBI and you name it, but they’re a dark criminal syndicate that kills for hire. Mara, your mom, thought she was putting you somewhere safe and she did, but unfortunately, after your mother left you in France with your godmother Sammi, Spectrum came for you because they knew you were special. They knew you were Theus’s, well, my daughter and that most likely your DNA was impacted by the bio-nano-tech that flowed through my veins. I knew it would be a while before they’d let you loose into the field, which bought me time to hunt down and eliminate everyone who even knows you exist. I thought I would be done by now, but I’m not. You need to leave. Get away from your handler. Get as far as you can. Find Colonel Ben Tucker and tell him your mother Mara sent you and when we meet again and act like I don’t know you, go along with it.”

Another glitch led into another video. It was Elle’s target, Elle’s mother. Mara was still way younger and her hair was down this time. She wore a pale pink cardigan that made her blue eyes stand out. She was holding what Elle assumed was her baby-self.

“I’m not sure if you’re going to grow up knowing who I am or not. I’ll let Sammi decide that. Right now, the world is at war. Your father and I were supposed to stop World War III but we failed. Most mothers would say, the safest place to be is with them, but that isn’t true for us. If you stay with me, the wrong people may find us, and they might take you, because you’re special… like your father… And in the event the world becomes semi normal again, I want you to have a normal life. With me you will always be on the run, getting new names every new place we go, and I want different things for you. I am doing this because I love you so much and I hope you can forgive me for leaving. I hope we can find each other one day. I look forward to meeting the wonderful woman I’m confident you’ll become.”

The device sparked and steamed self-destructing.

Everything could be a lie, but what if it was true…? Is any organization that teaches children to kill, good? Their excuse was adults were susceptible to viruses that most under 25 were asymptomatic to and therefore would never get sick missing a mission. She was 16 getting red-tested to go on spy assignments and to be ready to kill when ordered. 

She grew up knowing she was orphaned. She was told her parents were great spies that died during World War III on a big secret mission. Her godmother, Sammi, who was also her handler said Elle’s parents wanted her to carry on their legacy and to become a great spy. That because she was special, she needed to be out in the world completing missions and helping to rebuild America and to reunite The Republic of America and the Democratic Coalition of America as the United States of America.

Elle caught her faint reflection in the window that had a killer view of the mountains. Her face for once was her original face. She may have brown eyes, but the shapes of her eyes and the bridge of her nose was the same as the Mara woman she just tried to kill. Perhaps, the Zave guy was telling the truth, maybe Elle’s target was her birth mom and Spectrum was not to be trusted. She needed to run.