Setting the tea down on the long desk, Rachel began to leave the office. Before she was able to do so, however, Prof. Matt stopped her by saying, “Rachel, wait! Please have a seat here. You should hear this as well. After all…you are my lab assistant.” Perking up in his seat after hearing that statement, Daniel replied, “Wait a sec…Rachel is the ‘cute’ female lab assistant?” Prof. Matt slyly responded with a, “Yeah~ Isn’t she great?” Shaking his head a bit after hearing that, Daniel thought to himself, “Perverted old man…at least he hasn’t changed at all. And neither has Rachel, she’s the same shy girl I know from back home.” Speaking again in an annoyed tone, Daniel said, “She’s nowhere near your age gramps…” Prof. Matt then replied back in a childish way, “Aww…don’t ruin my fun kid.”
“Umm…P-Professor?” Rachel timidly said as she sat quietly in the chair next to Daniel. “Oh...are you still here? Oh yes, I asked you to stay here of course.” Prof. Matt said to her as he snapped back on topic. “What I’m about to tell you two is extremely important for the very prolonging of our lives.” During the brief pause, Daniel and Rachel looked at each other in confusion as they waited for him to continue. “Omega will no doubt be searching for that Diver on your wrist Daniel, and they will kill you to obtain it.” His eyes widening at the sound of that, Daniel quickly responded, “Whoa! Whoa! I didn’t ask for any of this! Can’t you just take the watch off of me?” With a concerned look on his face, Prof. Matt said, “I’m afraid not. According to our data gathered from previous use of Divers, once it has found a host, it will never detach itself unless the host is killed. All of the known Divers are within the protective care of the Omega Syndicate and they have been rightfully placed on their top agents…twenty-five agents to be exact.”
“TWENTY-FIVE!?” Daniel shouted as he jumped up from his chair. “How am I supposed to survive against those odds?!” Motioning him to sit back down, Prof. Matt said in a calm voice, “Not to worry, agents are only sent out if you cause a big enough ruckus. That’s why we’ve been operating underground for so many years…to mask our operations.” Rocking back and forth slowly, Prof. Matt continued to explain, “They’ll most likely send troopers…the front lines if you will of the Omega Syndicate.” Sitting quietly and listening, Daniel thought to himself, “Troopers? Like the ones that broke into Grandpa’s lab…” Then speaking up, he said, “Well…so what. Those troopers are armed to the teeth with guns and armor. How am I supposed to stop them?” Once again speaking in that mischievous tone, Prof. Matt responded, “You aren’t going to stop them…just buy time. You’re clearly in no shape or form to be fighting against the forces of Omega, but you will be…with the proper training of course.”
“Training?” Daniel asked curiously. With a small smile, Prof. Matt said, “Yeah! Training. Did you honestly believe that diving between dimensions was the only thing that watch of yours can do?” Sitting silently and thinking to himself, Daniel thought back to when the watch first activated. A small button popped out of the side before he was able to dive. Inspecting the watch again, he noticed many more places where buttons and switches could possibly be along the edge of the watch. It was only then when he believed what Prof. Matt was saying. Continuing his explanation, “That’s why I’ve brought Rachel here. She will be your guard until you reach your target.”
“Rachel?” Daniel said as he looked over at her from the adjacent chair. “Yes, Rachel.” said Prof. Matt, “She’s an excellent marksman as well as an accomplished medic. She’ll be perfect for this type of mission.” Taken a bit by surprise, Daniel was a bit curious as to what he said was true. He thought to himself, “Well…Rachel was going to go to medical school after high-school. But she can use a gun!?” Then speaking up again, Daniel asked, “If you don’t mind me asking…who or what is our target?” “Ahh! Excellent question my boy.” Prof. Matt said in excitement as he pulled a manila folder out from his desk. “Your task is to locate and recruit this man to The Resistance.” The picture laid before them was a man who looked a few years older than Rachel and himself with extremely long and extremely dark red hair as well as a look on his face that said: “Get that camera out of my face.” Looking at the picture with a bit of curiosity, Daniel asked, “Strange looking guy…what’s his name?” Prof. Matt then replied, “According to our records, he only goes by one known name: The Fisherman.”
“Heh…The Fisherman?” Daniel said in a joking tone. “Don’t take his name lightly my boy.” Prof. Matt said, “The Fisherman is a mercenary who’s seen Omega agents use their Divers first hand. If there’s one person who knows what a Diver is truly capable of…it’s him.” Slightly convinced that the so-called ‘Fisherman’ was for real, Daniel said, “Ok, so where are we supposed to find this guy?” Cutting into the conversation, Rachel confidently answered, “He was last seen in the southern territories, near the base of the mountains yes?” “That’s correct Rachel. I’m glad you were listening when I was explaining this to you earlier.” Prof. Matt said with a nod of his head. “In any case, it’s late…almost midnight. You two should get to bed. It’ll be an early morning for the both of you. I’ll be sure to see you off in the morning. Dismissed.”
With that said, Daniel and Rachel left Prof. Matt’s office. Following Rachel, because he had no idea where he was going, Daniel eventually arrived at a small room with a bed and a table to its side. Looking at the ground, Rachel said, “I k-know it’s not much, b-but it’s the only suitable room left in the compound. G-Goodnight Daniel.” Afterwards, she shut the door and left to go to bed herself, leaving Daniel alone for once since he arrived at the base. Sitting down on the bed, and feeling the sheets with his hand, he determined that it might be one of the last comfortable places he sleeps for a while, so he may as well enjoy it. Taking his coat off, the journal in his inside pocket caught his eye yet again. Pulling the journal out of the pocket, he once again felt compelled to write in it.
July 9, 2004 (I think)
Today’s chaotic activities have come to an end, however, something tells me they’ve just begun. When I wake up in the morning, I’m supposed to go find this Fisherman guy. I dunno if he’s going to be able to train me or not…either way, it’s better than being gunned down by a bunch of Omega Troopers. Gramps…wherever you are…why did you give me this watch? It’s only brought me trouble. Did you think I was some chosen one to wear this thing? ‘Cause I don’t feel all powerful or anything. I’m just some kid that’s gotten in way over his head…
After writing those final words, Daniel fell asleep with the journal resting open on his chest.
-Meanwhile…Not too far from where Daniel arrived in this dimension-
The Omega Troopers that we’re sent through Agent R’s portal, finally arrived in the same dimension as Daniel. Speaking loudly, the troop leader addressed the rest of the battalion, “Listen up! Now that we’re here, we can begin the assassination mission of this…Daniel Ziegler.” As the rest of the troopers looked around in confusion, one of them stood up and said, “But wait…didn’t Agent R tell us to simply locate the target?” Walking toward the brave trooper, the troop leader annoyingly said, “Well too bad…we’ve got HIGHER orders now. Our orders are to assassinate the target on the spot, and anyone who disobeys this order will be disobeying the master…” With that said, the rest of the troopers fanned out in three man groups without any hesitation. “Agent R isn’t going to steal the glory this time…” said the troop leader as he cocked his gun and joined the search.
To Be Continued...
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Oh, seems like Daniel is finally understanding how much danger he is in 3nodding
What kind of training will Rachel observe or help Daniel do? xd