March 31st, 2014 (2:01 pm)
“I-It was…” Lucy asked shockingly. She was sitting in the dining table of her house. She had her food kept on the table and she was facing Zack and Adam, who were proudly smiling. “Well, it was just fabulous! I didn’t even imagine that you two were doing such great stuff when I was just visiting an old police station!”
“Lucy! Respect it!” Her father shouted from behind.
“Sorry, dad!” Lucy shouted back towards her father, who was cooking in the kitchen. Then, she whispered to the two, “It all happened in just two days, so what happened the rest of the days?”
Adam shrugged, “Nothing. We just, you know, ran away from the city. It was like a vacation for us, actually.”
“Needa say this, guys…” Mr. Johnson turned backwards towards the table and glared at the two. “You’ve done it just greatly.”
“Thank you a lot, sir,” Zack had a large smile on his face. “It was a very interesting one, indeed. I never thought I’d be going to jail and beaten to hell…” At that moment, Zack stopped. He went into a deep train of thoughts. He didn’t move, didn’t speak and didn’t even blinked for a few seconds.
Adam was confused and somewhat shocked. Waving his hand in front of his eyes, Adam worriedly said, “Hey, Zack?!” Zack didn’t respond. “Zack…” Adam tried again. Then, he slapped him on his face and asked, “What the hell happened to ya, man?!”
Zack worriedly turned his head downwards and, while his body shaking in some sort of fear, replied, “N-N-N-Nothing.”
“Then why’re ya shaking?” Adam asked.
“N-Nothing, bro,” Zack replied as he seeped his hands inside his thighs to feel warmth.
“Hey, Zack,” Lucy kept a hand on his shoulder. “What happened? Maybe…” She looked at Adam worriedly, who glared back in the same manner, and continued, “Maybe we can help you?”
Mr. Johnson walked in between them and calmly pushed them away, “Hey, Zack’s gonna be fine. Y’know, he’s always like this.”
“Okay, then,” Zack suddenly became determined and turned back towards Mr. Johnny. “Sir, when are we gonna get out first mission?”
“Well, you really want a mission?” Mr. Johnny suspiciously asked.
“Yes… Why? Is there any problem with that?”
“No, son. In fact, I liked your determination, but, the fact is that C-Grade missions are very boring. So, seeing enthusiasm for such missions is a kinda… shocking.”
“How boring can they be?” Adam asked.
“Well,” Mr. Johnson turned his head skywards as he thought for a good answer. “Majority of them are just like protecting one of the clients, like what bodyguards do. Or, secretly collect information on a man for any chances of frauds and scams. But, the person has to provide legal documentation and all, which is checked by our experts, and then the missions are accepted.”
“So, don’t you think the success of the theft was itself like a B-Grade mission?” Lucy asked her dad. “So, they should be directly promoted to B-Grade positions, technically.”
“Yeah, y’are right, but the promotion does not just require skills, you know, being promoted also means that we expect a certain experience in this field from you. That’s why, although it was like a B-Grade mission, all you lack for now is experience. You got skills, now all you needa do is brush it up and obtain experience. Then, who knows, you’ll become one of the best spies in the SAI’s history.”
Zack nodded. Lucy excitedly said, “How great it’d be to sit on top of the world, with thousands of missions on your desk, and you sit to choose the most difficult mission of the pile to solve today!”
“Yeah,” Adam replied. “I’d love to live like that!”
“Wait, guys, don’t you think you got a wrong image of what actually happens to a spy?” Mr. Johnson told them. “It’s not like you have a pile of missions to choose; you get a mission, go do it, and complete it. If you’re dead, no one remembers you, and if you come back alive, you get bed-rest till the time you’re good to go again, and then pops up another dangerous mission. It’s not easy, it’s one of the toughest jobs on the whole planet. You should be proud that you are now a part of this.”
“What types of missions do A-Grade spies do? I mean, C-Grade missions involve following and securing people, B-Grade ones involve catching businessmen and criminals, but what do A-Grade ones involve?”
“Hmm…” Mr. Johnson thought of a way to explain it to the kids. “Um… Ever heard of… Osama bin Laden?” The three nodded as he continued explaining. “Um… A-Grade missions involve dressing up like those criminals, secure connections with them, and then sell the intel obtained in all this time. Osama bin Laden had a right hand named ‘Rafeeq Mohammad’, which was, in fact, Carlos Cornwallis. He remained under-cover for at least a decade, right when the investigations for the revenge of nine-eleven attacks started.”
“Whoa! Remaining under-cover for about ten years is such a huge and tiring job!” Adam said in awe.
“It’s one of the longest missions of SAI, and also the most successful one. We provided a large amount of intel to the US Army, and they still thank us for this job. They even wanted to award us, but I refused because SAI ain’t the ones who want awards. We want results, and that’s what matters here.”
Adam proudly announced, “I feel like a part of a big organization now, and now I can proudly say that I serve MI-Six.”
“It ain’t MI-Six, Ads,” Mr. Johnson explained him. “MI-Six is a governmental agency, whereas the Agency is private.”
Lucy suddenly said, “Oh, wait! What about the after-exam party?!”
“What?” Adam asked.
“After-exam party is a party where a group of friends who have passed the exams go on a trip and enjoy their last moments being stress-free!”
“And that’s a self-coined term by Lucy indeed,” Mr. Johnson was embarrassed.
“So, are you two coming along with us?” Lucy asked them.
“Um, we…” Zack replied. “Ho many of us will be?”
“Um, we’re six to eight in total, including you two.”
“Okay, but don’t ya think that that’d be quite a crowd?”
“What? They’re enough— no more, no less— I suppose.”
“Yeah, Zack. What kind of party is it if it’s gonna be just four of us?” Adam tried to somehow make him join. He nudged him frequently. “C’mon, Zacky. It’d be fun.”
“Ah, okay!” Zack readily agreed to the proposals. Then, he whispered in Adam’s ear, “I know ya just wanna see girls, Ads.”
Adam’s cheeks turned pink and he blushed. “Shut it up, Zack. I wanna have some fun with you, Zacky, that’s it.”
“I know what fun ya wanna have there.”
“Tryna be funny, huh?”
“No, ‘truthful’ is a better word here.”
“Ah, really?”
“Yes, Ads. Accept it or not.”
“Anyways,” Then, he turned to Lucy and asked her, “When are we leaving?”
Suddenly, the door-bell rang and Lucy, while running towards the gate, shouted back, “Now!” She exited the dining room and dashed through the corridor.
“Um, okay,” Adam replied.
“Hey, you two,” Mr. Johnson asked Adam and Zack as they turned towards him. “I don’t think you need another pair, right?”
“Yeah,” Zack replied with a smile. “We’re wearing a pair, and we got another pair in our bags. So, in a way, we really don’t need another pair.”
“Well, we know you were saying it sarcastically, but nevermind,” Adam shrugged, stood up and exited the room while Zack followed him.
Mr. Johnson was confused. He indeed said it sarcastically, but such a reply was not expected. “Were not they supposed to laugh on the jokes of the boss?”
Zack popped his head inside the dining room again and replied with a smile, “No, sir. These are new times. Now, the boss has to laugh on the jokes of their employees.” Then, Zack went back.
Mr. Johnson was more confused than before, and his exaggerated face expressions showed it. Then, he laughed at him and murmured, “These guys are nuts!”
“Hey!” A friend of Lucy raised his hand towards Adam for a hello. “Nice to meet you, brother.” He was wearing white pants upon purple shirt and looked just like he was going on a holiday. He was Chinese by face and accent. “I’m Jacob.”
Adam shook his hand and replied, “Hello. I’m Adam”
“Hello, I’m Sophia,” A woman beside him raised her hand. She was small in height with a cute charming face.
“Hi,” Adam shook her hand also. The cycle repeated with the third woman, named Charlotte, and another man, named George. “So, y’all are the team-mates of Lucy, right?”
“Yeah,” Jacob replied. “We played the Competition as Mr. Johnny’s team.”
“Whoa, so y’all are from the team of Mr. Johnson?” Zack asked while walking towards them.
“Yeah, and you?” Sophia asked.
“Well, we’re from Mr. Carlos’ team.”
“The team which exited the competition midway?” Sophia asked while pointing at him.
“Yeah,” Zack replied. “We didn’t have enough men. Just the two of us.”
“So how did you pass?” George asked. “By that alternative exam?”
Zack simply nodded. Charlotte and Sophia said in awe, “Whoa!”
“That’s known to be very difficult, right?” George commented, correcting his spectacles.
“Yeah,” Jacob replied. “I never thought we’ve got some people here who have passed the alternative exam.”
“Hey, children!” Mr. Johnson announced while coming down the corridor. “Enjoy, ‘kay?”
“Yes, sir. But I wanna ask if we’ve passed the last exam or not,” Jacob sincerely asked.
“That’s a secret until the fifth of May. Till then, enjoy.”
“Sir, how can we enjoy with the tension that we’ve passed or not?” Charlotte asked him.
“See, I don’t have the results for now.”
“But sir, you’d remember our performance. At last, we’re your team,” Sophia replied.
“The meeting to decide who is gonna pass and who is gonna fail is today!”
“Oh,” George expressed his disappointment.
“So, can y’all take your leave? Plus, Lucy, be here before eleven, okay?”
“Papa!” She sarcastically replied.
“No, I want you here.”
“Please, Papa!”
He looked into the puppy eyes of Lucy and, at last, he has to agree. He sighed and replied, “Okay.”
“YAY!” She screamed in joy. “Let’s go, guys!”
Mr. Johnson crossed his arms as the group of seven started walking out of the door. The ones standing at last were Zack and Adam. “Hey, you two,” Mr. Johnson called them.
“Yes, sir?” Zack stopped and turned back towards him.
“I was talking about ‘swim-suits’ when I said about ‘another pair of clothes’.” Mr. Johnson thought with a dominating smile, “It surely took me time to think of a reply, but it wasn’t a bad one after all.”
“Sir, we ain’t gonna swim,” Zack replied. “I just don’t like it.”
“Especially after bath, right?” Adam sarcastically replied.
“Nah, but actually yes.”
Mr. Johnson was confused again. “Those two really are something of jesters.”
Zack sat on the driving seat whereas Adam sat beside him. Everyone else sat behind them in the seven-seater van. “So, let’s GOO!” Lucy shouted in excitement.
“YAY!” Her team-mates shouted back. The only ones not to yell were Adam and Zack.
“If they’re gonna shout like this the whole day, how’re we gonna tolerate them?”
“Dunno,” Adam replied in a dull manner. Zack sighed and started the van. The engine revved as the van started to move.
“Hey, let’s sing songs so that the journey may not seem long!” Lucy suggested them as soon as the car turned its first left.
“Okay, first Sophia, ‘cuz she sings well,” Charlotte suggested them.
“Yes, that’d be a good idea!” Jacob said. “Sing, Sophia!”
“Um…” She was a little shy. She blushed as she asked, “What song should I sing?”
“Maybe Pokemon’s opening theme,” Jacob sarcastically replied. “C’mon, Sophia. Sing anything!”
“What about ‘Bad Liar’?” George suggested. “And even ‘Believer’ is a good one.”
“D’ya listen to pop?” Lucy asked. “’Cuz your face is like that of a bookworm, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” George replied. “But I love ‘Imagine Dragons’. It’s a great pop band.”
“Really?” Jacon sarcastically asked.
“C’mon guys!”
“Okay, I’m gonna sing ‘Thunder’, because I like that song,” Sophia declared.
“No, your voice is soft, so a pop song won’t be a good choice,” Lucy explained. “Sing some slow-moving and relaxing song.”
“You almost sound like a Music Director or something,” Jacob taunted.
“It’s gonna be a boring and long one,” Zack commented.
“Indeed.”
