“You’re going undercover as me.” Agent 5474 said handing her a folder about two inches thick.
“I’m going undercover as Silent Death!” She squealed, excitement oozing out of every pore.
“Its just around the office for a few weeks.” She patted the girls head. “Keep it together agent.”
She nodded clutching the documents to her chest. She hurried away to her room to start her research. She would start her impersonation in the next couple days, only the director and Agent 5474 knew about the mission, and they wanted to keep it that way. There would be a final walk through before Agent 5474 left.
Agent 2257 flicked on her light and sat at her regulation desk placing the thick folder down carefully. She flipped open the packet. The first and only line on the page was in bold text.
Avoid agent 3642, Aka Darkness Bane!
Agent 3642 was rumored to be Silent Death’s significant other. Agent 2257 had to admit he was attractive, every girl recruit in her class had a crush on him while he trained them in enemy critical points.
The next page was marked confidential. A hand written note in pen said “I will kill you if you reveal any of this.-Agent 5474” With a heart with an x through it below it. It was an ominous warning.
“Agent 5474, Silent Death, open field agent. Specialty coven destruction and specialized combat. Moderate power level of increased speed and strength. No reported relationships on base. Close personal ties with several other OFA’s requested avoidance by double. Physical appearance is slender and short, quoted as saying pixie like in self descriptions. Pixie cut hair style, natural color is black, current color is also black. Eyes green. High cheekbones and an angular face. Noted, saying boyish is not appreciated by Agent 5474. Finger nails are cut short and unpolished, always. Preferred color pallet is black. Quirks wears red sweater after elimination missions. Gate is light and soft, footsteps are never heard even in the heaviest boots, but has military quality, double should avoid wearing heavy boots or shoes to mimic her silence. Standard two octave vocal range, low to mid female vocal range. Samples provided with common sayings. Frequently keeps conversations short with other agents, has mastered her accent to mild while around compound, and is nonexistent in the field. Agent often crosses her arms, and slouches when she thinks no one is looking. Always makes eye contact while speaking, often challenging in nature.”
Agent 2257 hoped they wouldn’t make her cut and color her platinum blonde hair and she would need contacts if she was going to make challenging eye contact with anyone. She sighed and thumbed to the next page which went into great detail about how her room was kept and the wing of the building it was in. She would have access to it once the imitation began and would be staying in it until it ended. There was another entire three page devoted to food preferences and choices. She clicked on the desk light to read what she was going to have to eat. There was a list of accomplishments and completed missions that went on forever.
She woke up with a knock on her door, a large drool spot on the page she had fallen asleep on. Agent 5747 walked in without waiting for an invitation.
“How is the research going?” She asked, eyeing the drool spot suspiciously
. “Good, good.”
“Say it like me.”
“I haven’t gotten to the samples yet…”
“Say it like me.”
“Good.” She did her best imitation.
“Work on it.” Agent 5747 walked out the door.
She thumped her head on the desk. Failure clawed at her insides. She couldn’t fail this mission, it was her first one. This should be an easy mission to do. She got back to work on the huge pile she needed to read. She fell asleep again listening to the audio clips. She tried to think like Agent 5747 , she picked foods that she would like to eat, walked like she would walk. Her vocal imitation was almost perfect now. She found a package on her bed that had a black wig with Agent 5747’s haircut and contacts with her exact eye color. She practiced doing her makeup so her face would look sharp and angular, instead of its regular rounded shape.
Agent 5747 visited her in her room after a week of trying to become her. “You look ready.”
Agent 2257 shifted nervously from foot to foot, which was reprimanded with a swat on the hip.
“Remember avoid Darkness Bane at all costs.”
“Why?” A perfect imitation made agent 5747 do a double take.
“He would blow your cover. Any OFA would.”
Agent 2257 let it go. She had read enough to know when her superior officer was lying, she could even mimic the behaviors now.
“Don’t mess up.” She said pulling a bag on her shoulder and walking out of the room.
Agent 2257 waited a while before donning the outfit and leaving her room to head to her new quarters. Her palms were sweating while she walked down the hallways, it was different now. Her backup was gone, for the past week she could count on someone seeing the real thing somewhere and knowing she was still in compound. She was worried she would not be convincing. Panic rose up when she saw Agent 3642 standing outside of the door she needed to go through, she doubled back, struggling to keep her composure. She took the alternate route and managed to avoid disaster. She was instructed to keep to the room most of the time, report to the command wing on occasion, and report for all meals.
She closed the door behind her to the now familiar room. She locked it. She opened the closet of entirely black clothes. They should all fit her even if she was a little more full than the other agent. The red sweater was missing. There was a note on the desk, “Don’t snoop.” Signed with a heart with an X through it. She left the drawers of the desk alone. It was set up almost exactly like her own which made the transition a little easier. There were more things on the desk and it was a little darker. Almost everything was untouched regulation issued, no personality. In her own room she had switched out the fitted sheet for a light one instead of the issued white one.
The first week was a lot of ducking and hiding from OFA’s the second week went better. She managed to hold a couple conversations with tech research agents, and people who had met Silent Death in passing.
Week four she had it mastered, then trouble when she had a run in with Darkness Bane.
“Hey!” He called from the end of the hallway. Agent 2257 did a half wave and quickly ducked into the nearest hallway to avoid him. He was faster than she expected, OFA’s often had special talents or powers that the general agents didn’t have. She had managed to run around two corners before he grabbed her up.
“Babe, you’ve been avoiding me all month what’s wrong?” He asked trapping her against the wall. She struggled to keep her persona up, meeting his eyes with confidence that only the Silent Death would have dared. He was gorgeous. Her heart was pounding so fast she was sure he could feel it in his arms.
“Put me down.” She insisted.
“I mean did I mess up our date?”
She couldn’t help but look surprised. Silent Death and Darkness Bane were an item, no wonder she had been so adamant about avoiding him. He dropped her.
“Did you forget about it?” He asked sounding hurt. She didn’t respond, her training hadn’t covered anything like this. He had turned away and was looking at the wall. She slipped away silently while he looked at the wall. She needed to get back to her room.
She slipped through the door panting from running for so long. She took off the light shoes that helped silence her footsteps and flopped onto the bed. She took the wig off and the contacts out. She tried to find herself again, she felt like she was getting too lost in being someone else.
The door slammed open. The pixie like Agent 5747 stood in the doorway fuming. “I told you to stay away from him.”
“I did, for four weeks, I tried to get away and he caught me.”
She crossed her arms, it looked like there was something else she wanted to say, instead she sighed, “I guess its good you didn’t hang around. He didn’t realize you were a double. You are relieved of being my double, for now.”
fancysushikitty 