Chapter 9: Year 2: Foxtrot

"Come on, Come on, Come on..." An unassuming blonde man muttered to himself, tapping his feet impatiently as he looked at the downloading prompt in front of him. 

Today was Antonio Seguerra's first day as a data analyst at the Multinational Giant, LINE Foundation. As a firm immensely popular for being the best at what they do whether it be infrastructure, clothing, robotics, and all, the incentives that came with being their employee were as best as they come. Naturally, they were many young talents flocking to the new firm, but the bar was high and as such, not many could have the privilege to even brag about being a janitor at the firm. 

So as an Italian immigrant who grew up in a small farm town in Kentucky who managed to pass those absurdly high bars and land an objectively impressive job at the said firm, Antonio should by proxy, be happy and enthusiastic and yet looking at the screen in front of him, the 28-year-old felt nothing but nervousness, that shook his bones.

The nervousness was a direct result of fear. Fear was a direct result of the fact that Antonio was an imposter, a pretender. Everything about his recent identity was a sham, a web of intricate lies that he spun as a master weaver, a covert agent who infiltrated LINE Foundation at the orders of his superiors at Umbrella.

He has been made similar runs for Umbrella a thousand times, extracting sensitive information from pharmacies, governments, political factions, and even terrorist groups, and yet he had never felt so vulnerable, so paranoid as this one. 

His eyes darted around the data server room, keeping eyes on the position of the rest of his very temporary, colleagues as he fed the information about LINE's medical and robotics division into a nifty flash drive. 

There was no real threat, after bypassing the security and successfully disarming the alarm, he was on his toes ready to jump into action and neutralize the security in case they came to flush him out, and yet no one did. 

This mission was painfully safe for 'Antonio'. Other employees were in good mood, chatting cracking jokes, playing harmless pranks on each other even involving security guards and their superiors in the fun. 

"The fuck is this place? Fucking Merrylands?" Antonio cursed his nerve grinding on his psyche. Either LINE Foundation liked being fucked naked without concern for privacy and security or he was just a lot jumpy today. "I hope it's just the shitty coffee I drank on my way here."

Sweat ran down his palms as he stood waiting, despite being in a pleasantly chilled environment before he cracked a smile as the download completed. Ejecting the Pendrive and cleaning up his trail from the network grid, Antonio shoved the Pendrive into his 'lunch box' between the sandwiches. He grabbed his briefcase and prepared to leave the HQ. 

His extraction team was waiting just around the block, a few minutes and he will be out with the info, out of America, enjoying a long vacation on a beach in the Philippines with the hefty money his boss would wire him. 

He finally had more than enough money to leave this life behind him and just start a slow life somewhere else. 

"Hey, Tony!" Antonio froze up, his hand on the side of his briefcase ready to fish out his Glock and if necessary make quick work of whoever halted him. Turning around rigidly, he cracked a smile, some relief seeping in as he saw it was just the talkative guy who sat beside him. "How was your first day?"

"Fantastic, but exhausting." Antonio smiled at the man who nodded in understanding. "So Gary, what's up?"

"Ahh, nothing much. My mates and I were going to hit the pub, Senior Isekawa is treating us since it's her birthday so I thought about inviting you with us." Gary replied with a smile. "So, care to grab some cold beer?"

"I love to join you but, I don't drink and also I'm really exhausted." Antonio replied curtly as Gary's smile flattered for a moment before he nodded. "I think I'll tuck myself in for the day after dinner. But next time, I'll join for sure."

"Well, alright then! See you tomorrow, mate! Goodnight!" Gary waved at Antonio before walking away to meet up with his friends while Antonio just sighed shaking his head and walking towards the elevator.

"I guess, T'was just my nerves after all." Antonio muttered to himself with a smile as he entered the elevator and pressed the ground floor button on the panel. Leaning against the wall and loosening his tie, he was startled as a black shoe stopped the elevator doors from closing. 

Standing straight and steady, he tensed up only to be surprised to see as he was greeted by a rather young boy around 15-16 years old Japanese male. The rather tall young man was dressed in a crisp, black suit and a tie-less, white shirt. 

"Hello." He greeted entering the elevator and pressed the first-floor button on the panel before standing beside him. 

"G-Good evening." Antonio replied recovering from his surprise as the young man chuckled. 

"Surprised, I take?" He asked as Antonio nodded. "Well, it's a normal reaction. I get that look a dozen times a day but to be fair, I do look out of place. Especially like this."

Antonio nodded as the young man gestured his expensive suit. 

"You see, I'm friends with Camilla." The boy chuckled as Antonio was further surprised. Antonio would have brushed the boy aside as delusional but the confidence in his voice made it sound really convincing. "I'm really, really close with her little sister, you see Mr. Data Analyst. Like really, really."

"Ahhh, I see. Well, it's nice to-wait... How do you know I am a data analyst?" Antonio asked alerted as the young man chuckled once again.

"I was in the office and I was the muster roll and came across your resume when I was skeeming through the new employee list. You just joined today, right?" He asked as Antonio nodded once again, holding his briefcase close to him. "From Kentucky to Harvard is quite the achievement. And then managing to pass the interview, I have to give it to you Mr. Carter. I'm impressed."

"I... My surname isn't Carter." Antonio felt the hair on the back of his neck stand as the young man's smile turned into a Cheshire grin. 

"Oh is that so? I'm quite confident in my memory." He grinned like a predator. "Mr. Evan Carter."

"Shit!" The now exposed Evan cursed as he swung his briefcase at the boy. The young man in return, blocked the briefcase and slammed his fist into Evan's nose breaking it with a sick crunch. "Awwwkk!"

Evan fell to his right knee, holding his bleeding nose in pain as his vision turned blurry with tears. The young man stood there with an unbothered smile, while Evan growled in anger. Grabbing the briefcase with both of his hands, Evan tried to ram it into his guts but instead rammed it into the elevator wall as the young man dodged to the side. 

"That's not quite polite of you." His amused tone pissed Evan off even more. Evan tried to attack again with the briefcase but he grabbed the briefcase and in a show of strength Evan didn't expect to slam it back into Evan's face before snatching it from Evan's hands. 

Evan groaned in pain as he was once again nailed in the face. He pushed himself off the elevator wall but wasn't able to dodge in time, as the young man smashed the briefcase into his crotch. 

"Hekk!" He took a sharp breath as he fell to the floor cupping his balls in pain. 

"Ahh, don't worry, it will be fine. At worst, you won't be able to have kids but hey! You get to live right?!" He asked Evan enthusiastically. 

"Y-You bastard!" Evan snarled pulling out a knife from his leg holster and trying to slash at his leg, but his opponent saw it coming a mile away and slammed his armed hand to the ground with immaculate accuracy. "Ahhh!"

Evan tried to free his broken wrist but the young man had different ideas. 

"Ah, don't touch my boots with your filthy hands please." He smirked raising the briefcase and slamming it to his face. Evan felt his vision turn blurry once again from the pain but this time he wasn't able to shake it off as his assailant kept slamming the briefcase into his face again and again until his vision turned black and his head turned into a pulp. After pulverizing the man's face, the young man sighed wiping the briefcase with the handkerchief as he straightened his jacket. He smiled as the elevator stopped and the doors began opening with a 'ting'. "Ahh, can you get a janitor-Woah! Woah!"

"Put your hands-Oh?" The door opened revealing Six fully armored and armed men pointing their guns at him before they saw who it was and relaxed. "I'm surprised that you are still alive Takashi.

"Hey, please have some faith in me. This was a cakewalk for me." Takashi retorted with an easygoing smile as he waved at the guard, his hands raised in mock surrender. "As I was saying, I've made quite a mess and a janitor would be required to clean this. If possible get someone with a strong stomach and tight lips."

"Roger. Shut down the elevator and call in the cleaners. Make sure no one steps in this corridor, tell them to take the stairs or the elevator on the other side." The captain instructed his men, who nodded sharply and followed the orders. After instructing them, he turned back to Takashi. "You secured the stolen Intel?"

"Yep, it's probably in this briefcase. It's not on his body." Takashi replied as he finished searching the dead body. "Ah, wallet, credit card, it's probably faux. Hmm, faux IDs, a few hundred dollar bills, and a cell phone. You don't mind if I keep the cash, right?"

"I wouldn't tell Akali if you promise to buy me a smoke." The captain chuckled as Takashi joined in. "If it's not that too much to ask, Mr. Miser?"

"Geez, I'm not big of a cheap steak. I'll buy you a pint a Drizly as well, good?" 

"I'm more of a Maduro Brown guy." The captain retorted as Takashi rolled his eyes and nodded. "So, any info?"

"His friends are around the block, in a black painted, black tinted, Altima GXE, you should be able to spot that hideous car easily." Takashi said as the captain nodded with a chuckle. "Put those bastards down, they are hired arms, won't have much data on Umbrella. No point in interrogating them."

"Gotcha'. What are you gonna do?" The guard asked as Takashi smirked in anticipation. 

"Someone tipped Umbrella from the inside. And I, obviously am going to drag the guy out by his balls and strap him to the table for a good anti-anesthetic vasectomy operation." Takashi grinned as the captain just shuddered. 

------

*Splash!*

"Wake up, sunshine."

"Buwahh! H-hah! W-Who... W-Where am I?!" A normal-looking, middle-aged caucasian man blurted as Takashi dumped a bucket of cold water onto his previous, unconscious self. "You... You little shit! Let go of me-ahhhh!"

Takashi simply smiled as a grabbed an icepick and stabbed the tied-up man in his arm. The man screamed in agony, as the spike pierced his elbow joint and protruded out of his elbow. The man shook in his chair, thrashing against his restraints but Takashi was getting annoyed by his scream, so swung his fists at the man's face. 

"Bhwa! Ack-ahhhh! W-Wait-ahh! Wait-guck!" The man tried to protest but Takashi didn't listen and kept hitting him in the face. A few moments later, Takashi sighed wiping the sweat off his forehead as he looked at the man in front of him, then at his own bloody fists. His once-white shirt was painted with strokes and splatters of blood which was the result of the face hammering Takashi gave the guy who tipped off Umbrella. 

Wiping his fists with a towel he grabbed a bottle of alcohol and poured it over his busted knuckles barely flinching before he splashed the rest of the alcohol over the other man's more busted visage. 

The man could barely groan even though it felt like someone had poured acid over his face. 

"Mr. Reeves, are you still with me?" Takashi asked wiping his hands but the man didn't reply and just groaned. "Ah, you are. Albeit a bit exhausted and in lots of pain aye? Well, lucky for you. I have just the cure for you. Here."

Takashi said pulling a stim out of his pocket and injecting it into the man through his neck. The man gasped almost totally recovering from his exhaustion and began thrashing against his restraints. 

"This is a REGEN-Stim. I made this to be made in case of emergency. It replenishes blood, increases the natural healing process for a brief period, and even recovers stamina. Isn't this a scientific miracle? This was originally meant to aid my people but one afternoon I let my mind wander to the dark side, you see." Takashi cooed grabbing the man's face firmly and dangling the stim in front of his face. "I could save people for a short period, bring them back from the verge of death for a brief period. Naturally, I can purposely push people off the cliff and if they don't die, I can bring them back and push them off again and again and again."

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Reeves's eyes widened as he understood the implications of Takashi's words. Tossing the stim away, Takashi grabbed the icepick that was still lodged in the man's arm and began turning and rotating the spike agitating the man's bleeding wound over and over again. 

"So, I hope you will be kind enough to co-operate with me now otherwise..." Takashi turned his head towards a table where a plethora of weapons was on display, waiting and eager for Takashi to grab and put them to good use. "I'd hate to see just how creative I'd get with my devices if I was provided the liberty of your silence. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Eh? Mr. Reeves?"

------

"Eh? Mr. Reeves?"

Takashi asked tapping the man's cheek but the man didn't respond. His head leaned forward, eyes fluttering over the dead look in them. Takashi sighed as he pulled out his gun. "Well, you can rest now."

*Bang!*

Blowing the man's brain out, Takashi finally allowed the man to rest. Storing away all his equipment, he removed his bloodied shirt as the door to the interrogation room opened and Camilla entered with a worried look on her face. 

"Yo. Turns out this man was a mole all along. Umbrella is interested in our technology but they aren't willing to make a deal obviously, so they decided to make steal our data as if it was some fucking low-hanging fruit." Takashi cursed as put on a black T-Shirt after wiping the blood off his torso with a hot wet towel. "I compiled all the info he had into that file on the table, check it, and do as you see fit. It's not much, nothing about the virus or B.O.Ws. and before you blow a gasket, I'll tell you some of the pages are stained with a bit of blood, 'cause you know I was... Multitasking."

Camilla entered the room followed by the Captain of security and they both shared a look just as Takashi turned to face them. 

"What?" Takashi asked. 

"Are you okay, Takashi?" Camilla asked as Takashi blinked in surprise before rolling his eyes and brushing it off in a light-hearted manner.

"Me? Pfft. I'm fine, just a bit exhausted. I need to sleep since you and I have to leave for Berlin early in the morning tomorrow. So, yeah I just need to tuck myself in then." Takashi replied rapidly before taking a deep breath. "Also, I can leave it up to you to dispose of this guy, the thief, and his partner in a way that wouldn't have Umbrella constantly breathing down our necks?"

"Totally." Camilla replied gesturing towards the Captian. "Joseph will take care of it."

"You go and rest kiddo." Joseph replied giving Takashi a thumbs up. 

"Alright then." Takashi said with a smile as he began walking towards the door. "I'll see you both tomorrow and I wish you both goodnight-ump-"

"Blergh!"

Just as he opened the door, Takashi hunched over and began emptying the contents of his stomach causing Camilla to facepalm and Joseph to burst into laughter. 

"This kid... He is always pushing himself too hard." Camilla complained as Joseph wiped the tears from his eyes. "I can't tell if it's a good or a bad thing. If his mother will have my head once she finds out just what he has done under my watch."

"Ahahaha! Phew... Regardless, I think it's a good thing." Joseph said as he looked at Takashi who finally stopped vomiting. "You gotta admit the kid did good."

"Especially considering this is his first time." 

------

*Knock!* *Knock!*

Takashi groggily got out of his bed and walked towards the door, rubbing his eyes after he put on a shirt to cover up his torso. 

"Good morning, Takashi." Akali greeted with a smile as she entered his room with a tray of breakfast. 

"Morning, Takashi." Camilla patted Takashi's cheek as she too entered his room with a box in her hand. 

"Good morning, ladies." Takashi replied as he closed the door and sat on his bed as Akali handed him his breakfast. "You could have just called me down ya know? Instead of bringing me the food here."

"Haha. That's what I told Akali but she insisted." Camilla grinned as Akali shot her a look of betrayal. "She made the breakfast herself by the way."

"Hey!-"

"I think she is training to be a housewife-"

"S-Shut up!" Akali yelled at Camilla, her face flushed as Camilla and Takashi shared a laugh. 

"Gee, thanks Akali." Takashi smiled. "I appreciate you a lot."

"Umm, you are most welcome." Akali mumbled out. 

"So, any updates?" Takashi asked as cut his steak and took a bite humming in appreciation. "This is really tasty by the way."

"Well, we remotely controlled a car crash with the dead thief and his dead mates inside after half an hour of an epic police chase." Camilla grinned as Takashi raised an eyebrow. "As the car crashed, the bomb planted in the car, went off and blew the dead bodies to kingdom come!... What?"

"That's... That's overkill, don't you think?"

"I don't want to hear that from you." Camilla snorted as Takashi nodded with a chuckle. "They were already dead thanks to you so I had to do something that would throw Umbrella off our tracks for a bit, while we increase security and breach parameters. The whole chase was broadcasted, the car crash and its explosion to smithereens as well."

"Hmm, well that's fair I guess." Takashi nodded before he looked at the box in Camilla's hand and gave her a questioning look. "That box?... Don't tell me. Is it done?"

"Yep. Yes, it is." Camilla grinned in reply as Takashi quickly gobbled his breakfast and turned to her which caused Akali to pout quietly. "Easy there. It's not going anywhere, ya know?"

"I know, I know!" Takashi replied gulping down the glass of orange juice. "It's that I've been expecting this for a while now!"

"Haha, well, here you go." Camilla giggled as she handed the box to Takashi. "This is the first custom LINE Comms model made just for you. It's more light compared to the standard ones, more advanced as you will notice and it has just been finished right on time."

Opening the box, Takashi grinned pleased with the product. It was a contraption that resembled two bulky bracelets adjoined together. Retrieving the bracelets from the box, Takashi was eager to put them on. 

Pressing a glowing button on the side, Takashi put the bracelet on his left hand. The bracelet expanded before shrinking and securing itself around Takashi's hand. Takashi inspected the device and it was quite comfortable for a bulky device. Grabbing the upper bracelet, Takashi twisted it and the bracelet lit up prompting the lower bracelet to shift back revealing a holographic interface. 

'Welcome, Foxtrot.' 

(Image)

"After all, Joseph approved you saying you are now ready for field missions." Camilla grinned. "So, good luck. You are going to need it from now on since it's going to get really hard for you Takashi or should I say..."

"Agent Foxtrot."

------

The week-long vacation in Berlin was the only breather Takashi would get in his second year. Three months after departing with his friends and family and two months after his field approval, Takashi's life became grueling.

Besides his training with John the BOT, Joseph the captain of LINE's DBC Unit (Damage and Breach Counter Unit) would put Takashi through hell every day. And while Takashi would curse each day, he knew that this was the most efficient way to get stronger.

Besides, his physical training Takashi continued polishing his crafting skills mainly by creating various weapons, equipment, vehicles, etc, and storing them in his infinite inventory.

From various Guns to staves, meds to various grenades, he kept crafting and experimenting for what was to come, and before he knew it his second year came to an end, and on the eve of the new year he got the green light to move on to the next phase of his plan. 

Infiltrating the Izmir and the Umbrella's military-occupied town of Alacati. The objective was simple. To free two individuals out of their confinement and extract them. 

Kyle Crane and Jade Aldemir. 

Takashi's first official mission.

Operation Foxtrot. 

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