The days flew by with the hum of the city a constant companion to Seth's worried mind. The city's cold metal and concrete creating a dark and cold atmosphere, with the rain seemed to fall endlessly onto the city below.
In an alley so tall and narrow no sun hit the bottom seth was making his way back to the apartment where Mongrel was waiting. On the way back Seth's gauntlet lit up, a red flashing sign was plastered on the top of the gauntlet.
"Shit, already" Seth, flustered by the message began to hurriedly read the mission breif. as he continued to read his face began to fall and morph into one of worry.
"Fuck fuck fuck" He pulled up the hologram and immediately called the information on the bottom of the email.
The dial tone rang as Seth moved into a quiet location and breathed deep to calm his nerves. The rain was dripping off his black coat as he calmed himself, the sound soothing. Before he could completely calm himself, an annoyed face came to life in front of his own.
"Yes??" replied the man, confounded by the speed at which Seth could dial.
"Hi Sir. Has their been some mistake with the timeframe for the mission? I thought I would have more time to change my mutations around"
"No. The timeframe is what it is. This is not a problem is it?" asked the same bald man from the meeting room, his head shinning even through the hologram, his face stern and uncaring.
"No sir. If that is the timeframe it needs to be done in, I will get it done" said Seth as he bit his nails anxiously.
"Good. I was worried if you would except it or not, but even if you did not we can still use Maria if our deal falls through" replied the bald man with a slimy smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye that Seth wished was not there.
"No. If needed I will meet with Mongrel and we will catch the next ship off world"
"The next ship is in three days Seth, but do not worry we have arranged private transport for you and Mongrel. This mission needs to be done quickly so you will move by tomorrow"
"Yes sir. Is there any other important pieces of information I should know about?"
"None beyond that mission brief soldier" said the bald man as he abruptly hung up the call.
Seth breathed out a long sigh until he had no breath left in his lungs. He watched the steam rise in front of him, the rain like knives cut the steam asunder before it had risen above Seth's head.
"I really hope this mission goes well. Fuck. I wish I had some time to change the mutations I have but I would need rest, something I don't have time for now" Seth mumbled under his breath, his words held no anger, only resignation of his fate. This was his life in the military, there was no choice, not even the illusion of choice.
The walk back to the apartment was long. Seth had walked while not even paying attention. He was numb, the mission brief was terrifying.
It was long and full of military jargon, but the jist of it was as follows.
Infiltration of a destroyer class vessel a ship that is a flying planet conquer with thousands and thousands of Druin on board. It is state of the art Druin technology and unlike the command ship Seth normally rode on, it was a ship of war and death, with the sole purpose to destroy enemy ships and clear the way for troops to follow.
The second part was an assassination of the Druin elders who were in charge of the ship and all the crew. Normal, such a mission would not be too complicated. You strap a bomb to the ship in the location of the commanders room and detonate and if the first initial blast does not kill the elder the void of space will.
This time he would need to confirm the kill with a photo of the dead elder.
Seth lamented how he would go about killing someone in such high security that he ended up thinking until he got back to the apartment.
The room was dark and not a single sound was coming from within. Seth looked in the shadows from the table stretching into the the living room with the only light coming from the windows. Seth moved cautiously through the room, making his way to Mongrel's room he needed to know what was happening and he was his first priority.
The door creaked as he pushed it open, the humming of the city dulled from the thumping of his heart. The pistol cold in his grasp, the nozzle pointed to the floor as he pushed into the room scanning his surroundings as he went. Nothing was out of place until the sheets moved and a gun was pointed at him.
"Do not move or I'll shoot ya dead" said Mongrel slowly from under the sheets.
"ohh it is just you mongrel" Seth replied while looking at Mongrels eyes that were trained squarely on his weapon and nothing else.
"If that is you Seth, slowly place the gun down" replied Mongrel.
Seth complied. He was annoyed though now that the sheet was off he could see Mongrel's face clearly, why could he not see his own?
"Mongrel. It is me, can you not see that"
"All I can see is a weapon and a figure in the dark of my room" replied Mongrel as he did not move his weapon.
'Shit, I forgot he cannot see in the night like me' thought Seth as he finally put down his weapon after one last scan of the room.
The room in Seth's eyes was grey. He could make out faces and details as they were unsaturated with colour but he could still see. Mongrel on the other hand could only see the glint of light off a weapon and someone's hand, all else was black to him.
When the gun touched the ground, the tension in the room evaporated and Seth could hear Mongrel moving on the bed. He lifted his head and stepped away from his gun as he was doing that so he could see Mongrel reach for the light switch.
"I can do that Mong..." Seth managed to say before the light's flicked on and he could see nothing but white. He shut his eyes quickly and began blinking to regain his sight now that the light was on.
The few seconds it took were agony for Seth as he could not see anything around him while a gun was trained on him. It may have been in the hands of a friend, but that did not change the fact that a gun was pointed at him and now he could not see what was happening.
As his eyes managed to adjust to the light he could finally see Mongrel looking pale as he lowered his gun.