To Melbourne's relief, Victoria was found leaning against a metal railing along the coast where she had agreed to meet him later when they disembarked from the S.S. Seeker. Her red hair flew loosely in the fresh sea breeze as Melbourne walked up behind her. She was wearing a black business suit and was accompanied by a similarly dressed man with a cue ball bald head and sunglasses.
"Victoria!" called Melbourne.
Victoria turned around and smiled. "Melbourne!"
She rushed over to Melbourne and embraced him in a hug despite the bald man's looks of disapproval.
"You are Melbourne Acliate?" asked the bald man as Victoria let go. He walked up to give Melbourne a polite handshake.
"Yes, sir. What is your name?"
"You may call me Agent Rune." said the man.
"He's with us and knows about your… special condition." said Victoria.
"Victoria, I wanted to tell you they were interrogating us, but I didn't get the chance to talk to you!" exclaimed Melbourne apologetically. "They attempted to use a truth serum on me. It didn't work because my System has the ability to subjugate any drugs that affect the brain or nervous system including psychoactive drugs. I was worried about you. Did you manage to resist the truth serum or avoid taking it?"
"No worries." said Victoria. "The Red Cybers have similar augmentations that are given to all field agents. I was absolutely able to lie my way out of that little murder investigation. Detective Bryan was unsatisfied, but he had to let me go as he had no direct evidence to tie to me. The camera footage from the time was removed by myself and I told everyone but you that the cameras were just malfunctioning because of damage done by the pirates."
"So, what is your friend doing here to meet me?" asked Melbourne curiously.
"Well, as you may have guessed based on the fact that I scheduled a meeting with you, the Red Cyber Rebellion wishes to work with you given the fact that you already have cybernetic enhancements. It is especially intriguing that your augmentations seem to be based on some nanotechnology from the Cosmists. For this reason, my superiors believe you may be a powerful asset. We would like to extend an invitation to you. Would you like to become a field asset?"
Melbourne leaned against the railing in contemplation, looking out over the Amazonis Sea. He wasn't surprised by the offer at all. In fact, he was expecting something like this. He had been expecting something like this to happen eventually for over a month now ever since he discovered Victoria's true identity.
"What would being a field asset entail?" asked Melbourne.
"Field assets are not officially inducted into the Red Cyber Rebellion as official agents." explained Rune. A field asset is assigned a field agent who will contact them whenever the Red Cybers need some help. Many of the agents are humans who do not necessarily wish to suffer the responsibilities and risks of being a full time member. Sometimes, the Red Cybers have a contract that involves intelligence gathering which is doable without risking one of our regular agents. These missions include uncovering other illegal cybernetic operations with no affiliation to the Red Cybers and helping us gather intelligence on them. Some of them are like us and wish to simply offer augmentations against the law. We usually try to recruit the people from these underground cybernetic shops. However, some of these groups are simply a bad name to our kind and misuse cybernetic augmentations for other illicit activities such as robbery or other types of violent crimes against innocent civilians. These people must be put down without being discovered by the government. When the government puts down these groups themselves, they usually use it to fuel media propaganda in order to cement public hatred against the Red Cyber Rebellion. It's indirectly bad for our image even though we are not the ones guilty of doing these things."
"Hmm." said Melbourne, contemplating. "What do I get out of it? Any future opportunities for advancement into the Red Cybers?"
"Perhaps, if you prove yourself a valuable and loyal asset." said Rune. "We also offer monetary compensation for completing contracts. We pay a decent amount of crypts if you can complete a contract or deliver us any tactical information about various organizations and military facilities that might be able to help the Red Cybers out in the long run. I explicitly mention military facilities because you represent a very interesting case indeed. You have received cybernetic augmentations yet you are able to deceive modern tests, including non-invasive x-ray scans and more invasive blood sampling. On top of that, you are also going to the Martian Military Academy soon."
Rune paused to let the information sink in. Gears clicked in Melbourne's head as he realized what the agents wanted him to do.
"Do you mean that you wish for me to gather intelligence from the military academy?" asked Melbourne.
"As much as possible if you could." said Rune. "Don't worry, you have no commitment to do anything for us technically but meet your contact weekly at a pre-determined place such as a cafe you like to frequent or otherwise. It's freelance work. Do our jobs if you want to earn some extra crypts on your weekends or eventually capture the attention of our real recruiters. Maybe you'll earn the right to become a full member one day. So, what do you say. Would you like to become an asset?"
"Very well." said Melbourne tentatively. "I will agree to these terms."
"Excellent." said Rune, shaking Melbourne's hand again. "You are officially an F-Ranked Red Cyber Field Asset and may receive missions from us. I will give you a specially encrypted communication device. I want you to hide it somewhere secure and check it daily in case any emergencies pop up. I also have a handbook for you with various codes that you should memorize because the texts I send you on that communicator will be given in those code phrases to ensure no one who randomly discovers it understands it. I want that book back in one week. I trust you can memorize this given the nature of your enhancement."
Melbourne nodded. He could indeed simply photocopy every page of the book into the hard storage of his Aclito System.
"Since you are going to want it back in a week, does that mean you are my contact?" asked Melbourne, a hint of disappointment in his voice. He was hoping it would be Victoria.
"Yes." said Rune. "I will meet with you once a week every Sunday at a different location each time that we will agree to in the prior meeting. This Sunday, meet me at Amonian Bean, a coffee shop not far from this location. I will see you there at 7 in the morning. If you cannot arrive for some reason, at least send me a text over your communicator letting me know in discreet terms that you cannot make it so that we know you are not compromised in any way."
"Shouldn't Victoria be my contact considering that she has worked closely with me for over a month?" asked Melbourne tentatively, trying not to make Agent Rune angry.
"Despite the fact that they were unable to prove my guilt in the investigation, it is not over." said Victoria somberly. "You are not suspected of the murder, but suspicion is not yet off my shoulders. The Red Cyber Rebellion has insisted my reassignment to another location far away from Olympia for the time being, meaning I am not allowed to return here after this meeting. I'm sorry, Melbourne, but we are not going to be able to see each other for a fairly long time if ever again. Perhaps we can work together in the future if you manage to become a full recruit, but right now you should focus on getting through and graduating from military school. Learn to pilot naval ships and how to fight more professionally. Your victories back in Earth's orbit were more about luck than pure skill, and I hate to say it to you. You need more training. I wish you luck in your future and hope to see you again one day."
Melbourne's heart sank as Victoria hugged him one last time before walking off into the distance, leaving him alone with Agent Rune.
"Welcome to the rebellion, Asset Acliate." said Agent Rune, handing him a black device designed to look like a handheld gaming console. "Here is your communicator. I will meet you on Sunday at the agreed to location at 7 o'clock sharp, yes?"
Melbourne nodded affirmatively. "Yes sir."
"Good. I may have a low ranking assignment for you that will let you earn a few crypts and prove your worth. Normal assets without modifications are not allowed to engage in combat or hunt our bounties unless their life is on the line. However, your modifications make you a different story, meaning you may have the opportunity to earn a little bit more money as well and rank up faster. Become a D ranking asset and you will be eligible for recruitment as a Rank C Agent."
"What rank are you?" asked Melbourne.
"I am a Rank C Agent." said Agent Rune. "Assets are not allowed to communicate with anyone more valuable to the Red Cybers as their clearance makes them a liability if they know our inner workings and circles. That is also why you are not allowed to ever come to any of our secret bases before you become a full agent either. Know also that if anything happens to me while I am working with you, you will be deemed a liability and a bounty will be placed upon your head. A Red Cyber assassin will then be dispatched to locate and assassinate you to ensure you cannot divulge any secrets you have learned to the government. Now, Asset Acliate, do you have any more questions of me? I will answer if it is not above your clearance level."
"I don't think so. I'll see you Sunday."
"Have a good day, Asset."