A top spy must know the contents of his next mission before they were even briefed about it. And for a top-caliber spy like Damien Winters, he knew the target of his next assignment. Hebrew Russo, a multi-billionaire pharmaceutical CEO in the west. An eccentric man with a prolific streak of lobbying politicians in favor of his company’s interest. While he did not dwell much about the man’s profile, he read somewhere that the man is building his private army. Damien wonders what made his splinter group of spies take an interest in taking a job against this man. He’ll find the answer once he is fully briefed by his handler.
Damien entered a room where he saw his handler, Ted Adams, scribbling strange runic alphabets on a whiteboard. Mathematical equations and mechanical blueprints used to be their contents. At least, that was something Damien could understand. These peculiar runes and symbols are out of his expertise.
“What do you know about magic?” Ted, the disheveled handler, inventor, and information said.
“A stuff of fairytales,” Damien said while sitting in one of the few chairs in the room. Ted has a penchant for breaking them whenever he’s inventing new gadgets. And judging by how many broken chairs are strewn about, this new gadget must be the latest maestro. “Why are you asking me that? Is this related to my latest assignment?”
“I’m glad you asked me that,” Ted smiled. He adjusted his glasses and notched a few more strokes in the intricate matrixes of runes. “You will rely on magic for your latest mission.”
Damien laughed. He never believed in the stuff, even though he’s heard his higher-ups talking about it in-between missions. He thought it was just a codename for something. Damien played with a bangle. He used it a few missions ago to silently dispose of a political dissident. It shoots an ice shard of a potent dose of opioid, which causes a rapid increase in heart rate, thus a cardiac arrest. The point of entry is minuscule and the ice shard melts, leaving no evidence of the crime. Such devices are the product of dreams. It’s magical enough for Damien. “Your gadgets are magical enough for me,” he said.
“My gadgets won’t work for this mission, I’m afraid. As your handler and the best inventor this group has ever seen,” It’s a self-proclaimed title, but Damien lets him say that all the time. It doesn’t hurt to let him live his dream. “I got permission from the higher echelon to use magic for this mission.”
This is Damien’s time to ask, “Is magic a codename for something?”
“No, it’s literal magic.” Ted smiled. “Good, you’re already sitting in the chair I’ve enchanted.” Ted slapped the writings on the whiteboard and flashes of light ensued all over the room. It blinded Damien and scrambled all of his senses. But as a top spy, he was trained to recover quickly from such disorientations.
“What did you do to me?” Damien asked. His head is swirling like the morning after a night of heavy drinking.
“I know you already know, Hebrew Russo is a paranoid man. That is thanks to several attempts on his life by rival pharmaceutical companies.” Damien was going to ask how the hell it related to this headache but Ted hushed his lips. “He keeps a tight-knit of highly armed mercenaries wherever he goes. All ex-military and trained in special combat as far as my information could tell me. Pictures on the internet show him always in public, but that is a lie. It’s a body double while the real deal is holed up in his company’s headquarters in London. That’s where he lives, and that’s where he works. The only time he ever leaves is to attend his son’s birthday celebration and attend a board meeting in Chicago, USA. Out of the two, the former has the laxest security.”
Ted flipped the whiteboard, revealing a board Damien would always recognize. It’s a detailed briefing of his next mission, complete with pictures of high-profile targets, and the usual pins and yarns that show relationships between them.
“As I’ve said before, multiple attempts on his life made Hebrew Russo paranoid beyond recognition. As a result, he proclaimed to his top rivals about his death switch. At the moment of his death, he will release a highly-infectious pathogen that could kill billions of people all over the globe. And he is not kidding. The fool sent them samples, and our employer brought us one. The nerds at the biology department are still racking their brains in creating a vaccine. However, Hebrew also stated that he’s already created a vaccine which he keeps close at all times. Your job is to acquire that vaccine so we could reverse-engineer it for our employer.”
It seems Ted is done briefing the mission. However, he left one crucial detail. “How is that related to that headache you gave me earlier?”
“Oh, scatterbrain. How could I forget about that?” Ted knocked his head. “Basically, everything I know that you know about magic is wrong. Magic is real. And your boy, Ted is one bonafide magician. I enchanted you with the power to possess people.”
“Like a ghost?”
“Yes, like a ghost but more solid and temporary, also with a heavy condition you must fulfill before you can use it.”
“Spill it,” It is a top spy’s job to work out the minor crucial details.
“Unlike a ghost, you cannot pass through walls or turn invisible. You will look as you are right now. The powers are not permanent either. You’ll have it for a year or two, tops. And due to taking only a three-week crash course in becoming a mage as opposed to decades-long servitude to the mystic arts, the enchantment needed some corning cutting in the form of conditions you must fulfill before using said powers. But for a casanova like you, it won’t be a difficult condition to fulfill.” Ted made a hole with one of his hands, then poked the hole with his index finger.
“You mean, I must have sexual intercourse with the person I’ll possess,” Damien said. If that were true, he could possess half of this department already.
“I know you’d catch on quick,”
Ted pushed the whiteboard aside, and behind them, there are three incapacitated and blindfolded people tied to a chair. “The department was kind enough to fetch your insertion point for this mission.”
Ted walked over to the three and briefed each of their backgrounds.
The first is a woman in his early-30s. She works at Russo Pharmacorporation but she does not hold a high position. Merely an entry-level office worker. She was chosen not only for her close connection to the higher hierarchy of the company but also for his more than average looks. Once Damien takes control of that body, she can use its beauty to allure people. An easy way to fulfill the condition of his power.
The second is one of the professors of Luca Russo’s son. While he’s got a pleasing face, he is mostly known by the students for his strict way of teaching, and the tendency to give ample demerits to those who would not fit his standards. He holds a lot of authority due to fear. Damien could capitalize on that.
The third is a wild card. Maybe this is the higher-up’s way of testing Damien’s skills as a top spy. The third one is someone unrelated to the Russo's. He’s a typical high-school student. His grades are as average as his looks. A total nobody.
“All of them are already high on aphrodisiacs,” Ted said. “Although, I know we don’t need it since that big ass dick of yours is more than enough. So, who will it be?”