“This is channel 11 news reporting live from the bomb site! As far as we are told, one of the bombs inside the HTN building had already exploded! The remaining one~” BEEP!

“Negotiation had failed! None of the hostages had survived the~” BEEP!

“The number of death and casualties caused by the shoot up in the quiet neighbour~” BEEP!

*silence*

POV from 6 (Junsu)

I lay on the bed, flipping through the different channels. Every day I see the same news. Every day! Death coursing through the streets of every city, every second, bringing random people with it, good people… bad people…

It never fails to faze me, how this world and its society still exists at this rate which its inhabitants are dying. The wonders of reproduction!

I got up from my supine position and headed to the couch next to the bed. Flipping through the newspaper, I saw that another one of those powers were murdered. This guy called Tae se, the guy had brought the anthrax movement here. More than a thousand of his rivals dead, even the people that are not involved were dead. Definitely the reason why the higher powers had gotten rid of him… I wonder which number did him…

All of the deceased are better off dead anyway. What’s the point of living in this hell hole?

“Brrrrr! Brrrrr!” my phone vibrated. Activating the bug scan, I finally opened the message and read it, there is also a picture attached. I hate repeating this process all the time… but I have to… 

“6 to N9 W7 CVE @owl’s call 2.10 rat will leave the hole 2 follow black tagged C1 N I A L8.” I mouthed the message again to myself and pressed the delete button. Memorizing the face from the picture, I had deleted it as well.

I have just received my next mission. The target will be leaving the CVE building at 2.10 am and I am to annihilate him.

 Looking at the digital clock on the wall, I saw that it is already passed 11 pm. I need to get going!

I took out my bag from the closet and headed to the door, making sure to avoid the CCTV nearby as I as make a sharp turn and pushed through the fire exit door swiftly. I always ensure that my hotel room is near to the exit or fire escape windows. The room I was in; is right beside the fire exit… fortunately for me. This way, I can avoid as many surveillance gadgets as possible.

Making my way to the hotel counter stealthily, I tossed the room key into the checkout box and headed to the car park. While I’m there, I found a dark corner out of CCTV range and hid there while I set up my artilleries. I have only one long range rifle and a hand gun with me... they are my best friends. My bag is a foldable so I can fit in my rifle when it is either set up or dismantled.

Slinging the bag, now the size of a golf bag over my shoulder, I headed to the car park exit and headed for the nearby building in which I had parked my bike.

Checking my watch again, I found that I had wasted 5 minutes just to make it to my bike; I could be faster if I had not taken my time to set up my artilleries. I hate rushing around. One tends to make mistakes when they are in a hurry, so I never allow myself to be in a hurry. I don’t think I can survive a mistake anyway… damn my life!

I straddled my bike and kicked start the engine. I need to complete my mission by 2.10 am… CVE building is about an hour ride away. Should I use the long range method or the close up method? Both have its pros and cons, but long range will probably not be suitable for this one. We will see...

1.00 am

Junsu had reached the area an hour early. According to the message, this target is C1, which is code 1. Usually a code 1 target means he or she is still alive after 3 months being on the hit list. He had thought through the various methods to get the target, but this target must have been on the list for more than 3 months without a scratch. This is proof that the target is no small feat. Junsu knows that he has to be very careful.

Junsu had tried to use the opposite building as an observatory, but this target is really good at staying out of sight. The message had told him the target will leave the building and get into a car at 2.10 am. The message is more like a warning or a dateline for him instead of being information of the target’s whereabouts.

He had not been able to get anything from observing either and the structure of the building is just wrong! There is no way he can rid the guy without being close by.

Junsu had no prior contact with or information about this target at all. He hated it when the GODS delegate stupid tasks like that. “They expect to just throw me an assignment and wait for my good news within 3 hours. They must be really desperate.” Junsu thought as he pulled his fringe above his head with a clip and tucked the rest of it behind his ears. Stripping down to his “work clothes” he put on the spare set of female office wear and exchanged his boots for a pair of pumps.

*GODS is the term that the numbers call the higher powers.

Staring into the mirror, he saw an office lady staring back at him. He always employs this tactic to enter buildings, he had guessed that females are probably deemed as being less threatening. Flipping through the passes he have stored in his bag, he chose the one with the picture of the “female him” in it.

This is really embarrassing for him, but he understands that they had made him take up this case because there probably aren’t any more suitable candidates. Hiding his properties behind the pipes, he left the toilet and made his way to the building

From what Junsu had gathered from observing for the past hour, the target might not be in the building at all. He will have to take his chances. The target is probably hiding in some secret compartment somewhere in the building. No point trying to figure out where he is. He just has to wait for the target near the car before he gets on.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Junsu bowed apologetically at the “security” that he had “accidentally” bumped into.

“Miss! You are not allowed in this building at this hour! Please leave!” the place is littered with “security.”

“Please sir! You can me if you want, but I really need to get the documents from my desk! My boss will slaughter me tomorrow if I don’t finish up that report! Please!!!” Junsu tried sounding as sweet as possible. He even shoved his pass into that guy’s face.

“Fine! 5 minutes!” the “security” guy followed behind him closely. The boss will leave at 2.10 am and the “security” knows he has to be there. No harm escorting this pretty young lady in and out of the building before the boss comes out right? He was wrong to have thought like that.

“Thank you sooo much!” Junsu squealed and pretended to skip around happily. 5 minutes will be just nice. It’s already 2.00 am. He is willing to take his chances.

“Crack” Junsu had broken that guy’s neck when they were at “the desk”. Shoving the dead body beneath the desk, he stripped him and threw on the security uniform and took his gun. In a split second, he was gone from the office and dashing down the stairs.

Loading the stolen gun while running, he felt the walkie talkie buzzing but could not make out what was just conversed. It is probably saying that the boss is ready and signaling everyone to gather.

Looking at his watch, he saw that it was already 2.07 am and he had just reached the last flight of stairs. Peeping out through a slit, I saw that there is a mob of "security guards" covering the target and they were moving towards the front door. He will not make it pass them.

Turning around, he ran up to the second floor, entered a office and climbed out of the window. Balancing on the beams outside the window, Junsu slipped quietly across to the beam just above where the target is standing.

From the view on top, he could see the man, recognisable because he was not wearing a uniform. That is also the man in the photo. A car had pulled up and he was heading towards it. Junsu has 1 shot.

Taking a deep breath, he aimed the gun at the back of the target’s head. The target is obviously wearing a bullet proof vest and his head just kept bobbling up and down. Junsu is a good marksman, but it is hard even for him. A small target such as the moving head is really challenging. He then decided to take his chances by predicting the next direction the target will turn his head in and just shoot.

“BAM! BAM!” Junsu had made sure to shoot twice. Once at the present position of the target’s head and the second shot at the predicted angle. Second shot was bull’s eye. The guy had dropped dead on the spot and everyone was panicking.

“BAM!” Junsu shot again at a random direction. Looking left and right, everyone down there somehow had decide the shot had came from the ground level. No one even suspected and looked up. Even if they had, Junsu was well hidden by the beams. Luckily, he had a small stature.

Mission accomplished! Junsu quickly slipped across the beam, re-entered the office and escaped through a window by the staircase on the same floor. Stripping himself down to his work clothes, he dumped them into the thrash can nearby. He is not afraid to leave behind evidences; no one cares about evidences anymore. If they had let him get away this time, they will never be able to say he had in fact murdered the man.

Plus, there is no such place as a jail anymore. No one will arrest anyone. That is the world they live in now. Everyone is for themselves.

POV from 6

People might think it is easy to kill a power… but that really isn’t the case. Most of our comrades were killed in the process of assassination.

The rule of the thumb is to keep your identity a secret… many people are harmless citizens by day, but transform into monsters by night… I’m no exception.

I put my neck on the chopping board for every attempt I make as well.

As far as we know, the community of the numbers is highly secretive of their own identity. I confess that I don’t actually know who is number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8…  So I can rest well knowing that they do not know me either.

In this world, there will be no investigations for your death. If you die, you die… that’s why we are all trying so hard to stay alive every day. The media still likes to make a big issue out of a power’s death or anyone else’s… but that is really the only time you will be remembered.

I had finally left the building after just murdering that guy… it’s a pity that they will never catch me now.

All the powers have 2 options: First option, catch the person red handed trying to murder you and squeeze some information out of him... which will not be very helpful... Second option, get killed and be forgotten. As easy as one plus one equals to two.

I will know by tomorrow if I had in fact killed him… most of the powers employ use of decoys. The information we get sometimes are also tainted. That’s why I hate my life… full of deceptions and greed… people eat fear for all three meals every day, including supper. Fortunately for me… fear is not a common emotion. It was "trained" out of me many years ago.

TBC

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I apologise for the draggy intro... do feel free to give your opinions as well!