“Remind again how this is supposed to be a vacation?”
Investigative Agent Julie leaned back and sighed. She was currently sitting on the curb overlooking the fad Vatican Walls. Street Viale Vaticano was roaming with tourists at this ti of year. Every coffee shop was full to the brim with countless happy faces staring at their expressos and cornetti.
A faint chuckle escaped from her left. “There was no vacation, idiot. I tricked you.”
“You damn witch…” Julie frowned as she stared directly at her colleague Eve. Her golden locks shimred in the sun, complinting her white blouse and black miniskirt. It was as if one of the heroines from those cliche Billionaire CEO romance novels had manifested into reality.
Julie then looked down at her own fit. Her disheveled white blouse was covered in dust from the previous battle, not to ntion her tie being close to falling off her collar…
It would have been one thing if their clothing was the only thing that separated them, but Julie couldn’t even boast about her own figure! Heck, even her Soul Weapon was uglier!..
Is it even humanly possible to be this curvy? This has to be a cri! No, maybe she’s an IRE? Yeah, I should write an anonymous report later…
Eve noticed her stares and frowned, “You’re thinking of sothing really rude right now, right?”
Julie tilted her face away, “Nope, you’re imagining things.” Her gaze landed back to the colossal wall across the street. Up ahead, a nacing stone carved gate attached to the wall stood proudly. Three statues were lined above the central Papal Coat of Arms, with an inscription carved into it displaying “MVSEI VATICANI” in bold text.
This was the entrance to the fad Vatican Museums. Said to be one of the most wonderous museums in the world—housing incredible artworks, including the Sistine Chapel, Raphael Rooms, and countless other masterpieces from antiquity to the Renaissance.
Julie however, viewed it differently. That place wasn’t as wondrous as they said it was.
No, what awaited her inside was hell itself.
Her frown deepened the more she thought back on it. Beneath that fabulous facade of ancient history, lay an even more ancient secret. An underground dungeon filled with countless horrors, traps, and unexplainable oddities that make one question their own sanity.
Just two weeks ago, she almost lost her life there while acting as bait to kill… a monster…
Even now, weeks later, she still had no exact understanding of what she had faced down there... A monstrosity oozing in darkness, covered in the bones of countless victims. Whether they were previous explorers or held a more ancient connection to that place mattered little to her.
All she wanted to do at the ti was survive.
According to the other division mbers, it was sothing they labeled as IRE A-393b. The ‘b’ in its codification usually denotes an offshoot of the main IRE’s body. When she asked Eve about it, she said that such things were commonly recorded in the HPP dossiers.
There were countless IREs that had the ability to create their own minions, soldiers or even contraptions. In so cases, the IRE might even subdivide itself into countless clones, which makes the job of PTF agents even more difficult.
The IRE they faced down in the catacombs of that dungeon was one such clone. Unless all the clones were disposed of, the IRE could continue to survive and thrive. It could even regain its strength if given enough ti…
In the past two weeks alone, Julie alongside the other PTF agents in The Black Watchn were tasked with the extermination of all IRE A-393b’s on the first floor of the dungeon.
She had initially assud it to be an easy task.
After all, what kind of organization would force a rookie like her into sothing dangerous on her first deploynt? Surely they would take into account the mber’s inexperience and instruct them in a safer manner… right?...
Wrong! Completely wrong! This organization can go fuck itself!
Not only did they use her as bait for the monsters, they even forced her to train her [Ensnare] ability on them. If she had a di for every close encounter she had in the past two weeks, she would have 15 dis!
15 dis!!!
Recently, she even started watching sewing videos on YouTube to further refine her spirit webs… The stronger the strings, the higher her chances of survival were…
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Glancing at her zombie-like coworker, Eve smiled. “By the way, Deatheye said they will be beginning to explore the second floor soon. Have you thought about writing a will?”
“.....”
She chuckled, “I am joking, joking! They won’t be taking you into the second floor any ti soon! Check the AGI network—there’s apparently another task for you instead.”
“Huh?” Julie’s brows furrowed. “That seems suspicious.”
Eve shrugged, “This whole organization is suspicious, don’t you know that already?”
“...Fair point.”
Julie sighed and gave the command in her mind—AGI Activate.
A blueish holographic window popped up before her, displaying the usual information.
Employee Na: Julie-Anne Kafka
Employee Codification: B34
Status: Investigative Agent
Employnt Date: Friday, April 19th, 2041.
Departnt of Mythological Affairs
The Cyberhawks [Division 004]
PTF-0 [The Black Watchn] - Cadet Rank
Soul Weapon: Arach-Koth (Tier 1)
Julie didn’t mind any of this continued scrolling toward the mission board section.
Current Mission: Investigate the underground catacombs underneath the Vatican. This mission is currently undertaken by the Hand of Relics, Cyberhawks, and the Scroll Manifester divisions. PTF-0 The Black Watchn will provide combat support if needed.
Phase 1 (Complete): Cleanse Level 1 of all hostile threats and clear the periter for further research.
Phase 2 (Underway): Cleanse Level 2 of all hostile threats and clear the periter for further research. Current progress is 9%
Phase 3: —Classified—
Please report any inquiries to Dr. Miguel, the director of this mission.
Pending ssages: 1 available.
Glancing at the icon, Julie frowned and clicked on it. The ssage expanded.
Date: March 9th, 2042
To: Julie-Anne Kafka
From: Dr. Miguel
Subject: Review the Following Relic.
Investigative Agent B34, you have been reassigned to a different task for your mission. Hence forth, your responsibilities within PTF-0 will end here. Instead, you are to review the following image and its subsequent history and report back to directly about your findings.
Please note, your safety is of utmost importance. If you are subject to any IRE sightings, please be sure to use the ergency broadcasting service your AGI network provides.
The attached jpeg file is for your eyes only. Dissemination of classified material is denoted as a Type A felony under the Human Preservation Project’s Protocols & Guidelines Handbook which could result in imprisonnt, Mind Erasure Therapy, or even execution.
Julie’s frown deepened as her eyes hovered over the image icon. Her [Arachnid Wisdom] ability flared. Her instincts were telling her not to open that file at all.
She glanced over at her colleague who was taking a selfie and stood up. Eve glanced at her for a second and frowned, lowering her phone in the process.
“Sothing’s up?” Her concern was clearly visible.
Julie smiled faintly. “Well, the mission I was tasked with is… a little weird.”
“Oh?” Her brows furrowed. “Can you tell about it?”
Julie shook her head, “No, I believe it's classified… Anyway, I’ll be heading back to my hotel room to change. The task given to doesn’t require to leave my room this ti—yay, , right?”
Eve didn’t stop her. She nodded and smiled back at her friend. “Be sure to drop by the hotel lobby later tonight. I’ll take you out for dinner—the al will be on !”
As soon as Julie arrived in her hotel suite, she made sure to close the shutters on all the windows. Soon, darkness flooded the room—the only sound that could be heard ca from the AC unit that had been running for the past few hours.
She glanced down at her hand—her Soul Weapon was still present there, wrapped around her finger with its limbs. It used to give her goosebumps every ti she stared at its arachnid figure, but lately… She had been feeling sowhat attached to its presence…
Although its presence still creeped her out, it felt a bit more endearing now—as if she was staring at a pet… Or maybe, family?
Is this a side effect of [Arachnid Wisdom]? Am I starting to think of myself as a spider as well? The thought made her skin run cold.
Well, it was already cold—she raced to turn off the AC before she froze to death.
There was sothing else she needed to get done as well. Her instincts ever since she reviewed that ssage from Dr. Miguel told her to take as many precautions as possible. Viewing that image file felt dangerous.
With the spider still wrapped across her finger, she pointed her hand toward the door of her hotel room and gave the ntal command to activate [Ensnare]. Soon, a dark-black silk shot out the spider’s rear, creating a srizing web across the door’s surface.
She repeated this for the windows and ventilation shafts. The pattern she chose as well as the way the strings were woven made them extrely powerful—even if a car ramd into it at full speed, they wouldn't be shredded.
However, they were not ant to be used against physical entities. Rather, their primal enemy were those of the spiritual kind.
If anything happens after I open that image file, it won’t impact the civilians nearby… I think…
She gulped down her hesitation and activated the AGI window once again. Scrolling toward Dr. Miguel’s ssage, Julie glanced one last ti at the image file icon.
She took a deep breath—It was finally ti to start her task.
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