Table of Contents

1 • 2 • 3 • 4

Chapter 5

Over in his office, Nazgul was slowly pacing back and forth while deep in thought. He had no idea just how chaotic today was going to turn out to be. Starting with Wax’s resignation, then Heyoka’s angry outburst, and now this troubling news from Plexa regarding Zealously’s actions, it was all beginning to take a toll on Nazgul’s brain. Most worrisome of all was the piece of paper that was lying on his desk in front of Nazgul that read:

MISSING IN ACTION:
USER: KadaverBB
STATUS: Men in Red
POSITION: Head of Banlings
OFFICE LOCATION: Flying Monkey

Agent was last seen leaving TL premises over a week ago. 
All attempts to contact have failed. 
No previously known whereabouts. 
Search process still ongoing but have shown no results. 
Agent did not notify anyone of where he was going or why. 
He is believed to be in danger.

Nazgul was just about to head over to R1CH’s office to see if there were any updates when he suddenly heard a knock on his door.

NAZGUL: Come in.
HEYOKA: (opening door) It’s me.
NAZGUL: (sighs) Oh hey… I’m guessing you want to talk about the thing again.
HEYOKA: Yeah I am. And seeing as how there seems to be a crisis going on with TL right now, what with Plexa’s concerning message and all, I say there is no better time to act than now.
NAZGUL: …Look… Heyoka I appreciate all that you do for us but the thing is-
HEYOKA: Damn it Nazgul! Why are you so damn stubborn about this?! It’s obvious that I’m the best man for the job. I’ve stated my case to you every which way possible. And now we have this whole Zealously betraying us situation to handle. This happened under your leadership Nazgul. It happened right under your goddamn nose! Maybe TL made a mistake when we trusted you to be the leader of TL…

After saying these words, Heyoka stood silently as he waited for Nazgul’s response. Nazgul stood right in front of Heyoka and did not say anything for ten seconds. Finally, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly opened them again.

NAZGUL: Alright Heyoka. I will allow this for now under a provisional basis. I’ll do a full evaluation after two weeks and if you are able to produce results by then, I’ll consider giving the position to you full time.
HEYOKA: Thank you. That’s all I wanted.
NAZGUL: Anything else?
HEYOKA: No.
NAZGUL: Alright then. I’ll have R1CH transfer over all the rights and protocols over to your account. You should be good to go in an hour.
HEYOKA: Great. I’ll see you later (turns to leave)
NAZGUL: (stopping him) Heyoka.
HEYOKA: (turning around) Yeah?
NAZGUL: I’m allowing this for now, but just know that I’ll be watching your every move. You may have stated your entire case to me but that doesn’t mean I’m fully convinced yet. If I find out that you lied to me or deceived me in any shape or form, then I will make sure I’ve taken the necessary measures to ensure that you never have anything to do with TL again. Do I make myself clear?
HEYOKA: (does not say anything but nods his head after a couple of seconds have passed)
NAZGUL: Good, you may go.

As Heyoka turned around to leave, he was suddenly stopped by Nazgul calling him back one more time.

NAZGUL: Oh Heyoka, one last thing.
HEYOKA: (turns around)
NAZGUL: (slowly walks over to the doorway and looks at Heyoka straight in his eyes) Don’t ever question my leadership again. (slams the door in Heyoka’s face)








????: Hello?
ZEALOUSLY: (panting) I… I’m in trouble… lichter… lichter pulled an unthinkable move… He stabbed himself right as Plexa and DLO showed up and now I’m being pursued by Plexa and TL Defense because they think I’m the culprit.
????: What?! Are you serious?!
ZEALOUSLY: Yeah… Plexa saw Chapa’s unconscious body and lichter lying on the ground bleeding. And then lichter pointed at me when Plexa asked him who had done this. I knew there was no way I could explain what was going on without jeopardizing the whole mission so I ran away… I’m sorry… But I couldn’t afford to get myself caught…
????: You did the right thing. But damn it! I did not see this coming… Where are you right now?
ZEALOUSLY: It took a while but I gave Plexa the slip. I ran in the other direction after I went into a room and then came out the back way. Right now I’m hiding in one of the rooms on the third floor corridor.
????: Okay. Listen, I need you to go to my office. Stay there and do not come out no matter what. I’ll head over as soon as I can.
ZEALOUSLY: How am I supposed to get in? I don’t have your key card.
????: Input the manual system override code. Type in: ELONGATING YOSHI TONGUE. Just stay in there until I can get to you.
ZEALOUSLY: Fine. Where are you right now?
????: I can’t say. But I’ve already arrived at my destination and I’m getting ready to head inside. If you don’t hear from me in an hour, then call Heyoka and explain everything to him.
ZEALOUSLY: What? Why Heyoka?
????: I can’t explain why over the phone. Just call him and tell him that I recruited you to help us out. I have to go. Good luck.









Back over at the Liquipedia Command Center, salle was checking things out in the main coordination room when NovemberstOrm walked in.

NOVEMBERSTORM: Hey, what are you doing in here?
SALLE: I’m trying to check up on some things. I was running a diagnostics test on all the systems when I noticed something weird.
NOVEMBERSTORM: Oh? What was it?
SALLE: Look here. (showing him a piece of paper) Do you notice anything odd?
NOVEMBERSTORM: Hmm… Not really.
SALLE: I’m talking about right here (points to a specific section of the paper) According to the security system there was no one who had access to this room in the past hour. But when I was running the diagnostics, I received a notification indicating that the main computer had been turned on some time ago. And when I came in here, the system was still pretty warm, which means it had been turned on and then shut off very recently.
NOVEMBERSTORM: Whoa, seriously?
SALLE: Yeah. So what I don’t understand is, if the system was turned on earlier today, why is there no record of it? I even went through the history and everything was completely blank, even the login and log off times. It’s almost as if someone went into our systems and just erased everything off the records.
NOVEMBERSTORM: Huh… You said in the past hour or so?
SALLE: Yeah, why?
NOVEMBERSTORM: Well… I don’t know if this is related in any way but… I saw lichter in front of the Command Center doors not too long ago.
SALLE: lichter? Why would lichter be at the Command Center?
NOVEMBERSTORM: No idea. When I asked him he just said that he had something to talk to you about. Like I said, it may not be related to this at all but… He did seem strangely surprised to see me there. And he also seemed to be in quite the hurry to leave once I had noticed him.
SALLE: Huh… That’s interesting…
NOVEMBERSTORM: What do you think? Could it be related?
SALLE: I’m not sure… Even if lichter did somehow get into our systems, why wouldn’t the records keep track of it? None of the systems say that anyone logged in his key card this morning.
NOVEMBERSTORM: Hmm… Do you think someone in Liquipedia could have done it?
SALLE: Not possible. You have to have direct access to the systems to do something like that. It can’t be done from outside. So unless it was someone from… from… the inside… (suddenly stops talking)
NOVEMBERSTORM: salle? You okay?
SALLE: (suddenly getting up from his chair) I’m sorry Nov… I… I have to go talk to someone. I’ll see you later.

Without saying another word, salle quickly left the main coordination room as NovemberstOrm just stood there, confused and curious as to what was going on.







Over in one of the corridors, Plexa was busy checking through each and every room when all of a sudden someone called out to him. He turned around to see ZeromuS, SC2John, Teoita, and Jowj walking over to him; the members of the TL Strategy/Defense team.

PLEXA: Hey guys, thanks for showing up so quickly.
ZEROMUS: No problem Plexa. We headed over as soon as we got your call.
PLEXA: Great. Any luck in locating Zealously?
TEOITA: No. We checked every room and hallway on our way over here. No sign of him.
PLEXA: I see. Well we’re not going to stop this search anytime soon, so get back to it. We have to find him no matter what.
ZEROMUS: Gotcha. If you don’t mind me asking, what the hell happened?
PLEXA: I don’t know exactly what happened myself. It all happened so quickly. Right now, the most important thing we can do is to find Zealously and have him explain what’s going on.
SC2JOHN: Has he accessed any of the offices?
PLEXA: No. I have R1CH monitoring all stations right now. If Zealously got into one of the offices, we would know right away.
JOWJ: Any chance he stole someone else’s key card?
PLEXA: I thought of that too. I alerted all TL staff about the current situation. So far, no one has reported a stolen or lost key card. Also, just to be safe, I’m going to order an evacuation into conference room Jinro just as a precaution.
TEOITA: Alright. Then I guess we’ll just keep looking. He’s got to be in here somewhere.
PLEXA: Thanks guys. Good luck. Constantly stay in contact with one another and do not pursue him on your own if you do find him. Let the others know and wait for backup before proceeding. We can’t take any chances.
ZEROMUS: Roger that. Alright team, let’s move out!
PLEXA: One more thing. We need Zealously alive so do not shoot to kill under any circumstances. Only shoot to stun. Got that?
TEOITA: Understood… Plexa… Do you really think Zealously is a traitor?
PLEXA: As of right now, I don’t have enough information to give a statement on that. But… If he is a traitor, then we have to assume that he may not be working alone. So never let your guard down and report any suspicious activities that you may see.

All four nodded their heads at this. With that, the group dispersed and the search for Zealously continued on.








A1: This is A1.
A4: This is A4. I have an update on the situation.
A1: Good. A3 called me a little while ago and explained everything. How is the situation with A2?
A4: As of right now, it seems like Plexa and the others don’t suspect A2 of anything. The highest priority right now is to capture Zealously.
A1: I see. What else is going on?
A4: Plexa will be gathering all the other TL staff members into conference room Jinro for safety. Meanwhile, I am part of the team that is in charge of finding and bringing in Zealously.
A1: Alright. Keep me posted on everything. Contact me as soon as any updates occur. General S is getting impatient.
A4: Understod.



As soon as the call ended, A1 headed over to the room where S was at and knocked on the door.

S: Enter.
A1: (opening the door) General S, I have an update on our current situation.
S: Good. What’s happening?
A1: A4 just contacted me. It seems that the priority for TL right now is to locate and apprehend Zealously. As for A2, he is receiving medical care as we speak. And A3 is in his office, working on initiating phase three.
S: I see. Do they suspect A2 of anything?
A1: As far I’m aware, they do not.
S: What’s his current condition?
A1: A3 didn’t know for sure but the wound doesn’t seem to have been that bad. He may have avoided a critical condition status.
S: So then there’s a chance that he’ll survive through this?
A1: Yes sir.

S did not say anything after that. He silently sat in his chair for a long time as he swiveled that blood red wine that he loved so much in his right rand. He took a large sip then slowly got up from his chair and walked over to the same window that was next to the portrait. As he stared down at the grounds again, A1 could tell that there was something serious on S’s mind.

S: (slowly turning around) Tell me something A1. What do you think of A2’s actions today?
A1: Sir?
S: How do you think A2 did today with his mission?
A1: I think A2 did a good job. Even though it wasn’t perfect, he still completed phase two as planned. He also proved how dedicated he was to the cause since he was willing to put his life on the line by stabbing himself. He successfully diverted all attention away from him and unto Zealously even though that was never a part of the plan, and now he has TL looking in all the wrong corners. A true warrior if I may say so.
S: …Is that what you think?
A1: Yes sir.
S: Hmm…

S took another large gulp from his wine glass and finished the wine. Then he walked over to the resting area in his room, grabbed the wine bottle, and poured himself another glass. After he finished, he turned around and looked A1 straight in his eyes. A mere second was all A1 needed to tell that S was not happy.

S: (in a cold and brooding tone) I disagree A1. I do not think A2’s actions proved his dedication to the cause. He did not stab himself because he wanted the plan to succeed. He only stabbed himself because it was the only desperate move he could think of to buy himself some time. Considering all the status updates you have given me in the past hour, I say it is only a matter of time before TL pieces it all together and start questioning A2. He has messed shit up multiple times today and he has left too many evidences behind for them to find. A2 is not a true warrior. He is a coward and a screw-up. There is a very good chance that he will jeopardize this operation before we can carry out all the phases.
A1: … (gulps) I see. What do you suggest we do then sir?

S did not respond. He put his wine glass down, closed his eyes, folded his arms, and stood still for a good thirty seconds. When he opened his eyes, he once again looked at A1 and held out his right hand.

S: Give me your phone A1.
A1: Yes sir (handing over his phone)

S took A1’s phone and began dialing on it. After he was done he handed A1’s phone back to him and walked back over to the resting area to grab his wine.

S: That will be all for now.
A1: (bowing) Understood sir.

After A1 exited the room and closed the doors behind him, he quickly took out his phone and checked his message logs. There was only one message that had been sent out through his phone. He saw that S had sent this message out to all the agents. He clicked on it and checked the contents of the message as it read:

A2 has become a liability. Eliminate at once.

End of Chapter

---