- Sorry, Amand... ahem, Agent Nebula - Anthony apologised.
- Wait, you know her? - I was more than surprised. How come my dad know this mysterious agent?
- I was the one who brought the Perseids here - Agent Nebula replied instead of Anthony.
- Weren't they supposed to stay in a prison on Earth? - Arika remembered the culmination of our mission in BIORBITAL's lunar biodome, where dad escorted the captured Perseids and Lim Yazhu out of the American Moon Base.
- They were, but there was a change of plans shortly after I arrived. Nigel said that the Perseids are too dangerous to be kept on Earth and should be exiled to Europa. Agent Nebula took care of them - Anthony explained.
- That's true - Captain Nigel confirmed.
- Makes sense - Dawn nodded.
- Why are you with them? - Agent Nebula noticed her, instantly considering Dawn suspicious.
- She had a change of heart during our last mission - Sebastian defended the former criminal.
- I felt remorseful for my actions - the suspect added.
- I wouldn't trust her... - Agent Nebula continued.
- She's proven herself trustworthy - Anthony responded.
- How so? - Agent Nebula wanted to know more, still unconvinced.
- During our last mission, our rocket was hijacked by a new criminal organization called the Martians, who stranded us on Mars. Dawn was with them until Roby, who we brought here, backstabbed her by leaving her with us. During our operation in Mars Base Beta, Dawn decided to abandon her dark past and embrace a better future of justice - Einstein briefed her.
- Well, that's strange... - Nebula considered this unbelievable - I heard of the revolution, but I didn't expect a redemption in the middle of it all...
- Hold on, since you're a member of the Agency, are you a part of the hunt? Is this a trap? - I realised that this may be a bait.
- As much as what I'm doing is technically illegal, I'm not here to hunt you down. I'm well aware of the mess you've made, but I know how you can clean it up - Agent Nebula wanted to work with us, not against us.
- Well, what can we do? - Anthony asked her.
- As your mentor, I think I already taught you my damage control tactics, didn't I? - Nebula replied with a question.
- You're his mentor? - Justine was just as shocked as me. Dad's mentor was waiting for him?
- Yes - Anthony turned to us.
- So, what do you think I want to do? - Nebula pressured him.
- Run a disinformation campaign? - my dad guessed.
- Close, but not quite. Let me show you - Agent Nebula rotated her chair to face the screens again. We all simultaneously looked at the monitors.
- Let's start from the beginning. Becuase you helped the Martian colonists with their revolution, the Agency considers you traitors and started a covert operation with one goal and one goal only: put you behind bars for treason. When this plan was revealed to the public, conspiracy theorists caught on, adding their own spices into the soup of accusations. Now, pretty much everyone wants you captured, aside from those who haven't heard about the revolution, like the warden. We need to convince the government that you're on its side and I know just the way to do that... - Agent Nebula started explaining her plan.
- May you reveal what this way is? I'm dying of anticipation - Sebastian interrupted.
- ...a while before the construction of the Science and Containment Centre, a small, manned spacecraft was sent to map out the surface to find the ideal construction site. This spacecraft was known as Icebreaker-5. When Icebreaker-5 found the location, ice drills and other machines were brought to the spot en masse, but there was no trace of the vessel. It simply vanished with no explanation given. The Agency did its best to find Icebreaker-5, but to no avail. There was no wreckage, no leftover equipment, no messages from the crew. Eventually, the Agency deemed Icebreaker-5 "Lost In Action" and the case was unfortunately closed, as our spies had to move on to other, more important things than finding a lost spaceship. Everyone forgot about it, except for me. I've spent years piecing together the truth and trying to locate the vessel by myself - Agent Nebula ignored him.
- Oh, so that's what all the photos on the walls mean? - Amber was perplexed by the tangled mess of strings connecting the strange pictures and images on the walls.
- Yes. After all this speculation and research, I've pinpointed a few possible locations of Icebreaker-5, but nobody wanted to investigate them, as the vessel didn't present any real value at this point. But now that you're here, I finally have a team that can recover the forgotten spacecraft. Because the Icebreaker program was funded by the government, caring about the lost vessel will be considered helping the US, which will show that you're still on its side. This can help ease you back into the Agency, where the real explanations can begin, with help from your prisoner Roby - Agent Nebula finally finished.
- Amanda, you should have forgotten about Icebreaker-5, it isn't important to us, just like you said. Why did you devote so many years to searching for a ghost vessel that is pretty much irrelevant. Why did you bother and more importantly, why didn't you tell me? - Captain Nigel spoke up.
- First of all, do not call me Amanda. Secondly, I never told you because you'd stop me the instant you found out about my investigation. Thirdly, I suspect that there's something bigger at play, like somone wanted it to crash or... - Agent Nebula answered the questions one by one.
- That's just your paranoia, Amanda. Icebreaker-5 crashed because of a system malfunction and it's worthless - Captain Nigel accented the last word.
- I'm not paranoid! If I devoted so much time to solving this mystery, I have a reason for doing so! You believe that I, a high-ranking agent with so many of important tasks, would prioritize something that's "worthless"?! - Nebula clearly dislikes Nigel's hunger for control just as much as we do.
- There's no need to fight. If my mentor considers Icebreaker-5 important, than it is important. I've spent too much time with Nebula to not know that she cares about the most salient things in the country - Anthony defended his mentor.
- Thank you. At least someone understands me... - Nebula thanked him.
- Uh... I possess a question: what happened to the previous Icebreakers? - I asked.
- None of them were manned and all of them completed their missions successfully - Agent Nebula answered.
- I think that finding Icebreaker-5 is a good way to prove who we're siding with. If we supported America's enemies or the non-existent interplanetary deepstate, it would be of our interest to keep the truth concealed, as to make the US seem irresponsible for letting a manned spacecraft dissappear with no apparent cause - Einstein commented.
- Let's vote: everyone who thinks that this treasure hunt is pointless shall raise their hand - Captain Nigel raised his, but nobody else did.
- Now it's my turn: who believes that finding Icebreaker-5 is a reasonable move? - Agent Nebula played along. We all raised hands, along with Amanda herself.
- So it's settled; we will find the lost vessel - Anthony spoke as if he was a judge. Captain Nigel sighed loudly.
- Let's begin - Agent Nebula rotated her chair to face the wall on my left.
- Guys, I hate to interrupt, but is this pulsing red dot normal? - Arika noticed a red dot on a map of the second cell block.
- No, that's a Suspicious Activity Detector. Something bad is happening up there - Agent Nebula was audibly concerned.
- Maybe it has something to do with Icebreaker-5? - Claudius suspected.
- I don't know, but we must find out - Agent Nebula got up from her chair, ready for action.
ns216.73.216.51da2
and then Add to home screen.