Mission Briefing

You arrive at the usual cafe on a moderately busy street just outside of the central city. It's only a little after 10 in the morning, but already the the air is feeling heavy and sultry, and despite the shade, sweat is already starting to make your shirts stick to your backs. A waiter you've seen once or twice before approaches your table and hands you menus in leather folios. He takes your orders for drinks and vows to return in a few minutes.

You open the menus, anticipating what you might order when a watermark in the upper right corner of the page catches your eye - the silhouette of a man in the classical style wearing a winged helm. The two of you exchange a quick glance, then reach in your pockets to don pairs of reading glasses. A slight touch on the frame where a small gold button masks a biometric sensor sends a small electric charge through the lenses activating the polarity inversion circuits, and writing suddenly appears on the blank page on the left side of the folio:



When the waiter returns, you place your orders and look at your watches. You have several hours to make whatever preparations you need to make for the upcoming mission. Echo activates the audio surveillance scrambler in his wristwatch, and in low tones and slightly ambiguous language, you begin making plans.

Cole Scanlon, codename Obsidian, orders Turkish coffee, nothing else. He already has enough to digest...namely, the mission briefing.

He reads the text three times, making sure he's understood every detail. Echo would probably only need one glance, of course.

Unsettling skill, that. Sometimes I wonder if he's been augmented by some secret program, and perhaps doesn't even know it....

Unlikely. That was only Cole's paranoia and competitive nature speaking. It irked him that Echo's skills were completely natural, that he used them so casually. Cole's feelings were unprofessional, and he wouldn't admit he had them except under extreme duress, but there it was.

Setting down the menu/folio, he ponders their mission.

Akhmetov is expendable, of course. Nothing new there. Though Hermes won't say it outright. Too tactless. And is this information really "important," if they're only sending two agents into the field...two agents that have to split up, at that?

The ways of Hermes sometimes confounded even him. But sending questions up the chain of command (if they could even contact someone directly) may generate even more questions, instead of solid answers.

Speaking in a neutral tone: "We have to split up, Echo. Which task do you prefer?"

Echo's choice may reveal something about the man....

Hiding behind dark glasses, Echo strolls casually into the café, oblivious to the waiter's disapproving glare, well, he taps his watch. After settling into his seat and glancing briefly at the menu, Echo hands it back to the waiter, saying, "I'll have the crêpes with strawberries and a mimosa."

After waiting a moment for the waiter to step out of earshot, Echo responded to his partner's question, "I don't like being split up either, but these assignments were never easy. Well, hanging onto the case is going to be more hassle and more rewards, so if you don't have a preference, I'll take that side of the mission."

Interesting choice. Choosing to escort Akhmetov would allow him to use his "scanning" ability to detect anything amiss with the asset. And swapping the cases unnoticed takes a delicate touch. But I asked his preference, so I'll assume he's up for it.

"I have no objections."

He sips his coffee for a few moments, letting the silence play out.

"I'll depart shortly. We have time before Akhmetov arrives, but I'd like to scope out the train station. The Cicada will help. If we're lucky, no unsavory characters will be skulking about. If there are, we may be able to neutralize them before Akhmetov gets here. I would very much like to interrogate the opposition."

While he waits for Echo's reply, he pulls out his phone (or whatever internet-connected device he has) to search for a map of the train station. Analyzing points of egress, maintenance accesses, possible hiding spots, and so on, will prepare him for his escort mission.

Echo waits just a minute before stepping out of the café, following at about 40 yards behind Cole. Just close enough that he can keep him in sight and far enough that they don’t appear to be working together.