Olympus: The Agency

Ten minutes had passed since the two agents had began running around the holographic oval. Dionysus was managing, breathing as much as she could through her nose, not sprinting but maintaining her speed at level.

Dionysus had lapped Riley already, who was struggling to run. He hadn’t done any athletics throughout his career. He had gone to university through his merits, not a sports scholarship. He wasn’t aware of the tactics to keep himself moving, so he alternated between speed and a staggering, breathy walk.

Finally, her progress in-between Dionysus and Riley, Epione was managing to keep herself moving, though slower than her fellow agent. She was trying to remember what her husband used to do when he prepared for his paintball tourneys.

This was what Rohan Gunn was watching as the three circled him on the oval. He held a tablet in his hand, adding weight machines, a target range, long and high jump pit, and a few shot puts and javelins. He sat down on the grass and watched the three run around the oval for a few minutes, then blew his whistle to signal them to come to him.

Coated in sweat, they stood before Gunn. He pushed himself up, towering over them.

“Not bad, Dio,” he started. “Don’t be afraid to breathe through your mouth if you need to, though. It all goes to the same place. Riley, try to keep a pace that works. Speed isn’t everything for exercise. You can be the fastest man in existence, but it means nothing if you can only keep it up for 5 seconds.”

“Rule 1,” Epione said absent-mindedly. No one present really understood the reference though.

“Rule 1, in a way, yeah. As for you, Epione, it was easy to see you weren’t... good at this. You need to figure out your pace, too.”

“Sorry, got a few things on my mind,” Epione admitted.

“It’s ok here, but a Klisk or an Orc isn’t going to care you’ve had a bad day. Just remember that, ok?”

It was a sobering way to bring Epione to reality once again. She nodded, remembering what the Klisk did to Cerberus and what the Orcs did to Thanatos. It wouldn’t happen to her.

Gunn cleared his throat and made a gun rack appear with his tablet. “Alright, I know you three can fight, but I want to see your aim with a few weapons. Your weapon preference can help me figure out what areas you need to focus on. So, pick a weapon.”

First was Epione. She immediately picked up the closest thing to a paintball gun from her previous life. Gunn seemed to approve.

“Ah, good choice. The Byrne is a semi-automatic that can be modded to suit your needs. That’s a hologram for today, but it’ll still have the kickback and impact of the real gun. It just won’t kill you.”

Dionysus was next, and she picked up a handgun. Gunn nodded again.

“The light Falcon is good for your type of movement, Dio. It can go full auto and like the Byrne, fully customisable. Don’t stay in one place with that. It’ll take out an Alliance goon, sure, but it’ll do nothing against a big’gun.”

Riley was the last to choose his weapon, and he opted for some kind of crossbow. Epione and Dionysus were amazed crossbows were still a thing. Gunn was skeptical.

“Alright... Riley, that’s a Rama launcher. It’s supposed to be a toy, but some soldiers swear by the fact it can fire normal objects as lethal projectiles with some modifications. You add an object in the receiver, and it ejects it at hyper-velocity when you pull the trigger.”

Riley nodded, then walked over to his bag and pulled a screwdriver out of his bag. He pushed it into the receiver and it thrummed lightly.

“Screwdrivers... yeah, that’ll kill something.” Gunn said cautiously.

The three of them, with their holographic weapons, stood at the target range. Gunn grabbed the same gun as Epione, walked to the range, and fired ten shots. The target registered 6 bullseyes, and 4 inner ring shots. Epione blinked in amazement, silently glad he was on her side.

“Alright, now you Epione. Ten shots, show me what you can do.”

Epione aimed her rifle carefully. It was just paintball, she told herself. Paintball... She fired and the computer registered an inner circle shot. Again, an inner circle. Next, an outer circle.

“Don’t get cocky,” Gunn said calmly.

After her ten shots, Epione had 4 inner ring shots, 5 outer ring shots and one miss. Gunn nodded. Rifles suited Epione, apparently.

“Alright, Dio, you’re up. Ten shots, no auto. Riley, you might wanna load a few shots while you’re waiting.”

Dionysus took Epione’s place, and held her gun out, firing at the target. Unlike Epione, Dionysus was more concerned with hitting the target than getting the best shot. So when she was done, she had 7 outer ring shots, 2 inner rings, and one bullseye.

Gunn made a mental note to help Dionysus with her aim.

As Riley took his place, there was a loud bang outside of the holodeck. Gunn checked his tablet, which was flickering in his grip. Then the holodeck failed, the oval and the weapons disappeared. Riley’s screwdrivers fell to the ground with a clatter.

“Tell me one of you brought a weapon?” Epione asked quietly. Dionysus pulled a handgun out of her bag and held it up.

Gunn held his hand out for it just as the door to the holodeck exploded inward. The door flipped in the air, then hit Gunn square in the chest. The wind was knocked out of him entirely, and her fell to the ground, groaning.

Riley picked up his screwdrivers, holding one like a knife. Dionysus held onto her gun tightly as she aimed at the doorframe. Epione, unarmed, knelt down and checked on Gunn.

Through the doorway, a man wearing armour with dark blue lights on his chestplate and wires protruding from his back and into his head. Epione had seen enough Star Trek to know this was bad.

“Shoot it!” Epione cried out. Dionysus did not need to be told twice, and opened fire on it. The man took the bullets, stepping back and out into the corridor. Riley threw a screwdriver through the doorframe to emphasise the point they were armed.

“We need a plan,” Dionysus said quietly, in case it had super hearing. “Epione, find another way out of here. Riley, I need you to back me up.”

Epione nodded and looked around the holodeck, the black room with a dark blue grid upon it. There was only the doorway out, which was contested right now.

“Belle?” Epione said hopefully. There was a chime in her comms.

“Agent Epione?” Belle said coolly through the line. “You appear to be in distress.”

“I am. Super cyborg thing is blocking us in the holodeck. Gunn is wounded.”

Belle was silent for a moment. “This line is private and I shall warn the other agents. You seem to be facing the Wight Initiative. You need to return to the ship.”

“How?” Epione said, trying not to be annoyed by the computer.

“Holodecks are equipped with an emergency exit hatch in case the door breaks, or power loss. It will be in the center of the room, but invisible to human eyes. I cannot help you find it, so you may need to... feel around for it.”

Epione did not reply, instead hurrying to the middle of the room and getting on all fours. She started carefully running her hands over the floor, hooking her fingers slightly to catch the invisible door.

“I swear, if you said this to make me look stupid, you Siri knock off...”

Epione’s fingers hooked onto the hatch, and she pulled up. The door revealed itself.

“I have it,” Epione said. “Riley, help me get Gunn down there. Dionysus, hold it off.”

Riley turned to help Epione pick up the heavily muscled Gunn and slowly walk him to the hatch. Epione knew Gunn would be unable to climb the ladder, so she hoped it wasn’t too high.

“You’re stronger than me, Riley, so I’m going down first and I’ll try to ease his landing. Alright?”

Riley nodded as Dionysus fired another shot at the doorframe. Epione heard her mutter ‘five’. Five shots.

Epione leapt into the hatch and slid down the ladder, which thankfully was not very high. Riley lowered Gunn down into the hole, letting Epione drag him into the tunnel. Riley slid down after her.

“Dionysus, come on!” Epione called out.

Dionysus starting walking back, firing two more shots, then leapt into the hatch and closed it behind her. She closed the latch and it locked with a mechanical beep.

“Where to now, Epione?” Riley asked, hefting Gunn up as much as possible. Epione knew that they were relying on her now. She was the leader right now.

Shit.