The Complete Assassin Episode 6

The Complete Assassin Episode 6

written by kayemjay

Steven parked his Bugatti Phantom three buildings away from the Colony. The Colony was the base for all operations of the Shadow Organization. It was a building with just one floor but with a lot of rooms. Steven knew every inch of the Colony except one; The Sensei Lodge. No one aside the Sensei himself had the clearance to access that particular suite. Not even the fact that he was Shadow Prime. He had always wondered what made the suite so special and out of reach. He was determined to find out no matter what it took. He did not care for titles, neither did he want fame nor to be the commander of the Shadow Knights. All he wanted was enough training and mastery of the arts of combat, weaponry and disguise. Now that he was at the pinnacle of his career, Sensei had to let him go. And the only way to force a move away from the Shadows was to do something that had never been done before.

He wore a starched white shirt with tiny horizontal blue stripes, with his sleeves folded neatly at his elbows. The shirt was tucked into a beautiful pair of grey pants which stopped just above his ankles and hugged his legs well. He got out of his car and walked towards the Colony with his hands in his pockets, with a pair of dark shades on his face. He stopped at the huge black gate of the one storey building where the Colony operated from. It did not look flashy nor out of the ordinary. It could as well pass for just any kind of residential home. It properly camouflaged itself among the other similar houses on the street. No one suspected a thing.

He walked to the side of the gate where there was a small kiosk with its window overlooking the wide interlocked street.

“Hassan!”  Steven called out.

“Na wetin u wan buy?” Hassan replied from somewhere inside the compound.

“Na your head I wan buy. My friend come open this gate!” Steven said raising his voice.

“Ah Oga, na you?” Hassan said, poking his eye through the small see through hole on the gate.

Steven had always fantasized about shooting a bullet through that hole whenever Hassan peeped. How could he be so careless? Well, Hassan had no idea who the kind of people his bosses were so he could be permitted to be lax.

“No Hassan. No be me. Na my head.” Steven replied as he heard the locks of the gate click open.

“Sorry Oga mi. I been dey cook.” Hassan pleaded.

“Who dey house?”  Steven asked.

“Nobody dey.”  Hassan replied.

“Okay.” Steven said and walked towards the entrance to the house.

Steven stood in front of the single iron door that led into the house. He had not reported for duty in two weeks. He examined the structure of the door as he moved closer. Everything seemed to be the same way he had left it. He pushed a button and the iron door opened electronically sideways. He stepped inside and immediately the door closed shut behind him. He was now inside some sort of small enclosure. He could not stretch his arms nor move. He knew what would come next. He would be asked to provide his clearance in seconds and if he failed at first attempt, the enclosure would begin to produce heat, hot enough to fry him alive.

As if on cue, an electronic female voice spoke from above him.

“Welcome. Please provide your onetime passkey.”  The voice said.

“Alpha, alpha, troy, Hercules, gamma, infinity, delta, gamma.” Steven replied.

“Voice recognition insufficient. Threat detected. Commencing elimination sequence in 10 seconds. 9, 8, 7, …”  The electronic voice began to say.

Steven wondered what could have gone wrong. Had his passkey been changed or deleted? He had singlehandedly reprogrammed Isis and had set up all the parameters for access. How come she was denying him entry? Someone was going to pay.

“Isis. This is Shadow Prime. I need access. Now!” Steven  commanded.

“6, 5, 4…” Isis continued.

Steven had to do something otherwise he would not make it out of the enclosure alive. He had one last option but he did not know if that had been tampered with too. He had no choice. Besides, there was not enough time to think.

“Alpha Troy Infinity. Initiate Command. Remote Access Logon. Pause sequence. Password: Dorothea Jeffery Sharon Isis. End command.” Steven said hurriedly but clearly. He had already begun to feel the hot waves coming from the small air vents beneath his feet

“3, 2, 1… Sequence halted. Welcome Shadow prime. Input command.” Isis said.

Steven heaved a sigh of relief. He rested his head on the wall and relaxed. Someone had hacked into Isis and reprogrammed her. He had the master codes and was lucky that he remembered them quickly enough. Someone was trying to get him killed. He would deal with the culprit as soon as he was done with Sensei. First, he had to see his master.

“Isis, input command. Reset password Shadow prime. Shadow Prime Hercules Trojan. Grant Access. End Command.” Steven ordered.

“Password changed. Access Granted. Welcome Shadow Prime.”

The wall before Steven split into two and opened to each side revealing a long corridor with doors on every side. Steven stepped out of the enclosure and walked into the corridor. He walked down the corridor until he got to a door which had “LEVEL FIVE CLEARANCE” written on it.

He pressed the yellow button by the door. It turned green then opened. It was an elevator that would take him to the first floor. He followed the elevator to the first floor and got out as the door opened. He could not withhold the shock he felt when he saw Sensei standing on the landing of the first floor. It seemed like he had been waiting.

“Sensei!” Steven said and quickly bowed, putting both palms together as a sign of respect.

“Stevey. I have been waiting for you. I knew you would come.” Sensei said opening his arms for an embrace.

Steven embraced his master, and then disengaged.

“I ran into a little problem at reception. I would have been here sooner.” Steven replied.

“I know. I am the one who reset the parameters on Isis. You have not been in touch Stevey. I needed to be sure you were still in good form. I still left you an option. If I wanted you dead, you would not have had access to Isis’ original configuration commands to reset your password.” Sensei said and smiled.

He saw the confused look on Steven’s face.

“I programmed my receiver to reject all calls but keep a log of people trying to reach me. Doesn’t mean that I did not know you were trying to reach me. When I did not hear anything from you two days ago, I thought you would come yesterday. Anyways, here you are now. Come, walk with me.” Sensei said, leading the way through the corridor.

“I could have died, Sensei! That was very risky!” Steven complained, walking beside his coach and mentor.

“Stevey, you did not get to Shadow Prime by target practice and writing gaming codes. You got here by being ruthless, by thinking out of the box, by taking split second decisions and coming out unscathed. You are Shadow Prime. I expect nothing less from you boy. Test not my patience protégé. You have earned my respect. Don’t lose it now.” Sensei warned.

Steven knew better than to argue with Sensei.

Sensei was the bravest and most intelligent person Steven had ever met. He was 6feet 4inches, had a muscular body and a golden belt in Tai Chi. He had hacked into the Intelligence Corporation of the police department when he was eleven to delete all evidence against his father who faced a life sentence in prison. Sensei had an unusual tolerance for pain and was dangerously ruthless when he had to. Sensei had a lot of nick names. He was called Eagle Eye, Brainiac, Dead Shot, Magic fingers, amongst others. Sensei had presence. He would walk into a room and everyone would notice. And he would waltz out of a crowed place and you would never notice. He was a master of stealth, deception and disguise. His deep voice made sure you heard him out. Sensei was everything Steven ever dreamed he would be.

Sensei hardly raised his voice. When he did, no one dared him. He did not need weapons to kill. His hands were weapons on their own. He had trained since he was a teenager to use his hands in a deadly manner. Steven could remember vividly his first day of training. Sensei had told him, along with the others to make very hard bricks and bring them to the training session. One after another, Sensei broke each brick with his bare hands.

“This is not a show off. Your aim is to be better than this, to be better than me. Many of you will fall by the side. Some of you will make it to the top ranks. But only one of you shall get the prize” Sensei had said almost eight years ago.

Somehow, Steven feared him.

They got to the end of the corridor and stood face to face with a wall. Sensei opened his left palm and pressed it against a particular spot on the wall. The rectangular perimeter where Sensei had placed his hand shone bright red and then dimmed. The bright cream color on the wall faded out to show a transparent cubicle more like the one Steven entered the building with.

Steven stepped in after Sensei and the transparent door shut behind them.

A deep masculine electronic voice spoke:

“X-ray scans initiating.”

Infrared lights appeared from the corners of the walls and scanned the whole enclosure. It scanned the whole of Sensei’s body and immediately it got to Steven, an alarm rang out.

“Intruder alert. Commencing Defense Mode” The voice said.

“No Zeus. He is with me. Proceed to Sensei’s Lodge.”

The enclosure went down and Steven felt himself been sunk deep beneath the building. They were now underground in some sort of tunnel. The enclosure opened and the voice returned.

“Welcome Godrick. Welcome Intruder.”

“Thank you Zeus.”  Sensei replied. And turning to Steven Sensei said,

“Welcome to Sensei’s Lodge.”

*******

Steven could not hide his surprise at the complex and subtle methods with which Sensei’s lodge was designed. He was in awe as he walked into a very spacious room with only two leather sofas placed in opposite ends of the room. Sensei sat down and offered Steven the remaining seat.

“So, what is so important that you wanted to talk about Stevey?” Sensei asked

“I have been having dreams lately Sensei. The same dream, the same detail, and in the same manner. This has been happening for four days straight now. I am not sure as to whether to let it slide as a result of my subconscious, or to take it seriously as an insight to what may happen to me. You always say to trust my instincts but right now, even my instincts do not paint a clear path to follow. This is why I am very concerned and I had to get in touch with you.”  Steven said.

“What was the dream about?” Sensei queried

“Basically I’m trapped in a small room. There are other people with me. And then after a while, someone comes in and beheads me. That’s the point that I get to wake up.” Steven explained.

“Hmmmm…” Sensei said thoughtfully.

He got up and paced the room, deep in thought. After a few minutes of walking to and fro, he sat again and crossed his long legs. He stared at Steven for seconds, holding his gaze.

“Have you ever wondered why I have not giving you my blessings to pursue your own path, despite the many times you have asked?” Sensei asked.

“I actually have. But I have not been able to come up with any good reason.” Steven replied.

“Your dream is the reason I have kept you here Stevey. I have no doubts about your abilities. But you are clouded by a dark desire. A desire for revenge, a desire for retribution. One way or the other, it would bring your doom. When you bring emotions to the fore and act without a clear head, mistakes would definitely be made. This is what the dream means, which further buttresses my stance to not allow you set on your predetermined path; at least not yet”

Steven was quiet. He was thinking. He had not seen it from the angle Sensei explained it. Yet, he was undaunted.

“Sensei, I really appreciate you looking out for me, and also having my best interests at heart. But this is my life we are talking about. This is my ambition. My desire. Life for me is not worth living just hiding within the shadows. I want to do a lot of good in the world. I am as good as dead if I lay low because of fear factor. I am a Shadow Knight, Sensei. I am Shadow Prime. You have trained me well. Let me go. Please.” Steven pleaded, standing from his seat and bowing low towards his master.

Sensei looked at him and scratched his chin.

“Very well then Shadow Prime. You have my blessings. Kneel.” Sensei ordered.

Steven went down on both knees with his head upright.  Sensei walked up to him.

“As your master and trainer, I Sensei Mark Pandford, hereby grant you freedom to do as you please in honor of the Shadow Code. May the Shadows always guide your path.” Sensei said placing his right hand on Steven’s left shoulder and then his right.

“Rise.” Sensei commanded.

Steven obeyed. He felt some kind of lift in his countenance.

“Thank you Sensei.”  Steven said.

“You have earned it Stevey. Why don’t you join me for one final round of Virtual Kombat?”  Sensei said and smiled.

Steven had never beaten Sensei at the Virtual Reality Game where they had to wear programmed masks and enter into a world of virtual reality where they had to find and kill villains. The one who killed more bad guys won the game. The game felt so real that when any one was shot or harmed, it made the victim feel real life pain but no bodily injury. Sensei always won. However, Steven was determined to make sure that this final challenge ended in his favor.

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