24 Julia Ana

Sebastian was taken by Cobra to the outskirts of the city near the cornfields. He was met by his one of his colleagues who was hiding from plain sight. Cobra gives a hand signal and several of his men went out from hiding.

"Who are these people?" Sebastian asked Cobra beside of him.

"Friends!" Cobra coldy replied and approached the man before him.

"Oh, an amateur agent?" Sebastian could hear the man's complaint to Cobra.

Sebastian looked puzzled and suspicious to Cobra before him. From the looks of it however, he will have to cooperate in order to stay alive and get out from the city. After the lengthy conversation between Cobra and the man before him, Cobra approached Sebastian and talked to him.

"Your inexperience speaks of your incompetence!" Cobra criticized Sebastian who is still confused of the situation.

"I beg your pardon, who are you?" Sebastian asked Cobra in return.

"I am a government asset from the Military Intelligence! It is up to you to believe me or not. I believe you failed your mission, but at least, you can relay your report to the government you serve." Cobra explained and then shows to him a picture of a beautiful woman.

"How did you know?" Sebastian looked surprised.

"Julia Ana? We know that she was replaced." Cobra said to him.

"What!? By that woman?" Sebastian exclaimed.

"Yes, from my sources she is working in the military. We are to still dig in for more information of the organization she joined and her position in the military." Cobra continued.

"Sir, the extraction has arrived!" One of Cobra's men said.

Cobra looked at him and signalled them to escort Sebastian away from the city. "This is the only time I will help an amateur agent. Next time, make sure that you are not going to stir up trouble."

Sebastian did not say a thing and followed the armed men that were supposed to escort him away from the city. Cobra and his men followed suit after Sebastian disappeared in the cornfield. Both parties went separate ways to prevent detection from the terrorists who are looking for Sebastian.

Meanwhile, in the capital in the city of Tondo. Juliana Hart was perparing for her report. She was busy the whole day preparing for her duties. There were no callls from her new employers nor messages from the organization and the Slav who she became acquianted with. After completing the first task she wonders what could have happened for there are no updates so far.

After the end of her shift, Juliana changed to her civilian attire and left the Mechanized Studies Institute. She has to hide her identity because it is required by the government. She belongs to a top secret organization and her employment status is classified.

As she walks to her home, her phone rings and went to a secluded place to answer it. It was from the Slav she met several months ago. After the phone rang five times she answered it.

"How are you sweetheart?" The Slav said in a familiar accent.

"I'm fine, my man. Why have you called?" Juliana replied nervously.

Juliana noticed that the man's tone is different and it could mean something serious.

"The hotel secluded, on solitary he must. She the bare wolf must find freedom. The men in clubs and staves watching and searching. Find a sanctuary!"

Juliana turned pale on the man's code. It seems like she has seen a ghost and turned off the phone after the call. In deciphering the code, it means that, "She must find refuge for she has been compromised. Her complacency lead her to her demise. She must seek shelter somewhere to prevent government officials from finding out and will be extracted by an agent in two days."

Juliana rushed home after the call and for five minutes walking she arrived in front of her house. She suddenly hid behind a wall after seeing two counter-intelligence agents in front of her house and hastily left the scene.

No one seems to find her, that, what she thought and navigated through the streets where she thought no one may find her. To her surprise there were government agents in the area who were looking for someone. They were asking for the whereabouts of a certain person.

She again evaded the agents and went to a certain place where she thought no one may find her. Juliana's heart was racing and the ringing of her phone almost made her scream. She looked at her surroundings once again and answered after she confirmed no one was around.

"Juliana, where are you?" A familiar voice asked her.

Juliana replied in a shaky voice after recognizing her caller and replied, "I-I cannot meet you right now. I am busy... with work! I will return there tomorrow, okay?" Juliana hastily ended the call.

Juliana continued on her way hastily. A trinket containing a secret code was dropped due to her haste. After disappearing from the scene, an agent that was trailing her took it and placed on a special container. He called his colleagues near the area about the situation.

"Julia Ana has been found. She's on the run!"

"Noted, keep track on her for now. We will have to know who she is with. Keep investigating on her."

"Will do!"

In thinking that she lost her pursuers, Juliana went to a nearby coffee shop to calm down her senses. She went to the toilet and opened her phone. There were a lot of missed calls, mostly from her friends, colleagues and her relatives.

Everything seems to be complete other than that one "thing". Juliana inspected the contents of her bag and found nothing of the trinket that she was looking for.

"For your initiation, I would like to keep a heirloom of my mother. Treat this object the same as you treat yourself and your life..."

Juliana remembered what the Slav said to her. She must have dropped it somewhere. She thought and went back to her seat with a troubled face.

"I screwed up!" Juliana frustratingly said in her mind.