Mitali's Reason and the 1st Murder

03rd January 2032

00:11

Artemis Briefing Room

Sohel was talking to Gen Ahmed on the big screen.

".....Yes, sir. I've assessed the situation. For now tomorrow we're splitting up and watching over the likely targets. I hope we can find a lead from there."

"Good. Try to get it done ASAP. These killings have already started inducing fear among UN officials. They have already started avoiding any work in the US."

"Will do, sir. Don't worry."

"You're dismissed."

The call disconnects and Sohel gets out to the control room and lets go of his body on a chair. After resting a bit he suddenly calls out to ARIA, "ARIA, you awake?"

"Always, captain. How may I help?"

"Give me info about Agent Aiden Flynn."

"Searching........showing results...…Agent Aiden Flynn. Age 23 years old. Joined the FBI last October. Completed Undergrad before joining from American University."

Sohel gets a little irritated, "Tch. They sent us a damn rookie. But it seems like he won't pry into anything else other than the mission. That's good I guess. But I gotta be sure. ARIA, what about the extra layer of security, is it done yet?"

"Don't worry, captain. No one other than the Bravo squad can access my functions."

"That's good."

Sohel gets up.

"Good night, captain."

"You too.....or I guess you don't sleep."

Sohel goes to his sleeping room and sees Jacob knocked out like a pillar. He smiles and thinks, "You're still a heavy sleeper, huh? I guess some habits never change."

He too goes to sleep.

06:36

Rock Creek Park, Washington DC

Annabelle, Sohel and Mitali's sitting in their black Subaru Defender. All of them were wearing casual tracksuits. Sohel asks Annabelle, "You got the whisper-wing?"

"I do."

"Good. Keep flying through people around the senator and see if you can see or hear anything suspicious."

"Will do."

"Mitali, we're going to follow the senator from a small distance. Let's go."

Sohel was about to leave the car when Annabelle interrupted him, "Captain, you forgot these." Annabelle hands Sohel his glasses. Sohel smiles and takes it. They enter the park and follow the senator while Annabelle looks for suspicious people. While jogging Mitali says, "You know, for some reason this is reminding me of our childhood. We would run together like this in the cantonment park. I would occasionally invite you for a race. I was never able to beat you though."

Sohel laughs, "Those were the good days. But that's all in the past. The good times the five of us spent. Now Naser's dead, Tahmid won't talk to me. The friendship has fallen apart."

They kept following the senator for some more time silently. After a while, the senator stops for a breather. Annabelle says through the comms, "You two should sit down too. I'll keep an eye on him with the whisper-wing. I'll let you know if he starts moving again." Sohel thanks Annabelle and both of them sit down on a bench after buying a bottle of water. After drinking, Sohel asks, "I know I shouldn't be the one asking you this as I'm the one who recruited you but may I ask, Why did you agree to join the SNA so easily?"

Mitali hesitates but says, "From the time I remember I always had memories with you. You were with me all of my life. But when you suddenly disappeared for 3 years without saying anything, that was the first time I felt that you might just leave like this one day. I realized that being your childhood friend won't be enough to keep you close to me. So, when you asked me to join you I couldn't hesitate. I subconsciously agreed."

Sohel wasn't expecting an answer like that. He stutters while saying, "I…I don't know how I should react to that." Annabelle's sudden voice breaks the awkward moment between them. She says, "Ummm…guys… I don't know if you know but your comms are on. I can hear everything you're saying. But really Mitali I didn't expect such a bold answer from you." Annabelle giggles. Mitali yells at Annabelle to hide her embarrassment, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER?"

"Didn't want to ruin your romance."

"YOU...."

"More importantly, the senator is starting to run again. You should hurry."

"You little... Just wait till I come back."

"Woah. scary."

Sohel and Mitali get up and start following the senator again. They followed him around like that the whole day but couldn't find anything that would lead them to believe that the senator would be a target.

20:25

Artemis Briefing room

All members of the Bravo squad and Agent Flynn were sitting in the briefing room. All of them looked distressed. Sohel looked irritated too. He asked Naomi, "How did this happen? Weren't you tailing her all day?"

"We were until she boarded a plane to Louisiana in the Afternoon. We can't exactly follow her inside a plane."

"Huh. Sorry, I got worked up. ARIA, get me a full passenger list of flight AA-230."

"Yess, captain. Give me some time."

Aiden freaks out at the sudden voice of ARIA, "Who...Who was that?"

Everyone laughs as Annabelle explains ARIA to Aiden. 

"Ohhh. I thought someone else was here. It certainly doesn't sound like an AI."

ARIA suddenly says, "Thanks but it's rude to refer to me as 'It.'"

Aiden freaks out again but controls himself and says, "I'm sorry Ms. Aria."

"That's better. Captain, I approve of him."

Everyone laughs again. 

Sohel then says, "Jokes aside, we were partly to blame for the death of Ms. Mitalev."

Naomi agrees, "I'm sorry about that. I should've been more careful."

Sohel looks at Flynn and says, "Flynn go home and pack your bags. We're going to Louisiana."

"Right now?"

"Yes, right now. We ain't got a minute to spare."

Aiden gets up to go home but he doesn't seem much excited. Seeing this Sohel says, "I'm sorry dude. But we work like this. If you're going to follow us, get used to it."

"Yes." Aiden leaves. Sohel gets up, "I'm going to get a shower. I reek of sweat. You guys should freshen up too." Everyone agrees and gets up.

5 Hours Ago

15:45

Inside Flight AA-230

Natalia Milanova was sitting in her seat and reading a book. Around 10 rows behind Luna and the man from earlier were sitting. The man turned to Luna and said, "You see that Russian woman over there. She's your target. You're going to kill her." Luna looks at the man in disbelief. The man notices it and says, "If you don't then we have to kill. And you won't like it when we kill. You don't want to lose your precious friends, do you?" Luna pleads, "Please, don't do anything to them. I'll kill her I promise."

"Now that's a good girl." The man hands a small dropper to Luna and says, "That woman just ordered coffee for herself. You're going to poison her. Do you understand?" Luna nods. As the air hostess approaches them the man calls the air hostess. While the man keeps her busy Luna drops a few drops of poison from the dropper in the coffee in the tray. After that, the air hostess moves on and serves Milanova the poisoned coffee. After drinking the coffee Milanova starts sweating and coughing blood. A few minutes later she dies. All while Luna watches with guilt and fear.