Chapter 227

227 Lock’s Whereabouts

Matthew Lock.

Hmm, interesting name. Almost sounds similar to Rocke. Hopefully, he’s not as crazy as Demetrius Rocke, because that man was the devil in my life.

The devil I’m telling you.

And I didn’t even kill him. His own son did. That’s how bad he was, but let’s not talk about him. We have a more important matter to discuss. The MSTO is planning something, and the TSA is the leader.

And this virus was going to be a weapon, a suitable weapon. But who are they even going to infect? The United States or us?

If they infect us, well, that would slow us down by a lot in stopping them, and they’d be able to take over the US. But if they were to infect the country instead, well, they would only have to face us.

Unless it’s both.

Then they would really have their hands on things.

All these thoughts continued to race through my head as me and Greg were heading out of the school. “Alright, you know the plan?” Greg asked me.

.....

I nodded, hoping that I was thinking of the right one. “Good,” he said as he walked off into the distance, as I waited for the portal to just suck me and transport me to the YMPA.

And indeed, that happened.

I slid through the weird purple, green, and red colors before I found myself hitting the ground. Pain shot up through my neck and pulsated for a few seconds as I got up onto my feet.

I sighed, accepting it at this point.

I brushed myself off from the dust that settled onto my pants.

The building in front of me towered over the sky as I looked at it in awe. Surprises me every time. I wonder what’s gonna happen today. I walked inside of the building, heading into the hall where junior agents surrounded the entire floor. But that was the least of my worries. In fact, that wasn’t even a worry.

I made my way towards the room that Mr. Drails, the CEO of the YMPA, usually gives us or tells us some info on or about our mission. I opened the door, seeing September, Nikki, Malachi, and Tisiah all sitting down in their preferred seats.

“Why are you always the late one?” September asked, and I chuckled in response, speechless in what to say, so I said nothing.

“He was in class,” Malachi replied, and I laughed.

“Okay, let’s get this meeting started,” Mr. Drails said. “Now I’m sure you guys know about the man who seems to have the virus, correct?”

“Yeah, Matthew Lock,” Malachi added, which Mr. Drails responded with an accepting nod, as did everyone else.

“Okay, so we all know what’s going on,” Mr. Drails said, “Now we’ll go over some basic information about him.”

The screen behind him blinked out a picture of the man, who looked pretty fresh-meaning that he was young for sure. He had brown hair that was slicked back, and his eyes were a shade of blue that seemed to almost glow with his confidence. He smiled in a way that was so charming that you couldn’t help but look at him as if he were some sort of angel sent here to save the day. He wore a blue tailored suit with a blue tie, with black shirt underneath, which seemed to compliment his body very well.

“So you all know him now,” Mr. Drails said as he paced around the room, “But what exactly do we know about him?”

“That he is and has been a rogue agent,” Tisiah said, but Mr. Drails suddenly shook his head.

“Not that information, but where is he, where is the virus he is holding,” Mr. Drails corrected, and Tisiah mouthed in realization, “Where did he come from? That’s what we need to know.”

“We don’t know anything about that,” Nikki spoke up.

“So what you’re telling me,” Mr. Drails said with an annoyed tone, “Is that you have no idea where this guy came from or where he is?”

Nikki sighed and nodded her head, and Mr. Drails nodded back at her as well, giving a few moments before he continued speaking again. “Well, I’m going to need you guys to do that, find him, and tell me.”

“Well, he could be anywhere, in fact-he could be a different person,” I said to him, which he shrugged, balancing the benefit of that thought, which I guess isn’t a bad thing because we wouldn’t be wasting our time going after a ghost.

“You may be right,” Mr. Drails replied with a small smile, “And we can’t do anything about it right now.”

“Well he’d have to be somewhere secret, maybe off the grid?” Nikki suggested, but Malachi winced at the thought, as if it wasn’t correct, but we were kind of in a situation where it was hard to get information on things.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Mr. Drails said with a sigh. “But that would be too easy, and very lazy in fact. He doesn’t want to be off the gird.”

“What do you mean, he doesn’t?” I asked.

“Not in that way but in a way where, he’s hiding behind someone,” he said, which it was still not very clear, but I understood he was probably hiding behind someone like a front or an alias.

“I’m not sure I understand,” Nikki said to him. “Like, if you could maybe give an example.”

“Well, think about what Connor said, a different person. He probably got plastic surgery is under a name,” Mr. Drails said with a shrug, but then Nikki nodded her head and said, “Yeah!”

“So if he did get plastic surgery under an alias or a different name then he probably got some other things done too,” I added to the thought, but then Malachi shook his head. “We’d find him immediately. Maybe he’s being protected by the enemy,” he said, which awareness revealed itself at that point.

“Okay,” Mr. Drails said with a nod, “Well then, we’ll take that into account. But that still doesn’t answer where he is.”

“But it gives us a possibility,” Malachi said with a finger that emphasized his point, “And if he got plastic surgery then he got it in a place where he could live without getting noticed by any of us.”

“Well, I want you guys to start finding him, and I’ll do my part on that as well. Report to me once you guys have any information,” Mr. Drails said, stating at each of us before he stopped at Tisiah, who was the last person in the belt of spies. He gave her a small nod before he continued to talk. “Alright then, everyone,” he said as he gave us a quick salute and turned to go back into his office.

***

Time at the YMPA passed on, and I was transported back to my home. Except I wasn’t going home. I needed to get to Greg’s house, and quickly, before it gets dark. I ran through the street and headed out of the neighborhood. He was a block or two away in his own neighborhood, so it wouldn’t be long.

Right?

I sighed and shook my head before I shot my way in that direction. I looked to the sides, seeing cars moving through the streets and some parked and also a young couple that seemed to enjoy each other’s company. That wasn’t too much of a worry though, being that it had nothing to do with me.

Stoplights emitted lights from their little own sockets, guiding traffic around. I was about to arrive at Greg’s neighborhood, and his house was pretty close when entering the neighborhood.

I made it to his house as I entered his gate and noticed something was a little different about it. But what?

There was a large piece of wood on his lawn and a lot of small rocks all around the wood, as if there was a small river running through it. The fence itself was not damaged at all but I did not know how that got there. Seemed like Greg and his family were doing a bit of a makeover, if I say so myself. My house hasn’t changed since I was born, probably except for furniture.

I sighed and made my way up to his door before I knocked on it as I heard the sound of someone opening it from inside. It was his mother, and I do have to say-his mother was crazy tall. I almost felt intimidated, in fact, I did feel intimidated. “Hey...” I said with a very nervous smile, but she didn’t seem to budge at my amusement, and I didn’t want her to think that I was laughing at her for being so tall and big. She was about six foot seven or so-very tall, especially for a girl-and she seemed to be very thin for her.

“Are you Greg’s friend?” she asked.

I nodded, looking at the giant with a bit of fear thumping in my heart. “Well, come in,” she said, and I nodded as I gave a quick wave, just to seem friendly by any chance. But instantly, my face changed into a still face as I approached Greg. The living room was quite lively, as all the walls were full of pictures of Greg as he was growing up, with his friends, family, and even pets. There were so many pictures that they covered the walls all the way around him.

There was a chandelier at the top of the ceiling that emitted light that all the way to the next room. There was a counter to the side, and the fridge behind it which there was a small counter that was next to the oven. Everything was packed, with pictures and pictures and more pictures on the walls and even in between the tables that sat in front of them. It was very colorful and filled with life and joy.

He must’ve had a good childhood.

“Alright, have you found any sort of information?” I asked. Suddenly, he looked up and smiled with a sneer that said nothing less.