[ RF ] The world we are in is actually home to high level , well hidden corporate espionage . You are a double agent for iOS and Android – what real world event were you responsible for .

`` Ah, Peterson. I had such high hopes for you.'' 
 
 I spat out a tooth. `` Call me Echelon, cap'n.'' 
 
 Derry, standing next to me, tapped my shoulder and shook his head. 
 
 The captain smirked, stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the room, and sat down. It's a wonder the chair did n't break. Scratch that. It's a wonder his buttons are n't popping out, flying into my face. Two quick sparks illuminate his face for two instants, then smoke fills the room. 
 
 `` You people with your,'code-names'. Always trying to seem cool. Why? Everyone knows you are lower than scum. Well, anyone in business, anyway.'' 
 
 I smirked back at him, as best I could through my busted face. `` I've got friends in marketing. They taught me a few things about personal branding.'' 
 
 He waved his hand dismissively. `` Who gives a shit. We, though, we the people who matter, call you people'trash sniffers'. We pay you, put you on a leash, and send you to our neighbours' house to sniff at their trash and spread it on their front lawn. Hopefully, that makes it to the front page. You get it?'' 
 
 `` Like a raccoon, except for smartphone companies.'' 
 
 `` For any company, not just ours. You think'Cola Wars' is a euphemism?'' 
 
 `` Look, I know that,'' I leaned back in my chair, trying to achieve a comfortable position despite all the ropes. `` I'm Echelon, remember? So what are you saying, I'm a casualty now?'' 
 
 The Captain's eyes bored holes in my bruised face while his great big moustache shifted like a caterpillar, puffing smoke occasionally. Then he got up, the chair creaking in relief, and flicked ashes in my lap. 
 
 `` Maybe. I mean, if I find a raccoon in my backyard, do n't I shoot it?'' 
 
 Derry unholstered the gun he had used the butt of to crack my skull in response to that, and moved to stand in front of me. I looked up at him but he just shrugged. `` Sorry, Ech.'' 
 
 `` Not yet, Jameson,'' the Captain said, a cigar appearing in the air above my head. Derry nodded and re-holstered his gun, and stepped back. `` This raccoon... he's not doing anything, yeah? We just found him in our back yard. He has n't done anything, correct, Jameson?'' 
 
 Not that you know of. 
 
 `` Not that we know of, Captain.'' 
 
 `` So maybe,'' his large frame entered my view like a blimp blocking the moon, `` maybe, we can make him our pet. Our raccoon. Send him back home and wreck that place instead. Eh, Jameson?'' 
 
 `` Had a pet raccoon once, Captain. Died of rabies.'' 
 
 A series of loud barks escaped the heaving mass of fat. `` See? Raccoons can be good pets, until they need to be put down.'' He turned his face towards me. `` So here's your price, little rodent. You spread trash on my neighbour's lawn, I do n't put you down. You do n't do it, I put you down. That is all.'' 
 
 Coppery taste between my teeth, sucking in air through swollen mucosae, seeing through sweat, hair and blood, that sounded like a sweet deal. And the entire agency will remember this as the day Echelon met his match. 
 
 As if to urge me on, Derry stepped forward, respect still in his eyes mixed in with regret. `` C'mon, Ech. What'll it be?'' 
 
 I stared at Derry for a while before turning back to the Captain. `` What do you want me to make happen?'' 
 
 The Captain's teeth showed themselves, flashing nicotine yellow in the low light. `` It's less of a happening and more of a... how do the kids say it?'' He turned to Derry and made a gesture with his hand. `` What do the internet kids call this?'' 
 
 -- - 
 Three months later. 
 
 Getting beat up must be my lot in life because here I am, tied to a chair again, my face busted up again, because I got caught. Again. 
 
 The thoughts'I should retire' exploded out of my head as Loong's fist connected with my cheek, along with another tooth, some nasal cartilage, and a lot of blood. This guy was n't like Derry. He was one of the newbs; did n't know who I was and did n't care. All he knew was, I got caught, and had to pay now. 
 
 `` Enough, Jeremy.'' 
 
 Loong's fist stopped in mid-air, and he backed away like a good little dog. His boss walked toward me, right hand holding a file, left fist clenched tight against her thigh. She threw the file at me and a thousand baseball card sized photo printouts went flying around. I did n't have to look at them. I'd fapped to them myself, before sending them out. 
 
 `` You knew about this.'' 
 
 I looked up. `` Sorry, was that a question?'' 
 
 Loong sighed as the boss stepped back. He shook his head at me, and the very next second I was vomiting on the nudes, narrowly missing his muscular arm. 
 
 `` You think this is funny?'' The boss entered the frame again, both hands clenched this time. `` You think this is a motherfucking joke? Oh, yeah, we all saw tits, what's the deal, right?'' 
 
 `` Tits are a pretty big deal.'' I thought I could n't vomit again, but Loong proved me wrong. 
 
 `` The deal is n't about the tits!'' I would have laughed if I thought I could. Her looking like she was about to have an aneurysm was not helping. `` The deal, O High and Mighty Echelon, is about security. Now nobody wants to use iCloud. Do you have any idea how much potential revenue we've lost no thanks to you?'' 
 
 I have some idea. `` Look, Boss-'' 
 
 `` I've had it. The Old Agents are worthless to us now.'' She walked away, turning to Loong. `` Get rid of him.'' 
 
 `` Wait wait wait, Boss! I can make this right!'' Loong had his gun out, the barrel pointing right between my eyes. 
 
 `` I doubt it.'' 
 
 `` No no, wait! I can make them look bad too!'' 
 
 `` Jeremy, what are you waiting for?'' 
 
 `` This is small time, Boss. This is just a few people everybody has always been jealous of getting their comeuppance. Harlots on the silver screen, teasing us with their skin-tight suits and lavish parties getting taken down a notch. This is nothing the public does n't want. But with them? I can make it so they hurt the average joe. I can make it seem like they're kicking the little guy when he's down.'' 
 
 Loong, thankfully, looked back at The Boss before pulling the trigger. `` Boss? *Sei, Bo sei*?'' 
 
 I saw her sigh before turning back to me, arms crossed. Loong took his gun off my forehead. `` This better be good.'' 
 
 `` It is,'' I managed a smile, somehow. `` Okay, imagine this. You log in to your maps, docs, and drive, all on your phone because it's easier for you. Then you go out and have a drink with your buddies or potential clients of whatever at Starbucks. Now, imagine because you're connected to an unsecured wifi hotspot, anybody with shit for brains can nab your authentication tokens, *yoink! * Just like that.'' 
 
 She stepped closer, the furrows in her brow decreasing. `` Go on.'' 
 
 `` The beauty of this is, you do n't have to have logged into their service using the unsecured wifi. Just log in once and that'll do it. It'll leak personal data like a gingerbread house trying to take on too much milk.'' 
 
 She smiled, and my breathing slowed. `` Interesting analogy. But see, why should I send you out against the green robot? It sent you to make, ah, rotten fruit out of us.'' 
 
 `` I do this, and both your companies will have lost goodwill. Zero sum. All is level. Any innovation, anything from both sides of the fence, will be viewed with both suspicion and interest, as opposed to you guys getting shafted all the time.'' 
 
 I was actually surprised how Loong managed to keep a straight face throughout all that. I was even more surprised when she nodded. 
 
 `` Anything to wipe that smirk off that fat man's face.'' 
 
 -- - 
 He was n't smirking, at least. 
 
 Also, I was n't beaten up. Still tied to a chair, yes. But my body was intact. But the way I was facing the window, and the fact that it had no curtains or blinds, made me think it was n't going to stay that way. 
 
 `` Peterson. You disappoint me.'' 
 
 `` You sound like my Dad.'' Derry smiled at that, and turned away to hide it. 
 
 He moved around in front of me, obscuring my view of the moon. The most random thought came into my head at that time; did n't I compare him to an eclipse or something last time? 
 
 `` Look at that,'' he waved an arm as big as my thigh at the window. `` Beautiful, eh? But full of rodents. You do n't get rats back in the country, no.'' 
 
 `` Kind of hard to see vermin from this high up.'' 
 
 `` True,'' he turned to me, `` but this is my favorite floor. You know, in Asian numerology, eighteen is considered very good luck. Fourteen, not so good.'' 
 
 The most random thought came into my head at the time. `` Four means death.'' 
 
 The Captain threw his arms up, smiling. `` Hey! The rat knows things.'' He shook his head and walked away. `` The rat knows too many things, Jameson.'' 
 
 `` Sorry, Ech.'' 
 
 The most random thought came into my head at the time. Deja Vu is not the only feeling you can say only in French. That urge to jump when standing at a very tall spot is also a feeling you can only say in French. Translated, it means The Call of The Void. 
 
 As soon as I had finished thinking that, glass shattered all around me as Derry made me answer that call.
