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Description
Penelope sighed, staring up at the ceiling. She hadn't been able to sleep that night-she had never done well with strange places. She flipped a switch next to her eye, bringing up a heads-up display, projected in front of her field of vision by her eye's computer.

2:30 AM. LOCATION UNKNOWN.

The display showed other data: air temperature, wind speed, and the vital signs of herself and others. A green blob to her left caught her attention. It was  the outline of Weiss, sleeping in the cot beside her.
Lucky him, she thought, flipping the display off. At least he'll be able to do us some good tomorrow.
She tried not to think of the dream she had just had. She hadn't thought of her father's story in years-what had brought it to her mind now? Of course, the answer was clear as she watched Weiss sleep.
No. There's no way it could be him. The odds are just so unlikely…
Penelope put the thought out of her mind, turning her attention to other things. She thought it curious that her internal computer couldn't determine her location. Her mind slowly drifted to the security measures the Alliance had in place. The thought brought her a shudder as she remembered the other Agents' interrogation. Pushing that out of her mind, she turned the display back on, this time setting it to detect electronic signals.
A few blobs of light appeared on the walls. Two were cameras, one on each side of the room. Penelope tried to imagine their fields of view.
Damn. No blind spots.
The other signals were more remarkable. They were very small, so to inspect them, she had to get up and take a closer look. They were embedded in the walls, little circular objects that seemed to be sending a slow, rhythmic signal. After staring at the pulsating glow of the signal for a moment, she recognized the pattern as the sound of her breathing. The object was a microphone.
Clearly, the Alliance wanted to keep a close eye-and ear-on them. That idea unsettled Penelope. It reminded her a little too much of the obsessive attention with which her Father had watched his Children.
She sat back down on the cot, worried that any more snooping would attract unwanted attention. Still, she was curious as to her new surroundings. She hadn't looked in the room's lockers yet, so she stood once more to inspect them.
There were two of them, one each for both her and Weiss. The most prominent item inside was the uniform of a Cosmic Agent Alpha, and Penelope couldn't help but smile at the sheer engineering beauty of the thing.
It was made of a thin, silvery material that felt like something between leather, rubber, and brushed steel. With her eye, Penelope could tell that it was completely filled with tiny sensors which created a dense net of glowing wires across the suit. Amazingly to her, it had no right sleeve, to accommodate her bionic arm. But with the painstaking perfection with which the suit was made, it seemed to her impossible that anyone could make one in the time that she had been there.
On a shelf below the suit was a thick, spiral bound book. Its title was written in big block letters:

COSMIC AGENT GUIDEBOOK

Penelope took the book and lay down on her cot. Turning on a small light within her eye, she began to read.

.   .   .

"Penelope! Get up and get your suit on! Angel's gonna be here any minute!"
She sat up, taking the book off of her face. She muttered something unintelligible, stumbled over to the locker and, running on two hours of sleep, began to undress. As Weiss turned around, embarrassed, Penelope pulled the single-piece bodysuit over her body, and gasped as it tightened over her skin. She felt an electric tingle as the suit sprung to life, outputting detailed data to her eye. The sudden, unexpected flood of information as well as the shock of the strange sensation sent her stumbling backwards, but before she could fall to the floor, Weiss caught her and pulled her to her feet.
"You okay?" he asked, giving her a concerned look.
"Yeah, I think so," she said a little weakly. "I didn't get much sleep last night. What about you? Are you feeling well this morning?"
"Well enough not to disrobe right in front of you, but still pretty tired."
Penelope laughed awkwardly, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Sorry. I'll, uh, try not to do it again."
Just then, there was a brisk knock on the door. Before either of them could move to answer, it opened. Penelope and Weiss scrambled to straighten themselves out, to make themselves presentable to their intimidating boss, but the man who appeared in the door was not Angel.
"Hey, kids! It's time for some training!"
Weiss stepped back, stunned. "What the hell? Manfred, what are you doing here?"
Manfred grinned at them, wearing an Alpha uniform of his own. "I'm an Agent, just like you guys! And Angel says we need to get down to the training room, so let's go!"
"C'mon, Weiss, let's not keep him waiting," said Penelope, taking his hand and leading him out of the door. "I don't want to be cooped up in there, anyway."
"Just-just wait a minute! Penny, aren't you in the least bit concerned that Manfred just showed up from out of nowhere?"
"Not really. Angel made us Alphas because we've had direct contact with the Evil Eye, right?"
Weiss stared at her, dumbfounded. "Excuse me? Since when?"
"Oh, you didn't hear that? I mean, he told me that during my interrogation. Anyway, it kind of figures that he'd go out and get Manfred too, doesn't it?"
"I suppose," said Weiss after an exasperated sigh. "This is too much. A secret organization dedicated to killing what is supposed to be the most evil being in the whole cosmos I can handle. But Manfred showing up at my doorstep this early in the morning…"
"Oh, come on, Weiss. Chill." Manfred slapped Weiss on the back, causing him to stumble forward a few steps. "It's going to be fun!"
"Well, I'm glad you share your daughter's mentality. Can we just get on with it?"
"Of course we can," Penelope said with a smile. "Cheer up, it'll be okay."

If you were to ask his opinion on the matter, Weiss would say that it was most certainly not okay. He, Penelope, and Manfred spent the next few weeks in the most grueling fashion any of them thought possible-the course they went through was far more rigorous than any military basic training. Under the ever-watchful eye of Angel, they were conditioned to the extreme. Their minimal combat abilities were refined and sharpened: by the end of their intensive training, they could easily go up against any of the other Agents.
They were also trained to work with each other. Weiss, Manfred, and Penelope spent every minute of every day working together-they certainly got irritated with one another, but they also learned the ins and outs of their personalities, their movements, and their unique body language. They became so finely attuned to each other that with a few simple gestures, they could organize their next move.
Each morning, they would wake up to the shrill call of the base's alarm system, crowd into a mess hall for a bland, yet "nutritious" meal, complete their training for the day, then head back to their room where they were usually too tired to do anything but collapse into bed and fall asleep. On the days when they had any energy left at all, Weiss and Penelope would talk until one of them fell asleep. They shared stories of their lives: Weiss recounting tales of his school years spent with friends, Penelope telling how she helped some of her fellow Children escape the Labs.

.   .   .

They received their first true mission during one of these conversations. The voice of Angel came over the loudspeaker, summoning them to the briefing room. They went, with a bit of reluctance, to the gigantic hall, which was empty save for Angel standing behind a podium in front of a large projection screen, and Manfred sitting in the front row of folding chairs. Across the screen, various angles of streaming video were playing, showing a beautiful snowy landscape with a grand castle as its centerpiece.
Weiss recognized the castle immediately as Azel, the fortress which made national news for weeks when it was built, completely unannounced and seemingly from out of nowhere, by an eccentric billionaire. The owner of the castle had remained unnamed-the only thing anyone knew about him was that he was very rich.
"I see you recognize your destination, Weiss," commented Angel as the three of them situated themselves. "Good. Perhaps you can fill Agent Materas in on the history of the castle on your way.
"It's beautiful," Penelope gasped. "We're going to that place?"
"Yes. The three of you will travel by remote all-terrain vehicle to Azel, where you will meet a man who is in possession of the Scythe of Life. Your task is, simply, to retrieve it."
Penelope cocked her head. "You mean… steal it?"
Angel shrugged her question off. "If you must. As long as you get the scythe, your mission will be considered complete."
"When can we get out of here?" Manfred piped up. "A little fresh air would be nice right about now."
"Tomorrow morning. When you wake up, make your way to the garage, choose a vehicle, and you will be on your way. I wish you luck, and will be in touch."
In his typical style, Angel left the stage without another word. Manfred groaned and walked off, muttering to himself. Weiss glanced at Penelope, and the two of them left for their room.

Description
Penelope sighed, staring up at the ceiling. She hadn't been able to sleep that night-she had never done well with strange places. She flipped a switch next to her eye, bringing up a heads-up display, projected in front of her field of vision by her eye's computer.

2:30 AM. LOCATION UNKNOWN.

The display showed other data: air temperature, wind speed, and the vital signs of herself and others. A green blob to her left caught her attention. It was  the outline of Weiss, sleeping in the cot beside her.
Lucky him, she thought, flipping the display off. At least he'll be able to do us some good tomorrow.
She tried not to think of the dream she had just had. She hadn't thought of her father's story in years-what had brought it to her mind now? Of course, the answer was clear as she watched Weiss sleep.
No. There's no way it could be him. The odds are just so unlikely…
Penelope put the thought out of her mind, turning her attention to other things. She thought it curious that her internal computer couldn't determine her location. Her mind slowly drifted to the security measures the Alliance had in place. The thought brought her a shudder as she remembered the other Agents' interrogation. Pushing that out of her mind, she turned the display back on, this time setting it to detect electronic signals.
A few blobs of light appeared on the walls. Two were cameras, one on each side of the room. Penelope tried to imagine their fields of view.
Damn. No blind spots.
The other signals were more remarkable. They were very small, so to inspect them, she had to get up and take a closer look. They were embedded in the walls, little circular objects that seemed to be sending a slow, rhythmic signal. After staring at the pulsating glow of the signal for a moment, she recognized the pattern as the sound of her breathing. The object was a microphone.
Clearly, the Alliance wanted to keep a close eye-and ear-on them. That idea unsettled Penelope. It reminded her a little too much of the obsessive attention with which her Father had watched his Children.
She sat back down on the cot, worried that any more snooping would attract unwanted attention. Still, she was curious as to her new surroundings. She hadn't looked in the room's lockers yet, so she stood once more to inspect them.
There were two of them, one each for both her and Weiss. The most prominent item inside was the uniform of a Cosmic Agent Alpha, and Penelope couldn't help but smile at the sheer engineering beauty of the thing.
It was made of a thin, silvery material that felt like something between leather, rubber, and brushed steel. With her eye, Penelope could tell that it was completely filled with tiny sensors which created a dense net of glowing wires across the suit. Amazingly to her, it had no right sleeve, to accommodate her bionic arm. But with the painstaking perfection with which the suit was made, it seemed to her impossible that anyone could make one in the time that she had been there.
On a shelf below the suit was a thick, spiral bound book. Its title was written in big block letters:

COSMIC AGENT GUIDEBOOK

Penelope took the book and lay down on her cot. Turning on a small light within her eye, she began to read.

.   .   .

"Penelope! Get up and get your suit on! Angel's gonna be here any minute!"
She sat up, taking the book off of her face. She muttered something unintelligible, stumbled over to the locker and, running on two hours of sleep, began to undress. As Weiss turned around, embarrassed, Penelope pulled the single-piece bodysuit over her body, and gasped as it tightened over her skin. She felt an electric tingle as the suit sprung to life, outputting detailed data to her eye. The sudden, unexpected flood of information as well as the shock of the strange sensation sent her stumbling backwards, but before she could fall to the floor, Weiss caught her and pulled her to her feet.
"You okay?" he asked, giving her a concerned look.
"Yeah, I think so," she said a little weakly. "I didn't get much sleep last night. What about you? Are you feeling well this morning?"
"Well enough not to disrobe right in front of you, but still pretty tired."
Penelope laughed awkwardly, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Sorry. I'll, uh, try not to do it again."
Just then, there was a brisk knock on the door. Before either of them could move to answer, it opened. Penelope and Weiss scrambled to straighten themselves out, to make themselves presentable to their intimidating boss, but the man who appeared in the door was not Angel.
"Hey, kids! It's time for some training!"
Weiss stepped back, stunned. "What the hell? Manfred, what are you doing here?"
Manfred grinned at them, wearing an Alpha uniform of his own. "I'm an Agent, just like you guys! And Angel says we need to get down to the training room, so let's go!"
"C'mon, Weiss, let's not keep him waiting," said Penelope, taking his hand and leading him out of the door. "I don't want to be cooped up in there, anyway."
"Just-just wait a minute! Penny, aren't you in the least bit concerned that Manfred just showed up from out of nowhere?"
"Not really. Angel made us Alphas because we've had direct contact with the Evil Eye, right?"
Weiss stared at her, dumbfounded. "Excuse me? Since when?"
"Oh, you didn't hear that? I mean, he told me that during my interrogation. Anyway, it kind of figures that he'd go out and get Manfred too, doesn't it?"
"I suppose," said Weiss after an exasperated sigh. "This is too much. A secret organization dedicated to killing what is supposed to be the most evil being in the whole cosmos I can handle. But Manfred showing up at my doorstep this early in the morning…"
"Oh, come on, Weiss. Chill." Manfred slapped Weiss on the back, causing him to stumble forward a few steps. "It's going to be fun!"
"Well, I'm glad you share your daughter's mentality. Can we just get on with it?"
"Of course we can," Penelope said with a smile. "Cheer up, it'll be okay."

If you were to ask his opinion on the matter, Weiss would say that it was most certainly not okay. He, Penelope, and Manfred spent the next few weeks in the most grueling fashion any of them thought possible-the course they went through was far more rigorous than any military basic training. Under the ever-watchful eye of Angel, they were conditioned to the extreme. Their minimal combat abilities were refined and sharpened: by the end of their intensive training, they could easily go up against any of the other Agents.
They were also trained to work with each other. Weiss, Manfred, and Penelope spent every minute of every day working together-they certainly got irritated with one another, but they also learned the ins and outs of their personalities, their movements, and their unique body language. They became so finely attuned to each other that with a few simple gestures, they could organize their next move.
Each morning, they would wake up to the shrill call of the base's alarm system, crowd into a mess hall for a bland, yet "nutritious" meal, complete their training for the day, then head back to their room where they were usually too tired to do anything but collapse into bed and fall asleep. On the days when they had any energy left at all, Weiss and Penelope would talk until one of them fell asleep. They shared stories of their lives: Weiss recounting tales of his school years spent with friends, Penelope telling how she helped some of her fellow Children escape the Labs.

.   .   .

They received their first true mission during one of these conversations. The voice of Angel came over the loudspeaker, summoning them to the briefing room. They went, with a bit of reluctance, to the gigantic hall, which was empty save for Angel standing behind a podium in front of a large projection screen, and Manfred sitting in the front row of folding chairs. Across the screen, various angles of streaming video were playing, showing a beautiful snowy landscape with a grand castle as its centerpiece.
Weiss recognized the castle immediately as Azel, the fortress which made national news for weeks when it was built, completely unannounced and seemingly from out of nowhere, by an eccentric billionaire. The owner of the castle had remained unnamed-the only thing anyone knew about him was that he was very rich.
"I see you recognize your destination, Weiss," commented Angel as the three of them situated themselves. "Good. Perhaps you can fill Agent Materas in on the history of the castle on your way.
"It's beautiful," Penelope gasped. "We're going to that place?"
"Yes. The three of you will travel by remote all-terrain vehicle to Azel, where you will meet a man who is in possession of the Scythe of Life. Your task is, simply, to retrieve it."
Penelope cocked her head. "You mean… steal it?"
Angel shrugged her question off. "If you must. As long as you get the scythe, your mission will be considered complete."
"When can we get out of here?" Manfred piped up. "A little fresh air would be nice right about now."
"Tomorrow morning. When you wake up, make your way to the garage, choose a vehicle, and you will be on your way. I wish you luck, and will be in touch."
In his typical style, Angel left the stage without another word. Manfred groaned and walked off, muttering to himself. Weiss glanced at Penelope, and the two of them left for their room.