SSS-Class Profession: The Path to Mastery

The gymnasium doors suddenly burst open, flooding the space with light from the hallway and the sound of footsteps on the polished wooden floor. Milan and I immediately froze, cutting off all movement and sound as we pressed ourselves deeper into the shadows cast by the retractable bleachers.

My Instinct skill was screaming danger, confirming what I already knew - whoever had just entered the gymnasium wasn't supposed to be here any more than we were. The timing was too convenient, the manner of entry too purposeful for this to be coincidental. I felt it. These people...they were dangerous.

Two sets of footsteps echoed through the large space, moving with the kind of careful spacing that suggested people who were used to working together in potentially dangerous situations. They weren't trying to be particularly quiet, but they also weren't making unnecessary noise.

"I can't believe we have to meet here now," said the first voice, male, carrying the frustration of someone dealing with unwelcome complications. "This whole situation has gotten ridiculous."

"It's not my fault," replied the second voice, also male but higher pitched, with a defensive edge that suggested this conversation had been building for a while. "We have to play it safe now that the target is actually on campus. Do you want to risk exposure?"

Milan and I remained perfectly still, hidden in the deep shadows beneath the bleachers. The voices weren't ones I recognized from my brief interactions with the faculty that morning, but that didn't mean much given how many staff members I hadn't been properly introduced to yet.

What was becoming clear, however, was that these were definitely the assassins that we were looking for.

"Oh so now you want to play safe? Remember when I suggested it in the streets? That's what got us in this mess in the first place," the first voice continued, moving closer to our hiding spot. "Our first attempt was a complete disaster."

"That wasn't my fault either," the second voice protested. "How was I supposed to know the target would somehow duck under a bullet at the exact right moment? It's like he has supernatural reflexes or something."

"Oh, right, blame the target for your poor marksmanship," the first voice replied sarcastically. "At least I hit something. You missed completely."

"I missed because the target was somehow running through those alleyways for thirty-plus minutes at full speed without getting winded! The guy is practically superhuman. Have you ever tried to track a moving target who can maintain that kind of pace while changing direction every few seconds?"

I felt a cold chill as I realized they were discussing the assassination attempt from a week ago. These were the people who had tried to kill me in the streets, and now they were less than 50 feet away from me and Milan.

"Fine, we both screwed up," the first voice admitted grudgingly. "The question is what we do now that he's here."

There was a pause, and I could hear footsteps moving around the gymnasium as they continued their conversation.

"The biggest problem is that we're probably being watched now," the second voice said. "With the target showing up here so soon after our failed attempt, there's no way this is coincidental. Someone must have tracked us back to this location."

"Maybe, but I'm not so sure," the first voice replied thoughtfully. "We went completely dark after the operation failed. No communications, no movement patterns they could follow. And those two new recruits - the substitute gym teacher and the other one - they didn't show up until a day and a half after our attempt. There's no way the government could have tracked us down and gotten operatives in place that quickly."

My heart rate increased as I realized they were discussing Milan and the second operative Anthony had mentioned. They were suspicious, but apparently not suspicious enough to take action yet.

"You really think it's just coincidence?" the second voice asked skeptically.

"I think we might be overthinking this. The target probably came here for legitimate reasons - guest speaker, motivational presentation, whatever. The timing is bad for us, but it doesn't necessarily mean we've been compromised."

There was another pause, longer this time, as if they were both considering the implications.

"So what are our options?" the second voice asked finally.

"I see two possibilities," the first voice replied. "Option one: we play it completely safe until the target leaves. Maintain our cover, act like normal faculty members, and wait for a better opportunity somewhere else."

"And option two?"

"We find a way to eliminate the target while he's here, but make it look like someone else did it. Frame another faculty member, make it appear like a random act of violence, something that deflects suspicion away from us."

The casual way they discussed murdering me in a building full of students made my stomach clench with anger and disgust. These weren't just assassins - they were the kind of people who would put innocent children at risk to accomplish their mission.

"Both options have problems," the second voice pointed out. "If we wait, we lose the element of surprise and might not get another chance like this. But if we act here, we risk exposing ourselves and potentially harming civilians."

"Which is why we need to talk to the others before we decide anything," the first voice said. "This isn't the kind of decision we should make on our own."

"The others" - confirming that Ms. Patterson wasn't the only additional team member, and that there were more assassins embedded in the school than just these two.

I could hear them moving around the gymnasium, probably checking to make sure they were alone and that their conversation hadn't been overheard. Milan and I pressed ourselves further back into the shadows, barely breathing as we listened to footsteps that seemed to come dangerously close to our hiding spot.

"We should meet again tonight after the target leaves for the day," the second voice suggested. "By then we'll have more information about his schedule and security arrangements."

"Agreed. But we need to be more careful about where we meet. If those new recruits are government operatives, they might be monitoring our movements."

"The old chemistry lab in the basement should work. It's been closed for renovations for months, and there's no reason for anyone to go down there."

There was the sound of phones being checked, probably to verify the time.

"Classes start in fifteen minutes," the first voice noted. "We should get back to our positions before anyone notices we're missing."

"Right. And remember - act completely normal around the target. Friendly, professional, just like any other faculty member would be."

"Obviously. I'm not an amateur."

The footsteps began moving toward the gymnasium doors, but they paused before leaving completely.

"One more thing," the second voice said quietly. "If an opportunity presents itself - if the target ends up alone and vulnerable - we don't wait for approval from the others."

"Understood."

The doors opened and closed, and the gymnasium returned to its previous state of dim, quiet emptiness. Milan and I remained frozen in our hiding spots for several more minutes, listening carefully for any indication that one of them might return or that someone else might enter the facility.

Finally, when my Instinct skill confirmed that we were truly alone, Milan and I both released long, slow breaths that we'd been holding throughout the entire conversation.

"Jesus," Milan whispered, moving out of the shadows with the careful movements of someone whose muscles had been tensed for too long. "That was way too close."

"Tell me about it," I replied quietly, checking my own position to make sure I hadn't left any evidence of our presence. "At least now we know what we're dealing with."

"Multiple assassins embedded as faculty members, coordinated surveillance, and they're planning either to wait us out or attempt another assassination while you're here." Milan's expression was grim as he processed what we'd overheard. "This is worse than Anthony's initial assessment."

"Much worse. And they're meeting tonight in the old chemistry lab to make their final decision."

Milan nodded, already shifting into operational planning mode. "We need to get this information to Anthony immediately. He needs to know that the threat level has escalated and that there may be more hostiles than we initially thought."

"What about the students? If these people are willing to attempt an assassination in a school..."

"That's exactly why we can't take direct action against the two we just heard," Milan replied. "Even if we could identify and neutralize them right now, it would alert Ms. Patterson and any other team members. With this many civilians around, we can't risk a firefight."

I understood his logic, but the idea of leaving trained killers operating in a building full of children made every protective instinct I possessed rebel against inaction.

"So what do we do?"

"We continue the mission as planned, but with much higher awareness of the risks. We gather as much intelligence as possible, identify all the hostile actors, and coordinate with Anthony's perimeter team for extraction if things go sideways."

Milan moved toward his office area, gesturing for me to follow. "And we make sure you're never alone anywhere in this building. From now on, one of us is always within response distance if something happens."

As I followed him deeper into the gymnasium complex, I found myself thinking about Derek's intuitive understanding that I'd needed to reach this location. His help had been crucial in avoiding the faculty surveillance that might have prevented me from gathering this critical intelligence.

But now, knowing that multiple assassins were debating whether to kill me in a building full of students, I was beginning to question whether coming to Hudson Heights had been the right tactical decision after all.

Before anything else however, I needed one last piece of crucial information.

"Milan, who's the other operative that's working with us?"