area with his rifle and answered, ‘’the base is strangely inactive. It’s like it’s deserted.’’

Brent knew better. He’d been in situations like this before. He radioed back to Kodi, ‘’let’s keep radio silence from here on in. I think those creeps are monitoring our radio frequency. I don’t think they’ll find us in the forest though.’’

Balto gave him a surprised look.

‘’Why’d you give away or position?’’ he asked quietly. Brent pointed behind the base.

‘’The forest is over there Balto. It was a bluff.’’ He answered. Balto nodded as he followed Brent to the fence. Luckily, Brent still had his P-Branch Omega Spy watch from his spy days. Brent set his watch to laser and slowly cut a hole in the fence to walk through. When the hole was completed, Brent and Balto sneaked into the base. The only entrance to the base was an air duct near the ground. Kodi watched as Balto and Brent opened the hatch and crawled into the shaft. Brent replaced the hatch. Kodi knew they needed extra help in there and jumped from his sniper post. He had to follow his father and friend. He had a bad feeling about this mission.

Inside the shaft was as dark as a tomb. The only source of light was Brent’s watch. Its hands glowed in the dark, yet it gave off so little light. Balto suddenly stopped, making Brent crash into him.

‘’What gives?’’ Brent hissed. Balto pointed down. Brent looked down through a vent cover to see a hallway. Four guards walked in pairs of two, each pair carried a hostage. Balto started to crawl forward followed by Brent. Soon, they arrived at a large room. The vent cover in front of the two was their only viewpoint. Balto and Brent watched as Jenna and Aleu were roughly wrestled and strapped into a machine. Klondike walked in and smiled. Jenna gave him a look that could sink a ship.

‘’You son of a bitch! Let us go!’’ she threatened. Klondike smiled and struck Jenna in the face with his fist. It left a red mark on her cheek.

‘’Be thankful you’re still alive,’’ Klondike said sternly, ‘’I could have killed you if I wanted to. But instead, I’ll just use you.’’

Suddenly, Klondike turned to the vent shaft and fired at the vent cover. Balto jumped back, causing the entire shaft to fall from the ceiling. Guards surrounded the fallen shaft as the dust cleared. Brent and Balto were one step ahead of them though. Both jumped up and started firing. Balto took out a fair share of guards with his AK-47, while Brent’s RC-P90 literally turned the guards he shot into pieces of flesh. Klondike jumped into the machine and smiled.

‘’Too late to stop me now fools!’’ Klondike then held up a remote. Just as he was about to push the button on it, the remote was shot from his hand. Everyone who was alive in the room turned to the doorway. Kodi stood with a smoking sniper rifle in his hand.

‘’Thought you might need a hand.’’ He replied as he rushed for the remote. Grabbing it, Kodi tripped and smashed into Brent and Balto. Kodi accidentally pushed the button, and the machine disappeared. Then, as if it had forgotten something, the machine returned. Kodi stared at it.

‘’What the hell is that thing?’’ he questioned. Brent examined it and found a small game cartridge inside.

‘’This is a Game Sphere.’’ he exclaimed.

‘’A what?’’ Balto asked.

‘’In the year 2020, the game company Nintendo® created a truly revolutionary simulation system for agents, which was the Game Sphere. It plays every shooting game Nintendo® has ever made, and it puts you into the game. It seems that Klondike had gotten his hands on one and he used it to take Jenna and Aleu into…’’ Brent then stopped and stared at the game. It was the game he had done his training in when he started at SF-6.

‘’Into what? Tell us damn it!’’ Kodi demanded.

‘’The game Perfect Dark™. It’s a futuristic shooting game based in the year 2355 AD.’’ Brent explained.

‘’So that maniac took my daughter and my wife into a video game!’’ Balto shouted and aimed his AK-47 at the machine. Brent ran up and grabbed the gun from Balto.

‘’Are you crazy?! Jenna and Aleu are in the game cartridge! This thing’s the only way to get them back! But we have to go in after them to save them!’’ Brent yelled. Balto calmed down and stepped into the machine. Kodi followed, and Brent followed Kodi. All three sat down and Brent pressed the button on the remote and felt the machine shaking.

‘’W-w-what’s g-g-g-going o-o-on?’’ Balto asked as the machine shook harder and harder. Finally, it disappeared.

dataDyne Headquarters, 11:13 PM, June 24th 2355,

The machine re-appeared on the top of a large skyscraper. Brent, Balto and Kodi stumbled out of the machine and fell onto the roof, all about as dizzy as a drunken man. All three friends wore jump suits; Brent had a navy blue one, Kodi had grey, and Balto had black. Brent then looked around. He had played Perfect Dark™ before, and he knew what to do.

‘’We’re on top of dataDyne Headquarters!’’ he exclaimed. Balto sat up and stared at him.

‘’dataDyne?! Care to explain, Brent?’’ he questioned.

Brent loaded his Eagle 10 and attached a silencer bit to it. He turned to Balto and Kodi and replied, ‘’okay guys, the first thing you guys have to remember is that we only get one life in this game. This is the disadvantage of the Game Sphere. As soon as you are defeated in the game, you’re sent back to the real world, in the same form that you were in when you entered the game. So if you want to save Jenna and Aleu, then you’ll have to stay on your feet, stay focused and most importantly, stay alive.’’

Balto and Kodi nodded and followed Brent down a set of stairs and toward a door. Suddenly, an Irish Setter holding a CMP150 Hand machine gun in his hand walked into view. Brent put up his hand to stop Balto and Kodi and aimed. The Setter turned and got a bullet right in his head. His eyes turned upwards and he fell backward onto the ground. No blood, just his body disappeared. Kodi nearly threw up at the sight. Brent reached down and grabbed the gun the Setter dropped.

‘’Don’t worry Kodi, this system is designed so that every game has been censored. Now come on, we have to get to the laboratory to rescue a scientist named Dr. Caroll,’’ Brent then blushed a small bit, ‘’I will warn you guys though, I haven’t played this game for about four or so years, so I don’t remember everything that’s going to happen. So I want you guys to be on your toes at all times. There’s going to be no time to rest until we complete the mission.’’

Kodi and Balto nodded and walked through the door. Kodi took point. He turned the corner and saw another Setter standing near the corner.

‘’Hey you!’’ he exclaimed and fired his CMP150 at Kodi. Kodi took a bullet in the shoulder and fell backward. Balto saw this and shot his pistol at the Setter. He spun sideways and fell down a set of stairs that led to the floor. Balto then turned to Kodi and saw that he was getting back up onto his feet. Brent smiled at Balto’s confusion.

‘’I forgot to mention you don’t die as quick as the guards do. All three of us have life meters that is replenished at the end of each mission,’’ Brent then glared at Kodi, ‘’what did I tell you? What did I say? You have to be careful. Don’t rush into things. Remember, until the mission is over, you’re in constant danger. Keep that in mind for the rest of the missions, it may keep you in this game.’’ Brent turned and walked down the stairs. He approached a computer monitor that hung off the wall. It was the internal security hub for the headquarters. Brent reached into his back pocket and pulled out an ECM mine, placing it on the monitor. He then turned to Balto and Kodi.

‘’Next thing we have to do is to grab the necklace from the building’s owner. The necklace has an organic sensor in it, so it’ll only work if the necklace’s owner is still alive. If they’re unconscious, it’ll still work. Now come on.’’ Brent opened the door that led to a staircase and pointed his Eagle down the stairs. Balto and Kodi walked down the stairs, keeping their guns trained on the doorway below. Brent followed, and soon all three were at the closed door that led to the set of offices on the 25th floor. Kodi held his gun and opened the door a crack. The floor was crawling with guards, and they looked like they meant business. Kodi quietly closed the door and turned to Balto and Brent.

‘’We have got a big problem. There are enough bogies to create a really stiff resistance against us. We might have to wait until the time’s right to head for the owner’s office.’’ He explained. Brent nodded.

‘’You’re starting to think like a real agent now Kodi. But unfortunately, every second we waste is one second longer that Jenna and Aleu have to stay as hostages. But even with that in mind, we have to stay focused. I think maybe if we run for it, we’ll make it. The office is on the same floor as us, so we just have to keep our guns at the ready to