Dave ran towards the light desperately. There were surveillance cameras everywhere, but he didn’t care. He had to reach the light. The light… The orange light… His oxygen supply would not last forever.

Dave suddenly felt a stab of pain in his left shoulder. He knew that a bullet would hit him, but he had not expected it to be this soon. Of all the people the CIA could have assigned to this dangerous mission, they had chosen Dave because he was more qualified than any of the other men in his unit. He could not disappoint the CIA after he had gotten this far.

Sometimes he thought that it’s not worth risking one’s life to save the world, but the head of his department, Mr. Washington, had brainwashed him into thinking that it is. Yes, he did brainwash me, and he did a pretty good job, too. He reached for a grenade with the arm that he could still use. He pulled the pin and hurled it. 23… 22… 21…

He heard the explosion behind him and felt great relief. He had done it. He was the first man out of twenty-six to destroy the Central Processing Unit. Now the compound would destroy itself shortly… and Dave as well, if he did not make it out in time.

Dave felt something throb in his upper right arm… The whole world was blurry. The last thing Dave saw was the floor coming up to meet him. And then… Nothing.

* * *

Alan took a seat across from Mr. Washington. “Dave has blown up one of the Central Processing Units that the rebel group operates. He is the first man to succeed on this mission…”

“…and the twenty-sixth to die on it. Alan, you do not seem to understand how dangerous the mission was. If our reports are accurate, Dave died from a poisoned dart. In fact, there is still another CPU left to destroy. “

“Where is the video?” asked Alan.

Mr. Washington pressed a button on the wall and a projector resting on top of a small metal platform slid out of the ceiling. After Mr. Washington pressed some buttons on his computer’s keyboard, the projector started projecting the video. There was Dave. Then, Mr. Washington paused the video, and Dave’s image was immobile.

“This new way of taking pictures is quite amazing,” remarked Mr. Washington. “Instead of letting light into a lens, the equipment sends out sonar waves and these waves can go through objects, so we can see through things and on the molecular level as well. It’s called SIT, Sonar Imaging Technology. However, it is very expensive. The camera we sent with Dave on his mission was worth about three-hundred-thousand dollars. We’ve already used it on two hundred-seventy-three missions and it has returned every time.”

“How does a camera return?” Alan questioned in amazement.

“It is bulletproof, armed, and can fly. A normal SIT camera is only about twenty thousand dollars. I’d rather spend three-hundred-thousand dollars once, than waste twenty-thousand every mission. Back to the video.”

Mr. Washington hit the PLAY button on his keyboard. The projector showed Dave running desperately chased by a hail of bullets. He was frantically running trying to get to the orange light that marked the CPU. Dave suddenly flung his right hand towards his left shoulder. Mr. Washington paused the video. “What just happened to him?” Alan demanded.

“Let me slow down the last second of the video into ten seconds.” Said Mr. Washington.

The bullets were moving very slowly this time. One hit Dave in the left shoulder. “So that’s what happened,” said Alan.

And then, Dave threw a grenade, and the CPU blew up. But a few seconds later, a dart hit him and Dave fell to the ground. “At least we have destroyed the unnamed terror organization’s first CPU. Now, their communications will be greatly impaired.” Said Mr. Washington. “Alan, I’m sending you to destroy the next CPU.”

Alan’s heart skipped a beat. “Y-y-y-y-y-you’re sending me?” he exclaimed, petrified.

“Alan, I’m sending you. That is an order, not a request.”

I don’t want to die… Please… He thought to himself.

“Don’t worry, Alan. You’re not going to die.” Mr. Washington uttered, as if he had read Alan’s thoughts. “The compound’s defenses have been weakened, and five of the last six agents we have sent have returned in one piece.”