The Volunteer Agent

It is imperative that I get stronger. I cannot rely on others to save me forever. That is why I train in every available moment; to be able to save myself without the serum.

No one said that delving into the Otherworld would be easy or safe. That didn’t stop me from volunteering. I thought I was trained enough for the mission, at least until I first encountered them — the inhabitants of the Otherworld.

Many are grotesque, warped, hideous, and yet…a few seem normal, almost beautiful. It was one of the beautiful ones that laid me low the first time.

The training that came before the mission was mental…emotional…not the physical training I so desperately need now. I can still feel the halo device being lowered onto my shaved head. I pushed aside my fear with the memory that I volunteered for this.

There was a moment of brief disorientation as the training loaded into my brain, then I was there. I learned how to move through the Otherworld, how to explore, discover, collect evidence and keys to their defeat. I learned how to keep myself grounded in the moment, hide my thoughts from them, and remain undetected.

Events after the training are broken and disjointed in my memory. The crossing over and back again takes a toll. I do, however, remember the trip in the grey ship; days and weeks passed as I was transported to the gate.

I have my quarters here in the gate station. I’m not the only agent exploring the Otherworld. There are many more here. We do not wear the uniforms of the helpers and support crew. As I spend every waking moment here training, I opt for sweats and soft sneakers.

As I said, I need to get stronger…physically. The Otherworld is dangerous…often violently so.

The support crew sometimes come through the gate, just long enough to inject a serum that gives us the strength to jump back through the gate. It’s never pleasant, but so far, it’s the only thing between me and death.

My goal with constant training is to be able to complete my missions without the serum. While the support crew are friendly enough, they seem to be incapable of normal conversation.

The one that injected me this time, and jumped back through the gate with me, gave me a sad smile. I can’t recall what he said, but it made no sense.

“I need to get these keys to the director,” I said.

He said, “Now you can rest. I’ll check on you later, during my rounds.”

“No,” I said, “I can’t rest right now, the Director needs these keys.”

He nodded. “Yes, that’s good. I’ll see you later.”

Knowing from the sound of the door clicking that I was currently confined to my quarters, I began working out again. Tired or not, I had to get stronger.

There seems to be an unwritten rule that agents don’t talk about their missions. I figured that out my first day when I realized that none of the agents would talk about the Otherworld or the gate. Whatever helps them cope, I guess.

For a station so far away from everything, the Director has gone out of her way to make the agents comfortable. The ever-changing scenery displayed on the false windows looks real — sometimes too real — and the food is better than one would expect for the pre-packaged plastic ration trays; segmented into compartments for each different item. I often wondered how they could heat some compartments and chill others. Technology is wonderful.

Depending on an agent’s current state, they either received their plastic tray of food in the dining hall with the others, or in their quarters. Since I’m currently relegated to in-quarters rest, my tray of food was brought to my room.

Today’s breakfast was buckwheat pancakes. That means my weekly debrief with the Director happens later this afternoon. I guess that’s why the support guy didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get the keys to her.

That’s another issue with these missions; the loss of time. Every trip to the Otherworld and back leaves me unsure of what day or time it is. It seems as though time passes differently there than here. Then again, the serum distorts the passage of time as well.

I had barely eaten half of my breakfast, after what I thought was a short workout, and one of the support crew came to take me to my weekly debrief. No matter, I had nine keys from my last mission for the Director. I held out the hope that she would recognize my good work and offer me some time off…maybe back on Earth.

The artificial window in her office showed a grey drizzle. They really thought of everything when they built this station. The Director wore her heavy, black, plastic-framed glasses, and a tan sweater beneath her white uniform coat. Like many people with advanced degrees, she preferred to be referred to as Doctor or Doc rather than Director.

“Afternoon, Doctor.”

“Good afternoon.” Her desk was more cluttered than usual. She read the reports that the support crew were always writing. “Why don’t you tell me how your week has been?”

“Last mission, I captured nine keys,” I said. “I have them here for you.” I checked the pocket of my sweats, but the keys were gone. Maybe the other pocket? Not there either. A panic began to build.

“That’s not important,” she said.

“They must have fallen out when I was working out,” I told her. “I’m trying to get stronger. I have to get stronger.”

“Why do you feel you need to be stronger?”

“So I have the strength to make it back from…,” I stopped myself. Even the Director didn’t like it when the Otherworld was mentioned directly. “I need to be able to get back on my own power, without endangering the crew.”

The Director nodded and continued to take notes. “What kind of workouts are you doing?”

“Push-ups, sit-ups, lunges, squats; whatever I can do without equipment.”

“Do you feel it’s helping?” she asked.

“I think it is,” I said. “I almost made it back on my own last time.” I shook my head. “The…shot…was way too strong.”

She made another note. “Do you think you’d ever want to go back to what you used to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Before you came here. Do you remember what your job was?”

“I designed a mind-brain interface,” I said, “but it was silly. It was just for a game, not like the serious training I got for this.”

“Do you remember the name of the game?”

I thought hard. It wasn’t coming; it just wasn’t important enough to have stuck. I shook my head.

The Director stood a box with a fancy graphic on her desk. “The Otherworld,” it said. “Does this look familiar?”

It did, but it didn’t at the same time. Like once before, the inhabitants of the Otherworld were trying to take my mind; make me an ineffective agent.

I looked at the Director. Something in her hesitant smile was wrong. I wasn’t in the Director’s office, I’d been sucked back into the Otherworld! That’s why the keys were missing; they were never here to begin with.

I stood and readied myself to fight. “I may not be as strong as I want to be, but I’m strong enough to take you down and get the Director back.”

The next hours were a blur. I fought with the Otherworld denizens; the beautiful one that tried to impersonate the Director, and a dozen or more of the warped and hideous creatures. I captured a key and used it on the locked door I found hidden in the side of a temple guarded by the creatures.

I knew I’d freed the Director when she herself injected me with the serum. As I came to, I was in her office, rather than my quarters. The gate had never opened here before.

She had a bruise forming on her cheek. They’d mistreated her. As for me, my ribs hurt, my right hand felt like I’d slammed it into a wall. The Otherworld denizens were tough. Besides that, the arm where the Director had injected the serum was a little sore, but we were overall safe. The clock on the wall showed that only a few minutes had passed. Time worked differently there.

“Director, you’re safe. Thank god.” I thought it was the Director, but I was worried that maybe they’d replaced her again, with a better impersonator.

“It’s Doctor, remember? You’re safe here.”

I smiled. I knew that an impersonator wouldn’t know the passphrase. Two of the support crew were standing by, including the man that had rescued me the time before. “Could the crew help me to my quarters?” I asked. “I’m feeling a little weak and could use some rest.”

“Sure. You get some rest. We’ll talk more tomorrow”

“Sorry I didn’t bring back any keys, but your safety was more important.”

As I was helped to my feet to leave, I noticed that her desk was tidy, and the box the Otherworlder had shown me was nowhere to be found. I will need to be more careful of my surroundings from now on, but I will continue; I volunteered for this.