Chapter 4: What to Do About a Cat and Dog Hair Allergy
F.I.A.D. Alias: Federal Intelligence Activity Division.
This was an intelligence operations department hidden in the shadows of the Interstellar Federation Empire. From its establishment to the present day, F.I.A.D. has accompanied the Interstellar Federation Empire through one hundred and twenty years of history.
F.I.A.D.’s headquarters was built into the mountainside, located within Pelotara Peak, the highest point of the Sorokas Mountain Range.
Surrounded by mountains, the terrain was rugged and perilous. The mountain itself was rich in a special, naturally hard metallic ore that could block radar detection systems and also withstand a certain degree of bombardment.
This was the secret to how it had stood tall through the bombardments of several wars.
Wen En, with his cat and dog in tow, stepped into the elevator leading to the headquarters. With a “ding—,” the doors closed. To Wen En’s right was a display screen showing: “Please enter your iris information.”
Wen En double-tapped the screen, and his own image immediately appeared. A micro-camera was currently recording his face. Wen En leaned in, his face magnifying on the screen. He turned his left cheek, using his left hand to hold his eyelid and lower lid open, allowing for a clearer scan of his iris.
“Identity confirmed. Agent Wen En, welcome back to F.I.A.D.”
The screen once again displayed the welcome message. Wen En shrugged, and the elevator finally began to move.
“Whimper~”
Perhaps unaccustomed to the inertia of the elevator’s ascent, the little dog Jack tucked its tail and whimpered, lying on Wen En’s feet.
Wen En smiled, patting the dog’s head and then stroking the little cat Rose’s chin. Rose seemed a bit calmer; as the elevator ascended, its pupils changed from two slits into small black orbs.
Fortunately, the elevator soon reached its destination.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. At this point, Wen En hadn’t truly entered the F.I.A.D. headquarters proper; he still needed to pass through a security checkpoint.
“Let’s go,” Wen En said.
Jack, at his feet, got up, wagged its tail, and followed Wen En out of the elevator.
The moment they stepped out, the elevator doors shut swiftly, leaving them no way to retreat.
One man, one dog, and one cat continued forward.
In front of them was a metal frame—the security screening machine. Wen En led his little cat and dog through the machine, which suddenly let out a piercing alarm.
Wen En had always hated this machine. He thought it was stupidly simple, not intelligent at all. The moment it encountered anything metal, whether it was a gun or a keychain, it would let out an eardrum-piercing shriek. It was incredibly noisy.
Sure enough, a security robot appeared before him.
“Mr. Wen En, please undergo a secondary security check.”
“Alright.” Wen En placed the leash in front of Jack, who cooperatively bit onto it. Wen En then put the cat carrier on the floor and raised his hands in compliance.
This security robot looked harmless, but it was actually heavily armed. Moreover, its designers had programmed it with a “better to kill by mistake than to let one slip by” protocol. If anyone disobeyed its security instructions, a submachine gun would extend from its mechanical chest and turn the disobedient person into meat sauce spaghetti.
Oh, those lunatics in the R&D department really know how to design things, Wen En complained internally.
The security robot extended its detection device, first scanning the closest subject, the little dog Jack. “Breed: Malinois. No risk detected,” the robot stated.
“Woof~”
Perhaps the little dog thought the robot was praising it, as it wagged its tail and leaned forward to lick the robot’s detection device a few times.
Next, the security robot scanned the cat carrier. “Breed: Shorthair Tortoiseshell. No risk detected.”
The little cat Rose was not so enthusiastic. It glanced at the robot, found the cold machine utterly uninteresting, and retreated back into its carrier.
Finally, it was Wen En’s turn.
The security robot scanned him twice and finally detected a prohibited item. “A risk item has been detected on your head. Please remove it for another scan.”
Head… head? It couldn’t be the sunglasses, could it?
Wen En took off his sunglasses and handed them to the security robot. The robot scanned them and said, “Brand: Louis Dengwei. No risk detected.”
Alright, you should give them back to me now, Wen En thought.
The next second, a red ray shot out from the security robot’s head, instantly melting the sunglasses into fragments.
Wen En: …
Are you kidding me! Didn’t you just say no risk was detected? Why target my sunglasses!
“All clear of any risks. Agent Wen En, welcome back to F.I.A.D.”
The security robot, having completed its check, retreated.
“…”
Wen En was once again silent. Is this really how they welcome me?
Finally, after a complex and tedious security check, Wen En stepped into the headquarters’ interior. This was precisely why he hated coming here—there were just too many security checks.
Hate it as he might, Wen En also felt it was a necessary evil. The F.I.A.D. headquarters held too many secrets. If they weren’t strict, a single careless leak could spell disaster for the Interstellar Federation Empire.
Unfortunately, he had barely stepped out of the elevator and into the main area before he was stopped by the intern at the front desk.
“Hey, sir, pets are not allowed inside the headquarters,” the intern said.
The intern was a handsome Omega wearing a pair of black-framed glasses, giving him a scholarly air.
Wen En had never seen him before and figured he must be new, having started in the last few days.
“This isn’t a pet,” Wen En said, pointing at Jack. “This is a working dog. I need it to assist me with my work.”
He then pointed to the little cat, which was curiously poking its head out. “And this is my emotional support cat. Without it, you don’t want to know what I’m like when I have an episode.”
Taken in by Wen En’s bluff, the intern wore a troubled expression. “Uh… alright, but could you show me their identification?”
“It’s at my workstation. I’ll go get it for you right now,” Wen En said, striding into the headquarters with a swagger.
He left the intern standing at the front desk, scratching his head in confusion.
Something… doesn’t seem right.
Wen En, gripping the leash and carrying the cat carrier, paid no mind to the gazes of his passing colleagues. He swaggered into another elevator and went up to the twentieth floor, which was under the jurisdiction of his superior, PJ.
“Hey, Wen En.”
There were quite a few old acquaintances on the twentieth floor. Seeing Wen En, they all greeted him. “How was your vacation?”
It was terrible. Of course, Wen En didn’t say what he was thinking. He couldn’t be bothered to vent to his colleagues, so he smiled and replied, “Not bad.”
“Great. Welcome back,” a colleague said. “There are plenty of missions filled with bullets and bombs waiting for you here.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Wen En maintained his smile.
But in his heart, he thought: Looking forward to it my ass.
The door to the conference room was pushed open with a “bang—.”
There were only two people in the room. They were gathered around a long table, and they looked at each other in bewilderment as one man, one cat, and one dog burst in.
“You’re late,” said one of them, who was sitting in the middle of the long table. “It is now two minutes past ten.”
“Where’s PJ?” Wen En closed the door and scanned the room. He saw several unfamiliar colleagues but didn’t see PJ. Great, that woman told me not to be late yesterday, and now that I’m here, PJ is nowhere to be found.
“This morning, PJ received an urgent conference call from the Interstellar Security Bureau and went there for a meeting,” the person who had been sitting in the middle of the long table stood up and said to Wen En. “By the way, one more thing. Before PJ left, she transferred the authority for this mission to me.”
“…Whatever,” Wen En said. He couldn’t care less who was in charge of the mission.
“Hello,” Wen En greeted his teammate, then said to RV, “Only two people on this mission?”
“That’s right,” the person known as RV said.
RV looked at the cat carrier Wen En had placed on the table, then at the Malinois sitting beside it with its tongue hanging out, and couldn’t help but frown. “And, what are these?”
“A Malinois and a tortoiseshell cat,” Wen En said shamelessly. “All the pet boarding places near my house are full. I had no choice. This mission came up too suddenly. I can’t just leave them at home to fend for themselves, can I?”
RV’s face was cold. Three seconds later, he covered his nose and sneezed. “I’m allergic to pet hair. Have that new intern at the front desk take care of them for you.” After saying that, he sneezed two more times. “Now. Go.”
Seeing RV’s nose start to turn red and swell, Wen En realized he was probably telling the truth.
He really hadn’t expected that RV, a retired soldier from the former Interstellar Demolition Army, the person in charge of the 19th floor, and a male Alpha with an S-class bloodline, would be allergic to cat and dog hair.
“I’ll go right away!” Wen En took his cat and dog and burst out of the door again. He had a feeling that if he didn’t leave, RV was going to suffocate from his allergies.
“So… did you bring their identification?” the intern reminded Wen En as he had the leash and cat carrier thrust into his hands.
“Oh, I’ve got a mission to attend to. I have to go. Jack and Rose are good kids. I’m sure you’ll love them.”
With that, Wen En left without a second glance.
The intern: …
He had a strong feeling he’d just been taken for a sucker.
“Woof~”
For some reason, Jack suddenly took off at a run. The poor Omega was no match for the strength of a full-grown Malinois and was dragged along like a sled.
Wen En returned to the conference room.
He glanced at RV. Now that the cats and dogs were gone, RV looked much better. His nose was no longer red, and he wasn’t sneezing.
“Sit down,” RV said, clearing his throat. “Let me brief you on this mission.”
RV tapped the table, and a 3D holographic image appeared above it.
“Wen En, do you remember him?” RV said.
Of course, he remembered. Now in mission mode, Wen En stared at the 3D image, his hands clenched into fists. He would never forget this person for as long as he lived.
That had been Wen En’s first mission after retiring from the interstellar army and joining F.I.A.D.
The mission had been a joint operation with the Interstellar Special Police. At the time, they had received an alert that the central bank was under attack by a group of strangely dressed individuals. Wen En and the other special agents had dealt with the oddly-dressed robbers and escorted the hostages to a safe location.
Everything had been proceeding smoothly until the end of the mission, when Wen En was informed that the precious gem, Vulcan, which had been stored in the central bank’s underground vault, had been stolen amidst the chaos. And the suspect in the theft was one of the hostages Wen En had personally escorted.
It was Wen En’s first mission with F.I.A.D., and it was also his only failed mission.
Good. Wen En would forever remember the bastard who had played him for a fool.
