Heaven on a Landslide

nother day, another mission. Another mission, another fire snuffed out. Not that it bothered him all that much. Sometimes he did wonder what it was the people did that caused them to wind up in the crosshairs of those like him. No, there was none like him. It'd be more accurate to say, those who shared the same alignment as him. Regardless, sometimes he wondered. But he never questioned. What the Spire requested or demanded, the Spire received. It was as simple as that. He'd long ceased questioning the morality -- it was far easier to just do. To simply act and leave it at that.

He was long since past crisis of conscience, so it had all become a matter of what was most efficient.

A part of him did want to question his current... Assignment, however. No, it was much less the assignment itself, and more the auxiliary portions of it. A very, very specific portion of it. He liked being an Operative because he could work alone -- at his own pace and act according to his own plans. The number of variables were limited, and he could always know what to expect from himself. But, from his 'partner'? He wasn't even fond of the word, much less the concept.

His mask hid it all, though. Any variation of his voice, any expression he may have let slip -- the mask did all the work in allowing him to remain completely and utterly stoic. Their target was a man like any other -- a working man who had gotten caught up with the wrong people. A working man who got his hands dirty with something other than the soil of the earth. He had wondered what it would call for -- a clean neutralization of any and every closely related to him, or something quieter and more subdued. Making a single man disappear was simple -- he'd merely leave out and never be seen again. But multiple people? Well, vanishing them wasn't impossible but it always earned gossip about ghosts.

This time, however, their target was one of many. The other two were business men -- creme de la creme. They lived in fancy houses and dressed in fancy clothes. They had loving wives they were unfaithful to and loving children who were underappreciated. He felt nothing about people like them, but if he did allow himself to feel anything about them then it would undoubtedly be nothing but disgust and distaste.

But he didn't feel anything towards them.

How quaint.

Under the cover of night, the working man was being followed from a fair distance by the two Operatives. He was on his way to a meeting in an old, industrial building where the two wealthy men waited, blissfully unaware of the duo. 

"Once he arrives at the meeting location, we'll immediately neutralize him. Afterwards, it would be best to assess the surrounding area and then decide on the most efficient way to dispose of the other two." He said, his voice mildly distorted by his mask as he remained focused on their target. Working with another wasn't pleasant; he was unused to it and he didn't like it. Why the Spire decided to have him work with another was beyond his understanding. He was efficient on his own and he had never failed a mission, so why?