That was hard to believe, but there was no argument to be found in the finality of her words.
"You want me to infiltrate the other side and see if they'll enlist me as one of theirs?" I asked doubtfully.
Maria shook her head no, "Chantry doesn't think that will work. The forces behind this we believe to be left over remnants of the Code's masters trying to find a niche for themselves in the world, where they'll still be close to power."
A chill went through me at the possibility of the agency being overrun by such people.
"The Code people are prejudiced against people of your black skin color so it's doubtful that they would recruit you, instead we're hoping that after the incident of today that they'll forget about you as a factor at all and leave you alone to work completely under the radar from the outside, as a few of us work on the problem from the inside. You are not to contact us unless it is absolutely critical and then you are only to speak to Chantry, myself or Flint. Do I make that clear?" Maria asked.
I nodded feeling humbled beyond belief at the importance and sheer enormity of the responsibility that was being entrusted to me.
"Everything you're going to need in terms of finances has already been set up for you in several accounts. You'll have to make all the other arrangements you'll need yourself. We have only one lead to help set you up for your mission to discover who's behind all this and how they're doing what they are. Do you remember the robotic person called Flicker from the fight at the tower in Africa?"
"Yes, I read the mission recap concerning her." I responded.
"Previous to her mental control cord being severed by Agent Logan's sword she was in complete control by the Code. We think that the Code people are somehow using such a mental control device on members of the Agency, only without the robotic elements being involved. We know that a lot of the Code's labs were never found, but several researchers have stepped forward to speak of what they were made to do. One in particular, Jane Worthy, seems to really know her stuff. She's a bit of a conspiracy theorist and claims that she escaped from a Code research lab were terrible experiments were being done. She's been reticent to say much online, but when she has revealed some things it's very clear that she knows what she's talking about. Worthy is an assumed name, as it appears nowhere before the Code's takeover of the world, but we have tracked several linked signals from this Worthy back to a public library in Georgia, where one Jane Sola works. Jane Sola was very much alive before the takeover and she was involved in scientific research. A considerable bounty has already been placed on Jane Worthy's head by unknown parties. If we could track the signals than others might too. Get to this Jane and see if she can help us. Other than that there is little we can give to help you solve the mystery of this takeover of an agent or agents within the Agency itself. We don't even know who to suspect. We are relying on you to provide us with the intel needed to overcome this threat or the Agency will have to be shut down before it can be used as a force for evil instead of good."