Alphabet Agents

By Isaac Valenzuela

"Within the vast multiverse lies a universe where twenty-six individuals dedicated themselves to maintaining peace wherever possible. Originating in Ancient Egypt, the workings of the group were acknowledged by the Egyptian Goddess of justice, Maat. However, one member of

• Language: English
• Publisher: Isaac Manuel Valenzuela
• Release date: Jul 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781737439400

Book preview

Prologue

Long ago, in Ancient Egypt, a group was formed with the goal to keep the world at peace from threats caused by those who inhabit it. Shortly after the group was formed, the people within the group were granted special abilities that they could use to either keep the world at peace or destroy it. Their abilities were given to them by the Egyptian goddess of truth and justice, Maat.

The general consensus of the group was to use their newly granted powers to help protect the world and the people inhabiting it; unfortunately, not a year passed before one of the members turned on the others. He saw no path in which humanity could thrive on its own. At least, not without having one to enforce good will upon the population. He began seeing tyranny with an absolute ruler as the only solution. One where justice is served with a swift, unremorseful hand. When he vocalized his revelation, hoping to convince the others to join his side, the other members of the group decided it was best to ban him and replace him with another. The decision was unanimous without a second of hesitation. Predictably, the one banished from the group did not take lightly to this decision. He was furious that he was banned just for having different ideals despite being close to each member. In an already cruel and unforgiving world, this pushed him over the edge. He became consumed with the want for revenge against those who turned their backs on him. Especially against the one who he was to be replaced with.

Misfortune shined on the replacement as his past made the goddess hesitant to trust him. This meant that he would not be given any sort of abilities until after his death. Before then, he must prove to the goddess that he is worthy of the power she will bestow upon him.

Meanwhile the man who was banned was plotting his revenge. In order to do so he would need to know the extent of everyone’s power; saving his replacement for last as he was seen as the least dangerous obstacle. He created trials for everyone in the group and didn’t give them the luxury of choice as there was always someone’s life on the line. The trials proved to be successful in their objective as the participant was always left exhausted afterwards. However, after the first trial was completed, the man realized something. He didn’t need more information on their powers, he just needed them in a weakened state so he could strike with the power that strangely wasn’t stripped from him. After each trail, while they were left catching their breath, the man took advantage of the opportunity and killed them. One by one the man’s plan came to fruition. Although, there was one whose life he wanted to prolong. Not to torture, quite the opposite. In fact, he loved her. He gave her multiple chances to side with him, after her trial and multiple times in secret when she was alone; but she continuously refused. As the number of people still left alive in the group dwindled, he knew he had no choice but to kill her as well.

When all was said and done, there was one left to kill; his replacement. However, he wasn’t given a trial like the others. Instead, the man simply set a trap for him to walk into. Just as he was about to walk into it, he suddenly got the urge to take a quick step backwards. After following his instinct, a blade swung in front of his face; just inches away. This caught the man off-guard. No one was around to see him setting the trap and there was nothing in sight to suggest anything was out of the ordinary. The man’s nerves were shaken, he may know less about his replacement than he thought. After a short conversation asking his replacement how he knew about the trap and if he was willing to join him--only so he could betray him after his goals were accomplished--and getting only silence in response, the man used his power to end his replacement’s life quickly and effortlessly.

With all of the members of the group dead, instead of being sent to the god of the afterlife Anubis, their spirits were sent to Maat. She met with them one by one offering them the ability to reincarnate themselves, but only with a host that was completely compatible with their spirit. None of the members refused this offer. As they moved on from life to life the extent of their powers grew, but the more they reincarnated themselves the more their spirits were hidden deep inside the mind of their next host. Until, they finally laid dormant inside the mind of the host with the host never knowing they were there.

Knowing this downside to reincarnation, the goddess Maat entrusted the recipe for a serum that would bring out the consciousness of the spirits with a following of people who would track the workings of the group from life to life after their first deaths.

Chapter 1

Hidden Within

The story begins with a teenager relaxing in his room playing video games while listening to music. His name was Isaac. Isaac looked like your average teenager. Standing at five foot, ten inches with short-straight black hair and eyes that were a soothing dark brown. He was someone who thought about every little thing, sometimes overthinking, before doing anything. Around people he was always anxious, yet managed to hide it perfectly under a blank face so no one knew. Unless he already knew them, then he was outgoing and said anything that came to mind. Always trying his best to make the people around him smile and laugh; even if it’s at his expense. Unfortunately, an anti-social behavior combined with shyness and hidden anger issues caused Isaac to occasionally lash out at those around him; hurting them and in return leaving himself with either few or no friends.

The day was peaceful, birds could even be heard singing outside of his window if not for his music. Until a sudden knock was heard at the front door that was just loud enough to be heard over the music. Thinking it was his friend, Isaac shouted to his mom that he would answer the door. When he opened the door, Isaac was surprised to see two men in black suits standing on the porch. Before he could even say a word, the men began introducing themselves. When introductions were done one of the men handed Isaac a flyer. The other man informed Isaac that on the flyer was the name of a website as well as a summary about what the website details with an address at the top of the flyer. No other information was given, except that the deadline to participate was tomorrow at twelve p.m. Then, as strangely as they arrived, the two men left. With his curiosity piqued, Isaac read the flyer as he made his way back to his room. As soon as he reached his room Isaac pulled out his phone and typed the website name into the internet URL. The website informed the viewers about a popular new anime that was in need of a teenage voice actor. After thoroughly reading through the website, Isaac thought that his dream of becoming a voice actor was within reach. Despite his usual nature, Isaac threw all caution to the wind without a second thought.

No longer able to contain his excitement, Isaac rushed to his mom with the flyer in hand. After handing her the flyer and explaining what was on the website as well as what was written on the flyer, Isaac’s mom was rightfully skeptical about the whole thing. She tried convincing Isaac that it was most likely a scam, but Isaac was persistent and confident in his belief that this was a real opportunity for him. Not wanting to be the one to crush his dream job, his mom eventually succumbed and agreed to drive Isaac to the address written on the flyer.

After waiting a full day, Isaac woke up at 10 am to the sound of an alarm playing on his phone with a sparkle in his eyes and his heart full of excitement. When both Isaac and his mom were dressed, they began the forty-minute drive to the location for his audition. Upon pulling into the lot, Isaac’s mom’s suspicions weren’t calmed when she saw two men in black suits standing at the entrance to the building. As they approached the building, they were momentarily stopped by one of the men near the entrance. Isaac realized that it was the same man that handed him the flyer. The man told Isaac and his mom that all parents were asked to wait outside, giving the excuse that they could be a distraction for their kids as they get prepared for the try-out by applying too much pressure to their child. Although she hated the idea of leaving her child alone in an unknown building with strangers, the look in her son’s eyes forced Isaac’s mom to reluctantly agree. When Isaac entered the building, he saw a room filled to the brim with teenagers around his age. Something felt off from the moment he stepped foot in the room. The first thing he noticed was that there were more people than what was stated to be the limit of people who can audition in one day. Next, Isaac overheard a conversation between two people stating they were there for a photoshoot for a teenager targeted magazine. Finally, Isaac saw his friend Alex who lived right next door to him standing by himself towards the middle of the room. Isaac saw this as a problem since Alex’s voice acting ability, or acting ability in general, wasn’t that good. Isaac shouted out his friend’s name as worked his way through the sea of people.

Alex was an out-going, straight-forward person who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. Standing a little shorter than Isaac at five foot and eight inches, Alex had short-curly black hair and your average body type.

Since it seemed like Alex had been there longer than him, Isaac asked Alex if he knew why they were there. Unfortunately, Alex knew nothing besides what he was told the day before. Before either of them could make a move for the exit, every light except for the ones towards the front of the room were dimmed. Then, a person in a navy-blue suit walked onto a small stage-like structure with a microphone standing on top of a podium. Everyone in the room turned their attention to the man as all conversations died out.

Immediately, the man told everyone in the room that they were lied to. Every flyer and website they had all visited were fabricated for the sole purpose of drawing in as many teenagers as possible. The man explained to them that he was from a newly formed division of the government, similar to the CIA or FBI. He explained that each person there met certain standards that they were searching for; whether that be physical traits or their type of personality. Then, the man revealed to them the reason why most of the teenagers in the room would leave. Such an outlandish statement, especially telling them that there was a spirit locked away in their minds, would cause any person with a normal thought process to leave. However, there were some whose minds were infatuated with the thought of living in a supernatural world and stayed; but there were only three people in that room whose idea to stay didn’t feel like their own. Their minds told them to leave and forget about everything they had heard, but their bodies wouldn’t move. Instead, they stood and listened to hear the man out.

Once those who didn’t believe the man left, he continued to explain that his family had been following the group of ancestral spirits from life to life and that the hosts have now matured enough for the spirits to finally be drawn out from their resting places. With nothing to lose, the man also explained that each of those still willing to proceed will be injected with a harmless serum that will have no effect on their body, but if the spirit was indeed hidden away inside of them then they would be locked in their minds for an undetermined amount of time and would have no memory of any of the events that conspired after waking up that day. Even though everything they heard could’ve been a lie, not one person moved an inch. Isaac always had a deep longing to help those around him, with all the information that had been revealed to him, Isaac saw this as his one chance to finally do some good for the world.

One by one government agents came out from a back room to escort the teenagers to different rooms to have the serums injected into them. Each room was bland, only having a chair in the middle of the room--like those seen at the dentist--with a bright fluorescent light above it and two stools with one on each side of the chair. As Isaac waited for a government official to enter his room, his heart began pounding in his chest as his mind was racing. His optimism slowly drifted away as doubt slipped into his thoughts. It wasn’t until three men in black suits entered his room that Isaac began to slightly panic. His body was trembling and he felt as if he was about to puke, but something was preventing him from leaving. He couldn’t explain why, but part of him knew that he needed to stay. The man who walked in holding a stainless tray with the serum resting on top of it told Isaac to try calming himself, or the injection of the needle may be more painful than intended. After just three deep breaths Isaac found himself oddly relaxed. All his fears and doubts left him as his body stopped trembling. With his eyes closed Isaac stretched out his left arm with the palm of his hand facing upward. Feeling the needle puncture his skin caused Isaac to tense up, but as he felt the serum start to course through his veins the pain vanished. However, only a couple of seconds after the injection was complete Isaac slumped down in the chair unconscious. Several seconds would pass before finally opening his eyes, but something was different. His gaze wandered around the room before focusing on the three men in front of him; as if he was scanning a new environment.

How are you feeling, Isaac? the man who had injected Isaac with the serum asked.

He got no response. Only Isaac pushing himself out of the chair and cracking his neck. No matter how many questions they asked, they got no response from him.

Until, they asked their final question, Is your name Isaac? the man asked; and all he got was a head shake in response.

In the end, counting Isaac, only three people had a spirit within them. Luckily, these were the last three spirits remaining to be found. The others were Alexander and a girl named Lizeth, who Isaac knew from going to the same school with her a couple of years ago. She had wavy black hair that reached down to the middle of her back with dark brown eyes that could pierce into your soul; she was only a couple inches shorter than Isaac.

Long time no see, said Alexander.

It’s great to see you guys again, Lizeth stated, Isaac nodding his head in response.

Despite wearing different faces, the spirits were able to know exactly who they were talking to as if they were still living their original lives. The spirits inhabiting Isaac, Alexander and Lizeth were soon confronted by a government agent. He told them that their original names were not viable to be used, as it would be too time consuming for future endeavors, so they will now be called by the beginning letter of the host’s last name, as a sort of code name. For Isaac, his spirit was called V. Alex’s spirit was now going to be called J and Lizeth’s spirit was going by A.