The Spectral Agent is my first full-length novel and an experiment. We are independent creators, publishing chapter by chapter as a podcast and text. It’s designed to be heard. We’d love to receive your feedback so we can tell stories better.
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Text copyright © 2025 Jan Herrington
⚠️ Content Warning: Heartwarming family revelations. Gunfire, explosions, violence, murder.
Last time on TSA
Finn exhaled, shaking his head, “We want answers. We want to know why a cop is in our ranks and why Klaus,”—he flicked his eyes toward Chaus—“hasn’t been acting like himself.”
᠁
His jaw tightened. “The Contagion’s the one pulling the strings. The one who’s been spreading through the city like a disease.”
᠁
“Detective—two days.” Finn reiterated. “Do your normal rounds until then. Don’t do anything stupid. When the shooting starts, I’ll find you.”
Chaus is bruised, Kira’s brave, and Viktor’s in too deep. Between a raid, a sibling’s confession, and a ghost with a conscience, everything he’s built is unraveling. The lines between duty and guilt blur fast, and when the smoke clears, Viktor doesn’t recognize whose side he’s on. When the shooting starts, his mission is the first to bleed out.
Music pairing: Arriba — ATEEZ (YouTube, YouTube Music)
Chapter 14
Chaus and I met at the diner the next day. His face was badly bruised, so much so that he used some of his acting skills to cover them with makeup. It looked okay at a distance, but right here across from him, I wasn’t buying it.
Kira would be here soon for our regular meetup. So, we needed to wrap up our planning for what to do during the raid. Chaus wouldn’t be at the office, so I would be on my own.
Last night, while I was icing my face, I thought about just running away. Why did I need to go to the office the day of the raid? Since they were coming for the data, I knew it would be my last chance to find any info on Ben.
For all the bitching he did about my coffee habits, now that he was in corporeal form, he was drinking one with me. His had a ton of sugar, and it was barely dark enough to consider brown anymore, but it was at least coffee-adjacent.
It was clear he had something on his mind. “Look, Viktor, you don’t have to do this. It’s gotten too big. Just walk away.”
“What about you? What about justice for your death?”
“I-I don’t care about that anymore. I’m not even sure dying wasn’t my own damn fault. Sure, they used me, but I let them do it. I’m complicit.”
“Wow, you sure matured a lot in the past few weeks. Did Finn knock some sense into you?”
Chaus looked down at the table, and I regretted saying it the moment it left my lips.
“Look, I know I don’t have to do this. I still want to know who killed Olivia, and why.” I said, then stopped to think. I did still believe that, but it wasn’t everything, so I continued. “I want to know what’s up with this Ben kid and this old man—this Contagion. Somehow, I think it’s all related to me, and why you possessed me.”
At that moment, Kira walked in, early as usual. Chaus looked at me, shook his head, paused, then nodded. “We do this together.”
He stood up and buttoned his suit jacket. “Don’t get yourself killed,” he added. Those were the same words I had heard before from him—from Chai.
He moved towards the door, passing by Kira.
✹✹✹
Kira walked over and slid into the booth across from me. “Wow, this is a first. You here before I am.”
I grinned. “I had some other business to attend to.”
The waiter brought over a drink for Kira, already knowing her order. She wrapped her hands around it, inhaled gently, then shifted her eyes out the window where Chaus stood waiting.
“That other business looks older than you described. And I didn’t see any tattoos or goofy hair. Rather basic, really. He looks more boring than even you, Viktor.”
I sighed. “That’s not that guy, well—that’s not exactly—it’s a long story.”
“It always is with you. Speaking of which, what happened to your lip?”
“Cop stuff.” I replied. She gave me a funny look at that, but then turned serious, looking deeply at me.
“You know, the last time we met here, I saw an aura around you.”
“An—aura?”
“Yes. Like a red glow. I’ve heard about people seeing such things and never believed it. But then I saw it for the first time around you. I thought I was hallucinating, but I haven’t really had any before, not like...”
“Like me.” I finished for her. I was starting to think this ability of mine, to be possessed, was genetic. I had wondered if Kira had some sort of ability to interact with ghosts, too. Which reminded me. “Did you go see Mom? Did you tell her about Father?”
“I did, and I did. She was barely responsive—she wasn’t really there.”
Since Mother started seeing things, and Father put her in a home, she stopped interacting with the world. I was afraid to go see her in that state because I thought that’s how I’d end up eventually. Seeing your own fate tends to make it inevitable.
“You’re all over the place—back to the aura. You see, it’s gone now. Has something changed in your life?”
That question was a deep well that I didn’t think we had time to gaze into. I realized I must have not answered for a while because she was still looking intently at me. I had to tell her something.
“Some serious stuff is going on at work, but I can’t talk about it. I’m undercover, and if you knew anything about it, it would put you in danger.”
“Oh... but—”
“Hey, let’s not talk about this anymore. I need to get back to reality. I want to hear about you. So, that Allie Springfield, are you seeing her? You deflected last time I brought her up.”
“Oh, I see, look who’s deflecting now.”
“Funny.”
We both sat in silence for a while, sipping our coffees and contemplating the lines in the table.
Kira, my sister, hesitated. “Viktor, I’ve been meaning to tell you something.”
I looked up from the table, expecting more bad news about Father.
“You know how I’ve never really liked girly things, right? Well, I don’t even know if I’m a girl at all.”
The words hung in the air. I blinked. “You don’t?”
“No.” Kira shook her head. “It’s… hard to explain. But I’ve started using they/them pronouns, mostly around my friends. It feels right.”
It took a moment for the words to sink in. I didn’t know what to say, so Kira filled the space.
“And... I have been seeing Allie.”
“Oh.” was all my stupid brain could think to say.
“I wanted you to know. You’re my brother. I should have told you sooner. Maybe when Father… maybe—maybe we can finally be honest with at least each other.”
I nodded. The weight on my shoulders shifted, a little lighter. “Thank you. For telling me.”
“Thank you—for trusting me,” she—no—they. said, voice soft but steady.
“I always have,” I replied, my eyes glistening.
They had smiled when I hugged them goodbye, their own burdens easier to bear. I envied how easily they said who they were. Even now, after everything, the idea of exposing my truth felt like peeling my skin off.
✹✹✹
The next morning was the day of the raid. I entered the office and swiped my badge to go up the elevator as usual. I stopped on the third-floor, nothing was different. I couldn’t get past the scanner without Klaus’s eye. His access was probably revoked after the incident anyway.
As soon as I stepped back into the elevator, I heard the alarm. Its wails sliced through the air, growing sharper with every second. It was time. I hadn’t even had a chance to look for more data on Ben or his clones.
A text from Finn said:
Maintenance access behind the generator room. Take the tunnels, get out before bodies start piling up.
I heard muffled gun shots reverberating. As the elevator started to move, a loud crack added to the noise.
The elevator lurched down a foot, jolted with a crunch, and one door jerked open. It was stuck midway between the second and third floor. Smoke started seeping from the third-floor lab, filling the elevator shaft.
The elevator refused all commands so I crouched down and slid onto the second floor. An acrid smell filled my nostrils as I saw hot lava burning through the ceiling, hitting the floor, and burning a new hole.
I had seen this before—it was thermite. Red hot metal slag poured from the ceiling in thin columns. The organization was destroying the lab and whatever—whoever—was in it. I didn’t have time to think about what that meant for the clones in the tanks.
Secondary fires were springing up and dark smoke began to fill the open cubicle farm. I ran to the stairwell and practically jumped down the steps. I looked through the small glass window on the steel door and didn’t see anything. So I gently pushed it open and slid out.
Compared to the blaring alarm, my boots made little sound as I made my way through the corridors, but even so, each step felt like a death sentence.
Gunfire cracked through the building. I flinched. From that point on I didn’t hesitate. I covered my face with my jacket sleeve and ran through the accumulating smoke.
I pushed forward and ducked down a side hallway as another burst of bullets echoed throughout the lower level. The gang—the organization—was fighting back.
I turned a corner and stopped abruptly. A gang member was slumped against the wall. It was Tony, one of the people who went on my initiation mission. Blood pooled beneath him, his fingers twitching toward the gun.
A SWAT operator stood in front of him, rifle raised. He yelled at Tony to slide the gun over. Tony reached for the gun, then snapped it up, pointed at the operator. The operator didn’t hesitate before pulling the trigger.
I turned around and slipped back into the shadows before he could see me. I wasn’t going that way.
I had a choice—police or the gang. I knew the answer before I even finished the thought. I wasn’t shooting a cop. Shit. I still didn’t have a gun and I was in the middle of a gun fight.
I stepped into the first hallway of the south wing. That’s when I heard it. Footsteps, behind me, quickly approaching.
I didn’t have enough time to run to the end of the hall. I looked to see one of the gang members turning the corner. He pointed his gun at me, but it was too late.
The shot pierced through the air as he fired. The bullet went wild, hitting a fire extinguisher, sending it clattering to the ground, spraying foam everywhere.
He recognized me then, shrugged, and took off in a side hallway. I bolted and didn’t look back.
I reached the basement generator room in minutes. It was dimly lit. The hum of machinery masked the distant noise. The maintenance access Finn had mentioned was at the far end.
I shoved a crate against the door. It wasn’t enough to stop anyone determined, but it was enough to buy me time. Behind me, I heard metal scraping.
“What’s taking so long detective? Arriba! Let’s go.” Finn said, his blue hair poking out the side hatch.
I ran over, he started talking before I reached him.
“Just follow this duct. When you reach the end, push open the vent. In that room, behind the steel door is a tunnel.”
“What about you?”
“I’ve got my own way out. Here, this is for you.”
He handed me a Glock. I wasn’t sure if it was his or if he liberated it from an operator. I took it into the duct.
It was tight, almost suffocating. My ribs ached from squeezing through such a confined space. If I was of average male height, I wouldn’t have fit. I don’t know how Finn did it.
I passed by a side vent and heard voices. A gang member and an officer. Then, a single gunshot. A body hit the floor.
The officer exhaled into his radio, “Another one down—bastard tried to stab me.”
I clenched my teeth and shimmied faster. The exit was ahead. I pushed through the vent and opened the steel door.
The moment I was in the maintenance tunnels, I was already running. The air was damp and heavy. The concrete walls stretched ahead, seemingly endless. It was so dark that I could barely see the rust on my undershirt and hands.
I was almost there.
The final ladder loomed ahead, leading up to an old service exit. I grabbed the rungs, forcing my tired limbs upward. My muscles screamed, my breath uneven.
At the top, I pressed against the hatch, but it didn’t budge. I swallowed the rising panic and shoved harder.
It finally groaned and gave way. Freezing cold air rushed in from the opening.
I pulled myself up, emerging into an alleyway. The city stretched before me, streetlights as bright as ever.
Sirens blared in the distance, but I was already free.
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