Chapter 9: Alias Garry

Monday quickly came, and Liam had resumed work at the USOV Michigan branch. He came in his tracksuit, and as soon as he walked through the door, he went straight to see the director. Kent was discussing with Director Grey, when Liam entered and said, “I’m ready for duty.”

That was when the director paused what he was doing and made a call through a special phone device. “Report to my office, Elaine.”

In a few seconds, there was a knock. “Come in,” Grey said.

Elaine walked in. She had this slender build, about 5’7″, an attractive woman really with gray eyes and blonde hair in a clean bob cut. She wore an all-black tactical ensemble: a fitted long-sleeved shirt under a buckled vest that cinched her waist, pants with a strapped thigh holster, and sturdy combat boots. Sleek and functional, everything about her outfit was designed for mobility and command presence.

“Elaine, this is Liam. He’s new and before becoming a special agent, he needs to understand how this place works, no?” Grey said.

Elaine gave a nod, she understood perfectly what she had to do and then turned to Liam. “Come with me. I’ll show you around.”

Liam wasn’t exactly the type to get distracted by women, but he casually admitted to himself, she looked good in the fit. He followed her out of the office.

As they left, Grey turned to Kent. “Now that he’s here, it’s time we took a step forward. Prepare the jet, I’ll be heading to New York.”

Kent nodded and stepped out to make the arrangements.

Elaine started at the Command and Control Operations Room. “This is the heart of the USOV Michigan branch,” she said.

Dozens of holo-screens curved around a semi-circular wall like a digital amphitheater. Each screen streamed live feeds; satellite scans, magical energy fluctuations, monster breach alerts across the state.

They moved through the Research & Development Division next. It had two sub-levels. One for magical weapon prototypes, where experimental tools were built for monster combat. The other, Beast Containment and Analysis, held dissected remains of magical creatures, which were studied, catalogued, and sometimes repurposed.

After several more stops, they arrived at the Field Operations Room, which was a space designed for the agents of USOV.

Liam noticed it was empty. “Where is everyone?”

“They’re already out on missions. You came in late, which isn’t good for an agent, even a ’special’ one,” she said.

Liam scoffed, but she continued.

“In truth, everyone here is an agent. Nobody’s more important than the other. Director, assistants, field agents like me, lab guys, special agents like you and Quinn, we all have distinct roles”

Liam wasn’t flattered, he Just listened on. It felt like he was really understanding what she meant.

Then she asked, “What’s your tier?”

“Don’t exactly know for sure,” he replied.

Elaine laughed. “What kind of special agent doesn’t know his own tier?”

Truth was, Liam did know, but he didn’t want to make a fuss. Just playing it low; modesty or something like that.

“Well, let’s go get it measured then,” she said, gesturing for him to follow her.

Every USOV branch had a Tier Evaluation Chamber and everyone who wanted to know their tier had to stop by at any of the branches to get it evaluated. Liam followed Elaine to the chamber in a separate part of the building, where, a man named Mr. Jenkings motioned for Liam to step onto a platform designated for it.

The platform was at the centre of the room, circular and raised. Once Liam stepped on it

“Release your energy,” the analyst instructed.

Typically, when someone did that, the device would read their output and generate values the analyst could use to calibrate their tier.

Liam did as was instructed and on the first reading, it said: “Incalculable.”

Then almost immediately, the screen shifted and recalibrated, before displaying a value that put him just shy of A-tier.

Mr. Jenkings paused, his eyes narrowing slightly as he glanced at the screen. Something didn’t feel right. “Step down a moment, We’ll run that again.”

Elaine, watching from the side, tilted her head and asked, “What happened?”

He didn’t respond yet.

Liam stepped down, then stepped back up and repeated the process. Again, the device calibrated and returned the same results, just beneath A-tier level.

Jenkings narrowed his eyes again and muttered, “Hmm.”

Elaine pressed him again, and he scratched the side of his head and finally said, “Machine probably malfunctioned at first. It said ’incalculable,’ then recalibrated to just below A”

Elaine crossed her arms. “And now?”

“Its the same readings now. He is close to the A-tier”

She nodded slowly. “Probably an error. I didn’t feel any Ranked grade pressure when he released his energy.”

Jenkings gave a short sigh. “Yeah, maybe it’s due for servicing anyway.”

“Incalculable” usually meant someone was beyond the normal tiering system. That meant placement on the global Ranking Board and that’s not something you see everyday and truthfully, it had been a long time since any Visor reached that level.

In general, humans had growth potential, but it was limited. Most Visors starting at F or E-tier could train their entire lives and maybe peak at B. In rare, exceptional cases, some would hit A-tier, but that was usually the ceiling.

What mattered most was your starting point. Some were born as C-tiers and, with enough push, might peak at A or S. Then there were the rare few, those born or awakened as S-tier, with some effort, they could break into the Rankings.

But this wasn’t common knowledge. It wasn’t public either and honestly, most low-tiered Visors, especially those just trying to live normal lives didn’t care enough to ask.

Liam stepped off the platform and asked what the readings were.

“A-tier or at the door of it,” Mr. Jenkings said.

Liam gave a simple, casual nod. He’d more or less expected that.

Elaine narrowed her eyes at him. “You always knew what your tier actually was.”

She could tell this immediately, especially as the results didn’t surprise him. Anyone else would’ve been thrilled to hear they were evaluated as A-tier after walking in without prior knowledge.

He let out a quiet, almost guilty sigh. “Didn’t want to seem conceited.”

“That was unnecessary,” she said, then added with a shrug, “but understandable. Let’s go.”

They left the chamber. On the way, he asked what her own tier was.

“I’m A-tier too,” she replied. “But that’s my ceiling. I started out as a C-tier when I was a kid. Always wanted a place here in USOV, so I worked my ass off to get here.”

Liam didn’t say anything but he just developed this quiet respect for her.

“Anyway,” she added, “now that your tier is confirmed, you should go see Mr. T to get your weapon.”

“Damn, for real?” Liam asked.

“Yes, each Agent B-tier and above gets one. It improves your chances out there in the field. Some of them help channel what you already have, others give a boost, or produce entirely different effects. Come with me.”

They made their way to the weapons and tech creation lab. Inside, a man was hunched over a table, soldering two mechanical parts together. Mr. T looked up mid-weld.

“Oh, hi there, Elaine.”

Elaine greeted him back. Mr. T nodded toward Liam. “Who’s the new guy?”

“Liam,” she said. “New agent. A-tier. We’re here to get him a weapon that suits his class.”

Mr. T raised a brow. “You’re not going with tradition?”

“He’s not part of the squad,” Elaine said. “We’re just following normal protocol.”

That’s when Liam chimed in. “What tradition?”

Elaine looked over at him. “Well, usually, before we field agents get a weapon, we have to strike the final blow to the beast it’s derived from or at least land the final hit on a beast before we can pick out an already made weapon from the lab. It’s kind of a rite of passage around here.”

Liam scoffed lightly. “Alright. Say less.”

It came off a bit arrogant, but that wasn’t his intention. He just didn’t want to look like he hadn’t earned it, so he turned to Mr. T. “Hold off on the weapon for now.”

Elaine caught the corner of a smile but didn’t let it show. As they walked out, she said, “Too cocky, eh?”

Liam gave a small scoff. “Not really. But if that’s the rite of passage, I’ll earn it. Simple as that.”

“You’re not even an official member of the team,” she reminded him.

“And I never plan to be,” Liam said with a smirk.

They returned to the Field Agents Room and Elaine handed him a suit bag and a shoebox.

“Well, if you’re going to work for USOV, might as well look the part.” Then she handed him an ID badge. His face was printed next to the name Liam Garry.

Liam gave a quiet chuckle. He knew that name was Grey’s doing.

He stepped into the room itself to get changed. A few minutes later, he came back out.

Elaine blinked, she was caught off guard.

Liam wore a perfectly tailored black suit. The jacket’s sharp lapels framed a crisp white shirt, collar unbuttoned just enough to keep it casual. A slim leather belt wrapped neatly around his waist, and the trousers hung in clean, fitted lines. His polished black dress shoes caught the light, flawless. Every detail was exact. The fabric clung to his frame without a single wrinkle.

“Do I look like an agent now?” he said, smirking.

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