Who I was, the story of Audrey

[Korolia]

The shower was the only place where she was safe from espionage equipment - for one, the water was shrouding all noises and of two, well, as far as she knew, there was no camera around. She inspected the whole building and knew that all the room were wired with camera and microphone, but there simply was no way to wire one in the shower where water would disrupt any micro technology electronic device with ease.

She disrobed, revealing her nude body to - 4 or 6? of the cameras inside her bathroom, smirking a bit despite herself, imagining the young Federal Police agents behind each of them trying to keep their face emotionless as their supervisor watches over. Ah, Rheinlanders. Always so serious.

She stepped in and began showering, undoing her hair under the steamy jet of water - always welcomed after a walk home from work.

Her identity - Rosa Katharine, assistant attorney to a Berliner law firm involved her walking quite a long distance from work to home, though she had to admit, it could have been worse. It was also a good way to link the trip to the bank from time to time, a minor distraction for the agents tailing her. It was obvious since the beginning; after her second operation as "observation", she could easily spot any person that wasn't moving casually enough. It was all part of the espionage game however, a certain unwritten code that all intelligence and counter-intelligence units of the world played by. One couldn't simply arrest an agent just because he or she was there; otherwise, the number of arrests on all side would be tremendous, costly and mostly, non productive. But get caught once, and the rules for the losers have never been soft.

So far, she was pretty good at what she did. Young immigrant born aboard an IMG station in the omegas, made her studies of law in Liberty before going back to her "fatherland" to practice in a prosperous firm. Her papers were perfect, and in appearance, she looked exactly like that; Rosa Katharine, assistant attorney doing good efficient paperwork, eating healthy, earning decent income and living casually, even flirting regularly at the bar. Her accent was explained by the fact she wasn't born on planet but rather lived among strangers of all nationalities. Not that it was bad, she was starting to pick up the Berliner way of speaking.

When she first arrived, she noticed at least 3 different teams watching on her day and night. She preferred not noticing them, as it added stress on her mind, despite her training. Usually, by her 7th week of insertion, all teams were supposed to stop monitoring her - and they all did, save one...

As she passed the soap all over her body, she picked up a small silvery Mark coin and tapping it twice with force, began speaking softly enough that the integrated micro could record all the while being shrouded by the water.

"Confirmed Rheinland economic drop. Alarming drop, period, 7 months. Data, well hidden, impossible detect unless within Circle. Possible use for military budget, confirmed. Stop."

She paused for a second, then added
"Request identity on Guardian One, Stop. Over."

As she closed the water, she picked up a hidden datapad hidden underneath a tile of the shower room, as data began to pour in...

Frederik Vester, Agent of the Federal Internal Security, attached to the Federal Police.

She read through the details available quickly. An aging veteran of the Rheinland Military. Used to be sniper, specialized in counter-espionage and anti-terrorism. An old fox that led to the arrest of more than one a collaborator for various factions against the current government, as well as one Libertonian immigrant that was suspected - righteously of transferring classified intelligence to Naval Intelligence...

So, she was being tracked by a "good" one. He sniffed something wrong with her, and was going to stick to her until she was going down... that might complicate matters... a lot, she thought, as she dried her body slowly with a towel, contemplating her options even as the cameras still continued to watch her carefully...

There, she made her first mistake, the microphone-coin was left forgotten on the floor of the shower, shining to the cold and never blinking eyes watching her every move...

--

In a neighboring apartment building, Vester grinned as he looked at the somewhat confused libertonian agent, not because he was a pervert contemplating a nude woman - she was pretty of body as much of face, he admitted that weeks ago.

His sniper trained eyes noticed what all the junior watch agent overlooked; the coin on the floor...
Who brought money to shower, anyway? These libertonians were really getting sloppy...

---

There is no bathroom!