The Desert Standoff

his cell phone vibrates as the doors are closed behind him.
Congratulations, Operative Nathan Doe.
Your contract has been fulfilled. You have granted us one thousand souls.
Please drop this device to the ground and stomp on the screen
before proceeding into the room ahead of you.
Nathan blinks at the device in his hand. He knows he has been on many missions for the company but he never thought to add it all up in his head. He didn’t have a running total before this moment. One thousand people have died because of him, either by his hand directly or because of his actions. It has almost all been because of actions that this company has asked him to do. Things that he might never have considered doing before he has now done. What other choice does he have but to do as they ask? Whatever is going to happen, he has to face it head-on, just like he has always done. Nathan drops the phone in his hand to the ground and stomps on it hard with the heel of his boot. The screen splinters and cracks until it is no longer useful to anybody. He doesn’t pick it up because he wasn’t instructed to do that. Instead he heads forward into the darkness. He doesn’t stop until he can see a small sliver of light that indicates that he is approaching the door to the inquisition room. A strange sense of finality is settling over him. He finds the door handle and pulls the room open. A woman in a crisp white pair of medical scrubs is standing before him next to a rather severe looking medical table. She has a warm sort of smile that he’s not sure if he should trust or not. Then again, he knows he doesn’t really have much of an issue either way. She takes a small step to the side and he knows he is supposed to take a seat in the chair, so he does.
It’s surprisingly comfortable as he eases himself into it. The sort of chair that he could accidentally fall asleep in. Another set of doors that he didn’t see before opens and three people come in, all dressed head to toe in white. The eldest of the group stands in the middle. He appears to be a frail elderly man, but Nathan knows that looks can be deceiving, especially in here.
“Greetings, Mr. Doe. I know you might not remember us, but we have met before a couple of times. We are your team of doctors, and we are here to guide you into retirement. As you know, we’ve been giving you small bits and pieces of your previous life before you came to work for the company, and now that you’ve completed your contract we are here to present you with a few options for your future.”
Nathan sits up as best as he can and attempts to address this team of doctors as levelly as he possibly can. “What does that mean exactly?”
The man smiles softly. “Well, not every agent is given options. Some are forced into their retirement before their contract ends. Some are lobotomized for their own peace and safety. Some weren’t cut out for handling this lifestyle as you can imagine. It takes a real toll on some.”
Nathan can only imagine that’s very true, though the comment about the lobotomy is a touch unsettling. “So what are my options?”
“Well, we have been offering bits of your past to help acclimate your mind to the idea of retirement. Snippets and clues to your previous life that you could explore and investigate with your considerable skills and talent to see if that is even a life that you wish to return to. It also helps soften the mental transition for a second memory wipe in order to place you back into that life as if nothing has ever happened. No muss, no fuss.”
The man speaks as if he has done this hundreds of times before, which he likely has.
“And the other options?” Curiosity gets the better of Nathan before he can stop himself.
“Well, you have served the company so well that we are also authorized to allow you to become any of your alternate personalities that you have cultivated over your time here at the company. We can implant you with their memories and lives; think of it as an extension to the missions that you are comfortable with. Your brain has already marked all of the neuro pathways in order to facilitate an easy, seamless transition into any of those lives you like. You just have to decide the details and which of them you would like to become.”
“So that’s it? All of this time with the company and I just get to walk away?”
“Yes. That’s the beauty of the memory work that we can do. You can just walk away and become somebody else. Your mind is healthy and strong enough that this procedure will work wonderfully for you. Not to mention you’ll become wealthy in the process.”
“I never even considered.”
“Which brings us to our third option.”
“Third option?” Nathan needs to know what that last option is.
“Yes. Considering your considerable skill levels, the company has authorized us to offer you a renewal of your contract. You will start over. We will remodel your muscles and enhance your skin to add the needed years to your life so that future retirement is still possible of course, and then your contract will simply start over. We will reset you back to the beginning, and then we will see you back here in another thousand souls.”
A choice. Nathan never imagined being given a choice. How is he supposed to choose when he doesn’t have any idea how many years he will be committing himself to? What is the right thing to do? Can he really just walk away?
“Well, Operative