Brooks Messages 6: Riley

## Riley

### Description

In her sixth and final dead drop, Brooks directly addresses Kelso on the death of her son and warns her that the Division has been placing their focus in the wrong places for too long. She also gives her final farewells to the Division, and hints at a potential new threat on the horizon.

### Speaker(s)

Skyler Brooks

**Brooks:** One moment is all it takes to change everything. One mistake to bring down all your hard-earned progress. But you know that more than most, don't you, Kelso? Yeah, I know you're listening to these. Let's have a chat, you and me.

**Brooks:** I know you think I'm a villain. That I'm the bad guy of this story. But we wouldn't be here if it weren't for you and the Division's knee-jerk reactions to always shoot first. I told you a long time ago, back in Afghanistan, that not every problem can be solved with a bullet. You didn't learn that lesson then, and from what I've seen so far, you still haven't.

**Brooks:** I saw the look in your eyes when you shot him. He was just another faceless True Son. You didn't care until you truly saw who he was, but by then it was already too late. I don't know how agents like you sleep at night with such a clear conscience. Maybe it's that hero complex you had drilled into you. I hated killing when I was an agent. I only did it as a last resort. But the agents you got running around now, tell me, do you think you kill more or less people every day than the teenage Hyena girl so hooked on Spice she doesn't even realize she's a bad guy who you blew up with a damn rocket launcher?

**Brooks:** Let me tell you about my son. Let me tell you about the eighteen-year-old kid you put a bullet in without a single second of hesitation. If I'm right about you, and I'm not often wrong, it won't even matter. But I want you to understand something. I want you to know that no matter how much you try and desensitize yourself, the Division are murderers, delusional killers so hooked on propaganda and fanatical savior complexes you don't even see that you're everything you accuse others of and worse.

**Brooks:** I had Riley not too long after I got back from the sandbox. After the fucking Army fucked me over a couple scrapes and bruises. Jameson got messed up in that ambush, but you and I walked away fine. Yet they threw me, their best fucking soldier, to the curb for no good reason. Whatever. Riley never knew his father, some fisherman, I don't even remember his name. We weren't married very long, I honestly don't even remember why I married him, I certainly had no love for the drunk bastard. I think the only reason he wasn't violent with me was because he knew I'd break every bone in his body and dump his paralyzed ass in the ocean if he did. When I told him about Riley, he 'went out to get baby supplies' and dropped off the face of the earth. But it's a silver lining, I guess. I wouldn't want someone like that around my son.

**Brooks:** Riley was a good kid. Not that you ever would've known. Smart, loving, full of joy. He had this cross necklace he'd always wear, a gift from his grandfather, my dad Patrick, rest his soul. I'm holding it as I'm recording this. God, it's hard to look at sometimes. I'm getting distracted again. Gotta focus.

**Brooks:** He was going to be a doctor, you know? He always wanted to help people. We were close, but...the more I look back on things, I think he loved me, but he didn't want to be like me. My dad was a single father, and a Marine drill sergeant, I was raised in freaking Alaska. I honestly don't see a world where I would've gone down a different road than I did. But still, I think the photos of me in uniform, the rows of medals on the walls. I never pressured him to be a soldier, he was too much of a sensitive soul, even if I wanted to. I did my best, but when I'd talk about the war, the rush of combat, the thrill of life or death, I think he saw a very different side to me. He didn't want to be like his mom. He wanted to help people.

**Brooks:** He didn't get a chance to, thanks to you and that asshole Amherst. I pulled strings with some old buddies of mine, top secret unit, you probably wouldn't have heard of them, I served with them for a few months after I finished my SWCS training. I got Riley from his school, halfway across the country, brought him here. When he disappeared, when I heard he joined up with the True Sons, I was so surprised. I was smart enough to see through the Division Propaganda on the True Sons, I knew there was more to them than I was being told. Still, I didn't understand why he'd want to join them.

**Brooks:** But after he died, I found his journal. I was right, Kelso. Being that close to me, to all those agents, he agreed with what I'm saying. He saw that the Division were self-righteous warlords, killing and conquering for a long dead government. He saw the True Sons had a bigger vision; saw they could be honed into something better. He was right, I've turned the True Sons from a fractioning band of scattered survivors into an army you couldn't dream of ever defeating.

**Brooks:** Like I said, I doubt you even give a shit about any of this. I honestly don't even know why I'm recording these. I'm not going to convince you. Maybe this is a strange attempt at catharsis? Probably not, though. Maybe I'm trying to brag or boast, give you an insight into my plans so I can give you an advantage? It could be boring always being ten steps ahead. Then again, that's dumb. One thing I learned in studying battlefield tactics, always maximize any advantage you have. Pride comes before the fall, and you should never, ever, leave yourself open to even the smallest chance of defeat. A clever enemy will always take advantage of what you didn't bother to consider. Take a certain mustachioed German dictator bypassing the strongest defensive line in mainland Europe, all because the forest to its flank was deemed impassable.

**Brooks:** God, more and more I'm sounding like Keener. Maybe he and I had more in common than I thought. Which reminds me, one thing I haven't mentioned yet is how singular you agents are. You only ever focus on a single foe, a single goal. It's always about the task in front of you. You never plan ahead, you never prepare. It's how you get blindsided. Black Tusk for example. Seriously, you're lucky they didn't take the White House that night. All your hard-earned gains in those weeks, all lost in a span of a single night, all because you were so self-assured of your victory you wanted to shoot off fireworks.

**Brooks:** The same thing applies here. You spent so long chasing the Black Tusk, then Vitaly, and finally, Keener, you never saw me coming. But this isn't a boast. It's a warning, and not the type you think. I'm not going to help you beat me, dropping little hints and riddles that will lead to my downfall like a cartoon villain would. But from one agent to another, as a parting piece of advice, if on the off chance you do kill me, which you won't, but still, then when you're done, don't make the same mistake and prematurely celebrate.

**Brooks:** It's always the closest ones who will betray you. You're not looking around, are you, Kelso? There're rumblings, both within your walls and outside them. Your actions have created power vacuums, and when one is defeated, if they are not proactively stopped, a worse one will take their place. DC is a powder keg, and my attacks are the match.

**Brooks:** So, go ahead, do what you usually do, and spend all your efforts chasing me down, ignoring what's going on in the shadows. The alliances and rivalries being made. The new threats looming in the darkness. Like I said, not every problem can be solved with a bullet. A little sabotage and surveillance can go a long way. The Division has shot itself in the foot, making far more enemies for itself than allies. Now, those allies won't all get along, even if they all hate you, an alliance isn't always possible. But for those who can't, pull a couple strings, and you get anyone to do what you want. You think I don't have my agents in DC already? Within your allies? Within your walls?

**Brooks:** This'll be my last message to you. I'll be seeing you soon, Alani. You better bring your best, because I'll be ready for you.