Agents Elliot Jones and Samara Gray ready to save the world!
The Phantom Agent is a book in the Choices: Stories You Play series. It was released on August 31, 2022 for VIP players, and on October 19, 2022 for everybody.A series of ransomware attacks prompts an elite spy agency to pair its best agent with a new partner (following the supposed death of their old partner a year earlier) and investigate.
The Phantom Agent includes examples of:
- Agents Dating: It is one of the plot threads as Elliot's two love interests are also agents.
- Asshole Victim: Chester Stromberg, the Corrupt Corporate Executive of Sanctuary Pharmaceuticals, where The Architect used to work before he was fired after getting blamed for a chemical spill, which the company had ignored and resulted in the death of his wife and unborn child. In Chapter 9, he gets a Karmic Death at The Architect's hands.
- Bait-and-Switch: PB initially led players to believe that Rowan will be a love interest, complete with them being featured in a sneak peek and the ability to customize their gender, when in reality they are The Dragon and Agent Gray is the only love interest. But then again, the reason Rowan's gender can be customized is that they are Elliot's former partner before the latter meets Gray.
- Big Bad: The Architect is behind all the attacks and in chapter 11 it is revealed that Rowan Salazar is his Dragon.
- Character Customization: Of course. The main character's name, body type, gender pronouns, and appearance can be customized (the default name is Elliot Jones). Both of the main character's partners (Rowan Salazar and Agent Gray) can be customized as male or female.
- Faking the Dead: Rowan Salazar is revealed to be GAIA's traitor and the assassin who tried to kill Elliot and Agent Gray and in Chapter 11, it is revealed that he/she is alive and that he/she is The Contractor.
- First-Episode Twist: Elliot's partner of five years (in more ways than one), Rowan Salazar, is (presumably) killed in an explosion, just when it looks like they are in the clear. Considering that Rowan was featured in the sneak peeks leading up to the book's release, it's safe to say that few people saw this coming.
- Graying Morality: In the beginning, the story seems to have Black-and-White Morality, with GAIA on one side and The Architect on the other. But Chapter 13 reveals that The Architect was once a normal family man who lost his family and was wrongfully fired by his Corrupt Corporate Executive boss, and Chapter 14 reveals that GAIA isn't as spotless as it seems, and Rowan had good, albeit misguided, motivations for joining The Architect.
- Hunting the Rogues: In chapter 13, Marvin declares Elliot and Gray to be Rogue Agents and orders their arrest. After escaping, they will have to stop The Architect as he escapes from GAIA. Elliot and Agent Gray make peace with Marvin after The Architect's capture in Chapter 17.
- I Call It "Vera": In Chapter 4, Vivian mentions that she named her drone "Nellie".
- I Work Alone: Elliot adopted this mindset after their partner was (presumably) killed in action. Unfortunately for them, the agency they work for forces them to partner up with a new agent, since the job requires more than one person.
- Mourning an Object: In Chapter 9, Vivian's drone Nellie is destroyed and she's extremely upset. If Elliot tells her that "it's just a drone", she calls them out for being so insensitive.
- Really Gets Around: Elliot Jones openly flirts with people regardless of gender and can potentially hook up with two different people by the end of Chapter 6 (one of whom is married), as well as potentially flirting with Agent Gray (who mentions this trope verbatim multiple times) every chance they get.
- Redemption Equals Death: At the end of Chapter 15, Rowan turns against The Architect after seeing who he really is, but then he shoots Rowan, who dies for real in the next chapter.
- The Reveal: Chapter 13 reveals The Architect's real name, Johann Skovgaard, as well as his motives: He wants the whole world to pay for the death of his wife and unborn child.
- Shout-Out: In Chapter 3, Vivian gives Elliot an electric glove to use against an assassin. Before she gives it to them, she says:
- Time Skip: After the explosion that (presumably) claimed the life of Elliot's partner, the story cuts to a year later, when Elliot is still not over what happened.
- Tragic Keepsake: Elliot has kept Rowan's necklace with great regret since the day of his supposed death. In chapter 17, you have the option of keeping the necklace or leaving it in the grave after Rowan actually dies.
- Unseen No More: In Chapter 7, The Architect is shown in full view for the first time, after being concealed in shadow in his earlier appearances. In Chapter 13, his real name is revealed to be Johann Skovgaard.
- Wire Dilemma: Occurs in Chapter 4 during an attack on the hospital. The correct order is red, then blue, then green.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Despite The Architect being a diabolical international terrorist, it's hard not to feel bad for him when his backstory is revealed in Chapter 13. Before he became The Architect, he was Johann Skovgaard, an engineer in the largest European manufacturing plant of the pharmaceutical company of one of his victims. Several years ago, his wife and unborn child died after drinking water contaminated by a chemical spill, which the company had ignored. When the company couldn't hide it anymore, they blamed him for the spill, and he lost his job and reputation. Since then, he has been seeking revenge on the world for his wife's death.
- X Called; They Want Their Y Back: Upon discovering that Agent Gray has a pager in Chapter 5, Elliot's response:"The 90s called, they said they want their tech back."
