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[TRIGGER: SOUNDTRACK] --> Trigger by Gioni comes closest to capturing a feeling for the overall story, feel free to give the song a listen before reading. UPDATE: Please don't just skip this message - sign up for my email list here if you'd like to see this novel published in the future. Publishers count on this to see that people care about the story.- READY -“The Crown’s agenda has only been expanding due to the increasing number of Boost vendors. She’s more than needed for this operation and will be assisting in our Service.”Marianne’s clean, soothing voice was her signature as the head of MI6’s elite unit. Silver hair clipped back in a business twist, she ran her unit’s affairs with executional grace and a refreshingly maternal hand. M eyed her glass monitor. With a swipe of her finger, she shared an agent’s profile with the man in the lab’s central workstation.On par with the agent’s rumors was the technological signature of HQ’s lab, covertly integrated into Victorian walls and furnishings. Amidst the country’s restless advances in technology, the room reflected the Kingdom’s desire for the nostalgic majesty of a past era. Several glass-thin monitors eclipsed a large central desk, screens rising from their bases on the floor to project the latest surveillance and gear in the works. A tall, lean figure leaned lazily on the desk counter, the faint glow of the screens reflecting in deep-set hazel eyes.
“I could use some assistance myself.” The man pushed the mess of his ash brown hair back to glaze over M’s screenshare in apathy, unkempt strands falling in a disheveled charm. Each new mission meant more work for him.His eyes suddenly lit up with recognition, followed closely by exasperation. He downplayed the heavy sigh that was threatening to surface as a few stray strands fell back over his face.“You’re killing me, teach.” The lab door clicked open to reveal the silhouette of the woman in question. Piercing silver eyes surveyed the room, chic yet mature. A worthy match for her body. Her rather cold presence was broken up only by soft, white-blonde waves that just teased her shoulders, feminine and dangerously beautiful. “Yiuna Li. Hand her the case, Zero. And don’t call me that,” said M.Zero’s annoyance only grew stronger as the agent’s heels clicked steadily towards him, overwhelming any trace of intimidation others may have felt around her. “Heh. Sloppy as usual,” she noted with a smirk. She found it amusing that he still managed to make business casual look too casual, even as lead.“I prefer the term ‘organized mess,’” he replied, deadpan.“Organized piles of trash are still trash. I don’t suppose you have gear beneath your rubbish to stop doing your father a disservice.”“I’ll throw something in the works to stop your mouth from being a disservice.” He had always known her mouth to be a detriment to her looks.Not even a minute into their reunion and the blonde was already throwing him down, and perhaps for good reason. Spaced between the room’s wondrous employment of code and machinery was cutting-edge disappointment. Zero’s clutter clotted the lab, cheating on the cleanly virtue of the previous lead’s arrangement. Circuitry and wires, tools and sheets of unidentified metals from who-knows-how-many projects ago were strewn haphazardly as he went about his work. The organized mess was paired elegantly with a nearby cabinet of wine and a nearly empty bottle on his desk.Yiuna ran her fingers over a device on the counter, a handheld white cube with smooth corners and a glowing central light. Emblazoned on the side were the letters “ZEROTEK” in small, sharp font. Apparently Zero had become an undeservingly handsome narcissist since they first met a few years back. She looked back up at him in grimace, eyes narrowed in mild disgust. He sighed.“I didn’t name that device, my father did. Never asked to be called Zero, headquarters just wants nostalgia for his legacy since I took over his role.” The agent let out a terse laugh. “How could you not have?” Yiuna picked up the wine bottle and angled his disgraceful habit towards himself. “We have every intention of calling you ‘nothing’ and getting away with it. All credit to the previous lead and Zero to you.”“She’s sharp, Zero.” M replied, almost allowing her favor to show in a smile. “Hey.” He anticipated the return of Yiuna’s provocation from the moment M shared her profile, but his mentor didn’t have to chime in. “I’ve been holding down work well enough.”A satisfying pulse radiated on the desk’s touchscreen surface as the white cube started recharging. It was this interconnectivity of devices and things that had helped create the previous lead’s legacy. Zero’s father found it fitting to name his team’s line of technology “Zerotek” after the “double-0” agents. His work contrived a pronounced revolution in Her Intelligence Agency’s operations. It was no wonder that HQ was at a loss when their lead suddenly disappeared. The critical changes instilled in its operations were carried on in his son, the apprentice.Zero handed the agent a solid black case.“The cruise is top-of-the-line. Nearly garish. It would be in bad taste to not send you off well-dressed. The tailors will have you at five sharp,” M said. “Be ready.” ***[TRACE MY STORY, ART, AND UPDATES]If you enjoyed this chapter and want to learn more or see my upcoming art for it, please follow me as @AgentRoseHQ on Twitter & Instagram & sign up for my email list - links to all my social media are on linktr.ee/AgentRoseHQ.
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Sicily, Italy, 19:45. Shoe rubber clanged furiously close as a group of the cartel’s sentry ran through the lab’s corridors. The agent’s pursuers had lost their tail. “Idiot, where did she go?” A guardsman berated his comrade for losing sight of the flash of white-blonde hair amidst the poorly-lit halls. Fear curdled beneath his anger at the consequences for improper patrol. Experiments carried out in the boss’s name were cruel, but punishment was far crueler.A few years ago, London's Secret Service had sent an agent abroad to crack down on suspicious activity in an unassuming research facility. Tucked away from the sight of the general populace, the illegally run branch was puppeteered Sicily’s cosa nostra, a mafia family with alleged ties to terrorist schemes.The sentry’s footsteps receded as they took a turn down the wrong alley. Yiuna broke the silence, stumbling out from behind medical equipment. Blonde hair dirtied, head dizzied with a smattering of bruises, she drew in each jittering breath in pain. Her nausea worsened as memories of forced Boost injections flooded her mind. It was an unexpected and rather inconvenient time for her body to relive the side effects of the deprecated beta in her system from years ago. She clutched her sides, attempting to refocus.A man in a lab coat had just made his way out of another room when he spotted the silhouette of her back. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder. The agent jumped back, startled.“Hold on, miss. Let me look.” Weary eyes stared at her from beneath somewhat tousled dark hair. It could be a beta test of the new virus. I know they plan to do a few rounds of testing here, but this is too soon, he thought.Her breaths were getting heavier. Yiuna found it strange he was unbothered by her state of ruin. Leftover adrenaline from her brawl only heightened her suspicion.“I’m fine. It doesn't concern you.” I need to leave quickly. The agent may have been battered, but she certainly had not sustained any head injuries severe enough to make her trust any facility worker.“It concerns me more than you think. And as you are now, I can’t ignore you. I’m a medic.” That’s not quite my profession, but I can’t tell more to someone as unfortunate as you. He spoke in a low voice. “Let me run a test on you at my home. I can tend to your injuries there too,” he insisted.“Don’t be ridiculous - ”“I’m serious.” He grabbed her arm. Irritated and exhausted, she tried to shove him off.“Let go, I don’t have time for this - ” A sudden dizziness made her stumble.The medic steadied her with his grip, shooting her a stern gaze. The sheer intensity of his stare took her aback, persistent yet sincere. He surely wouldn’t take no for an answer now. She averted her eyes, embarrassed.“I don’t think you’re aware of just what they did to you. Looks like you tried resisting them as the others did,” he said, eyes imparting apology. Yet this woman doesn’t seem like the others. But who else can make it this far into the lab? There’s no other explanation.She didn’t know what he was talking about. She tried to piece together who he was, yet the swirling sickness threatened to steal her consciousness. It was uncanny to feel so dizzy, even after a fight. The man’s seeming oblivion to her suspicion was jarring, and the mention of a test intrigued her. He seemed to have inside knowledge on the cartel’s activities. She relented at the newfound opportunity to gather intelligence. ✧
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The medic took the woman into another room within his tiny home, which he had converted into a lab. His monitors lit up as he sat at his workstation.
"It's already a risk taking you here. The organization runs on fear, so it's not uncommon to have fights break out in the lab. Especially when test subjects are brought in. Some won't go down without a fight, and I end up helping the unfortunate ones like you by sneaking them here." His eyes returned his monitors.
She mulled over his words
. He thinks I'm a test subject.
It explained his sense of normalcy around her. He gestured for her to sit on the examination bed, wrapping a monitor around her arm. Several charts populated his computer screens. He did a double take at the woman's reading.
Miss, you're not who I thought you were.
The medic's device had somehow bypassed the authentication of her Go-Card, granting him access to a few medical records from his facility's database. Her Go-Card had matched to a profile of "Yiuna Li", a sparse record on her that had been created some years back. He didn't think much of her name, but wondered if she really been a test subject for that long.
"I have reason to believe they activated the current experimental beta in your system. The injection they gave you affects your nervous system and begins at your spinal cord, leaving traces over your back. Please undress so I can take a look."
You have some bloody nerve, dragging me home for this
, she thought, smiling tersely through her pain. She was irritated at her own helplessness. Yet she knew something was off; her heart was pulsing in her ears. Was it just her, or was it starting to hurt just to move her body? The pain was similar to what she felt when she had undergone experimentation some years ago. It manifested in a familiar yet unwelcome searing on her back, pulsing just under her skin. She thought she would never be reminded of those days again. A check-up was probably necessary, but she had disdain for losing any degree of self-reliance. It was how she had gotten by.
The woman removed her blouse. The medic waited until the sound of her rustling clothes died down before walking over to examine her. Suspicions confirmed, he beheld misery in her beauty. A faint glowing pattern could barely be made out on her delicate skin, through her shoulder blades and down the slender curve of her back. The marks resembled the delicate wiring of buses on a motherboard. The medic's suspicions heightened as he realized the pattern on her back didn't resemble those of the other test subjects. It may have been a reactivation of the virus on her record, but even that didn't tell him much about her. At the very least, he knew it wasn't the current beta.
"I was right," he said, feigning a lack of suspicion. He reached for a syringe and walked back over. "Hold still."
He barely drew in a breath before Yiuna stopped him. With a pivot of her hips, she turned to grab his wrist with one hand as the other held her shirt over her chest. She winced from the movement.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, voice gaining an edge. She broke into a cold sweat, body tensing as the recollection of forced injections beneath metal restraints reeled through her mind. She didn't know what his injection did, much less his intentions. She shoved her intruding past aside
. How could I feel this way again without being injected?
she thought.
I recovered from those experiments years ago. Is it possible my deprecated strain got retriggered by being near the facility's activator?
Her nausea grew stronger.
"Standard disinfection procedure. It will ease your pain," he explained. Caught in her ice grip, the medic's eyes reflected sadness as he felt her hand shaking. He had told her a necessary lie. Without a cure for the strain she had, the anesthetic was all he could do to help her. He knew many of the experimental Boost strains were lethal due to their imperfect nature. With the malicious virus attacking each test subject's nervous system, any additional physical or mental stressor would lower their chances of survival to the bio-malware. The physical and mental states were always tied, and he didn't want to worry her with the news.
"You're probably in more pain than you want to admit if the virus is already at this stage."
You have some grit to resist my help, I've never had a test subject refuse me.
Seeing her in pain triggered his guilt, and the medic couldn't bear to leave the woman in such destitution for much longer.
"Your hands are too cold. I'll be quick," he said.
You're beautiful.
Yiuna's cheeks flushed at his sudden concern. His blatant sincerity made it hard for her to believe he had anything other than good intentions. The woman's body was telling her she would be risking much more if she didn't cure herself soon, yet she couldn't make herself release her grip on her past. She felt the medic's warm fingers lace between hers as he gently pried her hand off his wrist. Before she knew it, she felt a needle prick her skin.
Evening settled as the pair sat at the dining room table.
"The beta programs are still in the testing rounds. The cartel needs to have a workable virus before they start dealing a new Boost," the medic explained.
"When would that come out?" she asked. Yiuna was now wrapped in a thick scarf to make up for her lack of body heat. She had changed into something more comfortable for the fall. The medic had let her borrow the wardrobe of his late lover, as he figured she would be staying at his home for some time.
"The rumors say within
six
months."
Or they'll have my head,
he thought.
"And a doctor like you knows this much about Boost malware."
"Fear is going around due to the mafia's recent moves. With fear comes rumors that make their way around to me." he responded curtly. She wanted to question him further, but she was exhausted. She rested her head on her hand, running her fingers through her soft strands. She was too drained to think properly. Even in her lack of expression, the medic sensed her dis-ease.
"Apologies if you feel drowsy, it's due to the aftereffect of the injection," he said.
"It's nothing. Thank you."
"It's best you rest here for a while; it will take some time for the cure to take effect." He knew just how many times the injections had made a turn for the worse in other people, and needed to be able to monitor her condition. Yiuna obliged to his suggestion. Knowing he was willing to let her stay would make her job much easier.
"Your body will be extra sensitive for a while, and your core temperature will drop on occasion as you recover. I'll have to give you an injection every few days to keep you in recovery. You must tell me if your condition worsens in any way. And – " He couldn't help but admire her roughness fading away as she tightened the scarf around her. "I think you need the rest more than you're willing to admit."
The medic had given Yiuna the bed in his main room for the night, telling her he would use the bed in his lab. Yet due to his intensive research, he knew he wouldn't be sleeping much.
Yiuna waited for him to go to work the next morning before venturing into his lab. She gave a handheld white cube access to his computer through her Go-Card. With a touch of her finger, the device started glowing. His monitor lit up as a decryption program flashed, cracking his password to access his files.
Gianni Castello...a neuroscientist? An ex-employee of MedSavior whose past research projects revolved around nanobiotechnology. He's never worked for a clinic.
The device glowed faintly as it parsed through his files. It pulled up research, records of experiments, and records of experimentees. A projection caught her eye.
Castello's work is on a strain of a virus similar to one already in our database back in London. Our quarantine will mean nothing if a new beta is rolled out
soon
.
The terminals projected from her device rapidly closed as she allowed it to restore his computer to its untouched state. Monitoring Gianni's progress regularly would be a critical measure.
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The next week rolled around quickly. Yiuna sat on the sofa, watching Gianni place roses in a vase. He felt her curious eyes."The flowers are from the garden outside. I was engaged to a woman a few years back, and she would tend to it," he said."Was?" she asked."She was afflicted with a virus that deteriorated her health until her body could no longer bear the strain. In a short period of time, she became impaired by its effects on her nervous system. It affected everything from her thinking and memory down to her ability to move. She passed away a few years ago."Yiuna stared through the window at the garden. The late morning sun brought out the beauty of the rose bushes, as the flowers bloomed a lovely shade of champagne pink in her memory. The same flowers were in the vase.Gianni looked up from the roses at her. He was fortunate enough to have found out her real name due to her history of experimentation, and decided to test whether the rumors at his facility would confirm his suspicions of her."I would like to prevent the same fate from happening to you, miss...?""Luna," she replied, using her alias.His suspicions were confirmed. Intuition told him she had to be the rumored spy. He figured it must have been a stroke of fate to have British intelligence come straight to his door. With all the woman knew at this point from staying with him, he figured there was no way she would leave him alone. She had seen too much already, and he had to turn the chance into a stroke of luck for both of them. I just brought the worst kind of trouble home...or, the best opportunity, if this woman doesn't sell me out first. Nonetheless, you're still Her Majesty's spy, the last person someone like me wants to get into trouble with. He doubted he could make the blonde-haired agent believe that he was not loyal to the cartel, much less tell her that he was working to reverse-engineer the beta right under the boss's nose to create a cure.He trimmed the bloom in his hand, removing its thorns and cutting its stem shorter. Practicalities aside, he couldn't bear the idea of addressing the beautiful enigma by her alias. He felt an urge within him to know her more deeply, and not only out of necessity. He was almost saddened that he knew absolutely nothing about her. Addressing her with a fake name felt out of place."Why don't I call you something else," he said, holding up the rose. "After a flower in the garden.""A flower..." Her voice trailed. He walked up to her slowly." Rosa ?" she asked, incredulous. "I have a name, you know – "He placed the rose in her hair before she could object, tucking it behind her ear to insist that she take the name she had uttered. The name he preferred. He took a step back. What am I supposed to do with you? he thought, gazing at her lush lips, which had parted softly in confusion. The same blush pink of the flower had spread alluringly across her cheeks. He was undeniably charmed. That flower suits you. In his adoration, he couldn't help but feel a sense of duty towards the woman. He felt the weight of his responsibility, realizing just how paramount his work towards a cure was to assure she wouldn't wither.Gianni recalled the crackdown on a mafia-controlled facility in China by British intelligence some years back. If the international cartel knew that one of their test subjects was an agent from MI6, it could lead to a potential repeat of the Shanghai incident. A London spy had divulged information on production research and methodology for the Chinese beta, which had lead to a lab infiltration before the beta's launch. A handful of test subjects in destitution were lucky enough to be saved. The subsequent quarantine of the beta had significantly stalled the Shanghai mafia's Boost-dealing activities. While experimentees had been saved, their recovery was imperfect due to lack of a proper cure. It was why Gianni knew he had to work with the cartel. Creating a cure meant involving himself with their poison in order to have direct access to their formula. And he knew he could not risk getting in trouble with the woman in his home by showing her his work. He'd be incriminated for sure. In the end, if I am to put my plan into action, I might end up needing you more than you need me. The next afternoon, the agent sat pondering at the dinner table, leaning her head on her hand. Her temples ached, and the lack of sleep may have given her distrust of the medic an unnecessary edge. The Queen's spy felt it was strange that Castello didn't just accept her alias as her name. Perhaps she was just overthinking, but her exhaustion didn't help, nor did the effects of the newly retriggered virus. Her back pain came in pulses, taxing her with additional sharp pangs whenever she moved her torso. And apparently, she moved her torso a lot more than she thought. Yiuna broke out of her daze as she sensed Gianni's footsteps drawing near. She turned cold eyes towards the sound.With a meek smile, he half-raised his hands in surrender, sensing her unrest. You really don't trust me, do you? Your guard is never down. Or rather, you seem cold in general, not accepting help, he thought."You seem tense," he said, staring at the slight darkness beneath her eyes. "And you've been neglecting yourself.""What were you trying to do?" she asked. You're getting too close to me. "Giving you a massage. You could do with better circulation, especially in your condition." He reached his hands out once more to start massaging her back. Let me help you. Doing this would help your body accept the anesthetic. It's my own selfishness too. When I see you like this, I'm reminded of my sins. "Unnecessary." She winced as she turned her waist to push him away, taking a sharp breath in. How could I not be tense, with you giving me this much attention, she thought. He looked at her dubiously."That pain is no surprise considering your disregard for your own health.""Damn medic..." she muttered, turning away. She was done fighting an insistent man whose blatant willingness to help continued to astonish her. The fatiguing effect of the antivirus had already diminished her energy to resist."That's not a 'no'..." he said, taking her lack of response as an invite.It wasn't until Yiuna felt steady hands moving down her back that she realized just how much physical contact the act required. He's so close. She was glad he couldn't see her face. Feeling the warm pressure of his hands was so unnerving that she almost pushed him away. Yet her body couldn't help but give in as he slowly broke down the painful tightness in her back. Her breath deepened beneath his soothing palms. She unraveled as his calm energy penetrated her body. It was more enjoyable than she wanted to admit. The woman sighed despite herself, breath hitching as she caught herself in embarrassment. He smiled in satisfaction.✧As the weeks passed, Yiuna kept tabs on the work in his lab to see his progress. Knowing how closely related he was to illegal Boost activities, it was surprising to suddenly find code that seemed to start reverse engineering the virus. It was as if the terminal on Gianni's monitor was intentionally left open. Not only does his work show a different focus from yesterday, it seems to be able to reverse engineer the beta I found on file. Yiuna projected the details of yesterday's system match on her screen from her device. It was hard for her to believe it was anything other than a partial antivirus. The programming for the nanoparticles in the cure appeared to make some of the virus's nanoparticles self-destruct. She didn't understand his sudden shift to a focus for a cure. If Gianni wasn't loyal to the cartel, his betrayal would end him if he was found out. If he was truly betraying the cartel, he was intent on helping those who needed hope. She clutched her hand over her heart. Aren't you supposed to be the one hurting them? What is this... As she searched further, files on the cure's research flashed before her, going back to a few years ago. It must be horrible isolation, keeping all of this to yourself, she thought. The man had lived a life that was not too unlike her own with regards to its loneliness. The nature of Yiuna's job had meant she had to keep all details of her work and personally identifying information a secret from those she knew. To take on any alias as a spy, the agent had to keep her distance from her old relationships. There was simply too much risk that she be exposed by those not well-versed in her line of work. Her job necessitated her abandon, and the agent wasn't keen on letting anyone get close to her regardless. Despite her isolation, she felt a small degree of comfort in knowing Gianni was experiencing similar. She wondered if he felt relief at her presence as she admittedly did in his.The next evening came quickly. Yiuna had just come out of the shower, filling the room with an allure the researcher could not help but be drawn to. He had not been in the company of a woman for some time, and he cherished her presence. He was about to start making dinner only to find his patient had beaten him to the kitchen, chopping vegetables on a board."You don't need to push yourself," he said, grabbing the scarf hanging on her chair before coming towards her. In the absence of his late lover, he had become decent at cooking, and planned to make something for the both of them."Don't mock me," she said flatly, eyes still on the board. The woman felt rather disgusted with herself. Idling was foreign to her and she needed something to do."You're quite stubborn," he said. He wrapped the scarf around her shoulders. "You'll get cold otherwise."Yiuna's heart started pounding as his hands lingered on her shoulders for a little too long. She couldn't quite bring herself to push him away."Let me cook for us," she said quietly. She lowered her head. "You seem busy."Gianni was touched by her gesture. Yiuna wanted to see the cure she had seen him work on come to completion. She was his only secret witness. With all he had done for her, she wanted to believe the man had good intentions. He didn't know it, but she was cheering for his success."Thank you," he said, leaving for his lab. The agent wound the scarf more tightly around herself. Ever since I met you, it's been warmer. Over the next few days, the agent could feel the researcher becoming increasingly stressed, and arguably more tense than she was from the virus. He would toil the day locked up in his makeshift lab, coming in and out at the odd hours of night. He mused over his luck at having found the spy as a light in the lab's darkness that day. He was lucky to have such a woman in his home, but a lasting haven with her seemed like a faraway dream. He was too guilt-ridden to want to entertain thoughts of pursuing her further. He didn't want to acknowledge any budding feelings for a woman he didn't deserve. He broke out of his daze. The woman was at his door, about to leave."Where are you going?" he asked. He realized just how dire the consequences could be for letting her leave the vicinity of his home. The cartel's presence had increased on the streets as he walked to work each day. The mafia was on high alert due to the facility's most recent intruder, and he knew from workplace rumors that the cartel was already searching for her. He could feel their presence when he was buying groceries at the stalls. If she was found out, she might face a "disposal" crueler than any punishment a test subject might face for straying."Taking a stroll. I'm feeling fine now.""Stay here. Your condition can suddenly worsen," he said, recalling his lover's sudden death. "Besides, who knows what the cartel will do if they find their own test subject loose on the streets?" He knew his work was valuable enough to her to make her want to stay at his home, but any contact the woman had with the outside could mean trouble for both of them."You don't need to worry about me, you've done enough. I can get us food," she said. Yiuna had no qualms moving around with her alias. Her Go-Card was pre-programmed by MI6 to encrypt her real identity in any transaction."That won't be necessary. If you need anything, I can get it for you. Otherwise, just bear it for now." He stood up and walked towards her."I'll just avoid them," she said. And they're nothing I can't handle . "So long as I'm feeling alright, that should be enough. Don't think so lowly of me.""You're not aware of just how alert the mafia is now. I can't risk having you run right into trouble." He did hold an appreciation for her strong will, but he had to hold her back this round. He couldn't bear to let the flower he tended to leave the castle of his protection, and he'd be damned if she disappeared, or worse, before he could enact his plan."I'll just go on my own." She opened the door. "You're making a big deal out of nothing.""Stay here. Please." He wrapped his arms tightly around her slender body to keep her from leaving. In that moment, he had stolen her breath. The woman hesitated before tearing herself away in silent acquiescence. She hoped he didn't feel the rapid beating of her heart. Regardless of his approval, Yiuna knew she had plenty of chances to leave when he wasn't around.As a few months passed, they had formed a cadence in their lives/, a cadence had formed in their lives. The days passed rather quietly as Gianni toiled away at his work, leaving Yiuna in her space. The distance between them had never changed, but as the days passed, they were drawn just a little closer to each other. The researcher would administer the anesthetic to her every few days. He looked forward to coming back home to the woman preparing dinner.
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Yiuna spent another evening in solitude. As it neared midnight, she stared out at the moon before nodding off to sleep in a daze, feeling undeservingly calm despite the pain she had grown used to. Yet beneath her closed eyes, an old wound opened in the realm of her dreams.A man in a lab coat stood over her as she lied in bed. The eerie fluorescent lights made her squint her eyes as a second experimenter held her down by her arms."Quit struggling," her restrainer threatened her, locking her arms in a painful twist.Yiuna tried to push him away, but her limbs were heavy, weak from previous rounds of testing. The only strength she retained to resist him came from the kick of adrenaline at her fear of another injection."Just restrain her," said the other man. "I'll be glad if she can't recover from the injection this round. That's what she gets for giving us this much trouble." The blonde was pushed down onto a medical bed. She felt cold metal clamp around her wrists. She felt a needle prick her skin. Pain shot through her nerves, cutting her from within with every pulse of her blood. She screamed.Her scream startled Gianni. He dropped his research and rushed to the distressed woman's bedside. It must be the virus acting up. It might have spread, he thought. Yiuna was sitting up in bed, breathing unevenly, eyes hollow. Still in the trance of her trauma, the agent's nightmare continued as she saw a man in a lab coat approach her."Let me see," he said."No." Don't touch me . She drew away."Come now.""I'm fine.""Quit fronting." His voice rose in aggravation."I'm fine.""This is more serious than you know – ""Let go!" She slapped his hand away, icy voice piercing the air. Her ragged breathing filled the stillness as she tried to calm herself. The mirage of her experimenters slowly faded as she came to her senses."Leave, just ignore me," she said quietly. His constant care was so foreign to her that she didn't understand it. No one had ever done so much for her before. She turned away as her voice dropped to a whisper, barely audible . "Why won't you just ignore me?"To the stunned medic, the small of her back seemed more delicate than before. Her resilience had been withered by what he assumed was a nightmare of trauma, a burden on her hunched shoulders that held a weight he could not begin to imagine. A few seconds of silence passed before the woman felt warm hands soothing her back in a familiar pattern.""How could I not do anything when I see you like this," he said. He felt her shaky breathing gradually steady beneath his palms. She bowed her head as her resistance melted, pooling at the corners of her eyes. Wet droplets fell from her cheeks, gracing her bare thighs."Lie down, let me have a look," he said. She blushed at his voice, wrapped in familiar gentleness yet burning with intensity. Avoiding eye contact, she lied on her front, covering herself from the hips down with her bedsheets."Excuse me," he said, lifting her gown to expose her back.Beneath her nightgown, the faint pattern had become more intricate. It now represented the pattern of the the most recent beta. She was near the activator that is used to trigger the experimental viruses, which may have invoked a mutation of the strain she had into the current one, he thought. The pattern had spread up the back of her neck. He knew that if the virus reached her brain's amygdala, the malware could trigger her memories of the past. The virus's effect was intended to be quite strong, a dream in reality. Gianni knew that addition to physical pain, the hallucinogenic side effect of experimentation had put other test subjects into mental agony, augmenting their realities with nightmares."You must be in more pain than you've been letting on. Your condition changed. Why didn't you tell me?" She didn't answer him.He didn't know whether she had kept quiet out of her trauma, or her stubbornness. He pulled her gown back down and continued to knead her back. Flustered, Yiuna didn't dare speak. Her face heated her pillow as she held it close. The medic could feel her muscles tighten."Relax your shoulders, you're tense." She loosened her grip, feeling weak as strong hands carved into her aching body once more, inviting her to let go. The concept of relief felt foreign and wrong, yet she could no longer resist the pleasure of escape. Under the masterful movement of his hands, she felt a degree of safety. She surrendered, letting the calmness take her. And she found that she didn't want him to stop. He had given her a safe space she didn't know she had longed for. She had never experienced anything like the care he had given her so freely, and it had ended up making its way into the castle of her guarded heart. She could no longer deny to herself that she had fallen for the very man she was spying on. He had gradually coaxed her out of the defenses she had held onto so strongly, and she berated herself for allowing his invasion. It was a terrifying weakness, yet she was helpless to it.And Gianni had wanted to ease her burden in any way he could. He mused over the ways he could help her relieve her tension, to make her rest easier. As his hands glided over her flimsy gown, he felt an urge to tear it off to see if the skin on her back felt as smooth as it looked. He wouldn't mind exhausting her to sleep in other ways. Yiuna felt his hands pause over her back."You must tell me if your condition worsens. If you need anything, let me know."He wrapped her snugly in her sheets and got up, heading back to his lab to work. The woman was disappointed it had ended. Yet with her body newly freed from her pain, she slept in deep peace for the first time in a long while.✧Castello knew he would be betting everything on himself in the next month to finish reverse-engineering the latest beta. He had long been working on a solution, but had no surety that he could follow through unless he knew for certain that any cure he made would not become ineffective with the subsequent rollout of new betas. With a London spy under his roof, the medic was now certain he could use his remaining time to covertly put a cure into production. He could face gruesome consequences at his betrayal, but there was no risk he was more willing to take. Driven by the sincerity of his intention to save, he was willing to bet everything on his plan. His guilt was another motivator, but not nearly as strong. It would be a mission in itself to make a cure production-ready in Candy's short timeframe, and he could very well guess the punishment for showing up empty-handed on the day of his given deadline. The woman was unaware of just how grave a decision he had made. The test subjects will be saved, he thought. But as for me.. . He kept up a maddening pace until / Only a few days remained before Candy's deadline. Harrowed by his remaining time, Gianni continued working throughout the evening and into the night. In the murkiness of his guilt and the exhaustion of pushing for a cure, one vial finally produced an unexpected positive result. He ran the test again to be sure he wasn't imagining things. He was elated that the same positive result appeared. He filled a syringe with the newest formula and prepared for tomorrow's work, planning to administer the unactivated cure to the woman tomorrow, when she expected her usual injection.The scent of late fall swirled as he returned home from work the next day. He glanced through the window, hand suddenly pausing at the doorknob. Beside his flower vase, a woman bloomed beautifully as she sat on the sofa, wrapped snugly in a thick scarf. She breathed in slowly to smell the flowers, long lashes lowering. The medic paused in reverence. She finally looks at peace . In the moment of stillness, his distress had drifted away."You were smiling." His expression softened as he greeted her. If she was relieved enough to smile, he couldn't ask for much more."What of it?" I was? She clutched the scarf over her heart. He chuckled at her defensive response."If you gave your body a break more frequently, you would smile more often." A smile formed on his own face, as if to show her. A part of him was saddened that she made it seem like a crime to be well-rested."That kind of thing doesn't matter," she muttered. Yet her heart stuttered in the genuity of his expression. She wondered how long he had been observing her. Or if he felt the same way she did at his smile. In the presence of the man that had allowed her to breathe more easily, her pain seemed to subside."Why don't I give you the injection now," he said.The syringe contained the unactivated cure he had completed, in addition to the regular anesthetic. Gianni planned to turn on the activator on the day of his deadline; his home was within the radius of its reach. He gave her the shot in the pit of her elbow, feeling partially relieved that she was a step closer to being cured. He sighed, giving her a cheerful smile. Yet his demeanor still held a heaviness she could not ignore. Yiuna couldn't help but feel uneasy. She had seen the dedicated man toil over his work with an unbreakable focus, and knew he had finally developed a cure from checking on his work earlier that day. His breakthrough was the main reason she had felt elated. Shouldn't he be happy?In truth, the purported medic wished he could explain it all to her, but he knew divulging his ties to the mafia's activities would be too risky. The burden of mutual silence hung in the air. Gianni's deadline was only a few days away, and he had no idea what would come of his decision to betray the cosa nostra . But the outcome wasn't important to him. He had long let go of such worries. All he knew was that the lives he had to free and the new Boost he had to stall were more important than whatever would take place that day. And his decision meant that the woman staying with him was relying on him. He broke out of his daze, surprised to see that she seemed upset for him. Had he not come to know her, he might have not been able to tell. He looked longingly into the agent's trembling gray eyes."You're warmer than you look," he said.Later that day, the woman's usual dinner preparations had began. With his work on the cure complete, Gianni had finally gained more time to himself, and he knew how he wanted to spend it. He joined her in the kitchen early."You're early, I'm not done yet," Yiuna said, back still facing him as she washed vegetables."I'll help you this round," he offered."That won't be necessary, I can handle it myself." She put the washed vegetables down on the board.As she looked down, she flashed him the creamy skin at the nape of her neck, fine like porcelain. Gianni was truly at the end of his line. This moment may very well be one of the last he could share with her, and he could not bear to leave himself unexpressed any longer. He had to let her know of the feelings he had been stifling. He hugged her feminine frame from behind, wrapping his arms around her in possession."Gianni...?"He pressed his lips against the delicate skin at her neck. It was deliciously supple. The woman's neck tingled at the wet softness. She slowly brought her hands up to pull his forearms more closely to her chest. Her body fit nicely against his. He held her in torment."Sorry," he said, voice dropping low.He loosened his hold and left.✧By the dim light of his lab that night, Gianni could not focus. He was alone in his plan. Incredibly lonely in his plan, he wanted to be near the woman's presence once more. The researcher brought his notes over to the bed where she was sleeping. He sat on the ground, back to the bedside. Gianni closed his eyes to take a break for the first time in what seemed to be lifetimes ago, yet he still felt unsettled. In his unease, he started drafting a note.The researcher was surprised to feel a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked up from his writing."You seem tense," Yiuna breathed.Gianni caught her hand wordlessly, intertwining their fingers. He turned around to stare at the angel in his bed. He gazed into her eyes with such a weight that it broke her heart. His eyes held the same intensity from the day she had met him. She was upset that she was unable to comprehend why the devastation had never left his face. He remained as unreachable as the heavens, distant in guarded suffering. Why, why, why, she wondered . The man gazed back, feeling unworthy of her affection as he wrote her into his memory. The woman's lips quivered at the subtle change of intention in his eyes. He couldn't forgive himself for leaning in close to meet her lips, wanting her softness. For a man buried in sin, her poison only tasted of sweetness. He smothered his lips on hers again in urgency, twisting her delicate strands beneath his fingers. To deny himself of her any longer would be too cruel.Over the next few nights, he had given her the kind of dream he wished for her to have. The same strong hands that had soothed her aching back now dug into the sinuous curves of her body, his name a melody from her lips as he soothed the ache between her thighs. Gianni would not let her drop back into pain, nor have another nightmare in his presence. She was his secret and he worshipped her, spoiling her in pleasure. And he would hold her so tightly that it almost hurt. For in the safety of his arms, she was unaware that her time with him was coming to an end.The day of Gianni's deadline came sooner than he wanted. The man knew he had to take his leave before sunrise. He sat up in bed, gazing at the woman lying undressed beneath her sheets, her hair still tousled."You're leaving?" she murmured. He stroked her hair as he stared into her lovely eyes, twin gray moons. His stars could only reach so far."You should catch some sleep while it's still dark. I'll be back soon." Don't come after me.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
**UPDATE: PLEASE HEAD TO AGENTROSEHQ.COM TO READ - I promise the experience is much cooler! Thanks for your support.**
Yiuna was concerned that the researcher had not returned at his usual time in the afternoon. She went into his room's lab, wondering if any updates to his files would explain his absence. She was surprised to find her scarf beside his keyboard. Neatly nestled into it was a small syringe, along with a note. Feeling uneasy, she held her breath as she unfolded the paper.
"This is the cartel's latest beta. Take it back for quarantine in Her Majesty's good graces – I have been waiting for years to give this to the right person with my limited freedom. I will activate the antidote today in place of the beta, then destroy the activator. This should halt the mafia's activities for some time and save the remaining test subjects, as well as fully cure you.
Angel, you're a heavensend. You now know the nature of my work in full. I won't ask forgiveness. I'm sorry. I love you.
Gianni"
Yiuna pocketed the syringe, heart lurching terribly. No matter how she spun it, Gianni's plan could not possibly end well for him.
How did he find out I'm connected to the government?
Her mind was racing.
The monitor he used on my arm...that's the only thing that could have scanned my Go-Card. No one should be able to decrypt an MI6 extension, but I may have already been on the mafia's record, considering my past.
She wandered outside to the garden, each heartbeat jarring her as the words of his note sunk in. Between the fuller blooms in the rose bushes were new pink buds, just beginning to blossom. In his solitary toil against the cartel, the researcher had nurtured budding hope for the future that he might never bear witness to. She didn't know the full weight of his atrocities nor how he got into his position, but she saw how much peace had he sacrificed to help those like her. How much guilt must have visited him every night for him to decide on such a blatant and dangerous betrayal to the cartel? She felt a grave sense of foreboding as she walked up to the roses.
The agent heard a rustling sound from behind her. Intuition confirmed, her heart sunk as her senses heightened. Gianni had definitely been found out if he had managed to attract unwelcome company to his home. She cupped a rose in her hand, lashes lowering in sorrow as she recalled the full bloom her lover had placed in her hair. As the agent held the flower in reverie, she felt a tingle down her neck.
Left side. More than one,
she noted, allowing her visitors to close in behind her. With a sharp pivot, Yiuna snapped back to knock out one assailant with a jab to his face. He crumpled as she ducked down, dodging a punch from the second man as he rushed her. The agent grounded her feet firmly as she lunged back upwards, bringing an open palm sharply up the attacker's center line to snap his chin back. With her assailants unconscious, she ran towards the facility. She passed the same stalls Gianni had picked up food from, wondering if she would ever spend another day in his presence.
She approached the facility's back entrance, where Gianni had snuck her out on the day they had met. A guard outside was surprised when he became trapped in an armlock from behind.
"The activator. Tell me where it is." The agent's breath tingled in his ear, her sweet voice laced with malice.
"I'm afraid I can't help you, miss – " The woman tightened her chokehold as he struggled without success. Her mood to dally was deteriorating quickly.
"In the basement. On the other side from here," he replied through painful breaths.
"
Grazie
," she said, choking off his air. He dropped to the ground.
She entered the facility. Yiuna's body seemed to move on its own as she flew towards the basement. As she neared the activator, her back gradually started pulsing in pain again. She knew that Gianni had yet to activate the cure if her pain had not subsided. If the researcher still hadn't gotten to the activator, he was likely in trouble. She had to find him quickly.
Upon reaching basement level, she opened the doors to a large central room. As she silently moved behind the pillars along the wall, the agent looked towards the center of the basement. Two of the mafia's foot soldiers stood out in the open. One
mafioso
held the battered researcher from behind in an armlock. Blood was splattered on the floor. The agent's heart dropped as she crept closer. She laid low and readied her gun.
"...and you had until the deadline to complete it, but the new beta is missing. You're not leaving until you tell us where it is," said the man holding the researcher.
"The hell did you do with the formula? Traitor! Do you think the boss is just gonna let us go without it?" said the other.
Gianni's head was bowed low. She saw his shoulders heave with each heavy breath.
"Out with it!" The
mafioso
standing in front of Gianni brought a knee to his torso. Gianni coughed blood through gritted teeth. Gianni's aggressor then pulled out his gun, digging it into the researcher's temple. "You know what happens to traitors, right?"
Upon hearing the threat, Yiuna fired at the aggressor from behind her pillar. He crumpled to the ground, but not before another guard unexpectedly returned fire at her from behind the pillar of an adjacent wall. The agent cursed at the appearance of a third foe.
"The Queen's spy. Back so soon?" The remaining
mafioso
addressed the agent while holding the researcher as a body shield. His anger towards her grew at the lifeless body of his family member beside him. Gianni looked towards the pillar Yiuna was behind with pain in his eyes.
"Time to play a game of kill the messenger," the
mafioso
said. He was about to draw his gun when Gianni stomped on his foot, causing him to yelp in pain. As the researcher wrestled his opponent, Yiuna waited for an opening, firing a shot at the foe once his back turned to face her. Her relief was short-lived as the guard behind the pillar shot Gianni. The next moments were a haze. The agent felt her heart stop as she fired back at the guard. She continued to plant bullets into his body even as he lied lifeless on the ground. Empty shells clinked on the floor. She approached her lover.
With all aggressors dead, it grew deathly quiet. Yiuna's breathing softened as she held him in her arms.
"I'm sorry," he said, voice fading. The angel shook her head in refute of his apology as tears began to well in her eyes. It was unfair of him to look so at peace when her time with him was coming to an end. He had given her so much, and she would never have the opportunity to return it. She grasped for the right words.
"Yiuna. My name...Yiuna Li." His smile devastated her.
"You knew, didn't you?" she asked, voice growing weaker.
And you still loved me
.
He stared into her glistening eyes beneath the white aura of the fluorescent lights. He felt he didn't deserve her, the woman that had been sent to him from heaven.
"Yiuna. Save yourself first." Cool fingers ran through the light golden waves framing her face. She didn't want to accept the reality before her. In a world that she could no longer imagine without him, she faced unbearable solitude once more.
His angel smiled stupidly for him, lips trembling. She couldn't hold it for long.
Don't look
, she thought, as her smile started shattering. She bent down to kiss him goodnight
.
He felt warm tears on his cheeks as her lips lingered on his. Yiuna's heart twisted as his warmth faded. She held him tightly as his presence ascended.
✧
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
**UPDATE: PLEASE HEAD TO AGENTROSEHQ.COM TO READ - I promise the experience is much cooler! Thanks for your support.**
The agent didn’t expect her first near-death experience to occur as soon as she set foot in the Halo. The elite group within MI6 was comprised of a ring of buildings and locations throughout London, all connected by hidden means of transport. She had recently gotten hired after she had passed a series of tests not too long ago, and she was at the main location to see M.
[Digital concept art for Yiuna Li, work casual part 1]
It was a haven. Warm marble arcs and columns formed a perimeter around an expansive central garden. The clusters of stone buildings built around it had elegant Victorian intricacies with twists of modernity. The woman came under an arc that brought her inside.The interior was just as beautiful, yet nothing in the peaceful high ceilings of the halls had suggested that a projectile would suddenly come flying at her head. A preoccupied lab technician was also in the line of fire. The agent’s shoes made two cold taps on the floor before she hugged him down and out of danger. The projectile they had narrowly dodged left a mess of shattered glass and rolling rubble at their feet. The employee did a double take at the woman, unsure of whether to be more stunned by the life still in his body or her beauty, but Yiuna was already looking back towards the direction of the threat in precautionary measure.“Whew, that thing went flying!” said the technician, laughing in relief. “I shouldn’t have checked my phone in this warzone. That apprentice is planning to leave a special kind of mark on this agency, I tell you.”He nodded towards the damage.“And M just snagged us some budget recently, too. She won’t be too happy about this once she finds out.”He got up to retrieve the tiny white device that had shattered the glass wall to the outside. From past the open doors from which it came, Yiuna overheard a conversation.“Zero, believe me, I ran the check twice before this.” A calm voice replied, one that was too tired to hold any anger.“Then it shouldn’t have done that. I’ll check it myself next time.”A messy-haired man came out from the entrance, ash brown strands catching the light of the sun. The gold-beveled device splayed its floating wings and left the technician, hovering above Zero’s outstretched palm before compacting its geometry and landing in his hand.“It happens,” said Zero, addressing the technician.“It sure does. Hey, remember that time when you nearly sent the older prototype flying into M’s fac- ”Zero gave him a deceptively blank stare-down. The technician's blood temperature dropped about two degrees.“...I have no idea what I’m talking about,” he finished. He left in haste. Zero finally registered the new woman’s presence. They stood in silence. Somehow, a “hi” didn’t seem appropriate to him. “This isn’t my fault”? “Welcome to the lab”? “The Halo cares about the safety of its employees”? Forget it, he thought.He left without a word. Yiuna started questioning her decision to join. ✧ Back in the lab, Damien was guffawing. “It’s alright, M. Our new lady just saved a technician from some trouble, right? Those reflexes certainly pass the test.” The Halo’s most seasoned inventor shook the remainder of his laughter off as he took his attention back to his tools. Damien wore his grey hair brushed back into a low, noble ponytail that curled slightly at its end, held together by a simple black ribbon. It was an otherwise dated style that the amiable German inventor had managed to make look timeless. M gave Damien a firm look.“This is Her Majesty’s agency, not a sandbox,” she retorted. Damien kept working away at the device on his counter as he replied. “I still haven’t gotten complaints about my wine from anyone other than you. The bedroom sealed off in this lab shows enough dedication, don’t you think? Even though you could take the Halo’s private underground to this agency’s hotel within minutes. Unrivaled fringe benefits! That keeps us more dedicated than the best tech companies out there.”There was truth in his words. The Halo offered its employees many means to live and breathe its air exclusively, from providing free lodging to extensive food services. One could argue it was just an attempt to boost slavery to the machine, but there were also very practical reasons. Due to the sensitive nature of the agency’s work, it was much safer for certain people to live within its network anyway. “You’re defending your own habits as much as the fact that he’s picked them up from you,” said M.The inventor shrugged M off with a slight frown.“Come now, he’s still functional. Zero, lay off the drink, will you,” he said. Damien then proceeded to take a sip from his own glass, causing M’s serene expression to break with a noticeable twitch in her right eye. He finally turned his attention to the new hire. His voice became a tad softer as he addressed the miss.“Fräulein, I’ve heard about you,” he said. Yiuna felt a flash of sympathy in the way his eyes crinkled. “I’m Damien,” he continued in cheer, “humbly serving as...your weapons master of sorts, amongst the other gears I spin here.” The agent noted the rather regal look about him from the way he carried himself.“I’m assuming you’re armed,” he said.“Yes.”His smile held the charm of a seasoned strategist. She figured he probably won a lot of battles with that smile.“Why don’t you bring your gun out.”Her slender fingers pointed the barrel of a pistol towards the floor. Damien took it from her.“Sig P938,” he said. “How do you like it?”“It’s not bad. I’m left-handed though, so the mechanics aren’t ideal.”“Well, if you like the feel of this model, I can switch the magazine drop to your thumb later. Bring it up to your par.” He paused. “And since we have one out here too...”A glint of mischief flashed in his eyes. Damien looked around the room until he found Zero.“Grab the 938 from the pile,” he instructed him. Yiuna stared at the multiple mounds of metal and parts. Which bloody pile, she thought. Compared to the tidier areas of the facility, she had to wonder if she was still in the same building.The agent picked up a receipt from the mess near her.
"OLD LONDON INT’L WINE & SPIRITS
925 WORTHEN RD
LONDON
DL12 7YQ
TEL: 070 598 9932
-----------------------------------------------------
1 MOET & CHANDON IMPERIAL BRUT £139.00
2 TAITTINGER COMTES DE CHAMPAGNE £165.00
1 DOM PERIGNON VINTAGE £285.00
1 LEITZ EINS ZWEI RIESLING £20.49
1 WEHLENER S. RIESLING KABINETT £18.99
2 CHATEAU L’EVANGILE £462.00
2 GEWURZTRAMINER £51.98
-----------------------------------------------------
TOTAL TO PAY: £1,142.46
CARD: £1,142.46
CHANGE: £0.00
TOTAL ITEMS: 10
APPROVED - THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING WITH US.”
There was a bias for German imports that she suspected was due to the happy man she had just talked to. Was all the alcohol the two men were drinking actually permitted? Damien motioned for Zero to come over with two quick knocks on a long table counter, prompting him to disassemble the gun that matched her model. Yiuna was surprised when he motioned for her to come over as well. The master inventor clunked her gun down on the same table, gesturing discreetly for the agent to bring the receipt over as well. “Disassemble your gun here, will you please.”Combined with the ease of confidence with which Damien held himself, the agent found it hard to refuse him. She looked at him questioningly, not particularly fond of fooling around. M held a similar look to her new hire, but allowed Damien to continue despite herself. She found his unconventional entertainment a welcome relief at times, not that she would admit it. And Damien was keen on proving a point to M. A point that would allow a charming cellar of alcohol to stay firmly rooted in the sacred confines of the lab. Once Yiuna made it over, Damien snatched the receipt from her and pulled his apprentice aside. “You expensed this already, right?” he asked Zero in a low voice, angling the receipt away from M. “Office supplies.”“Great!” he exclaimed, receipt crisping to a crumple as he balled his fist. He handed it back to his son, who pocketed it out of sight. “Time for a race, or rather, a demonstration - ,” said Damien, stressing the last word, “of competency.” He made a single gesture to direct their attention towards the opposite wall. A blade of white light streaked across it before it parted open to reveal an indoor shooting range. Yiuna took apart her gun as a row of targets revealed themselves. There was one directly in front of her, as well as one for the man standing beside her.“M, you might want to cover your ears for this one. This is to show you that the alcohol is of no detriment to his work…” said Damien, gesturing towards his messy-haired apprentice, “or mine. Hands flat on the table, both of you. Put your gun back together as if Her Majesty’s life depends on it,” he continued, “because my well-being depends on this too…” he trailed.Yiuna figured she could win this fairly easily. Yet her opponent seemed to disagree. Did the man named Zero stifle a laugh at her just then? She turned her head and caught him smirking. As if he had already won. It brought about an unexpected tinge of annoyance beneath her stoicism. Yiuna wasn’t competitive by nature, but this man was already dead to her.“Shoot at your target once you’re done. The first to fire a round wins.” Damien sliced his arm between them as a starting flag.“Ready…” he prompted.He waved his arm up as a flag to start them off. As if by the flip of a switch, the exhausted apprentice became another person entirely. Now very alert, Zero’s hands moved more by fluid feeling than by any real conscious effort.Click.The barrel locked back into the slide.Click. He seated the spring.Click, snap, click.He pushed the slide back. The pin dropped through. Any possible trace of an alcohol-induced stupor had drained right out of him. He racked the slide for good measure and snapped the magazine back in.Just as Yiuna poised herself to shoot, a gunshot cracked the air from beside her. Her own gunshot echoed the first less than a second behind, but the difference was noticeable enough. “It was nothing,” Zero said with ease.The agent’s gun thudded on the table rather loudly. She had lost on her first day, and in front of M, to someone this sloppy. Did all her years of discipline against such a shoddy disposition come down to this?In contrast, the apprentice had only gotten a confirmation of the outcome he had expected. It was his version of an employment flex. Zero had spent too much of his life in the slave hole of the lab to not have known with confidence that he would come out victorious. It was laughable for him to think otherwise. In fact, he had laughed just moments ago at the possibility. However, the lady did come stunningly close to his speed, enough to surprise him a little. He figured he should’ve expected that from someone M hired.Damien nodded satisfactorily at the results, shooting the speechless M a look before speaking to the agent. “Are you surprised, Yiuna?” he asked. Whether or not she was, he clearly was not. A note of post-victory pride was all too evident in the strategist’s voice. “It’s in the nature of his work to be good at putting things together. Don’t think too much of this little game of mine, you did well.”Zero resumed his duties. Damien spoke to M, gesturing towards the targets. “Zero’s not a bad shot, either,” he mentioned. “Even if our lady was more on target.”“Being so trigger-happy isn’t useful here. This is what happens when I let you decide the meaning of what a good use of the lab’s budget is. That definition wasn’t supposed to include the purchase of an extra supply of bullets a few months back,” she replied.“A win is a win. And it’s good enthusiasm, right? It keeps him going, so it’s fine if there’s some indulgences. Including some alcohol and a healthy dose of brass in the diet.”“...And that’s why it’s back to me to determine what those indulgences are.”Damien laughed.“One day, you’ll see why it’s good to let him explore things more. It’s part of the creation process. The mind of an inventor is something else.”At times like this, M questioned herself. Like father, like son...Is this really alright? M removed her earplugs as Damien’s face lit up with realization.“I’d almost forgotten my manners,” he said, turning towards the agent. “Yiuna,” He gave her a curt bow with a nod of his head.“Welcome.”