Despite us stopping far less times compared to the last time I've traveled here, we've still managed to take four days to pack up and drive all the way out here. We have seven days till the mission deadline, and so many things left to do.
We maneuver the oncoming explosives and artillery rounds with uneasy success, giving Pierre the chance to leap out of the vehicle and find his way through the smoke and ashes while Antonio and I search for a way in. We've left his temporary daughter in charge while he's away, let's hope she doesn't fuck her girlfriend in the office rather than keeping watch over the area.
Something hits close to the back of the truck, sending debris flying and us shifting from side-to-side, our ears ringing and no clue which way we're facing. Until something begins to slowly sink us underground, the running of motors barely making its way through my disabled hearing. Darkness ensues and the smoke slowly fades, revealing to us a car elevator, reinforced titanium on all sides, a few knicks and scratches, but otherwise spotless.
When the door before us opens, slowly sliding into the ground, we are met by an army of armed guards carrying futuristic-looking ray guns. They shout orders at us in a language I don't understand but Antonio follows with ease, so I copy him. With our hands up, we slowly climb out of the truck, keeping our eyes fixated on the floor, turning our backs to them and pressing our stomachs against the front of the vehicle. They send six men for each of us, three having weapons pointed at vital areas while the other three place the bindings around our wrists, ankles, and neck. They put muzzles over our mouths, and, surrounded by men at least a head taller than both of us, they lead us through a long hallway, insuring to obstruct our view so we have no clue where we are until they throw us in an all-black cell and lock the door and fits seamlessly with the rest of the room.
With the muzzles on and our hands tied, he is unable to explain to me what is going on, nor what they were saying. So instead, we sit in impatient silence for what feels like days.
By the time I'm about to pass out, the door finally opens, seemingly two inches too far to the left, but it's whatever. In walks two armed guards and Eriq, hair wet, adding a hint of appeal, and still well dressed like before. "What are you doing here? And who's this man that you're with? He's not Dima Faya."
One of the guards removes my muzzle, and I lie immediately, "No, Dima went missing a while ago, this is someone I trust enough to take his place, to ensure things continue running normally. I knew that Shushi and Leon wouldn't pay enough attention to know it's a completely different man."
"What's your name?"
They remove Antonio's muzzle, and he follows my lead, "Blake Metzli."
"Run a reverse search on that name." Eriq speaks into his wrist, and gestures at both of us to stand. We do so with difficulty, our knees cracking and legs numb from sitting still for an unknown amount of time. The guards remove our bindings just as Eriq presses a finger to his ear and smiles. "I see, well welcome to my facility, Blake. I hear you've had a tough life, yet both you and I hold some similar values, follow me."
He leads us through an elevator, dressed in gold and a variety of gorgeous designs of plants and birds, like poison ivy and vultures. When the doors reopen, we exit into a gorgeous banquet hall filled with food on trays carried by walls of butlers. Eriq gestures for us to take a seat across from him at the center of a long, golden table. He snaps his fingers, and in an instant, ten butlers line up beside me, each taking their turn to offer me something from their tray, something with fish, something with bread, something with beef, something with vegetables, none of it I've seen before, half of it I accept, and they all return to their positions. Before me is a small tasting platter of potatoes, either crab or lobster, a one-bite sandwich of an animal I could've sworn was extinct, a shark egg, and the heart of a pufferfish. I glance beside me, seeing that Antonio has chosen only the strange spoonful of foam which is supposed to taste like duck and oak, and a cactus chip.
"Alright, talk to me, what brought you both here on such nonexistent notice? It must be important."
I start immediately, not even touching the food yet while Antonio pokes at his with unease. "Shushi, Leon, and Callum are all dead." He shows no sign of emotion or care and instead gives me a respectful nod to continue. We went for the delivery job to explain the newest product to our clients, came back, and they were both drugged up and behaving erratically. By the next day, they had killed Callum and practically danced in his blood while surrounded by broken bottles of our product. Dima was forced to kill both of them after they tried to drug him as well. Later, we had asked our herbalist if they'd seen anyone while we were away and they said yes, that you had paid a visit and you yourself had drugged them."
"I see," He folds his hands around a steaming cup and takes a long sip, smiling deeply into the cup before focusing back on me with a sad frown. "Well, I'm sorry to break it to you, but it wasn't me. I don't go see clients in person, it's a major security issue and far too personal. However, I'll share this piece of information with you; my other clients in completely different industries have been experiencing similar things. The stores I provide vegetables to have been seeing their managers swallowing tomatoes whole and then destroying the rest of the supply, shelter that I provide the blankets for have been finding the owners piling them all into a corner and later hanging themselves with them, just yesterday I received word that a ceo jumped through a tv I sold them and died on the spot. Every single one of them had people claim I paid a visit and I caused them to take such actions. Only, I never left the building. I've been having my guys look into these claims and figure out who is pretending to be me and ruin my reputation and connections, but so far nothing has come up."
No sense of a lie, no hesitation, no change in heart rate, no slip ups. But then again, a man who controls as much as he does would be an excellent liar.
"I wish I could give you all some peace of mind, especially considering your top herbalist was killed, but there's really nothing else I can do other than suggest you stay close to your people and maybe up security, ensure nobody gets close to your warehouse. I can provide you with a discount for protection services, but the attack has already happened and from the pattern I've seen with my other clients, it won't happen again."
Antonio doesn't say a word, instead, he pushes his food to the side, which the butlers immediately retrieve and waits patiently, staring down at his hands with an unreadable expression.
"Alright, thank you for your time." I mumble, rising from my seat, which allows Antonio to do the same.
"Once again, I'm deeply sorry for what has happened to you both and I hope sometime soon, you can find some clarity. For now, one of my guys will give you an escort out of the area to ensure your safety."
When we return to the truck, we find Pierre standing guard not too far away in what appears to be a more leadership-esque uniform. He hops inside the truck and begins giving us directions on how to find the way out of here, and just as we're out of sight, he removes the mask, smiling proudly to himself.
"What the fuck are you all chipper about?" Antonio glares at him, gripping the steering wheel with all his strength as we dodge whistling missiles and deeply embedded mines.
"You guys have no clue the amount of information I'd just gathered while running around and keeping eyes on you both."
"Go on," Antonio practically seethes as we plummet into a massive crater, catching air mere seconds later. I bite my tongue when we hit the ground and continue speeding.
"I managed to infiltrate pretty early on and take out one of the mid-level guards, who had just barely enough clearance to be allowed to open the hatch for you guys. Then I fit in with the army that arrested you both, made sure the thing on your cuffs that drains your energy was deactivated. You're welcome, by the way. Then, I hacked into one of the higher ranking accounts and contacted Eriq that there was an important guest being held for questioning and that he should go see them as soon as possible. Didn't think it would've taken him eight hours to finally do it, but he got to it eventually." Hang on, eight fucking hours? "In the meantime, I've looked into as much about him, this facility, and sort of background information on high ranking individuals within his corporation. After that I went to their research lab and fed them information about 'Blake' while inserting some key details to give Eriq something to parasocially bond over. While you guys were in the elevator, I quickly switched into a suit and stood with the butlers—you should've tried the foam, that shit was impressive. Then after the departure, I changed into the uniform for their escorts and made sure I was the closest one available to assist you guys."
Happy he finally shut up, I ask, "Anything important you ended up learning?"
"Absolutely."