MafiA's Gamble

THREE

Eleyne (pronounced as Elaine): 

     MAFIA GADGET TESTING, STRANGE VIAL

     Yuki got up from her seat and placed her clean dinner plate into the sink. Promptly heading to her room, she stuffed her precious tech treasures into a large duffel bag, and started preparing to go outside. She had already told her family that she was going to start going to the gym as a New Year's Resolution, but of course, she never actually went. Calling over her shoulder, she announced her leave to the gym and walked out the front door. Yuki walked briskly, enjoying the crisp, fresh night breeze, eventually reaching a small dark alleyway. A phone call was made, and moments later, a dark vehicle made its way beside her. The driver rolled down the window and beckoned to Yuki to take the front seat. "You heard Boss' announcement, right? She's got a new assignment." Yuki tossed her duffel bag into the back and got into the car, smiling. "Yes Lia, of course I did. Now let's go, best not keep Boss waiting!"

     It was not a long drive. Before long, a colossal, intricately designed skyscraper blocked their pathway. Nearing the entrance car loop, the car jerked to the side, entering a hardly visible road. The car now rested upon a slightly elevated platform, one you couldn't notice unless you knew it was there. Lia quickly took out what appeared to be an ID card and flashed it at an innocent recycling bin nearby. A slight hitch, and the car began its descent into the underground. When Yuki and Lia got out of the car, they were greeted with hurried footsteps. "Guys, hurry up! Dawn and Krystal are already here waiting for you!" a voice called, increasingly closer. "Okay, okay, we're going." Lia replied, hoisting some bags out of her trunk. Yuki followed suit, grabbing her bag and following a rushed Eleyne into the elevator. As the first one in, Lia thumbed down a series of patterns on the wall, almost mindlessly as if she had done it all her life. A moment later, that sector of the wall was soon silently replaced with a new panel of switches and buttons. Eleyne jabbed a button on the new panel as she and Yuki stepped in, and the doors to the elevator closed, taking the three to where no regular employee would ever witness.

      "So for today, we were thinking about testing out those new gadgets you guys mentioned. I know it sounds rather simple, but this time around, we are going to require both of you to oversee the mission so you can assure they work." The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. The three stepped out of the elevator, welcomed by a dark room. Many screens portraying various scenes covered a vast majority of the walls, and a large table stood in the center, laden with papers. Taking in the sights of the room, Yuki commented, "It's really been a while since I last came here." She walked over to her desk on the side, and put on the headset that lay there, immediately connecting her to Dawn and Krystal. Across from her, Lia did likewise. Eleyne walked over to the stacks of papers in the center table, flipping through a few before she spoke. "All the preparations on our side are done. Is everyone good to go?" Lia stretched and cracked her knuckles, her face illuminated by her screen. "Yeah, I think we're good." "Alright. So according to the Boss's instructions, today we're going to be initiating a purely offense mission. Someone has sent in a request to eliminate the worthless bands of thugs roaming the neighborhood, so we'll be asking you to test out the new gadgets as you see fit." After orders were given, a small session of tutorials took place. "Wait Krystal, you see that small one there in front of you? No, not that one, the smaller, circular one. Yeah. Okay, so that little fellow needs to be handled carefully. If you press that sensor over there- no don't touch it yet- while it's on a pressure point, it will paralyze that whole corresponding limb. That's why you need to make sure you never touch it while it's on you. Oh, and if someone is particularly annoying, stick it on the temple; that's basically lethal. Mostly for near combat, I mean, unless you are confident you can aim it correctly." On and on went the explanations, until things were finally good to go.

     The MafiA had received many such requests over the years, and the disposal went along smoothly, with the exception of certain gadgets that needed to go back to the drawing board. As always, tech support and strategic advisory were on standby, as Dawn and Krystal were given intel-based locations, making quick work of everyone as usual. The mission successfully completed and the clean up crew already at work, Dawn and Krystal were ready to go back to headquarters. As they walked towards their ticket back, something caught Krystal's eye, and she stooped down to investigate. "Hey Eleyne, I think one of the bandits left something behind." Carefully, Krystal lifted it up, and a vial of strange liquid was revealed. Eleyne took note, and immediately informed the boss about it. "Hey Boss, I think we should bring the vial back and figure out what it is. I have the feeling it's going to be important." An audible sigh was heard, and the boss replied. "For the last time, I told you to just call me Alice. However, yes, you do have reason, I agree. Retrieve the vial for further inspection and let me know if you find anything of note." "Okay Boss," Dawn answered, as she took the vial. Another displeased sigh was once again heard after this remark. "We're gonna head back now. See you guys soon!"

     Yuki sighed as she relieved her ears from the headset. She got up to go grab some snacks, when she ran into Dawn and Krystal, who just returned from the assignment. "Good job, guys!" Krystal smiled as both she and Dawn grabbed a few snacks from Yuki's arms. "Thanks. Your gadgets were also really good. Oh, and we already dropped the vial off with the science team. They should send their findings to you soon." "Okay then, thanks!"

     As Yuki sat back down at her desk, her screen notified her of some new files recently sent over. She proceeded to open the file, and found data regarding the contents of the vial. "Hmm it seems that this is some sort of fuel that can provide super high power. I wonder what it's for." A few more observations and research later, she discovered that the liquid was an extremely rare substance, something that is almost never used, and even more ridiculously hard to obtain. "What kind of machine even needs this thing? It's way too much power, it'll explode anything that charges it up, unless it was used to power up some sort of nuclear bomb!" Muttering to herself, Yuki bolted from her chair and informed the Boss about her discoveries. The break of dawn soon approaching, Yuki decided to leave the base and head home. "I'll see you guys later!" she called, as she waved goodbye to her coworkers. She reached home as the sky began to slowly lift its veil of dark, and she sneaked into her bed, ensuring she didn't wake anyone. Trying her best to get a small nap before the day ahead of her, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, her head full of the uncertainties surrounding the vial. "I wonder what it's for?"