Guns or Daggers

Battleground

Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, violence (hehe), guns and daggers (of course), death, traces of manipulation.

"Madam Mariana?" she knocked at the vast metal double doors of the laboratory.

"Yes, Capricia," a stern voice replied from inside.

"Madam Sophia is back," Capricia replied.

On receiving no reply, she continued.

"With the potion, Madam."

On this, the metal doors opened inwards, revealing a large room with sky-high ceilings. The whole interior was white marble and cedar wood. There were a lot of tables, all laden with glass vials, test tubes, and other scientific equipment. There was a huge projector screen on the right side and on the left side, stairs covered with velvet carpet led to the first floor where there was a small platform wide enough for walking. That platform had a huge bookshelf filled with different test tubes labeled carefully. There were many small lights scattered across the ceiling that lit up the whole room in a harsh white glow. 

Footsteps echoed around the room as a lady in her mid-forties, who appeared to be in her twenties, clad in black stepped into the view. She had a white lab coat over her overall black attire. She pulled her goggles off and raised an eyebrow at Capricia.

"Well," her voice was sharp yet elegant, "where is it?"

"She wishes to see you herself, Madam," Capricia replied.

"And why is that?" Mariana folded her arms and tapped her boots impatiently. "I'm very busy."

"It's the 30th of the month. It's time for the monthly report."

"Send her in then," Mariana said and turned around, walking to the nearest table.

Sofia entered the room and the doors closed behind her, leaving Capricia outside. She opened her mouth to greet but immediately shut it when Mariana started speaking.

"Since when was Capricia your personal assistant?" Mariana asked, turning around.

No greetings, as usual, Sofia thought.

"Lucy died," Sofia kept her response short and simple.

"Potion?" Mariana asked, extending her hand towards Sofia, slender fingers awaiting the vial that Sofia extracted from her pocket and handed over. "Now start. And be quick," Mariana said, turning and walking towards another table.

You always say this.

"Vernon's gang attacked our old base on the 2nd. Captured some people and blew up the whole thing-"

"Good. I hated that base," Mariana observed the vial at eye level before uncorking it and pouring a few drops of it on a glass slide.

Sofia clenched her fists before forcefully unclenching them. That base had been her first very own base. It had been her biggest personal accomplishment ever.

Of course, you hated it. It wasn't yours.

"Lucy died during that blast. Vernon still denies being involved in it but we found proof that it was him-"

"Were there any traitors involved?" Mariana covered the droplet on the slide with a square coverslip and slid the slide under the microscope lens.

Strange.

Sofia found this question strange, yet took a deep breath, willing her voice to stay smooth. 

"Yes."