Solo No Rest For The Wicked

[Eva]

"This hospital?" The female voice came from the back side of the ambulance as they parked right in front of a big hospital in the middle of Barcelona.

"да," The blonde man in the driver's seat confirmed. "Asset is in room 714, seventh floor."

Ekaterina reviewed the one picture of the vegetative patient in her hand; the spitting image of that one exact girl Tick Tock fused into during the magia directive. Erika Banderbill, twin sister of Maria Banderbill. Missing, presumed to be dead. No, should be one hundred percent dead.

"Your men, are they ready?" The man promptly motioned to the other car that already arrived first. "Six, as ordered. Two ex-КГБ and four ex-Спецназ." Achievements are a good thing, proving them is another.

"Good, let's see how they handle unknown variables." Dusting off the thigh of her suit pants, she stood up. "I'm also going in." She exited the back of the ambulance, and six men were waiting just outside, dressed sharply in formal shirts and suits.

Vasily sighed as he joined them.

"Seventh floor. Grab the asset and we're out in seven minutes." The woman reiterated. Technically they could be in there for fifteen minutes and nothing major would happen. She's just interested in how the guys will perform under a strict time limit. "No Russian." All eight put on their surgical mask, before proceeding to walk through the main entrance of the general hospital.

"I will handle the CCTV." Spotting a camera, one of the men quickly separated himself, off to look for the security room while the rest of them made their way to the lift. The group attracted a lot of eyes as they moved, but people forget a thousand things every day. This was going to be one of them.

"Lo siento, las horas de visita han concluido." The nurse in front of the inpatient hall politely stopped them, letting them know that the visitation hours were over. "Esta no es una visita." Ekaterina just tilted her head, and two men beside her discreetly pulled out pistols, one man making the 'shush' gesture by slowly putting one finger up. The woman proceeded with Vasily and the other three, as the two members stood there to stand guard even without her explicit command.

708, 709, 710, 711, 712, 713...

714. Here is it.

Vasily opened the door. There was no one else except the one without consciousness lying on the bed, machine on the side beeping every second or so. One quick look was enough to confirm the identity of the comatose patient.

"We have Erika Banderbill."

 

[Eva]

Walking out of the freezing shower with firm steps, Ekaterina wrapped herself in a needlessly long and glamorous bathrobe before going to the study. A cup of warm tea was already served on the corner of the massive table.

Making herself comfortable sitting on the leather chair, she swiped through the notifications on her tablet just as a voice call notification appeared. She nonchalantly touched the answer button as her other hand reached for the cup of tea.

"Yes, Vasily?" The woman expected news, which her assistant delivered over the call. "We've arrived with the asset safely." After Katya arrived back in Moscow two hours earlier, her team finally managed to bring Erika Banderbill after several covert private flights.

Sipping the steaming drink, the white-haired woman slowly stood up. "Good job. Room 11 should already be set up. Bring her there." Ending the call, she placed the cup back on the table, before exiting the study and making her way to her room to dress up.

Exactly five minutes after that call, Katya appeared in front of Room 11 in her usual fashion of red shirt, black tie, and black pants. Opening the door revealed the medically-equipped room with Erika already laid on the bed, connected to the body monitors and life support equipment. The sterile, white walls in it made it seem like it was made to replicate hospital rooms.

"I'm not quite sure what to tell your father." After all, Vasily was still one of her father's men. And one Vladimir Alexandr would notice where such amount of money went to. Without missing a beat, Katya just replied "Everything. It's not like he will get angry." She walked closer to the bed, inspecting Erika's form. Her attention then switched to the device prepared on the side of the bed.

"What about the motivation for this venture, then?" The blonde man sighed while making the written report on his tablet, despite things like this being a recurrence every now and then. It's just that unlike her brothers, Vladimir's stern hand never applied to her, the only daughter and his youngest children.

And also the spitting image of his late beloved wife.

"Like usual," She picked up the device, which was already powered up and connected to the outlets, bringing it closer to the comatose girl's head, before fixing the full-dive VR device on her head with an emotionless visage. "Curiosity."

 

[Eva]

　

 [ Song Dayeon ]

Know something about the recent VRS stuff?

　

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Technically, yes, she knows something; that the VRS recently closed down. But that's definitely not what the other person was expecting. For her, the news was just a tiny speck of dust in the universe — as unimportant and uninteresting as the recent tech developments.

Dayeon's not the type to make random small talk, and thus, this might concern something more; perhaps it is connected to the game? Unlikely. Related to Dayeon and her associates? Possibly.

Tapping her fingers on the cover of the book she was reading, Katya considered the risk she wouldn't want if this stuff were as concerning as she hypothized.

Not three seconds after she pressed the call button on her phone, it was picked up. "Vasily? I want every information on Virtual Reality Strategy. And anything that might relate to it." She disinterestedly looked around the white room, once in a while stopping at the unmoving figure of Erika Banderbill. "Anonymous. Soft and hard copies. I'll wire you the funds required."

"Yes, tomorrow." She didn't even have to ask; the right-hand man knew how she wanted things. The short call quickly ended, with Katya going back to read her book while typing a one-word reply to the message.

　

 [ Song Dayeon ]

Know something about the recent VRS stuff?

　

　

Inevitably.

​