Sasha sat at his desk, contentedly working on paperwork and drinking his morning coffee. It had been three months since the debacle at the summer camp had been resolved, and Sasha was now back at the Psychonaut Headquarters doing his actual job. As much as he loved working with all the kids at Whispering Rock and helping them learn and grow, he could only take so much of the unruly children with psychic powers before he needed a long break.
"Agent Nein! Agent Nein! Hey Sasha!"
Of course, it was a bit difficult to get said break when one of the unruly kids was now working for the Psychonauts.
"Hello Razputin. What do you want?" Sasha asked, continuing to work on his stack of paperwork.
"Grand Master Zanotto wants to see us."
That got Sasha's attention. He swiveled in his chair to face Razputin.
"Oh? Why didn't he just contact me telepathically?"
"Unsure. But we have to go get Milla too."
"Hold on Raz. It would be far more efficient for me to mentally send her a message."
"Oh yeah."
Sasha closed his eyes and put two fingers to his temple, opening his mind and reaching out to Milla's.
Agent Vodello.
Yes, darling?
Grand Master Zanotto requests our presence.
Oh! Okay. I'll be up in a flash.
Milla severed the link, leaving Sasha once again with the hyperactive Razputin.
"Can we go now?" Raz asked, sitting on a ball of psychic energy.
"Yes Razputin. We can go now."
They quickly made their way up to the Grand Master's office, Sasha walking briskly and Raz rolling on his orange levitation ball. Sasha wondered what was so important that it required a meeting with Grand Master Zanotto. Normally, missions would just be given to him and Milla via sealed file folder and quick debriefing. An audience with the Grand Master was rarely necessary.
This must be serious.
Soon, they reached Grand Master Zanotto's office. George, the secretary, waved them in after taking a glance and noticing that the people seeking the Grand Master were Agents Nein and Aquato. Raz dispelled his levitation ball and followed Sasha into the office. Unsurprisingly, Milla had been quicker and was already sitting in one of the chairs in front of Zanotto's desk.
"Ah, there you are Nein!" Zanotto said cheerily, "Have a seat, you two."
Sasha sat in the other chair in front of Zanotto's desk, and Raz happily sat on his levitation ball.
"Now, this is a very serious and urgent matter, so I'm going to get straight to business," Zanotto said, all cheer drained from his face and replaced with solemnity, "We've had reports of an outbreak of a new drug very similar to ecstasy, except stronger and far more dangerous."
He flicked his wrist and levitated a file folder to Sasha with a burst of violet psynergy. Sasha thumbed through its contents as Zanotto continued to talk.
"We have managed to acquire a sample of this new drug, and through tests we have ascertained that psitanium is a key component of it. Our sources say that this drug has been nicknamed 'psystasy'. I'm sure you can imagine how damaging this drug is. Your mission is to apprehend the creator and main trafficker, Brandon Bentley."
"This man here, I assume," Sasha said, pointing to a small photo paper-clipped into the folder.
"You assume correctly. Bentley is known to be psychic, but he hasn't done anything remarkable for the past fifteen years. He lives luxuriously with his wife and ten-year-old son, and is the head of a small but successful company. However, he is the only known psychic in the area, and he has a history with illegal drugs, although he's supposedly penitent of said history. We highly suspect him, but we don't have concrete evidence that he's the culprit, and we need you three to go undercover and see if you can catch him."
Milla snatched the folder away from Sasha and flipped to the back where their airline tickets and aliases were attached.
"So we're to go to some fancy neighborhood in California as a posh and sophisticated socialite family in order to catch a drug dealer?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow,"That seems like a bit of a paradox, darling."
"I'm aware, Agent Vodello. But you must remain inconspicuous, and the company Bentley keeps is very elite. Just roll with it."
"Oh, I'm not complaining. I love a good debutante ball. Dancing and gorgeous dresses? Sign me up, darling! It just seems a little odd. Are you sure you have the right man?"
"Positive. Your cover identities are in the file. Mr Georg Anberlin. Mrs Maria Anberlin. Theodore Anberlin." Zanotto shook each of their hands, grinning. " Pleased to meet you. Now go catch us a drug dealer."
Zanotto shooed them out of his office and closed the door, effectively ending the discussion. Sasha, Milla, and Raz looked at each other. Silence hung awkwardly in the air.
"Of all names, why did he choose Georg?" Sasha suddenly said, "I look nothing like a Georg!"
Milla and Raz laughed.
"Darling, you can gripe about your alias later. We've got a plane to catch," Milla said, smiling as she grabbed Sasha's arm and pulled him towards the elevator that led to the ground floor with Raz following close behind. Sasha sighed. This was going to be a long mission.