The sun glared through the open window. Outside a bird sang, giving song to the entire room, as well as a sense of peace. It was a feeling that stirred in the mind of Rico. Her musing was of this feeling of wonderfulness. Even when she awoke she was still lost in reverie. Her smile couldn't have been cuter.

Sometimes Rico wished that in their room was a mirror so could check on how she looked. Sure looking good wasn't a mandatory thing, but sometimes she just wanted to look better. Her eyes store at her hands, the smile on her face still present. Today was going to be a blessing. Everyday was a blessing for Rico. Even every second was a gift.

The memory of Rico being in that hospital was still lodged in her head. The images of her parents arguing sometimes made her giggle. But what really made her smile was knowing that instead of being underground, she was above it. And that she had to thank someone for. Usually she thanked Jean in her mind, for he was the one that took her under his wing after all. Him and all the rest of the staff in Section 2. She had all of them to thank for this life she had now where she could eat, sleep, and talk with her friends. She wouldn't change anything in her life, and she knew she would never want to. She just wanted to keep on doing her work with Jean to make him proud of her, even is he never appreciated it. As long as she could do the work she was told to, she'd be happy for the rest of her days. That was all she ever wanted. And in truth, that was all she would ever do. Work and no play as the saying went. Or something like that.

Rico reached under the bunk where Henrietta still slept, and pulled out her suitcase. She took off her nightgown and dressed into her usual attire: A nice wool brown buttoned jacket that she loved to wear. It kept her nice and warm during the cold days of Italy. She slipped on her brown jeans along with her socks and shoes. And now all she could so was wait for that knock. That knock that would began her day.

Rico put her Dragunova on the wooden table. She took the cloth that was left on the table and began wiping the muzzle. It was already crystal clean, but she had nothing better to do while she waited for her handler to show up with the order to move out. The muzzle sparkled with pride in Rico's work. Pride in the men that she had killed and the lives that she had saved.

It wouldn't be for at least for an hour and a half before Jean showed up at Rico's door. Rico was expecting to go to the main office building to see Lorenzo, but that wasn't so. Instead they went into the café where they had been the previous day. And instead of eating a nice breakfast like Rico hoped once they walked inside the doors, they sat down at a table where another man was sitting down smiling in his chair. She didn't recognize him, but he dressed like he worked with the agency. A black business suit with black pants, a nice blue tie that matched his dark blue eyes and thinning gray hair. Rico placed her hands on her lap as Jean took a seat next to her.

"Salve, come sta Rico?" The man had a clear Greek accent.

"Sono buone" Rico replied, a smile not present and her tone stale and normal.

"Good to hear. My name is Aetos Manos. I represent the chief of police in Athens"

What did a Greek man want with Rico?

"And hello to you too Jean. I know our talking yesterday morning was brief, but I hope it was long enough for you to consider your options"

"It was. I'm going to let her go"

Aetos rested his two old hands in front of his chin, obviously contemplating about something. And it looked like he was thinking about something important too.

"Rico, you must be wondering why I'm here and why you're here. I am friend of Lorenzo, and in fact will be setting up a new agency in Greece much like the one you have here in Italy by the end of the year. But that really doesn't have a lot to do with you I suppose. You see there's a very big pedofilo that I have been chasing for over two years."

Aetos took out a folder from underneath him, placing it on the table. When he opened it there were papers and papers of written documents in Greek. Rico only picked out the words she knew; dangerous, Ukraine, young. The rest she didn't understand. Also in the folder was a picture of an old man, probably only a few years older than Aetos himself. He was loosing his hair like Aetos, but wore round glasses and had a small rugged gray mustache.

"His name is Lev Nikolski, fifty seven years old. He was born in L'viv, Ukraine, right along the Polish border, but moved to Athens with his family when he was eight. He traffics about four hundred children under the age of twelve a day in Greece, Albania, and Turkey. We think he's been trafficking for about six years now, but we only caught whiff of him during his fourth year because he always moves around. One day he's in Tirana, the next Istanbul. We didn't know that all of the children he owns were related to each otherby being under his control until we started getting information from an inside source."

Aetos paused, leaning back in his chair. He was still pondering about whatever he was pondering.

"He's here in Italy. Specifically Genoa. And it looks like he's going to set up a new shop if you catch my saying. And Rico we, and by we I mean everyone within the Child Abuse Regulations Service in Europol, want this guy caught. And we also want you to go in for us. We want you to go in, and help us catch him"

Aetos went on from there on the details of how everything would work. A tracking device would be implanted in Rico as well as a listener in her ear so they could listen to her should she need to speak to them and so she could here their orders. Aetos and his men were a small team of detectives from Europol, just like Hillshire before he joined the agency. They'd always be no less than one kilometer away from Rico should danger fall upon her and her life became in serious danger.

In all of her missions, whenever Rico found her target, she either eliminated the target or captured them. During this mission she was to follow him everywhere she could and stay with him as long as needed so the Europol team could identify all the locations Lev kept his bambini. His children. They wanted to save as many as they could from this man and his henchmen. It was simple: the more they saved the better. And that meant that Rico would have to stay with Lev for a long period of time and endure all the abuse given to her.

Aetos was kind enough to explain why Rico was chosen. It wasn't because of the other girls themselves, but rather their pasts and their handlers. Triela and Henrietta were the only other ones able to go, but allowing them to go was out of the question. Triela had already been in the world of trafficking enough, and Hillshire would never allow her to go, considering what he saw when he worked with the same people that Rico would soon be working with. Henrietta's situation was the same; she had been raped in front of her dead family before the agency took her in, and Jose cared too much for her to let such an hideous thing be done to her again. That only left Rico. There was Elsa too, but the lack of concern Lauro showed for her made the team weary of sending her, knowing that Lauro wouldn't care what happened to his 'tool'. So it was just Rico left to choose for this assignment. The other girls had their acceptable excuses (or rather, their handlers did).

The Greek went on to explain that they wanted to suit up at get to Genoa as fast as possible. The Europol team tracked him down to a small apartment building where it was possible he was hiding some children. Europol would like to bust in and save them, but they needed to know where Lev's other hiding locations for his "goods" were back in the other countries he operated in. All they needed was a slip of the mouth and they could rescue countless lives of dozens, if not hundreds, of sexually abused kids. Rico had never been abused, and therefor didn't realize how truly bad it was. But she had to be strong for the other bambini that were being raped every minute. She had to do it for them.

"So, you'll be taking no guns on this mission. Not ever a knife. We can't have this guy getting suspicious, got it?" He went on before she could answer "We're going to place you in front of his apartment once we arrive. I'll explain more on the way there."

Aetos pushed up out of his chair, running his hand through his hair. He gave the "come on" sign with his hands as he walked out the doors. The two followed him to the front entrance of headquarters. At the main gate were two black vans, motors still running. Smoke from the exhaust pipes filled the air with a gray smog. A black SUV drove up through the open gate and stopped behind the vans. It's brakes screeched as it came inches away from the bumper of the second van. Out stepped a man wearing the same attire as Aetos, but with more hair, and less years of age. A lot less.

Aetos slid open the door to the van behind the first, allowing the Italians to sit in. There was already a driver up front who looked like a body guard wearing a strict black attire, including a pair of square black sunglasses. Maybe Rico was underestimating the importance of this assignment.

And then it all began. Before Rico could snap in her seatbelt the van began to drive off, the wheels spinning away. It was like a small caravan of armed men (and one little girl) traveling across the open roads of Italy. An caravan of justice and guns.

They pulled out of the agency's driveway letting the mission begin. It only took minutes to go from a nice morning bed to this. She wasn't even asked if she wanted to accept the mission. She thought she would of considering how serious Aetos seemed to be thinking about the assignment. But she was only a tool of the trade, and why ask I tool if it wanted to be used? Of course it would say no, it didn't want to be twisted, banged, or yanked. The tool would want to be left alone to sit and collect dust rather than be used. But Rico didn't know if she would have said no if asked. She probably would have said yes. She couldn't imagine herself saying no to doing an assignment. Even though this one seemed to mean she had to prepare herself for being raped, she still didn't think she would have said no. Rico didn't even know why she was wishing she had been asked, for it wasn't like she had ever been asked before. Though there was a first for everything she supposed.

Rico, Jean, and the driver, all rode in complete taciturnity. The busy city was the only one that tried to give conversation, but it failed multiple times. Police sirens, car horns; nothing worked on these three. Eventually the driver punched a button and on came the beautiful work of Giuseppe Verdi. His opera had helped inspire a revolution in the boot leg of a country. A true musical genius that was the Beethoven of all of Italy. There was not one Italian over the age of thirty-two that did not know at least one of his songs. High schools played his music, and children read about him in the books. He was a true propagandist too.

Only after a few minutes of driving did the caravan pull over to the side of the street, letting the busy commute pass on by. The passenger front door was opened and Aetos came in, closing th door behind him. He tapped the driver's shoulder, giving the sign to start driving again. And sure enough they were off.

"You can sit tight, we have a two hour drive. But here's how it's going to happen. Rico, we're going to place you outside the apartment where Lev is staying. We think there's at least two other men staying with him. We don't know how many children he has, but we're guessing at least seven or eight.

You're going to stay outside the apartment entrance until he, or one of the other men he's staying with, come out. The others names are Yale Turk, 35 and Dymas Chatzi, 38. We don't have photos of them, but we do think they're in there. All we know is Yale is bald and Dymas has brown short combed hair. Should you encounter one of them, you'll approach them saying your name is Narella Lekkas and you're nine years old. You're parents just abandoned you on the side of the road because they can't afford to house you. Your father's name is Anker, and your mother's name is Zelia. Your parents work at a flower shop in Palermo. You will act as sad and lost as possible so they'll take you in. You're story has to be completely believable.

You have no siblings and no pets. You like to play chess because your father taught you when you were younger. You enjoy going outside and you hate the dark and asparaguses.

There's no easy way to say this so I'll just go ahead: prepare your body for excessive abuse. You will most likely be raped and beaten. But we need you to be strong Rico, we need you to help us catch this man and save hundreds of other children your age."

How could she prepare herself to be violated and tortured? Was that even possible? She certainly didn't think so. And she didn't think Aetos thought so either. But what else could he say? Not much in truth she knew that, so she understood his choice of words.

He went on to give more details, such us how they'd always be no less than one kilometer away from her. He asked her to stick out her arm, and she did. Aetos stuck a nettle, which he said inside was a small little chip. He also took a small black dot and placed it inside her ear: her listening device. Should Rico ever think that she was in extreme, and only extreme danger, then she would just have to say the word safety words 'back in Berlin'.

"Once you say those three words a team of armed men from our team will charge on your location and take you out of there, as well as arrest whoever is with you, even if there are no other children present or even Lev himself. But you must understand it is only if you are in extreme danger that you can say those words. I can't stress that enough. We need to save these kids. That's basically it. I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but that's all you need to know and do. Oh, and we'll be communicating very lightly. We're going to have you in his possession for as long as we deem necessary. We're hoping no more than two weeks."

Rico hoped that the two weeks they hoped she'd spend with him wouldn't be elongated. That was enough for her. As she thought it about it a little more, most of the children in Lev's possession had probably been with him for many weeks, if not months. Aetos did say Lev had been trafficking for years, so maybe even longer than that. She didn't even want to begin to imagine what some of these other bambini had seen and went through during their captivity. She didn't know any of them, but already she felt sympathetic. Was that a weakness? To be sympathetic? Could being sympathetic and worrisome of the other children make her more venerable and damageable from the abusers? Could it make her an easier target for their fun and games? Could Rico really do this? She certainly had a lot to think about here. This had all happened so fast that she had never gotten that chance.

The driver grunted as they drove into some heavy traffic on a highway. He honked his horn a few times, cursing under his breath. Aetos tapped him on the shoulder, trying to comfort him with a smile.

"Get some rest" Jean said, not even looking at his dog.

"Yes, sir" Rico closed her eyes, picturing the moments she had had with Jean the previous day, bringing a light smile to her face that was barely visible.

Rico was lost in thought with these memories. In this lost transfusion Rico took her orders and fell into a long trance. Soon enough the young child fell asleep, her head tilting on the cold glass window that made her body slightly shake for warmth. Her eyes fluttered as they were shut closed for dreaming. The sound of Verdi filled her mind with peace and her soul with ease. Despite the heaviness of thought and bearing of her current assignment she could take a breather, even if only for an hour or two. She needed it.

Despite being a cyborg and having a mechanical body, her mind wasn't completely mechanical. Rico, as well as the rest of the girls, had the ability to dream. Sometimes they were pleasant dreams, but most of the time they were horrible nightmares caused by the stress of her days work. But luck was on the side of the girl, for this dream was a beautiful one. In it she saw vivacious colors dance and splash in a black room. She saw pink splatter with granny smith apple. The colors of Italy were slammed on the black wall as the sound of Verdi slowly entered her mind. The display of colors was phenomenal and tranquil. Whenever there was a high note sung a light color would be thrown, and when a lower note was sung, a darker color was cast. A sympathy of colors and opera. It was too bad Rico couldn't have dreams like this all the time. Dreams of such beauty and elegance. During the song there was a silence. Nothing. There was nothing. The colors faded into the black and there was nullity.

The dream came to an abrupt end when the van came to a slow stop, making the law of momentum throw Rico slightly forward. She didn't realize how long she'd been sleeping but she guessed a while for they had arrived at their temporary stakeout location. Everyone except the driver stepped out, including those in the SUV and other van. One stayed behind outside with the drivers still in the cars for surveillance.

They were now standing on an almost empty sidewalk where only a few people strolled. Around them were five story apartment buildings that were rather run down and rusty. The color of brown was very visible on each building. On the streets was spread out trash of burger wrappers and empty scrunched up empty soda cans. In the middle of the street rolled an empty plastic trash can like a tumbleweed. It rolled on until a passing car bumped it, pushing it clear out of the way. The people that walked buy might as well have been trash themselves. Dirty clothes, horrible smell, and just the look of an angry person that had too much to deal with wasn't exactly a happy person to see. However fear did not go through Rico's body. She was perfectly fine, for she had seen uglier plenty of times, such as yesterday morning. But she had even seen worse than that before. Her mind recalled the time that she had cut the guts out of a drug smuggler; literally. During that mission Rico saw Jean get a little queasy. Rico gave a silent laugh at this precious memory.

The lobby of the apartment the group walked in (all eight of them, including Rico, Jean, and Aetos) was a mess, as expected. Rico took a guess that the room they were going to was a mess as well. There was painting of a lighthouse on the wall that was smudged with some foreign brown stain, the leather couches had rips, the table had multiple cuts on it. Even the key clerk was fat and ugly. He smelled horrible as the group approached him to collect their room key. He smelled like rotten cheese and onions. Disgustoso.

No one in the group spoke a word as they climbed the stairway up to the fourth floor where down the hallway one of the men unlocked a room numbered 316. This was no ordinary room. It was a base.

There were giant tape recorders, two M-16's resting against the bathroom door, pairs of binoculars everywhere, a telescope pointing out the open window, piles of paper work scattered on the floor and about four computers all up and running. This really was big. Rico was underestimating the importance of this entire operation.

At one of the computers was a bald man with square glasses typing away while another manned the telescope writing down notes on a memo pad. Neither payed attention to the entering party. The two simply continued their work imperceptibly. The man on the computer was typing so slow he was probably writing one paragraph an hour. The same went for the one by the telescope on his pad.

One of the party members motioned Rico towards the telescope. She obeyed as he told her to take a look through the lenses as the man with the pad stepped aside, staring at Rico like she was an outsider (of which she was). Rico guessed that she was like a rumor come true. On more than one occasion when Rico met with a friend of Section 2, she was viewed like seeing the Loch Ness Monster in person after hearing all about her from an old Scottish sailor with an eye patch and bottle of booze.

Through the lenses Rico saw a man on the other side of a window in the apartment building across from theirs. He was sitting against it drinking from a glass bottle. A light within the room flashed, most like a television set. Immediately Rico identified the man as Lev, her target. The man that she would endure torture from for who knew how long. It was this man that raped the lives (and bodies) of hundreds of other children within southern Europe. An absolute disgrace of a man and human being.

"I'm sure you recognize him from the photo I showed you" Aetos took a stand next to the child.

"Yes"

The man that had been looking at Rico like an alien handed his writing pad to Aetos, leaving them alone and going to one of the computers, starting to type on it like the other man. Aetos flipped through the pages, his hand covering his mouth signaling thought. Occasionally he nodded his head as if approving something. He grunted once or twice as well.

"Well, I was going to send you in right away" He stopped mid sentence, flipping another page, "But it appears Mr. Lev has three extra guests right now that will be leaving..." Another page flipped, "In just a little bit; probably at least two hours. It seems Mr. Lev will be here for a little while too, which is good for us, but bad for the kids inside that apartment" Again another page flipped, "It seems Mr. Lev has rented out one other apartment room, all adjacent to each other, to keep his treasures. I'll be sending you in tomorrow morning instead of today as planned"

Aetos put the pad on the floor and looked out at the city. He folded up the telescope and drew the green curtains, covered with stains, closed. Rico took notice that unlike everywhere else in this part of the city, this room actually smelled decent despite having nine old men inside it. She identified the one smell in the world that gave her comfort: gunpowder. It turned her on and always put her in a better mood.

"Rico this guy is dangerous. I know I don't have to tell you, but be careful. You're very brave for taking up this mission" Aetos smiled down upon her, messing her hair.

Did she have a choice? It wasn't like she was asked if she wanted to do this or not. And then she went back to her thinking before: would she have said no if asked? She was now reconsidering that question with good thought.

Jean came over and placed his firm hand on her shoulder, "She'll be fine, trust me"

Rico smiled, and wished Jean could have smiled with her, but his mouth stayed as straight as a line, unmoving and unemotional. Jean was a man of work, not emotions. His heart was to his job and pay, not to how others perceived him or to how he acted amongst those around him. All he did was get the job done, and get it done well.

"Here," One of the other men handed Jean a key, "Your room with your girl is right next door, 317. Why don't you go get comfortable and we'll send you over something to eat"

"Very well," He snatched the keys from his hands, "Come" He commanded his girl as the two left the room, trying their best to avoid the papers on the floor that were of importance yet left to be crunched.

The other room was pretty clean. Some paint was peeling off and there was a hole in the wall above the king sized bed. Wait, king sized bed? Now how was this going to work? Rico would most likely wind up sleeping in the leather couch. She didn't mind. Better Jean be satisfied with comfort than her. It was her handler that mattered, not herself.

Jean drew back the curtains and looked in disgust at the city that was before him. He grunted, taking a seat on the bed, the springs squeaking like a mouse, just like back at headquarters. Just like home.

Within a few moments the same man that had given Jean the keys to the room showed up with some bags of pasta dishes. They smelled fresh and delizioso. Rico gave that childish smile of hers, the mouth watering with lust.

The two of them sat at the wooden near the television set and ate quietly. The table was unbalanced and tilted back and forth as the two stabbed with their forks.

"Here," Jean leaned forward with a napkin and wiped a smudge of sauce off Rico's face.

"Thank you" Rico's heart skipped a few beats, that feeling of love returning.

After Jean finished his small meal he looked out the window, chin in hands.

"I want you to be careful Rico"

"Yes, sir"

To be careful. That was all she wanted to do too. Just to be careful on this assignment. She wanted to be careful and make her handler proud of her. If she could make him proud then she herself could be satisfied and content. She could be felice. She could be happy. Happy for herself and him.

Jean stood up and flicked on the T.V, putting on a local news station. A thunder storm was approaching Genoa. Rico hated thunder. It was loud and frightening. She just hated it.

The day had gone by so quickly. Twenty-four hours had gone by so fast that it seemed the entire day had only lasted twenty-four minutes, maybe even twenty-four seconds. But soon enough the day was almost over.

Night befell the two with only a television speaking as well as the booming lightning that rocked the sky and the heart of Rico as it thumped erratically. As ten o'clock hit, Jean decided the two should turn in. The thunder roared loud over the city, covering the sound of the busy highway down the way. Rico shook in fear as she took a briefcase that had been brought for her into the dirty bathroom. She changed into a white nightgown and emerged from the bathroom, taking an awkward lying position in the chair. And again another shock came.

"We'll share the bed," Jean said, almost correcting her action.

Rico felt like crying tears of joy, but his this emotion by slowly climbing into the bed with her handler. He was finally showing emotion and care for her.

When Rico closed her eyes she felt a hand grab hers. Warm. It was a warm hand and a warm feeling that overcame Rico. She didn't open her eyes because it would only ruin the moment, and also Jean was probably embarrassed enough to be even touching her. This was more than enough to resupply Rico with the dream of vibrant colors with Ode to Joy playing in the background. A dream of peace and love. Pace e di amore.