Author's Note:

Chapter 10! First time I'm putting in my all and aiming for completion, so I've never actually made it this far in whatever I've written before.
While I do have a rough plot prepared, everything ahead is mostly uncharted territory in practice. I'll do my best to keep it up!
My aim's still to finish this fic by the end of this month. I'm guessing probably some 5 more chapters to go :D

【Chapter 10: Блин!】

ー Blin! ー
ー Pancake! ー

Cafeteria, secret research facility 12:12

Giorgio talked to Dorofei over a freshly prepared dish of Beef Stroganoff and some vodka. Not being a restaurant, naturally the food was not of chef quality, but one could tell that the cooks had put in a lot of effort. To make the lunch all the more pleasant, Dorofei's open nature and eagerness made him very easy to talk to. Giorgio could understand why he was a successful businessman, and this would have been an enjoyable lunch if it weren't for the fact that he was here to eventually arrest him. Whenever technical topics came up, Wesley had told Giorgio what to say from his hidden earpiece, so the conversation had been flowing smoothly.

"Mr. Bardi, I'm glad to have met someone so knowledgeable. Say, according to you, what do you think is the greatest human flaw?" Dorofei asked, their small talk having led to a philosophical discussion about their perspectives. Giorgio thought for awhile.

"Hmm... The fact that everyone has a little evil in them no matter how good they are?" He chipped in in a relaxed manner, knowing that Dorofei wasn't particularly looking for a 'correct' answer.

"Oh, I also think of that as one," Dorofei said in agreement. "But you know, don't you think that what causes the evil itself is 'fear'? I believe that human beings are innately good, and that they wouldn't harm their brothers unless threatened. I theorize that it's actually fear and insecurities that drives people into madnessーrobbing money for survival and the like, such as what happened to you at the Red Square. You saw how the children turned back to their original state once their safety was assured."

Giorgio gave Dorofei a curious look. Trying to put the pieces together, he wasn't sure if he could understand Dorofei's contradictory mindset. Why would he talk about people being good while he himself was dabbling knee-deep in illegal activities? Nevertheless, Giorgio decided to pursue the conversation, thinking that if he dug deep enough, he could uncover Dorofei's real motives.

"That could be right," he said. "Say, do you have any proposed solution as to how this 'fear' could be removed, or at the very least, reduced?"

"Well, of course! I awoke to the problem a little over twenty years ago. It has been my life's purpose since then to create a world free of fear, and therefore, free of crime!" Dorofei announced his dreams proudly, to Giorgio's further confusion. The man then continued.

"You see, Mr. Bardi. According to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, what drives a human into action the most is his 'physiological needs'ーthe need for food, shelter, clothing... Survival. When his life is threatened, a man's natural reaction is to become desperate, and left like that for prolonged periods, he's likely to commit even the most heinous of crimes just to survive. Once we come to that realization, we find that by simply providing for that base need of survival for the entire human race, we'd bring about a great future."

"...But Mr. Smirnov," Giorgio said frowning, utterly bewildered, "Is there even a way to accomplish that?"

"Immortality," Dorofei answered, eyes brightly lit with dreams.

"When the idea first came up, I didn't believe it myself either. But I have a friend in Saint Petersburg who gave me hope. If it's him, there's no doubt that he can achieve that. I just have to follow whatever he says. We're quite close to achieving our goals," he said happily, "In fact, we'll begin to carry out our operations tomorrow night! Mr. Bardi, how glad I am to be able to witness this great evolution of mankind with you!"

With that, Giorgio had dug up so much more than he had expected to, but he was unsure of what to make of it. Dorofei, Sergei's boss, had another boss? And he said that they were planning to make their decisive move in about 24 hours! Preposterous! Knowing that they had come late, Giorgio hurried.

"Mr. Smirnov, if you don't mind, may I know the name of your friend? I'd certainly love to make his acquaintance," he said, forcing himself to remain calm.

"Of course! His name isー"

Unfortunately for Giorgio, the answer he sought was abruptly cut short by the sudden blaring of security alarms. One of the facility staff gave a hurried warning over the PA system and Dorofei looked startled. Giorgio saw the bodyguard Kuznetsov, or probably his twin, run towards Dorofei. He reported something in Russian, so Giorgio couldn't catch what he was saying, but he was certain that he caught the word 'Romée' in it.

Evan! Was he caught? As if to confirm that, Evan suddenly contacted him via his earpiece.

"Tonton! I'm bustedーKuznetsov is the Blacksmith android!"

Gunshots could be heard from Evan's side of the line. Giorgio frowned deeply, wanting to reply but unable to do so. He noticed an anxious Dorofei turning to look at him with Kuznetsov. The latter addressed him with his now understandable emotionless tone.

"Mr. Bardi, it seems that your 'friend' Mr. Romée has been doing things that he shouldn't. I apologize, but we'll have to detain you until you can prove that you're clean."

Well, the moment Kuznetsov searched him and found out that he had a gun on him, it would be over, so Giorgio decided that he might as well make a run for it. Quietly placing his palms under his table, he suddenly flipped it, surprising both Dorofei and Kuznetsov.

Kuznetsov, immediately recovering as though it meant nothing, began to shoot at Giorgio with the built-in blaster in his right arm. Giorgio dived behind the steel tables and pillars of the cafeteria, taking cover as he made his way to the exit. Stopping behind a partition wall as Kuznetsov continued shooting, Giorgio hurriedly contacted Aleksandr.

"Lieutenant Sokolov! The mission's busted! Send people to capture the facility!"

"Copy that! Both of you get out of there safely!" Aleksandr replied.

Giorgio took his gun out of his coat and readied it. Based on the blueprints he'd seen, Kuznetsov's android core, his processing unit, should be located at his heart. The moment Kuznetsov stopped shooting in order to recharge his blaster, Giorgio took the chance and shot a well-aimed bullet towards his chest.

The single bullet whizzed out of his gun through the air, tearing through the android's black suit as it made contact, puncturing through his thick metallic chest, but, having lost all its force after the collision, bounced off without even reaching the CPU and fell uselessly to the ground with a hopeless clink. Giorgio's eyes widened in dismay.

Kuznetsov, completely unfazed by the attack, finished charging his blaster and continued shooting, slowly making his way to Giorgio. To make it worse, he moved so that he was standing between Giorgio and the exit, blocking the path. Giorgio bit back a curse. It looked like the only way out was to take the android down.

Readying himself, he ran out of his hiding spot, deliberately making Kuznetsov shoot at him. The moment Kuznetsov was forced to recharge his empty blaster, Giorgio shot at him again in the same spot. Unfortunately, the shot failed to destroy the android core again, but a flicker of electricity that he saw showed that his bullet had successfully ripped all the way through to the center, exposing the weak spot. One more shot.

Without waiting for Kuznetsov to finish recharging, Giorgio decided to fight on the offensive, sliding and tackling him hard. Not expecting the sudden aggressiveness, Kuznetsov fell to the ground with a loud metallic clang. Giorgio quickly got up and pointed his gun at the deep hole that he had made, the lights of the CPU just barely visible.

"Addio (Goodbye), Kuznetsov."

With that, he shot at the CPU, effectively destroying it. Kuznetsov's mechanical body jerked as uncontrolled electricity ran through his system. A moment later, the currents died down, and the android stopped moving as the lights from his core faded.

His job done, Giorgio stood up. He looked over the cafeteria's mess towards the table where he had been eating with Dorofei. The fighting having died down, Dorofei himself, startled, troubled and disheveled, slowly emerged from where he'd taken cover.

"Mr. Bardi, what is the meaning of this? Were you a spy all along?!" He yelled, more due to the pain of betrayal rather than anger. Giorgio turned and confronted him.

"You're developing illegal weapons with plans to harm the public, Mr. Smirnov. We had to deal with it," Giorgio said. "The police will arrive soon. I'd prefer that you come quietly."

Dorofei's despairing expression was that of a man who just had his dreams crushed. "No. After over twenty years of hard work, our project's finally going to come to fruition. I can't just let you take it all awayーnot after coming this far..."

As if having made up his mind, Dorofei took out his phone, clicking a few buttons decisively. Giorgio was startled when a synthesized voice suddenly spoke through the facility's PA system, first in Russian and then in English.

"Warning. Emergency commands have been activated. The facility will self-destruct in one hour. All staff, please evacuate immediately."

A chill ran down Giorgio's spine at the words. Dorofei laughed.

"This isn't our only facility. Losing it wouldn't cost us as much as it would if it fell into enemy hands," he said triumphantly.

"Cancel the self-destruct right now!" Giorgio shouted. He was about to go and grab Dorofei, but then he saw three or four more brand new Kuznetsovs enter the room, all of them ready with their charged weapons. Giorgio cursed, forced to leave the room as they began attacking him. He quickly contacted Evan.

"Evan! Dorofei wants to erase the evidenceーYou heard the self-destruct warning! Get out of here immediately!"

Meanwhile, in the underground levels of the facility, Evan had managed to successfully take down the Kuznetsov that was chasing him after a close call. The android crackled before dying down, crushed by a giant robotic arm that Evan had managed to bring down on top of him.

Evan panted heavily, trying to catch his breath after the battle. He had heard Giorgio's warning. The wailing alarms that echoed disturbingly through the empty underground halls of the facility only worsened his anxietyーif he was caught here when the self-destruct happened, he would really die alone.

He shook his head and forced himself not to panic. Studying Kuznetsov's remains, he found a security card hanging from his neck. Thinking that it should be useful to open doors, he grabbed it and quickly looked for an elevator to go back upstairs. The worry on his face relaxed into relief when he saw one just at the corner of the production room. Evan quickly rushed towards it. He was just about to press the up button, but he suddenly stopped.

This place would self-destruct in an hourーthey'd lose all their leads and Dorofei would succeed with whatever evil plan he had in mind.

Evan gulped. All the warning sirens blaring around him suddenly sounded so distant he thought he could hear his own nervous heartbeat. Slowly, his hand hovered downward, and he pressed the down button of the elevator instead.

The rapid elevator soon came, and he stepped inside. He saw a floor guide in the elevator. The control room and mainframe were on the lowest floorーfifteen floors below ground. He tapped Kuznetsov's card key against the card reader and pressed the floor button. The doors closed, bringing him downwards. Giorgio's worried call came in through his earpiece.

"Evan! I'm outside. Where are you? Have you made it out?"

Evan paused, then answered nervously, like a child who didn't want his misconduct to be discovered by his parent.

"Underground, but I found the floor maps. Currently heading to an elevator to go upstairs. Don't worry about me," he said as the elevator brought him into the all-consuming darkness of the facility's lower floors.