Throughout the Wisteria Wood, facilities of the Wisteria Wood Trading Company have been erected. Against the endless forest of wisteria trees that surround them, they stand out. Even so, the WWTC thrives. It should. It's usually got the Lindquist family at its helm.
Nowadays, the WWTC has changed its name to Lindquist Industries. Or, more likely, the uber-controlling bitches of the Lindquist matriline have.
Many tunnels run under the many forests of wisteria trees. Some of them used to be pipelines.
Inside, some of them have been converted into hallways...and hence Lindquist facilities. Between the ceilings and the walls, low lighting runs all up and down them. Little else does, other than the interior decor. Or, so it seems...
From the floor, a tile removes itself, and slides to one side. Through the hole beneath it, a Bosnian femme emerges. Her raven hair is in a bob.
She squeezes a gadget in her hand, and slides it across the floor. As it slides, it sprays smoke and dust behind it. The smoke and dust don't take long to fill the tunnel.
All around Emira, high-intensity lasers appear. They shine down, up, and sideways in an intricate little grid. Don't let their decorative pattern fool you; they're weaponized scalpels waiting to strike.
Below, Emira's sitting on Patrick Scavo's face. On the upside, it keeps his face warm. On the downside, Patrick would mind less if he had some way of knowing whether the eroticism that Emira often exhibits in front of him is a general attempt to seduce him, or just something that she does in front of anyone. With her, it's hard to tell. Patty often wishes that some women would just TELL him what they mean by what they do.
He hasn't known Emira for long. But then, he also hasn't lived for very long. She hasn't either...although she is slightly older than him...and not to mention more physically mature. As much vodka as she drinks, he STILL doesn't know how she manages to stay thin and pretty. She's not even supposed to be drinking vodka, despite being a Slav. Most Bosnians are Muslims...and Emira's a Sarajevan. But of course, Patty would hardly say that Emira DRESSES like a harem girl. He...sometimes wishes she did...
In little else but a torn little black dress, Emira flaunts her many curves while dodging each laser. From the hole in the floor, Patty watches her...in half-shame.
In reality, Patty doesn't have much to be ashamed of. He's risen through the ranks to become the Wisteria Wood's most proficient thief. His talent rivals that if his very partner. Alas, she's usually in it to prove the rankings system wrong...if there is such a system for thievery.
Emira's got a crab tattoo on her right foot. (Shit; Patty sure hopes that doesn't mean she gives boys crabs, when she fucks them... IF she fucks boys... With Patty, it's hard to tell. He's never seen her fuck a boy, after all...) He's been told she's got another crab tattoo in her rack. Alas, he doesn't know this. She's never shown it to him.
At last, she makes it through. She leaves him, as he climbs out, and repeats what she's done to get through the lasers.
Patty often wishes she wouldn't rush too far ahead like that. Alas, he doesn't condemn her much for not knowing the rules of partnership. In fact... He can't really say he knows too much about that himself. But at least he and Emira are both addicts; most partners have to be, in order to make it to forever.
One prolonged crucible later, and Patty's made it through the lasers. He hasn't triggered a single one...or gotten any part of him severed by the same.
Emira, alas, hasn't been so flawless in her progress. She's triggered one of the lasers with her hair. A part of it still lies among the lasers, on the floor. Far away, the laser has triggered an alarm. Private security, paid generously by the Lindquist matriline, is on its way to deal with the threat.
Lynette Lindquist, the MFCEO of Lindquist Industries, is aware of the unbeaten talents of Patrick Scavo. For that, she's put a VERY high price on his head. A mother wouldn't do the same thing to her own son.