It was 7:00am in the streets of New York. 47 had only just finished his most recent assignment and hadn't had chance to fly home yet. He was looking forward to a nice long lie in as he was up all night trying to bag his target; this dream was shattered when he was contacted with information on where to find the mission details for his next assignment. He had been told to go to central park and look under the specified waste basket.
After retrieving the package he returned to his hotel suite and opened it to find a digital camera, a fake passport, plain tickets to England, car hire forms and a memory card containing his next assignment. He activated his portable computer, inserted the memory card and listened to Dianas instructions.
"Hello 47. Sorry for the sudden notice but a high level contract just came in and the price our client is offering is very interesting. We're sending you to the UK so you should have plenty of time to rest during the flight. The target is an archaeologist adventurer named Lara Croft. Our client has also asked that you retrieve a sword in her possession called Excalibur; use the camera provided to photograph Ms Crofts corpse and deliver it to them along with the sword. You will hit Ms Croft at her home in by posing as a representative of the British museum who has come to examine the sword. One more thing 47, Mrs Croft s a highly volatile, highly skilled, highly resourceful and very deadly woman; you've never dealt with a target this dangerous before; good luck 47 you're going to need it.'
47 examined the files on the memory stick taking note of Ms Crofts appearance and reading her history. He sort of felt sorry for her, which was strange because he never shows any feelings for his victims, as far as he was concerned they were just a target. He also examined a floor plan of her mansion that Diana had provided him with taking note of the nearest exits so he would be able to make a quick escape if anything went wrong.
Surprisingly 47 was curious about the artefact he was supposed to recover; usually he didn't care what he needed to steal just as long as he was being paid for it. What was the history behind this artefact? Was it really an effective weapon? Until today he had only thought of Excalibur as being more fiction than fact.
47 accessed the secure connection on his portable computer and browsed the equipment list trying to decide what would be best for the job. Eventually he decided on his silenced Silverballer, two sedative and two poison syringes, two mines new lock picks and fiberwire as well as a new item the ICA was offering, a smoke grenade. He placed the order and half an hour later received an e-mail informing him that his equipment would be left in the boot of his hired car. Later that day 47 headed to the airport and embarked on his journey to England.
