Lucio clicked his tongue in agitation. His fingers danced on the keys.
"Incoming from your left. Locking down on their communication. Go to the second door on your right." Lucio gritted his teeth as another warning flashed on his screen. "Can someone please stop Caelum from tripping another alarm?!"
"Sorry," Caelum mumbled.
Lucio's fingers rapidly typed a dozen lines of codes, trying to turn off the alarm before their enemy noticed. He glared at the screen as if he could see Caelum's face and hissed, "I swear to God. If you tripped another alarm, I'll use you as a target practice for. The. Whole. Month."
"I hold him down for you," Gina grumbled.
Two more voices of grumbling agreement came after Gina's.
Liam's deep sigh could be heard across the line. "Children. Focus." A pause answered him. "What's next?" He asked Lucio.
Lucio rolled his eyes. He looked at the map. "There should be a hidden staircase in the room. Scan."
A rustling sound entered Lucio's ears. "Scanning the room," Caelum informed.
Beep
"Scan complete. Sending it to you, now."
Lucio's screen lit up with the model of the room his team was in. A windowless room. An art room in a cream-colored stone wall. Paints, canvases, brushes, and painting littered every corner of the room. A gray chaise and dark brown coffee table on the right side of the room.
He ignored all of them. None were held meaning to him nor the mission. His eyes were sharp as he analyzed every part of the room. He opened the file and read it, an information given from an insider. He looked at the screen and said, "The corner on the left."
"We see it," Liam confirmed.
Lucio read the file and said, "50 centimeters above the ground. The second stone from the left. Push it."
Liam pushed the stone and a small section of the wall moved aside, opening to a new passage. "We're going inside."
"You have thirty minutes to get in and out."
"Copy that."
Lucio watched as his team went down the staircase. His eyes kept watch on the other screen, making sure of their safety. His fingers tapped on the file as a reminder of his promise to himself and the informant.
"Where's my sister, Felix?"
Lucio snapped at the other screen. Warning bells rang in his head. Felix and Duwayne were in front of the art room.
"She should be inside," Felix, the don of Serpeggiare famiglia, said.
"She better be," Duwayne said as he opened the door, "We been circlin this freakin castle for hours. Why you living here?"
"It has a long family history."
"It's empty," Duwayne pointed out.
Lucio sighed in relief. The passage closed just in time.
Felix laughed. "Well, it looks like she's not here."
"I can see that."
"Why don't we look somewhere else?" Felix asked.
"Yes, please, leave," Lucio muttered.
"Fine," Duwayne grumbled.
Lucio watched as Duwayne's and Felix's dots moved away from the room. He was thankful for the trackers he planted on Duwayne. The first one to track his movement. The second one he planted on his wrist was meant to attach itself to Felix when the two shook hands. Both were working perfectly.
"Everything's good?" Liam's question broke the silence.
"We're good," Lucio answered. "How's the package?" He looked at the footage given by his team. An underground lab and storage filled with chemicals, powdered substances, crates, and cabinets.
"We're still in the middle of copying the files," Liam answered.
"Damn," Gina cussed as she looked at the result of her test on the substance, "Whoever your informant is they're damn good."
"What you've found?" Lucio asked.
Gina grimaced. She spoke slowly as she tried to find the perfect explanation. "It's not drugs, technically."
Liam walked closer to Gina. "Explain."
She took a deep breath. "Okay. So, it has some sort of drug in it. But, that's not all. Whatever is this. It will mess with our flame and control. Basically, it will slowly kill us or control us. I don't know. I need more research."
Lucio closed his eyes and said softly, almost a fearful whisper. "It will make them the ruler of us."
"Yes."
Liam snapped out of his fear and barked orders. "Take some of, whatever is that. You're going to study it back home. Caelum, how is the copy?"
"Working on it, sir."
"I need it done, yesterday!"
Caelum tried to work faster. Liam jumped to speed up the process.
Lucio looked into the screen, trying to figure out what he could do. "Matteo, help Gina documented the chemical. Emilia, I need you to prepare the package. We need to make sure those bastards fail."
"Understood." Matteo and Emilia answered at the same time.
Emilia pulled out a rectangular box and a circular box. "We only need the rectangular one, for now," Lucio said to her.
Emilia took back the circular one and opened the rectangular box. It was fifteen centimeters long, nine centimeters wide, and seven centimeters deep. It was filled with black metallic marbles to the brim. She pulled a small screen and typed the activation code. The marbles shook and shimmered.
Noticing it, Lucio immediately typed a series of codes from his side. The marbles flew a few metres above the ground. They slowly became invisible. "Emilia."
Her hand set aflame with indigo flames and sent it to the marbles, coating all of them with indigo flames. It took a few minutes before she said, "It's done. No one should notice them."
"Good," Lucio said as he typed a set of commands that sent the marbles everywhere through the cracks, pipe, and crevice.
Emilia moved to help Caelum and Liam.
"How much time do we have left?" Liam asked.
Lucio glanced at the timer. "15 minutes. How's the files?"
"68% done," Caelum answered.
"We're done here," Gina reported. She and Matteo moved to help the others.
Lucio nodded. "Matteo takes Emilia's place." Matteo moved to do as he ordered. "Emilia, I need you to send the last package."
Emilia walked back to the art room. "Let's do this." She looked around the room with critical eyes. "Where to, boss?"
Lucio looked at the map and file. He looked at the screen, checking for a safe and perfect path. "Sending the coordinate to you. Wait for two minutes before you go."
"Got it."
Lucio turned back to the lab. "Progress?"
"80%. Your marbles?"
"Half-way to the target." Lucio looked back at the map. "Emilia, you're free to go."
"On it, boss."
He checked on Felix and Duwayne. He breathed a sigh of relief. Felix was still distracted with the presence of his technically a civilian brother-in-law. However, it would not be long before he noticed something wrong. Lucio could not hide in and mess with the system for long.
He clicked his tongue as he watched Emilia's dot. "Take cover in the room on your left. Go to the bookcase. Look behind it. There's a button. It will open a passage. Go to your left."
The passage was a huge maze deep inside the castle. He glanced at words written on the file. It was built to aid the head and family escape from danger. Also, it used to confuse the enemy if they ever managed to enter. Unfortunately, but fortunately for Lucio, Felix had forgotten most of the hidden path.
"Second path from the right. Go straight. Stop." He read the file. "Three steps to your right. Look for the second relief from the left. Wait! Don't push it, yet."
Lucio watched as two new dots stood in front of Emilia. Only the wall separating them. He scuffed his soles, waiting for them to move. He clicked his tongue as those two refused to budge. He looked through the file to find a new path or a way to make them move.
"We're done here." Liam's voice broke Lucio's concentration.
"Copy that. Sending you the route back," he said as his fingers moved across the keys.
"Boss?" Emilia called.
"Give me a minute," he said to Emilia. A warning flashed on one of the screens. "Caelus!"
"Sorry!"
Lucio tried to shut down the alarm. Again. "That's it! I'm dragging you to the training ground after this!"
"I'll help," Gina growled.
"I made sure he had nothing but his pants and a knife," Matteo added.
"Please, don't," Caelus whimpered.
"Ohhh, do you want me to blind him?" Emilia offered.
"Don't you have a mission to do?" Liam asked.
"Oh come on, Capt. Let me enjoy this," Emilia whined.
Liam sighed. "Enjoy it after you're done."
Lucio snorted. "Clean line, please. Emilia, take five steps back. Walk to the second path to your left and go straight until you find a stair."
"Got it."
Lucio clicked a few buttons separating Emilia's communication with the others. He clicked a button and said to the other four, "Stop. Someone is passing the hall." The others immediately took cover.
Three different sets of footsteps walked past them.
"Duwayne, stop harassing Felix!"
"But, Aleah—"
"No, just stop it!"
Felix chuckled. "It's fine, love."
Aleah put her hands around Felix's arm. "It's not fine. You're my husband and this is our home. He should respect it."
"What the fuck you talkin like that?"
"I talk like what, brother dear?"
"Like all posh and shit!"
Aleah raised her chin. "Well, that is what you got after living here for twenty years."
"But, you—"
"But, nothing."
Their arguments faded away from hearing as they walked away. It took a few minutes before Lucio said, "All clear."
They moved away.
"Boss, I found the stair."
"Good. Walk down. Look to your right. There should be a lever, pull it." Lucio typed a few commands to disable the camera on the other side of the wall.
The wall moved. It opened to a new hallway. Dark and damp. Emilia walked out.
"Left. Take the stair." Lucio turned to check the other four and said to them, "Open the broom closet."
They opened the closet. "Pry the farthest tile in the back."
Matteo pried the tile. There was a hole under it. "Go inside. It will lead back to a river near the cave."
One by one they jumped inside. Soon they would get out. Only one of them left.
"Boss?"
Lucio turned to Emilia's screen. "Go to the farthest and smallest room."
Emilia entered the room. "What's next?" she asked as her eyes observed the room.
It was small, damp, and dark. Only a small window, if it could be called one, barred with irons gave light and air to the room. A tattered and old single bed filled a third of the room. The other half was filled with a dressing cabinet, a table, and a chair.
"Who lived here? Even dogs of Hydra have a better living condition," Emilia said with disgust and pity.
"The illegitimate daughter of Felix Serpeggiare."
"Really?!" Emilia pulled out the box. "Never thought of him as someone who will treat his own child like this, illegitimate or not. Wait, she's your informant, right?"
Lucio sighed. "Yes."
She whistled low and short. "Well, no surprise she sells him out. If my Papà treated me like this, I would also do the same thing."
"Open the dressing and take out the lowest drawer." Under the drawer was a small hand-made doll, a cookie box, and some woman's clothes. "Put the package inside."
She did all of those. "We're done. Go back to the hole, but don't enter it."
"We're not going back to the others?"
"No. You're going straight back to me."
"Lead on."
Emilia went back to the same hole she came out before. The wall was already closed shut.
"Go straight to the end. Pull yourself up, there's a small opening above. You're going to crawl."
"All the way to you?!"
"Of course not," Lucio scoffed, "I'm not that cruel."
She crawled through it. "So?"
"Five minutes."
She groaned, "My body will be so sore after this."
After she crawled for five minutes, Lucio said, "Push the door above you and run straight until you find me."
Lucio sent the small drone to the castle and made sure it stayed airborne above it. He put a timer, 32 hours. After that, he ordered the big drone to go back to him. He turned down all the laptops and packed them inside his bag. He collected the file and dumped it inside his bag. He pulled all the cables and put them back to their original location. He tore apart the communication equipment and kept them inside his bag.
The door barged open.
Lucio snapped around, gun on his hand.
It was Emilia. She was holding the big drone. Her eyes were wide open. Her breathing was fast and shallow. "We need to leave. Now."
Lucio nodded. He picked his bag and looked around. Eyes critical. Made sure everything was back to the original. He walked to Emilia and took the drone. He shoves it inside his bag.
He slung the bag back to her shoulders. He straightened his look, making sure he looked like a kid on a hiking trip. Without turning to Emilia, "Let's go," he walked away.
