"What?"

Wilson looked around the empty lab. Besides him and the worker in front of him, it was completely devoid of anyone else. Which was good since the question asked needed privacy. He looked back at her confused on what she just asked.

She merely folded her arms while giving him an impatient look. "Pretty sure you heard me. What do you know about Australium. Your ears are working, right?"

'Why do you ask?... No, that line is too cliché. Do I just tell her what I know? Actually, why does she want to know? He debated with himself about telling her since it seemed suspicious why she would come here and bring up such a versatile and rare metal to him of all people.

He decided to tell her as he shrugged. "Well, it can be used and have many incredible effects upon the human body that seem almost supernatural." He pushed up his glasses with a blank expression while he gave out every detail he knew about it.

"From what I had heard, it's a miracle cure for everything. Even ageing. It can make a person functionally immortal without ageing a day. Not only that, but more sources say Australia used to be a lot more advanced until all the Australium disappeared since it was able to cure poor engineering as well. The only downside is how rare it is."

After finishing his speech, he looked at the worker. "Why do you ask, Amanda?"

She thought about her words for a couple of moments before answering. "Well, a Reliable Excavation demolition wants us to steal some for them. They say we can keep the extra."

His eyes narrowed before he realized something as he put his hand to his chin. 'This might be a good time to impress the boss and get back in his good graces again. Not to mention this could possibly put him in a good mood.'

"Does the boss know?" Wilson asked quickly as he couldn't help the smile growing on his face at a new opportunity.

"Well, no, but he—" Before she could finish, Wilson walked off quickly while shouting excitedly. "Then no worries! I will notify him myself!"

"Ok?…" Amanda guessed this was so it would seem like he gained this information. The thing was she asked him what Australium was since she had asked the boss first, and he didn't seem to understand a single thing she said. She wanted to get Wilson to tell her what it was before creating a presentation before showing it to the boss, so they don't look like dumbasses due to how fictional Australium sounds.

She could only feel some pity for her co-worker knowing he was already in hot water with the boss right now. Well, she also felt like laughing, but who could really blame her? He is trying to steal credit after all.

Victor twitched a bit while looking at the new changes Eli added to the room. The tables in front of his desk were now red with the globe of the world in the centre now a glowing silver instead of a dry gray. The new couch was white, and gold was embedded into its centres. A bit wasteful in his opinion… (although he would have probably done the same had he thought to style his sanctum like this instead)

The red carpet was wanting him to throw it out; his impressive desk was now blue on top with brown drawers, and the walls were painted a dark blue colour. He hated all of it. He wanted it all to be gray. Screw looking lifeless, he liked it.

"Alright, now about the plastic chair and table in the corner over there." Eli was now pointing in the one corner he hadn't touched till now due to them being busy over the weeks with more agents pouring in just as Victor had finally had a Criminal Network in every region of PATRIOT, SMASH, and ANVIL.

He put up a finger, interrupting whatever Eli was going to say. "First of all, that plastic chair and table are a constant reminder of where I started. Where I used to hold meetings."

Eli was only amused by hearing this. "What? Meetings with who? The janitors?"

"I will kill you." Victor dryly replied without a hint of humour in his tone to say he was joking.

He merely clapped his hands together while giving him a large smile. "This is why you need a hobby…. along with a better love life (although that would imply you even have a love life). Oh, and I am definitely getting rid of that chair."

Victor glared at him with no hint of amusement in his eyes. "Touch that chair, and I personally will be introducing you to the bottom of a shark tank."

He held his hands up while grinning in mock surrender, thinking Victor was just kidding around. "You're just proving my point, Vic. Maybe knitting would be a good choice."

Despite the need to roll his eyes, he saw an opportunity to finally insult Eli where it would hurt the most. He answered in a sarcastic and mocking tone. "What am I? Your grandmother? Do you want me to knit you a better set of clothes? After all, your current set of wardrobe attire seems rather questionable." He smiled seeing Eli finally react.

Eli dropped his jaw for a moment before quickly closing it while looking down at his clothes for a second. "Questionable? Are you trying to kid me or yourself? He quickly regained his composure as he adjusted his tie while continuing with a smooth tone that cracked slightly. "This is merely high fashion. Something that screams both confidence and class. Why don't you look at yourself for a change?" He pointed at him a bit aggressively, trying to play it off as smooth. "You look like you walked out of a sad noir film."

Victor leaned back in his large gray chair (that he made sure Eli didn't change) while suppressing a smirk. "Sad noir, you say? Well, at least my choice of clothing doesn't look like the colour of a hospital waiting room."

"Oh yeah? Well at least I don't look like a wannabe spy villain who failed at fashion school." He snapped back with a smug look, daring his boss to continue.

He pretended to ponder while raising an eyebrow as if he didn't already have a retort. "Mhm, yes. Spy villain is a fair assessment. Yet, you are dressed by a group of committees that didn't know if they were going to a wedding or a disco."

There was an intense silence as they locked eyes. They were both glaring until they suddenly burst into laughter.

"Ok, ok. Touché." Eli finally decided to concede. "But in all seriousness, Vic. The plastic chair has got to go. I understand it holds sentimental things for you, but it could annoy any potential client or business partner that comes in here."

The 21-year-old waved his hand dismissively at the admission of his decision."The chair is staying, and that is final. It helps me to never get too comfortable and reminds me when I was more stressed than now." It was true, as Eli had helped with the workload, decreasied quite significantly allowing Victor more free time to do things other than trying to take over the world—not that he would ever tell Eli.

Eli shook his head slowly while still smiling. "Do you know what your real problem is? You're both sentimental and stubborn. A bad combo for an Evil Genius."

"Oh yeah? List one thing wrong with me other th-"

Victor was interrupted as Eli raised a hand showing one finger raised as he began listing off all of his problems. "Alright, your first problem is that you're a perfectionist. Meaning no matter how good you get. It won't ever be enough for you. Two: You pretty much micromanage everything in fear of another person failing what you set out for them. Three: Your refusal to let go of things, no matter how petty they get. I bet you got a whole lot of petty grievances on a shelf in that head of yours-"

He merely rolled his eyes while crossing his arms, yet allowed him to continue since this might be a good insight into what he can improve on to become better in order to take over the world faster. Wait, was that the perfectionist side of him talking? No, wait... This was a bunch of lies to throw him off and let him win the argument. He wasn't a perfectionist. At least from what he could tell… he thinks…

Eli continued not caring if Victor was properly listening or was caught up in his own world. "Four: You refuse to delegate properly. I mean, sure, you got me now, but it took a literal burnout for you to realize you couldn't do everything by yourself. Five: I know about the whole Agen-"

The doors to the inner sanctum suddenly opened, interrupting Eli and taking Victor out of his mind and back into reality as Wilson came rushing in. It was as if he had just won a lottery. "SIR! I just got great news!"

Victor sighed while pretending to glare at Wilson, which worked as he watched his minion gulp slightly as a nervous expression graced their face. "Wilson. What could be so important that it would afford you interrupting a meeting? This had better be good." He left the threat to the imagination in the air on purpose.

Without missing a beat, Wilson went back to the same overenthusiastic energy from before, which confused yet also intrigued Victor. It seemed whatever was so important made him not even care about the implied threat.

"It is, sir!" He nodded vigorously as he practically vibrated. "We have just been offered a deal by "Reliable Excavation Demolition" who wants us to steal some Australiam for them, and they say we can keep the extra!"

This answer only made him look around unsure of how to react.

What the hell was Australiam? He was asked this question earlier this day by Amanda if he remembered correctly but still didn't understand.

All Victor did was let out a small. "Huh?"

Wilson took this as sheer shock from hearing the news of being offered Australiam as he continued in hopes of raising his possibly broken reputation with his boss. "Yes! The very same metal that is able to cure aging, enhance the human body, fix engineering, as well as-."

Once again, he put up a hand as Wilson stopped. Victor's eyes narrowed as if he regarded Wilson in the same light as catching a child within a lie. "Please just… Stop. This is just… pitiful. If this is a way of trying to screw and fool me. It's not working."

Wilson reacted animatedly, waving his hands about as he tried to explain. "NO! Sir, I swear! It's real! With it we could fix a lot more stuff in the base quicker and even upgrade some of our stuff beyond current scientific-."

"A metal that can cure engineering. Are you actually kidding me right now? I heard better lies from a literal child. Next you're going to tell me it can also make people fly if they sprinkle it on their food."

Wilson hesitated for a moment before continuing. "N-no sir! But it is all true! This company shall allow us to—

"Wants us to go fetch this mythical rare metal and let us keep the extras? What's next? A unicorn in exchange for world peace? Your scientist. You should know fact from fiction." He was fed up with this pointless conversation. It was a waste of time. It was as if he was speaking with a child and not a grown man.

Hearing this made Wilson falter. "Well, when you put it like that, it does sound kinda—"

"Ridiculous? Yes. Very." Victor wasn't angry. Just disappointed. "Why even bother with something like this? How were you even tricked by something so unbelievable? Do you want me to put you on toilet duty for the next month?

Wilson was unsure if he should bring up Amanda, but he was anything but pointing fingers. Sure, he would try to steal credit where he could in order to get a reputation, but he didn't want one of a snitch.

"I... sorry, sir. For wasting your time." Wilson hung his head, ready to leave. He tried to think of what to do next. He didn't even feel like a scientist anymore if he was persuaded this easily and was still believing in a metal that probably doesn't even exist.

Victor scratched his head, deciding it was best if Wilson wasn't left like this since he might work less efficiently. "Look, Wilson. I understand you might think-"

Eli decided to finally cut in. "Actually, boss. Australiam is real."

There was a pause as Victor slowly turned his head to his only henchman, wanting him to elaborate. "How and When?"

"Well, a while back in my father's time in the underground, he discovered someone selling some of the stuff. So, he 'persuaded' them to hand it over. The interesting part was that its effects actually worked, but unfortunately it was so little that we only made one thing. That being that silver revolver that I currently have and my dad used. Making it far more durable and efficient than any other gun." He lifted the gun as he made a shooting stance before putting it back.

Once he heard this, he was baffled, bamboozled, and in utter disbelief as he didn't know what to say. "W-wha- Why didn't you just say something before!?"

"Well, it just never came up. Besides, I knew you'd probably run into this sooner or later in this line of work. It would be interesting to see your reaction." Eli replied as if it were obvious.

He just looked at him for a second, wanting to say that was stupid since that would slow them down just for a reaction, yet didn't since he would probably do the same. "Right... anyways. Eli, you're in charge of this operation."

He might as well punish him. Eli seemed to sigh for a second before shrugging.

"Why not? It could make us an extra buck or two." Eli walked out of the room to get to work leaving Victor and Wilson.

Wilson was a bit disappointed he wouldn't be leading the operation but was ok with it. Yet he still wanted something. "So, boss. Do I get anything or...?"

"Hmm?" He turned back to look at him while giving him a once-over. "Oh… right. Uh, raise in salary. I'll double it. That should be a fitting reward." Victor waved his hand around as Wilson felt elated hearing this, as he felt he was back in his boss's good graces.

He probably shouldn't leave the person who allowed this to happen. "Amanda also helped find the information." A part of him was hoping this wasn't going to make his new standing with the boss drop.

"Alright? Double her's as well then." He seemed to replied while shrugging. He was focused on something else. "Now, it's time for you to go."

Hearing this, he got panicked as he quickly saluted before running out as Victor waited until the doors were shut. Once he knew they were gone, he opened up the first drawer taking out something and began to run battle simulations with it.

As soon as the doors shut behind him, Wilson was suddenly pulled to the side by an unseen person before being pushed against the wall right before being let go by it.

"Hello." It was Amanda as his vision adjusted, seeing her in front of him. She seemed to be in a chipper mood as she put her hands behind her back and wore a satisfied expression. "I have to say, good job. For a second there I thought you were about to steal all the credit. That would be expected seeing as you're in a higher position in the boss's eyes seeing as you're a scientist and I am just a worker. Considering we are all supposed to be scumbags for working with an Evil Genius, that was.. quite the kind thing to do."

Wilson looked down the empty hallway before looking back at her. It was strange being complimented, and he was kind of suspicious something was going to happen. "Umm, yes? I guess."

She seemed to let out a small snort at this as she covered her mouth for a second. "You seem pretty out of place now. What? Never been complimented before?"

He shot back defensively and quite annoyed at the accusation. "Yes, I have! It's just kind of strange hearing it from-... I guess... not that you're not already, but..." His mind seemed to just stumble quite a bit trying to find the right words with him wondering what the hell was going on with his vocals.

She almost laughed at this as she quickly covered his mouth with her hand. "Pffft!… alright. That was certainly an experience." She coughed into her hands before deciding to probe him. "Say, do you want to go get drinks after work at the front?"

Drinks with Amanda? A few seconds passed with all that was accomplished being looking at her with her wondering what was happening as she wondered if there was something behind her.

His mind was currently being fried by this minion, and it was triggering to no end. She kept making one very unexpected move after the other in his mind. After all, at most they had only ever exchanged a couple of words with him needing to move a couple of things and her being a worker that just happened to be there at the time. It was only today that they actually had a conversation for once. Was she trying to move up the ranks by doing this and gaining favours or something? This just didn't make sense to him.

Was he misinterpreting this? Was this him being asked out, or is this a hangout? He was unsure, which only annoyed him further since he is normally smart enough to figure this stuff out… he thinks. What was he even supposed to do? It's not like he had any experience if this was an ask out. What were they even supposed to talk about? He didn't consider himself a great conversationalist. Would he even be a good listener? How coul-

"Do I take your silence as a no or a yes?" She raised an eyebrow. They had just been standing there for a good 30 seconds with him just staring at her. He was snapped out of his thought process and quickly replied without thinking. "YES!- I mean, uh, sure."

She gave a grin and seemed to be satisfied with his awkward reply as she turned around to walk off while waving behind her, "Great. See you after work!"

Even after she was gone, he stood there still as a hundred thoughts rushed through his head as he tried to stay calm as he quickly collapsed to the floor, trying to determine what to do as well as attempting to figure out what exactly they had agreed to do. He still didn't understand if they were now friends or if this was just what co-workers did or...?

...

...

Later that evening, a cocktail bar at the luxury casino was set on fire by two drunk co-workers who decided to set it on fire for fun after one dared the other to do it.