Prologue: [Place your Bets]

—ROYAL FLUSH BASE (DELTA) - LOCATION UNKNOWN—

"This is ridiculous, even for you. There must be a safer way."

"Of course there is, but the best bets are the ones with high risk. Besides, I'm sure you already knew this plan would work before I could even think it up, Master Tactician." The confident cadence vibrated throughout the air, despite the underlying teasing tone.

"...Fine, but we are going to have a long conversation about your constant recklessness when this is over. Mark my words." The temperature in the room seemed to plummet as a fierce icy gaze pierced into the closing pod that was filled with a translucent liquid.

A quick wink from the floating body served in place of a verbal reply.

[Initializing user's connection to the Nexus...]

"You'd better return..." The rest of the soft plea was lost under the growing hum of the pod.

~ 𝟙𝟘 ~ 𝕁 ~ ℚ ~ 𝕂 ~ 𝔸 ~ 𝟙𝟘 ~ 𝕁 ~ ℚ ~ 𝕂 ~ 𝔸 ~ 𝟙𝟘 ~ 𝕁 ~ ℚ ~ 𝕂 ~ 𝔸 ~

—PITTORI PLAZA HOTEL - MILAN, ITALY—

Like a fish flowing through the water's current, she glided through the richly dressed crowd. The lights of the chandeliers above cast a fractured glow on the many draining glasses of wine below. Picking up yet another empty glass to place on the serving tray, she shifted closer to a portly gentleman with salt and pepper streaks as she watched his eyes glaze over and a feverish red slowly crawl over his bulging cheeks. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘶𝘦.

Stepping back, she retreated into the shadows behind the 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢 art painted on the false walls meant to separate the guests from the area for technical equipment. Tugging down the soft black silk of the waiter's coat, she flipped it inside out, revealing a midnight blue custom-stitched vest and top before putting it back on. Then blinking twice in rapid succession, the color of her contacts changed from a chocolate brown to a heavy earthy green.

Quickly finishing the last necessary changes to her new disguise, she effortlessly slipped back into the open area, once again approaching the seemingly drunk man. "Deputy Director Carpenzano." The affected timbre of her voice expertly mimicked the man's assistant.

"Ahh, is that you, Andrew?" A gravelly voice slurred in response.

"Yes, sir. In light of tonight's itinerary, I took the liberty of making a room reservation for you. Should you desire to rest before the final presentation, it is available."

"𝘉-𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘦. Lead the way." Taking a few steps, Carpenzano nearly stumbled into a decorative ficus. Grabbing hold of one of his arms to stabilize him, she nodded to the surrounding group before leading him away. 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦. She kept the smirk twitching at the corner of her lips down as she pulled him into an elevator, before pressing the button for the third floor.

Soon, they arrived at the prearranged room. The door slammed behind, a click echoing throughout the dark foyer. A motion sensor soon caught their movement, flooding the space in a warm hue. Trudging towards the massive bed in the next area, she gave the drowsy bundle a gentle push, an amused glint flashing across her eyes as she watched the comical way he floundered on the velvet red duvet. "Don't get too comfortable," she muttered under her breath, pulling on a pair of leather gloves with practiced ease.

Just as she began to pull out a series of sleek metal contraptions from the black cloth hidden in the depths of her pant leg, her phone buzzed. She continued. When a soft nocturne suddenly disturbed the quiet, she responded by pressing the silence button on the side of the device. "I know I had my phone off. The only one who'd dare interrupt me like this..." She suppressed a sigh and returned her attention to the matter at hand.

The moment her vintage flip phone stopped, the room's phone started to ring. 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘯𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. Her gaze drifted over to the still mass on the bed. Finally, she surrendered and picked up the phone. Static. 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸. She waited and mentally counted. She reached five. A sudden crackle then click. "One day, you'll contact me like a regular person. What is it? I'm in the middle of a job for Queen."

Her dry tone elicited a rich chuckle from the other line. "𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘦."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "And here I thought King trumps Queen." The laughter on the other side continued. "So, why the call?" Her fingers drummed at a slow pace beside the glinting silver tools.

"𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶." Her eyes narrowed, not bothering to muffle her scoff. 𝘙𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴 (𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦) 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘱.

"Does 'Your Royal Highness' require my services?"

"𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘵'𝘥 𝘣𝘦 '𝘔𝘢𝘫𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘺' 𝘯𝘰𝘵 '𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴'. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵." The smile in the voice was obvious. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳." 𝘈𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦...

Nevertheless, the increase in rhythm of her tapping fingers betrayed her growing interest. "I'm on my way." Hanging up the phone, a comforting silence once again blanketed the room. A quick glance at her setup, she decided to switch tactics. She slid a gloved hand into Carpenzano's pockets, soon locating both devices inside his jacket lining. After that, removing what looked like a keycard from among the gadgetry on the polished dark table and placing it on the screens respectively, a cloning app was installed on both.

"Though this might take a bit longer, I'm sure you'll still spill the information we need," she quipped, patting his ruddy cheek with one of his newly cloned devices. The devices returned to his jacket and her gadgets to her pants. Mission complete, for now. "Sleep tight."

She walked over to the full-length sliding window, stepping out onto the balcony. A chorus of crickets welcomed her, along with the sharp scent of freshly fallen rain. Reaching the rustic railing, she rested her lower back against it. She took in a heady breath of air as she enjoyed the calm before the storm. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. Memories danced across her mind, the twinkle in her eyes matched the starry sky above. Soon, she was leaning further back until she perched precariously over the vastness below. Her small bound chest rose and fell to the calm rhythm of her deep breaths. With a cheshire grin to match the night's danger, she let go, falling gracefully into the blackness.