My back ran cold, a shiver running down my spine. My throat throbbed making it harder to swallow. I glanced at the half-opened door to check if someone was there. Seeing only the light of the corridor shine through without a being in its presence, I sighed in relief. I headed to the empty wall where the desk once stood majestically filling its space which now lay bare only my body in its wake.

With the weight of the desk at its new position and my weight firmly pressed to the ground at my current position, I let my palms graze the cold, abrasive brick, hunting for the one stone that felt unyielding from the others. The only light visible in the pitch dark room illuminated from the corridor. My palm found the one stone that felt unnaturally smooth_the faint strange warmth vibrating through the stone, as if the wall itself were resisting the unlocking of its long-held secret.

A chill raced up my arm for a moment. My breath hitched as a single brick retreated under the pressure of my palm, my pulse thrumming against the very brick I'd just unlatched. This wasn't new to me, but the whole scenery always made me quiver in my boots.

The brick disappeared onto the other side revealing a dusty, flat surface beneath. I pressed my hand gently on top of the flat surface and applied the correct amount of force before it dipped and disappeared into the surface where the real process begins. A neon green light appeared in the hole in the wall alerting me for the danger that might appear if it mistakenly got the wrong access. I surrendered my palm to the scanner, watching the neon green glow saturate my skin, turning my hand into a translucent map of heat and bone.

A single "beep!" is all it gave as the scan came to an end.

The walls reluctantly groaned, as what lay underneath moved upwards. It brushed the tip of my fingers_them flinching to the sudden shock. I hooked my fingers around the hidden bar. The lever was cold, a stubborn spine of iron that resisted my pull as if the house itself were trying to keep its mouth shut. It didn't budge at first; it required a deliberate, heavy heave that made the floorboards beneath me groan in sympathy.

The tension snapped, and the lever yielded with a sinister smoothness that suggested it had been waiting for me all along. Together with my weight and the desk, the floorboards shifted. There was a hollow, metallic clunk, yielding to a hollow depth below as the internal tumblers fell into place, one by one, like a giant's heartbeat. The symmetry of the room finally broke; the wardrobes didn't just move sideways, it surrendered. A rectangular slab of parquet began to ascend, rising with a slow hydraulic grace that felt more like an exhumation than a mechanical process. The unit surfaced, clicking into place with a final, authoritative thud that signaled its complete emergence. The 'vault' was a masterpiece of deception, its sides so perfectly matched to the floor's grain that it had been invisible while submerged.

I eased away from the wall, my silent footsteps narrowing the gap between me and the vault. I was now face to face, the vault towering above my head. An unrecognisable camera at the top of the vault, beamed its light down at me. I just stood there facing forward as it scanned me from head to toe. After a full complete scan, it beeped twice_the vault's vacuum seal finally being broken. With a final, pressurised hiss, the twin doors didn't swing; they receded, sinking into the sides of the cabinet as if the vault were taking a deep breath. Behind the close-opened doors, the machine began to piece itself together. As the doors retreated, a toxic neon green_tinged with a cold electric blue_spilled out and drowned my field of vision. Before my eyes could even adjust, the ryhthmic, sonar-like beeps of a terminal bounced frantically against the interior walls, echoing in the hollow space until the air felt charged.

I made my way into the vault as it recognised my presence, the keyboard coming into view and the screen pulsed to life. I fed the code and documented details into the terminal, my fingers clashing and fumbling over the keys as the frantic beeps of the machine echoed the hammmering of my own heart. After a standstill, I pressed 'enter' and the monitor processed the information I inputed. The monitor glitched as I prepared myself for the outcome.

A dark figure appeared on my screen like a flash of lightning.

"Agent N0 reporting for duty." I snapped a sharp salute and stood at attention.

"AT EASE AGENT." A woman's voice that sounded almost android, played in the background of the screen.

"HA!" Following the salute, I dropped my hand and moved to 'parade rest', eyes locked on the monitor.

"WHAT'S YOUR STATUS." She never moved, her features unnervering.

"The report on the missing goods and the warehouses are being sent to you by the night owls as we speak." My articulate tone bounced off the sides and mixed with the beeps of the terminal.

"I NEED THE STATS OF YOUR REPORTS NOW!"

She hissed, her voice like a sharp blade that cut through the only unyielding space in the vault. I didn't flinch nor did I blink. I let the fax machine do the talking. It grinded as the coded information came out in the form of papers, ending with a 'click' sound at the other side of the terminal. I pursed my lips, the ghost of a smirk twitched at my lips_as she retrieved the stack of papers,_before I smothered it, returning to that same cold, unblinking stare.

She skimmed through the stack of papers, her face was never shown clearly only her thoughts leaking out of her. Her head rose from her bent position as she stared forward at me.

"THAT IS ALL FOR TODAY AGENT. YOU ARE DISMISSED." with that, she turned and started to walk to the other side.

I could hear the other side of the terminal about to be shut down. I could not leave without getting a hold of it. I was desperate and I never wanted to lose this chance wants it showed up on my doorstep.

"If I may, Agent IRT, there is one topic of importance I would like to inform you about." I tried to remain calm, hiding the despair in my voice as I waited for her feedback.

She raised her hand in the background informing them to not cut off the transmitter as she turned to face me.

"AND WHAT IS IT ABOUT, AGENT 'NIGHT ZERO'..." She said sarcastically as she emphasised on 'Night zer0'.

I remained in my calm composure, avoiding the slight grin that almost made its way to my lips.

"CARE TO EXPLAIN WHAT PART OF INFORMATION YOU NEVER OBSCURED TO ME." she said, her voice sounding high and mighty as if she got what she wanted all along.

'I knew she would say that', I said in my head as I scoffed in my head.

"Among the stack of papers you are currently holding in your hand, at the very last page you will find the details that need your authorisation as we speak."

She was utterly dumbfounded, the weight of the silence carrying on only the beeping of our systems trying to compete with each other.

She flipped the papers and made her way to the last one, her eyes finding the printed words as she read through them.

"AND WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANT AGENT N0." Her voice never wavered as a sense of seriousness took hold.

My face remained a mask of professional stillness, but behind my eyes something was dancing. I didn't give her a grin; a mouth can lie too easily. Instead, I let the warmth bleed into my gaze, a predatory glint that I knew she would mistake for genuine interest. She took the bait, and all that is left is to reel her in.

"I wish to be granted access as leader over this mission." I said, my voice piercing through the silence that cascaded over us.

The long pause vibrated through the terminal that made it hard to breathe. I fixed my gaze on her, waiting patiently for her next move.

"Should we..."