Chapter 2: Chapter One: Final Assignment

Oliver waited, impatiently, for the arrival of his assassin. A plan he'd been working on for weeks was finally coming to fruition. He pushed some of his auburn hair out of his face with one hand while drumming his other fingers. Vee stepped into his office, keeping her head bowed slightly; she approached his desk. Oliver regarded her for a moment, a smile spreading across his face. An iciness rang in his voice as he spoke. "I have news you are going to enjoy."

She didn't move a muscle, her unnatural purple eyes remained fixed on his desk. She never looked him in the eye, if she could avoid it. "Yes, Master?" Her tone was even and emotionless; she had grown accustomed to speaking this way over the years.

"I have your final assignment," he announced. This time, she met his unfeeling brown eyes, her surprise overcoming her fears. She searched his face for hints, analyzing his satisfied smile; what is he pulling? He handed her a file folder which she promptly opened, exploring its contents. "You'll finally be taking care of The Golden King himself; Midas thinks that he has hired you to be his personal bodyguard." The folder's contents confirmed Oliver's words. Vee looked at the printed copies of email correspondence between the Styx Syndicate Boss, Midas Onasis, and a person who had pretended to be Vee, or rather, The Assassin of Decay. A nickname given because the assassin was known for leaving corpses decomposed far beyond their known time of death. Very few people knew the assassin's true identity was Vee or a woman at all. When the general populous had believed her actions to be carried out by a man, she had leaned hard into that. She would even disguise herself as one when she carried out her missions. It seemed Midas was under the impression that he had hired this very dangerous man to be his protection. He did not know that the assassin wasn't a free agent, available for anyone to hire; she belonged to the Desmond Mafia. "Congratulations," Oliver smirked, enjoying the apparent success of his scheme. "You now work for the Styx Syndicate. In that folder, you will find the instructions Midas gave for you to get to him. All you have to do, is kill him. Then, you're a free woman. So long as Midas dies, I will not pursue you any longer."

Vee bowed deeply, causing her long jet-black hair to fall around her face; that's too good to be true. "Understood; thank you, Master." She swiftly left his office, gripping the folder tightly to her chest.

Vee returned to her bedroom where she collapsed onto the bed, letting out a long breath. She thoroughly reviewed the contents of the folder. She learned that she would be picked up the next day by a driver at specific coordinates Midas had provided. Someone had already noted that she'd be taxied to the meeting location, which appeared to be an abandoned lot. Midas warned that they would be checking for tracking devices and that no outside electronics were permitted at Styx HQ. She thought about that; I wonder how they check? Hopefully, it's not too thorough. She wondered if Oliver would attempt to tail her as she traveled; surely that is too risky. Midas is not a stupid man, he'd prevent that somehow. She perused the rest of the emails, discovering that she would be given private quarters, complete with a bathroom; perfect, I can maintain my disguise without having to worry about showering and changing then- I hope. She was also permitted to bring a reasonable amount of personal belongings, whatever could fit in a car trunk.

She rose from her bed to begin packing her things. She mulled over everything as she worked; I should prepare what I need for Shade too. She had pretty much perfected disguising herself as a man. Shade is the name she had given to her disguise, her alter-ego. Becoming him consisted of several parts, so she laid out the items needed in preparation for the next morning when she would become him. The first thing she put out was a black, Venetian-style mask with golden tiger-like stripes on it; it covered the upper half of her face. Then she laid out the device she referred to as her vocal converter. It was golden with engravings that resembled barred tiger teeth and it covered the lower part of her face, sitting over her mouth and nose. The main purpose of this device was voice distortion. With it, her voice sounded masculine, though still a bit unnatural, almost mechanical. When speaking with it, people always assumed that the unnatural tones were the point. They never seemed to realize it was dramatically lowering her overall pitch. Next, she laid out her stilts, or more precisely, one stilt and one prosthetic. Her right leg was amputated below the knee; at that moment, she was wearing a properly sized, foot-shaped, skin-colored prosthetic but, whenever she became Shade, she swapped it for her stilts to become taller. Her stilt prosthetic was metal and of an athletic design; it was a foot longer than it should be for her height. She matched it with a foot-tall athletic stilt she would place on her left side; these brought her height to an intimidating six-foot-six. She could move well in them, possibly even better than without them; I've never been directly observed in these for very long- Someone may notice my proportions are off... She had never remained disguised as Shade for longer than 48 hours before. Finally, she laid out clothing for the next day. Often, to be Shade, she simply donned a cloak. That night, she chose to lay out full men's clothing as well, unsure if they would require her to remove the cloak. She put out long, dark gray dress pants and a white button-down shirt. She paired these with a red tie, black leather belt, and a black double-breasted waistcoat that had a short tail. The waistcoat was overly-long so that it played with her proportions, making her torso appear longer. She also added a long, sturdy leather glove for her left hand; this was not unique to Shade, Vee always wore a glove on her left hand. She grabbed the final things, undergarments. A binder for her chest and men's boxer briefs, complete with padding to stuff inside them. She disliked the binder and had never actually worn the underwear before but she had bought them some time ago; just in case. Pretty sure they will not be convincing, if it comes to that, but whatever.

She finished boxing the rest of her things and then considered herself in the mirror for a moment. Normally, she would pull her hair back when disguising herself. As she was planning for the possibility of having to remove her cloak she wondered; should I cut it? The thought made her sad for a moment. Shade was someone she had created out of necessity. She had never planned to live as him for an extended period. Thinking about cutting her hair felt like discarding her femininity. Though being a woman had never made her life easy, she had never actually wanted to not be one. Being a man would be easier, but being a woman felt right; even when it hurts. She ran her fingers through her hair; do what you need to do. She grabbed scissors and cut until she was left with a medium chop. It looked messy; a little wild even... She decided she liked it; it seemed to sit on the line between feminine and masculine in a satisfying way. Looking at it she got another idea. She dug through some things she had left in her bathroom, finding some hair bleach. She used it on just the tips of her newly cut hair. When done, she had strands that faded from black to a golden-blonde color; it's like my mask. Satisfied with that, she turned in for the night.

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