The office was the same way it had always been

The office was the same way it had always been. No pictures, matte black furniture and cream colored walls. The windows had been free to let light stream in once. He remembered that this too had changed when the man prior to 'Ms. Johnson' first occupied the room. Nowadays the Seattle skyline was kept at bay by black velour blinds. They tossed flickering shadows against the walls and doors as they swayed with an invisible breeze. Vlad Taltos had allowed himself to grow accustomed to the office. It lived atop a terribly short list of things that he accepted would never change. Besides the office he listed, the fact that it always rained in Seattle, his outdated layered haircut, the form-fitting armor squeezing the flesh reassuringly beneath his clothing. And of course, the way he killed.

The woman behind the lacquer desk was attractive enough to find work as a high society joy girl. He had always felt that oriental women were built for that type of thing. Shapely and pliable with seductively thick lips and long silken hair. However 'Ms. Johnson' held her head high and arched her shoulders back, suggesting a dignity far above that of a street whore. Vlad genuinely respected the woman. If not for her dignity, then for her power.

"Good evening Ms. Johnson" He knew her actual name, but used the ambiguous title nonetheless. It detached him from her if but a little. 'Ms. Johnson' paused, and he watched the anger glimmer in her wide green eyes. After a moment, the stress lines faded from her olive face and she began to speak.

?" I have an assignment for you. I need you to tag along on an extraction." Her voice was haughty and carried no accent.

" The target is a female. She goes under the name Linnea Tobockenhorst. Presently, two operators calling themselves Cutter and Shimmer hold the contract to extract her. The organization feels that it should become involved in this matter. "

" You do exactly what I tell you to Mr. Taltos. Besides, Cutter and Shimmer have been looking for a member to complete their team and I have arranged for their fixer to suggest you. " Ms. Johnson smiled wryly and settled back into her leather desk chair. The chair was too big for her, he noticed. It gave her the look of a child playing dress up at her father's desk.

Ms. Johnson shook her head. " She isn't a woman Vlad. She's a girl. And I expect you to notify control once the package is in your custody. You will receive further instructions at that time."

He narrowed his eyes again and furrowed his brow, shock draining white into his tan face. " Children have always been off limits to my kind Ms. Johnson. I can't take part in anything like what you are suggesting."

She laughed. " I never said it was a suggestion. The organization has decided that this needs to be done. Therefore you need to do it. "

" It is imperative that you try to understand what I am telling you. You don't have a choice my little Ryu-tsume. The organization owns you. That means I own you. So you will do what I say." She snickered loudly, pulling dark hair behind her ears. Her accent showed as her words echoed.

" Then I suppose the arrangement has changed. Would you like me to place a call to control and inform them of your need to renegotiate?" She let her hand slide across the desk towards the telephone, holding it there as if it were a gun and she need only press a button to unleash its chambered fury.

" As I suspected." She smiled and folded her hands together on the desk. " Try to relax Vlad, you've always been so cold. You can start by calling me Vanessa."

She began to click her perfect red nails upon the desktop. Vlad wondered how much it had cost to have those done. Undoubtedly more than he would be paid for doing what she proposed. Then again, he was never in it for the money.

Fifteen. Vlad thought. These days, that’s old enough to at least know what you're doing. He was only six years removed from that himself. Still, He promised himself he would never kill a child. Not again.