Chapter 1: The Intruder

Snow and solitude... Had he ever known anything else in his life? Lyutsifer spent his days watching the snowflakes fall against the bay window of his laboratory. The silence was broken only by the footsteps and hushed conversations of his henchmen.

This solitude had been weighing on him for several weeks. Yet for twenty years, it had not bothered him. His perfectly calculated routine kept him busy from dawn to dusk. He was working on a new toxin, a derivative of botulinum toxin with DNA programming... but he had no one with whom to share his knowledge and discoveries. Engaging in conversation with his employees proved impossible when the only response you received was a deep bow and an apology before they slipped away to the laboratory, the garden or their living quarters.

He worked alone in a huge office, with only the snow-capped mountains and the frozen ocean for company.

He walked alone through the immense reinforced concrete corridors, devoid of any superfluous decoration. 

He waited alone for the chime of the clocks that marked the rhythm of life in the bunker to break the crushing silence. The warmth of a companion, the sweetness of a child... He had come close to it once in his life.

Madeleine's terrified face as she looked at him, Mathilde's trembling as he held her in his arms, their cries muffled by the ocean and the snow as the flames of the missiles destroyed his life... Perhaps happiness was not for everyone. 

Moisture formed ice droplets on the leaves of the poisonous garden. Lyutsifer, lost in thought, watched the condensation escaping from the pistils of these flowers, as beautiful as they were deadly. With his hands behind his back, he wondered if he had ruined his life by seeking revenge. Consumed by dark thoughts, he did not immediately notice the sirens and alarms blaring around him. 

"Unknown vessel approaching! Prepare to intercept!" shouted a guard's voice over the loudspeakers across the island.

Since the incident with Agent Bond, security had been drastically increased.

"Have you identified the ship?" asked Lyutsifer, regaining his composure.

He had to act quickly, efficiently and rationally. 

"The ship is called the Chimera, sir. It is of British origin."

British? Was MI6 back on the attack? James Bond was dead; he had buried him himself under the poisoned garden. The images came back to him: missiles diving towards his refuge, the pain and cold as he watched them lying in his garden... Acceptance of his own end. 

"Have you been able to identify the passengers?"

"Negative, we only have one person in sight. We can't tell if they're unconscious or dead."

"Have the ship moored and prepare for an ambush."

A dozen henchmen arrived at the port, armed to the teeth, ready to intercept the enemies. Mikhail, Lyutsifer's proud right-hand man, was the first to board.

"Boss, the target we spotted is alive but unconscious!" he said urgently through a crackling radio in Lyu's hand.

"Identity papers?" he asked, pacing back and forth in his office.

"Not at first glance. She's a white woman, fairly young, with an arm injury. She seems to have a concussion."

A moment's pause. Then Mikhail heard his boss again.

"Take care of her. Destroy the ship in case there are any beacons."

The small island, usually so quiet, was teeming with life. The shipwrecked woman was taken to the bunker to be treated, imprisoned and interrogated. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt such adrenaline. This stranger had drifted here without attracting the attention of the authorities or his own security team. How? Why? The more he thought about it, the less sense the situation made.

The answers to his questions came two hours later, following a thorough search of their surprise guest's belongings. 

“Boss.”

Mikhail abruptly placed a badge on Lyutsifer's desk, who had immersed himself in his files to take his mind off things. 

“She's one of ours. She applied a year ago to work in your empire.”

Lyutsifer grabbed the badge, damaged by sea water. A coffee stain marred the photo of a young woman with a tight bun, dressed to the nines in a black three-piece suit.

Safin Pharmaceuticals. Line Ko. Laboratory technician.

"Did you check her file?"

‘Human resources just sent it to us.’ Mikhail placed the printed version on the desk. ‘A punctual employee who worked at the London plant. She had excellent evaluations and had requested training in botany and virology for our experimental units. She was refused because she did not have the appropriate qualifications. The request for transfer to our chemical weapons laboratory dates back six months.’

Lyutsifer ran a hand over his face, leaning back in his seat. He twirled the badge between his fingers as he tried to figure out what she was doing here. Revenge? Nerve? Accident? He was sure she had managed to get his CEO's attention.

"Do..."

"A background check?" Mikhail finished, flashing a smile that he quickly suppressed. 

"Orphaned." The word hung in the air for a few moments. "Her parents died in a car accident when she was ten. No known relatives, minimal online presence except for a blog about plants..." Mikhail reviewed his notes on his phone. "She finished high school and worked in a garden centre before coming to us. She was trained in the business."

"No one who would be concerned about her absence?" Lyu raised an eyebrow in surprise. He didn't mess around when it came to security. He sat up straight in his chair, stopping the badge from spinning between his fingers. Mikhail shook his head without answering.

"That's impossible! No partner, a vague neighbour, her landlord, her managers?"

"She hasn't shown up for work in three months. She was officially dismissed for abandoning her post. No activity on her bank accounts except for automatic payments for her rent. No disappearance reported to the British authorities, and we found nothing in the MI6 or even Interpol databases."

A silence fell over the room. Mikhail, his hands behind his back, knew very well why his superior seemed so troubled by the news. The young woman they had just rescued was dead to the world, just as he had been left for dead in his youth. Mikhail knew how to recognise that silence. The one he fell into when an old memory resurfaced.

"I want to see her."

Lyutsifer rose abruptly from his seat, slipping the files provided by Mikhail under his arm. Mikhail didn't flinch, merely raising an eyebrow.

"She's still unconscious, Boss. The doctors say it's an absolute emergency."

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Mikhail," Lyutsifer cut him off sharply, motioning for his henchman to leave.

He was determined to understand what this intruder was doing on his island, in his sanctuary. A mystery to solve, a need to find something new... Who was this woman, what did she want, why was she there? He wanted all the answers and couldn't wait any longer.