Arina stared up at Alexei as he spoke to them, she could tell he was livid about the previous night’s proceedings – but he was the kind of man who wouldn’t let his rage get the best of him. It’s why she admired him, so to speak; he held a sense of professionalism in his demeanour. His life was work, this city, his office – and when someone dared disrupt the order of his workplace… well, hell hath no fury like Alexei’s rage. 

Her lips twitched upward as he mentioned seeing the place for himself… the was literally nothing left to see other than a pile of rubble, ash and burnt corpses. Arina and Christopher had spent the rest of the night, coordinating security at other labs and organising protection for the inner circle – people on Alexei’s level and the like… once The Trident got bored of the labs, he would surely target them next.

Christopher sucked some air into his lungs as he stood, swiftly moving toward his sister and extending a hand, helping her up. He knew she didn’t need the help, but he had been raised as a gentleman, and there was also the fact: she expected it of him. They both entered Alexei’s office, he took a seat in the big arm chair before the Mob Boss’ desk, while she leant against it, draping her arm over the back while resting her hip on the arm. Christopher sat forward, his elbows sat on his bent knees with the tips of his fingers stretching to lightly touch their counterparts. 

“We got a call around eleven thirty telling us to get down and see what the hell was going on…” he spoke up, his hazel eyes glancing up at Alexei’s, “by the time we got there… well, there was literally nothing left. The place was ablaze and the smell of rotting flesh was the only thing to remind us that life was in there.”

Arina continued for her brother, “Our body count is fifty…” she piped up, the words rolling off her tongue with ease, as if the number didn’t bother her in the slightest, “But that’s so far. We’re estimating around that number simply due to who was rostered on last night… but who knows who else was in there for whatever reason. We won’t have a definite number until the police reports come back.” 

“There was one survivor that we know of, his name – Ivan Checkov. He stumbled out as we got to the scene, but he wasn’t much help…” Chris proclaimed, leaning back in the chair and stretching out into a lethargic position, “he all we could make of his incoherent mumbling was that it was a guy in black…” he continued. The two siblings glanced at each other for a moment,

“It matched The Trident’s M.O.” she finished what her brother was saying.

“Ivan is in New Realna Private Hospital, suffering major third degree burns and two gun shots to the back… poor bastard might not walk again.” Chris added, “Not sure if he’s conscious yet, but it might be an idea to go on down and see what he has to say… so far, he’s our only witness.” 

Arina glanced around the room, looking at her colleagues, she was honestly surprised everyone had actually shown up… it wasn’t often they were all in the same room – actually, she couldn’t remember a time when it had happened. Then again… she and Christopher were the main reason for that – getting them to show up for meetings was like trying to get a cat to take a bath. Most of the time it was Arina’s fault… but she’d never admit it. Her animated blue irises turned back to the most formidable of the group,

“So what’s your plan, Alexei?”