Mercenary operation unfolds on Earth.

  Engineer Alex controls a drone. A mechanical bird with blade-sharp wings cuts through the air, racing toward the rendezvous point where Martian agents are already waiting. His every move is deliberate, focused.

  "Drone in position," he reports, eyes glued to the screen. His fingers move quickly across the control panel, eyes scanning data. "Hovering over coordinates. All clear."

  Beside him, like a shadow, stands Julia. Her movements are graceful, her gaze sharp. A black jacket with a patch lends her an air of threatening sternness.

  "Do you see the container?" she asks, leaning slightly to look at the monitor.

  "I see it." Alex's expression remains unchanged. "Sitting right in the middle of the platform."

  "Excellent." Julia lightly touches his shoulder. Her voice is firm and decisive, without a hint of emotion. "Retrieve it."

  Alex enters a command. The drone descends smoothly, its manipulator extending, scanning the area. The container is locked in, but the moment it’s picked up, the screen suddenly flashes with a warning.

  "Damn..." Alex exhales through his teeth, his hands continuing to work steadily. "The cargo is emitting a signal. We might get detected."

  Julia clenches her fist, her eyes growing tense.

  "Do we abort? Do you have a plan?"

  Alex smirks, hiding the tension behind a confident mask.

  "Always." He quickly toggles several switches, eyes sliding across the screen. "All escape routes calculated."

  Suddenly, the warning signal disappears.

  "Done. Tracking disabled. We’re out."

  The drone shoots forward, wings folding in as it pierces through the air. Wind whistles through the microphones, creating the atmosphere of a wild chase. It weaves through ruined buildings and forgotten antennas before flying into a partially destroyed hangar.

  This is the transfer base.

  A smooth landing. The container settles on the concrete floor with a sharp, almost soundless thud. A second later, the drone lifts off again, vanishing behind the concrete gates.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Silence.

  Then, from the darkness, with a dull grinding sound, a robot appears—a metallic centipede, its predatory armor shimmering in the light. Red sensors blink like eyes, casting an ominous glow. It picks up the container, absorbs it into its body, and disappears into a narrow crack in an old communication shaft.

  Some time later.

  An old hatch slides aside with a crunch. The centipede robot emerges, its metal limbs gliding over the concrete. It surfaces, delivering the container. Alex and Julia are already waiting. Julia silently takes the container. No unnecessary words.

  The centipede vanishes into the shaft’s darkness, as if it never existed.

  "Clear," Julia says, her eyes scanning Alex’s face, evaluating his reaction.

  "Excellent," Alex nods, his expression finally softening, though alertness remains in his eyes, hidden behind a mask of confidence. "To the lab. Let’s see what they sent us this time."

  Later, in the hideout.

  The room is bathed in soft, subdued light, as if the world beyond no longer exists. In this silence, Alex, focused, opens the container. His fingers barely touch the surface when the mechanism clicks open, revealing a small interactive memory block. He carefully touches the block, and it activates immediately. A hologram flares up above the table, projecting a blue silhouette. A voice, filtered and muffled, sounds as if from distant space.

  "Your mission: contact with the target," the voice is dull and mechanical, as if struggling through space. "The target is a diplomat. At the appointed time, he will be present at the gladiator battle, the planet’s main stadium. Inside the container are tickets. Your seats: above, below, left, and right of the target. Objective: infect the diplomat. The ampoule with the substance is inside. Caution—the target is under protection."

  The hologram dims and vanishes, leaving only emptiness. Silence fills the room instantly, as if the words themselves still echo in the dark space.

  Julia picks up the ampoule. It seems unremarkable—transparent, slender, containing a pearlescent liquid that reflects light. She rotates it in her hands, as if trying to grasp the mystery within.

  "Alex... What's in it?" Her voice is low, barely audible.

  The engineer silently applies a scanner to the ampoule. The composition appears on the screen. He frowns, rereading the data again and again, searching for a single clue.

  "This is... strange." His eyes narrow slightly. "Medical nanoparticles. Pure. Completely safe. But... this doesn’t look like a weapon."

  "Then what exactly are we supposed to infect him with?" Julia tilts her head, studying the ampoule intently. She senses something’s wrong but can’t say what.

  A pause. The silence presses down.

  "Maybe it’s something that activates later? Or a hidden program?" Julia speaks softly, her thoughts clearly sharpened.

  Alex stands, walks over to the window, his face just as focused as when working on machines.

  "Or maybe we’re just being used." He chuckles, hiding displeasure behind a smile, and shrugs. "But you know what? I don’t care. Strange job, sure. But it pays well."

  Julia keeps staring at the ampoule, gripping it tighter. Her fingers feel a strange weight in the small transparent capsule, as if it holds not just liquid—but a whole mystery. She knows something far greater might be hiding behind this mission. Something that will only come to the surface later.