Entering the mansion, Mel felt like she was visiting a European noble house she had seen on TV.
She can see the living room look so grand. Several antique sofas, display cabinets, and some old paintings are hanging on the walls. Wooden panels are typical of European buildings attached to the wall. The house's ceiling is also grandeur and magnificent, with massive antique decorative lights hanging in the middle of the vast room.
Mel silently walked behind Alex into the room that resembled a library.
Then she saw Alex pushing a book before him. Later, she hears a 'click' sound.
Automatically, the bookshelf shifted. And a door appeared in front of them with a staircase led them down.
"Follow me," Alex said while walking down. Mel nodded and followed him.
They arrived in a room that was not too wide, and the space was empty. There are two doors on the left, and there are two doors on the right. Alex walked to the left side; he opened the door by entering some codes and putting his thumb fingerprint, and then the door opened automatically.
She thought they would arrive at their destination but was wrong because another small room appeared. She could only follow him into the smaller room. She felt like she was in a box. Once inside, the door closed, and the room speedily moved downwards.
Mel, startled. She almost fell.
"WHAT!? Is this an elevator?"
Alex, catch her before she falls. "Hmm..." he chuckled.
Soon, the elevator doors opened, and they were in a room resembling the previous one.
She followed Alex towards the door with the words 'CR' written on it.
"Here we are. This is our Control Room for this country. You will be working from here. You can control all computers and access satellite from this room." Alex said.
She entered the room and saw computers and advanced equipment filled in the room. There are several men busy working. When they saw Alex enter the control room, they stood straight and gave him a military-style salute. Alex, return the respect by doing the same.
"Everyone, this is Miss Mel Tan. She is one of the intelligence members who will lead the mission tomorrow. Everyone here must follow her orders."
"Yes, Sir." They answered simultaneously with a roaring sound throughout the room.
'Are these boys excited to see the Commander or me... huh?' Mel smiles silently.
"Do you want to look around this room or go straight to the room to rest?" Alex asked again.
Mel shook her head. Then, she whispered to him, "Brother, I'm hungry," she said with embarrassment. Right now, she only wants to eat before starting to work.
"My fault! Sorry, I forgot you need to eat." Alex ruffled Mel's top hair. "Follow me," then he walked out of the room.
Mel immediately ran after him.
They returned to the same elevator, one level above the control room, and the elevator stopped. Alex took her to a huge canteen. She saw a variety of food neatly arranged on the table. She felt like she was in an all-you-can-eat-restaurant.
After deciding what she wanted, she saw Mario and others eating happily in the corner. She narrowed her eyes sharply to them. Her eyes seemed to say, 'You guys are a traitor; how dare you eat without me?'
"Little sister, do you want to eat, or do you want to stand watching people eat?" Asked Alex coldly.
"EAT."
...
After a lovely dinner, Alex and Mel retook the same elevator and stopped directly at the top floor. Mel saw a large room, like being inside an apartment.
"Where are we now?" she asked.
"The second floor of the mansion! This floor is hidden. Cannot be accessed from the main house." Alex walked into the living room.
"It looks very modern. Very different from the living room downstairs." She walked around looking at the room, and when she was looking at the guest bedroom.
"Little sister, you use the main bedroom; I'll use this one."
"No. I'll use this bedroom." Mel picked up her suitcase and dragged it into the smaller room.
"Why?" Alex stood at the door with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Because a big room makes me uncomfortable." She looked into Alex's eyes. He looks confused. "—Also, because you are the Commander. Right now, I am your subordinate. Brother, don't treat me like a little sister. We are on a mission. I don't want to have better facilities than yours." She said seriously.
Alex froze, but only for a second. He realized what he was doing was wrong. Because, according to his rank in the military, he was far above her.
"Little sister!" Alex's voice sounded low, "I can't treat you like my subordinates, especially if it's just the two of us." He smiled. "I will take your first excuse for granted; you are afraid of the big room," he said while smiling, walking toward the main bedroom and closing the door loudly.
"Is he angry?" Mel sighed softly. Ignoring her curiosity, she entered the smaller room.
...
After she finished taking a shower, she turned on her laptop. She opened the encrypted mail sent by GrimReaper, which gave chronological details of his uncle's kidnapping and all the data she would need to help track him down.
The assignment given is straightforward. Mel only needs to track down the kidnappers and find out where he is. Later, GrimReaper's team will free his uncle.
Such a simple task, she got paid 1 billion.
"Should I ask for extra?" She wondered while chuckling.
She knows Alex and his team will free all the hostages, including this Russian hacker, GrimReaper's uncle.
'How many billions can GrimReaper afford?' Mel thought. 'Hmm. I'd better call him first to offer him a new deal.'
She immediately took her cell phone from her bag.
Since she left City J, her cell phone has been off. After she turned it on, her cell phone vibrated incessantly.
"So many?"
She put her cell phone on the table and looked at the laptop screen. She will check it later.
...
Before long,
Mel heard a knock on the door.
"Come in!" She shouted.
Alex opened the door.
He saw Mel was staring at her laptop thoughtfully. Her long, messy black-ink hair was uncombed and still wet.
He frowned. His eyes fixed on the towel placed randomly on the table near the laptop. He sighed softly.
"Little sister!?"