In only a few minutes, Lukas heard banging at the door. Lukas gave Mathias a nod and Mathias took a deep breath, knowing what was to come next. Scurrying over to the door, Lukas opened it to reveal the chief with a team of three burly men behind him.

"Where is it?" the cheif asked, not even looking at Lukas as he stormed into the appartment.

"I restrained him in the kitchen" Lukas cried, pointing in the direction of the kitchen. Almost immediately the three men stormed in the direction of Mathias while the chief and Lukas watched on from the doorway.

Mathias struggled aganist the three men for a moment before one of them held Mathias down and another inserted a syringe into his left arm. Mathias continued to wriggle for a few moments before his movements slowed and his eyes shut. The men then proceeded to untie him from the chair and then retie him limbs with zip ties.

As the three men hauled Mathias's body into the hallway, the chief walked with Lukas towards the chair Mathias had been sitting in. "What the hell happened here?" the chief asked, crouching down as he examined the droplets of blood on the kitchen tile. "And are you okay?"

"I'm fine. When I got your message I knew I had made a mistake. I want to follow in your footsteps and now realize that disobeying you is not the right way to do it. As soon as I got your note I tried to force feed him rohypnol, but he realized what was going on and attacked me" Lukas explained. The chief stood up from the ground with a grin on his face. He took Lukas's face in his hand and stared deeply into his eyes.

"I knew I could trust you" he cooed, giving a proud smile as he caressed Lukas's cheek. He stayed smiling for a moment before taking a step backwards. "Now why don't you get yourself cleaned up."

As the chief turned to leave the apartment, Lukas clenched his jaw. He could still feel the man's clammy hands on his face as he strode out of the kitchen. Before following, Lukas wiped off the excess of dried blood around his nose and lips. He checked his reflection in the metal of the toaster oven before scurrying into his bedroom and grabbing his lab coat.

The chief was waiting in the doorway as Lukas came out of his bedroom. Once he caught up, all six of them were on their way to the lab, with Mathias's body shoved into a rolling cart as to avoid suspicion from the doorman.

-

When they finally entered the lab, the three men separated from Lukas and the chief and took Mathias to a separate entrance. Lukas grew worried as he watched the metaliic cart being rolled away from him. He followed the chief in silence as they approached the elevator. Entering, Lukas suddenly felt uneasy. His uneasiness refused to settle when the chief pressed the 17th button, rather than the 16th. Instead of protesting, Lukas stood his ground as if everything were alright.

When the sound of the elevator creaking towards the 17th floor began, the chief looked over at Lukas. Lukas returned the stare with a friendly smile, trying to not seem so guilty as they descended into the lab.

"Before I allow you onto the 16th floor again, we need to have a talk" the chief stated, his tone slightly threatening yet masked with a smile.

"I understand" Lukas replied, giving a slight nod. After a few more moments in silence the elevator finally rang, and the doors opened to reveal a room identical to that of floor 16. Everything was made of metal and there was the same computer and cabinet as floor 16. It even had the same lab table. Lukas looked back up at the monitor of the elevator just to make sure they were actually on the 17th floor. They were.

The chief motioned for Lukas to take a seat on the table as he rolled the chair from the computer over towards it. Lukas obliged, making sure to sit as close to the edge of the table as humanly possible. He wasn't sure what was going on, so if he needed to escape in a pinch, he wanted to be in a position that allowed him to run.

The chief seemed to recognize the uncomfortable position Lukas had sat himself in and chuckled. "Lukas, there's no need to worry. This is a standard procedure for scientists of this caliber" the chief explained. Lukas gave a weak smile. He had no idea what "procedure" entailed.

"Now Lukas, you have not been working here very long, yet you have the clearance level of a veteran scientist. You may wonder why that is. Mostly, it is because I believe you possess a certain air that I find intruiging. You're much smarter than many of the people who have perused this building, and I find you- well- found you, very trustworthy up until this morning" the chief began. "Although I find your loyalty questionable, I do not believe the trust between us cannot be mended. Therefore, from here on out, I am giving you full clearance of the facility in order to show that I believe in you and your ability to help me out in my mission. Although I am trusting you with this privilege, I am watching you and will always be watching you. Step out of line and you will have to dissapear. Understood?"

"Yes sir" Lukas replied, slightly relieved that he was back in the chief's good graces. Executing his plan would be much easier with full access to the facility.

"I'm not sure you truly understand" the chief stated with a smile. Lukas shot him a confused look.

"I-I understand sir. No more shenanigans. I trust that your work is bettering mankind as a whole and I intend on obeying orders" Lukas stated, almost robotically. The chief seemed pleased with the response. Standing up from the chair, the chief held out his hand for Lukas to shake. Lukas took it but was surprised when the man aggressively pulled him forward until they were standing chest to chest. Lukas stood rigid in place as the man hovered his lips directly next to his left ear.

"Disobey me again and your little brother Emil won't make it to his own graduation."

Lukas stood frozen, the hairs on his body standing rigid as the man suddenly backed away with a sickening grin plastered across his face. Lukas remained still, his eyes focussed on nothing in particular as the chief retreated into the elevator and pressed a button, leaving Lukas on floor 17 with goosbumps and a rapidly beating heart.