Two men sit in an office, shrouded in shadow. One of the men leans forward, showing an old and worn face.

"And you're sure that you can get me what I need?"

The other man leans back in his chair, arms behind his head, face still covered in darkness.

"Sir, I used to be part of the biggest clan of hired thieves in the business. I can handle this."

The old man grunted. "And yet, you aren’t anymore. What does that say about your skills?

The other man leaned forward, anger written on his much younger face, his blond hair neatly combed.

"Skill had nothing to do with it. We just had a...disagreement of ideals."

The old man laughed. "If you say so. Just know, you weren't my first choice." The man slid a file over the desk. "Ever heard of Rapture, kid?"

"Of course. That's the underwater city, right?" The man grabbed the file and opened it.

"Yes. That's about all we know, unfortunately. About ten years ago, a man came from there after a plane crash. Didn't say much, but he did let loose something about gene manipulation. Stuff that could make you shoot lightning from your fingertips, freeze people in place. Hell, you could even shoot fucking bees at people!"

"And you want me to figure out how, correct?"

"Yes. As you can tell, my time on this Earth is coming to an end. But if I can get my hands on whatever they were doing down there-"

"Then you can reverse the aging. I get it, I get it. But what's it to me?"

"How does forty-million dollars sound?"

The young man leaned back again, thinking.

"Nah. I'm thinking forty-million, and a free gene manipulation tonic, or whatever you're talking about."

The man scowled. "You don't get to make the deals-"

"But you don't have much choice, do you? If I don't get it for you, then you'll hire my relatives. And there's a lot more of them than there are me. Which means you have to spend more money. Does that sound right?"

The older man grumbled an agreement, and told the younger man where to go.

A few days later, the young man arrives at a lighthouse, duffle bags in hand, and wanders inside.