It was late Thursday of the next week when Lyria received the call. It had been a simple thing that had chilled her blood when she answered her comm. The familiar erotic voice of Xana had only spoken two words but it had been enough to turn her legs to jelly. Her mind returned to the sight of her fangs and how iron her grip on her arm had been. Just two words were enough to both fill her with dread and a slight bit of pleasure. Mostly dread at the prospect of meeting the vampire again.

The two words were; "Mission accomplished."

It was all she had needed to hear. Immediately after hanging up she had called Sally to cancel on tonight's date. Thankfully her... girlfriend was understanding enough when she had cited the reason as being work related. Technically not a lie but not the full truth either. It was the third date so really it wasn't like they hadn't seen each other plenty since their initial start on the relationship. With a parting apology Lyria had informed Sam of where she was going and for what reason. After seeing the pale expression on his face she had opted not to invite him along. She was cruel at times but not so cruel as to force him to be in Xana's unnerving presence again.

The entire drive through the Seattle streets was stressful. Rain steadily pattered down on her car and without anyone else with her Lyria was left with only her own thoughts. Rationally she knew Xana was not a threat to her so long as the vampire was in her employ. She understood that she was just another business woman out for herself, aside from her unique payment option. However Lyria was also not ashamed to admit the woman was unnatural. There was a wrongness about her that was as oppressive as it got. Lyria had seen and done plenty of morally reprehensible things but just looking into those red eyes she felt that anything she had done paled in comparison to what Xana herself had.

She took in deep breaths when she arrived at the garage, looking at herself in the mirror. Lawson's presence would help calm her no doubt. The doctor had quite a few tricks up her sleeve and being a hermetic mage made her a weapon in and of herself. A small comfort but a comfort nonetheless. No doubt since making contact with Xana she had prepared contingences in case the vampire turned on them. Again it was very unlikely but a being like Xana was never to be underestimated.

None of the night watch stopped her as her clearance gave her full access to all parts of the facility. She reached the elevator and took a deep breath before clicking down the correct floor. The metal box lurched slightly before descending into the depths of the facility. None of the guards would be permitted on the floor and security was out. This was corporate espionage of the highest order, technically sanctioned but even still it was best to cover her tracks. Lyria did not want to risk blackmail material finding its way into the hands of David Rowe.

The sterile halls of the research wing of the facility greeted her when the doors opened. The cameras were all dark and the place was as vacant as they came. She felt her heart pound louder and louder as she drew closer to her destination. When she stood outside of the door to the lab the elf took a few deep calming breaths. Nothing was going to happen. Nothing was going to happen. Xana was not going to tear her throat out, she was going to deal with the problem and put this whole affair behind her.

The lab was dim though not entirely absent of light. Beakers and tubes lined the walls and everything was almost obsessively neat and tidy. Her eyes immediately found the form of Xana skulking in the shadows with a trio of figures all tied and black bagged. The vampire wore a security uniform and a wry smirk. Beside her was a dark skinned human of middling age and somewhat attractive appearance. Dark, wiry hair was pulled into a tight bun and a lab coat was tight around her form. Glasses were pushed up the bridge of her nose upon her entrance and Lyria received the slightest of nods.

Dr. Eleanor Lawson. Pretty much the generic success story but no less impressive for it. Orphaned and adopted into a wealthy family in London she was top of her classes no matter what she did, showing great aptitude for hermetic magic. Eventually hired onto Yamatetsu she and Lyria had worked on a number of smaller projects before this one, though this was their biggest by far. There was no one the elf trusted more in this world. She liked to think they were friends though it was often hard to figure out Lawson.

Lyria was somewhat surprised by the sight. "I hadn't expected three."

Xana smirked, offering an unnerving look at her fangs. "Neither did I, fortunately one proved quite loose lipped when I... persuaded him."

"How did you manage to get three people in here without anyone questioning it?" Lyria asked, earning an enigmatic smirk.

"A girl has to have some secrets, Ms. Lysender."

The doctor rolled her eyes. "She handed them off to me and I stored them in specimen containment. When Ms. Xana found the last one I arranged for all three to be brought up to my lab under the guise of preliminary testing." She revealed, her tone dry.

The vampire pouted at the human. "Where's your sense of mystery, doc?"

The woman regarded the HMHVV infected entity with a cool look. "Not present. Now that Ms. Lysender is here please remove the bags."

Xana rolled her eyes and tore the black bags from the heads of the three conspirators. Lyria frowned as she recognized each one as people that had worked in some way on the Formula 27 project. Two women, one man. Human, troll, and elf respectively. They were gagged and looked around in confusion and fear. Xana handed her their ID cards and Lyria looked over them with a frown. With deliberate slowness she read off the names.

"Izumi Akane. Winona Lyr. Lethanros Silverence. Interesting. How did you figure them out and what were they after?" She asked.

"They aren't exactly master criminals. It was a nice trick with using some hapless runners on a priority target but the dandelion eater here didn't completely wipe his login when he accessed the data. Considering what was happening it was understandable your cybersecurity overlooked it. Probably would have taken weeks to pinpoint and they'd have likely noticed the snooping. Fortunately for you I'm pretty discreet. As for what they were after..." Xana said, gesturing to the good doctor.

Lawson cleared her throat. "They were looking into experimental cyberware we were developing to minimize essence loss for mages. They managed to make copies of the data though didn't get everything. They were apparently planning to use another team of runners to serve as a distraction so they could get the rest and then sell it to Cross Applied Technologies."

Lyria frowned. Yamatetsu dominated the Cyberware market but Cross Applied Technologies were a fairly powerful second tier corporation. It sounded like an entirely inside job but obviously they had them already lined up as a buyer. Fortunate then that the idiots waited to receive the bulk of the data. If the cyberware being developed in her facility ended up in outside hands that would have spelled disaster for her. She glared at the trio harshly, kicking the Asian human in the stomach harshly. The woman squealed behind the gag, tears leaking from her eyes. Pathetic.

Dr. Lawson looked on at the brutality with clinical detachment and Xana actually looked fairly amused. Judging by the bruises on all three she had interrogated them through means beyond mere intimidation. Lyria was not normally one to lash out so but these fools had fucked with her and had brought her more stress than she cared to recount. She was due a little violence for that at least. After kicking the elf in the groin and cuffing the troll a couple of times she straightened her clothes out and turned to Lawson.

"Right. I want all three processed and given Formula 27 doses. We'll deal with them tonight and I'll handle the paperwork later. Xana would you be so kind to offer your continued assistance until all three are dealt with?" Lyria said, earning looks of horror and struggling from all three.

Xana shrugged. "The doc already paid me but sure, why not? Not every day I get to help with mad science experiments."

The vampire put her full security helmet back on her head and gripped her shock prod, forcing the three to their feet. The troll tried to make a run for it but was laid low with the highest shock setting. Lyria felt just the slightest bit safer around Xana as she seemed far less inclined to rip her throat out. That was not to say she was still not drawn to her and that she still didn't feel wrong. It was just obvious she was not a threat. In the apartment she had been unprepared but now Lyria had possessed time to steel herself.

The trip down to Test Chamber Four was wrought with failed escape attempts being foiled again and again by Xana. Her inhuman speed and strength was on full display and the elf even found her own natural agility put to shame. In the test chamber the vampire easily restrained all three to the tables within. Bulk chambers like this had been a recent installation, another expense Rowe had gotten on her case about but Lyria felt confident in the expenditure. In little cases like this they were very useful.

Once restrained the gags were removed and Lyria found her ears assaulted by a blend of begging, threatening, and bargaining.

"Please Ms. Lysender, don't do this! Please..."

"You fucking bitches! Let me the fuck out of here!"

"Listen they were going to pay us a fortune, enough to split six ways and still set someone for life!"

The elf rolled her eyes as Eleanor injected each with Formula 27. The Formula itself was not a shrinking formula; such an expense would be worthless to Yamatetsu. It was the nascent stages of a drug that could magnify magic use. The shrinking had been a convenient spell to use in order to figure out what effect the drug might have on those having magic used on them. Likely to be phased out in the next month as the project progressed. The result of much research on Eleanor's part and much working of the corporate political structure on Lyria's. If successful Lyria might even find a place on the Board of Directors.

Once the Formula was applied the trio departed to the observation room. Here there were two rods that were charged to conduct magical energies. Eleanor took both in her hands and started breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, focusing herself. Xana watched the whole affair with mild interest, even removing her helmet to get a good look. Lyria for her part smirked as she felt vengeance finally at her fingertips. Finally she could put this whole fucking thing behind her and rest.

"Formula 27 has successfully started bonding to the subjects. Introducing magical energy." Dr. Lawson stated.

The air around the woman crackled and sizzled as she funneled her spell into the rods, the energy emerging in the test chamber. The inhuman screaming within was muted within the soundproofed chamber. It hardly mattered much anyway as it was not long before all three passed out under the stress. Subject survival was much higher by this point in the tests, Lyria was most pleased to see that all three were so far not bursting as they reduced in size slowly. The elf took the opportunity to produce her comm. After a ringtone Lyria received a greeting in Japanese from a perky female voice.

"Hello, this is Lyria Lysender for Mr. Sato. Would you please connect me?" The elf inquired in English.

Heavily accented English met her response. "Ah yes, one moment Ms. Lysender."

A brief few notes of drab elevator music signaled she was on hold before another accented bit of English greeted her. "Ah, Ms. Lysender. I understand it is rather late in Seattle. Shouldn't you be asleep by now?"

"Hello Mr. Sato. Yes it's a tad late but you know me, work, work, work." She replied, earning a chuckle on the other end.

"Of course, you always were rather driven. How can I help you today?" He asked.

Lyria took a glance at how far along the process was before responding. "Simply calling you to let you know everything is stable here. The... problem you were worried about has been taken care of."

A moment of silence met her words. "I trust it was discreet?"

Lyria chuckled. "Oh yes, quite discreet. You needn't worry over it any longer. I was quite thorough in my investigation. I can send a full report at your convenience. Off the record of course."

"Ah ha, no, no. I trust your handling of the situation fully, Ms. Lysender. I must say I was concerned at first but hearing you handled it so decisively and in a timely manner relieves me greatly."

It felt as if a thousand pounds had suddenly fallen from the elf's slim shoulders at his words. Rowe was still going to be a thorn in her side for a few more days but compared to the crisis she had been facing it was nothing. He was an asshole but an asshole she could manage, if she hadn't captured those three... well her benefactor was not the most forgiving. She gathered herself and hurriedly responded.

"It means a great deal to hear you say that, sir. You can count on me to handle things here." Lyria said.

"I have no doubt about that. I would not have put you in charge otherwise. I know your work will yield great profits for the company." Mr. Sato said, a slight beep sounding over the line.

"Ah, yes, I'm sorry to have to cut this short but I have another call on the line. Keep up the good work, Ms. Lysender."

Lyria was smirking as she came away from the call and found Eleanor had finished the process. Xana was still lounging near the window, staring out in amusement at the three shrunken form before turning her red eyes upon Lyria once more. The elf faltered slightly when those pools of red met her eyes, steeling her mind against the hypnotic gaze. She held the vampire's gaze and earned a giggle from the woman as she passed her by, placing her helmet back on her head and moving to the door.

"Well, it's been real girls, but I'm off. You ever need something like this again pop me a message on the forum." With that the vampire was gone, leaving Eleanor and herself.

The pair moved into the test chamber and Eleanor handled each of the shrunken trio with a set of rubber gloves. She placed them into a set of three test tubes almost out of habit and handed one to Lyria. The elf smirked at the tiny, unconscious body within. Oh she was going to enjoy exacting revenge of the highest order on these idiots for daring to defy her. Her amusement must have showed for the doctor cleared her throat.

"I take it you aren't disposing of them quickly then?" She stated.

"Of course not. It would be a dreadful waste." Lyria stated, and then followed up with a question of her own. "Do you want any of them?"

Eleanor shook her head. "Thank you but no thank you. I shall let you have all of the fun there."

Lyria shrugged. "Suit yourself. If you change your mind the offer is open ended."

Eleanor nodded and handed the remaining tubes to Lyria who couldn't wait to get home with her new prizes. The elf wondered how Sam might like getting some new playmates. Likely not as well behaved playmates but Lyria hardly cared about that. Unlike with Sam she had no previous attachments to these creatures. So she doubted it would be too much of a loss if she... made an example of one of them. Thoughts for the next day no doubt, for now she found herself really wanting to crawl in bed. The sooner she got up, the sooner she could play with her new toys.