Inside the titanium briefcase was not a large, grotesque monster.
It was empty.
Almost.
At the bottom of the case, nestled in a layer of light blue bio-gel, were dozens of small, metallic black objects, no larger than a man's thumb. They looked like mechanical scarab beetles, with glossy carapaces and delicate, articulated legs. They lay inert, without a twitch of movement.
A murmur of disappointment rippled through the room.
"What is this joke?" one of the crime lords muttered.
Liang Wei frowned slightly, his displeasure clear.
The auctioneer maintained his smug smile. "Patience, gentlemen. The true beauty of destructive art lies in its subtlety."
He gestured. Two guards dragged a man out from a hidden door. The victim wore the tattered clothes of a rival gang, his mouth gagged and his hands tied behind his back. He was forced into a metal chair placed a few meters from the pedestal. His eyes darted around in terror.
"Each Chimaera 'unit'," the auctioneer explained, pointing to the mechanical beetles, "is a nano-tech infused, autonomous bio-weapon. They are guided by a single high-frequency signal. They are fast, precise, and nearly impossible to detect before it's too late."
He produced a small device resembling a remote control.
"Observe."
He pressed a button.
A low, inorganic WHIRRR filled the air.
The beetles in the case moved as one. Paper-thin, iridescent wings unfolded from their shells, vibrating at an impossible speed. In an instant, they lifted off, forming a buzzing, dark cloud above the case.
They didn't fly chaotically. They moved as a single entity, a ruthless swarm intelligence.
The black cloud hovered in the air for a second, then...
WHOOSH!
It shot towards the man tied to the chair with the speed of a bullet.
The victim had no time to scream. The Chimaera swarm enveloped him. The only sounds were the deafening buzz and a sickening series of wet THWIPS as the metal legs sank deep into flesh.
It took only three seconds.
The auctioneer pressed the button again. The black cloud detached from the victim as quickly as it had attacked and returned to the case, arranging itself neatly in its original position.
The man in the chair was still sitting upright. But his eyes were lifeless. Blood began to seep from hundreds of tiny holes all over his body, as if he'd been hit by an invisible shotgun blast. Then, he convulsed once and slumped over, his body limp.
Liquefied internals, Kael realized instantly. A hyper-potent neurotoxin, injected directly into the circulatory system. Death in seconds.
Silence fell over the room. This time, it was not the silence of disappointment, but of awe, and... covetous desire.
Liang Wei leaned forward, his beady eyes gleaming with greed. Yamamoto Kenji gave a slight, appreciative nod.
This wasn't just a weapon. It was the perfect assassination tool.
"The bidding starts at ten million U.S. dollars," the auctioneer declared, breaking the silence.
"Twelve!" Liang Wei shouted immediately.
"Fifteen," Yamamoto countered calmly.
The war began.
Kael kept his face a mask of indifference, but his mind was racing. I need a distraction. Just a few seconds.
"Spectre, I'm getting an anomalous energy signature from one of the units," Oracle's voice came through his earpiece, tense. "It didn't return to the case. It's still out there."
Kael's heart skipped a beat. He scanned the room.
And then he saw it.
A small black dot, crawling on the ceiling, right above the LED light banks. It had broken from the swarm.
Damn it, Kael thought. It's out of control.
"Twenty million!" another boss yelled.
The Chimaera on the ceiling seemed to sense the chaos. Its wings unfolded.
VZZZT!
It didn't target anyone specific. It just dove, flying erratically through the room.
Panic erupted.
The bodyguards instantly drew their weapons, but how could you shoot a target that small moving at that speed? A stray bullet could kill a crime lord and ignite an all-out war.
"Protect the boss!" Bao roared, shoving Liang Wei behind him.
Kael acted on instinct. He surged forward as well, using his body to shield Liang Wei, maintaining his cover perfectly.
The Chimaera zipped past their heads.
SLASH!
One of Yamamoto's bodyguards screamed and fell, clutching his neck. A spray of crimson fountained between his fingers.
In that moment of chaos, Kael saw his chance.
All eyes were on the flying menace and the dying guard. The titanium case on the pedestal was left unattended.
"Move now, Spectre! You have one shot!" Oracle urged.
As Kael moved to shield Liang Wei, he "accidentally" stumbled towards the pedestal. He fell, one hand bracing himself on the floor, the other "catching" himself on the side of the case.
In that brief moment of contact, his palm was open. The tracker, small as a grain of rice and adhesive, was pressed into a seam near the case's hinge.
As quick as a magician's sleight of hand. No one noticed.
At the same time, a dry THWAP echoed in the room.
Kael looked up. Oni, Yamamoto's bodyguard, was standing there, holding a dagger. Impaled on the tip was the Chimaera, its wings still twitching feebly.
He had thrown the knife and pinned the bug mid-air.
Damn, he's good, Kael acknowledged silently as he got to his feet, dusting himself off.
The chaos subsided. Everyone stared at Oni with a mixture of respect and fear.
The auctioneer, pale-faced, tried to regain control. "A... a minor incident, gentlemen! Which only proves its potential! Thirty million dollars! Do I hear thirty million?"
The incident only fueled the frenzy. The bosses had now seen how dangerous and desirable the weapon was.
"Thirty-five!" Liang Wei roared, his face flushed.
"Forty," Yamamoto countered, without a flicker of emotion.
Finally, at fifty-two million dollars, Yamamoto shook his head.
"Fifty-two million, going once... going twice..."
"SIXTY MILLION!" Liang Wei screamed, slamming his hand on the armrest.
Silence.
"Sold to Mr. Liang Wei!" the auctioneer announced, breathing a sigh of relief.
Bao and Liang's other guards grinned smugly. Kael remained stone-faced. Mission accomplished.
"Tracker is active. Signal is clear and strong, Spectre. Well done. Now exfiltrate with Liang. Don't draw attention."
The technicians quickly closed and locked the case. They were about to hand it over to Liang's men.
But then, something unexpected happened.
The steel door they had entered through burst open.
But it wasn't the guards who entered.
It was a team clad in the dark blue tactical gear of the BSAA. They were armed with P90 assault rifles and moved with special forces precision.
The room went still. The crime lords' bodyguards froze, hands on their weapons but not daring to make a move.
The BSAA team leader removed her helmet. It was a Western woman with short blonde hair and eyes as cold as ice. Kael didn't recognize her.
"The party's over, gentlemen," she said in fluent English, her voice dripping with authority.
The auctioneer in the white suit shrank back, his face white as a sheet. "BSAA? What... what are you doing here?"
The BSAA woman smiled coldly. "Taking out the trash."
She wasn't talking to the crime lords. She was talking to the auctioneer.
Before anyone could react, she raised her pistol and fired a single shot.
BANG!
The bullet struck the auctioneer squarely between the eyes. He collapsed backward, dead instantly.
The chaos Kael had been expecting finally exploded. Gunfire erupted from all sides as the Triad and Yakuza bodyguards started shooting at the BSAA team.
The BSAA team returned fire with disciplined, ruthless efficiency.
Kael tackled Liang Wei to the floor, taking cover behind an armchair. "What the hell is this?!" Liang screamed.
"Spectre! What's happening? Report!" Oracle's voice was urgent in his ear.
"BSAA! They're here! They've ambushed the auction!" Kael hissed through his teeth.
But something was wrong. The BSAA team wasn't trying to apprehend the crime lords. They were creating a corridor, moving directly for the briefcase.
They weren't here to bust the auction. They were here to recover the merchandise.
The BSAA woman gestured, and two of her agents grabbed the titanium case.
The horrifying truth hit Kael in a flash of realization.
This auction. These buyers. It was all a front. A way to move a B.O.W. out into the open, under the plausible cover of a BSAA raid.
The rot... it went this deep.
A BSAA agent turned toward them. He raised his P90, aiming it directly at Liang Wei. Kael reacted instantly. He shoved Liang aside and drew his own SIG Sauer.
BANG! BANG!
His two shots hit the agent in the chest. He went down.
But Kael's cover was blown.
The BSAA woman turned to look at him, her eyes narrowing. "A stray rat..."
She raised her weapon.
But before she could fire, another door on the opposite side of the room was blown open.
Another squad stormed in. But their uniforms were black. Just like Kael's.
Hummingbird operatives.
They threw smoke grenades, plunging the room into a thick fog.
Kael was disoriented for a moment.
A hand grabbed his arm. "Spectre! With us! Now!"
It was one of the Hummingbird soldiers. He pulled Kael toward the new exit.
As they ran through the smoke, Kael glanced back. Through the hazy fog, he saw the BSAA woman ordering her team to fall back with the briefcase.
She had won.
They had gotten what they came for.
And Kael was just a pawn in a much larger game than he had ever imagined. A game where the BSAA weren't the good guys.
They were just one of the monsters.