Bone Diggers - Chapter Fifty One

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Loading... Chapter Fifty One

"Just do this one little thing for me?" The plea was clear in Owen's tone.

"It's kind of illegal." Andreah turned forward in her chair and pretended to pay attention to the memo fnVR sent out. She had got in the habit of reading them and she'd be damned if she missed the one that was finally important.

"Oh please, like you've never broke laws during the alley cat races."

"That's different."

Owen edged closer, eating up more of her desk as he sat down. He leaned in like he was going to reveal the truly illegal part of his plan. "Is it the height? The Empire State Building isn't that tall for parkour."

"Are you kidding me? It's—" Andreah stopped as Owen turned his head into his shoulder to stifle a laugh. "You are joking. God damn it, why did I believe you for a second!"

"I admire the trust you have in me," Owen beamed.

Andreah bit her lip as she grinned. One day everything is wrong, then when you least expect it, it's another day, and it's okay. Despite this insight, Andreah made a face. "Ew, gross."

"How are my stars?" Chris announced, "I have news."

"Is it in the memo?" Owen leaned forward to skim something about the lunch room. Not likely.

"No." Chris's brow furrowed as if insulted that he'd come here for that. "We set up a Big Bad for you guys."

Owen scoffed as he got up from Andreah's area and moved over to his streaming space. The game was solid, and it was tiresome the way fnVR had to keep messing with it.

"The last big event wasn't that long ago," Andreah said. "Shouldn't we pace ourselves?"

"The wedding was not planned. Therefore, we could not market it properly, and thus ratings were lost. Furthermore, the arena streams kick our ass because of the action. Our target demo isn't going to tune in for an NPC's wedding."

"Pretty sure you are underestimating everyone's love for Lance," Owen countered.

"Plus," Andreah added. "They say sex sells."

"Touché."

Chris stared at them silently, wondering if they were done. He considered them insufferable when they worked together. Before he ran off to get someone who'd be less civil, Andreah spoke up. "Who is the target?"

"Don Ambrogio Spinola."

Andreah paled at Chris' choice. It didn't matter how many missions ago it was, one does not forget the name of the man who ordered their hanging. Fictional or not. Thinking back that far made her worry that the pain would tint what was going on now. But the world kept moving.

"He dies in 1630," Owen corrected. "It's 1606 in game."

"How do you know that?" Andreah asked.

"Why wouldn't I? Hated that guy for months. I wanted to kill him sooner, but since he's a historically based character I knew the game wouldn't let me."

Chris cleared his throat, and the two turned to look back at him as if they had forgotten about his presence. "That was true, until now. If you want to level before the battle, now is the time."

***

Despite the date, some things were accurate about this day, like the location. They had to travel all the way to Castelnuovo Scrivia, Italy. It took longer to reach Italy than it did the Canary Islands, or Paris. He worried the extra training would gather dust even with the game fudging the details to make this night happen when dictated.

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