Aefia skipped through the hallway. She stopped in front of the elevator and turned to look at her uncle who was walking behind her with his hands in his pockets.
"That was an awesome execution out there. Does your school teach you how to act?" Her uncle finally asked.
"No, I simply activated the strict asian parents mode. It is most effective during panic state." Aefia replied while slowing down.
"..." Her uncle stopped and looked down at Aefia who was leaping down the stairs. May I ask if your tablet and phones were the reason behind it? If you were your cousin, I won't have hesitated to send you to military training at this age.
***
They entered the meeting room in the Main Department and requested for the rest of the members to gather. There was no notes of it being urgent. Since it was already too late at night, it was best to gather at least one or two members with the confidential documents and contracts that hold details for the job.
Soon enough, three out of the eight members walked in while constantly complaining about the earlier incident. Aefia felt guilty for it but in her mind was also something else.
Her uncle read through the documents that were in the yellow folders from earlier. He scanned through them in detail and put them back into the folder before sliding it back to its respective member.
"So the problem with the overseas shipping facility has not yet been solved or discovered? That case has been ongoing for two years now and this year has been a bad luck for us." Her uncle put his head on his hands.
"We are trying our best. We are continuously working to track down who is behind it. The seniors are working tirelessly." A member replied.
"I will see to it later. For now, do you have any questions before we conclude this meeting?" Her uncle finished talking before the remaining five members entered.
"Hey boss, it looks like a kid came along with you. What is she going to do? Have you forgotten we are a group of Mafias?" A teenage looking member spoke.
"Settle down first. Since all of you came, I think it is better to announce it already." Her uncle got up and flicked on switches on the other side of the wall.
The room became brightly lit and the members faces were much clearer. Right next to the highback chair of the boss was a small plastic chair on which a young girl was sitting. The girl seemed to be a first grader.
"Isn't she the girl from earlier? The one who barged in to interrupt our meeting?" A member laughed. The rest laughed along with her. Aefia sat still, observing the room like a spectator at a theatre.
"Why? Is there a problem? Besides, she is my niece." Her uncle replied.
"Boss, she is a kid, she has no right to be in a meeting this confidential."
"It is my wish whether I want to keep her in this room or not." Her uncle slammed his hand down on the table, silencing everyone in the room. "Now, for the thing I called you all earlier," he continued.
He pointed to Aefia while saying, "She is our new member who is going to take the position of the unoccupied role. I would appreciate if you would cooperate with her and show her the way things work in this department."
"You have got to be kidding me boss, she is just a baby who probably still cries over a scratch. You can't expect her to fill the position." The teenage subordinate spoke while laughing.
"Did you go to third grade during the age of eight?" Aefia started speaking after a long while.
"No, it is impossible to do that in our country. I was eleven when I went to grade three." The teenager replied.
"Well unlike you and the others who think it is impossible, I am a third grader and I am eight." Aefia replied.
"So what? Are we supposed to be scared?" The teenager asked with a mocking smile.
"Are you all asking me to be scared of you? Just that you all belong to a group of Mafias doesn't mean I have a right to worship you like my seniors. In any case, why haven't any of you ever been promoted to the position I am getting if you all are so great?" Aefia said with a straight face.
The older members stared at the child as if it were a snake. "...how are we to know?! The position involves dangerous missions alright! You are also guaranteed to die since you are just a child!" The teenager barged out embarrassed.
"For the rest of you then, you may walk out if you are ashamed of your doings too." Aefia spoke before getting up. "At this point of the conversation, I believe you will be discussing about possible starter missions for me." While saying that, she too walked out.
"She is good at predicting what we are about to say next, she is a bright kid. I can already see why you chose her to fill the position." A senior member spoke.
"Yes, but there is more she can do." Her uncle replied.
"I was honestly a bit shocked when she stared at each one of us like we were suspects for a murder case. Although I will be honest, I think she already knows that we murder whoever is our enemy. She isn't too young mentally to understand that, right?" A female member who looked to be on her twenties spoke.
The others added in more positive details into the conversation while Aefia sat outside listening to every single word to which the members had to say. It wasn't as if she liked hearing people talk good about her, it was because the members had something to do with why the company had an ongoing conflict that hasn't been resolved for two years now.
She thought through everything that was said and done based on the members, and focused on which one of the details were a loophole. It was as if she was in a mystery novel, trying to find out the reason behind the unsuccessful assassination attempt of the recent conflict.
The conflict, was between two companies. Her uncle's and a rivaling company who seemingly stole and sold confidential details about her uncle's company. The rivaling company got away with every verdict that was placed on them. This was only one of them. The overseas shipping company was a bigger problem.
Suddenly, her stomach groawled. She was hungry and tired since it was currently the middle of the night, which was way past her dinner and sleep time. Luckily, there was a cafeteria downstairs.
She walked up to one of her uncle's bodyguards and asked him to show her to the cafeteria. After hearing about the rival company and her closest guess to why it had happened, Aefia thought it was better to trust only her uncle and his bodyguards in case she needed something.
She was indeed planning on telling her uncle about the situation, but she needed to wait for the perfect time to do so. In this case, the perfect time would be after she is already an official member of her uncle's company.
On her way down, the teenage member stopped the bodyguard and Aefia. He sent the bodyguard away and drew a knife while pointing it at her. She thought to herself, I see, one of the members are acting up. Now is my chance.
"Do you think you are competitent enough to survive a job position like that? I suggest you hand that job over to me and leave this company. I don't care if you are my boss's niece or daughter, do as I say or you will die here." The teenager spoke.
"Is that so? Are you asking me if I would prefer to be stabbed in the throat or go back to the hell I am trying to climb up from?" Aefia answered while smiling.
The teenager looked shocked but didn't step back or put the knife down. "You are not capable of handling the dangers that come with it. You are too short and and too young, how do you think you are to face our gruesome enemies?"
"Isn't it my thing to worry about? I will figure it out since it is my job but thanks for the concern. And about the dangers, I can handle them even with my short height and young age. It's not like I am a Mafia myself who is required to gather kill counts."
"That's not the matter! Just go back to your uncle and ask him to promote me to that position!"
"It's my decision and I choose not to. Are you going to stop me from using my freedom of speech?"
The teenager lunged at Aefia who bent down and charged at the teenager, causing him to fall down the stairs. The knife dropped from his hand during the roll down and Aefia stepped back from the edge.
Due to the loud noise, the other bodyguards rushed over to see whether Aefia was hurt. They were taken aback with the scene they saw. One of them ran to the meeting room to get her uncle.
When they returned, Aefia was gone. "What the heck happened here!" Her uncle looked at the staircase. The teenager laid with his face to the floor in a pool of blood. There was a fallen knife on the fifth stair.
"Where is the kid! Is she hurt?" Her uncle searched frantically. A guard returned with the news of Aefia. That she was in the cafeteria, sleeping with a bag of chips.
Her uncle rushed over, while the other members helped the teenager to the nurse's office although he was clearly unconscious.
"Aefia! Care to explain what happened?" Her uncle asked her when he saw that she was awake. "And how little do you sleep?!"
Aefia pulled out a small camera from her pocket and handed it to her uncle. "The camera is connected to your phone."
She took out another device and handed it to him, "so is this microphone. I did that out of defense. It's not like I started it first."
Her uncle took out his phone and listened to the recording. "He had some nerves to say that. But why would you confront him like that? You should have informed me about it."
"Uncle you are missing a lot of keys. First, why don't you say that to him? It would be much clearer to why he had the nerves after you have received the response and heard the recordings. Secondly, if I hadn't confronted him, I won't have known why he had such a grudge against me. Thirdly, if I had informed you about it, he would be a greater enemy of mine, especially after I become member."
"That does make sense. Is that why you don't have a bully back at school?"
"I am not sure, I just don't think I have any enemy at school. Even if I had, I won't hesitate to solve it instantly."
"Listen, I understand your urge to solve any problem you have any moment you find. I also understand you doing what you had done was for the purpose you just stated but if you try to solve everything yourself, some people will use your tricks against you."
"I don't think that's the case. It is possible if you have a pattern, then they will use that pattern to fit in their attacks. In which, it may cause you to lose the battle."
"Hmm... Alright, I understand that you are too young to understand what I really wanted to say. Then tell me, where did you learn about that?"
"I play games with people online and that's how I am able to predict a person's next move."
"Video games taught you to handle a situation like that? This is insane, given that some people actually get dumber because of it."
"I won't say they get stupid the more they play, they stack up on knowledge that they don't know how to use in real life. If I am honest, even novels and stories work the same way."
"Maybe some days you will tell me about it."
"And maybe some days you will tell me about 'it' too." Aefia stared at her uncle with cold eyes. Her uncle thought about what she could have possibly meant. Does she want me to explain about the family ties?
"Anyway, you are supposed to test me for the position right? What even is the position first of all?" Aefia finally asked.
"Oh, the test has been taken already. Do you want me to provide details on how you did?"
"Yes, I would be required to know if I need improvements right? Also, I need to know what attributes I need to achieve for that position."
"Firstly, your skill in sneaking in and out of the house unnoticed were exceptional, you might want to adapt a better version of it in the future. Secondly, your acting skills were normal but that level is enough, just don't go aboard the next time. Finally, your ability to crack open mysteries is more than enough. With this, you are able to acquire the position I am willing to give you."
"And that is?" Aefia asked excitedly. She was happy to be able to escape from home and stay away from it for as long as possible. "And does my mom know?" Aefia remembered.
"Your mom is aware and I made her promise not to tell your father." Her uncle took out a badge from his pocket and handed it to Aefia.
"Your position is an Assasin level Spy. In short, you are the spy who will take up missions where you go to places where our enemies reside in order to gather more information. If you face confrontations, you have the instant card to fight back." Her uncle explained.