The conference room door opened, and Andre walked in, half dragging a short and stocky young man with curly black hair and brown eyes, who was wearing a food-stained white lab coat.
He was clearly not happy to be there, and was trying to pull away from Andre's grip.
"Status on the reactor Mario," demanded Aaron, as Andre shoved Mario into a chair.
"We've been over this already Aaron! We need to fully stress test the reactor core and water loops before we can do anything else!" snarled Mario.
Natasha immediately picked up on Mario's body language.
Behind his blustering indignation, he was terrified and trying to hide it.
"Andre, leave the room," said Aaron, getting up from his chair.
Andre swallowed and moved to the door.
Mario tried to jump up and run, but Aaron grabbed him by the collar and shoved him back into the chair, he tried to struggle against Aaron's grip, but Aaron gave him a vicious backhand across his face.
"Andre, get out. Natasha, zip-tie this filth," said Aaron, his fist closing around Mario's throat, sapping the strength out of him.
Natasha quickly pulled out the zip-tie dispenser and grabbed a zip-tie.
She quickly secured Mario's hands behind his back, and then pulled out a second zip-tie and secured his feet to the chair.
"Aaron, wait!" began Mario, but Aaron's fist smashed into his the side of face, almost knocking him to the floor.
"You know, I had observed that you were not in the same league as Harry and James," said Aaron conversationally, as he turned off the conference room lights, and activated the large monitor on the wall, which showed a paused security camera feed from the mine entrance.
"At first, I chalked it up to the belief that nuclear engineering poses a larger challenge than civil or electrical engineering.
But then I went over your assignments and textbooks, and realized that a lot of the challenges are not down to engineering complexity, but rather to politics, which meant that you really were not as competent.
Then came the incident in your final year, where you asked me to help you come up with a project idea since you had helped me with my game's soundtrack.
I practically designed the modular pressurized heavy water reactor that you submitted, which was rejected by the professors, but they still gave you a passing grade.
Now why would they do that? Because they knew that it was not a flawed design, but rather it was too disruptive to the status quo.
I had hoped that me asking you to actually build it would have given you the motivation to improve yourself," lectured Aaron, before he resumed the security camera recording.
The recording showed a small pickup truck arrive at the mine entrance.
A few seconds later, it showed Mario coming out of the mine, with 2 small mining carts, one loaded with lead ore, and the other with a large heavy water canister.
He and two other men quickly loaded the canister into the back of the truck, covered it with the lead ore, and the truck drove off, with Mario scurrying back into the mine, clutching a large duffle bag.
Aaron paused the recording, and turned to a pale-faced Mario.
"When you took credit for my reactor design, I thought that I could keep you around as a useful idiot, who could at least oversee the construction. But then, you decided to prove that you were an imbecile beyond redemption by trying to smuggle heavy water," said Aaron, his voice shaking.
Mario was shaking uncontrollably, his eyes wide with fear.
Aaron switched to another security camera feed which showed the truck from the earlier feed plowing into, and getting caught by the retractable spike strips at the security checkpoint, before exploding in a fireball.
"Natasha, I believe that your first assignment as head of security is to extract whatever information you can from this worthless lump of flesh," commanded Aaron.
"Wait wait wait! There's no need for that! I'll tell you everything!" babbled Mario, his voice high-pitched and panicked, before Aaron socked him again.
"I was willing to overlook your plagiarism in college.
I was even willing to just keep you around as a poster-boy for Sirius Nuclear.
But when you do something as moronic as invite high treason, then you are past all redemption!" shouted Aaron, his fists clenched tightly.
Natasha could see that Aaron was barely holding himself back from killing Mario with his bare hands.
She also realized why Aaron didn't consider Monica as a threat.
Because she wasn't.
Sirius Software was not just a two-bit game development company.
It was Aaron's fully-integrated multi-industry personal fiefdom where his word was law, and he was judge and jury, and Natasha was not about to let a kid become executioner on her watch.
She pulled out her baton, and flicked it open, the metal rod extending with a satisfying click.
She stepped forward, coming between Aaron and Mario.
"Master Zakhrov, I believe that this ignoramus would not have any useful information for me to extract. I suggest we just dispose of him," she said, her voice steady and firm.
"No! Wait!" screamed Mario, his eyes wide with terror.
"Silence boy! Adults are talking!" snapped Natasha, bashing his face with the baton. Mario sputtered blood, and hung his head.
"Do you still have the wreckage of the truck Master Zakhrov? I believe forensic evidence would be more forthcoming," she asked, turning to Aaron.
Aaron had taken a few deep breaths, and was visibly calming down.
"Yes, the wreckage is in the back of the warehouse," he replied, his voice back to its usual cold and Stoic tone.
"Very well. Now how would you like me dispose of this refuse?
Shall I make it look like an accident, or would you prefer a more... public execution?" asked Natasha.
Her voice was steady and calm, but her heart was racing with excitement.
"What's happening to me? I'm liking this!" she thought, her hand gripping the baton tightly.
"Albrecht Nuclear Systems," coughed Mario, his voice trembling.
"I told you to shut up!" snapped Natasha, slamming the baton into his face again, breaking his nose.
"Have... proof... sale... legit," coughed Mario, blood dripping from his nose and mouth, and piss flowing down his leg.
"Legit? If Friedrich wanted heavy water, he would have approached me and the government, he's not stupid enough to try and get you to smuggle it.
I've had enough! Natasha, slice this filth's head off." commanded Aaron.
Natasha drew one of her sleek 30 cm knives, and swept it through the side of Mario's neck in one fluid motion.
The titanium alloy blade sliced through flesh and bone as if it were butter, and Mario's head dropped to the floor with a sickening thud.
Blood spurted in a crimson fountain from his open neck, splashing across her uniform and the conference room table.
Aaron handed Natasha a box of tissues, took a final look at Mario's body, and walked out of the conference room.
Natasha quickly wiped the flecks of blood from her knife and uniform, and followed him.
---
"Did you have to do that?" asked Andre, as Aaron emerged from the conference room, Natasha following him.
Aaron seized Andre by the collar, and dragged him back into the conference room.
Andre retched as he saw Mario's decapitated body still tied to the chair, blood pooling around it.
Aaron pulled out a pocket knife, and carefully cut open Mario's blood-soaked lab coat and shirt.
Natasha suppressed a shudder as the ripped shirt revealed a vest with a tangled mess of wires and chunky blocks of plastic explosives strapped to Mario's chest.
"There is enough C4 here to level the entire conference room, Andre. The only reason it hasn't gone off yet, is because I've got signal jammers and lead EM shielding in the room," said Aaron.
He turned to Natasha, "Can you disarm this?" he asked.
Natasha examined the vest, before shaking her head.
"No sir, this thing may look like a mess, but it is rigged to blow if you to tamper with it. The only way this is coming off is with a remote signal," she said.
Aaron turned to Andre, "You want to call the feds? Fine, but don't you dare tell me that what I did wasn't necessary!" he said, storming out of the conference room.
"Go take care of him, Natasha. I'll take care of this mess," said Andre, his voice weary.
Natasha nodded, and followed Aaron out of the conference room.
---
"You sure move fast, sir," commented Natasha, seeing the new desk and terminal that had been set up for her in Aaron's office.
"You can use the terminal to access any of the compound's security cameras, and radio orders to the contracted guards," said Aaron, sitting down at his desk.
He pressed a button, and the door locked with a loud click.
He placed his head in his hands, and his shoulders slumped.
Natasha mentally kicked herself for letting herself get carried away by Aaron's Stoic composure and brilliant competence.
She got up from her chair, and walked over to Aaron, gently pulling him into a warm embrace.
"Sir, you did the right thing. Even indebted to you, I would not have killed on your orders if I didn't agree with them," she said softly, stroking his hair.
Aaron didn't pull away, he just let her hold him, as he shed silent tears.
After about a minute, he pulled away, and wiped his eyes.
"Thank you, Natasha. I knew I could count on you," he said, softly.
"It was my pleasure, Master Zakhrov," replied Natasha, heat suffusing her being.
Aaron straightened up and pulled his chair closer to his desk.
"I'm all right now, Natasha. You can now familiarize yourself with the security system, and then you can come up with a training plan and vetting parameters for the personnel you will be hiring," he said, his voice back to its usual cold and commanding tone.
"Yes sir," replied Natasha, sitting back down at her desk.
She logged into the terminal, and started going through the security camera feeds, familiarizing herself with the layout of the compound, and the locations of the cameras.
She had to admit that Aaron had done an excellent job of planning the security and surveillance systems, with overlapping fields of view, along with video, audio and infrared feeds.
After a few minutes of watching the security camera feeds, she finally remembered that she was still technically supposed to report back to Monica.
"Um sir, how do you want me to handle Monica Goldberg?" she asked Aaron.
"Share whatever you want with her at your discretion, just make sure you tell me what you have shared. I want her to think that her pathetic attempt is working while being unaware that you belong to me now," said Aaron giving her a smile.
"Yes sir," she said fighting down a deep blush at Aaron's statement that she belonged to him.
With a small shake of her head to clear her thoughts, she started drafting a training plan and vetting parameters for the security personnel she would be hiring.
---
It was with some reluctance that Natasha pulled off her uniform and changed back into the skirt-suit she had arrived in.
After spending almost the entire day in the sleek black leather uniform, she had grown to appreciate it and removing it now made her feel vulnerable and exposed.
She exited the employee dormitory, and walked the short distance to her car in the parking lot, even more painfully aware of the pinching of her synthetic leather pumps.
Her car looked a lot cleaner than when she had parked in the morning.
"Don't tell me he had somebody wash it?" she asked herself, unlocking the car and getting in.
"No way!" she exclaimed, smelling fresh car perfume and observing the freshly cleaned and conditioned dashboard and seats.
She turned the ignition, and the engine rumbled to life on the first crank, purring like a contented cat, rather than the sputtering rattle she had gotten used to.
Cold air blasted through the A/C vents, making her yelp in surprise.
"New apartment, new uniform, and he gave my car a tune-up. Aaron sure knows how to win a girl's heart," she chuckled, pulling out of the parking lot and driving back to her apartment.
---
"I've been assigned to the morning shift of watching the security camera feeds. Let me be blunt Senator, Sirius Software's security system is better than some banks. They've got overlapping fields of view, both regular video and infrared feeds, and automatic face tracking," reported Natasha over the phone.
"I want dirt, Natasha! I don't care about you fangirling over that twerp's security system!" snapped Monica.
"That twerp you mentioned, made me sign an NDA and contract that can get me fired and sued for more money than you've ever paid me if he even gets a whiff of what I'm telling you, so unless you're willing to hire an army of expensive lawyers for me, I'm keeping my mouth shut. How's that for dirt?" asked Natasha coldly.
"OK, that I might actually be able to use. Pretty sure it violates some labor laws. What else have you got?" asked Monica, her voice calmer.
"Well, he's also got me in a skirt-suit and high heels. Not that I'm complaining since I'm just watching security feeds and drinking coffee." said Natasha, starting to enjoy the feeling of feeding Monica just enough information to keep her interested, but not enough to actually give her anything useful.
"Oh you poor dear! What a misogynistic beast!" said Monica dramatically before cackling.
"The feminists are going to have a field day with that! All right, what else?" she asked.
"That's it for now. I'll let you know if I find anything else," said Natasha hanging up.
She picked up her Sirius Software issued phone, and texted Aaron the information she had shared with Monica, before she resumed packing her things to move into her new employee apartment.