The doors of the private executive elevator slid shut behind Hide, sealing the circular sanctum in dead, tomb-like silence.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows, the sky hung bruised and choked with soot over the ruined capital, but inside the two-hundred-meter hall, everything was immaculate. Polished obsidian floor tiles stretched in an unbroken sea of black glass, reflecting the cold, recessed ceiling lights.
Across the expansive hall sat Walter Bigiva.
The 1st Commander of the International Exterminator Corporation leaned comfortably back in a high-backed leather armchair, his fingers gently cradling a crystal tumbler of amber liquor. His pristine uniform bore not a single crease, the braided epaulets on his shoulders gleaming beneath the soft illumination. He looked relaxed, as though he were receiving a colleague for an evening drink.
