A series of secret lab concealed underneath London city. Being made up out of the underground pipe system, the residents do not have a single purpose or are even united in the first place but rather many different factions that inhabit different sectors. They will all have different purposes, equipment and knowledge and experience. There are no rules as long as scientists keep to their own and do not bother the others.

[Huzzah! Now hurry, Yuki, and we can continue!]

(sorry! Here)

Tatiana took the bike to down a closed off road. Gradually the sirens faded into the opposite direction. It seemed the police had gone elsewhere tracking them. They traveled for a few minuted before she came to some exposed pipes under a load of rubble. Evidently a building had collapsed over the street here and no one bothered to clean it up. She stopped the bike and hopped off. "Help me hide this back here. "She motioned to a place that almost looked like it had been made for hiding small vehicles very well.

Alex took the bike and moved it where she told him. He kicked down the stand, and removed the keys. He also removed the starter and placed it in his harness. He stood and stepped over to Tatiana. "Convenient. What deus ex machina shall we come across next?" he asked, deadpan.

Tatiana ignored the comment and walked over to the hole in the rubble that was over the pipes. There was water running somewhere in the mess, leaving the sides of the tube slick. "Follow me," Tatiana motioned before jumping down the hole.

They landed on a conveniently placed mattress, although it was soaked through. Tatiana made a face as she hopped off of the mushy refuse and onto the "sidewalk" covered in an inch of sewer water, with the stream near by. "Watch your step," she commented to Miles, who would be right behind her if he had followed. "If you walk off the edge you'll be sucked into thirty-thousand gallons of public waist, and counting."

"Delicious," he said, mid-drop. He bent his legs as he landed on the mattress, then jumped off onto the walkway. "Good to know that the next deus ex machina wasn't too far apart from the first. Anyway, lead on," he said, wrinkling his nose at the 'lovely' smell.

(sorry, long post)

Tatiana navigated the maze of passages almost without thinking, and definitely without pausing. She could probably get through her blind if she had to. "You should probably get some background before we arrive. I'm sure you've already noticed that this isn't just a sewer. It's a set up. This is the black market of scientists. Every nut, crack pot, and Mengela you can think of is down here. Your dei ex machina are intentional for those who know what they're doing. For those who come by it on accident, there's a community of mad scientists living down here, you do the math.

Now listen. If you tell one soul you know of this place, I'll personally offer you the most slow and painful death you could ever imagine, times ten, and no one will be able to trace it back to me." She turned abruptly and came across a small dark passage lit only by the fading sunlight coming through the sewer cap a few beet above them. Only someone who knew what they were after could have found the small separation in the wall that was in an unnaturally straight line. Tatiana knocked rapidly thrice. There was a pause, then a sound of stumbling coming faintly through the crack, and soon the door was opened and they were greeted by a cheery faced old man. He looked more like he belonged in a mall around Christmas time than down here in the sewers, except for the small singed ends of his beard that were obviously the results of chemical fires and acid burns. His face lit up as soon as he saw Tatiana and he ushered them in. His lad was a small cement box. Filled with tubes, papers, small animals, and a chemical smell. It was dark, with no windows and one lamp in the middle of the room that flickered constantly.

"Come in, come in. Oh how long it's been since I've seen your face. You will be most pleased with my latest experiment. The sewer water combined with just the right chemicals can speed up the process of erosion on all minerals exponentially. I haven't quit thought of a name for the stuff yet, but that doesn't matter right? I just wanted to-" The man stopped abruptly and looked at Miles. "Who's he?" Everything about him suddenly became cautious and territorial, although his smile remained, making him look all the more eerie. "A friend," Tatiana answered. "You can trust him, and if you can't, you can trust me to kill him." This seemed to be enough for the little man and he extended his hand in greeting. "Alfred Hitchcock, potion maker extraordinare. I specialize in Tin Tin's line of work. Natural, untraceable assassinations.

"I thought as much," Miles said, about the dei ex machina.

"Aww, you look so cute when you threaten my life," Miles said, believing that she probably could, while trying to think of the worst death he could imagine. Following her, he soon stopped in front of a wall. It didn't look any different than the others. Until it opened up, showing how straight the edges are. Santa Claus stepped forward and lead them into his lab.

Miles eyes lit up at the surroundings. This was the kind of place he dreamed of owning. His own set-up was nothing more than a meth lab in comparison. It pretty much was anyway. Tatiana brought him out of his reverie. "There you go with the death threats again," he said, grinning.

Turning to the newly proclaimed Alfred Hitchcock, avoiding all puns he could think of about his name, Miles stretched out his hand and pumped Alfred's hand twice. Letting go, he said, "Nice to meet you, sir. I must say I'm rather envious of your set up here. Especially since my own's lost forever. And exponentially you say? Let me guess, it's unnoticable too?" He said this with a smile on his face, rather quickly; a leg bouncing to keep him from running around, to look at all the equipment.

Alfred noticed the eagerness to look around in Miles. "Do you work in this field as well?" He wanted to learn a few more things about this boy before he let him look around.

Tatiana was only eager to leave, but since Alfred had been nice enough to let them in so late, she wasn't going to rush him. He could do more damage than her sometimes, especially in a place like this.

"Not really," Miles said humbly. "It's hard more than a meth lab, or at least it was. Similar purpose, too. Hallucinogens, narcotics, toxins, poisons, antidotes... things to create pain and loose tongues. Nothing like this," he gestured with open arms.

"But this isn't about me. Tatiana wants something, then we need to leave," he said more seriously.

'There may be hope for him yet,' Alfred thought. "Ah yes. Tatiana. So you told him your name then?"

She nodded.

"Why the bad mood?"

"We were caught. There were cops and probably cameras. The first time anyone's gotten a hold of my face and only two days after I meet him," She pointed at Miles. "Anyway, he's right. We have to get to France and I need to refill my stocks before we go. I'll take my usual stuff, and anything you want me to test that'll fit." Tatiana took off her pack and undid a few buttons so that it unfolded into a long strip of fabric with several compartments for the little viles she carried around. She handed it to Alfred, who took it kindly. "You may follow if you desire," he said to Mileswithout pausing.

Miles turned to Tatiana. "For the record, I lost my home after you two arrived. Everything I owned is gone, now. And the one camera invloved with me, never saw your face," he said, then turned away and followed Alfred.

Tatiana rolled her eyes and waited for the two of them to do what needed to be done.

Alfred scooped up a few viles just lying in piles on his table. They were color coded and evidently he had memorized which was which, fore there were no labels. "Go ahead and look around. There's nothing illegal in here, actually. Every substance is paid for and can be picked up in a local market usually. Natural disasters come from natural chemicals you know. The reason my lab is so secret is because these potions are so simple. If the police knew the formula, they would search for it at 'accidents' if they didn't feel the label was correct, and it would make such work much more difficult. Also, I can't have other scientists sneaking around and stealing my formulas to make money for themselves. If you manage to figure anything out by looking, well, I take Tatiana at her word." He winked and moved on to another table that had markings scratched into the soft wood surface. These did seem to be marked, but not with English letters.

"Do you have anything that will react with oxygen to produce a gas that removes fingerprints and blood?" Tatiana asked as she examined a spider on the wall absentmindedly.

"I'm glad you asked. I've been working on something like that. It's far from finished and quite unstable. I would be careful. A possible sideaffect is that it burns flesh," Alfred chuckled, a bit of the mad scientist coming out.

"Hmm. I'll take my chances, give me a few." Tatiana dismissed the laugh, used to his crazy whims, but wondered how Miles would respond.

Alfred grabbed three viles from a rack on the wall, filled with a translucent, yellow liquid, and placed them in her sack.

Miles laughed with Alfred. "Carpeor wood glue. I use that glue, modified of course, for similar purposes. Eats away at the evidence instead, leaving only the glue. Then again, blood usually isn't an issue for me," he said, eyeing a peculiar bottle. He noticed that the stuff inside was eating the glass and backed away.

"Do you have a price I could pay for some of your chemicals? As I said before, mine are all gone now," Miles asked, switching topics slightly.

Alfred smiled at Miles' question and noticed his concern. He grabbed the glass swiftly and frustration seemed to flash across his face, steeling his smile for a moment, but it was back as swiftly as it left. He dropped the vile into a container without a word and let whatever was in it continue to consume it. "That' a special little project of mine," he said with a chuckle. "Now, about your offer. You see, I tend to only do business with Tatiana, but if she doesn't mind, I think it will be fine." He glanced at Tatiana. She looked at the two of them with her neutral expression and nodded her head. "Let him. The cops won't ketch on if it's just the two of us. You can name the prices."

"It's settled then. Price will vary based on quantity and effort of coarse. Pick what you like and I'll give you a round number." He smiled like the mad man he was and continued to pack Tatiana's bag till it was nearly full.

(lol, I just realized that I forgot about her raccoon ^^;)

"I just need a paralytic, a vial of something to knock-out targets, and something to get them to talk," Miles listed off.

"Hm. This here ought to do the job. Get them to take no more than a drop and they'll be unable to tell anything but the truth. It will also not allow them to keep it to themselves, they'll have to speak. As for knocking them out. Here, some re-engineered tranquilizers. They pack an extra punch that takes the enemy down quickly, but they're designed so that just a splash of water will bring them to. One side effect, I wouldn't recommend doing it in the rain or at wet places. They'll snap right out of it." Alfred handed him two viles of each substance. "The tranquilizer id green, the truth serum blue. Will you remember that?"

"Yeah, I can. The paralytic?" Miles asked.

"Ah, yes." Alfred started to sift through the papers and uncovered more piles of chemicals. "Oh, Tatiana, here. You bag is full, with just enough room for anything you collect, as you like it." He handed it to her and she took it with a thank you. Then Alfred went back to his searching. "I have two paralytics actually. This one can be applied like the tranquilizer, with a gun, but this one is one of those that reacts with oxygen and becomes a gas." He held up a pinkish liquid and a more red one. "The gas will cause paralysis as soon as it is inhaled, but the shot will spread from the point of entry, making the process a bit slower, but more precises. It will also last longer. Your choice. Or you could take some of each."

"The gas, please. I don't use my gun if I don't have to," Miles said.

"Just make sure you don't inhale it yourself." Alfred chuckled and handed him two viles of gas. "Is there anything else?"

"No, sir. This is good," Miles said.

"Alright. Now about the price. I'm not much of a haggler so I'll go with what you think is best. You seem like an honorable boy, for an assassin." Alfred gave a wink and Tatiana had to smirk from behind them.

"Haha, I would, but I have no idea how much it costs for you to obtain or produce your equipment and chemicals. Nothing I say would have the slightest amount of knowledge behind it," Miles explained.

"Fine. Like I said, the chemicals are fairly common. How about twenty a piece?"

[Only $133? Cheap.]

Miles blinked. "Seriously? Only eighty quid? Wow... Well, here's 100, eighty for the stuff and twenty for the trouble," he said quickly. He pulled out his wallet, and handed Alfred five bills.

(well, i was thinking. he would use chemicals like bleach and food coloring, with some over the counter medication, to make most of these. it's not that expensive...and I'm not actually making them. lol ^.^)

"Thank you very much. Now, unless there's anything else I can do, I shan't keep you any longer. I need to get back my my friend in that container anyway." He motioned to a goo that almost looked like it was moving in a reinforced, plastic box. "I think that's it. Thanks Alfred. We'll be seeing you."

"I do hope so. You keep yourself away far to much. You know you're always welcome to come to me outside of the lab. I am your grandfather after all."

Tatiana made a face like she was very embarrassed he had given that information to Miles, but said nothing. Instead, she took her bag and headed for the door.

(random detail, always fun)

Miles joined her out in the sewer. "Well... thank you, I guess. He seems rather pleasant," Miles said, undoing his jacketr and shirt to place the vials in his harness.

"So, ready to head to Heathrow?" he asked.

"Let's go." Tatiana made her way through the corridors once again, but she took a different rout from the one they took to Alfred's place. This one lead to a staircase that brought them to the surface a few feet from the man hole.

Miles breathed deep when he surfaced. The air was much fresher up there. "Ah, it's almost sunrise..." he remarked. He turned around, wondering where they had left the bike.

• Forums are not to be used to post stories.
• All forum posts must be suitable for teens.
• The owner and moderators of this forum are solely responsible for the content posted within this area.
• All forum abuse must be reported to the moderators.