Viktor Petrov had spent eleven years in corporate security, most of it profoundly boring, which was exactly how he liked it. Boring meant nothing had gone wrong. Boring meant everyone got to go home at the end of the day. So when Gavin Knight appeared at his desk with the particular energy of a man about to propose something deeply not boring, Viktor's first instinct was to say no before he'd even heard the request.
"Whatever it is," Viktor said, not looking up from his monitors, "no."
"You haven't heard it yet."
"I've known you four years. I don't need to hear it."
Gavin pulled up a chair anyway, uninvited, and set his laptop on the corner of Viktor's desk. "It's for a good cause."
"It's always for a good cause. That's how you get people to say yes to terrible ideas."
"Fine. Hear me
