"Executive Director Marabella will arrive at the sub-level research facility at precisely zero-eight-hundred hours."
The synthetic voice of the intercepted broadcast repeated inside Arsenio's earpiece, dying down into a gentle hum of low static before cutting off entirely.
Arsenio stood deep within the concrete belly of Aegis Tech Headquarters, his dark eyes fixed on the massive steel door marked Floor Minus-Four. The subterranean air was thick, heavy, and smelled strongly of grease, cold steel, and industrial coolant.
He adjusted the strap of his dark utility bag, sliding a high-grade maintenance pass key into the wall scanner. A quiet electronic chime beeped, and the heavy security door slid open into the wall with a slow, grinding mechanism.
"Zero-eight-hundred hours gives me e
