She relaxed back into the soft executive chair, its faux leather creaking softly against her shifting weight. The inadvertent sigh that left her lips elicited a snort from the woman across from her. "Something you want to say, Alexa?" Viktoria barked without opening her eyes. The assistant, far too seasoned to rise to the challenge, simply turned a page on her notepad and began scratching words lightly into it.

"We'll be landing in New York in around five hours," Alexa said softly, "Will you be appointing a Vorsitzende pro tempore for your absence, or will the length of your stay not necessitate it?"

"The business is gone, Alexa. It's over, we're done." The scratching stopped, deafening silence stretched out as neither of them spoke a word. Viktoria almost couldn't bear to talk about it without a punching bag in front of her and Alexa knew that answers would not be forced out of her boss, they would have to come with time.

Finally, Viktoria lowered her head into her arm whose elbow was propped on the side of the chair while the other idly spun her lighter. Her head ached terribly, the lack of a cigar for a few hours already causing symptoms of withdrawal. It wasn't physical withdrawal, she wouldn't have designed something for personal use with such a deleterious side-effect. The symptoms were entirely psychosomatic, her reliance on the drug causing weakness that her mind craved the drug to alleviate. Gritting her teeth, she managed to grunt out, "Siha took it, he took it all and gave me a pittance for the trouble."

In truth, he gave her more than any single citizen in the entire country would ever see someone with outside of a cadre of hyper-elite corporate oligarchs. Nonetheless, her baby was worth so much more. She could have taken over the world given enough time, and instead she was undercut by a bloviating simpleton who didn't even meet her face to do it.

The sounds of Alexa shifting in her chair graced Viktoria's ears before the scratching started up again. "Then I will part with you in New York and find another client." Viktoria's head shot up, her bloodshot eyes staring a hole directly through Alexa's head, "You will not. You will be accompanying me to Infernum City. Just because Aziz has my business by the balls doesn't mean that I'm going down without a fight, and you're-" She caught herself, hunching forward and resting her elbows on her knees. The words tore themselves through her throat painfully, "You're necessary for me to do that." It was a compromise, it wasn't the truth -- or, at least, not the whole truth. Alexa knew that, but she also knew exactly what the ice cold magnate meant to say: I need you.

Viktoria need not even look up to see Alexa's smug smirk, she could feel it on her face. It soured her already sour mood, but Alexa thankfully gave no further argument. "Well then, Ms. Drach. What would you like me to do when we reach Infernum City?"

~

The landing at Infernum International Airport was surprisingly smooth. Alexa had excused herself nearly an hour before to make a few calls and pull a few strings to secure an expedited landing with as little fanfare and questioning as possible. As far as anyone was concerned, they were simply another cargo plane landing on business from any one of various companies that needed to import any manner of items without prying eyes looking into their dealings.

Viktoria stood from her chair, having been in a perpetual oscillation between pacing and sitting since takeoff. The withdrawal had been affecting her rather harshly, but she knew that if she didn't take a break now her senses would be severely dulled during a time where quick thinking was at a premium. That didn't mean she had to like it, of course. The endless throbbing ache in her skull and anxious energy that forced her to move didn't make a lovely pairing.

"Ms. Drach, are you ready to disembark?" The tone of her assistant told the Drogenboss that she wasn't really asking whether or not she was ready, but rather implicitly reminding her that time was of the essence in their little arrangement with the port authority. Viktoria simply nodded and grabbed her pistol off the nearby table, placing it within its holster and trying to keep herself from fiddling with its grip.

Walking out into the brisk night cut through her clouded thoughts. She took in the airport, its thin film of grime and dirt seemingly ever-present as she walked. If she were honest with herself, it reminded her quite distinctly of the industrial quarter that she had called home for much of the past decade. She began her slow march toward the exit of the airport, across the asphalt only broken up by the vague silhouettes of cargo planes and towing vehicles, their small lights making up the constellation of business that ran through here constantly.

Alexa was off finishing business with both her pilot and the port authority, or so she had mumbled before scampering off. That autonomous attitude was something she highly valued in her assistant, and was the key factor in her surviving the ruthless corporate hierarchy that had existed in her Fabriken. It was also the trait which caused the most discomfort to Viktoria. There was something about not knowing at all times what her subordinate was doing, about having to account for the variability that elicited a strong response from the woman. It was why the autonomy was only extended to Alexa, with the rest of her Fabriken operating with as little freedom as possible.

Perhaps it was cruel, but it was what kept her sane.

Now all of that was gone. The Fabriken and the prestige and the control. All of it was now Siha Conglomerate property. She spit on the dirtied asphalt, stepping on it in turn. It was a futile display, the last spiteful response of prey caught in the jaws of a predator, but it was what she could do. Of course, she was not a rabbit entrapped in the teeth of a wolf -- that was the wolf's mistake. In allowing Viktoria to sell out her family -- her baby -- for her own freedom, he had sown the seeds of his own demise. She would be back for him, with the might of Infernum behind her.

The fence loomed over her, high and imposing. It was industrial in its design, made for the sole purpose of keeping out those who would thieve from the most powerful companies in Infernum. It had no craft in its design, that was what it lacked. Even if her Fabriken ran like clockwork, they still had a personal touch. She, and no one else, had created the formulation that was her product. She, and she alone, set exactly how it was to be made.

She walked along the fence until she came to a gate intended to be used by those who worked at the airport. Two rather bored security personnel sat in a small structure, monitoring traffic in or out -- or the lack thereof. One of the two, a portly guard with a remote control in his hand, turned to Viktoria and motioned her to approach the window of their little room. As she did, she stared amusedly at the design of the structure that forced the guard to look up at anyone who approached. He stared up at her imposing figure and swallowed before saying, "Miss, I'm afraid that you'll have to enter via the normal entrance and speak with customs enforcement to lea-"

She cut him off by placing her hand, palm down, against the counter. A soft clink signaled she had something cupped in her palm. "Oh honey," she started, her voice all twisted pleasure, "will you please say that again? I think I misheard you." She removed her hand to reveal a small metal capsule. A small click emanated from the device before a burgundy gas billowed out. Before either of the two men could make the slightest sound, they began choking against the gas. Within moments, their eyes blanked out. Now staring blankly back at her, the portly man smiled, "Of course, I merely said to have a good day, Miss. If there's anything else I can do to help you, please don't hesitate to ask!"

Viktoria smiled back at the man, superiority flowing through her veins. "That's what I thought." She walked past the two men, now smiling drones who didn't seem to truly see anything, and disappeared into the dark shadows of Infernum's many streets.

All empires are built from the ashes of the prior. If I have to reduce Infernum to ash to build mine, why should I weep?