Silence in Time is a fiction series for Steemit. If you're new to the series, please catch up to Series 1 in The Complete Series 1 post. I also recommend skimming through Series 2 Preview. It also contains a very short summary of Series 1, if you don't have time to read through The Complete Series 1. By the way, since a lot of people ask me outside of Steemit, W is pronounced "Wei". Would love your feedback, particularly on the format. Do you prefer the longer chapter here? Or shorter chapters as from Series 1.

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Illustration by @pixielolz exclusively for Silence in Time.

Silence in Time - Series 2: Prologue

"Fundraising"

Three weeks on from W's rendezvous with Bong, they have indeed set up an underground vigilante network, based out of Taipei. After many an argument, W and Bong settled on the name "Dunia".

Dunia's "headquarters" are located in a posh hotel room. According to Grace, that was statistically the best way to be remain inconspicuous. More so than running out of a underground detail in a garage somewhere, somehow. Grace is a young mathematician from Lyon and now an integral part of Dunia's operations.

Alas, every startup must go through the rigmarole of fundraising and Dunia is no exception. Bong and Grace are waiting, W is late for the fundraising meeting.

W enters the room, accompanied by an old man on an motorized wheelchair. Bong and Grace look at each other - clearly they have never seen this man before.

W: "This is Mr. Sembene, he'll be joining us."
Bong: "Uhh… hello Mr. Sembene!"
Sembene pretty much ignores him. W glances at Bong and Grace - they remain quiet.

Meanwhile, Sembene parks his wheelchair in a corner, listening intently.

W: "Let's begin. Which bank seems like the best option?"
Bong: "We ain't robbing no bank."
W: "It's the easiest way…"
Bong: "Steal from the banks, and they'll put you in jail. Steal from the mafia, and they'll whack you. That's why no one dare steals from them and that's why we must."

Sembene laughs in the background. It gets Bong's attention, but he doesn't react.

W: "So that's your plan? Steal from the mafia?"
Bong: "It's obvious. Consumed by complacence, their security has become lax. It's our easiest opportunity."
Grace: "We have intel on a possible silver or gold bullion transport by the Bombay mafia."
Bong: "The Shah organization. Not to mention it's ethically..."

Sembene is amused.

Bong, however, is not: "I'm sorry, but who the fuck is this old man?"
W: "Mr. Sembene is…"
She runs out of words…
"Sometime later."

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Steal from the banks, and they'll put you in jail. Steal from the mafia, and they'll whack you. That's why no one dare steals from them and that's why we must.

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One week later, W is in Bombay. A heist to steal gold from the mafia, of course. She's joined by a team of darknet mercenaries, working as freelancers on the job.

W is in a large oil tanker truck. There's an appointed driver, and two gunmen. They are followed by three muscle cars, each with its own master driver. They are driving along a highway - early morning. It's pretty empty.

Bong and Grace are back in Taipei operating the project.

Bong, back to W: Convoy incoming. Convoy incoming, ETA 10.
W: Roger.

W to the truck driver: "Move in to position, 5 minutes."
W to the other drivers, on radio: "Drivers Alpha, Echo, Charlie. All set. Exchange scheduled for 12 minutes."
W, looking back at the gunmen: "Convoy ETA 9 minutes."

A rasping voice interrupts W over the radio: "Tunnel team signing off - gas exhaust system primed and ready to go. Demolition team on standby."

The team in the truck wear gas masks, and head towards a tunnel.

Inside the tunnel, the muscle cars overtake the tanker and drop spike traps.

The truck driver parks the tanker side ways, blocking off the road. There's a team in the tunnel which connects a couple of hoses straight into the tanker.

Bong: ETA 3.

A convoy enters the road - it's pretty light, just one large van sandwiched in between two SUVs.

The first SUV goes over the spike trap, causing it to go out of control and chaos ensues...

W: "Gas, now!"

A thick and violent draft of toxic gas is released onto the tunnel. Indeed, the tanker truck was filled not with oil - but a nerve agent.

The first SUV crashes on to the tunnel's railings, while the van follows and stops. The second SUV's driver panics, backs up and attempts to drives back and out of the tunnel.

W: "Demolition, on the van, now!"

The armed men in the first SUV are pretty much knocked out by the double effect of the nerve gas and the crash itself.

The demolition team rushes to the van, plants C4 charges on the rear door, and blow the door out in a controlled explosion.

All of this is over in two short minutes, while the immediate area is filled with thick nerve gas.

The men inside the van were sealed in, so they are still conscious. However, they are disoriented by the explosion. W's gunmen have the upper hand, and succeed in getting them to surrender.

Inside there is 6 tons of pure gold.

The muscle cars line up one by one, with their boot facing the blown open door of the van. There's a fast magnetic conveyor which picks up the gold and loads it on to the muscle car.

The first car is loaded up within 50 seconds.

W: "Go, go, go!"

Three minutes later, it's all cleared - 6 tons of gold.

With the muscle cars gone, the tanker truck leaves the scene with a bunch of still-unconscious of mafia men and slowly diffusing nerve gas.

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Coming in November - Chapter 1. In the thick of Dunia's first mission. Will the mafia retaliate?

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All rewards from this post (an equivalent Steem amount for Steem Power earnings) will be donated to Curie.