"You were interested in my business operations, Mister Sterling? Then follow me."
Who could refuse an offer from Dieter Halstead, one of the richest, most powerful men in the world? Certainly not someone who had been assigned to investigate rumours of his involvement in smuggling weapons-grade uranium, as you have.
So it is that you take your leave of the roulette table, following Halstead while being trailed yourself by his two minders, large men whose dinner jackets strain at the seams at their bulk.
Your own clothes fit you perfectly, earning you many a glance from the ladies frequenting the casino as you make your way to the private rooms at the back. Halstead opens the door and beckons you in.
You smile at the man, meeting his serpent gaze steadily as you walk past him into the room. You're inviting a lot of danger here; the possibility that he's merely taking you to one side to have you killed has entered your mind more than once. But you are confident of your ability to get out of this situation. A lot more confident than you are in the cover identity cooked up for you by Control.
You are surprised by the sparseness of the chamber that you find yourself in. Compared to the decadent opulence of the Monte Carlo casino outside, it is a run-down dive. A single table sits in the centre of the room, with but a single chair.
"Welcome to my place of business," Halstead chuckles.
Your instincts were right - it's a trap! You're already reaching your hand towards your hidden pistol when Halstead dismisses his guards, leaving the two of you alone in the room, door closed.
"It is necessary to go undetected, of course, so my office and transportation facilities are one and the same," Halstead says, fiddling with a hidden catch on the table. His words aren't making any sense, but you listen anyway, sure that the madman is about to explain his plan; they always do, in your experience.
Then there is a click. You reach for your gun, but too late. A yellow glow envelops both you and Halstead, and to your embarassment you pass out.
***
You awaken to find Halstead taking you by the hand, helping you to your feet.
"It always affects people like that the first time," he says, with a jovial familiarity that you don't care for.
"What the devil was that?" you enquire of him, and he laughs.
"The best way to hide the location of my enterprises is in plain sight," he says, pointing.
You follow his arm and finger, and see that a large, two-storey building lies just some distance away, across an expanse of strangely coloured grass.
It is the grass that really confuses you; it's red, almost the same shade as the carpet of the room you were in when you passed out...
No, it is exactly the same colour. The grass is the carpet, but now it reaches almost to your waist.
You cast your gaze upwards, and see that the shade in which you rest is caused by a monumental structure, one supported by four mighty pillars.
It's the table.
Somehow, you've been shrunk. You turn to Halstead, but he merely smiles again.
"Ingenious, isn't it? Of course, we downsize a lot more in transit, so that the whole operation can be carried through customs with no problems, but in these circumstances I thought it best to start you off easy."
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