An afternoon with Dmitri

You start to work at the bar, but Dmitri grabs you and pulls you into the back. Uncle Ivan is there, sitting at his desk. He smiles as you approach, standing to shake your hand.

"Lev, good to see you. I have a job for you today. Dmitri will take you."

"Sure, Uncle. What's the job?" you ask.

He raises a hand to stop you. "Dmitri will tell you. This is your first lesson. The less you know, the less you can be held accountable."

Dmitri places a hold on your shoulder and pulls you back, saying, "Let's go - don't have all day to wait around."

A while later, you're cruising down the ride in the passenger seat of Dmitri's car. He takes a few turns, swerving along forgotten avenues nestled between warehouses. Finally, he speaks: "This job is simple. Another group starting smuggling since Jorge has been gone. Unfortunately, we don't like that. So we're going to make them stop."

You give him a look, and he grins. "Don't worry, no one should be hurt too bad."

He comes to a stop next to an unassuming warehouse; it looks the same as any of the other ones nearby. You follow him out of the car, as he pops the trunk and begins to dig around in it. He pulls a black duffel bag out, unzipping it to reveal a cache of weapons. Knives, grenades, guns. He hands you a pistol, similar to the one Uncle Ivan gave you forever ago, and withdraws one for himself. He also pulls out a clump of gray clay and a cell phone.

"Is that what I think it is?" you ask.

He smiles at you. "We get to have some fun today, kid."

The trunk is closed, and he points towards a side door in the warehouse. There's no one around. You creep over to it, and Dmitri pulls out a pistol-like device from his pocket. "A lock gun," he explains. The tip of the device slides into the door lock, he squeezes the trigger, and then the door swings open.

You follow him inside to find the warehouse empty. Empty of people, at least. The warehouse itself is full of all kinds of contraband: liquor, cigarettes, presumably stolen radios, and more. Dmitri casually walks to the center of the room and tosses the clump of clay into an open box. Without further ado, he heads towards the exit, pulling you behind.

He grabs a bottle of liquor on his way out. "For good measure."

Then you're in the car again, driving away. The warehouse is almost disappearing in the rear view mirror when he pulls the cell phone from his pocket. He tosses it to you.

"Press 1 on the keypad."

You do. The phone dials, connects, and suddenly goes silent. The warehouse disappears in a sudden explosion, the concussive **** of the bomb Dmitri planted blowing the walls away and sending everything within skyward in needle-like shards of destruction. The ground shakes beneath the car, and you feel the wheels lurch. A moment later, the sound of the blast catches up with you and blows past. The windows shake, seeming to come loose from their brackets. But then it is over, and everything is quiet once more. A wide grin is on Dmitri's face as he watches it, and he claps you on the back. "Good work, kid!"

Dmitri explains how to wipe your fingerprints, having you do it with the phone. You toss it out the window after a few miles.

"In and out, the way I like it. Remember that, Lev. In and out."