Six Months Contract With The Mafia God

”Not impersonating,” Thomas said. ”Creating. There are real recruitment agencies that specialize in gray-market pharmaceutical talent. We create a fake agency. We establish it as a legitimate business with documented clients and successful placements. And then we use that agency to refer Aleksandr Volkov to The Covenant.”

Marco processed the plan. It was elegant and simple, It had the kind of logic that would make The Covenant trust the referral.

But it also required more false identity architecture.

”How much time?” Marco asked.

”Twenty hours,” Thomas said. ”Maybe less if Claude can accelerate the database setup.”

”I can do it in eighteen,” Claude said flatly. ”But I’ll need pharmaceutical industry databases, legitimate recruiter contact information, and access to The Covenant’s past recruitment records so I can make sure our recruiting firm’s history aligns with their known hiring patterns.”

”I’ll get you everything,” Marco said. He was already reaching for his phone, already digging into his contacts in the pharmaceutical industry, hackers who specialized in database manipulation, former intelligence operatives who understood how to craft convincing false histories.

Marco set down his scotch and stood, rolling his shoulders.

”Volkov’s psychological profile,” Marco said. ”We need to make sure Boss can sustain it. If The Covenant brings him in for interviews, he needs to be able to talk like Volkov thinks, respond like Volkov would respond.”

”That’s already prepared,” a new voice said from the doorway.

Marco turned to see Mike entering the office, carrying multiple files and looking like he’d only slightly more sleep than any of them.

”Dimitri’s been reviewing the psychological profile since 3 AM,” Mike continued. ”He’s memorized Volkov’s background, his research interests, his motivations. He knows the papers, can discuss them in detail. He knows the facilities, can describe them from memory. He’s living as Volkov in his head already.”

”Of course he is,” Marco said.

”There’s something else,” Mike said. He set the files on Marco’s desk and opened one. ”Volkov needs motivation. The Covenant isn’t just going to hire someone because he’s qualified. They need to understand why he wants to work with them. Why he’s willing to disappear into their facility. What he gets out of it.”

”Money,” Claude suggested. ”Everyone wants money.”

”Not enough,” Mike said. ”The Covenant attracts ideologues, not mercenaries. Volkov needs to believe in what they’re doing. He needs to have ideological alignment.”

Marco understood what Mike was implying. ”Dimitri needs to believe he’s saving the world.”

”Exactly,” Mike said. ”Which is actually true, in a way. But from Volkov’s perspective, he’s joining an organization that’s conducting cutting-edge research into viral vectors. Research that could revolutionize pharmaceutical development. Research that could give him access to resources and capabilities no legitimate institution would ever allow.”

”So Volkov is a idealistic scientist who’s frustrated with restrictions,” Marco said, understanding the psychology they were building. ”He believes that unrestricted research is necessary for advancement. He believes The Covenant is doing important work. He wants to be part of something revolutionary.”

”And he’s willing to work inside a secured facility for months because the research opportunity is that valuable,” Mike confirmed. ”That’s the motivation. That’s why he’ll stay. That’s why he won’t try to escape the moment he realizes The Covenant is actually developing bioweapons.”

Marco nodded slowly. The psychological profile was becoming clearer. Aleksandr Volkov wasn’t just a fake identity. He was a fully realized person with motivations and beliefs and ideological commitments.

Which meant Dimitri didn’t just need to act like Volkov.

He needed to think like Volkov.

He needed to understand, on some level, why a man like this would willingly walk into The Covenant’s facility and help them develop a bioweapon. Because if The Covenant suspected that Dimitri was thinking like a criminal mastermind trying to infiltrate them, they would burn him immediately.

But if Dimitri thought like a brilliant scientist who was ideologically committed to unrestricted research? That was something The Covenant would recognize. That was someone they would want.

”I’ll talk to him,” Marco said. ”We need to make sure his psychology is unshakeable.”

”Already done,” a new voice said.

Dimitri emerged from the hallway, looking surprisingly refreshed despite the fact that he’d only had a few hours of sleep. He was dressed in a dark suit, hair perfectly groomed, every inch the powerful businessman. But his eyes were different.....colder, more calculated, more like a man preparing for a war.

”I’ve been reviewing Volkov’s research interests,” Dimitri said.

He pointed at one of the papers. ”This one especially. The hypothesis about using viral cascades to suppress host immune function is elegant. It’s the kind of research I would want to be involved in if I genuinely believed in unrestricted pharmaceutical development.”

Marco studied Dimitri’s face. The man was absolutely sincere. He’d read the fake academic papers, And he wasn’t just memorizing background information. He was actually thinking like Volkov.

Which was terrifying because it meant Dimitri was fully capable of convincing The Covenant he was someone he absolutely wasn’t.

”The recruiting firm needs a name,” Claude said, pulling Marco back to the operational planning. ”Something that sounds legitimate but isn’t traceable to anything real.”

”PharmTech Staffing Solutions,” Dimitri said immediately. ”International recruitment agency specializing in pharmaceutical talent placement. Offices in Geneva, Moscow, Berlin. Established 2016. Known for placing specialists in difficult positions.”

”That’s good,” Thomas said, already typing. ”I can set up digital footprints showing successful placements. We create testimonials from fake clients, fake recruiters, fake references.”

”Add some failed placements too,” Marco said. ”Real recruitment agencies have failures. If PharmTech Staffing Solutions has a hundred percent success rate, it looks suspicious.”

”Two failed placements,” Claude said, making notes. ”We’ll document them, candidates who turned out to be inadequate, positions that fell through. Makes the agency look real.”

Thomas started working on creating the recruiting firm’s digital presence....building a website, establishing email accounts, creating social media profiles that showed activity going back years. Each post had to be authentic, each interaction had to seem real, each detail had to withstand scrutiny.

Claude worked on pharmaceutical industry databases, inserting records of PharmTech Staffing Solutions’ placements into legitimate recruiting networks. Creating references that other recruiting firms could call. Building a history so convincing that The Covenant’s vetting team would find exactly what they were looking for when they searched.