xXx: The Set
By VST

Summary: When Xander Cage is offered big money to assist a company with its problem, he ends up with more than he bargained for.

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction, written entirely for fun and not for profit. This interpretation of the world of Xander Cage, xXx, is entirely my own. xXx and any and all of its various components remain the property of their respective owners.

Chapter 1:

While in Northern Italy to participate in a cross country motorbike race, Xander Cage received a sealed envelope under the door of his hotel room. Thinking it might be from a female admirer, he picked it up with a smile only to grow suspicious when he saw his name actually typed on the front of the envelope. Curious, he opened it and read:

Mr. Cage,

If the information I've received about you is correct, my company is in need of someone with your particular skills for an important project. The project is completely aboveboard but, due to the nature of our business, it must be kept hush-hush until completed. We anticipate the work taking one to two days of planning followed by a week to ten days for the actual execution. Your fee for the work will be $50,000 American or we can arrange for equivalent payment in euros, if you prefer.

For reasons of security, I cannot divulge any additional information without your agreement not to disclose anything about the project to anyone. Please call me at the number below to arrange a meeting where I will fill you in on the details after you've signed the nondisclosure form.

Sincerely,

R. Paccone

P.S. One item I'll add is that Signorina Francini has agreed to participate in the project.

Xander had never heard of Mr. Paccone and didn't recall knowing any Francinis. That didn't bother him as much as the mysterious tone of the note, with no company name or address given. No matter how "aboveboard" the writer claimed, he didn't relish the thought of participating in anything even vaguely illegal and ending up as a long-term guest of the Italian authorities. He crunched the letter into a ball and was about to toss it in the trash when he noticed the corner of something else in the envelope on the table before him. Setting down the crumpled letter, he tipped the envelope sideways only to see that small corner was actually part of a photograph.

It was a headshot of a smiling young woman looking back over her shoulder with what looked like more than a hint of mischief in her eyes. Xander almost suspected that it was a glamour shot from one of those ubiquitous mall studios in the United States, but it didn't look posed as such photos usually do. In addition, she wasn't lit up with strange, soft lights or coated with the makeup so common to such photos. No, this woman looked quite natural in the photo, with only minimal makeup if any at all. As he studied it, he soon realized that she even looked vaguely familiar.

Smoothing out the letter, he reread it several times without discovering any more information. Minutes later, intrigued, he was dialing the phone.

~xXx~

It was the following Monday after the conclusion of the race the day before when Xander Cage walked through the doors of an old warehouse-like building on the outskirts of Milan. The faded and peeling sign outside said Paccone Compagnias.

After being allowed into the building by a rather elderly guard, he was escorted to a neat and modern reception desk that was in stark contrast to the building's exterior. The pretty young receptionist smiled as he approached.

"Hi, I'm Xander Cage. I got an invite from Mr. R. Paccone himself."

"Of course, Mr. Cage," she said in English with a heavy Italian accent. "Signore Paccone is expecting you. Please have a seat and he'll be with you in a moment. May I, ah, offer you anything?" She batted long lashes at him several times as she swiped a strand of dark red hair from out of her face and smiled at him.

Xander politely declined with a smile. He was about to take a seat when he caught her still looking at him, smiling. She quickly looked down. Going back up to the desk, he said, "On second thought, maybe dinner later?"

"Maybe," she replied, handing a card across to him. He saw that she'd already written her name and number on the back. He was about to speak when the intercom on her desk buzzed.

"Mr. Cage, Signore Paccone will see you now. Please go on in."

~xXx~

Signore Riccardo Paccone, a somewhat heavy-set man in his mid 50s, and a lawyer-type in an expensive suit, greeted Xander in a small, nondescript room. "Mr. Cage, thank you for coming. Before we go any further and tell you about our project, we need you to sign a nondisclosure agreement. What it does—"

"I'm familiar with them," interrupted Xander, also knowing that such forms were not binding with respect to the authorities if they pertained to illegal activities. "Let me read it and sign so we can quit wasting time."

The attorney nodded as he saw Xander actually reading the form. When Cage was done, the man handed him an expensive pen and then indicated several places for him to initial and sign.

"Excellent! Excellent," said Signore Paccone. "Now, let's go on into the building where you can see what we do."

The room they entered had a number of movie posters on the wall. They appeared to be low-budget affairs with an attempt to make them look sexy as their common selling point. Xander's eye quickly caught the R. Paccone Producciones name on each poster.

"Our new project stars Adelina Francini, the up-and-coming Italian actress. You know of her?"

"I might recognize her face," said Xander, noncommittally.

"We have filming underway in a private little farmhouse in France at the moment—

"Wait, it's not a porno, is it?"

"Mr. Cage! R. Paccone Producciones does not make cheap pornography!"

"So you make high-class pornos and call them independent art films?"

Paccone stared at Xander for a moment before chuckling. "Many of our films have nudity and some have elements of sex, which you uptight Americans might call pornography, but, in truth, we really consider our works as art. And, despite significant monetary incentives, Signorina Adelina Francini has yet to grace the silver screen with her complete assets, much to the disappointment of her growing fanbase."

"So what do you need?"

"We are having serious problems with a stunt in a couple of scenes in the film. That's where you come in."

"You're looking for a stuntman? You could have just said so. I've done special stunt work for a few movies but I don't do the traditional stuff. I can give you some names of people who do that type of work."

"Oh, no, Mr. Cage. Your past work and interest was what attracted our attention, but we aren't looking for you to do stunts. No, this is a much different issue. We want you to show us how to do the scene. You see, there is a mystical element in this movie, requiring a couple of scenes where Signorina Francini must appear to be floating in the air."

"That's not that hard these days. Can't say I'm a fan of it, but with the advances in that computer graphics stuff, it would actually be pretty easy."

"It's harder than you think, particularly when the top CGI firms won't give you the time of day. R. Paccone Producciones has a good reputation in the Italian film world, but we're quite small compared to many and we've never needed their services before. Therefore, one of them said they might be able to save a spot for us in three years or so, while the others wouldn't even offer that much."

"Sounds like a brilliant marketing strategy if their interested in growing their businesses," replied Xander with a shake of his head.

"Indeed," agreed Paccone, turning to an aide."Luciano?"

His assistant continued as Paccone took a drink. "Sir, we've already filmed one of the scenes twice on set with a harness and wires and then once more in front of a green screen with a firm that does some CGI work. None of it looked real."

Paccone frowned. "Not look real? That's putting it mildly. The test audience reactions have actually been quite harsh. When we filmed it on set, it was far too obvious that she was being supported by wires, ruining the 'magical' quality we're seeking. The attempt using the available CGI firm was equally unconvincing. Now, we're at risk of being forced to rewrite the movie or even cancel it. Mr. Cage, that can't happen. This is our biggest budget film, ever." Taking Xander aside, he said in a forceful whisper, "My production firm can't take the financial hit this would mean to us, and if it goes under, my credit is ruined and my other businesses will probably go under, too. Chances are, I'd be out of business in a month. Therefore, I told my people to find me answers or we'd all be out on the street."

Returning to a normal voice, Paccone continued, telling how one of his studio execs remembered seeing a titillating movie opening with one of the sex kittens from the 1960s that featured some "weightless" shots. Research showed that it was filmed from above with the actress on plexiglass, so they tried that, too.

"It seems that people generally ignored the reflections on the plexiglass in the 1960s if one was trying their best to glimpse the young lady's goodies, but that doesn't work with the modern audience, particularly when Signorina Francini refuses to go even a bit beyond her contract and strip. She's trying to save her dignity at the expense of my company and she won't negotiate a new nudity clause."

Smart lady, thought Xander. "So where does that leave you?"

"Fortunately, one of our younger assistants recalled a beautiful but rather buxom young model/actress who did some "weightless" shots for one of the swimsuit mags."

"Gotcha," said Xander, with a nod, recalling reading about it for its technical aspects at the time and later catching the video. He'd even talked to people at several air transport firms about doing a similar stunt with some friends soon thereafter, but had ended up skipping on the idea due to the cost. "So you want to do something like that?"

"Exactly. The complication is that it needs to look like it's taking place in two specific rooms. We want to build that part of the set in a plane for the first, take it up to film, come back down and replace the set, and take the plane back up for that one."

"Sounds like a whole lot of trouble and expense to me."

"It is," agreed Paccone, "but if it's what it takes to save my company, I'll do it."

~xXx~