With everything moving smoothly, Alex decided to spend some time with Edgar playing some chess games and him losing miserably, he couldn't understand how this old man was reading his every move like he was reading his mind, but he enjoyed the challenge that came with trying to outsmart him.
"I was thinking of opening a club in Central," Alex said, pausing briefly to look at Edger's reaction, but as usual, he just raised his eyebrow and look at him.
"I think it's still early," Edgar responded,
"I understand that, but right now I don't like the position I'm in." Alex said with a frown on his face. "Someone can just shut me down using a few strategic moves, and it would be hard to retaliate effectively to it."
He said looking straight into the old man's eyes, "I need connections and influence in the upper echelon of the city."
"And you think opening a club would do that...?" Edgar asked as he placed a knight in the square.
"It would give me the opportunity, which is all I need." He replied.
Noding slightly, Edgar spoke," I would advise waiting, moving too fast can also be dangerous."
As Alex was about to respond, his phone rang, the number unfamiliar to him. Looking at it for a minute, he smiled slightly,
'About time you called me.'
--
Late in the Evening
Ana sat alone in her bedroom. The soft hum of her desktop tower was the only sound in the room, aside from the occasional click of her wireless keyboard.
Three monitors lit her face in the cold light. On the left, a live security camera feed, in the center, lines of code scrolling endlessly and on the right a photo of the entrance of the Silver Quill bar.
Looking at the man on the photo who could be seen entering the Bar she couldn't help but think back to when she was looking at him, and him telling her something she replayed repeatedly in her mind.
'Something bigger huh…...?'
She leaned back on her chair, tapping her finger against the desk.
She wasn't naïve
She knew what Alex was involved in, and honestly, she didn't have a problem with it, she had seen worse when she was visiting her mother in Russia.
The trails of bodies and pools of blood left behind, those were things she had seen and had to live with.
But Alex, although he was doing the same, there was something else there, something subtle.
The man was just doing this to control and money only.
This man was building something bigger than that,
An Empire.
Her eyes flicked towards her monitor and a flicker of interest and determination passed.
She took her phone, hesitating just for a second and typed on it
Pressing the dial button, she looked at the phone as it was ringing.
"Freedom to be dangerous..."
And for the first time in a while Ana smiled as the phone was picked up on the other side
The voice of a man came through,
"Hello."
---
"You know, when you said you'll be the one coming to me, I thought you meant something more... public."
Alex said as he stepped inside his safe house, and Ana sitting on the chair, wearing a black tailored turtleneck with a cropped leather jacket, slim cut dark grey tactical style trousers and high ankle boots. She was sitting down fiddling with a modified M24 sniper rifle.
"Is this yours.?" She asked Alex as she was still admiring the rifle.
"Everything in here is mine,"
She then took another look at the simple room lined with three rifles on the wall, a small wardrobe in the corner and a single bed with a table filled with parts of some guns and an M24 with its tripod extended.
"It's a beautiful gun...isn't….?" Alex asked as he walked in and took his coat and hung it before taking a seat on the bed and looking at her.
"So? Why my safe house…...if you wanted other options, I'm sure could have found another."
"I'm not a fan of crowded places…" She replied like it was a matter of fact.
'Still a lot of options…...but hey, this isn't so bad as well.'
"So, you trust me that much, you decided to come in my safe house.??" He asked with an amused smile on his face.
"No. I trust my judgement." She replied flatly
"Fair enough…...so I'm guessing since you here you interested in my proposal." He asked, "Otherwise this would be just awkward."
"First I want to know what I'm joining."
Alex looked at her, admiring her features.
"Ana, what I'm creating is an organization that will have a few people I select personally, this organization will be running everything from who can be the mayor of the city to where people can take a shit." Alex said with a neutral face, "And for that to happen, I need capable people by my side, people I trust to get things done." He got up from the bed and slowly walked towards the sitting Ana.
"And you Ana are that exactly that person."
Ana looked at him, why are you so sure I'm any good.?"
"Well, you found me didn't you...and that tells me all I need to know."
"Then when I join you, what am I gonna be doing…?" she asked as she got up from the chair, now levelheaded with Alex who was leaning against the table.
"What you do best...nothing else."
Hearing this Ana stayed quiet as she looked at his eyes, Alex not breaking eye contact also stayed quiet, not rushing her.
"Fine...you contact me when you need something then." She said as she turned towards the door.
[Ding!!]
Ignoring the system, Alex looked at Ana, "Get in touch with Edger, he'll discuss the details with you…...I'm sure that won't be difficult for you,"
Hearing him, she stopped and turned around to look at him, seeing him with that usual smile of his, she decided to continue and left. Seeing the door close, he couldn't help but be amused by her.
The system screened popped up in front of him after he called It up,
[Task Complete!!]
[New Task: Rebuild your organization]
[Reward: Level up | New Feature]
Looking at the systems message, Alex was a bit excited about it.
[New Feature Unlocked]
[System Tags: Tags are internal system-generated markers that classify, evaluate, and track individuals the host interacts with. They are dynamic identifiers based on personality traits, potential value, behavioral patterns and strategic positioning]
'So basically, these tags can actually point out how to best use someone huh….?? Maybe even identified traitor within the group...' thinking of this, Alex couldn't help but truly feel happy about this system feature, 'at least now I don't have to be so worried about being betrayed.'
Thinking of this, he subconsciously rubbed his chest, as though he could still feel the hot bullet piercing through his heart, this caused him to rage silently.
'I hope you prepared brother, cause I'm coming for you.'