I was hoping Bob'd need actual help… but I couldn't turn down the opportunity of potentially beating up Fredrick even more.
I turned to Rebecca and feigned annoyance.
"My apologies, love. I'll have to leave you two for now, as I have to beat Fredrick in yet another game of intelligence."
Rebecca snickered.
"Oh, don't tempt me! If you keep calling me that, I'll have to make you mean it."
She replied, waving one hand over her head dramatically.
I chuckled.
"Perhaps you won't have to."
I said before walking off to the hotel we'd be staying at.
"What does that mean?"
She called out, genuine confusion in her voice.
"You'll find out!"
I called back.
There was a part of me that genuinely warming up to her, maybe this could work out, could turn into something special.
But no, I have to stay focused. I won't say anything corny like My world is so dark, there's no room for light or some shit, but I can't let my feelings get in the way. If I let myself think that I've won, then I've already lost.
"Alright, Bob. I'll help. What's up?"
"Fredrick challenged me to a chess game-"
"He did not."
"How the fuck do you know that?"
"Because you're you. You'd lie about anything to say that you 'outsmarted' me in the future. Please continue"
Bob took a moment before resuming, considering how useless it'd be to lie to me.
I took a guess there, but knowing Bob, I was pretty confident in it.
"Alright, well anyway, he accepted. If I defeat him, I'll be able to stop his policies-"
"What fucking policies?"
"Oh, I've been forgetting to tell you. Well, Emma's on board with him proposing a complete revamp to the school system. He wants to teach about how to manipulate people and use people."
"I'm not really opposed to that, making people smarter? Go for it."
"I like the idea of making people smarter, but there are better ways than to make people into super manipulators like you see in anime."
"Hmm, you're right. Alright, I've got you. I'm actually quite good at chess. Reading all those chess books as a kid helped me pick a few things about strategy and tactics. I've even beat the old Stockfish bot once."
"Really? That's good, because Fredrick was making some scary ass moves."
"He'll be no match for me."
"Awesome, thanks man. I'll send you the login information to my account."
"No worries."
"Also, what the fu-"
I hung up. No need for pointless questions.
I received the login information through TJ's phone moments later, and logged in on my laptop. Haven't played chess in a bit, but should be enough to beat Fredrick. I mean, there's no way the Arcane Syndicate make advanced technical works in fucking chess if they're trying to take over the world.
I got black pieces, meaning I'd move second. Fredrick started with e4. Classic, I responded with c5, the Sicilian defense. He developed with the standard Nf6.
The game continued on through this point. I was able to calculate the best positions in a matter of seconds, visualizing all possible positions. I've been able to hold my own against Stockfish, so if Fredrick wins this…
He's a fucking alien.
I continued to break through the game, we had a stalemate towards the middle, where we both spent some time trying to break through, but eventually, I did it.
I broke through.
Even after I gained the upper hand, Fredrick fought extremely well. He's likely a top grandmaster level, or maybe even better, and underestimated my ability. It doesn't matter, though.
I won, again.
This was yet another victory for myself.
I breathed in a euphoric high, allowing my head to leap into the clouds, and spoil myself. I have yet again proved my superiority, and outsmarted a super human. I won, yet again. This is how it's going to be, and how it's to continue to be. I will keep on winning, for one simple truth will prevail.
I never lose.
I am humanity's savior, and I will prove that humans are better than these fake superhumans the Arcane Syndicate is genetically breeding. This is my purpose in life. God sent me here to prove that his creation stomps anything humans could possibly conceive.
I opened up the analysis board, letting Stockfish evaluate the game. My moves were near-perfect. But Fredrick's? They were too perfect…
Until they weren't.
He made a mistake. Fredrick doesn't make mistakes.
My fingers hovered over the screen.
Did Fredrick just let me win?
I returned to TJ and Rebecca.
"Sorry for the wait, I had important matters to attend to."
They both reassured me that it was no big issue.
"Did you win?" Rebecca asked with a hint of genuine concern in her voice. "You seem a bit happy."
I looked at her for a second before responding. Not because I was lost in thought or anything, she's just very pretty.
"Yeah, I did."
She looked surprised, then checked me out again.
"You did!? Really? Wow! I didn't think it could happen. They have advanced chess technology, far beyond what the general public has access to. So that's super impressive! I can't believe my boyfriend's so impressive"
They fucking did? So then… how the fuck did I beat Fredrick? I don't doubt my strategic and tactical ability is beyond Fredrick's, but chess gets to a point where it's game knowledge and understanding beyond strategy and tactics. At the level we are at, it's mostly calculation and analysis, which if his brain is some super computer, should have NO effort whatsoever beating me up. Even if I am able to hold my own against the current Stockfish, if his shit is beyond what they got in Arcane Syndicate, and that shit is beyond what I've got…
Something isn't adding up here… and… did she just say boyfriend?
I'll ignore the boyfriend part because it'll be funny to see her reaction.
"So… they do… interesting…" I looked off, thinking more about this.
Rebecca's eyes widened for half a second. Then, she grinned.
"Oh? You didn't correct me?"
"Didn't think it was worth my time."
"Suuure. Whatever you say, boyfriend."
I rolled my eyes, but even I couldn't ignore the way TJ smirked in the corner.
"Go ahead, if you say it enough, it might come true."
She grinned.
"You phrase it like a threat, but what if I want it to happen."
I rolled my eyes and walked over to her.
"What if I want it to happen too?"
She looked back at me, completely startled. Her eyes were wide open, gazing back into the cold seriousness of my expression.
"Are you… serious..?"
"Completely."
I'm tired of dodging it. In fact, I'm proud of how far I got before caving in. Shows how much control I'm in. But at this point, neither of us are joking, better to accept it than to deny the truth.
"Then… it's official?"
She squeaked out.
I grinned.
"Yes, it is."
As I said that, she threw her arms around me. I returned her embrace.
It's been so long since I've felt the warmth of another human. TJ and I never really hugged, just felt weird. But finally, being with someone who I think I can start to love again…
It felt nice. I almost felt human again.
It was enough to almost make me cry.
After long enough, she pulled away.
"I promise you… I'll be the best damn girlfriend you ever had."
I smiled.
"You'll be the only one as well."
She gasped.
"I'm your first!? Really??" She said, practically jumping up and down.
"Yeah, I've always liked to stay in the shadows back at Jefferson High. None of them really cast me any looks. Which I was fine with."
"Well, now you're going to have to get used to me casting you a lot of looks."
I shook my head.
"I can get used to that. Anyway, we have to go. If Mark got on the flight after us, it's best to put as much distance between here and the airport as possible. Besides, the building that's supposed to be their headquarters is only 20 minutes away."
She pouted, but reluctantly let me go.
"Alright, but we need to talk about how our relationship is going to go soon."
I nodded.
"Understood. I'll look forward to it."
I walked over to TJ, and we shared a silent discussion in a high five.
On our way to the hotel we'd stay at, I decided to do some testing. If Rebecca really was on our side, then she'd be willing to sacrifice something for us, right?
"So, Rebecca."
She perked up.
"Come on, you can give me a pet nickname. Rebecca is formal for us."
I chuckled.
"Alright, babe, if you had to choose between saving me, or the Syndicate's approval, which would you choose?"
She sighed and crossed her arms, leaning back, seeming genuinely annoyed.
"Obviously I'd choose you, babe. They tossed me to the side by sending me to you, but I'm glad they did. Now we're together. But, I want my revenge before anything."
"Good answer. Forgive my paranoia, but if you're lying about all this, it'd spell horrible things for us."
"I'm not lying, babe, I genuinely want to help you, and I've genuinely fallen for you."
"That's sweet, no need to reassure me. I believe you."
She blushed and looked out the window.
We arrived at the hotel, and we checked into the room.
"So," Rebecca began with a sneaky look in her eyes. "Now that we are together… can mischievous things happen when we sleep together now."
I sighed.
"As much as I want to say yes, we do have to stay focused," When I looked over at her face, she was pouting. "Maybe we can try one of these nights, after we do the heist successfully."
"I can settle for that." She said brightly.
I shook my head.
"You're dangerous." I muttered under my breath.
…
I slowly approached the Arcane Syndicate Headquarters. I planned everything out, this would be a piece of cake. Nearing the door, I saw it. Just as I predicted. Two guards surrounded the door.
Perfect.
I placed a rubber ball on a tree nearby, with wind patterns, it'll give me plenty of time to make it to the other side of the clearing. When the guards went to investigate the ball and its origins, I'll be approaching the door from the other side.
The ball fell, and started rolling towards their shoes.
The day was really beautiful, not quite as beautiful as Rebecca, but still pretty beautiful. The sun shone down, illuminating the darkness of the world. The fall breeze blew leaves around, sending their vibrant colors all over the place. A crisp autumn wind blew my hair back.
It was nice.
And… it might be the last day I have on this planet, if this went wrong.
Better not to dwell on that.
I snuck inside the door while the guards were occupied, then locked it behind me. The blueprints showed that the door was a classic door, nothing fancy, which made my life so much easier.
The building itself was pretty standard. It had several floors and was pretty massive, but everything on the side was nothing crazy to understand. Each floor was a different unit, dedicated to different things. Luckily, it seems whoever designed this place didn't like to walk much to access different floors. I decided to deal with the boss at a later date, but for now, I need those hidden files.
I need those clues.
The elevator let me through, and I went to the floor 3 floors above the main floor, the computer service room.
"Who the fuck are you?" A voice said when the doors opened.
"Hey man, new here. Boss told me to come here."
The guy looked me over and shrugged.
"Boss ain't say nothing about a new computer specialist."
"Does he usually?"
The guy stopped to take a sip out of his juice box.
"Nah, here, we got an empty computer over. What's your specialty?"
"Not sure, only graduated recently. I'm pretty good at cybersecurity if I had to pick."
The guy scratched his head.
"Aight. Not a problem. Work on the firewall if you can, some of our guys have been able to get through it with ease, see what you can do."
I nodded.
"Your name?"
"Joey, you?"
"Nathan, you can call me Nate."
"Pleasure to meet you. If you need help, Nate, don't hesitate to ask me. I do the running around of things down here."
"Alright, will do. Thanks man."
"No problem."
What a chill guy, I'd have to come back and thank this guy once I've stopped the boss from taking over the world.
I quickly pulled out my hard drive and began pulling data from the computer. Their system was extremely complex, however, it seems the boss didn't care that much about their technology, since everything here I've read about in the past. It took a lot of decoding, but I made it to the main database. I start porting all the information into my hard drive.
10%… 15%…
This shit so slow bro.
Got bored, so I started texting Rebecca.
J: What's up? Made it in, surprising amount of things going right.
R: Not much. You're too good <333
J: Thanks, babe.
I could get used to this.
"Jeffrey Thompson."
I turned around in my chair.
Towering above me was the man himself.
"Why, hello Mark. Long time no see."