Mark stood looming over me, his hulking frame blocking my exit. The room grew cold and dark, the shadow screaming at me to escape. For a moment, I let myself feel fear, and anger at the same time. I should've predicted this. If only I had a contingency ready. That's my thing. Always have a backup plan for the backup plan. The only issue…
I did have a contingency ready.
Yet, I continued this train of thoughts, that led me to start breathing deeper, grasping at my head and burying it in my arms.
I could feel Mark's smirk through the air, his smug confidence giving off vibes that infuriated me even more. His arms were crossed, and he was waiting for a confession. Like I'm some… criminal.
I guess I am now.
"Jeffrey," Mark's voice was smooth, mocking, as though he was savoring every word.
Mark's presence seemed to absorb the light in the room, shining it onto him. The computers and cubbies were fading into the blackness, swallowing everything in sight. My entire world was now centered onto Mark, a red glow emanating from him.
I finally looked up into his soulless eyes, a certain type of hate radiating from them, a type of hate you'd only see from a man who had lost so much that he needed to resort to desperate measures to win it all back. There was a certain fear to him though, he's… wondering. What if I did anticipate this? Is this an act? What else am I doing? His thoughts are clearly conveyed to me through his face and body.
I let the silence stretch, feeding off his discomfort. "You've always been predictable, Mark," I said softly, my voice dripping with false humility, like I was just now realizing the truth. "It's funny, really. You think you've finally trapped me. But you're just stepping into my world now."
Mark snarled and leaned in closer, his face level with mine, mere inches apart.
"Your world is nothing. You think you're completely in control, but everything you do is perfectly within my calculations. This exact scenario and several others have played out in my mind, and they all end in your death."
I grinned. What a lie, but I'd have to believe it for my plan to work.
"You really don't get it, do you?" I continued, leaning back as if I were simply indulging in the conversation. "You've always thought this was about power, about control. But you missed the point. I don't need power. I need you to believe you have it. And you've been doing a damn good job of convincing yourself."
Mark's body tensed up, my words were eating at him, slowly taking bite after bite of his ego and his inner workings. I will break him down, crumple him up, then throw him away like a piece of paper.
His eyes narrowed, lips twisting in frustration, but it was all too late. I could see the truth clearly, he had no idea what to do.
"Come on, Jeffrey," he sneered. "What are you going to do? Some trick? Another game? You can't hide forever."
"I know I can't," I said, glaring back at him, matching his expression. "That's exactly why I'm glad you're here. Mark, you are so easy to see through. I can predict your exact thoughts."
He stopped, then pulled away. I won the mental battle, now for the rest of it. Each step needs to be calculated, and precise. There are things now that only I am aware of, simply because of this scenario.
I am fully aware that I am about to die.
Mark pulled a gun and aimed it at my face. I stayed calm.
I knew this would happen. Yet, he hesitates to pull the trigger.
"Come on, Mark. What's taking you so long? Pull the damn trigger! Take your revenge, prove you're so much better than me, not through your intelligence, but your ability to pull a trigger. Although, it seems you aren't even capable of doing that."
I sat back confidently, crossing my legs and placing my hands behind my head.
He needed no more nudging. His finger tightened on the trigger. And with a sharp click, the gun went off.
The sound echoed through the room, and the world snapped back into focus—the computers hummed to life, the cubbies, and desks returned to their familiar clutter, and the overworked teenagers who'd been huddled around their screens blinked, suddenly bathed in the light of the restored room.
But it wasn't the sound of a bullet.
It was the sound of an empty chamber.
Mark's face was drained of color. He stood there, frozen, the weight of everything sinking in. The truth I'd led him to see too late.
The game was mine.
"Tsk, tsk… I told you, predictable."
He took another shot, and another.
Blank and blank.
In desperation, he threw his hands into his suit pockets, patting them down frantically. Then, his face turned towards me with a burning hatred, finally seeing the chamber I was dangling in front of him.
"Looking for these?"
He oozed with fury, pure hate. Nothing more was occupying his mind than all the different ways he could kill me.
"How the fuck did you get those?"
I stifled a laugh, it was too easy sometimes.
"Remember when TJ knocked you out?"
Mark's eye widened.
"You saw this far ahead back then?"
I nodded.
"Want to know something, Mark?"
"What?" Mark growled through close teeth.
"I knew this would happen. It's obvious you didn't, because you don't know my secret contingency. If you don't want me to reveal it, you're going to personally escort me out of this building, and let me go."
Mark shot out a laugh, his face turning to a roaring shade of red.
"Let you go? Like hell. I'd kill myself before I let you do that."
"Don't make promises you can't keep. Want to see it?"
He shook his head.
"You're bluffing. I can kill you right now and it wouldn't change a thing. You are nothing."
I smirked, just as I predicted. People around us began turning their heads in our direction, exchanging concerned looks, and whispered to each other.
"I know about the Helix Project," As I said that, Mark's face drained again. "And so will the entire world if you don't let me go."
"How so?" He said, shivering.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called TJ.
"Yo, TJ. You got the thing?"
"Yes, I do."
"Turn on your camera. Show us."
"Oh my gosh, is that Jeffrey? Hi, Jeffrey!!"
"Hi, Rebecca, everything is going to plan, don't worry."
She said nothing else, probably because TJ told her to shut up.
TJ did as I instructed, turned on his camera. The camera was completely zoomed in on Rebecca standing in front of a red brick building, just like every other building around here, there were no distinguishing characteristics about it that separated it from other buildings. There was no way in hell that Mark would recognize it.
He stared at the phone screen, motionless. As if that watch had frozen time for him, maybe he wished it did, so he would have time to think, that's not a luxury I will be giving him.
"You know what this is, right?" I said, my eyes glowing with a mischievous tone. I was in control. Everything here was calculated, something I knew would happen a long time ago.
I could tell that Mark wanted to do something, but even he didn't know how to navigate this situation.
"Yes, I do. What are you going to do about it? If I kill you right now, right here, who's to stop me."
I shrugged. Rebecca made a desperate noise in the background, luckily TJ was there to remind her of the plan.
"You could, but you won't. You're a smart guy, Mark, I'm sure you've figured out what happens if you kill me."
Mark continued to boil in place, the color returning to his face, turning him into a churning mass of pure and utter loathing.
"You have the files detailing the Helix Project. If I kill you, TJ and Rebecca will release them."
I clapped.
"Well done, you understand now why I need to be escorted out of the building now, don't you?"
Mark, without saying a word, grabbed me and dragged me to the elevator. Once we were back on the first floor, he kicked open the front doors and tossed me out.
"You have a minute before I follow you and kill you."
I smirked.
"Thanks, Mark!"
I said and ran off in the North direction.
This was also a calculated move. I knew the guards would follow me from behind, but from a distance to not make it obvious. Luckily, they weren't in earshot.
"Hello, police? Yes, there are two strange men following me. Here's my current location."
I said and gave the police my location. They told me cops would show up very quickly. I decided to stop and take in the scenery. I hung up with TJ and Rebecca after Mark tossed me out into the street, like how a parent would abandon a child they didn't want.
Rain had started to pour, a light, soft rain. The weather was cool, to the point where some sweatpants and maybe a sweater would be enough. It was nice. The wind blew through my hair, cooling my body, which had risen to a very high temperature after being in a room filled with computers for so long.
The red brick buildings piled up high around me. I saw several people roaming around. Mothers pushing babies in carriers, Dad's tossing footballs to their children, kids my age sitting on doorsteps playing on their phones, or even reading. It was a sight that brought a lot of peace and relaxation to me.
The police sirens started wailing in the distance, and I turned to face my aggressors. They both realized that those sirens would be coming for them, and exchanged a concerned look with each other.
The one on the left gave me the stank eye and the two retreated.
Once the police arrived, I informed the police, they left once they had heard the sirens. Luckily, the officer was rather friendly and understood my situation. He offered to buy me and my friends, which I eagerly accepted. I brought the officer back the way I came, past the Arcane Syndicate. I purposefully ran the wrong direction so they wouldn't know which Rebecca and TJ had set up camp.
He brought us to a local pizza stop where we talked about why we were here, school kids on a field trip that's supposed to promote independence, by sending us here alone. The cop nodded and shared his sympathy with us, and gave us some money for an overnight hotel, we thanked him for the money and the meal and made our way to the hotel.
In the hotel room, we all huddled up around the laptop with the first clue pulled up.
Test your fortunes where it seems,
A piece to sacrifice for your own.
Where people come to collect dreams,
Be prepared to lose a bone.
This was the clue.
Fredrick has had this for a while, or at least he says that he's had it, not sure if I want to believe this.
Test your fortune where it seems? The place could involve some kind of gambling, or maybe the opposite, it's some place meant to symbolize good luck like a leprechaun or something. A piece to sacrifice could mean a strategy game like chess… maybe checkers? Collect dreams? America? The American dream? Perhaps somewhere else, a place of refuge, Israel was a place of refuge for the Israelites in Bible times. Be prepared to lose a bone, something dangerous, perhaps it was Israel? There's a war going on now, but that doesn't mean anything, these clues were made forever ago. Then again, places like Vegas didn't exist…
What if these clues were also fakes? No, Mark wasn't acting, his anger was genuine, meaning he didn't anticipate this. If the boss did swap out the clues, he'd come to me himself, or something. These clues had to be legit.
So then, where to?
How do all these connect?
Well, who's to say these people didn't know what'd happen in the future? Going off of stereotypes, America is pretty dangerous due to people seeing it as a country of "guns and burgers", that could be their way of implying the USA. Which would line up with New Vegas being a place where people collect dreams, and gamble to try to win it big. Then, the piece sacrifice… What if it really just means we are playing chess?
That idea left an empty knot in my stomach. Bob told me what happened during the chess match, so I gave him some instructions to hopefully force Mark into a confrontation with me. It seemed like it worked, but Bob told me Fredrick was making moves even better than Stockfish, which was beyond impressive. He was doing them in less than a second too, Bob told me he'd blink and Fredrick would've already made a move. He's a machine, and there's no way I can beat a machine in chess.
Well, I'd have to get there first, use any resources I can to get the item before Fredrick arrives, and have a contingency ready for if he does get here, I need a way to beat him.
I'd have to figure that out later, since he's literally better than the best chess bot known to man.
However, my next plan of action was sprung into motion.
TJ, Rebecca and I snuck into the airport, and TJ paid off a guy for his ticket. After that, Rebecca and I put on disguises to make it harder for us to be noticed. Then, we decided to hide ourselves by sitting underneath a tree, reading a large newspaper.
That flight left, with TJ.
And without us.