《False Government》


 Prologue

    False Government


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    <h1 style="text-align: center">Prologue</h1>


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    In the not too distant past, there were many criminal organizations in this country of empty promises three more famous than others. These three more famous were led by three great men some of which I was once close to and though we keep in contact from time to time we¡¯ve not had much opportunity to speak casually in some time. Their names are Michel (Mike) Schwartz, Rob Johnson, and Wade. Wade was always the butt of the jokes among us though we were all still friends in the end.


    My name is Sean, Sean Jackson and I first met one of the big three in a poker game where we were betting territory in our gangs. I lost everything to Mike and lost my little foothold of power though my name¡¯s still tossed around from time to time and I¡¯m still relatively in a position of respect I¡¯ve lost any control over what I once ruled though my little following keeps me some comfort and security I guess.


    Back in the day, all the different organizations used to bicker and fight over territory like it was our job or something. There used to be all-out wars in the streets and somehow the big three were the only ones left ruling the underworld in our whole country. The only problem with this is that these three idiot friends of mine are major gamblers and decided to throw out the wars of old and just get together to gamble away their territory against each other once a week or so. They¡¯ve been playing these games ever since.


    A group of concerned citizens and some of the higher-ranking members of these organizations got together and made an app that tells you when and where territory had traded hands because it happened so often. The groups have entered a temporary cease-fire because territory changes hands so frequently you¡¯ll never know when you¡¯ll wake up in enemy territory so everyone¡¯s just been living in almost harmony and everyone except the police and Military are happy with the newfound peace among the criminal underworld. Our fighting has become more organized and we¡¯ve come to protect each other a lot more and while it¡¯s great for us it¡¯s terrible for them.


    Mike, Rob, and Wade each tend to a specific part of the underworld. Mike tends to stick to doing black market organ sales and generally keeps a close eye on most other sales in the black market since those organizations were most frequently absorbed by his group back when the fighting was more intense. Rob tends to deal more with drugs and counterfeit bills, he¡¯s a real gourmet so it takes a lot to keep him fed. Apart from illegal weapons deals and bodyguarding work no one really knows what Wade¡¯s group does, he just kind of does his own thing and no one really calls him out when he steps out of his area of expertise they just kind of watch and wait for him to crash and burn before he goes back to doing what he¡¯s good at.


    Apart from the fact they¡¯re all criminals, they¡¯re all great guys once you get to know them. Mike¡¯s actually made it a point to look good to the public and visits people in hospitals when they¡¯re sick just to make them feel like someone cares, and though he tries to hide it he¡¯s been donating money to them in secret thinking no one knows about it. Rob¡¯s a real funny guy and tends to frequent bars and comedy clubs and always brings the mood up. No one wants to think what¡¯d happen if he were to suddenly disappear one day. Wade, while he looks scary on the outside is actually just a big softie and tends to try to protect as many people as he can and while he mostly just does bodyguarding work he does go around asking people for protection fees and people know not to go near places that pay him his dues lest they get done worse to them then was done to whoever paid him for protection. He¡¯ll guard anyone as long as they got cash; once two of his security guard details met when the cops hired him out to interrupt a drug trade but the cops ended up outnumbered when they saw the guards they¡¯d hired being sociable with the other guards and decided to run before both groups turned their guns on the cops.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Despite all of this someone new has hit the scene and he¡¯s been gaining opposition from both the government and our little slice of the underworld that has since gained peace. They tend not to have any open territory to dispute over and they don¡¯t fight with weapons or anything and they¡¯re constantly throwing out their own members, despite that their numbers keep growing and it¡¯s starting to get concerning. We don¡¯t know where they meet because they always meet in secret and wherever they go people tend to change. Like quitting old habits and turning away from old friends. At first, we thought it was some kind of cult but they haven¡¯t been doing any cultish things like trying to take all the money from their followers or openly demanding tax exemptions, or trying to lure in fools off the streets with warm meals only to drag them into a life of communal poverty. These guys actively throw out people and though they take donations from their members they tend to give all the money collected to the less fortunate and the sick. They tend to do their good deeds in secret and actively hide their meetings from both the law-abiding and the law-bending in this country. What¡¯s more, their leader had taken to the habit of hiding himself and his own name from everyone. Only a few close friends know his name and they don¡¯t tell anyone.


    It¡¯s starting to become concerning because more and more people are starting to leave the underground for this new group and since they have no territory, to begin with, it¡¯s not like the big three can invite them to the poker table to bet it all on a game of palace or anything. What¡¯s more, people in the government have been joining his faction and while they tend to keep their jobs, they are noticeably different than when they started. As if they¡¯d been living a lie. This new group is oddly secretive though it¡¯s not hard for someone to get into their groups it¡¯s almost impossible to know who their leader is because he hides his name and face. They¡¯re probably all hypocrites anyway. The people who joined up with him are oddly vocal about calling people out on their hypocrisy so they should know. They say we¡¯ve both failed the people and have stared their own theocracy, almost, and almost everyone¡¯s concerned about it. The strangest thing is though, the harder we and the government push back against them and put pressure on them the more their numbers and influence grow. They¡¯re like weeds that double down harder the more you try to get rid of them.


    I usually work under mike because he absorbed my faction and my group is still somewhat loyal to me but recently, I¡¯ve been asked to look into this group as they¡¯ve been threatening the peace, we worked so hard to achieve.

 Chapter 1: A Speck of Green

    <h1>Chapter 1: A Speck of Green</h1>


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    I just got back home after checking my phone to see if any major territories had changed hands while I was making deals with shady businesses in an old dilapidated church where shady doctors tend to meet black market traders for the things they might not be able to get soon enough by legal means for important people. But something different caught my eye today when I was checking to see the way the map was divided. There was a new colour. Usually, the map is divided into pink, red and dark purple. But today an emerald speck caught my eye. I was caught off guard because it had been a long time since I¡¯d possessed territory of my own in the grand scheme of things, but my name wasn¡¯t on the key. There were the same three names and then a blank spot on the key that wasn¡¯t there the day before. Mike¡¯s colour was pink, Wade¡¯s colour was red, and Rob¡¯s colour was purple.


    This blank name not only took my colour it took the spot where I just was, apparently, the old dilapidated church was just bought and plans had been put into place to have it fixed up and have it running again. If the church was bought by one of the three the colour wouldn¡¯t have changed and it¡¯s been pretty famous in the underworld for being a place where shady dealings go down and you usually have to reserve the spot through the new app that also lets you meet with whatever members you¡¯d need to meet, usually lower positioned ones to start for your general shady dealings and such. Most police tend to steer clear of the app as most of the shady ones are using it to take bribes while the ones that try to use it in sting operations get found out too quickly thanks to the shady ones.


    If the church had been bought by someone in the government, it would have been blacked out with the police stations and other neutral areas but for some reason it was green, and we didn¡¯t know. Usually, churches and other such public places tend to seek protection from Wade and therefore turn their places red until someone else won the spot, but it was green¡­ ¡°why is it green?¡± [S]


    ¡°oh, the new church that¡¯s been bought? They¡¯re saying he bought it¡± [D] this was my friend David, he¡¯s a bit slow and tends to talk before he thinks but he¡¯s a good man all the same. ¡°I see¡­ and you¡¯re not thinking of joining Him, are you?¡± [S]


    ¡°what? No, I¡¯m having too much fun here. ¡®sides, the church I go to pays its dues to Wade, I don¡¯ wanna go to a church that might get shot up cause it¡¯s unclaimed territory, plus It¡¯s all busted up and everyt¡¯ing¡±[D] he was right, most churches had paid their dues and while this church hadn¡¯t despite it being a pretty popular spot for shady dealings it wasn¡¯t the only one maybe there¡¯d be peace for a while before someone tries to get it back then again it¡¯s such a small spot and most of the people who went there were often put off by the fact that it used to be a church, even I can barely stand the place, and it¡¯s not like we won¡¯t be able to go back there and meet up to continue our deals it just might be awkward if they hire a priest to work there all the time. ¡°you think anyone will miss that old dump?¡± [S]


    ¡°Prolly not, even non-religious people tend not to want to do shady things there, most the idols have been torn down but you can still see where they stood and it still feels like they¡¯re standing there judging you even though they¡¯re gone.¡±[D] One of the only reasons the place had been so popular was because it was such a disarming place. Even the police didn¡¯t want to be there because you could feel the death of faith and the people walking out from this old, previously catholic church. The stained-glass windows were mostly broken, the pews had all been sold; the podium was broken though it was attached to the stage, the walls were rotten and falling apart in places. You could tell they tried and failed to do a type of religious painting on the ceiling like this was more an art project than a church. The place had actually been quite respectable looking when it was still running but I heard they got greedy and when they started asking their followers for too much and treating the congregation like second class citizens the people started falling away, I wouldn¡¯t know most of this if it weren¡¯t for my new assignment. ¡°If it was him, we gotta find out why he bought it and why¡¯d he pick now to join in the territory war¡± [S]


    ¡°maybe he didn¡¯t think such a little thing would throw him into the territory war.¡± [E] This new voice was Even he was introduced to me by David one day while we were playing cards together. ¡°he bought property and instead of going through the proper procedures to declare it neutral territory he just shut everyone out and decided against taking support from anyone. And why¡¯d they give him my old colour?¡± [S]


    ¡°I heard one from his group after leaving their secret meeting talking about how the leader¡¯s favourite colour is green but I didn¡¯t figure it¡¯d become his colour when I mentioned it to Felix¡±[E] Felix was in charge of telling people what properties had been won or lost at the weekly games the big three tend to play. He¡¯s usually just their dealer but he also controls a good bit of information and generally keeps and sells the secrets, maybe he¡¯d decided that this was the colour he¡¯d give him should he ever openly gain territory. ¡°you think someone from his group bought the church and that¡¯s why Felix marked it green¡± [S]


    ¡°Makes sense, they probably don¡¯t even know they put a target on themselves¡±[D] this whole time we¡¯ve been talking we¡¯ve been walking up the stairs to our respective apartments, we¡¯re neighbours and while most of the people in this building work for Mike like me and Even, David here works for Rob and the landlord, Brian, works for Wade. As I got to my door David invited us over to his place for beer and a game of Uno but I was too tired from work and Even didn¡¯t want to play if it was just going to be the two of them so we went our separate ways and I sat pondering over the assignment I¡¯d been given. I usually don¡¯t get work from Felix but as I¡¯m a black-market tradesman I have to deal in information sometimes. I¡¯d been asked to gather what little information I could from this new underground group that seems to be operating outside both the underworld¡¯s and the law¡¯s eyes normally this wouldn¡¯t be a concern but both sides are worried that they might be a threat somehow. And since both sides want to know what they¡¯re up against in case they are the price of information went up and since I recently got engaged and have been looking for money I took the job thinking it wouldn¡¯t be much but¡­ ¡°they really don¡¯t want anyone to know what they¡¯re doing do they?¡±


    I said this out loud to myself less for a response and more just voicing my frustrations. This was supposed to be an easy job, just listening to rumours, and checking over reports looking for inconsistencies. For now, I¡¯ll just sleep and hopefully, the job won¡¯t be too hard tomorrow.


    The next day I was called into a meeting with Mike, we hadn¡¯t spoken in a while, so I had a feeling this had to do with the events of the day prior. ¡°why are you here Brian?¡±[S]


    ¡°I¡¯ve accepted a job to guard you in case those weirdoes with all their secrets are violent. They¡¯re probably not but Wade can¡¯t be too careful¡± [B] as frightening as that man, Wade, made himself out to be he was kind at heart, in fact, the underworld as it is now isn¡¯t exactly the den of thieves it used to be. Since the Government decided to be more like China¡¯s government citizens have been losing their jobs and turning to crime just to feed themselves, Wade took in most of these people when this happened and since then people like Brian who have no business guarding anyone are given guard jobs and training. Having one of Wade¡¯s guards protecting you is less about the guards and more about Wade. His fighting forces may be more quantity than quality but if you mess with one the quantity will be traded with the quality and you¡¯ll be faced with the guards that won him his position among the big three. Brian guarding me is more symbolic than anything. People see Wade¡¯s mark on Brian, and they steer clear of me.


    When we got to the building Mike had turned into his base it was like an old abandoned Chuck E Cheese, he kept it looking intentionally run down so no uninvited guests would enter. Occasionally kids wander in as like a test of courage around Halloween. Mike sometimes turns the place into a haunted house around those times but doesn¡¯t really hand out candies he just kind of scares the kids away, so they don¡¯t go messing around the stuff he¡¯s got hidden around the place. It might be more frightening for the kids to see what¡¯s usually there underneath the Halloween decorations. There were bloodstains on the walls more of a permanent decoration that was decided to be left up. But in the freezers were hidden different organs and black-market goods like an inventory kept for if anyone in the business comes down with a certain organ failure and needs immediate attention they can call in some shady doctors and have them operate here. There was a fully equipped medical room hidden somewhere but I¡¯d never seen it.


    When we got to Mike¡¯s desk it wasn¡¯t Mike who greeted us but Felix. ¡°Greetings Sean, I trust you¡¯ve made some progress in your search for what those guys are doing right under our noses.¡± [F]


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I haven¡¯t had much time to search around on my own I¡¯ve mostly just been trying to fact check the information given to me.¡± [S]


    ¡°well¡­ as important as it is that our information is accurate, I still want to know what they¡¯re up to. You may not be the only one working this job, but Mike said you¡¯re probably the most qualified so I¡¯m trusting you to lead the charge into finding out who they are and what they want.¡± [F]


    ¡°why me? Does Mike know something we don¡¯t¡± [S]


    ¡°Just a hunch based on current information¡± [M] Mike entered the room with a half-eaten slice of pizza in his hand. He was wearing a plastic crown and undersized kingly robe. He liked to wear them whenever he was here, says it reminds him of better days. Otherwise, he was wearing a tux you¡¯d expect to find on a mob boss with a gun in his side holster. He looked at me through his darkened glasses and though he presented himself as a king he greeted me like a friend. ¡°Sean it¡¯s been ages. How are you? How¡¯s the family?¡± [M]


    ¡°um good, marginally less good than before but altogether I can¡¯t complain¡± [S]


    ¡°I see you still haven¡¯t found that hat you lost back when you still held power, I¡¯d lend you my crown but I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s been made for my head so it might be a little big for you.¡± [M]


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing I wasn¡¯t brought here just for Felix to give me more work.¡± [S]


    ¡°What? Oh no. I called you here to play a game with you if I win you have to go and join up with those guys to help us figure out who they are and what they want if you win you can ask me for anything up to the territory you lost when we used to gamble all those years ago.¡± [M]


    ¡°that doesn¡¯t sound like it¡¯s fair for you though. Everyone else we sent in was kicked out almost immediately. What makes me so important that they¡¯d let me in and not them.¡± [S]


    ¡°oh come now old bean, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve realized by now they tend to take people from both us and the law. Didn¡¯t you ever think to look into who those people are and how they used to live?¡± [M]


    ¡°Um¡­ I guess most of them used to be rich and suddenly lost everything or never had anything and when the group came upon them, they joined up almost like it was the natural thing to do.¡± [S]


    ¡°Exactly they¡¯ve all seemed to have lost something.¡± [F]


    ¡°And you¡¯ve lost quite a bit old friend,¡± [M] he cut the cards as he talked. ¡°but all of those guys were resentful in some way. I¡¯m just the loser in a friendly game, and it¡¯s not like I really lost anything I just ended up doing the same thing I used to except with a boss.¡± [S]This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°Old friend, I believe the one common denominator in all the people who have left us is that they lost their freedom. They¡¯ve lost the right to wage war on the streets with no one stopping them, they¡¯ve lost the right to profit off of other people¡¯s desperation and stupidity. They¡¯ve lost the right to call themselves the top of the food chain and in that desperation, they reached deep into the unknown and are now too deep to leave. I want you to wade into those waters and tell me what lies at the depths of that abys because if it¡¯s you they just might let you.¡± [M]


    I pondered over his words for a bit as Felix grabbed a slice of pizza and offered me a drink from the fridge in Mike¡¯s office. Mike and I had been old friends and I told him I¡¯d consider it if we could play a few games with nothing at stake first. This might be a job I won¡¯t be able to come back from. That¡¯s the only reason he¡¯s offered me back what he¡¯d taken from me all those years ago and even if he did, I was still taking a job from Felix and would have to try something like this at some point. Not to mention if I win, I¡¯ll end up getting invited to their periodical games to gamble away the territories I would get back. On about my third hand on the fourth game we played, I realized something. ¡°You kept my old stomping grounds just to have a piece to gamble against me if you wanted something didn¡¯t you?¡± [S]


    ¡°Well, I wonder about that¡­¡± [M] he finished his pizza and grabbed another slice. ¡°Maybe I¡¯m not the only one who believes in you¡­ maybe Rob or Wade offered to give you back your old land if you asked for it in our next game¡­ that is of course if you can beat me.¡± [M]


    ¡°Please, I¡¯ve won more hands than you and we¡¯re not even playing for anything¡± [S]


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯re only winning because I haven¡¯t been taking these games seriously¡± [M] you could see the frustration in his eyes, hidden though they were like he was just putting on a brave face he didn¡¯t want to admit that if our hands turned out like this all those years ago perhaps our roles would have been reversed and it would be me offering him this job, and he¡¯d probably take it, knowing him he can¡¯t go too long without donating to charity, he gets too worried about the less fortunate he¡¯s simply too nice for his line of work, though he does have the temper for it. He seems to be hiding it; like he¡¯s trying really hard to convince me. ??¡°alright I¡¯ve decided I¡¯ll take your bet. Just make sure if I end up getting myself too deep into this and it¡¯s something dangerous, you¡¯ll keep my wife safe.¡± [S]


    ¡°Alright, but the game we¡¯ll be playing won¡¯t be played with cards. Today we¡¯re betting it all on a game of skill.¡± [M] and then he brought out an old arcade game I knew quite well, one probably from the old arcade part of this building back when the building was operational Street Quarrels. ¡°My buttons aren¡¯t going to stick, are they? The deal¡¯s off if this machine is broken in your favour.¡± [S]


    ¡°Now, now, have you ever known me to be the type to cheat at anything?¡± [M]


    ¡°You brought me a game you clearly know I¡¯m better than you at so, of course, I¡¯m going to think you¡¯ve got something up your sleeve.¡± [S]


    ¡°I swear on the entirety of my position and power I have done nothing to cheat with this machine, Felix as my witness¡± [M] Felix was a neutral party and was generally regarded, by those less knowledgeable, to be untrustworthy but he didn¡¯t just sell information he also kept secrets. If he was paid enough, he¡¯d keep your secret hidden as long as you pay the occasional, (someone tried to buy your information) fee. He generally didn¡¯t sell your information if he felt it was more profitable to let you continue paying him off for his secrecy and though he¡¯s not one of the big three he holds about as much authority as he has no land to gamble there¡¯s not much reason for him to participate in their little games except that it gives him plenty of secrets and he in kind gives secrets to them. So, I knew I could trust Felix if not Mike. As I looked to him, I saw him nod so I took this opportunity and I played his game, I placed my bet.


    I won.


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    Mike¡¯s POV


    After all, my time practising, honing my skills and improving at the one game anyone¡¯s ever had a chance at beating me in. After having the machine repaired so I could practice my skills against Felix and my other friends. After becoming the best at this game, I could possibly be. I lost to button mashing. It was at least a close match. Maybe I had gotten too confident in my skills once I beat everyone around me and rushed this bit but, ¡°A deal¡¯s a deal. Felix do the thing¡± [M] I looked elsewhere as Felix brought out a laptop and began turning Sean¡¯s old territory from Pink to Gold as he was going to have to deal with not having his old colour. ¡°Why do I still not get green?¡± [S]


    ¡°I already set aside green for the guy we don¡¯t know anything about. If you want green you gotta take it from him¡± [F]


    ¡°oh yeah, that reminds me¡± [M] I pulled out an envelope sealed with a wax seal I had made specifically for when I wanted to make an invitation look that much fancier. ¡°as a fellow holder of territory in the underworld you will now be invited to attend our games. You won¡¯t have to attend them all but if you want your land back that I¡¯d lost to Rob and Wade you¡¯re going to have to play them for it¡± [M]


    ¡°I thought you said they wanted me to go undercover just as much as you did¡± [S]


    ¡°they do, that¡¯s exactly why they refused to just hand over your land to me when I told them I was going to make this bet¡± [M]


    ¡°you¡¯ll still be investigating him though right?¡± [F]


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, put me back in touch with my old drinking buddies I at least want to get back my old gang if I¡¯m going to do both work and the territory betting wars.¡± [S]


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry old chap, the three of us have become good friends as of late if you make a good impression on them, and I¡¯m sure you will, they¡¯re sure to not take too much from you.¡± [M]


    ¡°Though it¡¯d be best you keep this a secret from as many people as possible¡± [F] Sean looked confused as he looked at his phone and the territory he¡¯d just won before he noticed a small asterisk by his name and colour on the key which led him to read the little footnote on the bottom of the screen ¡°only visible to parties concerned, so nobody will know until I¡¯ve won all my land back?¡± [S]


    ¡°it¡¯s not that we just feel it¡¯d be best not to close all doors before we¡¯ve had a chance to see where they lead. You understand that in this business some secrecy has to be kept. Besides, a lot of the members of your old group joined up with him instead of us when he started growing in the shadows. At first, we thought they were just done with life in the underworld but the way their movements and actions are going it seems they¡¯re growing in numbers while seeking out their old friends.¡± [M]


    ¡°We think the reason they don¡¯t go looking for you is that they think you¡¯re still well off enough even without having the authority you once had. If they find out, you got your land back they might run away altogether¡± [F]


    ¡°We know where your old friends go to gather support, it¡¯s actually an old bar you used to use as a base. You remember it don¡¯t you?¡± [M] I was of course referring to an old bed and breakfast style tavern with an in on the upper floor. It wasn¡¯t run down or anything, in fact, it was fully operational. The store¡¯s front was a regular place to stay the night if you¡¯re too drunk to drive home. But in reality, it was his main hang out and a good deal of his old friends still frequented the place after he stopped going because it reminded him of what he¡¯d lost¡­ or at least that¡¯s the only reason I can think of why he wouldn¡¯t want to go back.


    ¡°ah and since I¡¯d just won the place back, I¡¯m going to end up going there anyway¡± [S]


    ¡°the illusion of choice, well you don¡¯t have to go right back you still have to move your stuff from your new apartment anyway.¡± [M]


    ¡°I could just stay and run the bar from afar collecting information from whispers overheard by the bartenders.¡± [S]


    ¡°yes that is how we¡¯ve been getting out information thus far but it¡¯s not going much further than what we already have and what we have isn¡¯t enough to know what they want and what they¡¯re doing¡± [F]


    ¡°just come to our game on Saturday night we¡¯ll talk more then.¡± [M] I then handed him some special poker chips each marked with addresses. ¡°what¡¯s this?¡± [S]


    ¡°it¡¯s how we¡¯ve been gambling for land and keeping track of who owns what all the time. There are microchips in the chips so when the chips trade hands they change the colour of the boundaries they represent to the person they¡¯re given to. As long as you have the app anyway. But the only chip you¡¯ll be needing to bet is this one.¡± [M] I handed him a black chip with just the words <u>single command</u> written on it. His eyes seemed to widen with realization as to how we¡¯ve managed to keep playing for so long.


    ¡°Felix will get you more chips like this if you manage to win back all your land. These are the chips we bet when we run out of land to bid. If you lose it you have to obey one command from the person you lost it to, and we¡¯ve all agreed to make you go undercover if you lose this first one. Normally we use them to ask each other unreasonable favours or just to humiliate them among ourselves for our own amusement but just this once we¡¯ll have you play for your right to refuse to join up with the hidden people and tell us what they want and why they move the way they do.¡± [M]


    ¡°right I got it. If I can join back in on the territory war I get more favour chips and we can just keep playing indefinitely.¡± [S]


    ¡°that chip is also a mark of your authority. Show it to someone you trust, and they¡¯ll know you¡¯re a member of our betting circle. If you find old buddies, you trust to keep your reclaimed authority a secret, show them the chip and tell them to regroup as secretly as possible¡± [M]


    ¡°not a small amount of my followers have joined up with him and actually stayed¡± [F]


    ¡°Oh, I get it now, you¡¯re trying to send me to them while making sure I have my feet firmly planted on this side, right?¡± [S]


    ¡°We don¡¯t know how they¡¯re keeping their hold on their followers and it¡¯s not like we can tell at a glance who¡¯s with him and who isn¡¯t¡± [M] I had another game scheduled for tonight but as Sean has other things to attend to I invited him to Saturday night¡¯s game because I need to let them know I lost beforehand too. After a brief continuation of our conversation I sent him off and sat a bit disappointed at my desk. ¡°why didn¡¯t he just lose when I was so close to beating him¡± [M]


    ¡°probably because he wasn¡¯t taking it as seriously until he saw how serious you were taking it. You probably scared him.¡± [F]


    ¡°I know I¡¯ve not spent much time with him since we used to gamble but I¡¯ve never known him to back down from a challenge. That¡¯s part of the reason I asked for him to take this job¡± [M]


    <hr>


    Sean¡¯s POV


    That was a bit unsettling. They probably think I¡¯ll just go undercover, and everything will be fine. That I¡¯ll just roll over and do as I¡¯m told because it¡¯s in my nature to see things through. But if I have my authority, I can see things through without it having to be me. I can send someone else to do it¡­ but is there anyone I can rust to do this? That¡¯s probably why they wanted me to do it. Otherwise, they¡¯d have just threatened me into doing it, saying something like. ¡®This is your job you ought to take it more seriously¡¯. As I sat at home pondering over the events of the day I looked over new documents and confirming thigs as either reliable or unreliable. Making sure rumours weren¡¯t trusted completely and looking into the things said by the spies that had been sent before they were fully accepted and then fully cut ties with Felix.


    From what they were saying a few things seemed to line up. The man in charge liked to dress well eat cheap and had his eyes constantly covered. His name was never spoken, and it was hard to determine his race as he knew multiple languages. He tended to speak quietly so it was hard to hear him and people often talked over him without meaning to. These were the consistencies in their reports, the rest all seemed to go in wild and different directions. Some say he¡¯s a horrible drunkard while others say he hates the taste of alcohol. Some say he smokes like a volcano and others say he can¡¯t stand to be around a lit cigarette. Some call him a culinary genius others say his food is burnt and terrible. And no one seems to give a straight answer on what his face looks like. ¡°it seems he dresses people up like himself when meeting people like he knows we¡¯re after him and is protecting himself behind people who are pretending to be him, but then why do they do such different portrayals of his character.¡± [S]


    The invitation I¡¯d received from Mike lay open on my desk at home it had a date a place and another sealed envelope


    Ol¡¯ chap I know it seems rather strange to be treating you this way after you¡¯ve just proven yourself in a game of wits and reclaimed that which was rightfully yours. But could I do you the greatest of inconveniences to put this second invitation in the hands of one of the hidden people? It shouldn¡¯t be too hard. If you give it to someone who seems to be a bit¡­ off in comparison to those around them in the police station and tell them it¡¯s for the leader of the people who meet in secret I¡¯m sure you can get it to him but you and I both know there¡¯s a better way. And besides, you¡¯ll get to drink at your favourite old pub again. This other invitation is scheduled for a date separate from yours is for so there¡¯s no reason to be afraid he¡¯ll know you to have regained what you¡¯ve lost just find their group and get the letter into their hands.


    Your dear friend Michel Schwartz


    After finally getting my old home back I¡¯ve also been demoted to delivery boy¡­ well if this doesn¡¯t get those guys interested in scouting me out I don¡¯t know what will. Not that I¡¯ve decided on my own to go undercover. But I do miss Shirsha¡¯s cooking. ¡°I¡¯m going to the Top of the morning tavern. I¡¯ve got some work to do.¡± [S]

 Chapter 2: The Fish

    <h1>Chapter 2: The Fish</h1>


    <hr>


    It took a while to get back to my old place, and of course, I took David and Brian. They¡¯re the few I told about my land returning to me and they decided to join up with me so they can have high positions in the underworld when I return to the spotlight. Honestly though with the fact they¡¯re having me hide it, it¡¯s like they have me working undercover without having actually infiltrated them yet. As I want the rest of my land back it¡¯s best I wait till I actually get it before making them all upset and ruining any chance I have to get in the gambling circle to take my home back.


    When I got to the old place, I saw that it was still being run by the same family it always was. There weren¡¯t many people, it being noon and all. When I greeted the old owners, who took me in back when I just started gaining a following, I received a warm welcome in response. ¡°Jack is that you? Have you finally come home?¡± [Shirsha]


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s been a while since I heard anyone call me by my last name. yeah, I¡¯m coming home I just wanted to know if you still had room for me before I got all my stuff and made the journey across town.¡± [S]


    ¡°You know we¡¯ll always have room for you Jack me boy.¡± [Shirsha] back when I was in charge of the little gang I had everyone felt they should call me Jack so if the police or anyone ever looked for me I could honestly tell them my name is Sean and put the blame on someone else. We never got the chance to see if that would work but I never thought it would. It was something that was decided for me when I was in charge of things. ¡°you can call me Sean you know. I don¡¯t feel right knowing you¡¯re so kind and still talking to me like I¡¯m your boss when I¡¯ll be in your care again.¡± [S]


    ¡°Oh, I couldn¡¯t do that, you¡¯ve earned the respect you had. Even if no one else ever calls you Jack again you¡¯ll always be Jack to me¡± [Shirsha] her kindness was blinding. I could almost feel the devotion weighing me down. I hadn¡¯t even shown her the chip yet. Not that I¡¯ll have to it seems she interpreted my return as a return to power. Like she could feel in her bones I wouldn¡¯t return here if something hadn¡¯t have happened. ¡°I¡¯m actually here to deliver a message and maybe have a beer or two. Though I¡¯d like to move back in. I never did settle into my new place.¡± [S]


    I handed her the invitation with the blank namespace and as if that was enough it looked like she had realized something and went back to looking professional. Like I was just another customer. ¡°right then, I¡¯ll see to it he gets the letter if I see him though I doubt he¡¯ll come today.¡± [Shirsha]


    ¡°why¡¯s that?¡± [S]


    ¡°he tends not to drink on Saturday. I¡¯ve never heard the reason, but I can guess.¡± [Shirsha]


    ¡°has it got anything to do with the church they¡¯ve bought?¡± [S]


    ¡°couldn¡¯t tell ya I¡¯m not too well acquainted with ¡®em¡± [Shirsha] she seemed almost like she was lying. Like she knew something but wasn¡¯t sure she could say it. Maybe she knew I was working to find out more about them, for now, I shouldn¡¯t pry too deeply. If she¡¯s one of them, I¡¯ll find out more the longer I hang around. For now, I won¡¯t show her my authority chip. It¡¯s still my job to find out about them and as this is the place their people tend to meet up it¡¯d probably be better to just spend some time here. ¡°has the menu changed at all since I¡¯ve been here? I¡¯ve missed your cooking while I¡¯ve been away.¡± [S]


    ¡°I¡¯ve thought about it but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to do it. This old pub¡¯s been around for so long I¡¯ve been afraid to change any old thing about it lest it lose the history of the place. I¡¯m assuming you¡¯ll be taking the usual then?¡± [Shirsha]


    ¡°Yeah. Sounds good.¡± [S] When I first met her and her husband I was very proud and just a bit arrogant but they cared for me all the same, my life in the states wouldn¡¯t have been the same without these guys supporting me for seemingly no reason at all. I think it was like a year before they told me they used to be friends with my parents and that they were looking out for me when I told them I¡¯d be living in the states. They didn¡¯t even charge me rent sometimes; it was like I had to be the one to remind them that my rent was due. But I just felt so bad not paying rent that I just couldn¡¯t stop myself from paying them. Even if I couldn¡¯t afford to at the time.


    I decided to stick around for a while after delivering the letter into the hands of a woman I trust. And had myself a couple of beers with Brian and David, we hung out for a bit ate some food had some laughs and checked to see who was the best pool player¡­ I might be just a bit as much of a gambler as the rest of the people in power in the underworld. While we were there a bunch of other people came up to us talked to us. We made a couple of friends, had a bit of fun gambling and drinking the night away. I made quite a bit of money. My skills in pool are nothing to scoff at but my friends and I are a pretty close match so playing against each other and placing bets on ourselves could only make us as much as our skills could carry us.


    At some point in the night, we saw them. The only group of people in the whole bar that didn¡¯t order a single drink. I could have sworn I saw Shirsha hand one of them the invitation and whisper something into her ear. I was assuming the man himself wasn¡¯t there by the fact she handed the invitation to a woman. Or at least I think it¡¯s a woman. She¡¯s got a flat chest and long braided hair under that fedora she¡¯s wearing. Could she be dressed up as him to meet up with someone? Could she, be he? Nope, she was a guy. When they all sat down and took off the masks people are now required to wear by law in public places, I could see a thick beard under that mask and a moustache. He still might have been a fake though. He had all the mannerisms and strange things about him talked about in some of the less consistent reports. For one he wasn¡¯t wearing his sunglasses. Most reports say he never takes them off. A rare one said that he did and when he did his Irises were red. I couldn¡¯t see them too well in this lighting and I didn¡¯t want to look like I was too interested in them from where I was standing and playing pool with my friends so I tried to ignore it and play it off as just one of the guys who pretend to be him. He tucked the invite in his pocket and said something I couldn¡¯t make out, and I could tell from the look on Shirsha¡¯s face she couldn¡¯t hear him either.


    As the night progressed and they¡¯d had their meal an average worker looking man approached them and they started talking. By the tool belt he was wearing I assumed he was some kind of construction worker. Were they talking about fixing up the church? At this point, the previous game of pool concluded and as it was my turn next. I would have to leave my spot on the wall where I could take casual glances across the room, and actually, play the game.


    I casually told David to keep an eye on that table while I was playing and he took up my spot on the wall and put a special pen in his flannel pocket that started recording that particular part of the room so he could watch us play and tell us what we needed to do while still keeping an eye on them¡­ even if it was a robotic eye. He was very careful to stand in such a way that he was always facing them but also looked focused on the game. I was too distracted by him to really focus on the game and ended up losing that one. I stupidly asked to play double or nothing but by the end of that game, the people I¡¯d been meaning to watch had left and David had gone to the bathroom to turn off the camera in private. I also received a message on my phone when he went. Apparently, the video had been sent to my phone. I sent the video to Felix the moment I knew what it was and was promptly paid for the first video evidence we have of these people. Yeah, I made a good deal of money tonight.


    We played a few more rounds stuck around for dinner and had another chat to catch up with Shirsha and once we¡¯d become fully drunk, we stumbled ourselves back home. I¡¯d still have to pack my stuff if I wanted to move back into the old inn. I did tell Shirsha I¡¯d go back anyways.


    Usually, the nights are a dangerous time but since I was called directly to meet up with Mike and Felix a few rumours had gone around and the fact that Brian was standing next to me and still hadn¡¯t officially quit Wade¡¯s faction meant I was pretty safe no one was going to mess with me but now people are saying stuff like I¡¯m some kind of delivery boy. I¡¯m not too bothered but I can see the whispers and turned away looks from hoodlums and vandals in the alleys were affecting David and Brian as it upset them that I was being insulted but they couldn¡¯t say anything cause I still needed to keep it a secret at least until I got my land back. Of course, from the outside looking in it probably just looked like a couple of angry gangsters walking behind their exasperated boss.


    By the time we got home, it was already getting to the hour when I¡¯d usually be curled up in bed next to my wife, asleep of course because nobody has the energy to be going at it at this time of night. But all the same, it was getting late and Brian still had his job as manager of these apartments to take care of and got to his cover job of ignoring the complaints of angry residents and overcharging people for repairs.


    I got back to my apartment and went to the bathroom to freshen up before bed when I noticed something that wasn¡¯t there this morning sitting on the toilet. ¡°Eve, did you buy a fish?¡± [S]


    ¡°What?¡± [E]


    ¡°There¡¯s a fish in here.¡± [S]


    ¡°In the bathroom?¡± [E]


    ¡°Yes!¡± [S]


    ¡°Where did it come from?¡± [E]


    ¡°I don¡¯t know I was out all day¡± [S]


    ¡°Maybe you could ask Brian if anyone came into the house while you were out.¡± [E]


    ¡°Nah he was with me¡± [S]


    ¡°maybe one of his employees will know if anyone broke into our place and moved a fish in here without our knowing it.¡± [E]


    ¡°yeah¡­ maybe¡­ that reminds me. You remember how I used to live in an inn above a pub right?¡± [S]


    ¡°I vaguely recall you mentioning it once or twice¡­ why?¡± [E]


    ¡°I¡¯ve been invited to return there, and I know for a fact the landlords there keep the place in as good a condition as they can afford to.¡± [S]


    ¡°Nice as that sounds; do you really think it¡¯s a good idea? Didn¡¯t you move because you thought Mike would suspect you of trying to overthrow him if you stuck around your old base, especially after he sold it to Rob to raise money for charity?¡± [E]


    "He won it back in a bet and lost it in a bet to me. He seems to want me there now. Plus, it¡¯ll be easier to do the job I¡¯ve been doing so far if I live there.¡± [S]


    ¡°Is it closer to what you need to look into?¡± [E]


    ¡°much closer.¡± [S] putting the fish out of my mind I tried to regain my composure, got myself changed into my pyjamas and went right to bed after brushing my teeth today was a tiring day after all.


    The next morning, we began the process of packing up our stuff. Brian and David helped out here and there and while they did, I asked Brian if he knew about the fish that appeared out of nowhere in my bathroom. He told me he didn¡¯t and that he¡¯d look into asking his staff if anyone went into my room while we were away but that he¡¯d help us move first and asked if I wanted to keep the fish.


    I took another look at it when I was asked if I wanted to keep it. There was a large rectangular fish tank sitting on top of the back of the toilet in the master bathroom. Inside the tank was a small, but fat and long fish swimming around its tank opening its large mouth from time to time. ¡°what kind of fish is this?¡± [S]


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a monkfish¡­ if it is though it¡¯s a baby cause those things get huge.¡± [B]


    ¡°So, what if I plan to keep it, I have to get a bigger tank at some point?¡± [S]This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°probably.¡± [B]


    ¡°you know I¡¯ve heard that kinda fish is pretty tasty if you raise it big enough it could last you a while too.¡± [D]


    ¡°What? it¡¯s so ugly though.¡± [B]


    ¡°I don¡¯t know that I¡¯d want to go into fish farming, but I guess I¡¯ll keep that in mind¡± [S]


    I wasn¡¯t particularly interested in keeping a fish I never wanted but it wasn¡¯t the fish¡¯s fault it found its way into my house. ¡°for now, I guess I¡¯ll keep it until I find someone who wants it more¡± [S]


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want it I¡¯ll take it¡± [D]


    ¡°You just want to eat it, don¡¯t you? And you don¡¯t even know how to cook it anyway¡± [S]


    ¡°You know what that¡¯s a fair point, but I can learn, and if it gets big enough, I¡¯ll have plenty of time to get it right.¡± [D]


    ¡°For your own good I won¡¯t give it to you we don¡¯t know if it¡¯s even the fish you think it is. What if it¡¯s poisonous and not whatever delicacy you think it is¡± [S]


    ¡°aight fair enough¡± [D] after we finished packing up my stuff we got everything moved back into my old room at the inn and got ourselves situated it took a few days to fully settle in and after sending a quick message to Felix I found out that he either has nothing to do with the fish or has been paid off and won¡¯t tell me about it.


    Once we got all my regular stuff settled in Brian brought the fish over. I asked Shirsha if we could put it either somewhere on the bar or in open view of the customers along the wall. I told her we¡¯d get a bigger tank for it so it can have more space if it does turn out to be a baby.


    She didn¡¯t really oppose the idea it seemed more like she was reluctant to change the way the bar looked but at the same time realized I couldn¡¯t fit a bigger tank than the one the fish was in comfortably in my room at the inn so she told me that if I could find a good place for it I could bring the fish into open view of everyone. I should probably hurry and find a place to work in the tank because my invitation to the games we¡¯ll be playing for the rest of my land is scheduled for tomorrow.


    After a careful walkthrough of the layout of the bar and place, I found enough space where an old jukebox used to stand but was eventually moved out cause some drunk broke it in a bar fight one day. The wall was big enough and it was about the right size.


    I had to look up online if there was a special kind of water I needed for this fish and took a picture of the fish to a pet store where they helped me pick out the stuff I would need and I told them where to take it and that I¡¯d already left a hand-drawn blueprint of the floor plan and where I wanted the tank and its contents to go. I paid for the delivery and installation to be done professionally and went home to the bar to get back to my job of coming through files.


    While the pet store people were busy getting the stuff, I ordered together and installing it the fish was sitting between me and my TV on the coffee table as I read through reports. These more on the people themselves than their leaders as it¡¯s much easier to find information on the members than their leader.


    This one story I was reading however caught my eye. It was a report on a female police officer that seems way too excited about her line of work despite the fact she has a jaded old policeman for a partner. She just refuses to let her cheerful disposition die. Though it¡¯s not been made an absolute certainty that she is one of them the fact remains the only way we can tell these people apart from others is that they tend to be the people who act differently despite their circumstances. They always seem unaffected or apathetic to their surroundings and just live as if the world around them were foreign and could be forgiven the ¡°minor¡± inconveniences it tends to be filled with.


    Emma¡¯s POV


    I start my morning early, make myself breakfast and prepare to set off on another beautiful day. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and all is right with the world. I put my uniform on and check myself in the mirror to make sure nothing¡¯s out of place. ¡°today will be a good day you will make this world a safer place today!¡± [Emma] as I give myself my morning prep talk, I sip my coffee and wait for my breakfast to finish cooking while listening to a few of my favourite songs.


    May as well go wake up my partner, lest he shows up late or perhaps not at all again. I got my phone and called Tom. I heard the familiar sound of his ringtone coming from the alley between my apartment and the famously bad diner that sits right next to it. I took a step out the window onto the fire escape and looked down to see Tom, passed out in the clothes he was wearing the day before with a half-drunk bottle of scotch in one hand and a half-eaten hotdog covered in dirt and mud just slightly out of reach from his other hand.


    I let out a sigh and went back inside to go downstairs drag him inside and wake him for breakfast. He was reluctant at first, but I managed to wake him up and at the offer of food he almost sobered up enough to look like he could get to work on time. For now, I gave him some leftover coffee from the pot I was planning on putting in a thermos and taking with me to work. And gave him the breakfast I was going to eat while also starting over and cooking myself new French toast and a little mini omelette from the leftover egg. ¡°honestly what were you doing asleep on the street¡± [Emma]


    ¡°I didn¡¯t feel like going home yesterday so I accepted this invitation from some lovely people to get my wallet and car keys stolen from me while I wandered the streets blindfolded. And now I don¡¯t know where my car is.¡± [T]


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s terrible, did you get a good look at the men who did this to you?¡± [Emma]


    ¡°Nope I was pretty drunk¡­ hey I¡¯m not hungover maybe I¡¯m still drunk.¡± [T] he tried to take a swig of the scotch bottle gripped tightly in his right hand, but I stopped him. ¡°No Tom the coffee¡¯s in your other hand and we have work in an hour.¡± [Emma]


    ¡°an hour? I woke up too early I gotta get back to sleep or I¡¯ll never have the strength to solve the crimes we gotta solve by the end of the month¡± [T] while I disagreed with his work ethic his results are something I can¡¯t argue with. Despite his appearances, he¡¯s one of the best cops in this city. He seems meek and unassuming, but I think it¡¯s just a clever ruse to trick the bad guys into thinking he¡¯s not worth the effort. ¡°Emma, I messed myself¡± [T] or maybe he¡¯s just a savant and can¡¯t take care of himself. Being only good at one thing must be hard.


    ¡°You want me to find the people who stole your keys so you can get back into your house?¡± [Emma]


    ¡°Nah let em keep em¡­ I got family I¡¯m avoiding.¡± [T]


    ¡°you wanna go down to the store after breakfast and get some new pants and underpants?¡± [Emma] he nodded, and a humming noise came out. And like that our morning as police officers in this town began.


    After going down to the market, we picked up some clean clothes for Tom and he got changed in a construction site porta-potty. Afterword I returned to him his bottle. We went down to the precinct to get briefed for the day and heard something unsettling. ¡°The underworld is plotting something. It¡¯s been six months and no gang wars or disputes over territory have happened, which means all their attention is either turned towards plotting against us or each other. There are rumours the current crime bosses are friends which you all know would be disastrous for us as it would make us their soul target¡± [Captain Erin]


    ¡°I think you¡¯re just being paranoid. Aren¡¯t crime rates going down a good thing?¡± [Emma]


    ¡°Psh, no. Stupid. It usually means they¡¯re hiding something like a child who¡¯s afraid their parents will find out they broke a vase or something. And naughty children always act well when they don¡¯t want their parents to know what they¡¯ve done¡± [T]


    ¡°Exactly right Tom though you could have said it a bit more maturely¡­ then again you also could have arrived at your job sober.¡± [CE]


    ¡°I only took this job to get inspiration for the book I¡¯m writing¡± [T] from beside me Tom takes out a poorly illustrated children¡¯s book style thing and starts drawing crude outlines with sentences a person with the thickest of glasses could read unaided. It looked to be a cross between a colouring book and a children¡¯s learning how to read book about butterflies and trains. ¡°you¡¯ve been working here for years and are one of our best.¡± [CE]


    ¡°It¡¯s a pretty complex book I¡¯m worried my audience might not be ready for it yet.¡± [T]


    Everyone stared at him as though he were something to be pitied though we all knew. He being the best probably said more about us than it did about him. Then again he only ever took the job after there was a mass exodus from this line of work that left only the people who wanted to be here, the people who had climbed too far to back out now, and people like Tom who saw the salaries went up to encourage people who otherwise wouldn¡¯t ever go to policing school otherwise.


    ¡°I guess passion isn¡¯t everything when you go into a line of work¡± [Emma]


    ¡°wha¡¯ chu talkin¡¯ ¡®bout. I have plenty of passion¡­ in making my book¡­ It¡¯ll make me a fortune.¡± [T] after the morning briefing, we went on our patrol just cruising along waiting for something to happen in these relatively lifeless streets. ¡°Emma, the police at the precinct think you might be one of the people in the secret group that¡¯s started popping up recently¡­¡± [T]


    ¡°what?¡± [Emma]


    ¡°but don¡¯t tell Emma¡± [T]


    ¡°you cannot still be drunk right now. It¡¯s been three hours¡± [Emma] he simply shrugged and hummed questioningly with a flask in his mouth. If not for his constant slurring and the ever-present reek of alcohol on him he¡¯d probably be a halfway respected police officer but I suppose him being so unimpressive does lend itself well to him actually solving cases because he just seems so weak and powerless it¡¯s almost hard to believe he has the most arrests out of anyone in the precinct and most of them seemed impossible. He just stumbles into success. Maybe he just acts the fool, so no one knows how good at his job he is even when presented with evidence of his skill.


    ¡°you¡¯re not actually drunk right, now are you?¡± [Emma]


    ¡°shh¡± [T] he kept driving along for a bit until suddenly, ¡°Stop the car¡± [T] in a move I¡¯ve seen a hundred times Tom rushed out to throw up on the curb and as he was doing so stumbles across a couple getting mugged in an alley near a cinema. When the gun is suddenly pointed at him, he does a little hiccup and pretends to pass out like the drinks he¡¯d been drinking all day just hit him. But the smell was definitely convincing. When the thief turned back around to rob the couple, he saw that they¡¯d already snuck away in the confusion caused by the drunken detective. When he turned back to take out his anger on Tom, he¡¯d already silently gotten back to his feet and slammed an emptied bottle of scotch on the thief¡¯s head. And then he began slurring his way through the Miranda rights to the now unconscious thief as he sloppily made a show of struggling to get the handcuffs on him and nearby hoodlums were mocking him for managing to get arrested by this man.


    Perhaps it really was all an act or maybe he planned to get so drunk he¡¯d throw up and does this all the time. Regardless the rest of the workday was pretty uneventful. We received an anonymous tip an old crime boss who fell out of power recently moved back into his old base, but most of those rumours also said he just did it because the rent was cheaper. She wanted to go investigate it but thought it would be a bad idea to bring her alcoholic partner to a bar you could sleep in.


    Besides an old friend from before everyone started leaving their positions as police officers wanted to meet up at exactly the place. She didn¡¯t know what would become of that meeting, but she wanted to believe that her old friend could bring some life back to their boring lives of handing out parking tickets and dealing with petty theft and minor crimes. She was hoping to solve an old abandoned case of a boss who used a fake name and was never caught.


    Sean¡¯s POV


    As I was reading through the files and documents, I realized something didn¡¯t seem to add up. For a secret organization, we seem to have a lot of information on them. As if they aren¡¯t the ones keeping themselves a secret but someone else is. Like knowledge about them is dangerous or something. But there seems to be a certain threshold for how much you can learn about them before curiosity takes you too deeply. From what we know anyone who leaves the group either by their own will or by force seems to believe the group doesn¡¯t do anything particularly strange.


    They get together for a meal every now and then and talk. At first, we thought maybe there was some kind of secret code to decipher in the conversations that go on there or that they eat some kind of food laced with something that makes people unable to disobey orders when given in certain words, but that was proven wrong pretty quickly. Why do we know so much if it¡¯s supposed to be a secret? Maybe they don¡¯t mind it being thought of as secret and revel in that people will be drawn into the mystery. I was drawn into the job by the money. But it¡¯s weird the closer I get to finding out who they are and what they want the less it looks like they¡¯re actively hiding anything.


    Most if not all of our spies got in. a lot of them were promptly kicked out when they refused dinner and those that ate it had no major changes to their behaviour or personality. Mostly just paranoia that something would happen eventually. Half the time the spies thought they were in the wrong place like some nice people just had them over for dinner and exchanged a pleasant conversation. It was surreal to everyone who¡¯s investigated them. They act like they have nothing to hide yet they meet and act in secret.


    What is really going on with this group Felix has sent me to look into. As I combed through the files we had and sorted them into piles of likely and unlikely information, I started second-guessing myself and started taking a closer look at the unlikely things. ¡°maybe they¡¯re not so much inconsistencies in his friend¡¯s portrayal of himself¡­ maybe he carries himself in different ways in front of different people¡± [S] as I thought about this I thought back to the night I delivered the invitation into the hands of the hidden people and then stuck around to see if I could catch a glimpse of the guy even though I was told he wouldn¡¯t show up that night. Maybe it was him. If I could see his hands better, I might have been able to tell if another point from the unlikely pile matched up with this man but as we were too far away, I couldn¡¯t tell.


    I get the feeling Felix gave me these files more to mess with me, like not that he couldn¡¯t trust the common theme in the files, but that he felt it would be in my best interest to know more about them from that information we¡¯d gathered so quickly. It¡¯s almost strange this job is so high paying despite the fact all that¡¯s happened to the people who failed is that they left the underworld and went straight. At first, it seemed like they were hiding from their old life but they will still talk to their old friends and help people move they just refuse to go back to their old lives and in some cases refuse to go near places they know either they used to work or they knew people worked frequently in shady secret things.


    If I keep reading, I¡¯m going to think the underworld keeps more secrets than these guys. And their secrets are strange too. Why would anyone keep quiet about how often a person smokes or drinks? Why hide a guy¡¯s face or name? What good goes it do to keep these things secret anyways? Why did Mike specifically request I take this job? Who¡¯s trying to keep them a secret and why?