Chapter 76: Talking About The Plan
Next day.
In the morning as he was doing his daily quest which had become a habit for him and he was not doing it to just complete the quest he received a phone call.
He paused his activity and retrieved his phone to discover that his friend Felix was on the other end of the line. Without hesitation, he answered the call.
After placing the phone to his ear, he greeted Felix with a simple "Hello".
"How are you doing?" inquired Felix, addressing Aron.
"I'm doing well, how about yourself?" replied Aron.
"I'm doing good too," echoed Felix.
"Why did you call me?" Aron inquired immediately after their exchange of greetings.
"What? Am I not allowed to call my friend anymore?" Felix asked, feigning offense at Aron's question.
"Don't play dumb, you know exactly why I asked. Why are you calling me in the morning when you're supposed to be at work? Do you want me to report you to Sarah?" Aron teased Felix, with a hint of humor in his tone.
"I am working right now, actually. Sarah selected me as the team leader for the group that you expressed interest in. I called to inquire about your availability so I can come over and discuss the task you have for us," replied Felix, sounding proud of his newly assigned leadership role.
"Why you?" Aron retorted, abruptly interrupting Felix and reversing the positive momentum he had just established. (After all, what are friends for if not to humble and challenge each other?)
"She mentioned that I was selected as the team leader in part because you needed someone you could trust for this," replied Felix, affecting a tone of defeat.
"You can come visit me this afternoon. I have some free time then," offered Aron, deciding to spare Felix any further teasing.
"Greate, I will be visiting you together with the assistant project manager" Felix informed Aron whom he will be attending the meeting with at Aron's house.
"Sounds good. Just give me a call when you're on your way, and I'll make sure to prepare for your arrival," replied Aron
"Sure, I will do that. See you later then"
"Alright, I'll talk to you soon. See you later," replied Felix, bidding farewell and hanging up the phone.
With the call now over, Aron returned his attention to finishing his daily quest, putting his phone away and focusing on the task at hand.
....
Later that afternoon.
"Welcome!" greeted Aron as Felix and his assistant team leader Barry arrived at his house. He led them inside and then guided them to his work room, which had been empty for the past few months as he had moved most of his work to the basement.
"Thanks," replied both Felix and Barry as they followed behind Aron, taking in the beautiful surroundings of his home with admiration.
"Make yourselves feel at home," said Aron to Felix and Barry before he left the room to go and get them some drinks, knowing that their meeting was likely to take some time.
As soon as Aron left, Barry remarked, "Wow, this house is beautiful," making sure they were alone before speaking.
"Yeah, I agree," Felix replied. He had never had the chance to visit Aron's house before, as they usually met in a cafe or somewhere more central for both of them.
"How much do you think this house costs?" Barry asked, realizing that Felix was also impressed by the house.
"I think it's around 2.5 million dollars or more," Felix replied, not wanting to reveal an exact figure. He knew that if his colleagues found out he was friends with Aron, it could potentially make his work more difficult, with people trying to get on his good side.
"Damn, but still it is worth it" Barry was very surprised when he heard the approximate price of the house.
"Yeah, definitely worth it." Felix replied, nodding in agreement.
But just as he was about to ask another question, Aron returned to the room, carrying a drink for each of them to sip during the meeting.
After giving everyone their drink, they engaged in small talk to get to know each other better before getting down to business.
"So, now let's talk about what I want your team to do for me," Aron said, as he opened the drawer on his desk, removing two small stacks of paper, each with about 40 pages, and handed them to both Felix and Barry.
As soon as they got the papers, they began reading through them carefully, taking note of any important details or instructions that Aron had included.
During the time that Felix and Barry were reading the stacks of paper, Aron patiently waited for them to finish. He knew that it was important for them to thoroughly understand the contents of the documents before they could have a productive conversation about the details.
After about half an hour, both Felix and Barry lifted their heads, indicating that they were done reading and were impressed with the report they had just read.
"You really want us to do this?" Felix asked, expressing his surprise at what he had just read in the report.
"Yes, I want everything in the document to be purchased within three months. Money is not an issue. Do you think you can handle it?" Aron asked seriously, his expression and tone leaving no doubt that he was serious and not joking around.
"Yes, we can do that. But for us to complete this plan within the given period of time, our team capacity needs to at least double," Barry said after thinking about what he had read for a short period of time.
"Consider that done" Aron agreed to Barry's suggestion without even asking for the reason.
"Also, we will have to pay a quite some of bribe money to the dictator for everything to go smoothly" Felix added wanting to know what was Aron's standing when it comes to it.
"I understand that and I have already set aside a budget for it. Just make sure everything goes as planned," Aron said, giving his approval for the necessary arrangements to be made.
"Also....." Both Felix and Barry continued to make their demands and suggestions while Aron either agreed to them or proposed alternative solutions that he had come up with Nova when he was constructing the plans.
The back and forth discussion continued for about four hours, during which Felix and Barry asked important questions and explored different courses of action with Aron before making a final decision.
"You can call me anytime if you face any problems while executing the plan. I will try to come up with a solution as soon as you inform me," Aron assured them before they left the meeting.
"Farewell, see you soon," Felix and Barry said as were escorted by Aron to where they parked their vehicle before they got in it and left.
....
Inside Felix's car.
"Holy shit, what on earth is he planning?" Barry asked as soon as he was sure that they were a safe distance away from Aron's house.
Felix attempted to divert the conversation from the subject, stating "I am unsure, but we shouldn't dwell on it. Our primary focus should be on completing the task with utmost efficiency." However, his mind was troubled with intricate thoughts, which he chose not to voice out.
Felix had only managed to grasp the basic idea of the plan. Aron had informed them that he would be sharing a comprehensive report consisting of around four hundred pages to assist them in their strategizing. The objective of this plan was to establish a monopoly in a particular sector of Eden, thereby ensuring that no competitors remained in that specific sector.
The first step of the revised plan required meeting the country's dictator and offering him a bribe. The team anticipated a positive response to the bribe since the country's economy had been severely impacted by sanctions. The dictator was likely rationing his resources to avoid provoking citizen unrest, which could potentially lead to a revolt.
Once the team had successfully won the favor of the dictator, the plan would officially commence.
Under the pretext of modernizing the telecommunications industry and increasing internet usage to generate a return on their investment, the team would initiate discussions with the dictator about acquiring several telecommunication companies.
The team was confident that their bribe would secure the dictator's approval, especially since they planned to entice him with the potential tax revenue that would be generated from the growth of the industry.
With the dictator's blessing, the team would launch an aggressive takeover of all the telecommunication companies, consolidating them into a single monopoly.
At this point, the team would have successfully completed the first phase of Aron's report. The total cost for bribery and acquiring the telecommunication companies was estimated to be around 213 million dollars.
Despite the discussions they had with Aron, Felix knew that this was only the beginning and that the first phase was merely a small component of his grand plan. The realization that his friend was attempting something deeply sinister sent chills down Felix's spine.
Chapter 77: Beginning Of Phase One & His Suprise Plan
3 Days later.
Rina Rothchilds mansion.
Rina arrived at her work room earlier than she typically did as today marked the final day for Ava to finally complete the task of decrypting and analyzing the encrypted data that had been backed up.
"Ava, is it done?" She asked, as she was eager to find out the identity of the person who had betrayed her and start the process of cleaning up.
[A few more hours Rina.] Ava replied back softly while showing a makeshift progress bar on her computer screen to indicate the expected completion time and ease Rina's anxiety.
"Okay," Rina said, as she sat down on her chair, her eyes glued to the screen, waiting for the completion of the task. She felt a mix of anticipation and nervousness, hoping that everything would go as planned and they could access the crucial data she needed.
...….
"So, you guys are leaving for Eden today?" Aron asked Felix, who was on the other end of the phone.
"Yes," Felix explained his reasoning over the phone to Aron. "We need to leave today to make it in time for the dictator's party. That way, we can get close enough to him to start a conversation. Hopefully, we can set up a meeting with him after that."
"Sure, just do your thing," Aron said before wishing Felix a safe journey, bidding him farewell, and ending the conversation.
[The plan officially starts] Nova said through the phone's speakers.
"Yeah, write to inform Alexander that the plan has officially started," Aron said to Nova, as he nodded in agreement to what she said.
[Okay] Nova immediately sent a message to the now highly encrypted personal phone, courtesy of Nova.
"The plan has officially started,
A seed of hope that we have planted,
With purpose and passion, we embark,
On a journey that's bright and stark."
When Aron saw the message Nova sent, he couldn't help but ask her, "Why send it like that?" as he turned and looked at the camera on his phone.
[I wanted it to be something uplifting] Nova answered without a shred of embarrassment.
"Anyway, let's start our plan as we wait for Felix's team to complete phase one," Aron said, giving up on asking any further questions about the topic.
"Let me notify the pilot to commence with the preparations. May I ask where we are headed?" Nova inquired with a curiosity to determine the starting point of their plan.
"London," Aron answered.
Upon speaking those words, Aron walked towards the table where his virtual reality helmet lay. He gingerly lifted it and placed it inside a specially marked container, where he then inscribed a protection rune on it. To ensure its continued remaining active, he continuously infused mana into the rune. Finally, he picked up the container and exited the basement.
After twenty days of training within the Accelerated universe, Aron finally made the decision to put his plan into action.
…
A few days ago, within the Accelerated universe's simulated time.
Aron could be seen activating a Rune that he had been training to reduce its activation time. He had finally succeeded in reducing its activation time to an instant.
After successfully activating the Rune, Aron deactivated it and got up from his seated position.
"Nova, it's time for us to conduct some investigation," Aron exclaimed with excitement as he began rubbing his hands together.
"Always ready, Sir," Nova replied promptly, teleporting to Aron to save a few seconds that would have been spent walking over from where she was previously sitting watching over him.
"Good. Now, compile a list of individuals who possess exceptional expertise in their respective fields. List every detail that you can gather," Aron instructed.
Upon receiving the order, Nova wasted no time and immediately put all of her idle computing power to work in order to fulfill the request.
In less than a second, profiles of individuals, their respective fields of expertise and their other information began materializing and hovering before them.
The profiles were multiplying at such a rapid pace that they soon spread out over kilometers, covering the vast expanse of their field of vision.
Nova did not stop at that, and the hovering profiles continued to increase as she relentlessly scoured the internet for more individuals, leaving no stone unturned.
Nova didn't simply rely on people's self-proclaimed expertise but also thoroughly investigated each candidate to ensure their legitimacy. As she approved those who met her stringent criteria, she simultaneously removed any individuals she discovered to be scammers.
However, since Aron's request was for experts from every field, Nova had to devise unique vetting criteria for each field to determine whether a candidate was indeed an expert.
For instance, if someone claimed to be a Quantum Engineering expert, Nova would conduct a thorough background check on the candidate, starting with the company they currently work for or previously worked at. She would then meticulously examine every thesis that mentioned the candidate's name and review all the projects they participated in, taking note of their level of contribution before considering them for the final list that she would present to Aron. This rigorous evaluation process was only for candidates in scientific fields.
Moreover, since Aron did not specify a limit on the number of experts needed for each field, Nova had to perform the same vetting process repeatedly for each field she searched through.
Aron couldn't help but feel completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of profiles presented to him by Nova. The number of profiles continued to increase the longer the time passed, as Nova was overclocking the shit out of the quantum computer.
The list….
[(Physics)
Lisa Randall - Particle Physics and Cosmology - United States, Cambridge, MA
Brian Greene - String Theory and Quantum Gravity - United States, New York, NY
John Ellis - High Energy Physics and Particle Astrophysics - United Kingdom, London
Frank Wilczek - Theoretical Physics and Quantum Field Theory - United States, Cambridge, MA
Kip Thorne - Gravitational Wave
]
[(Architecture)
Norman Foster - Sustainable Architecture and High-Tech Design - United Kingdom, London
Zaha Hadid - Parametricism and Deconstructivism - United Kingdom, London
Frank Gehry - Deconstructivism and Sculptural Design - United States, Los Angeles, CA
Renzo Piano - Sustainable Design and Technology Integration - Italy, Genoa
Jean Nouvel - Contextual Design and Postmodernism - France, Paris
Bjarke Ingels - Contextual Design and Urban Planning - Denmark, Copenhagen
Peter Zumthor - Minimalism and Materiality - Switzerland, Haldenstein
Sou Fujimoto - Organic Design and Spatial Concepts - Japan, Tokyo
....
…..
…
]
[(Chemistry)]
[(Biology)]
[(Engineering)]
[(Computing)]
[(Encryption)]
[(Music)]
[(Director)]
[(Leadership)]
.
.
.
.
[(Hentai)]
.
.
.
.
[(Porn)]
.
.
.
[(Murders)]
.
.
[(Racist)]
[(4chan)]
.
.
.
(List the people you think are experts in the above fields above and other fields.)
The list continued, to infinity and beyond.
When Aron started reading through the list he was pretty surprised that Nova really included every list she could come up with.
"Why did you consider Mia Khalifa an expert in the field despite her retirement a few weeks ago?" Aron asked as he was puzzled when he saw Mia Khalifa's profile listed as an expert in the field, despite her having retired from it just a few weeks prior and having worked in it for less than six months (based on what was written on the profile).
"Well, even though Mia Khalifa worked in the industry for a relatively short period of time, she had a significant impact on the industry during that time. While my initial criteria for this field is based on the number of movies and categories a person has participated in, I made an exception for her due to her rapid rise in fame and recognition in the industry." Nova explained her reasoning for including Mia Khalifa in the list of experts for the porn category.
Chapter 78: Arriving In London
Upon reading several individuals profiles on the list, he ultimately deduced that it would take him a couple of months to thoroughly read every profile in its entirety.
Therefore, he resolved to simplify the list, but for that, he had to wait for Nova to complete the list which continued to expand during the half-hour that he spent reading through some of the profiles.
He patiently waited and waited, but time seemed to pass sluggishly, and before he knew it, an hour had elapsed, followed by two, and then three.
Realizing that it would take longer than anticipated, he resolved to utilize his time productively and resumed practicing his runes to prevent wasting his time idly.
A few hours later, still going.
One day later, Finally it was done.
[Sir, the list is now complete,] Nova informed Aron, who had just finished activating a rune.
"Why did it take that long?" Aron asked, as he was quite surprised that It took that long despite her using a quantum computer for the task.
[Sir, you may have forgotten that you are currently inside the Accelerated Simulation Universe,] Nova reminded Aron, who had been spending an increasing amount of time within it, gradually becoming acclimated to the accelerated time as if it were normal, as he could feel no discernible difference.
"Ahh..." Aron smacked his forehead in realization after being reminded by Nova.
"So, how many hours did it take?" Aron inquired.
[It took precisely six real-time hours, which translates to 30 accelerated hours,] Nova answered precisely.
"How many people are on the list?" Aron queried, gesturing toward a swath of profiles that blanketed one side of the sky.
[127,754,420] Nova responded without any hesitation or equivocation.
"Holy shit," Aron exclaimed, dumbfounded upon hearing the staggering number.
[This number was after going through my very stringent criteria's and several filtrations] Nova clarified that the number was the result of going through her exceedingly stringent criteria and multiple filtering processes, implying that there were more individuals, but they did not meet her rigorous standards.
"Alright, let's begin by narrowing down the pool," Aron declared as he brought up the categories.
However, upon setting his eyes on the categories, he became frustrated and exclaimed, "Screw it!" Aron then turned to Nova, pointing to his head and said, "Access my brain data and examine what I intended to achieve by telling you to do this task."
[Wasn't it meant to be a surprise for me?] Nova teased Aron as she complied with his request.
Aron faced Nova before responding, "You have probably deduced what it is from my recent activities over the past few days." Aron then clicked the approve button that had been sent to him by his system, which asked him to confirm whether he genuinely agreed to grant access to his brain data.
Once Nova received the data from Aron's brain, she quickly identified his objectives for the task at hand, and promptly began narrowing down the profiles that were blanketing the sky.
The profile list continued to decrease until it reached a size where Aron could see the entirety of the profiles despite them still covering a large portion of the sky.
"Now, group them into their respective fields," Aron said, wanting to simplify the process even further.
After grouping the profiles according to their respective fields, Aron began examining each list one by one, eliminating some individuals from each of them.
After an hour of scrutinizing, Aron had eliminated all the profiles he deemed unnecessary, leaving only 5000 individuals who were deemed important enough to warrant his attention for his upcoming plan.
Aron had narrowed down the selection to only a few specific fields and they were deemed experts in their respective fields, out of the million possibilities that Nova had initially presented.
The remaining profiles consisted of the names of experts from the fields of Architecture, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Math, Design, Law, Agriculture & Food Science, Finance, and a few other important fields within those categories.
"categorize them based on the country of residence," Aron ordered after finalizing his selection of who to keep on the list.
[Yes, Sir] Nova immediately sorted the list based on the countries where the experts lived.
So, individuals like Zaha Hadid and Stephen Hawking were placed on the list of people living in the United Kingdom, while people like Frank Wilczek were included in the list of people living in America.
After the categorization was completed, there were over 45 countries represented on the list.
Upon seeing the number of countries he would have to visit, Aron began to feel exhausted before even embarking on the journey.
.
.
Now back to the present
Aron could be seen driving Alone in the car together with the box that still had the rune active due to him still providing mana to it on the passenger seat heading to the airport, where the private plane was already waiting to take him to the United kingdom so that he can begin his plan
Aron could be seen driving alone in his car with the box containing the VR headgear, still protected by the active rune that he had to continuously provide mana to remain active, on the passenger seat.
He was heading to the airport where the private plane was waiting to take him to the United Kingdom.
Aron chose to travel alone for this mission because he didn't want anyone accompanying him during the execution of his plan.
He knew he would be traveling frequently in the upcoming months, so he didn't want to burden Daniel and the other bodyguards unnecessarily.
With his current abilities, he was confident that he could protect himself from practically anything on Earth.
...…..
12 Hours later.
Aron gazed out the window as the private jet approached London Luton Airport, after a grueling 12-hour flight from the United States.
After the plane landed, Aron bid farewell to the pilot and informed him that he would be staying in the UK for about a week. He then went through the necessary procedures with airport security before leaving the airport in a taxi.
After enduring about fifteen minutes of traffic, Aron finally arrived at his destination and promptly checked into a presidential suite at the Icon Hotel.
After completing the check-in procedures, a hotel worker escorted Aron to his suite. Aron didn't object to the worker carrying his specialized box as he was confident that the rune would protect it from any harm.
When he entered the suite, he immediately went to the bedroom and slept. He had been feeling jet lagged after the 12-hour flight and this was the first time he had slept without logging in the VR in more than a month.
....
4 hours later.
After sleeping for a while, Aron finally woke up and checked his phone. He realized that he had slept for about 4 hours, as the clock on his phone showed that it was almost midnight, with two hours left before it struck twelve.
So, he woke up and sat on the edge of the bed for a few minutes to collect himself.
He then picked up the hotel phone and called the reception.
"Hello, sir. How may I assist you?" A female voice on the other end of the line immediately greeted Aron after answering the call.
"Does the hotel provide rental car services?" Aron asked, wondering if the hotel had cars available for rent or if he would have to take a taxi to his destination.
"Yes, sir. We do provide private rental cars and chauffeur services for our presidential suite guests," the lady on the phone replied politely.
When Aron heard the reply, he was quite delighted by the news.
"Can I request for a rental car? I have some work to attend to. When can it be made available?" Aron asked the receptionist after learning that the hotel offers such service for their presidential suite guests.
"Sir, our team can prepare it within ten minutes of receiving the notice," responded the receptionist with a courteous tone.
"Great, please have it ready as I'll be coming down within the next half-hour," stated Aron while specifying the exact time he would arrive.
This allowed the hotel staff to ensure that everything was prepared and ready by the time he arrived.
"Certainly, sir," replied the woman with her usual polite tone.
"Thank you," Aron expressed his gratitude to the woman for her assistance before ending the call.
Following the call, Aron quickly made his way to the bathroom to freshen up before putting his plan into action.
After freshening up and changing his clothes, Aron made his way down to the lobby with his box in hand. As he arrived, he was greeted by a hotel worker who had been waiting for him.
The worker politely offered to escort him to the waiting car that had been arranged to take him to his desired destination. Aron agreed, remembering her voice from the call they had just a few minutes ago.
Upon arriving at where the car was, Aron thanked the hotel worker once again and handed her a generous tip of 1000 dollars for her help before boarding the waiting car that had been arranged for him.
The driver glanced at Aron through the rearview mirror and asked, "Where to, sir?" as they began the journey.
Aron promptly replied, "Cambridge."
The driver acknowledged the response and continued driving towards the requested location.
Chapter 79: Aron Making His Move
1 hour later.
It took them nearly an hour to travel from their hotel to the city of Cambridge, and they arrived there with just thirty minutes to spare before midnight.
Upon arrival in the city, Aron directed the driver to drop him off at the University Arms Hotel, which was conveniently located in close proximity to both Cambridge University and the surrounding community.
"We have arrived, sir," the driver informed him.
"Thank you. And please find a place to rest as I won't be returning until morning before we head back," Aron said, as he handed the driver a thousand-dollar to spend for his rest during the waiting period.
After getting out of the car, he promptly started walking towards the community located outside the University of Cambridge.
As Aron approached the community, he looked for a secluded location and the moment he discovered one he immediately entered.
Upon entering the secluded spot, Aron uttered the word "STEALTH," activating a rune of concealment that rendered him invisible to anyone who was not skilled in the art of magic.
Once he was confident that the rune had taken effect, Aron left the secluded spot and seamlessly entered the housing community without being detected, despite walking through the streets.
The walk did not take long, and before he knew it, Aron had arrived at his destination: the house of Steven Hawking.
Aron took a moment to survey his surroundings before proceeding with his plan. He knew that he needed to ensure that there were no witnesses to what was about to happen, as he intended to enter through the door without alerting anyone.
With the concern of someone looking to his side out of the way, Aron approached the door and rang the doorbell, just like any other guest would. However, he was no ordinary guest; he was an invisible guest.
Ding!! Ding!!.
After waiting for approximately three minutes, the housemaid finally arrived at the door and opened it.
Upon opening the door, she looked around to see who had rung the bell and saw nothing despite him standing before her, but she could not see anyone as Aron was concealed by the stealth rune.
As the maid was about to close the door and return to her room, Aron extended his hand and touched her head, immediately casting a sleeping rune before she could even react.
As she began to fall, Aron quickly caught her and carried her inside the house before closing the door behind him. In just a matter of moments, he had successfully entered the house undetected.
After carefully placing the maid on the living room sofa, Aron retrieved a helmet from the box he was carrying and placed it on her head. He then said, "Nova, it's time for you to shine."
[Roger that, sir,] replied Nova, as she immediately activated the virtual reality helmet and began downloading her brain data. After analyzing her memories, she searched for the location where Professor Steven was sleeping.
[It's done, sir,] Nova informed Aron before turning on the phone and displaying a map of the house, which was made from the house maid's memories. The map showed him the way to Professor Stephen Hawking's room.
After removing the helmet from the maid, Aron stood up and headed directly to the room where Stephen Hawking was staying, following the directions shown on the phone.
As he entered the room, he found Stephen Hawking sleeping peacefully on his bed, with his wheelchair parked beside it.
Aron took a moment to observe Stephen sleeping peacefully in his bed, before repeating the same process he did with the maid. He cast a sleeping rune on Stephen to ensure that he remained asleep no matter what happened, and then he placed the virtual reality helmet on Stephen's head.
This time, Nova didn't require any instructions from Aron as he had already put the helmet on Stephen Hawking and the cameras inside the room allowed Nova to see what was happening. She immediately activated the helmet and downloaded Stephen Hawking's brainmap.
[Done,] Nova informed Aron as soon as she completed the process.
When Aron received the confirmation that the process was complete, he removed the helmet from Stephen Hawking and carefully placed him back in the same position he found him in.
After securing the helmet, Aron left the room and quietly closed the door behind him, leaving no evidence of his entry.
As Aron made his way out of the house he passed the living room and saw the maid still sleeping on the sofa, he suddenly remembered that he needed to move her room to prevent her from becoming suspicious or paranoid.
He set the box containing the virtual reality headgear aside and lifted the maid, guided by Nova who knew where she had been sleeping before opening the door. He carried her back to her room and laid her down on the bed, making sure she was comfortable before quietly leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
Aron left the house without any worries about leaving behind any physical or digital traces. He had already taken care of the physical evidence by putting the maid back in her room and leaving her sleeping peacefully.
As for the digital evidence, Nova had used the memories she had collected from both Hawking and the maid to fabricate a perfect replacement using previous footage in the system with some small edits. This ensured that there would be no signs of a break-in or any suspicious activity in the security cameras.
After leaving the house and closing the door, Aron breathed a sigh of relief that nothing had gone wrong during his mission.
Once he composed himself, Aron picked up his box and made his way to another house in the same community, as he had other objectives beyond Stephen Hawking.
Aron had a busy schedule ahead of him, with several houses to visit and repeat the same process he had done in Professor Hawking's house in about fifteen other houses he planned to visit.
Including that of Professor Peter Wothers(a renowned chemist), Professor David MacKay, Professor Sir Stephen O'Rahilly( clinical biochemistry and medicine), and Professor Sir Tom Blundell(structural biologist), among the many.
As he continued executing his plan, something important was occurring elsewhere.
...…..
Eden.
Felix woke up with a headache from having consumed too much alcohol at yesterday's party.
Despite his splitting headache, Felix felt satisfied with himself for managing to set up a meeting with the dictator scheduled for next week.
So, he decided to hold off on calling Aron to share the news, as he was aware of the time difference between their locations. He figured he would have plenty of time to inform Aron later and begin planning for the meeting with the dictator.
But the throbbing headache from the hangover kept interrupting his happiness.
He got up and went to the bathroom to freshen up and prepare for the meeting they were going to have at noon. They planned to discuss their approach towards negotiating with the dictator in their upcoming meeting.
Fortunately, there was no need to start the investigation into the dictator at the moment since Aron had already provided them with all the necessary information. They only needed to reach a consensus on the approach to make their task more manageable.
.
.
The meeting
"So, what approach should we take during the meeting?" Felix asked, looking at Barry and the other team members in the meeting room they had booked at the hotel.
"I suggest we offer him the bribe money upfront and directly state our needs," said the rookie team member, who was there to gain experience and may have made a naive suggestion.
When Felix heard the rookie's proposal, he didn't get angry, but decided to explain why it was a bad idea. "If we offer the bribe money upfront, the dictator will become even greedier since we've paid before receiving what we came for.
It's like giving a chef all the ingredients and payment for a meal before they've even cooked it. They might end up giving you a mediocre dish because they know they've already been paid." he explained calmly, making sure the rookie understands where he made the mistake and doesn't repeat it again.
When Felix finished explaining the flaw in the rookie's idea, the room fell silent and the rookie realized he had nothing else to contribute. He decided to sit back and listen to the rest of the meeting, like a passenger in a car being driven by an experienced driver.
Chapter 80: Their Plan & Rina Making Her Move
"One option could be giving it to him in installments," suggested one of the team members.
"Agreed, we could use that approach. It will not only keep us in the dictator's good graces but also motivate him to expedite our acquisition by wanting more payments. This seems like the best option," said Felix, nodding in approval.
"So, are we planning to inform him that for every telecommunication company we acquire, we'll be giving him 5 million dollars in installments? By the end of the process, we would have spent a total of 30 million dollars in bribes, including the initial 10 million we plan to offer at the meeting next week," Berry asked Felix, seeking his opinion.
"Yes, that should work. There are only four telecommunication companies in the country," Felix agreed.
"Now, let's discuss the approach for bringing up the matter without upsetting him. We need to be precise and careful in our wording throughout the entire meeting," Felix suggested.
"Agreed," Barry said, "We don't want to come across as pushy or threatening. Perhaps we can start by expressing our admiration for the dictator's leadership and the strides he's made in developing the country's infrastructure."
"That's a good suggestion, but we need to be careful with our words. The dictator has done very little for the country, so he might think we are being sarcastic and trying to mock him," Felix cautioned against using that compliment.
And thus they began to brainstorm for their approach during the meeting.
While all of this was happening, Nova was monitoring their conversation through their phones and taking notes on everything that was being said. She planned to report back to Aron once he was finished with his current task.
...….
After spending more than four hours collecting brain data from various households in Cambridge city communities Aron had finally finished all the people who were on the list.
Although Aron's brain data collection task had been going smoothly, there was one instance where he entered a household and discovered the individual he was meant to collect data from engaged in sexual activity with their spouse.
As a result, he had to postpone the data collection for this particular household and move them to the end of his list.
Upon returning to the household half an hour later, Aron was surprised to find the professor still engaged in the activity.
Despite feeling proud of the man's stamina, Aron had no choice but to wait for him to finish since he was the only person remaining on the list for Aron to collect brain data from in the Cambridge community.
During that period, Nova kept him company.
[Sir, Felix's plan has gone successful] Nova informed Aron about the ongoing events on Felix's side.
"So, when did they manage to set up a meeting with the dictator?" Aron asked Nova, curious about the schedule and how much time the team had to prepare for the meeting.
"They have a week to prepare," Nova replied, not only answering Aron's question but also answering the underlying meaning behind it.
"Have they already come up with a plan?" Aron asked Nova, his curiosity piqued about what kind of plan Felix's team had devised.
[They are currently working on the plan,] Nova informed him.
Afterward, they continued to engage in small talk about various topics for about twenty minutes until the professor finally finished.
This gave Aron a brief window of time, during which the man's wife went to the bathroom, allowing Aron to complete the collection of the brain data, which only took a few seconds for the initial reading.
As Aron finished collecting the brain data and was leaving the house, the professor's wife returned, drying herself off with a towel while saying, "You're not tired, are you? We have three more rounds to go." passing right besides Aron, who was holding his breath, even though he knew he was invisible to her.
"Honey? Honey?" the professor's wife called out when she didn't receive a reply from him.
"What's wrong with him? He usually doesn't get tired unless he goes for a few more hours," the professor's wife wondered aloud as she covered her husband with a blanket. She noticed that he was sleeping like a baby.
"Haaah " Aron breathed a sigh of relief as he successfully left the house without encountering any problems.
"I wish you all the best," Aron said, looking back at the house before turning to make his way back to the hotel. He knew that his driver and rental car would be waiting for him there, ready to take him back to the hotel.
"How many people in the UK still need their brain data collected?" Aron asked Nova as he walked back to the hotel.
[754 people] Nova answered, making Aron want to jump from a bridge when he was reminded that he needed to repeat this for a few hundred times just in the UK alone.
After walking for some time, Aron finally returned to the University Arms Hotel.
That's when he realized that he had told his driver he wouldn't return until morning, so he decided to check in for the three hours he had to wait.
After completing the check-in process, he headed to his booked room. Once inside, he took off his coat, and laid down on the bed before falling a sleep.
...…
Rina Rothschild manor.
Rina could be seen sitting in her work room, engrossed in reading a document on her computer while Ava presented her findings on the decrypted and analyzed backed up data.
Rina had been listening to Ava's presentation since yesterday, as it was a lengthy one due to the extensive amount of data they had to go through.
However, despite the long duration, Rina did not feel tired at all because everything she was learning from Ava was valuable.
With the information she had now gained, Rina now had significant leverage over almost everyone in the family.
Despite having a wealth of leverage over almost everyone in the family, Rina didn't rush to take any action.
She wanted to wait until she had heard everything from Ava, knowing that if Ava had made the presentation so long, it must mean that every piece of information was crucial. So she continued to listen carefully and take notes, waiting for the right moment to make her move.
As Ava presented, Rina took notes and asked questions to clarify anything that wasn't clear
Rina sat there, absorbing all the information that Ava presented, until finally, at noon,
[With that, you are updated on everything I considered important from the analyzed data] with those words Ava finished her presentation.
After listening to the entirety of the presentation, she decided to finally start taking action.
She pressed the intercom button and called for her secretary, Chloe, who she knew was one of the only few people within the family who were clean.
"Yes miss" Chloe said after entering her office.
"Call Terry, tell him I have something to talk about with him." She told his secretary to call for her head of security, the first betrayer she had to deal with.
"Yes" Chloe immediately left to go and call for Terry.
As she waited for Terry to come, she took another look at the leverage she had of Terry to ensure that their meeting didn't go differently from how she envisioned.