Beijing, China
Thylonius-20
"Trust me when I say this. In this world there is nothing more dangerous than a man with ideals"
Being hunted or at least being looked out for, has a humbling effect on you. Now that the governments knew we were around. It was more difficult for us to maneuver. We had to split up. After the conversation I had with Ni in Tokyo, I didn't think she minded the space. She needed it. Myself? I was trying to decide whether or not I could trust Nala with my secrets. I have grown to care for her. Almost as much as I cared for Cnidaria but I was starting to see that she could start meaning more to me than my sister and that was huge for me. But I… I couldn't really see any options for us beyond what we are at this time. Every time I spoke to her, I was lying to her. We had gone back to the school for a bit to regroup but our other activities had gotten more pressing. So, I passed it along to her and my professors that CniDaria was still facing issues from her accident and that we needed time to recover. We needed a sabbatical from school. She, Nala, wanted updates on Ni, I had to lie to her yet again just so we could mask our movements. I couldn't tell her that we split up because we were being hunted and that we would be easier to track if we were together. I couldn't tell her that the real reason I was in Beijing was to cripple their government not tryout for a pro basketball team. I couldn't tell her that my break from school was more than just a month to take care of my sister and explore my other interest. That it was to eliminate a target that was a threat to me and my sister. I wasn't averse to lying. I'm an assassin, it's my job to lie. But to her… it felt awful and with that I also felt like... I was losing her. More and more with each lie, even if it seemed like she was believing it. I thought long and hard about it and I decided at the time it wasn't right. To me all the details spelled out one thing. That I didn't trust her. I asked myself another question. Why not? That question weighed on me the most. What is love without trust? …Wait love? I decided to refocus on the job at hand and revisit the issue after the missions Cnidaria and I had.
The Chinese basketball league was much better than I thought it was. There were more D-1 college players than I thought there would be. I guess the league blew up in popularity after the US destabilized. Can't pay athletes hundreds of millions of dollars if your economy is just a third of what it used to be. But even saying all that. I was still killing it. I still saw the court in a way no one else did and I still was catching the eye of a certain team owner who happened to be the target I was looking for. The information I gathered from the warehouse in Tokyo outlined the proxy's the government acted through to attack us. To think someone as wealthy and unassuming as owning a basketball team would be a government informant as well. Every pass, every shot, every fancy fake and drive got a nod and a hand clap from him. By the time the tryout was over, he was waving the head coach over and pointing to me with an excited voice. Exactly my plan, I thought to myself with a smile on my face. It was going to suck when he found out I wasn't going to be playing for him but kill him. I actually laughed out loud at the thought.
"What's so funny?" I looked around it was the other point guard who was trying out. He looked exhausted. I was barely breaking a sweat
"Oh nothing. I was just thinking about something" He did not look happy. His body language made me tense up. I had to be careful.
"You just think you're better than everyone else don't you?" He advanced a few steps towards me. Everyone had gone quiet. I was calm
"I don't think that…" 'I know I am' is what I said in my mind.
"You don't remember me do you?"
"Huh?" I cocked my head to the side in confusion. I wasn't expecting him to say that and when I took a good look at him, a real proper look, I saw it. He was Allen. Allen Brown the player who I passed the ball to in that regional final. The player who missed the layup. He was much better than I remembered. "Allen… My god. I haven't seen you since…"
"I blew that game. I took a lot of flak for that. But you… You never got mad at me. You were upset at yourself. Because you passed it to me." I looked at him blankly, where was he going with this? "It's ok you… You know, you inspired me to get better and I got better. I went to the gym and I started to take basketball seriously. Worked long and hard. I walked on at Georgetown. Earned a scholarship and made All-American my final year. Still it seems I have a long way to go. But I'm glad it's still you giving me inspiration" He held out his hand. I took it and I shook it. I started thinking. He has no idea who I really am, but I changed his life. I wonder how many more I could say that about? Everything I've done lives better for it or worse? Honestly, I never did anything for anyone else. I didn't care, this world will be shaped in my image. Let them find joy once I've accomplished what I wanted. All I could say out loud was…
"Good luck brother" And the tryout ended, I was called back the next day to the arena where the tryouts were held to discuss my tryout. My meeting was with the Head Coach, General Manager and the owner. The coach spoke English so he did all of the talking. They wanted to offer me a three-year contract with an endorsement deal. Something to do with gum. I accepted but didn't sign anything saying I needed my lawyer and my agent to look over the paperwork. We all shook hands and somehow communicated thank you and good lucks. The coach and GM left thinking I was on my way out of the gym. But I had stayed lurking in and out of corners following the owner back to his office and back waiting for him to leave the arena. He finally did maybe 20 minutes after the coach did. He looked behind him twice. Scanned the parking lot and went back inside the arena. He was cautious. Paranoid and good but, he wasn't going to find my hiding spot. He finally seemed to decide he could proceed and got into his car and began to drive. I waited five minutes before I followed. I already knew where he lived. I had been scouting him for a while. I arrived at his house 25 min after he did. I had to make sure I wasn't followed or noticed. I knocked on his door. At first he had a look of pleasant surprise.
"Oh herrrooo?? What?" I waved him down
"I got your info from the coach. I wanted to come over to talk about the team's plans." He started to motion around with a look of pleasant befuddlement. I laughed and entered the house. He stayed behind the door. I looked around quickly, the umbrella stand was empty even though it hadn't rained since I entered the country a week or so earlier. "Or you could stop pretending not to understand me and try to hit me with that reinforced umbrella you're hiding behind the door."
We looked at each other for about 10 seconds then we were both blurs as he tried to hit me with his weapon that was way too heavy to be an umbrella. When it hit the ground it revealed a blade on the top.
"Really?" I said disappointed I dodged again as he tried to stab me. I hit him in the back and he dropped the umbrella giving a grunt of pain. I then kicked him catching him in the face making him hit the wall and pass out. By the time he came to, I had a .45 trained on his face. "So, are we done playing Morimoto?"
He laughed "It seems so." He had a deep rich American accent. He had been undercover there recently it seemed. "What do you want Thylonius? If that is your real name." I just smiled at him. "I'll never know, will I?" I just shook my head.