The next morning I woke with the biggest smile on my face. I literally opened my eyes and smiled. Curled tightly in my arms was the warm, soft, scrumptious form of Maya. One must understand I was not joking when I thought I wanted to remain exactly like that for the entire day. I resolved to savor the sensation for a moment longer, but a glance at the progress bar soured my mood. The bar had stopped completely. Upon reflection, it made perfect sense, as Maya was still asleep. I begrudgingly extracted myself from the bed, dressed quickly, and made a brief stop at a store to acquire a suit. Yes, a suit, complete with a tie and everything, because my next plan depended heavily on it. I needed to appear utterly professional.
I reviewed the plan in my mind once more, confirming its viability. Someone without a capacity for systematic thinking would undoubtedly consider this plan stupid. But that did not matter, I believed it was absolutely genius.
I pulled out my phone to confirm the first component of my strategy. The screen displayed a business news feed. Two separate pieces of data, meaningless to most people, clicked together in my mind with the precision of tumblers in a lock.
The first clue was a headline: "Nexus Sales Ventures CEO Lucia Andreas Unexpectedly Withdraws from Public Scene."
It was the sort of generic news item that blogs and financial media outlets published regularly. But my mind, now functioning like a well-oiled machine, retrieved a connected detail from the social media accounts of the company's executives. I had noticed a pattern, one the old version of me would have completely missed. A cluster of senior profiles—the Chief Technology Officer, the Head of Sales—all from Nexus Ventures, had all suddenly been marked "Open to Work."
The major players were preparing to abandon ship, which could only mean the company was going under. The question, however, was why Nexus Sales Ventures? Why not some other firm?
The answer resided in a memory, now crisp and clear, stripped of the emotional baggage it once carried. I recalled James, my former manager at OmniCorp, clapping me on the back with a sense of false kinship. He had been teaching me how OmniCorp was systematically targeting a specific company. Although he never told me why, though.
"We are going to bury Nexus, Leo. Just you watch. This new strategy the board members devised is pure genius!" he had exclaimed.
OmniCorp was my old company, and although I was no longer there, I retained a great deal of information about its operations. In simple terms, I possessed insider knowledge that they were employing ruthless business strategies to suppress another company. Their plan had worked. The company known as Nexus Sales Ventures was now vulnerable, and I was positioned to take advantage of that vulnerability.
A plan, both cold and brilliant, formulated in my mind. With the thought firmly in place, I moved quickly. I hailed a taxi and soon arrived at the headquarters of Nexus Sales Ventures, or NSV for short.
The receptionist possessed the hollow-eyed look of someone who was reading their own corporate obituary in real time. She glanced up at me, her eyes asking the question her mouth did not.
I answered the unspoken query. "I am here to see Lucia Andreas," I said, my voice calm and cutting cleanly through the fog of her despair.
She asked if I had an appointment, her tone suggesting the question was a tired formality she no longer expected a positive answer to.
"Tell her Leo Landon is here. Inform her that I am here to discuss the downfall of her company and the means by which to revive it."
Her eyes widened considerably. The significance of my statement was not lost on her. She had undoubtedly noticed the signs of the company's decline, and though it had not been officially confirmed, my declaration, combined with the professional suit I wore, compelled her to instinctively believe me. She picked up the phone and whispered into the receiver with urgent tones.
Five minutes later, I was ushered into a spacious corner office. I was just contemplating my opening argument when the door opened and she walked in.
I had to admit, Lucia Andreas was the most compelling woman I had ever seen. My mind spiraled for a second, and I very nearly lost the intricate train of thought I had constructed for this discussion.
Flanking her were two middle-aged men, their expressions grim. In my shock, I forgot myself and allowed my eyes to linger on her face for a moment too long.
Lucia offered me a cold, practiced smile. She had seen that particular look countless times before, and she very clearly did not appreciate it.
"You have one minute to explain how you obtained information about the state of my company and what exactly you are doing here today," she said. Her voice was lighter than I expected, as expected of someone so beautiful, but it carried a sharp, undeniable authority.
I smiled in return and decided to ignore her question and simply shock them with the information I had. Intending to peak their interest and command their serious attention.
"I know what is wrong with Nexus Sales Ventures."
They were only seven words, but their impact was immense. The three people listening were visibly stunned, and for a simple reason: even they did not know why the company's sales were in freefall. It was as if the product they sold had simply become obsolete, and the market had collectively lost interest. They had searched for answers relentlessly but had never discovered that the true reason for their downfall was a sophisticated and covert attack from my old company, OmniCorp. The lingering question of how they had accomplished it remained.
Lucia, along with the men I would later learn were named Ruben and Alex, leaned forward almost in unison, their eyes eager and desperate to finally understand the problem that had perplexed them for so long.
I prepared to continue speaking, but before I did, I noticed a plus-two increment on my number of Aura farming points. My deliberately mysterious behavior had yielded a reward, confirming that I needed to maintain this cool, controlled facade.
"The reason you have all failed to understand what is happening is because you mistakenly assumed it was a natural market contraction. In reality, it is a deliberate and calculated attack orchestrated by OmniCorp. While I do not know their specific motives for targeting you, I am one hundred percent certain they are the source of your decline."
Their eyes widened and their jaws grew slack. I watched Lucia's surprised expression, her bountiful chest rising and falling as if she were struggling with a sudden, furious anger. The two older men beside her narrowed their eyes in deep suspicion, as the scenario I suggested seemed highly improbable to them. I took a moment to straighten my coat, a calculated gesture, and I noted with satisfaction that the aura points were still climbing higher.
In the midst of the heavy silence, Lucia's cold voice cut through the air like a blade.
"You must understand the weight of what you are alleging. I truly hope you have some tangible evidence to support such a dangerous claim."