"And who is this?" asked Benjamin. His fears had come true. Not only did the mystery man stand a couple of inches taller than him, but he had a robust agreeable face, too. "Oh" started Amber "This is Mr. Kirkland. We went to high school together."Benjamin felt that was an underdescription. He'd bet half a million this man was from a special breed of high society. Mr.Kirkland shook Benjamin's hands. "Nice to meet you. Kirkland. CEO of Moonshot Industries." said Kirkland. Moonshot industries. From TV? That was building rockets for NASA? Benjamin had even heard faint whisperings that there were even plans for Commercial Transport as early as 2025. "Moonshot Industries. The Moonshot Industries?" asked Benjamin. "Guilty as charged" smirked the man. It was not an innocent smile. "Benjamin Black. CEO, IVY Corporations," he replied. Mr Kirkland turned his head in doubt. "Black. Of Black Industries?" Benjamin nodded. "That's my father-in-law." However, Benjamin left out the neat little fact

"We're going to find him" stated Anna."You better" replied Amber. She felt a sort of kinship towards Anna; it seemed she was the one calling all the shots in the auction house, but doubtless, she had a boss too. A lot of difficult decisions had to be made immediately, and she seemed up to the task. But this was not the time for compliments; not when millions of dollars were at stake."I hope you don't mind, I've also gone through the trouble of assuaging the two police detectives that it was a false alarm. Just a simple misunderstanding." Anna smiled weakly."We'll see," said Benjamin. Anna chuckled nervously, looking at nobody in particular, she tapped the desk as she counted the minutes. At precisely the 15th minute of silence, she received a call. "Hello?""We've identified him, Ma'am." said the voice on the other end."Why are you calling me, then? Bring him up!" barked Anna. "That's the problem, Ma'am. He's not budging.""One person, against your whole squad! Is this supposed t

“That was you?!” whined Simon.Benjamin made a polite bow. “Benjamin, the blind bat, at your service.” he said.“You can guess how we got the rest.”Simon yelled, and rushed at him, grabbing both his shoulders.“Who put you up to this huh? Was It Zeppeli, or the Maestros, or the Jaegers? Which one of our enemies sent you?” Johny shifted backwards on the mention of Zeppeli. Benjamin used Martial Arts to promptly break three of Simon’s fingers.“Ahhh!” roared Simon, dropping to the floor in pain. Some loud chanting could be heard from Simon’s security as they advanced with no fear to their master. The auction’s security cocked guns, ready to fire this time!“Don’t you take another step!” barked Anna, but Simon’s security had had enough. They continued advancing.“This is your final warning. We will shoot!” threatened Anna, but it fell on deaf ears. That is until they could hear sirens. It was coming from down the street. Simon looked up.“We had a deal. Who called the police?” asked Simon

“What?!”“Whoa, you haven’t heard the most of it, Mr Black. It’s much worse than that.” Replied Kirkland squeezing through Benjamin’s left wrist. Benjamin didn’t feel a thing, but [Notice: Strengthened Body Integrity Compromised. 90% Integrity left. 70%. 50%]Amber was with Johnny several feet away, still clueless to their conversation. “Let her go, Mr Black. It wouldn’t work out anyway. Do you think she could ever look in your direction? No amount of money’s going to change that. It won’t erase, all this—“ Kirkland gestured to Benjamin's demeanour.“If you’ve got something to say-“ started Benjamin.“It’s like putting perfume over a rotting stench. Well, I’m sure you can imagine how worse that makes it” snapped Kirkland. Was his appearance really that distasteful? It had been fun to get one up over people who kept underestimating him, but for even a system user to bring it up. Amber also commented on it back at school, he thought.“Ahh, it seems you understand, already. Has she comme

“Just pick a suit” instructed Benjamin, from within the dresser. Dubois had already disappeared, In a few minutes, he returned with an emerald two-piece set.“I remember Master Zeppeli has a fondness for the green, no?” asked Dubois. Johnny examined the fabric, his obstinance fading with each stroke.“Handcrafted by the Great Valentino III.” Added Dubois. “Green is the most pacifist colour,” he said.“What are you waiting for Master Zeppeli? Put it over yourself, quickly. Although your measurements with us are a bit outdated, my trained eye is rarely wrong. This is one of a kind. The only piece we have in this country. Eh, bien. I deem it is yours!” pronounced Dubois.Johnny visited the dresser and emerged at the same time Benjamin was wearing a sour cream piece: a Cream Blazer, blue jeans and a white vest. Johnny, on the other hand, looked like he had just stepped out from filming on set.“Merveillux, Master Zepelli. Simply, Merveilleux. Between this and Bespoke, there is no differe