"I'm just wondering why I was invited there in the first place." started JMONEY. "They didn't even look at me.""Don't ever complain at being the ambience. If they asked you to corroborate the story, would you have been able to?" asked Benjamin."True. Some of us are more gifted liars than others" taunted JMONEY. "It's not lying. I prefer to think of it as, an assistance of facts," replied Benjamin, keeping his eyes on the road. They had left the Dean's office very quickly; Benjamin didn't want to draw extra attention to his Mclaren parked just outside the entrance, and they were already behind schedule for the list of things to do today."What do you think Michael is thinking?" asked JMONEY."Probably something along the lines of being grateful his father didn't kick him out of the University," replied Benjamin."I know, but that's not what I meant. Is he going to take all of this lightly?""Hmm?""He's not going to be a problem? Shit, none of them are? What if they just ignore us fo
"The number of employees might help us find you, the perfect office, Sir." replied the woman. Benjamin thought hard. He didn't want a starter office. With the way things were going, money might become tight in the near future. He had to think of a number IVY CORP would be able to employ and handle for the next few years."How about, 500?" asked Benjamin. The woman laughed anxiously again. "You don't mean 50, Sir?" she asked. "No, 500 people. Possibly a 1000" said Benjamin. The saleswoman swallowed a gulp and directed them to the seats. "Just one moment, Sir. I'll be right with you."She disappeared into the back, leaving JMONEY looking flustered. "She was nice," he said. Benjamin was a little surprised at that statement. Usually, JMONEY would be in awe of the sheer size of the office he had demanded, or one other detail Benjamin had no time to start explaining."Sure" Benjamin replied. "All things considered. Most of them would have chased us out by now."They waited close to twenty
"Unfortunately, Sir. We can't sell you that building," replied Sarah. Benjamin studied her."Can't, or won't?" he asked her. "Huh?" she asked."I just want to know if I should take my business elsewhere" replied Benjamin. "It's not that simple, Sir. The building is simply not for sale. The owner isn't willing to part with it." Sarah replied. Bullshit, thought Benjamin. Even in his brokie days, he had passed that tower a couple of times. It was always empty."Isn't there always a price for these kinds of things?" he asked."There doesn't seem to be one, here" replied Sarah. Even more Bullshit, thought Benjamin. Guess, I'll try thatHe activated Bow Down To Me."Tell me the truth. Is there no way I can buy that building from anywhere?" asked Benjamin. "Not to the best of my knowledge, Sir," said Sarah."What do you mean?""When I brought it up with my Boss, he told me to stop talking nonsense about it. That the high-rise was off-limits.""And what do you think that means?""Beats me
"You have gained 20 dominion points for intimidation." said the system. Benjamin did the math. That was 2 million dollars, for strong-arming an old man. It was a crime that he couldn't convert this to money. He would do this all day."Matter of fact, We can't sell you the tower." started Mike. Benjamin folded his arms. "Because that particular building is already in the process of being sold. It's got buyers lined up already" explained Mike. "Buyers?" asked Benjamin. Mike nodded."There's an auction, see. Coming up this weekend. And that building's on the list." explained Mike."I didn't know those kinds of buildings could be auctioned off" mused Benjamin. "This one is. For some reason, the owner wants it off the market pretty quick," replied Mike."What's the starting price?" asked Benjamin. Mike bit his tongue and clasped his fists together. "Thats--" he balked. Benjamin tapped the card thrice on the table."Mr Mike?" taunted Benjamin. "Whispers say around 20 million dollars." gr
Benjamin scrolled over to Amber's contact and dialled for a third time that morning. There was no beep, just a brief disconnect after a few seconds. "Switched off?" JMONEY asked. Benjamin nodded. "I'm sure she's fine" answered JMONEY."You have no way of knowing that" snapped Benjamin. JMONEY shrugged. "What else am I going to say?" he asked. "Let's just go" replied Benjamin. "Back To Classes, I hope?" asked JMONEY. "Sure" replied Benjamin, not really caring.They arrived on campus, just at the tail-end of ThermoDynamics. With a brief apology from JMONEY about how they had been in a fender bender, Professor Tolga allowed the star-studded student Jonathan and his friend, Benjamin into his class.Up ahead, above their usual seats, a familiar girl waved over to them. It was Samira, she also took this class. JMONEY was about to ignore her, but Benjamin already opted to sit next to her. JMONEY dragged his feet to sit at the aisle, next to Benjamin.There was a brief exchange of What the he
Amber Stone walked up the granite steps into MedHill Hospital after a relaxing night at the Continental Hotel. She had been successful in convincing the board about a sale and was awaiting a decision on their schedule to meet with Benjamin.She also hoped that Benjamin had kept his word about getting an office to set up for their meeting. It didn't have to be too fancy, somewhere neat would do. Maybe she would call him later to stress that fact. She strolled straight to her office, where Dr.Roberts was just setting up. "Hello Doctor" she greeted. "Miss Stone! Hello," he replied boyishly. Dr Roberts was just a resident a few months ago under NeuroSurgery. He was now 32, and a bona fide Neurosurgeon, courtesy of Amber. She felt he was a capable hand and more than enough to fill in her role here at MedHill.Maybe after 4 or 5 surgeries, she could leave him without supervision. "How are our patients today?" she asked. "We're prepping Mr DJjango for his afternoon surgery.""He was the one
By 06:00, Benjamin could recognize most of the faces from that fateful night. They chatted casually and helped themselves to the food Samira procured from the local Pizza Restaurants and diners. Some of it, she claimed, like the Shepherd's pie and Cinnamon rolls and the Guacamole, were privately contracted out to her mother."Here's the receipts" she said, when she was done setting up, "and the change." Benjamin looked at her curiously. In truth, he had already forgotten about the money. Nor was he expecting Samira to have such a clean slate of character to return change, if there was any. Still, he perused the list."$300 for drinks (Punch and Wine. No Spirits.) $200 for Pizza. $250 for Donuts, Cinnamon Rolls, Guacamole Sauce. $50 for Chips. And a $100 Tip?" read aloud Benjamin, eyeing the last item."That's for my mom. She runs her own place, you know? And getting all this together in such a sort time frame." Samira replied.Benjamin waved his hand, and returned to her the $100 she
"All right. That's pretty much the gist of it. Any questions?" asked Benjamin. "Notice: +100 Dominion points earned for Charisma. Total DP: 450 points"The members were a little more settled now. Instead of their previous stiff appearances, they made themselves comfortable in the apartment; resting on the sofas, the chairs and mingling quietly. When Benjamin raised the question, they paused to think rather than just stare at each other uncomfortably.One raised his hand. "Does all of this come before or after classes?Oh, so now, you suddenly care about classes, thought Benjamin. "Good question. You'll have to work that out with JMONEY." JMONEY felt a cold shiver. "He'll look through your schedule and organize a roster," said Benjamin."What? But most of us here are in the same year, and taking the same courses" complained one."Yes, well, because the project is so important, not everybody's going to be able to attend class leisurely. We have to work both day and night." "Huh? But