The sun was streaming in and all suddenly felt light and good. Jia opened the door and let him in. Again.One would think she'd gad enough with the way she'd stormed off at the restaurant, leaving him speechless in the dust. But, she'd yielded. Again.Arnold had a way with words. It was so easy to just swim in his voice. In the way he said his words, speaking calmly, choosing carefully before saying more. So, when he came knocking on her door, begging for one more chance to explain things."Jia," he started, his face looking so remorseful, it was so hard to resist."Come in."She led him to her living room and watched him watch her home. This was the first time he was entering inside. He'd always just stood outside the door or met her in her driveway.She looked at him. He looked at her back. Somewhere within her, she wanted to hate him for being the way he was. She knew he was far from perfect. She didn't even expect him to be perfect. Heck, she knew about his one night stand between
Arnold's determination was on a high level. It broke through his misconceptions of Sasha. It broke through his wary thoughts. Now, here he was, planning to take down the big three with her. It wasn't all that hard. Once he could get past the fact that she was a psycho and the fact that he wanted her for his guilty pleasures, he got used to working with her. Plus, he could really use her skill set.Her hacking skills were too notch, add that to the fact that she could do just so many other things that’d come in handy for him, in the long run. He wasn’t about to let some minor squabbles and fight end their relationship. At least it yet. Besides he’d given her a sound warning, and from the look of things, she seemed to have adhered to it. Now though, unto the matter at hand.How does one take down bad guys? By going as dirty as the bad guys would go, or doing things even worse than that. To take down bad guys, one had to go lower than low, and dirtier than dirty. The way to truly t
Some hours later and Arnold was back at his safe haven. His apartment.Going straight to his bedroom, his feets took him to the safe where he kept the black card Mr Black had mailed to him. Typing in the combination, the electric pad unlocked and the safe opened.Seated beautifully—alongside the cards that the Nexus had given him at the start of this system journey—was the black card. His one time free pass and the only thing he could use to meet Mr Black now.“Phew…” Arnold scoffed, his hands reaching out and grabbing the safe item. Staring at it, and caressing the card, he felt some kind of thrill and a certain joy buzzed within him.It seemed just like yesterday when he had first received the card. Not only that, but could remember just how he’d even gotten the card, and the obstacles he’d had to overcome before getting it. The gamble. The game. The anxiety and fears he’d had to overcome and everything had boded well in his favor.Everything was clear, and lips quivering as if
Arnold arrived at the club. It was located in a surprisingly serene environment, and he was a bit shocked by that. Plus, there was no random noise or unnecessary crowd spilling out of the club building, like he’d expected or was the custom for clubs in the city. Instead, the exterior of the building was so quiet, and it was hard to tell if it was really a club or not. The entire street was just as strange as the setting too. There was a certain feel to the environment. Like it had been abandoned and there were no occupants anymore.It was almost eerie, but Arnold tried not to think too much about it, even though he felt so unsettled by this whole thing.Or had he come to the wrong address? Surely it. His car’s GPS and tracking system was one of the best, so there it could have brought him to the wrong location. ‘It’s not the wrong location, mister.’ His subconscious chimed, adding. ‘The club’s name is clearly written in bold at the top of the building, as you can see even from whe
"What brings you here, The Apprentice?" Mr Black asked, staring at Arnold earnestly as he waited for a reply.Taking an empty glass and pouring a considerable amount of whiskey in it, he handed it to Arnold who collected it sharply. “Do you like whiskey neat?"“I do sir.” Arnold nodded and taking the glass, he downed a respectful sip and then nothing more. Despite how much he needed the burning alcoholic liquid at the moment to calm his nerves, Arnold also knew he had to keep himself in check. He wasn't about to go get himself drunk, and act out of plan. Besides how would he able to negotiate if he was drunk, and slurring out in his speech?‘Get a grip on yourself man. Get it together.’ He thought inwardly, hissing slightly at the same time. "Come, sit on the couch with me. Let’s talk.”Mr Black said again, his hands outstretched as he led pointed to the couch at the middle of the room, and Arnold followed him as he walked over.He watched Mr Black get comfortable, and then the r
Mr Black’s request played in Arnold's head over and over again, like an insistent buzz.His eyes widening and mouth dropping open, he looked at the man seated across him in stunned disbelief. What the…?! "Mr Black, I—" He began, trying to bargain and ask for another thing from him, but the look on Mr Black’s told Arnold all he needed to know.Mr Black wouldn’t budge. This enigmatic and rather cunning man was one stubborn human specie, this he noted.Suddenly, the system in Arnold's head spoke up, reminding him of the research he'd done about Mr Black and all the things he’d discovered.Nexus took him down memory lane, reminding him of how he'd discovered that Mr Black was good at using people and monopolizing their talents for his own good.How could he have forgotten so easily? Surely Mr Black’s request shouldn’t come as a surprise to him. If anything he should have known, and this Arnold remembered.Everything was coming to him in bits and pieces. All too damn well, and just like
The gold market was now Arnold's main concern. He was like a new mother with a new baby which he was still nursing. Fragile. Always checking the baby monitor. The quest to dominate the gold market was a very tricky one, despite how enormous the reward he’d get would be. And as such he had to be alert to swipe in and take his pound of flesh or else he could get hurt in the process too.He didn’t want to even think of the sordid punishment he’d get should he fail the quest, or go against the rule of the system. Morning, afternoon, evening, he monitored the gold trading market. Checking. Gauging. He had all hands on deck, as he curiously waited for the right moment to come — the moment when the big boy investors would start investing, and he’d watch them out their all before outbidding them. And he wasn’t going to let any opportunity slip by. He was determined not to fail. So long as he didn’t lose any blood in the process, he was sure he could pull this off… and there was the added
Arnold's risky and bold move earned him enormous profits. But, with great gain came great enmity. His win not only attracted good recognition, it also attracted the attention of powerful players in the market — deadly ones that were determined to take him down.And, as Arnold revelled in his newfound wealth, he became increasingly paranoid, too, about the possibility of retribution. Each and every day, new players in the gold market came up, and he would check them out, seeing different, unfamiliar names of investors. However, none of them could top the amount he had invested to get to the top. He was still in the lead.But, each time he began to celebrate, that voice from the system warned him to be careful.As if topping the big three investors in the gold market was not enough, Arnold decided to do something wild again.He knew that the big three investors were most likely broke by now and he knew that they would be desperately trying to get more money to top the anonymous gold in