“Right. I’ll take care of it, Lana’s superior. I promise.” Xua Yu balanced an old Nokia device between a raised shoulder and an ear as he shut the door behind him. A technique he’d picked up from the forefathers. “Yes, I know you have a name. I just never bothered to remember it. As I said, I’ll fix it.” That was enough to make Lana’s boss hang up on him. Whether by sheer annoyance or disgruntled appeasement, he couldn’t tell. Nor did he care, really. He was supposed to be on vacation in his summer home, yet even with every neural device turned off, the NCSS had managed to find his old phone.
“Alright, enough of that.” Xua went through his liquor cabinet and made some space for his newest finds. “Vinsanto and Stegasta Oinos, aged in applewood barrels since 2002,” he read the labels with some longing. “Almost a shame to drink them. Almost.” He threw himself on the armchair and gazed at the sandy beach outside as a smile slowly crept up onto his face. Finally, he could rela– The phone started ringing again. Xua palmed his face and sunk a little further into the chair before picking up. “Xua Yu, eternal fucking corporate slave speaking.”
An unknown voice answered back. “That bad, huh?”
“Who is this?” Xua immediately sat up. “How did you get this number?”
“I’m a trusted advisor to an implant manufacturing company’s CEO. I’ve been tasked with contacting you.” There was a pause. “What did you think about that deepfake of you that appeared on international broadcast? Your own technology to make NPCs more lifelike was used against you. Pretty ironic, I’d say.”
“Did you call just to taunt me, mister Gateway advisor?”
“I’m simply reminding you of our capabilities and the lengths to which we’ll go to get what we want. But we’re not unreasonable, of course. We’re willing to offer you one billion US dollars for the Kosmos administrative password.”
“Finally gave up on trying to brute force through my security, huh?” Xua chuckled. “I have a counter-proposal. Bend yourself in a donut shape and shove your head up your ass.”
“You’re gonna regre–” Xua hung up, then turned off the phone and chucked it on his couch angrily.
“Ough. Watch it.”
Xua snapped his head around, looking for the owner of that weirdly familiar voice. Finding no one, he looked at the liquor cabinet next. It seemed untouched? Usually the voices started after the fifth drink, and he’d barely had three.
“Over here.” One of the green couch pillows waved at him.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Shit.” Xua Yu sat on the armchair opposite to it and leaned his head back in resignation. “How did you get through my security?”
“I’ll take that as an insult.” The couch pillows stood up, revealing arms and legs between them. With some difficulty, the man inside pulled the elaborate costume off of him. His black hair was a mess, and his face hinted at Asian descent. “Hey,” he said again, voice a little clearer.
“I knew this day would come.” Xua Yu gripped the arms of his chair. “I’m too out of shape to try and run. I’ll just ask that you make it painless.”
“What? No!” The man huffed as he kicked off the rest of his disguise. The t-shirt and shorts he was wearing were drenched with sweat. “I’m not here to kill you.”
Xua relaxed a little. He raised an eyebrow. “You’re not?”
“No, that’d be horrible and barbaric. I’m simply here to extort you.”
“Ah, understandable.” Xua pursed his lips in approval. “Please, do go on.”
“Right.” The man hesitated a little. “I need more money. In advance. With a couple thousand gold, I'm confident I can kill Asire.”
For the first time in recent memory, Xua felt the gears in his head turn rapidly. Other than Vince and Lana, there was only one person who knew about that plan and of Xua’s identity. “Don’t tell me… Alex?”
“Why are you that surprised?” Alex flashed him a smile. “You’ve surely heard about the impact Twilight has on people’s skills in real life. And if you’re an operant in the game…” He shrugged his shoulders. “Anyway, can you get me what I want?”
"I-I suppose I can scrounge together three thousand." The amount was no issue, for sure. Despite having been ousted from his company, Xua's wealth sat comfortably in the billions. "You wouldn't respond to any messages so we thought you changed your mind."
"I was in the middle of a Quest I couldn't interrupt, so I had to delay the hit. The kingdoms of the east are truly beautiful." Alex smiled and glanced outside. "Some look like Greece, even."
"Kosmos skipped the rising sea levels, I hope." Xua Yu leaned forward and instinctively lowered his voice. "So that attempt on Asire's life was you. Lana wasn't sure, but I knew it! Well, we’ll still take all the help we can get. No matter how… Unconventional the approach was."
“This went a lot smoother than expected. Didn’t even have to threaten you.” Alex stood and handed Xua Yu a card. “That’s the account where I’ll expect the deposit. Burn the info afterwards.”
Xua Yu glanced at it before shoving it in his back pocket. “You’ll find it tonight.”
With a nod, Alex stood and walked up to the sliding door that led to the beach.
“Before you go.” Xua turned to him. “What makes you think you can get Asire this time?”
“I always disregarded the official rankings, I have to admit. I never thought to look there for prey,” Alex said with a slight smile. “Besides, back then it was a quest. Now it’s personal, and I’ve seen him fight.” His brows knit together and his face wrapped with an anger and hate that gave Xua shivers. At that moment, Alex seemed fully capable of doing something horrible and barbaric. “I’ll hunt him down.”