After passing through the enormous gate, Robin made his way up the narrow path that went to the front entrance of the building. The front lawn was not only quite large, but it also contained a few trees of a moderate size and even some flowering plants. Even though it was getting late in the night, the level of silence was surprisingly profound for a location that was located in the middle of a busy city.
The right amount of silence to make someone feel uneasy. As Robin neared the door, Sigret already had it opened for him.
"What did you think of the date?"
"It was good. Got myself another one." Robin smiled as he responded to her question. After that, he went into the living room, sat down, and proceeded to chat at length about the date. Robin's joy at the successful date was genuine. But just as he was elaborating his date night, all of the sudden, the lights in the room went out.
The room and its immediate surrounds became engulfed in complete and utter darkness and stillness. Neither of the trio made a single noise when it went dark. The sound of several footsteps broke the silence that had previously been present. The sounds were rapid and heavy.
"Front door check.. Clear.."
"Clear on the northern side...,"
"Assets in place..."
"Proceed with caution.."
These sounds could be heard very clearly coming from the surrounds, and then suddenly, out of nowhere, a flash of light was directed on the faces of Myrene, Sigret, and Robin. Both the police and the military were responsible for carrying out this method of intimidation. When shining a bright light on someone's face in the dark, it would cause practically everyone to go blind and fill them with panic because they wouldn't be able to see anything when it was directed at them.
And before Robin could even utter a single word in protest, a bag of heavy fabric was placed over his head. Myrene and Sigret, too, were following in Myrene's footsteps. The next thing that happened was that two men grabbed hold of him from underneath the shoulder on either side. Because the material was so restrictive, Robin could only make mumbles and groans with his mouth. Myrene and Sigret surprised everyone by remaining silent and didn't even put up a fight.
And before any of them could realise what was happening, the three were forcibly removed from the house and bundled into a large van. The van took out at full speed, and it drove for close to forty-five minutes before it finally stopped. If it was not apparent, then in simple terms, the three were forcefully kidnapped from their home.
This operation was carried out by highly skilled individuals who appeared to be proficient in the art of kidnapping. The men were extremely precise, and they made certain that everything was completed in the shortest amount of time. Soon after, the van came to a stop, and the three individuals were once more forcibly removed from the scene while being held in the air. Because of this, the three of them would never be able to identify where they were or even make an estimation about it because they would never be able to put their feet on the earth.
And after holding them for an additional three minutes, Robin was eventually seated in a chair and the covering was removed from her face. Because it had been some time since Robin had last seen light, the light that was all around him made it difficult for him to see. He was the only person in the room, which contained a single table, and there was a man seated at the opposite end of the table.
"Too much light?" The question was posed by the man as he looked at Robin with a grin on his face. When Robin looked about the room, he noticed that it was quite small, and the walls gave the impression that they were constructed to withstand the effects of a nuclear blast. Furthermore, from every vantage point, the area reminded him of a fictional interrogation chamber that he had seen in movies.
In answer, Robin laughed and shook his head before saying. The man's gaze moved slightly as he sensed that Robin was keeping too much composure. In fact he was the person in charge of the operation. He worked for the CIA and had been dispatched to this location to question Robin. This wasn't his first rodeo, and he'd been a part of a number of kidnapping operations before, so he was familiar with the challenges involved.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
This was the very first time he had witnessed things going off without a hitch like this. It was already something that sent off his alarm bells, and there were times when he wanted to call off the mission, but he ended up letting it go through anyway. He was curious about the type of game that these three people who were nobody were playing.
"You understand what the situation looks like Mr. Robin Kashyap, Don't you?" The man asked to intimidate him. In answer, Robin gave a slight nod of the head while maintaining an air of utter composure. Despite the fact that this was starting to get on the man's nerves, he continued to keep eye contact with Robin.
"So how much do you think we will get if we ask Darkstar to pay in order to release you?" The question was posed by the man with a grin. Since this guy wasn't playing by the rules, it was better to get into the playing field without the warmup, but the next words of Robin blew him away.
"I don't think the CIA is that much of a beggar to ask money from an investment firm, are they? They have already spent billions of dollars on you, but here you are asking for even more cash. How cheap are you people? How cheap are you?" Robin inquired in an uninterested and nonchalant manner. The words caused the man to clench his fists, which resulted in his eyes jumping and his cheeks twitching.
The game has officially changed!
"Hahaha.. You must be kidding? How could we possibly be associated with a government agency of such a high rank? We are nothing more than international felons attempting to provide for our family." The man said, emphatically contradicting what he had just stated and taking care to steer the conversation in a more sympathetic direction. Robin laughed and shook his head before continuing.
"You kidnapped me because of the new medicine that is going to hit the market and you want the formula. Normally it shouldn't have reached the ears of CIA, but somehow it did and now we are here." In response, Robin said. The man knew that he was being caught red handed now. He understood that Robin was serious and that he wasn't just making an assumption because of the conviction with which Robin repeated his statements.
"Put me in touch with the Director. I want to have a conversation with him." Robin stated. The man was at a loss for what response he should give when he suddenly picked up on some remarks coming through his earpiece. He stood up and exited the building. In less than a minute, he returned carrying a laptop whose screen displayed a face.
This was a video call, and on the screen of Robin's laptop, she could see the Director of the CIA speaking to him.
"It's nice to finally meet you. Mr. Burns." Robin stated.
"It gives me great joy to do so. Mr. Kashyap."
"I can see that you are pulling out all the stops in an attempt to trick me. Instead of wasting money on agents and bribing the local bureaucracy, you might have done the same thing while knocking on the door." Robin stated.
"I don't want to let your other partners know of this. They have already kept quiet about this strategic asset, but the United States cannot afford to fall behind in this competition." Burns said, exhibiting some signs of annoyance. He had a well thought out strategy to get Robin to cough, but it only took a few words for him to have the upper hand and put him in the defensive position. Because he was aware that this individual was too essential to assassinate and that the other administration would pursue him relentlessly if anything happened to him, he exercised an excessive amount of caution.
"They care about their pockets more than they care about the people. You care about the people more than your pockets. It's as simple as that. I can show you the formula if you want to." Robin stated.
"What?" When Robin said that, Burns almost let out a scream into the microphone. "Are you serious?"
"Of course, I am serious. But I don't think you will like with what you will see." Robin stated.
"That makes no difference. All that is required of us is a look at the primary component, which is the berries. We are able to handle everything else." Burns stated. He only needed to see the berries in order to ask the scientists to look for them, and then the United States government would be able to produce their own version of the curative drug that Labcorp was developing. Despite the fact that he was uncertain as to why Robin had accepted, given that they hadn't even pushed him, he couldn't have cared less. Naturally, he would also check to see if the CIA wasn't setting themselves up for an ambush in any way.
Even though he had already taken a significant risk by taking on this matter without alerting the higher authority or the powerful families, he wanted to make sure that the United States had the leverage in this potentially game-changing medicine that would be arriving shortly.
"Perfect. Come to my home and I will take you to our lab. In addition, please bring long-range helicopters."
"Is it a long trip? In Malaysia? What exactly are you referring to?"
"An island is where the berries are cultivated and harvested. You can't possibly anticipate that I will serve as your chauffeur. Are you?" Robins stated. Burns was enraged by this. He was the director of the CIA, and in all of his years, he had never experienced somebody looking down on him like Robin did. Only because of his haughty demeanour, he desired to take this man's life. Why didn't Robin realise that it was actually him who was at the very tip of the barrel?
He had no idea that if he had given such commands, it would have been his own head that would have exploded first. He was in complete ignorance of that fact.