5 - Chapter 4

Tasha slowly came to on the sofa. It took her a few minutes to remember where she was and what had happened. She navigated to the status screen to check out her status after the rewards.

Name: Tasha Andersen

Race: Human (Tier 0)

Class: Rouge (Tier 2) - Level 0

Profession: Technocrat (Tier 2) - Level 0

Strength: 20

Dexterity: 20

Proprioception: 20

Constitution: 20

Intellect: 20

Will: 20

Charisma: 20

Soul: 20

Luck: Locked

She didn't know what this meant just yet, but she also checked out the quest screen. Only one quest was still available.

Quest: Make your first significant investment

Make your first significant investment with a stated objective.

Reward: Quest points, Quest to find out more about your family

Status: In progress

The only thing that had changed was the status. She really needed to finalise the investment to see if this system could really provide her with information leading to information about her family.

She closed the screens and tried to pick up her phone, yet her hand moved much faster and felt a lot lighter than she was used to. Her phone was thrown across the room, thankfully landing on a small sofa. The sound alerted her friend Ingrid who came out of the kitchen.

“So finally woke up Tash. I tried to wake you but you were out like a light.” said Ingrid. “Is everything alright? It’s not like you to sleep during the day.”

Tasha tried to stand up and almost flew off the sofa, and landed on her knees. Her movements were jerky. Ingrid ran up to her, clearly worried. Tasha tried to wave Ingrid away, but even that action was jerky.

“Sorry Ree, going through something, give me a few minutes please.” said Tasha through gritted teeth.

Ingrid, hearing that Tasha was ok, leaned against a wall as she watched Tashs trying to get around the living room. The best she could compare her to was watching a baby learning to walk.

“Did you forget how to walk, or did you have too much sake with your sushi?” asked Ingrid in a teasing tone. Tasha just gave her a look and went back to trying to control her body.

It took her a few minutes to at least be able to walk and sit down normally, but she knew she would need to train to get used to her new reaction and movement speed.

“OK, Ree, let's go out for dinner. Somewhere nice. I have a lot to tell you. In fact, call us a cab and pick the best place you can think of.” said Tasha. She left for the bathroom to get ready.

Ingrid called a cab to go out to a fancy restaurant. She didn't understand what was going on, but Tasha had been way too serious for too long, and it was nice to see her loosening up a bit and returning to her previous self.

After calling the cab, Ingrid also got ready. Soon they were in the cab on the way to a nice restaurant.

“Where did you pick for us?” asked Tasha.

“I picked that Tamarind place that you like near Green Street. You did say to pick the best place.” replied Ingrid, now a little hesitant.

“That's good, we haven't been there for ages.” replied Tasha, “First thing I have to tell you is that I need your help. You are wasted in your job. I think you can do a lot of good in the new setup I am creating. We can talk details over dinner”

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Ingrid was shocked, she thought Tasha was out of money and her business was going under. To all of a sudden be going out to a fancy restaurant and talking about setting up something new was a big deal. Even though Ingrid was burning with curiosity, she decided to wait till they reached the restaurant.

They spent the rest of the journey just chatting. Tasha spent the time subtly moving her muscles to get used to them. She felt a lot lighter and stronger than ever before. Just what had the system done to her and how?

After reaching the restaurant and getting seated in a discrete area, Ingrid could no longer hold back her curiosity.

“Just what is going on Tash? Everything seems so different from this morning. You almost feel like a different person, more like the old you.” queried Ingrid.

Tasha decided not to mention the system, but to mention everything else, slightly modifying the truth.

“So I have been tasked to manage global investments for a VC fund. They want to do good for humanity and want to escalate our progress. They have also promised help for me to carry on looking into what happened to my family.” replied Tasha.

“How do you know they are serious, and why you?” asked Ingrid.

“I have no idea as to why me, the contract was sudden, but they are deadly serious. I know I can trust you, but please don't mention what I am about to show you to anyone. And please control your reaction. This is going to be shocking. More than even you can imagine.” answered Tasha, a lot more serious than she had been all night.

First Tasha showed Ingrid her business bank balance. Ingrid almost fell out of her chair in shock and had to read the number multiple times. “How….” is all Ingrid could say.

“Yes, it's real. I have been to the bank and validated the transfer.” said Tasha. “And if you are not able to control yourself then I can't tell you the real news.”

“The real…there is more than that!” whisper shouted Ingrid.

Tasha called over the waiter and ordered some cocktails, and waited till they arrived before continuing her show and tell. It was driving Ingrid to distraction.

Finally after enough teasing, Tasha showed Ingrid the deal memo. When Ingrid read the memo, she did fall out of her chair. Tasha quickly got up and helped Ingrid back to her seat. “So much for controlling yourself.” chided Tasha.

“So this is why I need your help. I will run the investment arm, I already have meetings setup and started the process. I need you to take over the charitable side. I will give you some direction, but you will get to run with it. I don't think you quite understand the issues we will face with this kind of backing.” said Tasha, all serious now.

“Think of all the good we could do, all the people we could help!” retorted Ingrid.

“If you just use the bank balance, then sure. If you used the full amount, you would destroy the economy in the whole world. You would cause hyperinflation. We need to be very careful about what we do and how. This is like being given the controls to nuclear weapons. Make no mistake this is that serious. Intelligence agencies have used a lot less money to collapse economies in the past. Please take this seriously.” said a sombre Tasha. “Though that doesn't mean we can't help, or have some fun with it.”

“Can you take tomorrow off work? I have meetings set at the Waldorf Astoria to vet legal and accounting firms. The idea is to buy into them and let them handle our acquisitions and business structure. We will need a solid legal and finance team anyway.” continued Tasha.

As Tasha said this, she realised that she had not even called the hotel to book a suite.

“I can take tomorrow off, but I will need to give notice at my charity and not leave them in the lurch.” said Ingrid now deep in thought.

“Why don't you pay for a new CEO for a year to your charity and recruit someone into the role. You can use your down time to let them onboard and you can help me at the same time. It would be a win-win for both. We have the cash now.” suggested Tasha.

“That could work, we could just add a role to all the roles we would need to fill and we can use the charity to start helping faster.” mused Ingrid. “OK I will call the charity Chair and give them a heads up now.” Ingrid stood and walked out to have the conversation in some privacy.

Tasha called the hotel, and asked to book a business suite with attached rooms for the next week. She decided that they could both enjoy the amenities at the hotel as well as work there until they picked out new office space. Her todo list was getting extremely long. She would need an assistant. She thought of James, her precious executive assistant. He had been very good. On impulse she decided to call him to see if would be willing to come back.

“Hey James, how are you? Not busy I hope?” asked Tasha when James answered her call. “Are you in a role? I need you back.”

“What happened, I thought the company was all but done? Are you sure I can come back?” asked James, curious about the situation.

It doesn't seem like he is in a role, thought Tasha. “Why don't you come to the Waldorf Astoria tomorrow morning and bring your laptop. I can give you more details and you can help me organise a search for legal and accounting firms.” said Tasha.

She finalised details with James and hung up as Ingrid walked back in. She looked a little uncertain.

“How did the call go?” asked Tasha.

“They weren't happy, and I felt guilty. I promised them a grant of £250K as well as a free CEO for a year. I hope that wasn't too forward of me. I know it's your money, and i don't want to overstep.” said Ingrid sheepishly.

“I was serious when I said you would run the charitable arm. I am going to give you £100M to start with. You can distribute that as you think best. I am not going to be thinking over every decision you make. It’s why I need you.” replied Tasha.

After hearing that Ingrid calmed down and relaxed.

“I have also booked us a suite at the hotel for the next week, so we can be pampered while we work. So relax.” said Tasha with a mischievous look in her eye.

The 2 friends spent the rest of the night enjoying themselves. The real work would begin tomorrow. Both friends were really looking forward to the challenges, albeit for different reasons.