Although not much time passes in the telling of it, it's a fact that it took Vance a surprisingly long time to find the right "next step" in his grand scheme; nearly two years of the five that he was thinking he needed. There were times in this period that he began to question his intuition, and started to believe that maybe the thing he was looking for just wasn't there to be found. On top of teenage insecurity an discouragement with a lack of immediate results came an incredible amount of distractions. Many days he struggled just to stay above water, to keep juggling the balls that he had given himself, and long-term exhaustion had become as familiar as the back of his own hand. As high as Vance had been riding previously, it was a harsh reminder of how tenuous his grip on success really was.

The first problem that he had to deal with, and the one that had the biggest impact on his availability to do anything else, was Jez almost dying. When he was being uncharitable, he could admit that he found it all a bit rude - like she had done it just to get more of his time and attention, and he struggled to maintain the façade of the tireless, selfless, encouraging partner. Jez had often been ill in the past, and fairly regularly; in fact, roughly once a month or so. Growing up without sisters or any other female companionship that would be comfortable talking about such things, Vance didn't connect immediately that the trigger for her weakness, soreness, and indigestion was at its heart a normal biological process, and once he did, he didn't know if the effect it had on her was normal or not.

However, all was not well with Jez. She lost far too much blood each month, and suffered from pains so great she could barely stand. The pain got worse over time, and began to manifest itself in all sorts of strange secondary symptoms. When she did finally make it to a healer who was able and willing to treat women's issues, they determined that she had a serious internal growth that would require surgery, nor to mention leave her completely unable to bear children - a serious sentence that would make her even more dependent upon Vance or some other suitor who cared little for extending his family line...a true rarity.

Her recovery period from the operation was painful, and infection set in - it appeared that Jez was unlikely to survive. Still, Vance had to keep his eye on the prize, and he knew that if he even hinted at abandoning Jez, Ben was likely to lash out in his pain and anger; this was a trickier time than ever. Therefore he continued to provide his support and care, although it distracted him greatly from his work, which frankly needed his attention. At nearly the same time that Jez's surgery occurred, Vance needed to deal with the fact that part of his operation had simply managed to work itself out of profitability. It was nearly impossible to have much repeat business in the "finding lost items" line of activity, and the wider net that was subsequently cast required more people to execute - not to mention more administration and coordination - than it was worth. A simple matter to cut back on that operation, but it was one of the surest ways for Vance's crew to extend their territory.

That was always an important consideration, as there was only so much opportunity in Khartok, and risk of investigation increased at the same time as rewards decreased, the longer he focused on the local area. However, expanding too quickly had its own risk, as it was much harder to control what happened and to maintain a chain of command. For instance, his first foray outside of the city ended in disaster, when his "lost items" crew in the new city took the natural move into an insurance and protection model. Unfortunately, without strong leadership and careful enforcement of standards, the operation turned violent, and Vance had to pull out of the city altogether. Organized direct violence was something he simply couldn't afford to tolerate, unless he was already so big that he had influence over the police force - and if that happened, Vance imagined he'd be engaged in very different activities.

So all-in-all, the best-laid plans of a criminal prodigy began to crumble, and although Vance had not made many mistakes, circumstances conspired against him. Luckily for Vance, he understood his priorities. He had already begun to notice how many people around him were so easily confused, so blinded by the shiny or flashy, unable to focus on what really mattered. Yes, Vance wanted to make money, but he saw money as just a way to get to security. It's a tool. Like any tool, one has to use it to get the benefit of it. He would spend any amount of money if it made sure that he was never again put into a situation where he wasn't in control. There's very little point, he reasoned, to making money if someone can just take it away from you - and what good is being rich if you're locked up? So, Vance prepared himself to take some time off from some of his expansion plans, in order to focus on stabilizing his base, and on ensuring his relationships stayed solid with him on top. It would cost him a little bit of time, and little bit of money, but rushing too quickly would surely be his downfall.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

While he wrestled with the choice of next endeavors, Vance continued to increase his skills in controlling others. After all, once he had enough power, he could divorce himself from financial considerations altogether. Vance carefully studied what made everyone tick; what motivated some people but not others, and how to carefully apply both the proverbial carrot and stick to push people towards actions and behaviors that they might not otherwise embrace. Even in times of turmoil, Vance couldn't afford to waste time, and he had begun to understand that his skills in controlling in planning would be the things that truly set him apart. Ignoring those just because he was busy, stressed out, and being pulled at from all sides would only ensure that he wasn't prepared for bigger problems later. Vance decided to start pulling back a bit, and running fewer operations, with only the people that he felt he had a good handle on. This gave him more control and lower risk, at the expense of short-term cash.

However, his careful management and private stashes ensured that even if things slowed down, all would not be lost...it would just take him a bit longer than he wanted, especially if he didn't get his next phase started soon. Vance thought about the people that everyone complained about - the known "crooked" that the public seemed to despise, but yet were somehow completely immune from any sort of persecution or real consequence. That was the kind of life Vance wanted. These people were the truly secure, the truly powerful, and they did only what was necessary to ensure that their power grew, and their pockets grew fatter. Upon reflection there were really only three such classes of people that Vance could come up with - administrating politicians, industry magnates, and religious leaders. Vance knew he had no interest in going the religious route, which left the first two - but at the sate time, he noticed a common thread between all three. Each of these classes of people had leaders at the top that treated individuals and the masses extremely differently. Perhaps there was a lesson to be learned there, Vance reflected. In any event, he was too young for a political career, and didn't expect that he had the connections or background to make it a successful run anyway. No, becoming a baron of industry was the only option; maybe eventually some sort of oligarch, if the opportunity presented itself. People did tend to put ridiculous levels of trust in the rich for very questionable reasons, and he'd be a fool to let that go to waste should he ever be in a position to capitalize on it.

In any event, once Jez had stabilized a bit, and some of the chaos had begun to die down, Vance took the time to make a list of the hallmarks of a good investment opportunity for himself. He already knew that a cash-based business would be best, as he had money coming in from all kinds of different sources, and being able to funnel it through a reasonably legitimate enterprise would be incredibly helpful. Based on some of his recent experiences, Vance also decided that he wanted to find something that had good recurring demand, something that would allow him to control the interaction and relationship with the customer. There weren't too many of those that weren't run by the government already, but he was confident he could find something. Finally, he needed a concept that wasn't too localized; Vance wanted something that he could take to other cities and replicate the success of, when the time was right.

It wasn't a long list, but it wasn't one easily met, either. Here was a place that some of the observational skills that Ben had could really be put to great use. He asked Ben to start picking a few people that he saw out in their normal working area on a regular basis, and get to know their routines. He didn't say why, or what he was going to do with the information, but Ben didn't ask, either. He was happy enough for the distraction from worrying about his sister, and to be getting a direct "special operation" request from Vance, even if he was one of his oldest friends, still seemed to make Ben's day. Vance figured that if he got to understood people's routines, he'd be able to determine where they shopped and what they bought on a recurring basis; maybe that "market research" would point him in the right direction. He was right, after a fashion, but he was surprised when the answer finally came to him; he wouldn't have suspected it, but it was right there under his nose all along, and Jez was the key to it all.