Next day.
In the morning as he was doing his daily quest which had become a habit for him and he was not doing it to just complete the quest he received a phone call.
He paused his activity and retrieved his phone to discover that his friend Felix was on the other end of the line. Without hesitation, he answered the call.
After placing the phone to his ear, he greeted Felix with a simple “Hello”.
“How are you doing?” inquired Felix, addressing Aron.
“I’m doing well, how about yourself?” replied Aron.
“I’m doing good too,” echoed Felix.
“Why did you call me?” Aron inquired immediately after their exchange of greetings.
“What? Am I not allowed to call my friend anymore?” Felix asked, feigning offense at Aron’s question.
“Don’t play dumb, you know exactly why I asked. Why are you calling me in the morning when you’re supposed to be at work? Do you want me to report you to Sarah?” Aron teased Felix, with a hint of humor in his tone.
“I am working right now, actually. Sarah selected me as the team leader for the group that you expressed interest in. I called to inquire about your availability so I can come over and discuss the task you have for us,” replied Felix, sounding proud of his newly assigned leadership role.
“Why you?” Aron retorted, abruptly interrupting Felix and reversing the positive momentum he had just established. (After all, what are friends for if not to humble and challenge each other?)
“She mentioned that I was selected as the team leader in part because you needed someone you could trust for this,” replied Felix, affecting a tone of defeat.
“You can come visit me this afternoon. I have some free time then,” offered Aron, deciding to spare Felix any further teasing.
“Greate, I will be visiting you together with the assistant project manager” Felix informed Aron whom he will be attending the meeting with at Aron’s house.
“Sounds good. Just give me a call when you’re on your way, and I’ll make sure to prepare for your arrival,” replied Aron
“Sure, I will do that. See you later then”
“Alright, I’ll talk to you soon. See you later,” replied Felix, bidding farewell and hanging up the phone.
With the call now over, Aron returned his attention to finishing his daily quest, putting his phone away and focusing on the task at hand.
….
Later that afternoon.
“Welcome!” greeted Aron as Felix and his assistant team leader Barry arrived at his house. He led them inside and then guided them to his work room, which had been empty for the past few months as he had moved most of his work to the basement.
“Thanks,” replied both Felix and Barry as they followed behind Aron, taking in the beautiful surroundings of his home with admiration.
“Make yourselves feel at home,” said Aron to Felix and Barry before he left the room to go and get them some drinks, knowing that their meeting was likely to take some time.
As soon as Aron left, Barry remarked, “Wow, this house is beautiful,” making sure they were alone before speaking.
“Yeah, I agree,” Felix replied. He had never had the chance to visit Aron’s house before, as they usually met in a cafe or somewhere more central for both of them.
“How much do you think this house costs?” Barry asked, realizing that Felix was also impressed by the house.
“I think it’s around 2.5 million dollars or more,” Felix replied, not wanting to reveal an exact figure. He knew that if his colleagues found out he was friends with Aron, it could potentially make his work more difficult, with people trying to get on his good side.
“Damn, but still it is worth it” Barry was very surprised when he heard the approximate price of the house.
“Yeah, definitely worth it.” Felix replied, nodding in agreement.
But just as he was about to ask another question, Aron returned to the room, carrying a drink for each of them to sip during the meeting.
After giving everyone their drink, they engaged in small talk to get to know each other better before getting down to business.
“So, now let’s talk about what I want your team to do for me,” Aron said, as he opened the drawer on his desk, removing two small stacks of paper, each with about 40 pages, and handed them to both Felix and Barry.
As soon as they got the papers, they began reading through them carefully, taking note of any important details or instructions that Aron had included.
During the time that Felix and Barry were reading the stacks of paper, Aron patiently waited for them to finish. He knew that it was important for them to thoroughly understand the contents of the documents before they could have a productive conversation about the details.
After about half an hour, both Felix and Barry lifted their heads, indicating that they were done reading and were impressed with the report they had just read.
“You really want us to do this?” Felix asked, expressing his surprise at what he had just read in the report.
“Yes, I want everything in the document to be purchased within three months. Money is not an issue. Do you think you can handle it?” Aron asked seriously, his expression and tone leaving no doubt that he was serious and not joking around.
“Yes, we can do that. But for us to complete this plan within the given period of time, our team capacity needs to at least double,” Barry said after thinking about what he had read for a short period of time.
“Consider that done” Aron agreed to Barry’s suggestion without even asking for the reason.
“Also, we will have to pay a quite some of bribe money to the dictator for everything to go smoothly” Felix added wanting to know what was Aron’s standing when it comes to it.
“I understand that and I have already set aside a budget for it. Just make sure everything goes as planned,” Aron said, giving his approval for the necessary arrangements to be made.
“Also…..” Both Felix and Barry continued to make their demands and suggestions while Aron either agreed to them or proposed alternative solutions that he had come up with Nova when he was constructing the plans.
The back and forth discussion continued for about four hours, during which Felix and Barry asked important questions and explored different courses of action with Aron before making a final decision.
“You can call me anytime if you face any problems while executing the plan. I will try to come up with a solution as soon as you inform me,” Aron assured them before they left the meeting.
“Farewell, see you soon,” Felix and Barry said as were escorted by Aron to where they parked their vehicle before they got in it and left.
….
Inside Felix’s car.
“Holy shit, what on earth is he planning?” Barry asked as soon as he was sure that they were a safe distance away from Aron’s house.
Felix attempted to divert the conversation from the subject, stating “I am unsure, but we shouldn’t dwell on it. Our primary focus should be on completing the task with utmost efficiency.” However, his mind was troubled with intricate thoughts, which he chose not to voice out.
Felix had only managed to grasp the basic idea of the plan. Aron had informed them that he would be sharing a comprehensive report consisting of around four hundred pages to assist them in their strategizing. The objective of this plan was to establish a monopoly in a particular sector of Eden, thereby ensuring that no competitors remained in that specific sector.
The first step of the revised plan required meeting the country’s dictator and offering him a bribe. The team anticipated a positive response to the bribe since the country’s economy had been severely impacted by sanctions. The dictator was likely rationing his resources to avoid provoking citizen unrest, which could potentially lead to a revolt.
Once the team had successfully won the favor of the dictator, the plan would officially commence.
Under the pretext of modernizing the telecommunications industry and increasing internet usage to generate a return on their investment, the team would initiate discussions with the dictator about acquiring several telecommunication companies.
The team was confident that their bribe would secure the dictator’s approval, especially since they planned to entice him with the potential tax revenue that would be generated from the growth of the industry.
With the dictator’s blessing, the team would launch an aggressive takeover of all the telecommunication companies, consolidating them into a single monopoly.
At this point, the team would have successfully completed the first phase of Aron’s report. The total cost for bribery and acquiring the telecommunication companies was estimated to be around 213 million dollars.
Despite the discussions they had with Aron, Felix knew that this was only the beginning and that the first phase was merely a small component of his grand plan. The realization that his friend was attempting something deeply sinister sent chills down Felix’s spine.