Chapter 244 - 244 The Setup

244 The Setup

After school, I went to the YMPA, in suspense about infiltrating the meeting with Matthew Lock and the TSA. It would be ingenious, but things could go very wrong.

I entered the briefing room, where everyone was already seated. I took my own seat by Tisiah, and to the left of me was Nikki.

She gave me a very sly look, though I didn’t know what to do at that point. Mr. Drails looked at each and every one of us keenly before he started.

“Alright, now, after that bamboozle, we figured out Matthew Lock was never officially a part of the TSA. Only that they were protecting him, because he was going to sell them the virus. In fact, he is going to sell them the virus in Saudi Arabia.”

“Figures,” I muttered. He nodded, but gave me a quick side eye before he returned back to the group. “Now, if everyone can please look down at the table in front of us.”

What?

What did he mean?

All of a sudden, this holographic image of a large compound of buildings showed up. “This is a block where based on our research, they might be doing the deal. It’s going to be big, but going to be secret.”

“Obviously,” I said. But I only received another side eye from Mr. Drails.

.....

“Based on our technological advantages, we can see that it will be underground. The problem is that we don’t know how. Now, we know they’ll have to enter through a building. Which one though?” he said.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“The one least obvious?” Malachi said.

“So which building out of here is the least obvious?” Mr. Drails asked.

“Well, the one that’s shorter would cause less attention. So maybe that diner-looking building that’s right by that other large skyscraper- looking thing,” September said, which Mr. Drails shrugged.

“Perhaps,” he said. “But you also have to remember that this will most likely be an entire group of TSA vehicles, transports, you name it. So imagine all those vehicles pulling up to a diner. Now what about the tall skyscraper thing?”

“You’re saying that’s the least obvious?”

“The one that makes the most sense, yes. Being of how high it is, you would particularly want to have a large cleaning group maybe, or something to where that would require lots of vehicles.”

“Makes sense,” I said.

“So, from our assumptions, we think this skyscraper is where the deal may take place, correct?” Mr. Drails asked, which we all nodded in response. He smiled, before looking back at the holographic structure.

“So now, the next thing to do is now figure out how we’ll pretend that we are the TSA. We need to arrive there first, but not too far from the assigned time.”

“What do you mean?”

“The time they’ll meet is at 4 am in the morning.”

“AM?” Malachi asked, his eyes widened in disbelief. Mr. Drails slowly nodded. “Yes, A.M. You know what that means right?”

“Of course I do, but why so early?” Malachi asked. “What happened to the night?”

“The night is where most police actually roam the streets, and it would be an instant bust if they were caught. All that they worked for, will fly down the drain.”

“So, how far is far?” September asked.

“An hour early,” Mr. Drails said. “We want to be there at the highest, thirty minutes before the actual meet is supposed to begin.”

“What about the latest?”

“Latest would be ten to fifteen minutes, just enough to get us actually inside of the room where the meet will start. We can make the deal very fast, and hopefully book it out of there once the actual TSA arrives.”

“Okay, so what do we do in order, like positions and stuff?” September asked.

“Well, I’m getting there, September,” he said with a smile, and soon enough, he rearranged the position of the structure.

“Now, here’s what we first do,” he said, taking a quick glance at us before looking back at the holographic representation.

He pointed to a group of people who would be positioned outside the building, watching for the TSA. “They would be the ones that get the word of when they show up.” It was these small people, that were stationed at the right side by the building, and guarding in front of a door.

“As soon as they see the TSA arrive, they’ll send a message to the other people, which will then be passed to someone else, and then finally to the leader of the TSA.”

“Where is Matthew Lock going to arrive?” I asked. “He isn’t there with them right? Because why not just do the deal inside of the car then?”

“He’s on a different transport, but by another MSTO organization, ISM. Iranian Spy Mages. They come early, and then check to see if any threats are coming beforehand of the deal.”

“Makes sense. How much is Lock selling the virus for anyways? Does he really need that much money?” I asked. Mr. Drails turned to me, and gave me a look.

“I’m not sure how much it’s worth, but I can tell you that it’s worth a million-fold of money,” Mr. Drails said with a chuckle. “Anyways, as I was saying. We’ll first arrive at any time, thirty minutes I hope, and we’ll make sure that we are called in as the TSA. Once we get in, we will try to make the deal as quickly as possible, and then leave. But we will have to act very fast, because if the TSA doesn’t arrive in that time, then it won’t be a problem, but we will have to get out of there.”

“What if we’re late?”

“Then we’ll have to make the best of the situation that we have, and get out of there.”

“Who’s going to be the one to make the deal? We look like kids, so we can’t actually make the deal without getting caught or anything.”

“Trust me, you’ll do fine. Malachi, you’re almost an adult. Just put a beard on you and already aged five years.”

“No, I’m not doing no deal with Matthew Lock,” Malachi said, shaking his head.

“You’re the best one. The TSA leader is anonymous, so he won’t know whether that’s you or not,” Mr. Drails explained. “Just make the deal and get out of there.”

“You’re forgetting about the cameras, and the fact that we can’t really see what’s going on,” I said, “and the fact that if we mess up, we’ll be killed by the TSA. No thanks.”

Mr. Drails shook his head, “I can assure you that the TSA will never know that it was us. There will be a ton of security around them, and we will be able to get out of there in the blink of an eye. But you know what, that’s a good point, Connor. I forgot about the cameras, and the fact that we can’t really see what’s going on. But for a reason.”

“Huh?”

“We already disabled them. We figured out their location by using the cameras, and now if we disable them, the TSA won’t know that we were on their database. Basically, they won’t know it’s us, and they won’t know it was also us who found out about them. It’s genius.”

“It’s smart,” I said. “But very risky.”

“Trust me, everyday in this business is risky,” Mr. Drails assured me. “But it’s all part of the game. And besides, I’ve got you guys. I trust you, and I believe that you can pull this off. You don’t need to worry about this. The rest is all up to you. Now, let’s go over the plan again, shall we?”

“Okay,” I said, and he began to explain the plan once more.

“Remember, arrive thirty minutes early. Just so that we’re not too suspicious alright? Next, Malachi puts on a beard and makes the deal with Matthew Lock. We book it out of there once we get the virus, and just like that we saved the world in thirty minutes. That’s pretty impressive, don’t you think?” Mr. Drails explained.

I nodded. “I hope so.”

“Alright, the deal happens two days from now, so you guys need to train, and get ready, understood? And remember, you only have one chance to do it right. If you screw up, it might be your last mistake.”

“Yes, sir,” Malachi, September, Tisiah, Nikki and I all responded.

“You guys can leave,” he said, pointing to the door.

“Thank you, Mr. Drails!” I said, walking towards the exit.

“You’re welcome, Connor. Remember, keep it simple. And remember, the whole thing is a gamble. You could get away with this, and everything will work out, or they will catch you, and then it will be over.”

“Well dang…” Malachi said, feeling a bit disturbed from the sudden warning. “I don’t want to get caught.”

“I don’t blame you there,” Mr. Drails said as he began to walk towards us again. “But you need to keep calm and be prepared for anything. If anything happens to you guys, it will be all my fault.”

“Don’t worry,” I said with a smile, trying to reassure him. “We’ll do it right. We will.” Mr. Drails nodded, but not in the most assured way, before he closed the door. “Alright, well things just happened. Didn’t it?” Nikki said, which Malachi agreed with a simple nod.

“Yes…it did,” Malachi said, turning around to face us both. “What now?”

“Now we practice,” September said as she placed her hands in her pockets. “We try to act like the TSA. Simple as that.”

“That’s not very simple, just to put that out there,” I said, looking at everyone. “How does an 18 year old act like the leader of the TSA. We don’t even know who he is!”

“Which is very ironic to be honest,” Tisiah added. “If they’re so secretive about this guy’s identity, then how do we know who we’re dealing with?”

“I’m telling you,” Malachi said, “it doesn’t matter. They’ll never catch us. We can do this.”

“Yeah well,” Nikki said. “It’s easy for you to say that when you’ve got it all together.”

“I got it all together?! I have to act like the man who is the leader. I’m the one making the deal, I’m the one who determines the future of the world. And yet, I’m not too worried. Do you guys not have faith in me?” Malachi asked us.

“Yes I do,” Tisiah said with a smile. “But you know what I think? I think that we’re all getting a little nervous here because we don’t know anything about him.”

“We don’t know anything about how the TSA acts, other than just being a pain in our sides,” I said, which was a bit overboard, not gonna lie.

“But we need to learn how to act like him,” Nikki said.

“I can assure you guys,” Malachi said with his hands in his pockets. “We’re good and we’re straight. There is nothing that can stop us, unless we just do something wrong. Alright?”

“I guess,” I said, with a big and deep sigh that blew out an immense amount of air. “But I’m still worried.”

“Yeah well…we’re all worried,” September said. “But there’s no point in worrying about it. What we can do however, is do it. Alright, let’s do that thing they do in those football movies.”

“Yeah, no,” Malachi said, shaking his head. “No.”

“Come on man! We have to try something!” I exclaimed with a smile. “It’s either that or just sitting here talking.”

“And sitting here talking is good enough for me,” he said. “I’m not doing anything.”

“Look!” September said with an expression of utter exasperation as she crossed her arms and threw her head back. “He’s not gonna do anything.”

“Look!” I repeated with a laugh and a shake of my head. “I’m not gonna sit here and just talk to him anymore! He needs to be part of this! We don’t know him, so we’re not going to just sit here!”

“Alright guys!” Nikki shouted as she ran her hands through her hair and pointed at us as though she had an actual stick. “Let’s leave Malachi alone alright?”

But Malachi didn’t seem to agree with her approach, and instead, decided to hit us with our own medicine.

“Look, there are these annoying pigs that are fattening up for slaughter,” he said as he held his arms up and took a deep breath. “And these annoying pigs have just gotten a whiff of meat!” Confusion was the only thing socializing inside this circle of spies. “And then these annoying pigs begin to move towards their meal as though they had been starved for it.”

.....

“We get it!” Nikki said with a serious tone and a serious look on her face.

“I’m not honest,” I said, shaking my head. “I really don’t.”

“Well, that’s just how dumb you are I guess,” Malachi said. “Not sure how that’s my problem.”

“Alright,” I said with a grin, trying to lighten up the atmosphere a bit. “I’m not going to tell you what happens next, because I don’t want you to know.”

“Are you sure?” he asked me with a curious look on his face. “I would like to know.”

I nodded my head slowly. “Sure…I guess.” I wasn’t sure if I should tell him anyway, but I just shrugged and kept quiet. I was so sure that he would end up ruining it for me. Although, nonetheless, it’s Malachi. He’d probably end something with a punch to the face or something. Maybe something worse.