As Top stares at the ceiling, he ponders on the fact that the details he is about to share – very confidential and are not for another soul to hear – will no longer be private in a matter of seconds. With one final waft of air, he looks back on his computer's screen, which shows that his numbers are way behind Jeff's, and that Jeffpardy may end earlier than expected if he is not careful.

"Those six companies I mentioned, even before I took over as CEO, we have already set an arrangement with them: they will pay Le Cargaison in exchange of the freight service we provide them," started Top, sounding like a storyteller.

"Okay. So, what about the under-the-table thing?"

"Those are products that they want us to transport."

"Illegal ones?"

"Correct."

"I see." Jeff changes theboard again.

"What kind of products are those, Sutthirak."

Top switches position in his seat yet again. "Can we not go to the specifics?"

"That is not the answer Iam looking for." Jeff, just as quickly, penalizes Top.

"Shit!" Top vents out his frustration on the table, hitting it with a hammer fist.

"Yes, it is, and there is more where that came from if you don't tell me what I want to know."

"Alright, Satur. Alright."

"Ready to answer?"

"Just don't take anymore from my name."

"Call."

"Do you watch the news? Do you remember how those six firms have been involved in illicit acts?"

"No. Enlighten me." Jeff is someone who doesn't watch news a lot.

"According to Le Cargaison's history, the company was established in the middle of the 1980's for transport of goods."

"Oh yes. I remember that: that is written in your handbook for new employees, right Sutthirak?"

"Yes – the same. Good thing that you can still recall it."

"Okay. Keep going." Jeff does not let this little swerving distract him from his goal.

"Now, fast forward to the 90s. By this time, there were major private companies that partnered with Le Cargaison – six to be exact, and each of them differ in their line of business: two do manufacturing, one is an airline, and the other three are agricultural. They aligned with Le Cargaison to make their deliveries and transport easier."

"Go on." Jeff's patience is yet to be tested: he is also interested in this little rewind of events. After all, the theme of Jeffpardy is time travel.

"If you were watching the news on the 90s – 1994 to be exact – Zee-Max was implicated in a case where it attempted to smuggle weeds that were concealed in rice sacks and vegetable crates." Top's voice resounds serenity as he narrates.

"I remember that, but the case did not prosper, and the charges were dropped, right?" asked Jeff, aware that the issue was a big fuzz back then.

"Correct. A year after that, it announced partnership with Le Cargaison together with Fiat and Chimon, as well as Yuuki Dairies."

"Those last two that you just said, did they have some sort of smudge like Zee-Max?"

"Yuuki Dairies was involved in a scandal of having gun parts in its cargos. Fiat and Chimon, on the other, has been accused of illegally transporting endangered species of animals to be sold to a black market."

"How about the other three?"

"SEA Airlines, MMG Wears, and Bright-Win Textile joined the fray two months after. Each of them has their own – what is that you said, oh – smudge like Zee-Max."

"Which are?"

"SEA Airlines has been linked – since time immemorial – to human trafficking, transporting undocumented persons from country to country not just within Asia but to other continents as well."

"But those are just rumors, aren't they? Their case never went to court."

"Rumors are rumors until something comes up and turns them to facts, Satur." Top puts his palm together, ending with him looking like someone in a sort of prayer. He moves them close to him until his two middle fingers, which is the peak of the gesture he has done, touches his lips just enough so that even if he speaks, he can still be understood. "1991 – they have been found guilty of illegally transporting twenty women to Brunei in an uncharted plane and was ordered to cease operation. However, in 1995 – by some miracle – they got back to business."

"You were in cahoots with them in human trafficking?"

"If that's how you see it, then yes," answered Top, curling his lips after.

"Continue, Sutthirak."

"Now, MGM Wears and Bright-Win have been tried in cases of illegally selling high-end branded items in a black market – bags, colognes, coats – you name it. After they partnered with us, there was silence – deafening silence."

"But that doesn't mean they stopped with their illicit practices, right?" asked Jeff.

"Just because you don't see it on TV doesn't mean they are not doing it right?" asked Top to counter. It is a query that a yes or no alone can answer, and which Jeff has the burden of putting together like a jigsaw puzzle. "The rest – as they say, Satur – is history."

"And they pay you a good amount of money for it. Right Sutthirak." A faint yet victorious smile traces on Jeff's face.

"Yes."

"I admire your bravery. Ireally do." Jeff shows Top that he really means what he just said.

"I appreciate it so much that I want to put it to the test," continued Jeff after.

"What do you mean?" Top raises an eyebrow at the statement.

"Welcome to the jackpot round of Jeffpardy. From here on in, questions will be harder and penalties more severe. Be careful in answering, or you might find your pot at zero before you're done blinking."

"Your call, Satur." Top crosses his arms and rests them on his chest.

"That sounds game to me." Jeff is ready to begin his salvo. "But I still don't follow, Sutthirak: how does Scylla and Charybdis fit here."

"I needed a system to track the payments of those six companies, Satur, and another one to act like a bank where those payments grow little by little.

"I see, but that is what a bank is for, right?"

"Correct, but then there is a hindrance on banks."

Nodding, Jeff shows hissatisfaction in Top's answer.

"What is the obstruction, then?" asked Jeff, encoding numbers in a window on his terminal – the amount which will be slashed off one of them.

"Bank laws, Satur."

"Enlighten me."

"Physical deposits on banks only have a limit of three-hundred grand per day, and it will raise eyebrows if deposits are made every day on the same account – or multiple bank accounts at that."

"So you needed Scylla to..."

"Scylla is the means on how those six companies pay, Satur. With the payment done online, they are bypassing that three-hundred grand limit. Plus, it is untraceable, and it has no one account to land to: Charybdis takes care of that part, monitoring them and raking them at my behest – anytime, anyhow."

"Impressive," said Jeff ashe changes the numbers on the board.

"Now, Sutthirak, for three billion, do these systems have something to do with what happened to me more than a year ago?"

There was silence over the phone line, with Top fighting the urge between swerving the questioning to a new one or responding. "No," he said finally after making a decision.

Without Jeff answeringback, the board changes again.

"Let's try that again – this time – for...hmmmm...five-and-a-half billion: do these systems have something to do with what happened to me more than a year ago?"

Top can only shake his head, having no other choice but to answer truthfully. His being stubborn and his game plan to retaliate are not working for him. "You were getting too nosey back then, Satur."

"Is that a yes?"

"You were getting too close to my secret: I must get rid of you before you discover anything remotely related to Scylla and Charybdis."

Jeff appreciates thetruthfulness that he has forced out of Top.

"And you send someone to do a one-night stand with me?"

"Yes, the same guy I hired to program Scylla and Charybdis – Opp. The evidences, the setup, your case – everything – were my doing as well."

"A well-oiled machine of a plan, right Sutthirak?"

"With a couple of acting and some phony witnesses I presented in court, yes indeed."

With Top's answer, Jeff changes the tally again.

"Speaking of Opp, Sutthirak, have you compensated him for what he did? I mean completely?"

"Yes. I fully paid him." Top switches his position in his seat again.

"I see." Jeff countersanother of Top's false statement by manipulating the numbers on the board.

"Would you like to answer that again?" offered Jeff.

"Okay. Alright. I still owe him about nine hundred plus thousand."

"Good boy." With Top beingtruthful now, Jeff changes the board again.

"You have ample to pay that poor boy, and you can't even spare him some?"

"I'll pay him when I have time, Satur."

"Oh. That's attitude rightthere." Jeff, being overcome with abhorrence, quickly changes the numbers againbefore Top can react.

"WHAT THE HELL, SATUR!"

"Did you just bad-mouth me?I think you did." The way Jeff presses the Enter button on his keyboardwould have been enough to render it stuck under the frame.

Top's mouth almost fell on his desk, seeing that he only has barely a quarter of the total pot. He wants to shout at Jeff but then remembers the consequence if he does.

"And what is the story behind the termination of more than a hundred newbies there in Le Cargaison?" asked Jeff, still fuming, remembering what Folk shared to him days ago.

"That's an internal matter, Satur. How do you know that?"

"I have ears."

"Their tasks can be delegated to an experienced employee – someone of a senior level. That way the company can save more money."

"You have a lot of those so-called savings in Charybdis."

"Those are mine and not Le Cargaison's. Besides, they have already been compensated – fully if I may add."

"I'll give you that nobleact, Sutthirak." Jeff, despite the sarcasm, shows that he truly means what hesaid.

"Last question, Sutthirak."

"Thank god."

"I'll let that slide for now," said Jeff, squinting at his screen with his hands itching to change the board again. "If I give you your money back – all of it – what will you do with it?"

"Let them stay with Charybdis – grow and grow some more."

Jeff shakes his head with the answer he gets. Never did he think that he will meet someone so greedy when it comes to one of the many things a person cannot take to his grave. "And Opp?" he asked, wanting to check if Top will have a change of heart.

"Hell, I can pay that flesh maniac out my own money without having to use Charybdis."

"Yes, of course. So that does this mean that you will continue your other arrangement with those six companies?"

"Yes, and earn a lot more money."

"Defiant to the very end, are we Sutthirak? Honest, yet idiotically defiant."

"I'm afraid we're done here, Satur. You can give me back some of those that are in your name."

"Almost, Sutthirak. Just a last one."

"What do you want to ask?"

------

Author's Note

First off, if you are a true BL fan, the name of those six dark companies will ring a bell or two in your head - especially Bright-Win, right? ;) 

But...that was some intense Q&A, living up to being the jackpot round. Not only that, Jeff got Top singing to the tune and tempo that he would've wanted. 

Top really loves his money, doesn't he, willing to exchange everything - even his soul perhaps - just to get them.  However, he can only go so far until he has not more ground to step onto.

Now that we are nearing the end of Jeffpardy, what does Jeff have in mind? And where is Gameplay?? Where is that cute bunny-rabbit???

Stay tuned for release of the next chapter - A Heinous Trade - soon.

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