Continuation of Chapter 5

****

"I did hit you hard, didn't I? Are you still hurt?" 

"No, I feel better. Don't worry about me." He walked passed me and sat crosslegged on my king-sized bed.

I turned around making sure the gun was hidden - not pointing him.

"It's good to be cautious." He smiled pointing at the gun behind my back.

"Huh? Oh, yes."

"Is it loaded?"

"No,"

"Okay, hand it over." I did so with him taking it by the handle placing it underneath the pillow along with a pack of bullets.

"Now you should be even more cautious because I can guarantee that as a spy, you'd have a lot of enemies."

I just stood there awkwardly as he continued to lecture me, reminding me that I am still a rookie in his eyes. He probably realised I zoned out as he called my name snapping me out of my daydream.

He patted the bed beside him indicating where I should sit and as I came over, he took the diary out beneath the folds of his overshirt.

"Is that E.F diary?" I asked.

He brushed his fingers along the cover, "Yeah, and I found something interesting that might help us with Armani's case."

"You have time. I feel like Elmer has given me too many missions to do in these past 11 months. On top of that, stunt driving lessons like evasive skills when car chasing. I feel like he is doing that on purpose."

"You think so? He didn't seem to assign me to partner up in all your missions."

"Yeah, and as the days go on I trust him less and less."

"To be honest, I never trusted him in the first place, but as I rose up the rank, I began to learn his ways, you will in time too." By this time he was scanning through watching the diary looking for the page which contained the clue. I sat there watching as the pages turned and thought, Elmer has a different side to him; if only I could find out. Besides, who writes in paper diaries nowadays, we're supposed to save the trees.

"What are you thinking about? You kinda zoned out."

"Oh, nothing. Have you found the clue?"

He held a folded up piece of paper which he unravelled showing its rectangular shape and I.P address written across followed by the phrase "Find A.M" in cursive.

Valerio's face lit up, "I could tell you one thing: A.M stands for Armani Moore. Which means I am right about the fact that whoever wrote this diary may be connected to this person not only your mum. And that the author knew she was going to be in danger."

"But we don't know that for sure, do we?"

"Well, let's find out the location of this I.P address."

It was not long before we were surrounded by laptops, phones and smartwatches all tracing the location. Mine vs his. Both eyeing each other's devices carefully like lions stalking their prey. Finally, the dot secured its spot on each map of London located close to M25 (the motorway surrounding London), and the screens that held information were mine first. I looked upon Valerio with triumph and his face wore an unreadable expression. 

"Well, are you not going to admit your defeat?" I asked with an arched eyebrow.

I watched as he saved the information on his devices and packed them away. He instantly closed the space between us by caging my head in the crook of his arm jovially ruffling my hair until I could practically see flakes of dry gell fall onto the bed. Chuckling, he let go which made me fall face-first on to the surface of the bed. As steadied myself and felt for my dishevelled hair, I called out as he was about to leave, "What was that for?!"

"A way of not admitting defeat, and being helpful."

I scoffed as the door locked behind him and returned to my original position, on the bed, looking up at the ceiling in casual attire, surrounded by my devices; my eyes became sore then droopy and the ceiling became darker and darker until it was pitch black.

****

The next day.

The shocking feeling of cold water splashed and running down my face was refreshing. Patting my face with a towel, I tried to forget about the stress I would go through that day, but it was no use. Keep it cool, I told myself. I received a text from Valerio to "be prepared". I was then ushered out of my room to have breakfast in the cafe a couple of floors below, with him and our bodyguards. For the next 45 minutes, I was stuck in such a thick atmosphere of awkwardness just from sitting opposite from Valerio who remained fixated on dipping a piece of bread into a cup of hot chocolate. Just like a kid. 

So, I ate as quickly as I could, got up and cleared my mess before leaving. As I left, I could've sworn I heard him sigh, or that was my imagination, but at the time I just shrugged it off and went to my room, escorted by two of the bodyguards (in casual clothing). I thanked them before I closed the door and went to work. My hair was washed and styled into a professional-looking bun, my face was cleansed and moisturised with a light touch of makeup, a micro earpiece was fitted along with the translator device below each earlobe and slipped into a red maxi dress with sleeves, taking hold of a matching handbag big enough to fit the lipstick USB stick, bracelets embellished with diamonds which I would wear in the car. I then instantly rushed to look for a revolver loaded with bullets to place inside as well as a laser gun. I was ready.

But then I wasn't. Someone was pounding their fists on the door of my hotel room letting me know we were about to leave for the conference. Hurriedly I slipped on my leather ankle heeled boats, wore a black cashmere coat at the same time shouting "I'm coming," on leaving before realising I was being whisked away to the centre of the city.

17:50:- At the venue in the centre of Brussels

As soon as the large robust door opened, we were flooded with the hum of talk and the steps of numerous heels echoing through the four walls of the two-storey building. Stalls with banners and tech were propped up either side of the hall leaving gaps for paths which made the space appear to be invaded by a grid. Both me and Valerio scanned the hall passing a couple of people with large tablets who greeted us with a nod. 

That was until I was the first to spot the MADASI stall close to a set of doors leading to an auditorium. I told Valerio about my discovery who handed me a notebook and pen before signalling to carry out my part of the mission. We simply parted ways.

I understood perfectly who I was meant to appear as.

"Er, excuse me?" I approached a woman who seemed to be managing the stall.

"What brings you here today, miss..."

"Parry, Nerys Parry."

"Ah, Welsh. I take it you're here for an interview?" Her sharp eyes looked at the notebook and pen in my hands.

"Yeah, for an article for the newspaper, The Guardian. They want me to write about how far companies like you have changed the purpose of Drones between the late 21st century to now."

"That's very flattering, miss, but we only have interviews after the meeting in the auditorium so, do you mind if you could leave before my manager gets back?"

"Okay," I sighed taking a glimpse of the laptop which lay beneath her fingertips, "I'll come back later."

I moved on to the next stall 'interviewing' another company on their latest VR technology; then moved on to others before we were notified to enter the auditorium. At the entrance, I was reunited with Valerio who this time was holding a tablet in one hand and a briefcase in the other. We greeted each other with a nod and told him my failed attempt to get an interview at the MADASI stall.

He then replied, "Once we get inside we'll discuss it in more detail." Shortly after, we entered a dimly lit room shaped like a dome; the streets lined the curvature of the room surrounding a platform in the middle. Paths seem to split the seating area into 4, the levels of the seating rows vary the closer they were to the platform.

We hung around for a bit so thaw we were among the last to get in and the ones to get the best view. The hum of talk that echoed throughout the room signalled that the speaker was yet to arrive - indicating to us, by the time we sat down, that there was still time for us to discuss the plan.

So then I asked, "What's the plan?"

"Let me tell you what will be useful when carrying out this plan," he pointed at the pen, "notice how the pen was ready to be used?"

"The button at the top hasn't been pressed yet. What happens if I do?"

He leaned in to whisper, "It disrupts the wireless connection of the CCTV cameras in this building. So there will be no visuals. Especially at the stall once you press it. The only issue is getting out of here."

"Easy. I can pretend to have ready bad stomach ache from earlier food poisoning and rush to the bathroom."

"Good idea. But don't do it so early or it will be suspicious. Still have the pen on you and click the button before you leave. You know what to do after that, but if you're not back in half an hour, I'll take over."

I gave him the thumbs up and as if on cue, the speaker appeared on the platform, the voices in the hall died down and the room's lighting became darker. The person on the platform was middle-aged and talked about how far humanity has reacher in technological advancements and the growth of technology around the world between the 21st and current (23rd century). This was accompanied by a PowerPoint that was time-consuming. I proceeded to doodle on the notebook purely out of boredom while Valerio was intently listening. Eventually, the speaker stepped off the platform inviting the investors one by one to introduce themselves to the audience. One of them was the representative Aaron Kosinov whom Valerio was meant to keep an eye on. Just before the representative stood in the centre to state his purpose, Valerio lightly squeezed my arm signalling for me to do what I had to.

I got up, clutching my handbag close to my stomach and left the room. I looked both ways searching for the nearest toilet, and as I got close I pressed the button on the pen just as I entered. Checking whether the coast was clear, I quickly exit taking out the disguised USB stick. Making my way to the MADASI store, I looked around to make sure the place was completely empty.

I reached for the laptop on the desk, plugging in the USB stick which caused the laptop to automatically log on, let the algorithm figure out the password and download all the files. I looked up and around once again, being extra cautious before I reached into my handbag to take out my phone to message Valerio. Big mistake.

On the screen's reflection, I was in the midst of texting yet I saw a masked man holding the end of a large gun above my head; before I was fully aware, I was struck down.

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A/N Another update, and nothing to say because who reads this?

But it may take a while to do another update though.