Sunday, 30th of November 2020. 1400 Hours. Coffee shop near Trinity High School.
"Hmm, your sister is as hardworking as you, you know?" The manager of the coffee shop where Lizeth usually worked said.
"Really? Good for her," Patrick said as he delivered a cup of coffee to a customer. The customer was Lynn, he wasn't there for work, he was only there for dating. Lynn was sitting there as she looked outside, at the window and tall skyscrapers.
"Your coffee, mademoiselle," Patrick served the coffee in front of the table. Patrick sat down in front of Lynn as the manager gave him his own coffee.
The manager smiled at him, "This one is on you," he wanted Patrick to pay the bills. Patrick applied for a job in that coffee shop with the help of Lizeth's fake recommendation about her brother. The manager gladly accepted the application and hired him as a Barista.
Lynn asked, "What's the plan for today?"
"Hmm let me see, I have eaten, so no lunch. A trip to the bookstore, watching a movie, and a dinner at a restaurant later on," Patrick smiled at Lynn and Lynn smiled back at him.
The manager was looking at them in the background, 'What a couple,' he made another cup of coffee for another customer.
Patrick and Lynn chatted a while before they went to their date. They decided to use Lynn's car and Patrick will be the driver. Patrick entered the driver seat and he drove the car away from the parking lot of that coffee shop.
"Hmm, protesters," Lynn looked outside of the windows.
"No comment. We don't have any business with them as long as they don't get in our way," Patrick looked at the protesters.
"Agree," Patrick took a detour since the protesters were obstructing their way to the mall. The mall which they chose had a decent book store and a decent cinema, it was a great place for a first date.
Patrick parked the car on a parking lot and they went inside the mall. The first impression that he got was Lynn held his hand tighter. Patrick just replied with a smile and they walked to the nearest bookstore.
The bookstore was obviously full of books. Lynn was a book lover so Patrick would gladly take her there. For the cost, well, Patrick had more than 10 million dollars on his account, so he didn't need to worry about the cost whatsoever.
"Hmm, what's that?" Patrick asked as Lynn grabbed a book from a rack.
"Dan Brown: Digital Fortress," Lynn answered. She showed a blue book with eyes on it. It was a bit creepy, but it was a conspiration boom after all.
"Dan Brown huh? Conspiracy theorist. Nice book though," Patrick said as she grabbed another book. It was another book with the same genre as Lynn's book, more or less.
"Da Vinci Code? You seriously haven't read that?" Lynn said. Da Vinci code usually what made people read Dan Brown's book, but Patrick was an exceptional case.
"Well, my first book was Inferno after all," Patrick said as he brought that book and put it on his hand. Both of them were looking for another thing to buy like writing utensils and a notebook.
They arrived at the utensils section, they only bought some pens and correction tape. Their pens were similar, just a standard black pen without any accessories.
"We're simple aren't we?" Patrick looked at the same choice of utensils. Lynn just smirked. Both of them walked to the cashier.
"All of them will be 27$," The cashier said.
"I pay," Both of them said spontaneously.
Both of them looked at each other, "I pay," Patrick put his money on the table.
"Nope, this is my first date, let me pay," Lynn said.
Maybe that was the problem of being a rich couple. Both of them didn't want to be called poor by paying someone's else book. In the end, Patrick paid for the book after each of them showed their bank account on the armory system.
Lynn sighed, "Fine, you pay," Patrick paid the cashier using cash and they left the book store. They went back to the car and Lynn had another idea on their dating plan.
"Look, I'm not a movie person, and I know you aren't a movie person either," Lynn said as she put the books and utensils on the car trunk.
Patrick sighed, "Yeah. So, what are we going to do?"
"Hmm, library and tea isn't an option and we are short on option too. Hmm, how about we just go sightseeing with my car?" Lynn said.
"Agree," Patrick said as he entered the driver seat. They got out of that mall and the first thing that they noticed was protesters in front of the mall. Well, calling them protesters wasn't right either, they were rioters. They held Molotov cocktails and rocks on their hand and they started throwing those things at the mall.
"One minute too late and we will be doing another military operation with this date," Patrick commented as he saw those protesters. What he meant that he might be back at full combat gear if they left too late.
"And our first date will be another military op again," Lynn said as she smirked and Patrick dodged a crowd of people in his car. Unlike the military and the police, the contractors didn't care about PR, if they needed to neutralize a threat, they would blatantly shoot them without mercy.
Nevertheless, Patrick and Lizeth continued their sightseeing by going outside of the town. The outside of the town was less chaotic that the capital, they could go sightseeing there.
'Hmph, this couldn't end like we want it to end, isn't it?' Patrick looked at the buildings that were burning on that capital. Lynn's prediction might be correct, the country would crumble before to civil war before the new year.
Patrick felt that the better his condition become, the country's condition worsens. He was a free man with a girlfriend now, but his country would crumble to civil war soon thanks to the dumb PR team of that country alone.
"At least, we weren't shot, that's good," Lynn smiled. She looked at one of the rioters that brought an assault rifle. The rioters shot bullets at the nearest government building. It wasn't long until the military intervened.
The military brought heavy equipment such as tanks and APCs to that rioters. They were dealt mercilessly with heavy machine guns and autocannons. Patrick and Lynn just observed it with their own eyes.
"Hmm, I think we should finish our loose end quickly before Echo has the idea of moving us out of this country," Lynn said as Patrick drove away from the streets of the capital.
"Really?"
"Yeah, Echo is a man of idea, you can expect him to do anything, but I have a suspicion, to be honest," Lynn said.
"How so?"
"Echo is our leader, but some things feel odd," Lynn said.
"How so?"
"I'm afraid that the contractors are the people that we knew on the past," Lynn said.
"Ok, so who this Echo might be?"
"No idea, but I feel that they're close," Lynn said.
"Are you just connecting dots or are you really know like Aline?" Patrick asked.
"Neither, just my guess," Lynn said.
"I have a guess, but Shaddam and Bravo have too many similarities," Lynn said.
"How so?"
"Feelings," they arrived at a park on top of a hill that overlooks the capital. The hill was beautiful with forestry around it, but the view was chaotic.
"Dang, what a town," Patrick looked at the capital. Riot destroyed around 20% of the surrounding area. Charred buildings could be seen here and there. It was weird to see their own capital on fire.
Lynn got out of the car and entered the park. The park was empty since it was located in a remote place in the capital. Patrick followed her soon and both of them sat down on a bench while looking at their city.
"Mmm, and it all started with you," Lynn smiled as she held Patrick's shoulder.
"Haha, yeah, it all started in my house," Patrick said as they looked at the capital. Patrick just sat down, enjoying the afternoon with his girlfriend right beside him.
Lynn asked her a question, "Where will you go now? You can't longer enter my school."
Patrick answered, "Aline has made some arrangements for me, maybe for you too, but I don't know."
Lynn answered, "Hmm, I see. Well, does it mean that you can't see me during school time?"
"We'll see about that."
Both of them sat there for two hours before the clock hit 5 P.M and both of them went back to Lynn's car. They would go to the restaurant that Patrick chose as their dating place.
"As usual, I drive," Patrick entered the driver seat and Lynn entered the backseat. He drove away from that park.