Jack has left the restaurant. Surprisingly, Keith didn't ask to follow him home. Keith seemed to see the task was interesting enough for Jack and so he wouldn't suddenly take off. Keith believed Jack was now willing to work with him.
Well, that was kind of a right guess. But only because Jack wanted to learn more about Keith.
Before Keith parted ways with Jack, he only said, "Let me know if you need to book some flights. The girlfriend doesn't live in New York City."
After Jack is sure that Keith isn't following him anymore, Jack takes the subway to the police headquarter where Bob works.
Bob is indeed in the office. As soon as Jack walks in, Bob puts his glowing bottle in his drawer. Bob normally doesn't bring the bottle to work. He is doing it today because the ghosts ask Bob to take them outside of the house at least a few times a week. They hate to be stuck in the bottle and sit in Bob's apartment.
That's right! That bottle is where his ghosts live now.
"Hi Bob!" Jack greets and then sits right in front of Bob's desk.
"I didn't expect you to come in. I'm surprised they let you in. Your ass is still so suspended." Bob smiles.
"Well, I broke in. I'm just joking. I told them I need to see Bob. They let me in."
"Of course. I'm very popular in the headquarter."
"So, Keith Hutchins just told me that he wanted me to find a mysterious yet dangerous hacker. Ah, sorry, he doesn't think I should try to find the hacker directly. Keith thinks I should find the hacker's girlfriend first, and then find the hacker. And then kidnap the hacker."
"Wow. What an interesting job. How long do you think it will take to find the girlfriend? Can you do it before you need to return to the force?"
"I don't know yet. His girlfriend apparently lives overseas. I have to figure it out."
Bob nods, secretly thinking maybe he can help. But lately, the ghosts haven't returned all the information he has requested. Such as, when he asked the ghosts to find out more about Keith Hutchins, Bob didn't think the ghosts turn in the best information. There is still a lot unknown about Keith.
The ghosts have gradually gotten tired of being used by Bob. That's what the ghosts complained last night as well.
Jack is sitting there, describing his meeting with Keith. Bob is half listening. Finally, Bob asks:
"So, Jack, I don't think Keith really told you why he needs you to kidnap the hacker. He just explained to you two nicknames, which showed how dangerous the hacker is. That's it."
"Oh, shit. You're right. Keith didn't really get to the real reason why he wanted me to kidnap that hacker."
Bob shakes his head, "You are still so rookie, Jack."
Jack does feel a little embarrassed. He thinks he forgets to get to the bottom of this because he was already kind of shocked by all those things Keith described. It's not everyday that Jack gets to work on strange things like that.
"I'll ask Keith when I need to book the air tickets."
"OK. But, I'm guessing it has something to do with the Senator he works for. Or other people he work for."
"Yeah. Good point."
"Talk to him again at some point, make sure you're not helping the bad guys somehow." Bob suggests.
"Thank you Bob. You're always so wise." And then, Jack remembers something: "Oh, by the way, Bob, you won't believe this, but Keith Hutchins was also quoting Sun Tzu like you."
Bob laughs and waves his hand like it's not important, "A lot of people quote Sun Tzu, Jack. The important thing is to actually understand it and make use of the lessons Sun Tzu tries to teach."
But Bob thinks this little fact that Keith quotes Sun Tzu might not be a coincidence. He has a strange feeling about it. A bad feeling.
Is this just paranoia? No. Bob hasn't needed to be worried about anything since the 1980s. Before the 80s, he was forced to lead a paranoid life.
Bob obviously has not told Jack everything. Bob has not told Jack that he has lived for a very long period of time. Even though, Jack is his current friend.
Bob has many good friends each "lifetime" he was in. So far, Bob thinks he has probably six different lifetimes.
Robert Smith is Bob. Bob is Robert Smith. This is still a secret. This is still something that only Bob and his ghosts know.
*** ** *** **
{The Past..., 1950s, Langley, Virginia, United States}
Thanks to the ghosts Robert Smith had absorbed into his head, he learned how to speak Chinese, Russian and other languages. Tao and other ghosts decided to stay with Robert Smith even though Robert was returning to the United States. This meant, Tao and other ghosts wouldn't be going back to China any time soon.
Robert did find a bottle for the ghosts.
"This is too small, Robert." One ghost immediately complained.
"Seriously? You are really formless. Weightless. Body-less. You really are nothing but a consciousness, right? Why would you think the bottle is too small?"
"The talking of each ghost is too loud!" That ghost said.
So Robert found another bigger glass bottle. Somehow, that helped the ghost to "spread out" and find a comfort zone.
As time goes on, a couple of ghosts finally asked to leave, so Bob helped them leave. One ghost left when Robert was on a mission to South Korea. The ghost said that was close enough for him to float back to where he needed to go. The other ghost left when Bob was on a mission to Canada. These two releases were quite the fun stories. But Robert had no one to tell the stories to.
Robert wished he could find a person to tell all his "ghost stories" to.
Tao comforted him and said: "You can always re-tell the stories to us. We understand your stories."
Robert lamented that he could not tell anyone about helping the ghosts go back, and he did feel a sense of loss after the two ghosts leave him. Even so, he did gain something in return. Every time he helped a ghost leave, his senses and strengths became stronger.
His secret powers were only known to one person in the CIA. But even for that person, Robert didn't really tell him the whole extent of it. That person just knew that Robert was very good at avoiding death and had hyper senses. But that person had passed away at this point.
Robert Smith's secret is a dead man's secret. Especially, he is also supposed to be a dead man.
He just knows he can NEVER, EVER, NEVER, EVER tell anyone.
But how did Robert Smith return to the US and became involved in the CIA?
Well, Robert was approached and was asked if he was interested in joining the Central Intelligence Agency. That was before the CIA was even established. It was just a thought at the time.
Robert was glad to be invited. Because Robert had become tired of the war during the War, ironically.
Especially, Robert knew the blind boy's life was ruined because of the war. Especially, he knew Duan died because of the war.
And most importantly, he saw what happened after the WWII. There was no justice. Some aggressors were punished. But not all of them. He also questioned how his own country handled everything after the war.
Robert found his own country to be a little unbearable, only looking out for their best interest and ambition.
He stayed in the military until the end of WWII. But after that, he just wanted out. He didn't want to contribute to more deaths and more injustices.
That's why Robert quickly joined the CIA, which is the beginning of his second legend. That's when he started a life of watching his back, and always suspecting if someone near him could be an enemy. A life that would slowly bring him to where he is now. Before he becomes who he is now, Robert had created many legends, obviously.