I walked into Club Europa, scanning the crowded room for Ava. We had planned to meet here, away from prying eyes and ears. I had met Nathan, aka Echo-1, earlier, and now I was eager to see if she can be a part of the team or not.
I spotted Ava at the bar, sipping a drink. She looked up, caught my eye, and smiled. I made my way over, nodding at her as I took a seat.
"Hey Ava!" I exclaimed in excitement.
"Hi Rowan. You surely are late for a guy who wants to find teammates and defeat William. Are you sure you can handle leading a whole team?" Ava said. She sounded like a strict boss scolding her employee.
"W-What do you mean I am late? I don't get it."
"So now you will act dumb huh? That's alright. Our meeting time was supposed to be 22.00 tonight, and what time is it right now? It's 22.06.... you are six minutes late Rowan." Ava said in a dominating manner.
"Oh come on!! Are you serious Ava? It's only 6 minutes, how the heck can you be so angry about it?" I asked, enraged by her comment.
"You really won't like me opening my mouth, Rowan. I wanted to meet you because I know about you. You stole the moon flag in perfectly timed 3 minutes with the help of Jennifer, and you are asking me the value of 6 minutes?That is totally unexpected from a guy like you, Rowan. I thought you were acting foolish to remain undercover but I guess I was wrong. You really are dumb, Rowan." Ava commented.
I was shocked and enraged at the same time by her comments on me and my past but I cannot say anything, after all she was right. So, without wasting a single second, I started talking about William. I mean he is the reason I and Ava are meeting today in the first place.
"So, Ava," I said, getting straight to the point. "Why did you want to meet me here? You got something to share?"
Ava raised an eyebrow. "Well I don't think I am willing to tell you about it anymore. In fact, you tell me what you know about william so that I can take him down."
"Oh really? And what exactly is the proof that you can really take him down? You got any team?" I countered Ava.
"Oh you bet I got a team much more responsible and disciplined than you. But don't worry, I am not here to make a scene, I won't waste my time like this if you weren't an important asset for taking William down. Now listen carefully, I have some horrifying news about William that I heard from my sources which can easily remove him from his throne." Ava said with confidence in her voice.
"Well, that is exactly something that I need to know. So, care to explain what it is?"
Ava nodded, her expression serious. "Sure, it is related to the quantum field project.The quantum field project is a research initiative to access and harness the energy of quantum fields. It's supposed to provide limitless clean energy as a means to fuel space travel and revive the venture."
I nodded, recalling my conversation with William. "I know about that. William himself told me about it. He said it would revolutionize space exploration."
Ava's expression turned skeptical. "That's what he wants people to think. But trust me, Rowan, that's just a cover story. The real project is much more sinister."
I raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "What do you mean?" Though Nathan already told me what it means, I think it will be better to just act dumb in case she tells something new or different.
Ava leaned in closer, her voice barely above a whisper. "The real goal of the quantum field project is to harness the field's energy to gain control over the city's infrastructure. William wants to use it to become the de facto ruler of this city, with absolute power over everything."
Just as I expected, so she has seen the files too. Well, if she can provide me with a team good enough to leak those plans, I don't think I should be worried about anything else.Then, there also is no use telling her about Nathan right now. He might be useful to me later.
"That's terrifying," I whispered. "We can't let him do it."
Ava's eyes flashed with determination. "We won't. But we need to be careful. William has eyes and ears everywhere, and if he suspects we're onto him, he'll stop at nothing to silence us.We need to stop William, but we can't do it alone.We need a team of experts who can help us infiltrate the lab,where his plans are stored, gather intel, and sabotage the project without getting caught."
I nodded, "if you can manage to get me a team within 2 days then I guess we can do something big enough to destroy Blackwood"
" What do you have in mind, Rowan?" Ava questioned.
"Well, let's just say I coincidentally found an entry card of one of the workers in the AI lab where William's plans are stored." I said
Ava exclaimed with joy "That's great. I also have a contact who works within the lab, someone who's been feeding me info about the project. They might be willing to help us from the inside."
I leaned in closer to make my voice clear in this loud music. "Okay, let's get to work. We need to gather our team and come up with a solid plan. We'll need someone with hacking skills to disable the nearby security systems and trap cameras, someone with engineering expertise to disable the project's infrastructure, and someone with tactical training to get us in and out safely."
Ava pulled out a small notebook and began jotting down names and skills. "I'll start reaching out to our contacts and assembling the team. We'll need to move quickly, before William realizes what's happening."
I stood "Let's do this. We'll take down William and his project, and we'll restore freedom to our city. Meet back here in two days at exactly this time, and we'll finalize our plan."
Ava nodded, tucking her notebook into her pocket. "Be careful, Rowan. William has eyes everywhere."
I nodded, and we parted ways, each of us knowing the risks and the stakes. We were about to take on the most powerful man in the city, and we might not make it out alive.
As I walked away, I felt a sense of purpose I hadn't felt since the moon flag theft. We were going to take down William, and we were going to free our city from his tyranny. No matter what it took.
2 DAYS LATER...
I walked into Club Europa, scanning the room for Ava. She spotted me and nodded, her eyes sparkling with excitement. We met at the bar, and she leaned in close.
"The team is ready, Rowan," she whispered. "We have our hacker, engineer, and tactical expert. They're all waiting for our signal to move."
I smiled, feeling a surge of excitement. "I've got some good news too," I said. "Here is the entry card with lab access approval. We can get in anytime we want."
Ava's eyes widened. "That's incredible! With that access, we can get to the heart of the project."
We huddled together, discussing our plan of action. "Here's what we'll do," Ava said. "Our engineer, Rachel, will disable the security cameras and alarms. Meanwhile, our hacker, Jax, will access the lab's mainframe and gather intel on the project's current status. He will then make it into the form of an extraction file and then we can leak it to the whole city within a few minutes."
I nodded, thinking it through. "And what about our tactical expert?"
Ava smiled. "James will provide overwatch, ensuring we have a safe exit route and can handle any unexpected security measures."
I grinned, feeling a sense of pride and determination. "Alright, let's do this.I hope I can trust this team you made, right?" I said jokingly. "Anyways,We'll meet at the lab entrance at midnight, ready to put our plan into action."
Ava nodded, her eyes locked on mine. "We're in this together, Rowan. We'll take down William's project and restore freedom to our city."
With our plan set, we parted ways, each of us focused on our role in the mission ahead. The clock was ticking, and we were ready to strike.
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