A bargain

The sound of knocking rattled Jack from the fog of an uneasy sleep, sharp and persistent. He groaned, rolling over in his bed and blinking at the digital clock that glowed an angry red—just past eight. Barely four hours since he’d **** himself to lie down after a long night of combing through the files on Samuel's flash drive.

His body felt heavy as he pulled himself up, every inch protesting the movement. He’d made some progress last night, but unlocking the drivers, carefully, without triggering any potentially invisible security traps had been painstaking work. Either way, so far he hadn't encountered any malware. His mind still buzzed with unresolved questions. Why had Samuel been so casual in handing him something with so much potential? And just how potent were the functions hidden beneath the layers of code?

Another series of knocks echoed through the apartment, this time louder, more insistent.

“Christ, give it a rest,” he muttered, pulling on a pair of boxers and trudging toward the door. Whoever it was, they clearly weren’t in the mood to wait.

Jack peered through the peephole, expecting a delivery or, at worst, a neighbor. Instead, he saw Veronica.

She wore a simple, black-and-white cropped long-sleeved shirt, and a black pair of tight, high-rise trousers. Her sleek, dark hair was slightly disheveled, and she carried an expression that was more impatient than her usual composed arrogance. It caught Jack off guard, but not enough to suppress a wry smirk.

He opened the door, deliberately standing in his boxers, casually, as if to signal that he hadn’t been expecting company—and certainly not her. For a moment, she hesitated, her eyes quickly scanning over his half-naked form, a flicker of something unreadable in her sharp gaze. But then, with a forceful shove, she pushed past him into the apartment.

“Veronica,” Jack started, rubbing the back of his head, trying to suppress his growing annoyance. “It’s Sunday, and it's early. What the hell are you doing here?”

She turned to face him, arms crossed defensively, but there was a tension in her stance that Jack hadn’t seen before. It was clear she wasn’t here for small talk. She avoided his gaze momentarily, seemingly uncomfortable. She glanced around his apartment, her fingers twitching nervously as if she was fighting to maintain her composure. Despite her efforts, her usual poise was strained, teetering on the edge of something ****.

“It’s, uh, I need a favor. Something only you can help me with,” she said, voice clipped. “It’s... urgent.”

Jack stared at her, leaning back against the doorframe, not closing the door yet. The last thing he wanted right now was a distraction. Especially not Veronica. He had work to do, and her storming in like this was already putting him in a bad mood. He couldn’t afford to lose time on some trivial issue she’d conjured up.

“Not sure why you think I’d be of any use to you,” he finally replied, shrugging. “I’ve got my own stuff to deal with. You're smart—whatever problem you have, I'm sure you can figure it out.”

Veronica’s eyes widened, and for a moment, she looked genuinely hurt. But then her demeanor shifted. Apparently determined not to take no for an answer, she edged closer to him. Her posture shifted, softening in an unfamiliar way, her usual sharp edges dulling. Her hand brushed against his arm, and Jack could see a faint tremble in her fingers. She was clearly trying to be seductive—tapping into the programming he had planted. But Veronica’s usual sharp, arrogant confidence clashed awkwardly with this new attempt at charm. It was almost adorable how clumsy she was at it, fumbling over her words, her movements too calculated to feel natural.

“Come on, Jack, I'm serious,” she insisted, her voice softening as she batted her eyelashes. “I... I can make it worth your while. Just—help me out here, okay?”

Jack frowned. Veronica, of all people, was not able to be convincingly seductive? He could barely stifle his amusement as she struggled to project the kind of sultry allure that she thought he wanted. He knew she had been influenced by the subliminals, but this felt ****, unnatural, and more than a little inexperienced.

Her hand moved to gently play with his chest hair, as she looked at him with big eyes—but it was more nervous than seductive. The calculated way she leaned in, the flutter of her fingers brushing his skin. It felt almost innocent, like she didn’t fully understand what she was offering. In a way, it wasn’t Veronica at all. She was usually on point, confident, someone who wielded control with the precision of a scalpel. But now?

Now she looked innocent, borderline naive. Wow, could she still be a virgin?

Veronica, sensing she wasn’t getting through to him, doubled down. She leaned in closer, pressing herself lightly against him. “I know you’re busy,” she whispered, her breath brushing his ear, “but maybe there's something I can do to convince you?” Her tone was almost charming this time, but she was clearly out of her depth.

“Veronica,” Jack sighed as he took a step back, although he was now more amused than irritated. “Look, this isn't working. I’ve got something way more important on my plate right now. What do you actually want?”

Her face faltered, frustration giving way to something more fragile, more ****. She dropped her hand, almost as if ashamed, and Jack could see a flicker of her pride crumbling.

“I—” She bit her lip, eyes darting away. “I was approached by these people. Scary people. They—they want something from me. Something I think you can help with.”

Jack paused, registering the shift in her tone. There was a different kind of desperation now, something real. He was almost intrigued, but his patience was thin. He had Samuel's flash drive waiting for him. The experiment. The bigger picture. He didn’t have time to babysit Veronica through some vague threat. If it was important, he was sure he'd hear about it again some other time.

“Look,” Jack began again, running a hand through his hair. “I’m not interested in playing your little games, alright? If someone’s giving you trouble, go to the cops or handle it yourself.”

He turned, heading toward his desk but leaving the door open, signaling that the conversation was over. But Veronica followed, her steps quicker this time, her voice catching slightly as she spoke.

“I can’t, Jack. They threatened me—these two super intimidating women, they... they know about your experiment. About the audio files.”

Jack stopped cold, his grip suddenly tightening on the chair he was about to sit in. The Zhou sisters. He turned slowly, his interest piqued.

“They attacked me,” Veronica continued, a flash of fear passing through her eyes. “This night. They kept pushing me to tell them what I knew. And I wanted to tell them. But... I couldn’t. Something kept stopping me. I couldn’t explain it.”

Jack knew exactly what had stopped her. His fail-safe subliminals, embedded deep in her mind, had built walls she wasn’t even aware of. Veronica was, unknowingly, his pawn, locked into a pattern she couldn’t break. He silently thanked his past self for being careful.

He took a moment, thinking. If the Zhou sisters had targeted her, it meant they were still close. He needed to figure out how much they knew—and fast. Why Veronica? If they'd gotten to Veronica, were the other girls also threatened? And, more pressingly, did they follow Veronica back here?

Still, he didn’t let on. He could use a favor from Veronica, and he decided to risk pushing his bluff a little further before closing the door and finding out what was really happening. He crossed his arms, tilting his head as if unimpressed. “So, what? What do you want from me?”

Veronica’s shoulders slumped. She was losing the battle, the cool confidence she usually coasted on draining away. For the first time since he'd met her, her icy exterior was melting, and Jack saw her as... ****. Maybe even a little broken.

“I... I need you to help me figure out what they want to know, and how to tell them,” she said softly, her voice trembling. “I can’t... I can’t handle this on my own.”

Jack studied her for a moment, feeling the power tilt heavily in his favor. She had tried so hard to maintain control, to seduce him, to get him on her side. But now, she stood there, helpless. The shift in dynamic was almost intoxicating.

For a moment, a final flash of frustration shot across her face, as if she was about to say something cutting. But then, her bravado faded. She looked up at him with soft, almost **** eyes. She took a step closer, pleading once more—a Hail Mary. “Please, Jack. I’ll do anything. Whatever you want. Just... help me. Please?” Her voice cracked slightly.

Jack smiled. Veronica herself, offering to be whatever he wanted her to be. “Anything, huh?” he said, his tone deliberately teasing, recognizing the cliché. He watched her reaction carefully, waiting to see just how far she was willing to go.

Veronica nodded earnestly, her earlier traces of arrogance completely stripped away. For the first time, she was offering herself in a way that wasn’t calculated or manipulative—she was just genuinely surrendering to him. There was something intriguing about seeing Veronica in this state, and he wondered just how far he could push her if he played his cards right.

More importantly, he needed to find out just how close Mia and Chun were to discovering him. The flash drive and his experiments with Samuel's tech would have to wait a few hours.

“Alright,” he said, finally moving to close the door. “I’ll help you. But let’s make sure you understand the terms of this little agreement.”