The more you know

Jack sat in a dimly lit metro on the way home, the flicker of passing station lights casting brief shadows across his face. The hum of the train was a steady undercurrent as he removed the small, mostly hidden Bluetooth earbuds from his ears. He slipped them into his pocket, releasing a faint sigh of relief as the carefully engineered white noise lifted, and he could hear—or rather, not hear—true silence again. For the past two days, he’d worked obsessively on them. A custom noise-cancelling loop tuned to the specific frequencies he had sampled from his own cue mixer software, in order to drown out any potential auditory traps he might have encountered at the Red Ears Bar—while still being able to hold a conversation.

It had proven to be a smart move. Even with the earbuds in, the emotionally manipulative rhythm of the bar's music had seeped through, tugging at his subconscious desires, gently coaxing him to belong. It hadn't been as overwhelming as it could have been, but he could definitely feel its pull—a reminder of how potent the soundscape truly was. Jack shuddered. He’d walked out of that place just in time.

Still, the fact that the seller—or, Samuel—seemingly hadn’t caught on to his precautions was satisfying. Jack was confident he’d outmaneuvered him, at least for now. Walking away with his mind mostly intact, the flash drive in his pocket felt like a prize, a tangible reward for being one step ahead. But what exactly had he agreed to by taking it? What kind of power was it really offering him?

He pulled out his phone, his fingers absently scrolling through the clean recording he'd captured from the bar, visualized audio waves dancing on the screen. He was planning to reverse-engineer it later, to dissect every layer of manipulation hidden in that music. Samuel had clearly perfected his craft, but Jack wasn’t far behind. He was determined to break it down, to understand its secrets.

His thoughts drifted back to the flash drive. Samuel’s taunting words played in his head—an invitation to “let loose” and have more fun. But this wasn’t just about fun. This was about control, power, the kind that could tip Jack over the edge if he wasn’t careful. The temptation gnawed at him. Could he resist it?

As the metro clattered on, Jack’s curiosity overtook him. He opened his browser and typed in Samuel's name, along with the Zhou sisters. It didn’t take long to find what he was looking for. Dr. Samuel Atan, former head of R&D at a shadowy healthcare tech firm known for cutting-edge research into neuro-imaging technology. The Cue Mixer project had been one of their most ambitious ventures—a device capable of subtly altering animal behavior through soundwaves. But a corporate takeover had put an end to that. The project team had apparently tried to convince the newly established board to extend funding, but had ultimately been fired and replaced, with a strict cease-and-desist order following close behind.

What the articles didn’t know—but Jack was now certain of—was that Dr. Atan hadn’t quite "desisted". He’d continued the research in secret, and Mia and Chun Zhou, his former colleagues, had apparently been left in the dust. They’d been part of the project too, fighting to preserve it before being ousted. The pieces were falling into place.

Jack stared at his phone, considering his next move. Samuel had power, far more than he was comfortable with, and Jack knew he needed to be careful. Letting Samuel gain any more leverage over him could be dangerous. And the sisters? It was obvious they were still in pursuit of the device, perhaps to reclaim what they saw as rightfully theirs. Jack frowned. He had no intention of getting caught in their crossfire, but there might be an opportunity here. The Zhou sisters didn’t seem to know how deep his involvement went yet. Maybe, just maybe, he could play both sides. Trap the sisters, neutralize the threat they posed, and extract whatever knowledge they had. They were a danger, yes, but they also held valuable information.

One thing was clear—he had to figure out how Samuel knew so much about him. He already knew his apartment was safe, it had come up clean when he'd diligently sweeped it after the break-in two days earlier. That meant someone was feeding Samuel information, and that channel needed to be cut off, or better yet, diverted. He’d have to be careful, play it smart, and avoid tipping his hand too soon. But first, he had to unravel the flash drive.

He felt the weight of it again, burning a hole in his thoughts. It sat in his pocket like a loaded gun, promising untold power. The temptation to use its power on his girls was undeniable. It was there, nagging at the edges of his self-control. His mind drifted, imagining what he could do with it. He imagined comfortably lounging on Rachel's couch in her private office, watching her as she seductively danced for him, fully nude except for a pair of professional-looking stilettos. He imagined Veronica kneeling at his feet, her head bobbing up and down as she eagerly sucked his cock. He imagined Leah and Sophie sitting on either side of him, wearing matching lingerie sets, one black and one white, caressing his chest, planting small, sensual kisses on his neck, his cheeks, his ears.

Fuck, that would be good. And with these new drivers... He knew it was possible, he'd seen it first-hand. But then, the sudden thought of Samuel's harem—sexy, submissive, but utterly devoid of personality—snapped him back to morality. He could resist, for now.

The train pulled into his station, and Jack got up, his mind still swirling with possibilities. He stepped off the metro, walking briskly toward his apartment. Whatever his next move was, it would require careful planning. But for now, his priority was to secretly crack Samuel’s system and, somehow, use it to his advantage without falling prey to the same forces that controlled those women at the bar.

The door clicked shut behind him as he entered his apartment. He tossed his jacket aside and sat down at his desk, pulling the flash drive from his pocket. He booted up a secure environment on his laptop. There was no turning back now.