Dark Reign: The Blood Ties.

It seemed it was yet again time for another one of these annoying meetings. This time, the location was inside that of a high-class restaurant, owned by the famous chef Tomoki Kuroki. A franchise, known for its quality cuisine as well as its fast-paced delivery. Apparently, it was one of the only restaurant chains that would deliver such exotic cuisine. Rated five stars by critics, and frequented by some flashy members of society. It was a well-known establishment within the city, and of course, a total front.

Hiroto had purchased this franchise long, long ago. He was the mastermind of its inception, and the creator of Tomoki Kuroki. His dirty money and bloody hands had a part to play every step of the way, and now he was the puppet master to the entire restaurant chain. No one knew about any of this besides his colleagues in the Blood Ties. Being the most careful of the bunch, there were no official traces of the restaurant being anything then it said it was. However, Hiroto didn’t mind using it and its wide reach to launder millions of dollars’ worth of dirty money for the group. It was the reason he managed to obtain his high position.

Naturally, a restaurant with such inflated prestige wasn’t nearly as impressive after hours. The normally splendid lighting and cheery atmosphere was gone in favor of a still, darker mood. The employees had all gone home, leaving the meeting to take place uninterrupted. The room they were supposed to congregate in was near the back of the building, something of a private serving room. Due to the restaurant’s popularity, it wasn’t uncommon for local businesses to have important meetings at the restaurant, and this room provided them with the privacy and silence for them to speak plainly to each other. It was no wonder why they were here for their status update.

The room wasn’t small, but the large table took up much of the space in the center. Everything was clean and tidy. The entire room smelled like a cleaning solution one might find at a store. Lemon and disinfectant lingered in the air, making Hikari wonder exactly what had happened in this room before it had been cleaned up.

At least this place had spaced out seating. It seemed Gregor and the Old Man had arrived early and already had chosen their spots at opposite sides of the table. They were mumbling to each other about odd things, likely making deals between each other. There was little doubt that the trio wanted nothing more than to get back to work making cash, but were stuck due to the incessant need to keep track of one another’s progress and plans.

“Why do we always meet at these tacky places? Hiroto always picks the stuffiest of rooms. I can hardly breathe in this place!”

Hikari didn’t mind butting into her colleagues' conversation as a way of an introduction. They had all known each other for sometime, and while they were by no means friendly to each other, they understood each other’s common feeling of irritation.

“I hear ya! This room is too damn small! Could barely fit through the fucking doors! What is this place made for? Toddlers?”

“NoT eVeryoNe...sHares youR paTic-uLAr coLLecTion of bUlk, Gregor. I mAde iT througH THe dooR with mY....chair JuSt fiNE.”

“Careful gramps, if you keep talking, you might hack up a lung. Friggin life support on your chair can only do so much.”

Hikari would take her seat a chair away from the old man. Gregor had been sweating profusely from what she could tell, the smell of blood still loosely hanging around him while mixing with his body odor. Between that, or the faint smell of medicine and cleaner, and the choices of whom to sit closer to becomes a no brainer.

“My My, Gregor. Is that your attempt at concern?”

“Hell no. Sooner you keel over old man, the sooner I get to take over your racket! Plain and simple!”

“HEh HeH HA HA HAAAAAH!!!! YoUr...cOnCernS abOuT my HealTH...ArE aPPreciATED, buT...ULTimately, I pLAn on LIVing a VerY lOng timE...dESPITE whAteveR you tWo have pLanneD.”

The room’s atmosphere was growing tense. Everyone was already irritable due to this meeting, and now even the small talk was starting to get out of hand. Everyone in that room knew how dangerous the others were. One wrong phrase or taunt could make an enemy out of the other, hurting themselves overall. They had a decent thing going so far, and while they each had individual agendas no one wanted to be the one that screwed it all up. Still, that didn’t mean they couldn’t scheme.

Just as the room began to fall into silence, Hiroto stepped in from out of nowhere. He remained silent up until he pulled a chair out from the head of the table, sitting in between Gregor and the Old Man. His normal, professional look was a bit messed up, and he used his fingers to comb his hair to the side before pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“Apologies for making everyone wait. I had to deal with a former employee of sorts...I promise that they won’t hold me up ever again.”

That may have been an attempt at humor, but knowing Hiroto and the type of business they all dealt with, it could just as likely have been a serious statement.

“Since we are all here, we may as well get started. I think since this is more of a...collaborative project, our exalted leader doesn’t need to be here or know about this. Can we all agree on that? Or do we have any objections?”

No one at the table had anything to say. Their leader hardly ever arrived at these meetings anyways, so they had grown used to being without his presence. None of them even had a clear idea who he was, despite being high level members of the Blood Ties. If they ever wanted to reach him, they had to go through a middleman, and even then the most they could get was a phone call or similarly distorted communication. If they wanted to meet him, they had to do so individually, and each had been granted a conference with him. No one in the room wanted to cross him, but neither would they bother him with trivial things like these meetings. Only Hiroto found enough ire in his heart to complain about such trivial things.

“Well then, we can finally talk about what exactly has been going on with our side project. Hikari, since this has become something like your expertise, care to start off?”

The woman in black sighed before standing up and began to rummage through her purse. What she pulled out was a file with documents and papers all printed up and arranged in a neat stack. She passed the first one down the table, then retrieved two more and did the same until everyone had a copy.

“Progress since we had begun working together on this “side project”p as you call it, has been astronomical. Before, we had only managed to get four of our people inside the federation. Now, with Gregor’s combatants and the competitors we were able to bribe, we have shored up our numbers to a much more favorable amount.”

“BuT...wHAt abOut...tHe STAff? FiGhters are wEll aND goOd...bUt iF thE StafF gEts wise, oR evEn susPiciOus, thEn we...wiLL hAvE a ProBlem.”

“I was getting to that...The number of staff we have under our control is difficult to determine. As you all know, the Synthetic Muscle Injected Liquid Enhancer, or simply the S.M.I.L.E drug I have developed makes the user susceptible to suggestion. If our agents inside have succeeded, then we should have various staff members either working for us willingly, or unknowingly. However, I haven’t received all of our agent’s reports...so until then, I can only confirm a few staff members under our control. Some in key positions...Referees, backroom staff...Security.”

Hikari let her colleagues look through the files she had given them, flipping through her own notes to refresh her memory on which talking point she wanted to cover next.

It would be Hiroto who broke the small bout of silence, grunting before flicking his eyes from the documents towards Hikari herself.

“I’m curious about something...I assume you let Gregor help you choose suitable candidates to approach. So I want to know what kind of criteria you two use to decide who is willing to work for us, and who wouldn’t. How are you sure they won’t blow any whistles on our plan? Last thing we need is police or authorities to get involved.”

“I can get this one.” Gregor never got to talk in these meetings unless it was to grunt or complain, so he seemed a bit excited to finally contribute to the conversation.

“The security in this place is honestly pretty shit! Their company’s network has such trash firewalls and security programs that any second rate hacker could break into their files! Finding their documents on their roster was an absolute cinch! It was like a grocery list of the worst of the worst in their network! Freaks, psychos, anarchists! It’s honestly a wonder no one else has tried this before! We find the baddest of the bad, pick em up, and get them to work!”

“Thank you Gregor, for explaining your process. I think Hiroto is much more interested in who has the final say.”

Gregor’s famous grin dampened a little, and he looked over at Hiroto who didn’t even spare him a glance. The bulky brute told everyone at the table to promptly inseminate themselves before crossing his arms and growling in irritation. Hardly anyone paid him any mind.

“While we do dig through the files of the combatants, we also perform our own searches to make sure we don’t leave anything up to chance. We tend to search for past criminal activity or even psychological evaluations when possible. As Gregor had said, the entirety of our targets system network is poorly managed and protected, letting us take what we need with ease.”

Hikari silently wondered if she should bring up that their target might be getting wise to their information hacking. Just yesterday, the entire site went through a huge boost in security features and firewalls. It took hours to break through it, wherein the cause seemed to be a complete revision of the site’s programs ordered by a new chief of security. Hikari doubted they had caught on to their plans yet, and it was likely just the new head of security blasting out orders like most Greenhorns showing their crew they were in charge. If Gregor didn’t mention it, neither would she.

“Thanks to our own targets files, as well as our own investigations, we have everything we need to make an informed decision on who is most likely to help us. Individuals with secrets to hide, debts that need paid, or have a lust for violence that we simply offer to satiate. I can’t say for certain they will stay with us once we take over, but for now, my candidate list has a ninety five percent success rate.”

Hiroto’s eyes narrowed, his neutral expression began to get pulled down into a frown as he leaned into his hands. His dead-fish eyes glared at Hikari from across the table as he brought up the one question she knew he would ask: “Only ninety five percent? What about the other five?”

The woman returned Hiroto’s fierce gaze without flinching. She simply slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out a small case that looked like a pencil set. It was locked but she was quickly able to open it up to reveal a syringe filled with a neon purplish liquid.

“The other five percent don’t get a choice in the manner. They are swiftly taken by nearby agents, and injected with my personal adaptation of the S.M.I.L.E formula. After one dose of this special blend, they want it more then they want oxygen to fill their lungs. A toxin that scrambles the mind, but not so much we can’t use them. I do prefer to make these clients an offer first, due to this drug hindering most of their useful attributes.”

The old man chuckled, and began to stroke his long white goatee in an inquisitive fashion.

“WHaT...ExaCtlY doES tHis...DrUG oF youRS DO, HiKaRi? SPeciFicaLLY?”

“The S.M.I.L.E drug, as you know, is a type of liquid steroid that piggybacks on the red blood cells and then enters the brain. Once inside, the specific chemical mixture releases a constant and heavy dose of both adrenaline as well as dopamine, giving the subjects increased strength and speed, while also making them reliant on the drug. As an added bonus, we developed the S.M.I.L.E drug using various parasitic organisms as an inspiration. Such organisms were the Leucochloridium paradoxum and the Toxoplasma gondii, both of which alters their hosts mind so that a natural fear, such as pain or the fear of a predator is near non-existent!”

“So you’ve created a drug that is not only a strength enhancer, but a type of fear destroyer?”

“Of sorts. In a way, I have created a synthetic parasite that suits our needs. It acts like a drug, but one better suited for private use, rather than street level production.”

“Damn! I was really getting into that until you said it was from some bugs. Shits nasty.”

“HeH HEH heH HEh! SOuNDS LikE a marVELous WEaPOn, HikAri!  YoU siMPly Must Give mE tHe FormuLA! I cAn thiNK oF So mANy reBLS that miGHT want tO HaVe a Taste oF SuCH PowER!”

“Give me a figure and we can talk about it, but for now, S.M.I.L.E is still in its testing phase.While everything is working as it should, I want to keep an eye on it for just a little longer. The very first batch of the drug was thought to be acceptable, until we learned it could be purged from the system rather easily.”

The others silently agreed with her, each one lost in their own minds as the door of possibilities suddenly swung right open thanks to this brand new drug. If it turned out to be a success, then this facility would only be the first step to a very profitable endeavor! Of course, if it was misused...it could be the end of everything.

“Well...I guess we have something to think about, now. Has there been any other issues you have had to deal with?”

Hikari only shrugged nonchalantly, her eyes rolling away towards the clock on the wall as she muttered, “Nothing really. All loose ends have been dealt with at this time. The new security chief might be a problem if they are any better than the last one, but I doubt it. One of ours has already been tasked to get them on our side, just in case. It shouldn’t be an issue either way.”

“Excellent. Well then, we will proceed as planned. We will continue recruiting staff in higher positions into our fold. Your drug will fill the rest of the needed personnel, and bring anyone who opposes us around to our way of thinking. Overall, it sounds like everything is going rather well.”[/b]

“That’s what happens when I have the proper resources to carry out the Blood Ties interests.”

“DoN’t bE SO suRe JUsT yeT! YoU YOuNGstERS aLWays gEt aHEad of YoUrselves! I...HaVE a feELIng abouT tHIs...and I Am NOT SuRE iF IT iS gOOD oR bAD! BuT...i caN tELL wHEn tHings aRE picKING up…wE muST RemaiN CAREFUL!”

“Sounds like you're about to die again.”

“Of course we will remain careful. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will this enterprise be so easily swallowed up, but cautious optimism is still cautious. The fact is that if everything goes this smoothly, then soon this AFW league will be nothing more than a footnote in a sports magazine!”

To be continued.