When finished, Alex ran his story through his mind, again and again, to see if he had let any incriminating detail slip.

Thankfully there were none. He kept his story general and to the point to satisfy the group and still stay safe.

“ok, that’s it for this session’s shares. Now you can go around the room, talk to each other, and have some coffee and cookies. We will continue after half an hour. Be sure to make up your mind about who you want as your sponsor by that time. Each of us could only sponsor three of you, so the faster you make up your mind, the better.”

Alex had already made up his mind; between the three sponsors, he loved number three’s method the best, and the fact that she hadn’t been caught even with all of her high-profile projects, showed that she knew how to clean her print. And that was something Alex needed to learn the most.

So he went straight to number three, who was drinking coffee and talking to number one and two.

“Ma’am, can I have a moment of your time, please?”

“yes, sure,” and they both went to a corner to talk.

“can you tell me what benefits you have over the other two as a sponsor?”

Though he had already made up his mind, he still wanted to make sure that he was making the right discission.

“pffff,” number three almost spilled the coffee in her mouth “what do you mean?”

“I think the meaning is pretty clear. Why should I choose you as my sponsor?”

“hehe, It seems like you got it all wrong. You are the one who should convince me to be your sponsor, not the other way around. Now tell me, why should I accept to be your sponsor?”

Alex was taken aback by her reply, “so you are saying that you can deny someone if you want?”

“that’s right.”

“And what happens to the ones without a sponsor?”

“Nothing much, but they are usually the first to get eliminated.”

Alex thought for a few seconds, ‘so if I could convince her only to sponsor me, I can eliminate two of the competition right off the bat.’

“As you may already know, I have a solid motive. You also won’t be disappointed with my targets. They are all people that did something wrong.”

“All of us have done something wrong. Killing is wrong. Lying is wrong. Even drinking milk out of the bottle is wrong. Give a reason that the others can’t give me.”

“I have nothing to live for,” said Alex with a conflicted tone “if you agree to sponsor only me, you can have total control over my life after I get my revenge.”

“oho. But why would I want your life?”

“. . . . .”

“if you want me to sponsor you and only you. Promise me that you will find a reason to live. I don’t want to sponsor/mentor someone who wants to die after he is finished playing.”

Alex hesitated a bit. He wanted to die so badly. The only thing that prevented him from taking his own life was the thought of revenge on the people that made his family’s life miserable.

“I agree on one condition.”

“That wasn’t a request, but go on,” said number three

“you have to give me access to all your kill profiles.”

“that’s doable. Ok, we have a deal. I agree not to sponsor any other person, and you agree not to commit suicide after you’re done with your revenge.” Said number three, and they shook hands “by the way, don’t expect me to plan everything for you. I would only help you with the theoretical stuff and nothing more.”

“I didn’t expect anything. I just need information, and your organization seems to be good at gathering it.”

After talking some more about how to proceed from there, the thirty minutes were up, and they went back to their seats.

About four other people went to number three for sponsorship in these thirty minutes, but she rejected them all.

In total, four out of the nine were sponsored, and the others were left alone.

“What should we do without a sponsor?” one of the remaining five asked

“you will still get a secure line to the organization for clearing your kills and getting information on your targets, but there won’t be any other kind of help. You were unable to convince us to sponsor you, and so you are on your own from now on.”

Number one then cleared his throat and said, “and don’t even think of going rogue. Remember that you are under 24/7 surveillance, and with the slightest hint of betrayal, you will be eliminated in the most painful way possible.”

Then one of the guards came into the room and gave a thick file to each one of them.

“These are the files we have on you; as you can see, there isn’t a single detail missing about your life,” said number three and encouraged them to take a look.

Alex opened his.

 

Name: Alex Adams

Age: 29

Date of birth: 22/9/1993

Father: Sam (adopted father) (deceased)   

Mother: Mary (adopted mother) (deceased)   

Wife: Kate Adams (deceased)   

Children: Anna Adams (deceased)

.

.

.

.

 

‘What does it mean adapted? Am I adapted?’ Alex wanted to refuse to believe it, but the other information was so detailed and correct that he couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe he really was adopted.

He was too shocked to notice that everyone was leaving, and he and number three were the only ones left in the room.

“Twelve, twelve, twelve …” number three called him a few times, but no answer came.

“Alex,” she shouted.

Alex broke out of his daze and looked around and saw that he was alone with number three.

“Sorry, were you saying something?”

“This is your secure phone; my contact number is already saved there. We also opened a bank account in your name and wired a million dollars in it.”

“what? a million dollars?”

“yes, if you seem too desperate, you will become the first suspect in the murder investigation. The detail about where you got the money and … is at the end of the file.”

“but what do I do with all this money?”

“The first thing is to get a better apartment; I will send you some locations to choose from. Then it would be best if you got a better job. I have already used some of my connections to get you an executive position in AZ corporation.

You don’t have to do much; it’s just a shell job; you only need to go to your office two times a week so others can see and vouch for you. Now go home and rest a bit; whenever you are ready, contact me.”