p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"emuChapter 1: New Opportunities/u/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;"emWe begin with over a dozen people from all walks of life wearing only grass skirts and black, red and yellow tribal paint on their faces as a tribute to the Angolan flag. They're performing a percussion dance ritual by hitting talking drums and djembes in perfect sync with each other. To the casual music listener, it means very little. To the educated ear, it's a dance of prosperity./em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""emWhen storage units are abandoned, in the continent of light. The treasures within are put up for Auction."/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"We see a montage of people on the show set to an African percussion version of "Money owns this town." starting with David Green and Keith Early slowly walking out of a parking lot while a gold graphic that reads "Os empresários de segunda mão (The second hand businessmen)" is shown on the bottom of the TV screen./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""emThere's a lot of new places opening up here, let's get them started"/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Continuing with Pat Askin and Jon Bruneau who are passing the time before the auction by reading pricing guides for comic books while a gold graphic that reads "Os amadores (The hobbyists)" displays on the TV screen./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""emEveryone collects something, we collect everything."/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Carrying on with Jen Lemons getting out of a limo while a gold graphic that reads "A cadela (The bitch)" on the bottom of the screen./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""emI don't actually need to buy lockers, I just like making people with less money than I go bankrupt."/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"We cut to shots of each of the /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"bidd/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"ers making their signature /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"bidding/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" call/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"s /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"(/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Keith Early/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" making /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"an American military salute /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"at the auctioneers/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;", /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Jon/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" shout/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"ing "/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Excelsior/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"!" while /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Pat/span/span span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"nods/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;",/span/span span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Jen/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" raising her hand /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"in front of her competition's face /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"in an effort to block THEIR bids/span/span span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"and we wrap the opening credits with /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Da/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"n /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"the auctioneer/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" shouting "/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Sold", Laura shouting "Don't forget to pay the lady" and John saying "And don't even think of not paying"/span/spanemspan style="text-decoration: none;")/span/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"We begin our episode with John Luke driving inside a 2016 Black Honda Pilot. The camera is located in the rear passenger seat, pointing at John but not getting in the way of his driving./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""span style="font-style: normal;"We're on our way to /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Moishe's/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" in /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Luanda/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;", it's /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"1 of the first and only storage facilities in all of South Central Africa/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;". /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"They actually started in my native New York, so I'm thrilled that they expanded this far out in the world./span/span span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"35 years ago, Former President Ronald Reagan said that he wanted America to be a shining light on top of the hill to the world. Once the Soviet Union collapsed, a lot of third world countries began emulating America, That's why I moved out here. So did my 2 partners/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;""/span/span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"John politely waves to a city bus passing by. A blonde lady with a cell phone mounted onto a black selfie stick (complete with duct tape keeping it together on several different points) is then shown on the screen:/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Laura here, on my way to Moishe's. Cars are a status symbol for the rich on this continent. I can't afford it and really, with the public transit system here being among the best in Africa, I don't see much point in buying one even if I did have the money to spend on it"/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Laura's smile changes to a look of anger as a 2019 Tesla Model X whizzes by the bus, causing the bus to almost veer off Mandela Street into a lap post. The camera then switches to said Tesla, with a gentleman driving it dressed in a black Versace dress shirt and navy blue pinstripe pants./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Dan Dotson here, hoping I beat John and Laura to the auction. John may be the de facto leader of our little group, but my lockers sell the best" announced Dan as your TV cuts to a montage of Dan selling about half a dozen lockers in succession wherein his commissions total well over a quarter of a million Angolan Kwanza (over $10000 U.S.)./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Dan arrives at Moishe's before the crowd even starts arriving. Dan nervously smiles at the young man behind the counter. A recently single blonde haired man named Nicola who Dan knows is gay. Of course, with his 5 "11', 225 lb. Frame (that was 6% body fat at most), Dan could understand why other men found Nicola attractive, even if Dan himself was heterosexual./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Hey Nick, how many units do you have for us to sell today?" asked Dan as Laura entered the building with John close behind./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Nick looks straight down at the paperwork in front of him and replies "3 lockers today, 1 for each of your team. Considering that we only have 100 lockers in the facility, I'm amazed it isn't even less than that"/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Dan nodded in agreement, then looked at a map that Nicola provided for him (even though John and Laura were also staring at it by now), with John saying "Laura, lead off with the big one. I'll go last, Dan you're in between"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Sounds good to me, I'll hold on to the hedge cutters to break the locks off. Unless you 2 doubt a lady's strength" said Laura (to the sight of John and Dan shaking their heads quickly, not wanting a fight to start)./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Your TV screen then cuts to a shot of John sitting on a black folding metal chair in front of a bunch of moving boxes (obviously superimposed via a special effects shot placed digitally on top of a green screen):/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Obviously Dan and Laura like each other and are hiding it behind being enemies, stick around"/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(back to the show)/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"A phone then rings, leading Nicola to bow, then quietly excusing himself in order to do his job. Dan heads outside to find that the black gate adjacent to the right of the main office is still closed, leading him to walk back inside and flail his arms around to get Nicola's attention. Once he had it, he pointed west to let him know that the gate was still closed. He gave a thumbs up and blew Dan a kiss (while still on the phone), and pushed a button to open the gate. Dan shook his head in discomfort, then walked very quickly back out to survey the crowd. There are over 100 buyers in total not even counting the bidders that had yet to be profiled by the AE network (as morning auctions are very popular on account of having more time to unload what you purchase). John is looking very antsy until a limousine arrives. The driver (dressed in an all grey chauffeur's uniform, complete with an ascot hat gets out of the front driver's side door, jogs to the rear passenger side of the vehicle, then opens the door to reveal a blonde haired girl wearing a black Gucci business suit, the driver then holds her pink umbrella./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Damnit Oscar, I almost had to wait for you to open my door" replied the girl, staring at him, very disappointed in him./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Sorry, Miss Lemons. Do you plan to buy any lockers today? Or do you just want to bid up everyone else?" asked Oscar./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""OSCAR! I refuse to discuss my strategies in public" shouted Jen./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(Cut to the green screen)/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Not really in the mood for buying today. I think I'll run everyone else up like I usually do. I don't really gauge how much I jack up the prices based on what I think is in their wallets, but how much I think they're willing to spend on each locker. And that varies from locker to locker. One time I did make it 0, as even I have standards"/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(Cue a clip from the last episode of the previous season where there was nothing in the locker other than a dead spider, back to the show)/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Jon and Pat then arrive in the parking lot, in a modified 2015 Plymouth Town and Country minivan (modified to not have any middle or rear seating of any kind). They're both wearing very inappropriate black leather jackets, black t-shirts and dirty acid-washed blue jeans./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""What's the game plan today?" asked Pat./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Small units only. 5 by 10 lockers are kind of the biggest we can unload in 24 hours and even then, we'll likely need to do multiple trips in order to succeed" replied Jonathan./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(Cut to the green screen)/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""We don't have our own hobby shop as it's too much overhead. Our main sells online are Comic books, toys and Magic cards. Personally, I'd like to expand to include other geek apparel in order to diversify our demographic, but it's really in what other people have left behind." stated Jonathan./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"A Uhaul then arrives, being driven by Keith Early with David Green in the passenger sheet. They get out wearing matching Black coveralls./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Bigger the better?" asks David, Keith silently nods./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(Cut to the green screen)/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""We just had a warehouse sale over the weekend, and we need to fill it back up again quickly to keep stores and other businesses happy" stated Keith somewhat emphatically./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Dan, Laura and John then approach the crowd with John making the Pre-auction announcements:/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""OK folks, listen up. We're going to open the room, you're going to get a couple of minutes to inspect the room. Don't even THINK about touching what's in the room, or going inside. This is a Cash only sale. U.S. dollars and Angolan Kwanza will be accepted at a ratio of 25 Kwanza to 1 American dollar, who's ready?" shouted John./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Nós somos (We are)" shouts the crowd./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Vendido (Sold)" replied John./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Vamos lá, vamos lá, vamos! (Let's go, let's go, let's go)" added Dan./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""E não se esqueça de pagar a senhora! (And don't forget to pay the lady!)" finished Laura./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"emuChapter 2: Angolangles/u/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Laura cut the lock off the first locker, then opened the door without any help from Dan or John. It was a 10 foot by 20 foot locker that despite being unopened for 90 days, had no dust on any of the surfaces. There was a couple of antique desks, armoires, dressers, hope chests, all made of wood and at least 65 years old./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Not our type of locker, but very high end. We'd be stupid to not at least try to get this" whispered Pat. Jon nodded, saying nothing./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I know we're supposed to be your competition. But as long as we can keep the locker away from Jen the rich bitch, I don't care who among us gets it" declared David while staring at Jon and Pat. The 2 of them and Keith nodded in silent agreement./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Wow, a locker that almost appeals to my personal tastes" said Jen out loud./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(Cut to the green screen)/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I never thought we'd be pooling our dollars and Kwanza together with the geek brigade, but Porro (Fuck) it" said Keith./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""span style="font-style: normal;"How cute, the 4 /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"friends of Aaron/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" who weren't in the War of Philadelphia Island think they can battle the one bidder who was" is all that Jen can reply, /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"completely dismissive of nearly everyone/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"./span/span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"We go back to Laura, who's brain is running rampant with ideas as to how to spend her commission /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"that she will earn/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" from this locker. She was even struggling to come up /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"with a number for her opening bid for a moment until a/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"fter the last of the onlookers had finished /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"looking at its' contents/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;", /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Laura/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" grinned, /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"cleared h/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"er/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" throat and began with: /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;""/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"I'm just gonna cut the Merda (Shit), do I hear 1000 U.S, dollars or 25,000 Kwanza/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"?"/span/span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"Jen wanted to make a statement, so she raised her hands in front Jonathan and David G. with a passive-aggressive "2000, Madam." (which lead to a lot of the crowd immediately walking away, knowing they were already out of the running)/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""Thank you Miss Lemons, do I hear $2250?" asked Laura (silently happy that if anything, her opener was actually too low)/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"David G., Keith, Jonathan and Pat looked at their combined pool of money, with Jonathan shouting "Excelsior", which Laura smiled and carried on seamlessly "Thank you Birdman, do I hear $2500?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"Jen laughed and shouted "3000 Dollars!"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"Keith nodded at Pat as a sign of genuine respect, then Pat shouted at Laura "$3250, Ma'am."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""ALRIGHT, DO I HEAR $3500" shouted Laura (while John and Dan were shocked, as this was the biggest locker in Laura's life, on this Aaronworld anyway)./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"Jen had gotten even more interested once the bidding got jumped up, as she didn't think the "Askin and Bruneau's Early Green" alliance had 2 grand between all 4 of them, much less 3500. She nodded at Laura, wanting to save her voice for future lockers./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""$3500, do I hear $3750?" asked Laura./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""You do, Madam." replied David G./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""3500 going once, going twice..."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"Jen nodded while staring at Laura, saying nothing else./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""3750. Do I hear $4000?" asked Laura/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""We'll pay the lady." replied Keith./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""4000 going once, going twice..."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"Jen nodded again, the 4 boys were all getting a bit nervous./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""4000. Do I hear $4500?" asked Laura, knowing that she can now go $500 at a time until the end./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""Excelsior" replied Jonathan./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""4500 going once, going twice." said Laura, wondering when it'll end. Jen once again raises her arms in the way of the boys and out shouts "5000, YEAH!"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Jonathan shakes his head at the other 3 guys and Laura "5000 going once, going twice...And it's SOLD! To Jen for $5000 U.S. or 125000 Kwanza. Onto locker #2." declared Laura as she and Jen shook hands. Jen then stared at all 4 of them and said simply "I'd have gone to 10000, just to see all 4 of you cry and shit your fucking pants"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(Cut to the green screen)/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I may have to take them a little more seriously from now on" says Jen, almost respectfully./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(back to the show)/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Dan cut the lock off the second locker, then opened the door with help from John. It was a 10 foot by 10 foot locker that was dusty enough for everyone to know it was closed for a long time, but not enough to trigger anyone's allergies. It was very unorganized with everything inside, but not enough for anyone to think it was left behind by a hoarder./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""If there's any collectibles in it, it's so scattered about it would take us too long to find anything" whispered Jon. Pat needed a moment before he simply whispered "Pass"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I already exceeded my quota today, but anyone who wants it is paying the bitch tax" declared Jen while making sure no one other than the cameraman heard her./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Worth a small gamble, but nothing more" said Keith out loud./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(Cut to the green screen)/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I saw something shiny and sharp in the front of the locker, my instinct tells me that there's more to this locker than meets the eye" blurted David G./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(back to the show)/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"We go back to /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Dan/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;", who's /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"calm enough to know which bid to open/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" with: /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;""/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Do I have /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"5/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"00 U.S. dollars or /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"12/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;",/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"5/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"00 Kwanza/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"?"/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"David raised his hand and boasted "500, Sir."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""Thank you Mr. Green, do I hear $600?" asked Dan (knowing he likely wouldn't pass a grand)/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"Jen, amused, made sure to stare at Dan and nod as she gave David and Keith the middle finger. Dan took it in stride and replied "Thank you Miss Lemons, do I hear $700?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"David G. shouted "700 Dollars, Mr. Dotson!" which caused Keith to look pissed at him as Jen shouted at Dan "$800, Sir."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""Are we going to 900?" shouted Dan (happy that he might be wrong in his guess as to how far the bidding will go)./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"Jen started cackling in laughter as Keith and David G. Began arguing, then Keith shrugged and said "$900, Mr. Dotson"./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""$900, do I hear $1000?" asked Dan./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""You do, Sir." replied Jen./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""1000 going once, going twice..."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"David G. Then blurted out "1100, sir"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""1100. Do I hear $1200?" asked Dan/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;""Nope, can't win against crazy." replied Jen./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"11/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"00 going once, going twice...And it's SOLD! To /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"David G. And Keith/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;" for $/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"11/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"00 U.S. or /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"275/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"00 Kwanza. Onto locker #/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"3, Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"." declared /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"Dan/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;" as he shook hands /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"with Keith first, then David G./spanspan style="text-decoration: none;". Jen then stared at /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"everyone/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;" and said simply "/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"Enjoy your /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"$/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"1100 in trash bags/spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"" /spanspan style="text-decoration: none;"as she walked away/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(Cut to the green screen)/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Or maybe I won't be taking the boys seriously, as that room can't be more than $600" says Jen, very disrespectfully./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(back to the show)/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"John cut lock #3 and threw up the door himself. It was a 5×5 interior unit that was almost completely empty, save for 1 small black metal lockbox in the back left hand corner on the dusty floor./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""This should take you about...1 second." surmised John to the crowd of buyers, many of whom just shook their heads and began going home en masse, not even caring who bought the locker./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"As with any auction, different buyers see different things:/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Not even worth making anyone pay the bitch tax if it goes beyond 5 bucks" whispered Jen, knowing even her ego had limits./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""We'll make the opening bid, anyone else bids us up, we're out." mumbled Keith to David G, who nodded in agreement./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Pat on the other hand, focused more attention on the gamble. As opposed to the others, who were looking more disciplined. He then took Jonathan aside and asked: "Can we go $50, or just bail on the auction now like a lot of the others?" Jon and Pat exchanged fist bumps./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"After the last of the onlookers had finished, John gulped his throat and began with his speed: "20 bucks, do I hear $20 or 500 Kwanza?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Yes sir!" replied Keith./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Screw this, I'm heading to the office to settle my bill. I'll meet you losers there" said Jen./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Here's our chance" whispered Pat./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""$40, Mr. Luke, Excelsior!" shouted Jonathan. Even Keith and David left by this point./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""$40 going once, going twice, SOLD! To Pat and Jonathan. Thank God!" blurted out John, who was actually expecting a no sale./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""That concludes our sale and don't forget to pay everyone" shouted Laura, but only as a force of habit./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"emuChapter 3: Opening Angola's box/u/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"All 5 /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"of the /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"bidders/span/span span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"settled their bills fairly quickly, with Jonathan and Pat returning to their virtually empty locker /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"before any of the others, /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"as there was less paperwork with fewer contents/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"./span/span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(Cut to the green screen)/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Not much mystery here, folks. Either we luck out with the lockbox or we're out $40 as it won't take us more than 5 minutes to walk back to the van from here." said Jonathan./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I think we're just going to drop the box onto the ground from a few feet up in the air to smash it open as there's no lock to cut off or key laying on the ground." added Pat./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(back to the show)/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"It was Jonathan who dropped the lockbox, as he was taller than Pat by nearly a foot. The lockbox smashed itself open /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"with dozens of plastic cases holding metal circular disks inside of them./span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Good god, we found a small coin collection. At worst, we've made our money back if they were minted within our lifetimes" exclaimed Pat, excited. Jonathan picked a few coins at random and began looking at them./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I don't recognize the writing on the front of these coins. So, they're not from any English, French or Portuguese speaking countries. There are words consistent with each coin I look at so they're all from the same country, so that's a start."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Pat looked at a coin himself, and a look of terror came across his face. "Well dude, I just saw the Black Panther logo and the word 'T'Challa' written on one of them"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""span style="font-style: normal;"Jesus Christ, we found Wakandan /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"currency?" asked Jonathan./span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Unless they're counterfeit. Look, they're not isolationists anymore. We won't be killed if they're real and they find out about us having them. I suggest we take these to the Wakandan embassy and NOT to our coin guy" offered Pat. Jonathan nodded after a moment's thought./p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""You better be right about this" stated Keith as both he and David G. Opened their locker: David G. Then immediately walked inside, no longer bound by the limits of the auction. He pulled out a large kitchen knife, making sure to point the blade downward and away from Keith as he began talking: "This is a Henckels Professional S Chef Knife, 8 inches long. One of the top knifes in the restaurant industry. Even used, it's $100. If we find some more of these or some other restaurant equipment in the locker, we're in business."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Keith had made a special arrangement with Moishe's (cost him a quick $50) to have a dumpster moved so that it was sitting 6 feet away from the locker entrance. Most of this scene was David G. And Keith taking turns throwing garbage bags into the dumpster after quickly going through each one, periodically finding something that interested them, David G. In particular./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Here's a Wusthof Ikon Santoku knife, 7 inches long, about $125. Both Henckels and Wusthof have been in Germany for over 2 centuries so who ever owned this locker didn't care about their rivalry."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Keith was actually impressed, saying "Sounds like you were a chef in another life"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Or another Aaronworld. Anyways, this was Germany's version of the knives that they use in Japan. Note that the blade is thinner and longer than the Henckels, and the curved handle might feel better in your hand"/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Keith did note it, and they resumed throwing out the trash bags. It didn't take long for David G. To find another knife./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""This is a Messermeister Meridian Elite Stealth Chef Knife, 8 inches long. It's a more modern German knife making company but they actually forge these babies from hammer dropping, which was how they were forged in the old country. Oh, that's another $125" said David G./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""What about this blade here? It's another Messermeister from what I can read, but with a traditional wooden handle that the other 3 blades that we've found don't have" asked Keith, holding another one in his hands./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Yes, synthetic handles are the norm in restaurants these days. But traditional wood is making a comeback. This is a Messermeister Oliva Elite Stretch knife, 9 inches long. Olivewood handle, stainless steel blade. We can get $175 for this one, easily." said David G. With a smile. Then he pulled out another knife and proclaimed "This is a Global Santoku knife, 7 inches long. This is a Japanese company but their steel treatment methods are very Western. Note the golf ball style handle with the tiny round holes all over it. These guys made a name for themselves in the 1980's for being high-quality, affordable and visually pleasing. Anthony Bourdain has one of these in his kitchen right now. That's another $100"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""This one has dimples in it" declared Keith, handing it over to David G. David G. Smiled as he stated "This my friend, is a Mac MTH-80 Pro series knife with dimples, 8 inches long. Japanese blade style with their harder and thinner steel with a Western blade shape. Not as stylish as the Global one, but I promise it's sharper. Another $125."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"There were no more knives to be found, but the shine of metal permeated increasingly as more and more trash bags were thrown out. Culminating in Keith's mouth opening, then staring at David./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Don't look at me, this is a commercial oven and grill combo. We better take it to a guy, because this will put us in the black, I just don't know by how much off hand"/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I doubt there will be any surprises. They seem to have left all the drawers empty. If this is being written down, I doubt I'll be taking anything to get appraised as well."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Jen then points to an armoire, desk, dresser and hope chest, all off-white and art deco inspired and exclaims "These are all circa 1950 with much of the original paint still intact. I'd put each one at about $1000."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Then she pointed everything else in the locker: 1 Armoire, 1 desk, 1 dresser, 1 hope chest and 3 book cases, then continuing "These are all black, older (as in circa 1935, tops), better kept and more in-line with pre-world war 2 Africa by design. The carvings are consistent with the Portuguese colonization at the time. A museum will likely take each of these off my hands for $12000-$16000 altogether. I better get Oscar to phone me a Uhaul."/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"She then moved to the back of the locker, after noticing something moving with the wind. She actually gasped/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I stand corrected, we've got artwork. Stay tuned"/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""You're not trying to take my commission, are you?" demanded Laura, sounding angry./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Not at all, in fact I'm happy for you for getting a taste of my kind of life" replied Dan, slightly sarcastic./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Laura moved towards Dan, ready to fight him, they ended up kissing passionately. John walked in, and immediately walked out after both Laura and Dan began staring at him awkwardly. John then found the nearest camera and said: "I told you so"/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"emuChapter 4: Angolappraisals/u/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""span style="font-style: normal;"We're here at restaurante pimms in the north side of Luanda. Hoping to cook ourselves until we're blackened in profits" said David G. In the green room /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"in a pre-recorded segment/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"./span/span/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"David G. And Keith are waiting in the /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"main /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"dining area of a post-modern /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Vegetarian/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" restaurant. The decor is very right in orange, yellow, red and black painted woods with holograms displaying management giving orders to the serving staff. Someone in a grey suit comes out to greet them: Tall, but only medium build, /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"closely cropped greying, brown hair/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"./span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""span style="font-style: normal;"Good evening gentlemen, you may call me Mr. Fernandes" he said seriously /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"as he shook each of their hands./span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""span style="font-style: normal;"We found /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"these knives and/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" this commercial range in a storage locker, we don't know anything about it." said Keith./span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Mr. Fernande/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"s/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"'/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" attention was primarily on the range: /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;""Let's see: Half flat-top, half infrared grill, enough cubic feet to feed a couple of platoons. Surgical steel, CPU-controlled ventilation system on top, /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"can run on solar, geothermal or hydroelectric power. It's about 5 years old, but looks like it's in perfect shape. Very impressive gentlemen, in fact, my place can use an upgrade." said Mr. Fernandes./span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""For the right price, it's yours" said David G. As Keith nodded in agreement./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""10 grand, U.S. currency. Plus another grand for the knives you have. This offer expires in 3 seconds, no negotiation" said Mr. Fernandes./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""span style="font-style: normal;"We'll take cash" said Keith with a smile. /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Joe shook their hands again, allowing a tiny smile to appear across his face./span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="CENTER"*/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="CENTER" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"We're inside the Wakandan embassy in downtown Luanda. Normally, we'd make some sort of joke or play on words in an effort to get you, the audience, to laugh at home. But quite frankly, we're terrified for our lives. The last thing we need is to be falsely branded as thieves by a country we've never been inside" said Jonathan. Pat was completely mute. A bald woman wearing a red and gold /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"long/span/span span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"dress/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" carrying a spear (presumably made of vibranium) approached them. Jonathan and Pat bowed, hoping to show respect without giving into their fears./span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Gentlemen, this is not a formal ceremony, bowing is not required" she said politely, but firmly./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""span style="font-style: normal;"What's with the hardware then?" asked Jonathan, making sure to retain eye contact /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"while pointing at the spear./span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""This embassy is Wakandan soil, I am the commander of the entire Wakandan armed forces and intelligence agencies. It would be unwise of me to lower my spear." she replied./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Forgive me for saying so but, despite your Wakandan heritage, you're in fact following the diplomatic philosophy of former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt: Speak softly, but carry a big stick" offered Pat./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"The general was caught off guard by that, only being able to respond with "Fair point. My name is Okoye. You are Jonathan Bruneau and Pat Askin. You're both a long way from your native Canada, gentlemen."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Both Jonathan and Pat nodded /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"(not surprised that she knew their names and places of birth already)/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;", with Jonathan replying "Our line of work works best in societies where traditional and social conservatism goes hand in hand with political and economic right-libertarianism. We don't even know if this property is lost or stolen. If it is either, especially the latter, it is our privilege to return it to you/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"r country/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"."/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Frank Meyer would be proud of both of you boys." said Okoye with a smile, referring to the American economist of whom would inspire Ronald Reagan's political platform, then added "Our leader in Economics is unfortunately in New York City assisting in the transition of Wakandan corporations to the New York Stock exchange. But we have an appraiser in place for you. I must ask you to leave all of your cameras and electronic devices behind, with me."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Jonathan and Pat nodded in agreement with Okoye immediately, /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"understanding Wakanda's trepidations/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;". /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"They were then shown into a conference room where they were stunned by all of the Wakandan holographic artwork in the room. It showed a history of the Black Panthers dating thousands of years, with T'Chaka being last./span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""span style="font-style: normal;"Our condolences regarding your father, your highness" blurted out Jonathan /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"as he stared /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"upward/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;". A figure dropped down from the ceiling, dressed in a black and purple vibranium catsuit. /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"He unmasked immediately./span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Very observant of you, Mr. Bruneau. You observe like a great bird" said T'Challa, the Black Panther./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="text-decoration: none;""/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"So I've been told, your highness." Jon whispered./span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Wait a minute, shouldn't you be..." started Pat./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Turned to dust?" finished Black Panther. Pat and Jonathan nodded. "That is the Black Panther of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one timeline among many. Here, I am very much alive, as you can see. You 2, are part of something much bigger than yourselves. Long overdue, for you, Mr. Bruneau. Mr. Askin, you seem to be a more recent addition to the multiverse. Thing is, if Aaron-prime is already in the afterlife, you shouldn't even exist."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I'm guessing not all versions of Aaron are gone and if we have freewill in the multiverse, he has freewill to move us around into other Aaronworlds as needed" said Pat, who was clearly caught off guard by everything in the situation. The Black Panther nodded, then said "Back to the matter at hand, our coins, please?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"span style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"Jon handed the collection over, the Black Panther began: "When we opened our borders, we made these coins as a gesture of goodwill, but then scattered them, in secret, to all of the other nations of the world. Th/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"e owner of this storage locker likely figured /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"that/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" out and began collecting them, which is /span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;"their/span/spanspan style="font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: none;" right. Each coin has been scientifically measured to have 1 gram of vibranium in each one. The going rate for vibranium on the free market is $10000 U.S. a gram. Between the coins you have collected here, and your silence so that we can redistribute the coins..."/span/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"The Black panther paused for a moment to think, then said "$10 million U.S. each sound good?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Throw in Wakandan passports and a free apartment for each of us?" asked Jon./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Black Panther nodded, then Jonathan nodded, then Pat nodded./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="CENTER"*/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="CENTER" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""I'm at the Museum of Natural History in downtown Luanda. I hope these paintings get me ready for my portrait." says Jen with a smile at the green screen./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Good Afternoon, Miss Lemons. It's rare we get to show you our gratitude for your generous donations over the last 2 years." said a woman in her early 40's dressed in pink and grey business attire with a gold name tag with the word "Gladstone" stamped on it./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(Cut to the green screen)/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""What? The bitch can be kind with her money sometimes too."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(back to the show)/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""So I found these pieces of art in a storage locker, I immediately called you guys." said Jen with a smile. Jen then immediately laid out 2 pieces of art across a stainless steel, unpainted table measuring 25 feet long by 4 feet wide./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""So, both of these are from a world renowned artist who goes by the name of Yonamine. He's lived in Brazil, Portugal, England and here and is known for his multicultural influences in his avant-garde art."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Jen nodded thoughtfully, adding "I'm vaguely aware of the name. I bought one of his painted cigarette boxes not long ago, I keep it in my den as a conversation piece. If there is anyone from Africa more devoted to breaking down the stereotypes of Africa in such a beautiful manner, I have yet to hear of them."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"The museum appraiser nodded in complete agreement with Jen. "He's most admired for what objects he uses in his art: Magazine pages, old photographs, the cigarette boxes that you already mentioned. The fact that you found 2 traditional oil paintings of his work is, quite frankly, astounding. We were actually on the phone with him an hour ago and he said that he's only ever done 7 of these in his lifetime, and that a way to verify them is to look for any of the numbers embedded in the artwork itself, so let's do that now."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"The first painting was of a father hugging their son as the son graduated university. They're standing on a sidewalk in front of a park. Jen then pointed at the father's face and said "There, the scar on his cheek is the number 1."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"The second painting was a series of Orca Killer whales eating various poachers and big game hunters in the ocean. This time, it was the appraiser who pointed and said "There, the blood trail from that hunter is in a pattern making a number 6."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"The PA system then turned on "Miss Gladstone, you have a holocall from Yonamine on line 3". She then spoke into her wristwatch "Project holographic image from this watch, with Yonamine facing towards the conference table."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Good afternoon ladies, just called back to verify my own work, as I know there are forgeries out there on the market. Nope, these are real. If you'll notice, I only sign my name on the right hand side of the canvas and not on the artwork, as most people do."/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"The holocall immediately terminated, Miss Gladstone then turned to Jen and asked "$25000 for both sound about right?"/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Jen smiled and nodded./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"(Cut to the voiceover)/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"emPat and Jonathan became the biggest winners in Storage Wars history with a combined score of strongBEEP!/strongspan style="font-weight: normal;" (redacted by Wakandan government). Jen came in second with art and furniture scoring her $35000. David and Keith came in a respectable third place, making $9900./span/em/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="CENTER"em*/em/p
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p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT"Dan and Laura are standing outside of a Japanese Steakhouse, staring at a black sign that reads "Kobe's" written in silver calligraphy./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Are you sure you want to try dating?" asked Dan./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT""Worked for a few thousand other versions of us?" replied Laura. They kissed./p