Chapter 29 – Initiative
Threadneedle Street, London, England. 11:41am, 8th November 2032.
He knew instantly where the skunk's place of residence was by the two security guards posted outside of the building. He could see that once they saw him, they called to somewhere, presumably to Jeremy, that he was approaching. As soon as the call was finished, all they did was stare at Tyson, watching every single step that he took to move towards them. When he did eventually reach them, not intimidated by all the staring, they walked out of their posts to ask him a question.
"Are you here to see M. Le Paradox?"
"Um…" Tyson says, but the security guards already know the answer.
"Follow us."
The two guards walk ahead, side by side whilst Tyson follows behind like he's being escorted. He imagines himself walking in slow motion, like he's the boss of this place and these are his guards, just because it satisfies his ego. When the guards open the front door, he sees there are more guards stationed inside: two either side of the front door on the inside, three standing in front of the posts next to the elevators and two guards standing either side of the service stairway; and those are just the guards. There are security cameras covering every single blind spot in the room as well as two automated paintball guns in the two far corners that diligently follow Tyson's body, ready to mark him with paint that can't be washed off for 24 hours, making it easy to track would be trespassers. One of the elevator guards turns around and calls the elevator before turning back around to become a statue like the rest of them. When it opens, there is another security guard sitting on a stool, in charge of pressing the buttons, as well as two security cameras inside the stainless steel interior of the elevator. It's a bit cramped for Tyson in the elevator, but he wonders why the skunk needs so much protection. He doesn't think he could take them all out; at least, he's never tried to before. His strength was more for show so he could dominate the gym; putting higher weights than most on all machines and watching as people crowded around, urging him on.
The elevator reaches the top of the building, and yet more guards appear with more security cameras in the tiny room this elevator has lead to. Only 5 metres from the elevator is a toughened opaque glass door with two guards flanking it either side. One guard is already entering the code to unlock it whilst the other is doing the biometric scanning of his retina. He can hear the locking pins deactivate before the door automatically swings open to reveal the juxtapositionally relaxed décor on the inside. There are no guards on the inside of this penthouse, just the hallmarks of a modern interior with straight lined furniture, timber and carpet flooring as well as full exterior glass windows to maximises the view; all of this for one person.
"Welcome to my home away from home." Jeremy greets to Tyson as he rises from the couch.
"Um… welcome to you to." Tyson replies.
"You don't say welcome to me, this is my penthouse. Maybe if I get the chance to see where you are living, then you can say that. But generally, you don't own someone's place when you first walk inside of it, okay?" Jeremy explains.
"Okay." Tyson repli
es with a hint of confusion.
"So, have you come to tell me that the Cooper gang has accepted my offer?" Jeremy asks with glee.
"Um… I think so? Maybe?" Tyson replies.
"You think so?" Jeremy responds back, his patience thinning by the second. "There's only pregnant, or not pregnant; there is no maybe pregnant."
"But… you're a guy." Tyson replies.
"It was an analogy." Jeremy says, deliberately composing himself to stop himself from blowing his top off. "Do you have a phone? Or a tablet or anything I can use to contact them?"
"Yeah." Tyson replies, looking down at his pocket before looking up to find that the skunk already has it in his hands. "That's not possible."
"What, that I have your phone?" Jeremy asks. "It's just a trick."
"Like a, thief trick?" Tyson asks.
"No."
1 Minute Earlier
Tyson and the two guards walk into the elevator and wait until the doors close. The guard on the stool presses the button for the penthouse before looking at the tiger's pockets for any items that could be used against his employer. He dips his hands into Tyson's pockets and relieves him of his phone before putting it into the standing guards trouser pocket. When the elevator reaches the top, the two standing guards walk out of the elevator. The left guard who has the mobile phone takes it out of his pocket and passes it off through a replaceable hole in the wall to a pneumatic tube system running in the wall and roof. The phone travels in a small container in the vacuum tube around and over the strong room and through to the kitchen where Jeremy was waiting. When the phone arrived, Jeremy received the phone and ran quietly over to the couch to carry on the act.
"Not even…?" Tyson asks, trying to find the answer.
"It's a trick, don't you get it?" Jeremy replies. "No thief alive can steal from that range, I haven't even come within touching distance of you."
"Maybe…"
"There is no maybe, okay. It is beyond the realm of possibility." Jeremy insists.
"Then… why are we having this conversation?" Tyson asks.
"Because you wanted to know how I got your phone, which made me distracted and now I've forgotten to make the call." Jeremy replies as he searches for the correct contact. He finds Alex's contact but skips over it, he is not the one he is most worried about. He dials for Erin Cooper, waits a few seconds before it picks up.
"So… have" Jeremy tries to say in his usual bravado, but he's annoyed that she has immediately hung up on him. "How rude."
"What did you expect?" Tyson comments.
"Well, can't win them all." Jeremy replies, about to toss the phone back to Tyson, but he holds onto it at the last second. "Actually I might hold onto this if you don't mind."
Tyson looks at the phone in the skunk's hand, then looks at his own hands. He thinks about using them to get back his phone, but the skunk has thought of that as well.
"If you want to punch me until I'm dead, go ahead. I won't stop you, I can't stop you. I mean… I'm shorter, skinnier, and weaker than you. In a fist fight, I would loose in a heartbeat; and that is why there will be, no, fight." Jeremy scowls before pressing a remote inside his jacket pocket. Out of the roof come several automated weapons which all point straight at Tyson.
"One button is for show, the other will turn your body into a colander, then a sieve, and then there will be no body at all." Jeremy scowls angrily again. "So if you dare try to take this phone off me, that is what will happen to you!"
"Fair enough." Tyson casually replies.
"Good." Jeremy responds, reverting instantly back a more charming tone. "Now, let me show you something."
The windows suddenly turn opaque and the blinds automatically block out all of the sunlight. Several lights around the penthouse begin to turn on and an image begins to coalesce in front of the couch.
"Do you know what is also on this street, something of value?" Jeremy asks Tyson, but he gives him no opportunity to answer as the three dimensional schematics of his planned heist come into view. "The Bank of England is within sight of this place, and I intend to make a lot of money using it's resources. In less than 2 days, America will default on it's debt, if only for a few minutes; and because I know that this is going to happen, I can make hundreds of millions, billions even. It's simple when explaining it to you like this, but I assure you that I have it all figured out. As everyone sells their bonds, their treasury notes, their shares and withdraws all their money; I'll be buying it all up at a very cheap price. Then, when the default is over and confidence is restored, I'll sell my assets at a higher price, make profit then buy a lot of gold to store away for a rainy day. The best part of it is that the Bank will personally deliver it's gold to me, I won't have to leave the room." Jeremy explains to Tyson, who's rather dumbfounded at his explanation. Jeremy sees this, but he chooses to continue on.
"The only two real problems I have are both associated with your two raccoon friends. The first is not a huge deal but it wouldn't be the same if they didn't participate themselves in something that would surely put their names up in lights. The second is one of practicality; I need a place to store all of the gold I make from this venture. I need a place that no one has seen and one that it is impenetrable to get inside. You see, they have this vault, this… legendary vault containing much of their loot. But no one knows the location of this vault… or even knows what it looks like; no one except for Alex and Erin Cooper, the heirs to this fortune, which is why I need them to join me."
"Why tell me your plan?" Tyson asks.
"Firstly, you might be swayed by the sheer magnitude of what I am trying to achieve. But really it's because I'm going to ransom you." Jeremy explains flatly.
The blinds quickly move back up and the hologram disappears but the windows stay opaque.
"I'm not letting you leave here until the Cooper's have joined me on this mission. And believe me when I say… you haven't heard a thing yet… this is just the tip of the iceberg. You don't even know half of what could happen." Jeremy warns. He gestures over to a side door next to the kitchen to signal for many more guards to walk out in single file to take Tyson away to his prison.
"I'll walk, don't get them to drag me." Tyson comments, but Jeremy lets the guards stay close in case he's plotting something that is detrimental to the skunk's plans. The guards escort him inside before immediately turning left into another room and away from a flight of wooden stairs with white walls. The room he enters is not like that at all, it is dark, sealed off from the rest of the world lit up dimly by lights in the roof and the computer screens of people working and watching on many things, to many to see at once. What draws his attention most is that he is not the only prisoner inside this room; there are 4 others ling side by side on at the opposite end. He is put in a plexiglass room the size of a shipping container with holes drilled in the roof and walls so they don't asphyxiate themselves. Tyson walks into the clear plastic room. The guards lock the door with a similarly plexiglass deadbolt that's almost 10 centimetres in diameter.
"Who are you guys?" Tyson asks.
"Stupid." One of them mutters quietly.
"Blind"
"Short sighted."
"Greedy."
"Weird names." Tyson comments as he sits down himself.
"No… I'm Toby, that's Karen, Elena and Sam."