Chapter 8: Date Night

POV: Zac

2 sets of eyes glared at me as I came through the door. Winnie and Lynoe stared holes in my chest from the couch as Omega sat there, eyes closed. Lynoe was the first one to speak up, Lynoe was the first one to speak up,

"So… how'd the date go?"

I let out a sigh as I took off my suit jacket and undid the top few buttons on my shirt. I listlessly shuffled myself into the living room, throwing the jacket into an unseen corner of the house, and crumbled into the couch.

"I don't think you can call that a date; it was more like a business meeting. All she talked about was getting our story straight, for when the Galdents start to ask questions."

Omega opened her eyes and focused on me with an annoyed expression on her face.

"Good, at least one of you is focused on what matters."

"Does my love life not matter to you, Omega? Is that not important?" I retorted.

"No, not at all." Omega snapped back without hesitation. My mouth opened, and no words came out. Lynoe snickered to herself while telling me,

"I honestly don't know what you expected her to say."

"I don't know either," I responded truthfully. Omega was very serious about keeping me safe and focused but didn't seem to care whether I was happy. I mentally shrugged, not wanting to draw her ire a moment longer. I leaned back, resting my head on the back of the couch, looking up into the ceiling. I let the events of what I consider a failed date turnover again and again in my mind. It was about as dull as any first date I ever had; she certainly didn't seem too happy to share any kind of information about herself. It didn't help that I really couldn't talk about my life. It seemed like it was doomed to fail from the start.

"So, what was discussed? Did you guys decide how to deal with Galdent's probing of her? I assume they'll go to her first in regards to that idiot's disappearance." Winnie inquired, and the actual conversation we did have came back to mind.

"Ah, yeah. When the Galdents ask Aonani, she will tell them she came to me for help, and I told him to beat it. More or less."

Omega's eyes narrowed as she looked over at me, concerned.

"So all culpability gets placed on you, and not the girl? Are you an idiot? If you want to deal with them, it will be that much harder if they have eyes on you. You're not ready to take them head-on. I bet this was her idea as well." Omega seemed to be fuming. She sounded like an angry mother, scolding a child. A smile unconsciously spread across my face, but I did not look over at Omega; I continued to stare at the ceiling.

"Actually, no. It was my idea. Nani seemed just as upset as you were when I brought it up. She's cute when she's angry."

"You're an idiot… an idiot easily moved by the opposite sex. You need to think things through more thoroughly before making decisions because of a pretty face. This will make things much more difficult for you." Winnie seemed to now be getting in on the berate Zac party. As she fell right in line with criticizing me. Lynoe just sat there with a smile on her face. She seemed to be the only one to get me, or at the very least, she appeared to be the only one with a mind like mine.

"You two need to calm down; I'm sure he has his reasons," Lynoe said as she crossed her legs in anticipation. Omega and Winnie both looked over at Lynoe with annoyed expressions on their faces. It's understandable the both of them underestimate me. I've done nothing but ask questions and ride their coattails since I got here, but I've been paying attention.

"I have a plan and an idea," I said, looking over at Omega with a smile on my face?

"Really?"

"Yes, Really. I may be ignorant of this place, but I've never been stupid."

"That's debatable." Omega snapped. I snorted while rolling my eyes.

"Tell me something, Omega. You said that The Galdents are tied to the Black Market, correct?"

"Correct…"

"So are you, correct? They know you as Quinn?" I asked.

"Both of these points are accurate."

"Good, good. Who's higher on the totem pole as far as the ones who run the Black Market are concerned?" I looked at her curiously.

"I am, without question. There are very few with higher standing. Why does that matter?"

Lynoe's grin turned into a wide smile. It looked like she got a whiff of what I wanted to do. She started to chuckle. Winnie looked over at her and then back at me. It was clear she was not happy that Lynoe and I had similar trains of thought. I never was one for a fight if I could help it; I've learned long ago how to move people around me rather than dealing with them myself.

"I wonder how she'd feel if she knew her nephew tried to kidnap Quinn's little brother's friend? Wouldn't that be something?"

Omega's demeanor didn't change; she just crossed her arms and stared at me. She didn't seem to be impressed, but this was only the start of what I wanted from this.

"Your task was to eliminate them, not scare them away," Omega said sternly.

"I'm well aware. This isn't to scare them. This is just to get them off my scent. Quinn's little brother wouldn't bother to kill him, right? When just mentioning your name would be enough to make him second guess himself. In their minds, even if I did kill him, would they risk going up against 'The' Quinn just for him? I doubt it."

I said with a smug look on my face. As I smiled, Winnie looked confused. She just shook her head and asked,

"Why all the dancing around? Just not having the girl mention you would have been enough to keep them off your scent. Why draw them to us?"

"If we don't draw them to us, how can we conduct business with them?" I was self-assured. The plan wasn't perfect; there were a lot of variables I was uncertain of. Hopefully, some of those variables will be smoothed out here. Lynoe's eyes brightened up as she seemed to be rather impressed so far. Omega still seemed unimpressed; I doubt anything I did would be enough to get that constant scowl off her face. Omega scoffed and then said,

"And here I thought you were developing into someone of worth. What, do you want to be a Lone Shark?" Omega said dismissively.

Yes, it was confirmed the Galdents were more or less lone sharks, but the way they acted and carried themselves seemed like they didn't want to stop there. This time I was the one to give Omega the glare.

"Devin, tell them."

Devin's voice quickly perked up and responded without hesitation.

"Yes, Zac. Yesterday Zac was listless as he was thinking of ways to deal with the Galdent situation. He was also quite perplexed about what he should wear on his date. He wanted clothing that was both form-fitting and accentuated, what he referred to as his package-"

"Devin!!! Focus on the Galdent stuff," I interrupted. Clearing my throat.

"Ah, yes, of course. Zac had me look into Galdent's financial situation, and I discovered that they have recently started a company. It is publicly owned, and they are a 74% majority shareowner at present. The company doesn't have a solid direction yet, and they seem to dabble in several fields. This has also led to a lack of investor interest and dwindling backers."

As Devin finished, I smiled at Omega, whose face seemed to finally change. She still didn't look impressed but a bit confused, although it seemed she was starting to put the pieces together. Winnie looked utterly lost. Lynoe, on the other hand… Lynoe almost burst into laughter. She began to dramatically slow clap.

"You are the devil. I love it." Lynoe said with a smile on her face. Omega didn't understand how that was related to getting rid of the Galdents. That was clear by the look on her face. Winnie was more annoyed that Lynoe understood than anything. She seemed to want to call her out by shouting her way,

"What are you talking about? Do you understand what he's trying to do? Explain."

Lynoe smiled and then looked over at Winnie,

"He wants to go in as a monetary backer, and no doubt, he'll ask for shares in return. From there, he infiltrates the company and drains its assets. When they don't have 2 credits to rub together, no means to hire security or even maintain their way of life; he plucks them from the plain of the living."

Winnie looked over at me with a shocked expression on her face; I didn't know whether she was impressed or disgusted with what Lynoe had just said. When she put it that way, it did sound a little excessive. However, Lynoe wasn't entirely correct.

"Well, she got most of the plan right. However, I don't think I'll need to do all that to kill them. I do want to make the company profitable, and I have a feeling we're going to need more money than God on this little adventure. The best way to make money is by selling a product or service."

"So, why not just start our own business?" Winnie said with a curious expression on her face. Lynoe seemed to have the same thoughts as me because she responded before I could,

"Because taking someone else's is easier if we have the money. Galdent Inc. already has potential investors and would have already networked a great deal, especially if they have ties to the Black Market."

I tapped my nose and then pointed at Lynoe. She was following my exact train of thought. Omega looked at me; her face was softening. She wasn't as unhappy as before but was still unconvinced. She tapped her fingers on her seat as she stared at me. I raised an eyebrow, and just as I was about to speak, she cut me off,

"That's all well and good, but we still need a product. Do you have any in mind?"

She asked me, probably expecting that I hadn't thought this far ahead, but I had. I looked over at Winnie and Lynoe while fiddled with the crystal that held a piece of Devin's consciousness.

"I have potentially 3 in mind, actually. I want us to focus on Weapons and Security. Winnie, that gun you whipped out on Lynoe the other day. I had Devin search for one like it because I wanted to buy one for myself. Where did you get it?"

Winnie looked at me curiously, and then she started to turn a little red. Was she embarrassed?! That was a first; the only emotions I got from her and Omega were usually hyper judgy or super upset. Winnie cleared her throat and responded,

"You won't find anything like it. It's a unique design that I created and had made to my specifications."

"You think that gun of yours will lose out to anything on the market right now, and can you design other weapons?" I asked with an expectant smile on my face.

"Only living weapons will be superior to what I can create. I'm only limited by my imagination and what technology can keep up with!!" Winnie said with pride plastered across her face. I smiled at her and then turned my attention to Omega cockily saying,

"That's one. Lynoe, you and Winnie fought before, and you gathered a team of mercenaries good enough to take on a Quqe. So you have an eye for talent. If given enough time, you think you can find fighters of equal skill who won't betray employers."

Lynoe's eyes widened a bit and then focused on me. It was apparent that she was far more of a people person than either Omega or Winnie. Lynoe smiled and nodded her head before saying,

"That lot from back then was found on short notice. I warned my last partner against trusting them too much. If given a proper amount of time to vet and test candidates, I can find gems in a mound of shit. I'm assuming you want to develop our own team of mercenaries we can rent out as bodyguards?"

I confirmed her thoughts with a nod and looked back at Omega,

"That's 2… Devin."

"Yes, Zac?" Devin responded immediately.

"You can hack into pretty much any system, right?"

"Yes, with a success chance of 99.8777777777777777777777-."

"Ok, ok, I get it. You have a very high success rate." I said, exacerbated. I'll really have to teach Devin how to communicate better with organic life.

"You think you can make a system that's impossible for you to break into?" I wondered.

"For me, specifically? Not probable. I am constantly learning and adapting. I would eventually find a flaw in my own design and conquer it."

"What about impossible for organic life or artificial souls that aren't unshackled like you?"

"Impossibility is improbable to achieve. However, I can reduce the percent chance of success to 0.56666666666666666."

"Ok, I get it. It will be improbable that threats will be able to hack your systems."

"Yes, and I can make a constant improvement upon the system over time." Devin finished. I looked over at Omega and then smiled brightly at her.

"And that's 3. And you Omega, or should I say, Quinn, will be the captain of this ship. You seem to have a nose for making money. You made a ton before I got here. You also have that cold, distant CEO boss lady feel. So, you game?"

I stared into Omega's eyes, trying and failing to read her emotions at that moment. She let out a small breath and relaxed into her chair.

"Exactly what will you be doing while we're doing all this work AND teaching you?" Omega asked incredulously.

"I'll be learning like a good little student and properly handling my extracurricular activities. Stealing their business isn't getting rid of them, is it?"

Omega smirked,

"What about the girl? What will she be contributing to this endeavor?"

"Don't worry about Nani. You just worry about the business, Quinn. That's what you wanted anyway, right?" I stood up from the couch and started to head over towards the stairs. Stopping halfway up, I leaned over the railing, calling out to the three of them.

"We are the Zyms; we're going with the story Omega came up with before. We will be addressing Omega as Quinn from now on. We'll sort out the finer details once I get out of the shower. If I'm right, the Galdents will probably show up here within the next 2 days."

I saw the looks on their faces as I started to give out commands. The most telling look seems to come from Quinn. She looked a bit annoyed but with a hint of pride showing through. After she heard me give my orders, she nodded. I could hear her trailing voice as I walked away, but I barely made out most of what she said,

"Not bad; he's starting to grow a pair. Maybe that g-"

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