Inception - Kenzington Job

Day - 0, After The Discussion

Lifelessly, Han rested his back on computer's chair, his eyes staring at the ceiling blankly. Then as if he was watching a movie, on the ceiling a familiar face popped out.... It was his own.....

Quote :

'Dammit! How did they find us out!?' Said Han, in his memory. 'Come on, Black Sky! There is no time! We have to escape or else we will die for sure!' said the old man with grayish beard, Han stared at the man with the mixed emotion, 'Darn it. Fast Builder, where is red flower?' The man, code name Fast Builder, shook his head, 'No idea, you are the leader now, Black Sky.' Han's eyes dropped to the ground, letting out long breath, and took out his personalized radio. 'Everyone....this is Black Sky. This is my last and final order as the number two. Destroy your radio after hearing this. Run, and survive. See you all in Point Zero. Black Sky out.' As Han finished his sentence, Han and the aged man toss out their personalized radio to ground and destroyed them by crushing them. 'Let's go.' Said Han, to the old man. And they both started to run for the forest.

Han shook his head, closing his eyes and covering them with his hands. "Dammit..." He muttered and then sighed. He stood up rather quickly, as he had a job to do.


From what Rina said, Han could only draw an information that the mark was one of the many professors in university and it was easy to find which university the mark was working for. But other than that, Rina had not done anything. Han sighed as he hacked into the administrative office computer; the security guard was just an old man, and little bit of drugged alcohol, he was knocked out. The cameras, which Han checked on it, were just there for the show as the university did not care much what's happening inside when no one was supposed to be coming in.

And just to be safe, Han was dressed in all black; where there is no light at all, he was practically invisible.

Inserting a tiny portable hard drive to the computer, he quickly transferred the data about 'Miranda Duval', including her old resume that was made into soft copy. Han couldn't help himself, but grin little. 'And they say, it was to preserve the old record. Funny, how that made it easily accessible...

With that done, Han left the university. He checked on the cameras that was at the care of sleeping security guard, making sure he isn't leaving any traces behind. 'Yup, what a corrupted university... asking for huge fees, yet they use cheap surveillance...' Thought Han as he checked once more. After all this, wearing his jacket, which had little smell of ammonia at the end of its arm, he woke up the security guard. Of course, to the old man who just woke up, Han looked like a drunkard who just got to his feet to bother him; he was a drunkard who was just shaking the security guard for direction. "Hey man, I let you have my drink... so tell me where is this hotel.... you said you going to tell me..."

And yes, the old man wanted to have a drink and he took it from the acting drunkard.


After the hassle with the security guard about how to go to hotel, he was back. The jacket he wore was used as the fire ingredient for homeless people. The jacket was cheap one anyways, so it did not matter.

Han took out his totem, his zippo from his pocket and tried to light it. It did not work, Han put it on his desk; took a long shower. When he came out, he inserted the U.S.B that he had the documents transferred.

He started reading the files he gotten from that computer.


Day - 0, After The Discussion

Rina tossed herself on her comfortable bed, however, before she could sleep, she sent a text to only Arias.

Quote :

Message sent by "A1225"

"I want you to learn about Roger Kenzington, and be able to imitate him in dream world."

Finally, putting her phone down on the ground and making herself comfortable, holding a dice in her hand, she wondered to her dreams.

William hadn't bothered to stay in the Drunken Dragon long after Rina left, having no interest in the other men either. All he wanted was the money, that and the chance to dream. Waking up the next day far earlier than he wanted to he spend a while in the hotel lobby looking up local facts about the city as well as any near by points. Sadly this got him no where and he hadn't brought a computer with him.

Finally giving up he had the reception call him a taxi and went straight to the university. The place was only newly given the title of university and as such it was quite easy to arrange a meeting with members of the staff using his reputation. After all what better way to be recognized than to be the location of a book by an internationally famous author. Using a art pad he had brought with him and a pencil he sketched out parts of the campus he was shown, writing down tiblits of information his guides were kind enough to share such as what life here was like, where people would often be found, any famous locations. All things that would help in a book, and a dream.

Day - 1

Rina

Quote :

"Hey babe, did you miss me?" said the man in weirdly colored hair, Rina smiled at the man. "No, I did not." and as she left the bar, the funny hair man grabbed her arm. "But, Alex, I missed you." then Rina's phone started to ring; funnily it was an alarm and the sound became louder and louder.

Rina growled at the sound of her phone, "Argh... shut up...." lazily Rina tossed her pillow, which did not fly that far. Rina, with grumpy look on her alluring face, get out from her bed and picked up her phone to finally stop the annoying alarm application she had.

Then there was a text from 'Han'. Rina smiled gently; the lazy eyed Rina disappeared and energized Rina greeted the day, "Well I guess I have to look for a place we could actually work."


Day - 1

Han

Han was jogging, secretly paying great attention to his target, Miss Miranda Duval. The moment Han looked at the photo of her, Han assumed few things about her; she was charming because she was physically fit, and her eyes were sparkling like stars because she was in love. However, that was Han's instinct, not actual fact. But, that instinct did not betray him; a man  suddenly joined her side, and surprisingly she greeted him with a smile. Han took gentle left, getting himself out of the sight, pulling disappearing act, hiding himself to see what they would say to each other. The man stopped jogging and grabbed Miranda's arm; however, before he could see more, he accidentally stepped on the twig. Before he draws any more attention, he disappeared.

Miranda Duval, she was talented individual who is in love with someone she shouldn't. Then again, he couldn't be sure....yet.... 'I thought you were smart, Miss Miranda Duval...' thought Han as he continue his lonely jog, 'I did not expect you to trust such filthy bastard.' he stopped and took out his zippo, tried to light it. It did not work, he sighed. "What an irony... love gave you life and love could be your downfall..." He whispered to himself. "It's funny..... that reminds me of someone...." Han sat on the bench and stared at the morning sky blankly. Han's lonely gaze was back to the ground and he quickly took out a phone and started typing.

The message Han sent to Rina was clear, "Miss Miranda Duval might be having an affair with the chancellor of the university."

It was unclear if they were actually dating, but, it was something to start with.

Day - 1, Some Hours Later

Han

Han was carefully writing the information that he had to share with his team in his hotel room; making sure he was not leaving out any details. He also had done the work for Arias to impersonate the chancellor, who was suspected to be the lover of the mark.

'hmm, am I missing anything?' thought Han, leaning comfortable to his hotel's sofa, and then he sighed. "Of course, Kenzington...." Han muttered.

Then his phone vibrated, indicating someone had sent him a text.

It was from Rina, bringing some good news. "Gentlemen, I have workshop ready to use. I would be picking you guys with my car. Just let me know where you are and I will be picking you all one by one. Get yourself ready by 8 p.m."

Han grinned, the lady was very resourceful. Then the grin slowly fade, returning to his usual expressionless face; focusing on the paper that he had written about the mark.


Day - 1, Some Hours Later

Rina

"Thanks, James." said Rina, gently smiling at the man with expensive watch on his right wrist. "My pleasure, for a friend like you, I would even lend you my bed..." The man face became red, as it was not his intention. "I mean.... my personal jet...." Rina brushed the dark hair gently, and went into her dark-red Audi A8, starting the engine. She rolled her driver seat window, "Well, I will give you a call later." She winked; the man avoid her twinkling eyes, as he could feel his blood rushing out from his face. He cleared his throat, and put his hands on rolled down window. "I could even get you a new car." The man said confidently, Rina gently smiled. "Sorry, darling. I am planning to use this until it dies on me. I will let you know when I need a new one." With that, Rina said her goodbye to the man.

As she drive further away from the man, her lovely face showed little disgust. "As if..." She muttered.

The dark-red Audi A8 left the mansion that looked like it belonged to a millionaire; any girl who wants to change her life, if she had the looks, definitely would have went to his bed and be his wife. However, she was not that kind of girl, and if she had used that way to rebuild her hometown, she was proving that Mike was right what she needed. 'You need a man made of money.' Rina smiled weakly, "No, Mike. I can do this without such man."


Day - 1, 8:15 pm

Rina & Han

Rina's car entered one of the hotels' pick up point. She rolled her pessanger seat's window. "Mr. Han." She called the male Asian who was waiting with other guests of the hotel. Han smiled at her as his eyes and her eyes met each other. Han quickly settled himself comfortably on the passenger seat. "Thank you, Miss Rina. Thought you would pick me up last." Rina smiled gently, and commented cheerfully "Well you were the closest person." Rina lightly turned the handle, stepping accelerator softly. The dark-red Audi A8 exited the hotel to pick up the others.

[OOC: I will move everyone to the workshop after Ryu's and Spirit's post.]

Day 0

Arais received the mail from Rina a while after he left the meeting place and got himself comfortable in a hotel room.

"Hmm.... Sounds fun"

He grinned like a maniac. He decided first thing would be to view any and all security tapes with Mr. Kenzington in them. He quickly filled a bag with black clothes and the mask from earlier that day, that he used during the meeting.

"Didn't think this thing'd come in handy"

He then left the hotel and decided to wander the city until midnight, taking every little detail of the city he saw to memory, as it may come in handy later. Once midnight came, Arais found a deserted quiet alley and got dressed, then made his way to the university. It seemed the guard was dead drunk for some reason and was only half-conscious. Perfect.

He attempted to simply waltz in, but was grabbed by the guard.

" 'an hwo maight u be sar-r"

The man got out with a drunken accent.

"Me? Who am I? Why I'm nothing but a figment of your imagination. You might have had a tad too much to drink!"

The guard looked puzzled as he released his grip for a moment. Arais took that moment to point behind the man, and then hid behind a wall. It was pitch black so he blended right in. When the guard looked back, he, obviously, saw no one. He searched a bit, but saw nothing, and decided he certainly did have too much to drink, and retired to his chair.

Once he was sure the man had stopped moving, Arais searched the building, and found the room with the security tapes and monitors. He made sure he wouldn't appear on any tapes, and was mostly successful in avoiding them, aided by the darkness.

He then browsed through the tapes, and found the ones with Kenzington. He then "borrowed" the tapes, taking several more than the ones he needed, then placed the extras in several places around the building, several of the tapes broken and placed like vandals had broken in. Once all was done and over with, he quietly exit the building. The guard had let himself fall asleep after decided he drank too much. The poor man might have some trouble in the morning....

Arais changed out of the suspicious looking clothes, and back into his regular clothing, and headed back to his hotel room, spending the night going through the security tapes.

Day 1

The next day, Arais got up a little bit early, and made his way again to the university. He heard from passing students about the supposed vandalism the night before, and that the guard got reprimanded for drinking on duty, though apparently the security tapes being destroyed wasn't too much of a problem and the man kept his job.

He went around looking for and asking everyone he saw in the tapes in a class or activity with Roger Kenzington about his behaviors and demeanor, acting the part of a reporter hoping to get a scoop, which managed to pass as not entire abnormal as Kenzington's family was quite wealthy.

Day - 1, 9:00 pm

Rina, Han, Arias and William


The dark red audi A8 stopped its course as they reach their workshop; the cottage looked like brand new building, and it looked like it belongs to exceptionally wealthy person. Even though, it was the only cottage in the area, the size was enough to tell others that the cottage was costly. But the inner interior design of the cottage made it clear that the owner had too much money.

"This is yours?" Asked Han, doubtfully.

"Unfortunately, no, Mr. Han. But the owner rent it to me." Rina smiled cheerfully as she lead the group to the living room. She sat on the comfortable single sofa and continued. "And it cost me nothing." Rina lean her back on the sofa, "Well, we have all the things we need to set our plan in motion." Rina looked around the living room for awhile, then she continued.

"Mr. Henrik, you will be using that room." Said Rina, pointing at the room that was on the first floor and it was close to the living room. "It should have all the tools that you need to do your job. I have also given you the most spacious room as well." Then Rina smiled at Arias, "Mr. Noir, your room is the first room on that second floor." Then her gaze stopped at Han, "Yours is next to Mr. Noir." She smiled softly, then she quickly stood up "And my room would be on the third floor."

"Why third floor? Why not there?" Han asked, pointing at the room that was next to his. Rina playfully tapped her cheeks, "Well, I like the view it has." With that she was about to go upstairs; however, before that, she quickly, yet, gracefully turned around, meeting her twinkling eyes with Han's. "By the way, at 10 pm, I want you, Mr. Han, to share what you have learned about the mark." She smiled once again and softly she climbed to the third floor.

Han shrugged as Rina disappeared to her third floor, then he carefully stood up from where he was. "Well, I will see you gentlemen later." Said Han, and he too left for the room.

Day - 1, 9:10 pm

Han

Han tossed himself to the bed, making himself comfortable; his eyes lazily gazed at the ceiling of the room. Han let out long sigh, "So one more day of stalking should be enough..." Han commented.

Then slowly his hand reached for the bag that he brought along, taking out the files that he had organized for his group to read. He just had to make some copies of it.

Han steadily brought his torso up, and looked around the room and just like Rina said the room was furnished with the things they needed to do the job. The internet connection, the desktop, the printer that could also be used as scanner, everything was there. "I wonder how she get those things ready for the job...." Han commented in curiosity.

He gently pressed the power up button of the desktop; he quickly worked his way with the desktop to get enough copies for his team.

Starting from the morning to afternoon, Han used the basic information such as the mark's address, to study her life patterns. On the morning he had seen her with chancellor and that could be only clue he was able to get it so far.

Then there was a special day, Miss Miranda Duval's birthday was coming soon. Would chancellor let Miss Miranda Duval's birthday go without any event? Han grinned, and gently shook his head.

"As if..." All He needed was one more day.... He just had to study the chancellor, and figure out where he was going to hold birthday event for Miss Miranda Duval.

"Funny, just like me, it seems like your birthday is going to ruin your life...." Han commented, gazing at Miranda Duval's profile picture, his eyes quietly hinted the sadness.


Rina

Rina sat on the computer chair cozily; the room looked like the room she used to live. It looked like the room that she used while she was the dream sharing crew in her hometown... Rina smiled weakly, "It brings back memories...." commented Rina softly.

Quote :

"Alex, great job back there." said the beautiful lady, "But, Mike did not like it..." Rina responded, there was a flavor of sadness in Rina's voice. The lady sighed, "You know, I will never understand why smart girl, like you, would date that complete minger." said the lady settling down on Rina's bed, Rina weakly smiled at her. It was amusing, even though she looked like she would only say 'pretty words', the lady's mouth always had some amount of foul words in her sentences. "I like you, so let me give you an advice. Don't trust that control freak too much, Alex." The pretty lady stood up from the bed and patted Rina; Rina who never had elder sister, liked this part of the lady. She knew some way to cheer Rina up. "If you didn't do what you did there, the job could have ended in failure. That bloody arse**** should have said 'thank you'." the lady commented, then the lady gently took the paper memo pad that was on Rina's table. "This is my number. If you became an extractor, let me know. I would love to work with you again." She smiled and left the room.

"I wonder what she's doing now..." Said Rina, there was ache in her voice, as if she missed the lady in her memory. She stared at her phone for a moment, then she gazed at the ground, smiling faintly. "Well.... may be after this job...."

William looked about the room that Rina had give him for only a moment before heading straight to the bed. He had been unable to sleep the night before, instead working away on a map of the university and as such was rather tired. He had wanted to sleep in the car, only he didn't trust the others enough. Even though none of them were murders by trade you never knew when you were involved in illegal work.

[short post I know but I figured that there wasn't much I could right about till I'm told where the birthday is going to be]

Day - 1, 9:30 pm

Arias, Han, Rina and William

"Well then, Mr. Han, please do share with the information you have." said Rina, smiling at her point man. The point man smiled back, giving her the nod.

The Asian male gave each member a folder that consisted extensive amount of pages, "Well, reading it all could take awhile, so let me give you the brief version."

Han comfortably sat on chair, and started talking about the information on Miranda Duval,

"Miranda Duval, she is 40 and very healthy woman. She is not married, and she is very dedicated professor. She is not from wealthy family; her father lost his job and her mother had to support Miranda and her siblings. All the education she had received so far, she did it with scholarship. She graduated her university when she was 23, and earned her master at 25. However, it took awhile for her to get her Ph.D. She got it when she became 32."

Rina eyebrows furrowed, "Is that something unusual? Ph.D usually takes awhile to get it..."

Han grinned, "Not for our mark." Rina looked confused, "What do you mean?"

Han tapped his folder, "You could check the folder for detailed information, and you will find it amusing." Han continued, opening the folder, "She changed her Ph.D subject." Han showed his team the page number where he was looking at, and Rina quickly turned to that page.  

"She was going for Ph.D program in language and communication, then all of sudden, she dropped four years of her work in that program." Rina eyes were widen as she read the the page that Han asked them to look,  "She got the Ph.D in Sociology within three years...." Rina commented.

Han smiled, "Yes, she did. And in order to find out 'why' she changed her Ph.D program, I did little more digging. I found out that there was a rumor that someone stolen her thesis before she could actually present it." Rina looked disturbed, "You mean her idea was stolen?" Han nodded gently, "kind of... " then he waved his hand, "It was not done in dream, so no need to be so alarmed."  

Han continued after a slip of water, "In any case, after she got her Ph.D, she started working in the university as professor and she always had positive feedback from her students. Very few didn't like her though, and those students, who didn't like her, were pretty much slackers. I checked their GPA, apart from the client, they pretty much were easy going students. In other words, client was the only exceptional from that easy going bunch."

"Meaning?" Rina asked, Han answered, "Their status was on 'At Risk' status." Rina lean her back on the sofa, "How did you find out though, isn't feed back supposedly anonymous?" Han smiled, "They were not afraid of writing their names." Then he continued,

"I also followed her around to see anything suspicious about her life, or something that could be called 'dirt'. I was only able to see her meeting with Chancellor, and it is my suspicion that they are having an affair. And, well, rest of the day she was spending her time reading books. But interestingly, she enjoys reading books in open space, it seems. And well, as the university is having a break, I did not see her meeting with the chancellor."

Inside the folder, there were several pictures of Miranda Duval reading her book in park, cafe and restaurant.

"I suggest, we take one more day to study this man, the Chancellor. Kyle Smith, he is a male, 45 years old." Han pointed out the photo of handsome forty years old man, "He has a wife and two children. As Miss Miranda Duval's birthday is coming, and he is the only possible dirt that Miss Miranda Duval has... We need to know more about him."

Rina's hands were gathered in front of her lips, making into praying hands. Rina was going to destroy a woman's career, who went through lots of hardship. Could she really do this? Rina eyes gazed at the man who was having an affair with Miranda. "Men..." her lips moved in silence. There were lots of meaning in that one word; however, even though there was no sound came out from her lips, Han read her lips. 'Yes... Men....' thought Han, not commenting on what she said silently with her lips.

Rina gave a long sigh, and spoke. "Alright, Mr. Han. Take Mr. Noir with you as he has to study chancellor and let Mr. Henrik know when you find the dating place. We might need that place to be our first layer. Mr. Henrik I want you to come up with the model of the university, and show it to me as soon as possible. After that, You and I are going to the dream space to test the layout, while others go out and study Chancellor."

Han nodded, agreeing with her plan. "Let's take a good rest then." Said Rina, leaving the three gentlemen in the living room.

After they got to the cottage, Arais explored his room for a while, finding it had all the things he'd need. He decided to take a short rest before the time Han would share what he knew of the mark. He didn't change, and just crashed on bed. One hour wasn't much but it was something. He set an alarm for 10 pm and dozed off.

10:00 pm

The moment the alarm rang, Arais hopped off bed like he was stung by a bee. He quickly made his way downstairs and joined the others, grabbing a seat, somehow managing to not look like he just woke up.

He listened intently as Han explained about the mark, and her possible affair. Once he was done, Arais decided to throw in his two-cents on what he thought of the job of possibly destroying the woman's career.

"I suppose it's just the whole "You reap what you sow" thing at work. If she's really having that affair, it's going to be her fault for having it in the first place~"

His usual whimsical speech pattern blotched all over what he just said. Though, it might help some people feel less guilty about possibly ruining Miranda Duval's career, he just said it because he felt like saying it, in all honesty.

"Well Mr. Han, I'm ready to go whenever you are."

This time he sounded less whimsical and more business-like.

Day - 1, 10:00 pm

Han

"Yes, Mr. Noir. Do not worry about it. I will let you know how we will proceed tomorrow." Han said it confidently, "Well, he starts his day in early morning. We probably should leave this place by 6 am." Han gently rubbed his chin, staring at his opened folder that was in his other hand. "Well, I was only able to study him little, so that is the start." Then he closed the folder, he slowly gazed at Arias, "We also might have to use underhand method to get more information about the place. Hope you are fine with it?" Asked Han carefully.

Day - 4, 5:00 pm

Arias, Han, Rina and William

~All Controlled by Nexius~


Arias smiled while wearing the white bird mask, "I am so ready for this!" there was an excitement in his voice. Han shook his head, "You know, you are probably going to scare them with your mask." Arias nodded, "Of course," and said it calmly and removed his mask, putting into his amazing pocket that made his mask disappear. "I won't be wearing it to their room."

Arias knocked on the room, the room where the mark is waiting for chancellor. Too bad she was going to be disappointed.

Yes, Chancellor won't be there until 3 hours from now, and that is their window for extraction. The moment Miss Duval take a slip of this expensive red wine, she should be in mood for good nap.

2 hours are what they all needed, and why would she drink the red wine that just delivered to her door step? Because of the well-made message card with Chancellor's hand writing.

Quote :

'Have some wine, I will get there soon.'

And with the information they got it from chancellor, she would not resist her favorite wine.

When Arias enter, he would gently unlock the great red wine from it's container and pour it into single glass. "What an excellent choice, ma'am" and delivered it to her, "I was asked by Mr. Smith to make sure you have, at least, one glass of wine."

And he slowly pull his cart away, putting into the appropriate place where the couples could take the wine easily.

As he was about to leave, Miss Duval should be heading to the bed and that was the moment they had been waiting for.

Rina, Han and William watched Arias' performance from the camera that was hidden in the cart. William who went through dream world recently commented cheerfully. "What an excellent performance by our crew, hey?" However, Rina looked at Arias performance disapprovingly. "I don't know, Mr. Henrik. He shouldn't have complimented choice of wine. Trying to be too friendly with the mark doesn't help us." Han smirked, "Relax, Miss Rina. The hotel staffs here are known to have best service. It would be more awkward, if he doesn't act like how he acted just now."

And one, two, three. Miss Duval finally had a sip of the wine. She yawned and slowly move to the bed. Arias, who was still in the room, went over to check her after counting 10 seconds. Miss Duval was sleeping.

"This is our chance." said Rina as Arias gave them the signal.

The rest of the crew moved into the room, which was opened by Arias, and Rina entered the room with her device while others followed in gently. The hall way camera was already hacked so it would not cause any suspicions to the real world.


Rina connected the device, and so did the rest of them. They would enter the dream world that should look like this hotel, with the view of what Duval just saw, in three, two, one.

=============================================================

The chancellor, who was Arias, knocked on the door.

"Miss Duval, this is for you."

Arias revealed a bouquet of flowers that chancellor was going to bring to her; mainly consisted of Amaryllis.

The chancellor looked into her eyes, and gave her a dashing smile, "I really thought it resembles your beauty and your worth."

We don't chose who we love.

Miranda had often heard those words and dismissed them as a cop-out, a cheap excuse for people to run wild with emotions.

But that was until she'd met him.

"Henry..." she thought, swirling the red wine around her glass. It was an attraction that couldn't be fought - physical, mental, and even spiritual. They connected in such an intense way that she was unable to dismiss her feelings.

Even though...

She sighed and looked away from her glass toward the window. It still weighed on her time to time, knowing there was another woman in the picture. Not a good woman for Henry... but a person with her own feelings, nonetheless.

"Is it right to sacrifice our feelings and our love for someone else?" she wondered, shaking her head. It couldn't be.

Perhaps all this musing was getting to her. Or perhaps the alcohol was working faster than usual. She could feel the room becoming warm and drowsy. Setting her glass down, Miranda moved over to the bed and sat down, slowly reclining until she lay resting comfortably on the red comforter.

A small nap. It would make the wait for Henry easier.

--------------------

Henry.

Every time he walked through the door, it felt like another precious moment gained.

"Oh, thank you," Miranda sighed, taking the flowers and breathing in the fresh scent. "And no need to be so formal, Mr. Graham."

She smiled and led him in, setting the flowers down on the coffee table, taking a moment to admire them and grace the petals with feather-light strokes of her fingertips before turning to face Henry.

"I suppose we won't have much time to see each other, with the holidays approaching," she said, her voice unable to mask the sad longing, despite the wistful smile on her lips.

Arias

The chancellor wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her towards him, leading her to be in his broad chest. "Miranda, You know where my heart lies, don't you?"

His eyes locked with her eyes, "Even we are apart from each other, I will be in your heart, just like you are in mine."

Then he gently and slowly wrapped his arm around her waist, and stroke her face gently with his right hand.

"Do you remember where we have promised to see each other when the holidays are over?"

He whispered gently to her, slowly closing his face to hers. "Just want to make sure my love knows where to find me..."

He gave her another charming smile, waiting for her to answer the question. The question that real chancellor should know and the place where the client may find what he wanted... The dirt of Miranda Duval.

We don't chose who we love.

Miranda had often heard those words and dismissed them as a cop-out, a cheap excuse for Miranda melted into her lover's embrace, feeling the cares and worries of their secret relationship ebb away.

"Of course I remember," she murmured, her voice bittersweet. "The little lodge, up the mountain from your winter home."

Snuggled warmly by a fire, steaming mugs in hand, the slight nip of the cold and a white blanket of snow... She could hardly wait.

Arias

The chancellor smiled at her warmly and slowly closed in to give his love a kiss, but that romantic moment had to be put on hold due to the sudden knocking.

The chancellor chuckled and let his face rubbed on Miranda's shoulder. "Oh my god, I told them to give me an hour, but guess they didn't get that part. I will get the door."

He winked at Miranda, and gently moved towards the door. A waiter with the goofy look on his face followed the chancellor to the room with a cart. The cart had two wine glasses, and an ice bucket that had prized wine inside.

The waiter smiled friendly at his customers, "Lovely evening, may I help you with your wine, sir?"

The chancellor waved his hand, "No, I will do that myself. Put the wine over there, please."

The waiter nodded, and took his cart to the coffee table where bouquet lies.

The chancellor came back to his love, giving her another dashing smile, pulling his love once more to his embrace. Letting Miranda to admire the view of open balcony. He smoothly locked his eyes with hers, "So, where were we?"

And then, there was a gentle sound of 'tub' that indicated the idiot, who ruined their evening kiss, had left the area.

He slow and steadily closed his lips with hers, soon that gentle kiss developed into passionate kiss.

Rina, Han and William

"It's time." said Rina looking at the watch. "Your turn, Mr. Henrik."

William smiled, beaming with confidence and positive energy. "Yup! You can count on me, Rina. I will get it done in no time!"

Before he was about to be gone with the cart that had two wine glasses and an ice bucket with the wine, Han grabbed William's arm.

"Wait, don't forget the flower," said Han. tucking it inside William's inner pocket in his waiter jacket.

"Oh, thank you! Mr. Han! You are so kind."

And then finally, William took his cart and disappeared. Rina tapped her lips with index finger. "I kinda miss old Mr.Henrik..." she said it thoughtfully, Han shrugged and commented.

"You do? I think I prefer him in that way."

"Well, Mr. Han. It's going to be our turn soon." said Rina looking at the screen that showed the crew what was going on in the mark's hotel room.


William

William knocked on the door, and the chancellor, who is Arias, greeted him like Rina planned.

The chancellor whispered to William, 'look goofy, Mr.Henrik, or else I might have to yell at you.'

And without further ado, William performed what Arias asked him to do.

Even though, he doesn't recall 'act like goofy' was part of the plan.

Any case, the chancellor draw the attention of Miranda to him and at that moment, with ease, William took out the flower, that had special aroma for their mark, and slip it inside the bouquet that lied on the coffee table.

And with that he closed the door, gently.


Arias

After short and passionate kiss, he let his forehead gently touch Miranda's, and grinned. Slowly, he led her to where her favorite wine was waiting for her.

With ease, he released the wine from its container and poured it into the two wine glasses.

He smoothly hand one glass of wine to Miranda and had a slip from the another one.

"To make this evening little bit special, I learned something new from the book, today."

He steadily came close to her, and whispered softly. Whatever he learned, it seemed he was shy about it.

"Do you want to know what it is?" He asked Miranda.

Miranda was almost disappointed when Henry pulled away from their embrace at last to pour them wine. Smiling, she took the glass he offered and sipped it, reclining back into his embrace.

When he mentioned about learning something, she looked up curiously, eyes sparkling with interest.

"Of course. Tell me," she said, smiling expectantly.

Arias

The chancellor moved closer to her, gently locking his hands with hers. He smoothly led her to the bed. "Well, it's better to show it to you." He said it in whisper, "lie down on the bed, and wait for me." he took away wine glass from her hand, "I will show you it to you soon."

The chancellor put down wine glasses on the coffee table and took out a flower from bouquet. He sat right side of where Miranda lay down.

Blandly he let the flower touch on her nose, letting her to smell the scent of the flower.

"Come now, turned around. You probably guessed it. I learned a sports message in the book."

He winked, "Would you be my first client?"


Rina, Han, William


"So how did I do?" asked William, Han nodded approvingly. "You did a great job, Mr.Henrik." Rina as well complimented as well. "Yup, thanks to you, Mr. Noir is doing his job smoothly as well."

The three of them looked at the screen, now they all needed Arias to make her comfortable with his massage that he presumably learned by reading.

Miranda smiled and let Henry lead her to the bed, reclining on the soft mattress with a twinkle in her eyes.

When he returned, she inhaled deeply from the beautiful flower he brought and let him trail it gently down her neck.

"If it's something you're interested in, I'm willing to give it a try," she said, rolling over and exposing her back for him. "Just as long as we don't have to cut our time short for an unexpected trip to the emergency room."

She winked playfully before closing her eyes and relaxing. More than she thought, really, cause her eyelids were beginning to feel heavy.

Arias

The chancellor massaged Miranda's back gently and steadily; rubbing her back smoothly, making tension in her back disappear. And soon he checked if she had fall into a sleep, and he showed his fist to the mid air, signaling that everything was ready.

The three people entered the room without hustle as they had the access to the room from the beginning.

Gracefully, a young woman came to the bed where Miranda was gently sleeping.

"Everyone, ready?" She asked. The three gentleman nodded, and the Asian male, who was among the three gentlemen, grinned.

"All the best, hopefully it goes all well like this level."

Rina

Rina sat on the stairs, with crossed arms. Rina's face was not held high, her twinkling eyes were staring at the ground, hopelessly.

Other students were entering the university, but this pretty student did not move in to the building for her class.

There was something in her twinkling eyes; it was not hope that one sees in her eyes, her eyes were indicating the despair and troubled mind of sophisticated individual.

Rina looked up, and locked her eyes with Miranda who was about to enter the university. Rina, looking surprise, yet looked troubled, turned her head away.

She definitely looked like she had something to say, and the expression on Rina's face... It was familiar to Miranda Duval...

It reminded Miranda's hardship... And it also reminded the unfairness in the society.

Would Miranda talk to this troubled student? Well, Rina was hoping Miranda would do that and find out the reason why.

"Another day at the university," Miranda thought, walking briskly down the halls. She loved the academic environment - the look of the stately brick buildings, the lecture halls, the smell of books and the sounds and feels of learning.

So consume in her thoughts, she nearly missed the sight of a young woman, looking troubled on a bench in the hallway. Miranda paused, checking her watch to make sure she would not be late for her class.

Quarter of. Perfectly early, as she liked.

"Excuse me," Miranda said, walking up to the young woman with slow steps so as not to frighten her. "Are you all right? You seemed troubled."

Rina

The young woman looked startled as Miranda asked her a question. The young woman looked at Miranda with teary eyes, and as if she realized that the young woman quickly wiped it away. Looking at the direction of Miranda. "I... I..." She was trying to sound calm, but the young woman's eyes were not able to keep it dry for long. She quickly turned her head down, staring at the ground. Trying her best to hide her face from Miranda. "I don't know what to do... My paper... my paper was stolen and I am going to be..." The young woman's head was buried to her palms, and she started to cry. But how she cried... The young woman tried to cry soundlessly; it was obvious that the woman was trying so hard to keep her pride.

"I might be expelled because of Roger Kenzington"

The girl said it like a whisper, but Miranda was able to hear what she said. And it was obvious she was still crying. Even though, she was trying her best to not to make too much noise.

The young woman reminded Miranda of a prideful woman who had her paper stolen and cried all night silently because she was powerless to do anything.

Roger Kenzington.

The name was a bitter pill to swallow. Miranda pursed her lips, willing herself to remain calm and professional.

So, his ordeal in her class hadn't been enough. He was trying to pull this kind of thing in other classes as well. And at a hard-working student's expense!

Miranda pulled out one of her contact cards with her office number on it and handed it to the young woman.

"I have a lecture right now," she said, looking apologetic. "But if you want to stop by my office after, we can discuss it. Or, if you're not too busy, you can sit in on my class. There's always something to be gained."

She smiled, trying to encourage the young woman. If she had any say in the matter, this whole thing would be settled before Roger could do any damage to someone else's future.

Rina

The young woman looked at the card she had received and locked her teary eyes with Miranda. The face of young woman still had trails of her tears. Her voice sounded surprise, "Dr. Duval?" then She nodded gently to what Miranda said to her. "Thank you so much for trusting me, professor, thank you so much..." the voice was still shaking, and weak. And soon her teary eyes let out the tears. It seemed like the professor who was in charge of her class did not trust her words about the stolen paper. "But I am sorry, professor... I don't think I can sit in your lecture... I don't think I can face Roger right now." The young woman's voice was shaking, but that was not all. The woman voice had fear as well, and shame.


Arias

Just like Roger Kenzington, he was ready to act like almighty and arrogant. Even though Arias did not like the fact that he had to act like jerk, he would not miss the chance to knock some sense to spoiled brat like Roger Kenzington.

Arias thoughtfully drifted his eyes to the door where Miranda would make her appearance; Arias remembered himself about what he had to say to Miranda.

"This is fun." he commented cheerfully.

Miranda looked down at the state of the young woman and pressed her lips together in a thin line, willing herself to remain calm and in control.

"Don't worry," she said softly, patting the girl's shoulder reassuringly. "We'll get this figured out."

For now, she had a class to go to. Checking her watch - still five minutes left - she nodded to the student and hurried off toward her classroom.

"Roger Kenzington, we have some talking to do," she thought darkly.

--------------------

"Finishing up the chapter for tomorrow, and make sure to start on your essays. They're due Friday!"

The class began to file out of the room at the end of the lesson, but Miranda was focused on only one student.

"Roger, do you have a moment?" she said coolly, stopping in front of his desk. "I'm afraid we have a few things to address."