The fucker has been goon for a week, and if I didn't know any better, I would've assumed he had died already. But I guess it does make sense, I had sent him out to gather information on all of our primary clients including our competitors that have been becoming far more ballsy. Anything of this degree would take a while, and honestly, I'm happy to have someone as short and narrow as Pierre on this sort of task; he's more than capable of popping in, gathering every bit of intel, and then vanishing without even a sensation of his presence, and if he were caught, his manipulative tactics are more than enough to make those untrained around him obey.
Thankfully I had given him a one week deadline starting from the moment he arrived, so he should be back any minute now. Honestly shameful that he's going to arrive so last minute.
A deep rumbling rises in the distance, and Pierre shows up on a motorcycle; I watch him from the shadows of the warehouse, the locals ogling him like he's a random drug addict screeching in the middle of the street about birds and the government. When he removes his helmet, it's clear he avoided any form of contact with the individuals, good.
Antonio joins my side, towering over me with flexed muscles beneath his clothing. Pierre stops in front of me, seemingly proud with his straight posture and high chin, "I'm back."
"With two minutes to spare, you got lucky." I mumble, and gesture for him to follow me inside. Leon and Shushi are counting their supplies once we reach the second floor, our inventory now booming and prepared for the market. We'll need to act fast. Pierre better have gathered plenty of information because if even a single citizen gets their hands on these, then that will mean the end of Rapard and potentially the world.
We enter the office, Antonio ordering Leon and Shushi to prepare the distributors for delivery, and slam the door. We've already decided this part of the plan, for the sake of the newest products, we'll be traveling to the clients ourselves, during that time, we'll be switching out the real stuff with electrolyte, caffeinated fakes, ensuring to dispose of the deathly drugs without anyone noticing.
The temporary storage location, however, was another one of Pierre's tasks, seeing as we were stuck in place this entire time. Ever since his arrival, the locals have decided to start taking night watching shifts, in case he decides to return and rob us while we sleep.
Pierre decides to grab something to drink this time, ibupara tea and some dried cactus. When he sits, he wastes no time to remove his headscarf, take a deep, troubled breath, and speak. "Quinn Dax; a young man living in Snowfall of Explosives. That, however, isn't his real name, but is instead a fake name created by a group of people, with their face being someone actually named Harley Mined, she originated from Ithaite and due to her face and figure, is able to pass off as a man. Now the reasoning for this group going by a fake name and being so secretive is because they are actually an organization within Ithaite attempting to bring down their own government from the inside. People have been dying within the mines, a lot of people, and governors are being blamed for it all with the narrative being 'they're poisoning the food supply.' They ship the drugs into Ithaite once or twice a month, though it has since decreased to once every two or three months due to increased observations from locals. Naomi Blink, a doctor in Tyrunik. She's only a primary client because she's only ever seen the positives of the drugs, other than that, she's actually an honest, caring woman. The only thing is, her origins are unable to be tracked, something about a made up nation called 'Wrune' but that might just be a cover for something more sinister; I personally believe she may be from Duthious even though she lacks the build and mannerisms. Her clients are happy with her, however, and she seems to have a local customer base. The Smith Company, a family company that has been around since before Surtigian even existed. Their connections appear to be fading, however, as they shift towards producing more honourable products like tea or baby formula. Shockingly, over the time I had spent researching and scouting them, I actually found no instance of them planning on using the drugs they were supplied with, but rather, they are fearful of what may happen when they finally decline. Apparently, the connection started with a Mr. Nimi Smith, a man who was in charge around thirty years ago, but had since passed away from a stroke, some research shows that the connection was only made because he was suffering from a form of geriatric insanity; his descendants have been working on closing the connection since then. Penelope Brunoise, a person with royal connections in her bloodline however I am unable to find if it's from Sortirid or some distant royal family back before the other nations switched to their now most recent forms of government. I have, however, gathered a bit of her DNA and will test it further to find out, though, judging by her last name, I suspect she may be from the distant monarchy of Qorboon before they became a Theocracy. Her usage of the drugs, however, are recreational; she dilutes them greatly till the point she feels weightless and productive, leading to only minor signs of insanity."
Finally, he stops talking to take a sip of his tea, and I watch as he eyes his dried cactus, but refuses to eat it. "And the rest?" I ask.
"I know, please give me a moment as my throat is a little dry," He grins, sipping his tea, and I lean forward, he resumes immediately. "Charles Petersborough, the asshole of assholes, a true native of Rapard as his blood is pure to this nation. He enjoys purchasing young women and drugging them, watching them grow a reliance on the product, then finds pleasure in watching them beg on their knees for more. He's a sick fuck who usually uses the phrase, 'the younger, the better.' The Red Orange Yellow Alliance, this is the connection the school caught wind of and decided to intervene, the rest can be dealt with on the inside, but this goes all the way up to the federal level. The dictator of Duthious and the councils of Rapard and Qorboon are all in on it. These guys think they're taking down their own government by weakening the people? No, the government is actually controlling them and their production like they're all puppets. This connection is the most complicated of all, with the information I'd gathered not much more than what the school knows, Rapard and Duthious have a secret alliance against Qorboon who is under the impression that they are all working together. This alliance was formed under the notion of creating more respect for the hotter nations, potentially bringing in more tourists to better their economy and way of living. But in actuality, they're using the alliance to ship drugs into Qorboon and weaken their people, and so far, their council has yet to notice. Although that's only Rapard's point of view, I haven't seen if Qorboon is aware of all of this and is just feigning ignorance or not." He sits back, continuing to sip his tea, suddenly relaxed and confident once more. "And that's all regarding the clients."
"And our competitors?" I ask, unshaken by his cool demeanor. Ever since his arrival, Antonio has been gentler, allowing me to take the lead on more subjects and only really speaking in situations where he knows it's dangerous for me to voice myself.
"There are two, one is just a group of people that want to get into the business but don't know how to produce the products themselves, the other, however, is hiding behind that coverage and using it to keep their identities and activities private."
"But you made sure to figure out who they are, right?"
"Of course, what do you take me for? An acolyte?" Antonio and I glance at each other, shaking our heads before focusing back on him. "The real competitors are the government; they've formed a secret group of people to become competition to prompt these guys-" He waves his hand around, gesturing to the entire facility. "-to do better, produce stronger and more products, and increase their clientele."
"So they really do have no control over what happens, either they produce or they don't and instead get taken over in the market." Antonio mumbles, staring lasers at the table before him.
"And finally, did you manage to find a secure hiding spot?" I ask, reaching over and placing my hands overtop of Antonio's, squeezing them three times.
"Absolutely, it's an abandoned basement beneath Desx, in fact, it belonged to the family of that daughter you saved." He smiles wider now, cocky as he leans forward, perching his hands together and resting his head on them. "By the way, I took the liberty to do some extra for you, dear, the little girl, she's safely being taken to Qorboon as we speak."