"The real boss will be only you," Drake said to someone over the call.

He heard the response for a few seconds.

"Got it."

Beep!

The call was disconnected, and Drake placed the phone on the table again.

"Finally... I won't have to see the annoying face of that guy again. I can run this company much more freely. As for buying Necrosis, nope. There is no need for that." Drake relaxed on the chair as he looked towards the window.

****

Back at the Karaoke Place, Alice had caught the hand of Ryder, stopping him from leaving.

"You don't need to go," she said. "Since we're already here, why don't we just use this place."

Her words sounded so ambiguous that Ryder started coughing.

"What?" he asked.

"I mean, we have all the tools here," Alice said, stunning Ryder. "If we can just ignore the decoration and the, ah, stuff on that table. We can use this place for karaoke. It's the same anyway, except those few things."

" It'll be a waste of time to go argue with the guy since he won't be able to do anything. Also, you already paid him. Let's just make the best with what we have," she continued.

"Ah, that's what you meant. I thought..." Ryder didn't finish his sentence and started setting up the things.

He selected the first song, which was a pop song from a new singer known as Dustin Fever, who had suddenly risen to popularity. From what he knew, girls and youngsters liked the music. It was everywhere and borderline becoming annoying for older people.

Ryder started singing with Alice as the song was a duet.

They continued for close to an hour. They sang pop, country, and even rap songs. The fun time soon stopped as Ryder realized it was time to leave.

Alice was breathing heavily as she had been singing and dancing. Ryder, on the other hand, was only singing; however, he was still out of breath as the last song that he sang was by a rapper known for his speed, Reminem.

Ryder walked over to the bed and sat down. Looking at Alice, he said, "Rest for a little. I don't want the guy outside to see us out of breath and sweating. He would think that we were engaging in... bad things."

Alice nodded her head as she did the same. She walked close to him and sat beside him.

"It was fun," she said as she threw her body back and laid on the bed.

"It sure was. You can sing really well. I still sound bad," Ryder said to Alice as he laid down as well.

"I don't think that. Your voice suited some of the songs really well. Especially the tapping part of the rapper 50 Dollars," Alice replied, shaking her head.

" What's the next in our agenda? Where are we going after this?" She asked Ryder.

"I do have a few plans, but I want to hear yours. Where do you wish to go?" Ryder asked.

"How about a movie?" Alice inquired.

"Movie?" Ryder asked in surprise. He didn't know that Alice was a movie person. As far as he knew, she barely watched movies.

Alice answered, "Yeah. I heard it's a good experience even though I personally haven't seen one in theatres. Let's go and watch the latest one that's playing."

"Sure. It'll only be an hour-long anyways." Ryder nodded his head.

Although his plan was different than what he had initially thought, since Alice wanted it, he agreed.

After resting for a few minutes, the two of them stood up.

They left the room without even looking back once.

"Did you have a good time?"

As soon as the two of them walked closer to the reception, the guy asked with a smirk on his face.

"You are really an idiot. Don't make me open my mouth," Ryder replied sarcastically.

Ryder left the place with Alice.

"Cheh, they all have fun and don't even respect the people who provide the resources," the receptionist muttered, shaking his head.

Ryder entered the car with Alice and went to the nearest movie theatre.

The two of them went inside.

"So the latest movie is Revengers 68," Ryder muttered as he saw the digital poster at the front. "It's going to be a superhero movie with action. Should we watch some other movie since you're not into violence?"

"Don't worry. It won't have that much violence. Let's just watch it. I heard a lot about this one. Apparently, 99.99 percent of the population is wiped in this one by the villain. It sounds like an intriguing concept," Alice answered.

"Alright then." Ryder bought the tickets and entered the hall with Alice.

Both of them sat near the end.

The entire movie was full of realistic 4d and didn't need glasses or any other tech to see.

"It can be pretty fun to see the tech of Necrosis used in movies. If these are already so realistic, imagine being inside the movie actually," Ryder muttered as he nodded his head.

"The Virtual Reality? Yeah, that would be fun with movies. Actually being inside that world," Alice muttered in agreement.

The movie soon started.

"What the f..."

Only five minutes had passed since the movie started, and there was already a kissing scene between two superheroes who were barely wearing anything.

He glanced at Alice to see her reaction, but she was looking down at her phone as if she didn't see it.

Only after the scene was over did she raised her head.

Ryder understood what she was doing. She didn't want him to feel awkward.

A smile appeared on his face.

He placed his hand on Alice's head and gently rubbed it.

****

In a different part of the country, the FBI and the related authorities were surrounding a building that was said to be a terrorist hideout.

It was a raid mission that was being led by Ray. The building they were surrounding was a location given to Ray by Ryder. It was one of the temporary bases of Ryder.

"Everything is ready. We are prepared to go in."

People in fully protective heat were standing behind Ray, who was similarly protected.

All of them were carrying their weapons with them.

"Alright. You have all been briefed on what kind of enemies we might face. There may be people who are modified humans. They can't be killed easily. You need to be fully wary of such people. If you're attacked, and the enemy is like that, throw the explosives without hesitating."

Ray gave the instructions to everyone.