“You can’t be serious.”

Resignation and disbelief was plastered on Kieren’s face as he raised an eyebrow at Aaron.

“Come on~ I need you for this plan to work!”

“This plan of yours is dangerous and if we are caught we’ll be targeted by not just the school but all the students, staff, and their connection. What can be so important that you are willing to risk the both of us antagonizing all those people?”

“The intel I’ll get from this plan will be vital for future operations besides, the Moonfurys and Soleons have always worked best together. I doubt there’s much we can’t do when we put our minds to it.”

“That’s because the Moonfurys tend to do all the manual work while you Soleons sit around thinking of plans.”

“Well yeah, to each their own and it’s the duty of a good leader is to make sure jobs are delegated to the best person to handle it. In this case the best person to handle this job is you.”

“Don’t dodge the question; you are not a politician answering question on a bad policy to the press. What makes this information so vital? Why is this plan even so important?”

“Trust me, the reason isn’t something you would care or need to know about. Just know that the intel will come in handy in the future.

“You are asking me to hack into the mainframe of a Moonfury security client so you can get the profiles of all the students and staff AND you want me to leave spyware and tracking cookies to update you on new data!” That goes against all the moral and business policies laws on client confidentiality, if this gets out then nobody is going to trust the Moonfury corp. ever again. It will ruin my family’s company!”

“Shush! Keep it down!”

Aaron looked around to see if anyone was around but Kieren didn’t bother, he had already checked the perimeter before he spoke.

“I can distract the other security personnel and buy you all the time you need. In that time you can hack the system, extract the info and then cover up your tracks so it’ll look like nobody’s even come close to it.”

“Even if you say that there are always unpredictable variables that can ruin or reveal the plan.”

“Haha, please. You think I don’t have a few back up plans in case of unforeseen events? And besides, I AM a Soleon, regulating the flow of information is what I’m best at. But I promise you if there’s even the SLIGHTEST hint that your company is in on it then I will use all of the Soleon’s family power to destroy any intel or anyone who might know of your involvement.”

Aaron looked into Kieren’s eyes. They reflected determination and seriousness. When they were young Aaron taught Kieren how to differentiate when someone was telling a lie or the truth. The answer was all in the eyes. There are other ways to tell but as they always said, the eyes are windows to the soul and the soul can’t lie.

“…Fine.”

“Perfect! I knew you would see things my way.”

(It’s not like I have a choice when you make a face like that.)

“But don’t you have intel on most of the students and staffs that attend the school anyways? Is there anything you don’t already have that the academy does?”

“I have the profiles on most of them but the academy has secretly been gathering more than just a student and staff profile. They have extensively investigated the business dealings of potential investors and people of interest they deem “too plain” one of them being you.”

“Why are they only doing this now?”

“While you were gone the headmaster of the academy changed when the previous one died of old age. His name is Petrik Grim and he’s known to be cunning and underhanded when it comes to things he wants and like all ambitious people in high positions he wants to be at the top.”

“…Tell me the truth, you made that up just now didn’t you? I mean really…a villain named Petrik Grim vying for power. It would have been better if you said he was after world domination.”

“I’m not lying. I know it sounds like the plot of a cliché third rate movie but sometimes reality is weirder than fiction. All those villains had to have been inspired from someone in real life and I guess they came from people like Petrik Grim.”

“…”

Kieren couldn’t help staring into Aaron’s eyes again to make sure he wasn’t pulling a fast one on him.

(He’s really not lying! That’s more surprising than the time he told me that Sheryl could calculate math past the 6th grade.)

“What’s in it for me? Obviously you prepared something good when you thought up of this crazy scheme right? You say he’s going to investigate me but we both know that I could easily slip past any method he tries to use to dig up anything about me especially now that I know what he’s up to.”

“I have a piece of information that is important to you. If you help me on this then I’ll tell you what it is.”

“Deal.”

Kieren and Aaron may be childhood and best friends but they were still rising businessmen and that meant favors were a means of gaining leverage but a transaction was an exchange between equals. And the fact that they were so close meant they could trust the other to give their best and to absolutely not cheat each other during a transaction.

“When do you need it?”

“It would be best if you brought it as soon as possible. I heard from a little birdie that Grim will start the investigation tomorrow. So there will be less info to sort out if you do it today and then tomorrow the sorting program you gave me will categorize the data by itself.”

“Alright. I’ll send it via the usual route.”

(I guess the servants and guards at home can wait to be taken care of…)