Copy & Paste Power in Modern World

Adam finally returned to his hostel room.

The room was quiet when he entered. He locked the door behind him. Then he dropped his bag near the table and stood still for a moment. The past few days had been too full. Aster Core was under pressure. John had moved through his father. Bruno’s reports were still coming in.

He had barely sat down when his phone vibrated.

Then it vibrated again.

Adam looked at the screen.

The messages were from Bruno’s side.

For a second, Adam did not open them. He already knew what kind of report this would be. He had asked Bruno to put eyes on John and John’s father, but Victor Gray was not the kind of man a street watcher could follow easily.

Still, he opened the first message.

The report began with an apology.

They could not keep proper watch on John’s father.

Victor Gray’s security was too tight. Guards moved around him at every public stop. Cars changed positions. Unknown men could not stand near him for long. If Bruno’s people pushed too close, they would be noticed.

Adam read that part calmly.

He had expected it.

’Of course they failed there.’ Adam thought. ’Victor Gray is not some normal businessman.’

The report continued. From a distance, they had only seen Victor moving between rallies and political meetings. Those places had too many party workers and guards around them.

There was no clear weakness written there.

Adam’s eyes moved down the screen.

He had not expected much from that side, but he still wanted to see if any weak point had appeared.

There was nothing like that. Then his eyes stopped on the lower part of the message. There was a separate note about John.

Adam read it once, then read it again.

John had gone to meet a girl.

The meeting was not in college or at a public event. He had not gone with his usual people around him either.

According to the watcher, John had left without his driver. Usually, at least one person stayed near him. Sometimes it was the driver. Sometimes it was his assistant. Sometimes it was another person from the house.

This time, he had gone alone.

The report also had an address.

Adam stared at it.

’What?’

For a few seconds, his mind did not move forward.

A girl?

Adam tried to remember anything from the future. Maybe there had been a rumor or one name connected to John before Monica.

Nothing came.

As far as Adam knew, John had never openly moved around a girl in a way that mattered. At least, Adam had never heard of it in his previous life. John had always looked clean from the outside, controlled and polite enough that people thought his bad side did not exist.

But this report did not fit that image. Adam leaned back in his chair.

’Should I check it?’ he thought.

The answer came fast.

’No. No, wait. This is John. We are talking about John.’

If Adam moved too fast, John might notice. If John had gone alone, then that meeting mattered to him in some way.

Adam’s lips slowly curved.

"Finally," he whispered.

Until now, he had been defending.

John had moved against his college life and then moved through his father. He had brought government pressure toward Aster Core, while Adam had been blocking and repairing damage.

Now, for the first time, he had found something that looked like John’s mistake.

’So you are not perfect.’ Adam thought. ’This girl is your mistake.’

He did not have a plan for her yet. He did not even know who she was. Using her blindly would be stupid, and John was not a person Adam could touch carelessly.

The address and the report were there. For the future, this could become a weapon.

Adam did not open the address on a map. He did not send another message asking Bruno’s men to go closer. He only saved the report and locked the screen.

This was not something he could rush.

If he touched the girl too early, John might understand that someone had seen him. If that happened, the small weapon Adam had found would break before he could even use it.

For now, it had to stay quiet.

Adam placed the phone on the table and rubbed his face once.

The smile faded a little.

Rovan was gone.

The police officer had been a dangerous piece, but he had been useful. Adam had used him as a man who could move inside the police side without Adam standing there himself.

Now that piece had been taken from his hand.

’My enemies keep increasing.’ Adam thought.

John was already his enemy. World Zone was still out there. George was a danger. And now the government itself was touching Aster Core, even if it was doing so through John’s father.

Money helped, and so did Aster Core. Darien and the companies around him helped too.

But money could not always protect him.

Money could not drag someone into the dark. Money could not scare the right person at the right time. Money could not send a message that people would feel in their bones.

For that, he needed force. He needed people who could act. He needed more than financial backing.

Adam thought of Rovan again. Getting that policeman under control had been hard, but once Adam had the man’s secret, Rovan had become one of the strongest pieces in his hand.

That was the kind of force Adam needed again.

After a while, Adam smiled.

"I have ignored George for long enough," he muttered. "Let’s give him a little shock."

He picked up a copied phone and called Bruno.

Bruno answered quickly.

"Sir," Bruno said. "What do you need?"

Adam’s voice stayed low.

"I have a job for you," he said.

Bruno did not speak.

Adam continued, "The body I had you pull out. Take it from wherever you preserved it."