Page 25 of The Syphon King

“Initial assessments are finishing now. Once we have the readouts on their individual stats, we can hook them to the emotional resonance scanner and introduce stimuli to measure their responses andinterconnectedness. If we find what we suspect, we’ll move to finding safe extraction measures.”

Yeah. That one would be interesting.

BETH’S INSIDES KNOTTEDin excitement when her beautiful husband entered his office where she finalized class material. She couldn’t wait to tell him what she... “What’s wrong?” she demanded when he began pacing.

“We need to talk.”

Panic hit her. “Is everybody okay?”

He pulled up a chair and sat across from her. “Everybody is fine. You can sit, Ma Petite.”

She slowly lowered back to her seat, eyeing the strain lining his handsome face. “Okay.”

“I was hoping all this...coin bullshit was just...bullshit.”

“Oh boy, what’s happened?”

“Bart and his team called me with a disturbing report that means the coins aren’t bullshit, they’re real. And it’s happening.”

“Oh my God, tell me.”

“All across the US in the past three days, there havebeen strategic attacks on categories of businesses—thirteen on each,” he added. “Allegorelated.”

“How?”

“Yacht clubs, fancy golf clubs, jewelry stores, high priced car dealerships, but the biggest thing are the thirteen banks that got hacked, draining the accounts of theveryrich with no clue as to anything.”

“Oh. My. God,” she whispered, her pulse hammering as she stood. “It is happening. What did this cause?”

“I’m not sure of the extent but would imagine the very beginnings of chaos. Which means we are meeting with the Kings to discuss stepping up all these plans we’ve made.”

“What can I do?”

“For now, pray aboutwhatwe’re supposed to do. What who when where how.”

“Should I cancel the classes?”

He stood and went to pacing again. “Not yet. And right now, we only tell those whomustknow. I don’t want to panic the entire Hoard.”

The door rattled with a loud knock. “Boss, you in there?”

“Bart,” he muttered, opening the door.

“Everybody’s gonna be here at seven tonight,” Bart said. “We meeting virtual?”

“Feel like we need to do this in person.”

“Easier to see body language,” Beth offered.

“Oh, hello!” Bart said glancing around Bishop.

“Hi yourself. Did you get the update on the class details?”

“I did and... sorry, but there’s nobody I’dliketo take to it at this time.”

She smiled, standing. “Well. I tried.”

“Keep doing that, I don’t mind. Maybe you can find your doppelganger and compel her on over.”

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