Chapitre 32: 32. Touring Eidolon and The Overwatch Initiative.
Disclaimer: The story that I have written here takes on the names of real people, but it is not intended to represent them or make any commentary on them whatsoever. This story is entirely fiction, and it should be viewed entirely as such.
I own nothing but my original characters and works. If you recognize it from somewhere else, surprise, it isn't mine.
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Recap of the previous chapter -
After receiving a call from Mr. Steven Spielberg, Mark calls uncle Steve to establish his negotiation team. He then starts writing the script for Mission Impossible with the help of a knowledge script he bought from the system shop.
After nearly eight hours, he gets it finished and hands it over to Janet. He asks her to get the script registered with SWG and also to get the movie title trademarked.
He then finishes up the first volume of The Legends of Runeterra with the introduction of a trio of Freljordian Demi-gods siblings - Ornn, Volibear and Anivia.
Eva comes to see him after finishing her assigned task. They have some "fun" together. Thankfully, Mark's room is fully soundproof, so they thoroughly enjoy themselves.
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~ Kevin's POV ~
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Date: April 17th, 1990.
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Location: In the ford van on their way to Eidolon Entertainment.
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Time: 10:02 am
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They were on their way to Eidolon HQ, Mark had told them that he had been getting it renovated for the past few days. The HQ in its entirety was impossible to finish.
But he hoped at least the reception hall was done so that they could hold a small party in celebration for the establishment of their studio and the audition theater, so they could begin with casting soon.
It felt surreal, to think it has been just three years that he joined Mark and the group. Promising to help each other grow, have each other's back and rise to the peak of their career.
He knew they would establish their own studio, but he didn't think it would be this soon into their journey.
They pulled up to the gates, and he could see the huge sign-board which served as the nameplate of the studio. He instantly fell in love with its simplistic yet magnificent design.
It was a simple black & white inverse board with the colors of the words Eidolon Entertainment written in black and white respectively, contrasting against the background in a bold font.
Above that was Mark's personal symbol, his "signature" to say - An Abstract Lotus or at least a variation of it. This one had different shades of blue against a white background.
The security guard opened the gates and let them through, Mark parked in his spot and led them on a tour around the place. First through, the main building that will house all the staff and crew equipment will be stored when not in use.
He then took them to see the section of the studio that belonged to Nirvana Pictures. It's the one whose movies Mark would personally be in charge of, Knives Out, their first feature film, would be produced and released under its banner as well.
"This is it guys, what do you think? It's big enough, right. The renovation is still a work-in-progress but I believe we can get it done before the filming officially begins."
Mark said with a smile brimming with confidence.
He replied with enthusiasm, happy to see the big studio space. "It will do really well especially with all the free land and warehouses to convert into sets later on. With this large expansion space available, we will be fine even with your dual studio approach."
"When did you prepare all this, Mark?" Janet asked.
Mark replied with a grin, "well i had bought this property a few years back to establish my studio and then over the years I just kept adding the surrounding properties as well to increase the area. It's just I didn't expect the need to set it up so soon, that's why the renovation isn't completely done yet."
"You must have gotten it for less than half the price it is going for now." Sarah replied, doing the numbers in her head.
"Yup, it was a steal." Mark replied with a toothy grin. He turned towards Evelyn to ask her about the catering company.
"Evelyn, how's it looking on Caitlyn's end? Will they be able to handle the food for the event?" He asked.
"Yeah, she said that it's perfectly fine and she is almost done with the prep work. She just needs to buy fresh ingredients for luncheon. Everything is going according to plan, the food will be ready and delivered on time." Evelyn confirmed.
"That's a relief to hear, thanks eva." He said with a relaxed smile.
They spent the rest of the day leisurely touring the various sets Mark had created or were in the process of being created with the help of their prop master and set designer.
After their tour they had an early dinner at the Red Lotus where they met Patricia again. She was a very talented chef, who Mark helped by paying her culinary school expenses. They had partied and celebrated vacation and festivities sometimes together.
But now she was the co-owner of one the best restaurants in L.A. He knew that Mark made this restaurant with all of his friends and family in mind. Red Lotus served all their favorites, especially made just the way they loved eating them.
The variety of cuisine and dishes was amazing. It was very rare that they got to eat their favorites at one place. After all where would you get - Asian, Indian, American and French in one place.
They had a good relaxing day and went back to the estate, back to their jobs. He had already taken care of the filming equipment they will be renting.
He had even got together with some of his other friends as well as made some new one's and one of them, a special one, was quite eager to meet Mark.
Maybe she thought he would have the answers she was looking for, after all she was at a crossroad of her life. Unable to really pick a place where she felt she might belong.
After her latest fiasco she definitely needed a change of pace. He felt quite sure that they could be that change for her. And with the extensive network of contacts she had, she could be of help to them as well.
After all, the entire Hollywood knew her legacy, to befriend her and get her firmly tied with their group would bring them great benefits for sure.
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~ Overwatch Operative No. 8 POV's ~
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Date: April 17th.
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Location: In a private booth of "The Prestige," a restaurant in L.A.
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Time: 02:04 pm.
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For over two months, No. 8 had been shadowing this person, gathering all the private information. Mostly about where he loves to eat, who he sleeps with, how much illegal shit he is involved in, etc. and finally he had made his move.
The person, Eight had been spying on, is one of Warner's Executive Producers, who is in charge of public relations.
Eight had been given the task of finding as much dirt as possible on the person and also observing, if they attempted to meet with any prominent critics in order to bribe them for their upcoming movie.
His employer had given him the task and as usual he had performed to the best of his ability and training.
Eight had already taken photos of the two's meeting, their conversation had been recorded as well by the wire that he had planted in their booth.
'One should never pick the same exact spot to dine in, it makes it so much easier to run surveillance on them.' Well, it makes his job a whole lot easier. From his analysis, his employer was doing this sting for one of the two reasons or maybe even both.
#1. They want to ruin Warner's credibility and the reputation of their upcoming film "Batman Forever". Eight was able to get a ticket for early screening, and he had to agree it was quite average and;
Or.
#2. They want to ruin the reputation of the critics in Hollywood and if one of such high acclaim is caught accepting bribes. Then the public will surely be outraged, at being duped by the Big Studio's and the lying critics manipulating them.
He could sense, from his instincts developed through the years spent as a police detective and then as a PI, a change was coming. And this shadow organization, which he had been recruited by, might just be the spearhead of it.
Overwatch, that's at least the official name, but very few members even know about it. But whoever is funding them must have a lot of money and great connections because their spyware is some of the latest in the market.
It's the secrecy that bugged him though, no one knows each other's name or even numbers. Except for the "Watch Commander'', who was responsible for recruiting, training, and equipping them, he was a different beast on his own.
From the very limited conversation that he had with a few of his fellow operatives, when they collaborated. He could gather that the watch focuses on the who have been abandoned by society -
Ex-military personnel, dishonorably discharged, former detectives and cops that were used as scapegoats by their superiors or just became a victim of some office politics/powerplay.
But Eight was personally alright with all this, because they didn't force anybody or try to brainwash them with their ideologies. There wasn't even any bullshit politics involved, at Overwatch, Eight felt like he could make a real difference.
Overwatch was involved in investigating the filth of Hollywood and other entertainment industries and getting dirt on all the crimes committed by these inhuman scums that inhabit the dark places of these industries.
They had already put over 16 different high tier public figures in jails or completely destroyed their ability to continue such heinous acts.
Just last year he and his associates Four and Nine, had busted a big sex trafficking ring. If he was still a detective, he would be bound by so many redundant laws, by the political power plays, by his seniors accepting bribes from the very people he is supposed to bring to justice, etc.
He knew the person who hired them is no saint who is doing it out of the goodness of his heart. No-one is that good, but he knew that here he could really make a difference. Especially against people who thought of themselves as gods or simply above normal people.
Sometimes they are sent to spy on people who are against the interest of their elusive leader. They are tasked to just gather dirt on them or sabotage their operations. But even then it's a small price to pay for the good they get to do.
Just four months back, he had the opportunity to save a young girl's life. She was only 15, but some producer had been sexually harassing her. He had received this information through the Watch's network.
Thankfully, he had been able to set up the investigation and gather the evidence in time. Because of them now this young girl is safe and that piece of trash is behind jail for 25 years.
The girl being a minor and there being drugs involved in this case had led it to be a slam dunk trial, especially with all his gathered evidence.
There was no way they (criminal defense attorneys) could spin this story to save that scum. It felt good to help people again, and Eight even got a good salary and full health care.
The meeting which he had been spying on finally ended, and the briefcase his mark was carrying looked a lot lighter. But Eight needed more, so he gave the signal to the waiter he had bribed earlier and got ready to film the scene.
At his signal, the waiter who had been loitering around his booth took this trolley and headed towards his targets as they got out of their booth. And rammed right into the critic, causing water to splash all over him.
The envelope that the critic was carrying with him got really wet and fell down on the floor. The waiter pretended to apologize and helped pick up the envelope to give back.
But it "mistakenly" got torn up as he was passing it back, due to it being wet. Causing some of the dollar bills inside to fall, all of this was being recorded in the camera, Eight had prepared.
He accurately captured the critic, the executive and the cash perfectly in one frame, from the best angle. The executive panicking and leaving the scene was definitely the money shot. This should be enough to destroy Warner, and he wouldn't even have to do anything else.
All he has to do is spread the rumor about this ace that he had to the rival studios. And they will pay him a premium value just to get their hands on it, and then use their extensive media resources to destroy Warner and their film Batman Forever's reputation.
No suspicion will be drawn this way to Overwatch and people will think this was the work of just a paparazzi who was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.
He left the scene with a big tip for his special waiter and went back thinking about what next assignment he might get. Or maybe he would once again be allowed to choose which scum he wanted to lock away.
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~ Third person POV ~
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Overwatch had been a passion project of Mark's from the time when he had started at the NYFA, when he had met a down on his luck, retired and broke, special Ops officer.
The cause of his misery and depression was a culmination of his life just doling out losses. His right leg was badly injured, so now he just hobbles around and can't even run or fight. His wife cheated on him, he didn't lose his house, but he didn't feel like living in it anymore.
He had completely given into his depression, Mark was just helping out Patricia at a homeless shelter. Giving out food that she had made, while experimenting with new recipes.
Mark had always been a very good listener, and he listened to this broken man, and he realized that what he needed now the most in the world isn't food or money but a purpose.
Feeling like he had nothing to lose, after the man was done, his own story and struggles. Mark told him his own, his success with writing, his dreams but also his fears.
The hidden darkness of society, with which he was also very familiar with. Mark asked him for his help, the man looked unsure about what he was talking about. He told him to gather all his belongings and come with him.
Mark told him that he needed to trust once again, that it was the only way he could move forward with his life once again.
That day marked the beginning of Overwatch, an organization that Mark had no intention or plan of creating. But as they kept tackling the scum of society, the scale of their operations kept growing as well.
With more recruits, more funding from Mark resulting in the best and latest spyware available on the black market that David Boggins, "the heartbroken special ops' member" now simply dubbed the "Watch Commander" by his juniors, bought with the help of his old contacts.
They were some of the best, yet their greatest strength was in their anonymity, the only person all these ops could somehow be traced back to would be a person they only knew as the Watch Commander.
No one knew each other's names or other identifying features. And even if somehow David was captured or found out, he would never give up Mark to the authorities.
To him, Mark was the person who got him out of the pool of darkness and depression he was sinking himself into, unable to see the light. Maybe he just wanted to feel like he was needed, like he mattered.
That's what he got by joining Mark and slowly as they expanded the Overwatch was created. After spending over two years working under Mark, he had somewhat figured out his enigmatic boss and friend.
Mark was a person who was truly gray and neutral in his disposition. Mark wouldn't knowingly bring harm to an innocent, but wouldn't go out of his way to help them either. And if they were in the wrong, then all was fair game.
He knew it in his heart already, but his most recent task had finally cemented that Mark truly cared. He was tasked with investigating the coaches of the female Olympics gymnastics and swimming team.
There have been some alleged rumors that the male coaches have been sexually harassing their female wards. MINOR female wards. When this report got on his desk, Mark had sent a message that no matter what he found in his investigation.
He was not to take action in his own hands, just be an observer and gather all the information. He understood that Mark already had a bad feeling about this one. His intuition was telling him so as well, but patience was the key of the game.
He had found out about Mark looking to hire a bodyguard/driver through the agent that had been planted to keep a check on Ms. Evelyn's life.
He knew just the man for the job, a junior of his had been discharged from service due to violence and misconduct against a superior officer.
He knew it was just the superior being racist against his friend due to him being an Asian, that asshat had done such things before as well but went unpunished.
He was happy that he could provide a good job for his junior as well. After all, he had a family to support as he was the sole provider for his family.
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{Author's Note: This chapter was started with just an intent to write about the tour and then about a P.I. investigating a Warner exec. for Mark.
But then the MUSE (inspiration) hit me like a train and I just couldn't stop myself from writing the Overwatch part with the introduction of a new original character inspired from the legendary "David Goggins, the toughest man alive".
Once again, thanks for reading my work. I am entirely motivated by interaction, suggestions and feedback. So please leave a comment or review and I will probably write faster.
If you like my work please throw a power stone my way so my book can climb the rankings. I hope you all have a beautiful day
Update schedule for this book: 1 chapter every 2 days.}
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
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