บท 39: Chapter 39:
Ace was in the elevator, waiting for it to go to the 4th floor, where the offices of the Student Council. He had already not been informed through his Noxia that Zach wanted to see him, but he trusted Leilah. Depending on what was discussed, they most likely wished to do this off record, the question was: who were 'they'?
Ace had done a large amount of 'research' last night, and it seemed that Zach was pretty much off the grid - as expected. However, he was able to find out a few things, as he already knew Zach had ties to the Triads and Yakuza, but it seemed he had also been involved with the Bratva, and various Famiglias of the Mafia. His activities were mostly in Asia and Europe, but was also involved with various criminal activities in America - but on a much smaller scale.
From all of this, Ace assumed that Zach was one of the Envoys sent out by his organisation - whatever that was, to branch out their activities into the USA. However, it seemed that it was not going to be easy for them, they had a few close brushes with some big cartels, and a disagreement with a big motorcycle gang that almost escalated to full-blown war. Zach's Organisation would most likely win that, they had the support of some of the biggest criminal organisations in the world after all, but it would ruin their reputation with the locals - something important for criminals who did not want to get busted the moment a deal was carried out.7
It may seem like a lot, but even Bong was weirded out by it, the information was sealed extremely tight, in fact, not even the name of it was listed. All this was found in some of the files in private security agencies. Government security agencies probably had more, but they did not have time to worm their way in, that would take days of preparation, and a lot more power than Bong and Ace could dish out on their own.
A good thing that came out of it was Bong's curiosity, he said that he and 'the lads' would try and find some more stuff out. So Ace could expect some more information soon. He stepped out of the elevator, and directly knocked on the door to Zach's office as soon as he got there. The door opened on its own.
Zach was there, sat down in front of a large desk, papers neatly piled to the sides, and a large computer screen in front of him. "Good morning Ace", he smiled and directed for him to sit down in front of him, "I know this is probably a bit weird, but I truly do need your help."
Ace smiled internally, but kept his calm appearance, 'The game is on'.
"Of course, I would be happy to help with whatever you need."
Zach frowned lightly at this, but he soon composed himself, "Thank you, as I am sure you know, my organisation is having a few...problems with the business in this country. Both me and my organisation would deeply appreciate it if you could help us out."
"By me, I assume you mean my grandmother?"
"Yes, but you as well, it would be our honour if you were able to act as an intermediary between our two factions."
"So you wish for me to be a courier, what is the pay?", he said this in a manner as crass as he could manage, clearly throwing Zach of his game.
"It was my understanding that you would help with anything that was needed?"
"Yes of course, for a price, and as you well know, my grandmother's recommendation - which is what you need, is expensive. However, my grandmother's ear, which is what you want, is priceless."
"Hmmm, ok, so what is it that would make you consider our deal?"
Ace had already prepared for this, "Information."
"On?", Zach was expecting this, so he immediately gave a response, attempting to catch him out, but Ace had already come prepared
"Simple, I want information on your organisation, as well as on the school rankings and what they truly represent."
Zach wrinkled his eyebrows at the second one, "You should not know about that, most people find out when they are seniors, high rankers when they are juniors."
"So? You think I am a normal high ranker?"
Zach let out a tired sigh, "No, I suppose you are not. Ok, but I will first have to make a few calls to find out what I can tell you about each topic."
"Of course, inform me when you are ready to discuss.", Ace left the office without looking backwards, he took the elevator, and went to class.
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Ace sat down on his chair in front of his laptop and thought over the day's happenings. Classes had been okay, teachers leave him alone to his own devices and he can just watch past broadcasts and any video that he has downloaded. No other student complains to teachers, and for the most part, they leave him alone. As for the meeting with Zach, it had gone as well as he had dared to hope, he would be able to get what he wanted. It did not matter how much information he was given, he would make use of what he was given in order to find out even more.
As soon as he got the name of the organisation, he could code a more efficient and precise algorithm that could then be deployed to find out any files to be found. Any other information on the organisation's history would also be useful, they would be able to use geo-tracking devices to begin figuring out the various outposts around the world, and how it evolved over time.
He sighed and sent a message to Bong, telling him that he should have new leads in a few more days.. After that, he put his laptop away, and began his stream, "Hello again Chat! I hope all of you guys are having an awesome day!", he said cheerfully, engaging his mask.
He was quickly growing in popularity, and his viewership reflected that, he was consistently hitting 700 viewers every stream, and usually, when he was playing music, his viewership spiked, last stream reaching over 1000 viewers. He had already expected these spikes, people that were only interested in watching him play would simply tune in when he was doing so, while the people that were watching him play games, would just leave the stream on and watch it, or use the break to do their own things.
The rest of his social media was also growing, 50 thousand subscribers on youtube, and 5 thousand on his I-Gram account. For now, he was still growing at a fast rate, but the moment momentum slowed, he would enact the next stage of his plan, and hopefully, maintain or even increase his growth. At this point, he was known in specific circles, especially the Rainbow Six Siege communities, people enjoyed watching his consistently high-level gameplay, and his good personality was also a bonus. He had received some offers to play with a few other streamers, and Ace was looking forward to those opportunities. If he had a good performance, he would be able to hopefully attract some of their viewers to also watch his stream if the others were not broadcasting at the moment. He assumed that the viewer growth would not be too big, but the popularity boom would be quite big - provided he played as good as he was normally doing.
All in all, he was happy with his progress, and hoped that he could resolve the affairs that plagued him in school. He wanted to find out what was happening, but he also wished to be left out to his own devices, and if he became too involved with certain groups, it would get harder for him to do his own thing. As a whole, he would much rather be playing and streaming rather than bother with what was happening near him. He knew that in the future he would have to implicate himself much more, as he got older, Samantha would most likely delegate a lot more responsibilities onto him, which meant that he would have to be more active in those circles. Now that he was young, he wished to use all his free time to do what he enjoyed the most: entertaining.
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
_Insidious_
_Insidious_ Today's chapter, before anything, I want to highlight that the main focus in this story is Ace and his streaming. So do not worry, all those plotlines that are developing parallel to that are there to help Ace grow, as well as flesh out his relationships with some characters.
If you have any worries, questions or recommendations, I would be more than happy to answer any comments - provided that I can that is.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and are having a good day.
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