023

- Welcome Mr. Dream, we were eagerly awaiting your arrival. Is your Boss not here yet?

Jack was greeted by a man wearing a typical butler outfit. They were standing in front of the entrance that would lead inside of Harm Incorporated main building. It was about to all go down, at twenty-two o'clock on this very special evening.

- He won't be able to make it, I will be his representative instead, and so whatever happens to me tonight, is the same as if this would happen to my boss personally. I am sure you understand what I am saying?

The man gulped and bowed down a bit as an apology.

- I am truly sorry, please follow me, you have all the privilege you need.

- That's pleasant to hear. Also, this is my accompaniment this evening, please treat her with the utmost of care.

- Of course sir, I will make sure everyone will get the note. Of course she will also have full privileges. ...Please excuse me for asking madam but if possible could you give me your name, so I am able to tell everyone whom to expect?

- It's Mrs. Dream.

Melody had a presence that was demanding respect and attention. If Jack wouldn't have known her personally, he would have been very careful not to do anything she wouldn't like, it was almost as if she was an ice queen, with her look alone being able to give you the death sentence. Jack assumed she adapted that persona to net get underestimated while dealing with business partners of Harm, after all she really was an amazing actress.

One sentence was enough for the not only the man they were talking to, but every one of the security guards around them to kneel down, as if they had royalty itself in front of them. Even jack who usually stood above such formality needed to remind him who was really standing next to him, to not follow the lead of the others around him.

- My deepest apologies, and my most sincere congratulations.

- Thank you very much Mr. Moore.

Jack who had recovered himself from being in Melody's 'new' presence, was directly speaking to the man who was their designated guide and butler for this evening.

- I am honoured that such an important person like you knows my name.

Jack's perception was good, good enough to catch on to the little name tag he had sewed over his left side of his chest. It was a neat little trick, especially for people working in service for people like Jack. they often were used as doormats for the higher ups to step on, sometimes even literally, so knowing the name of a person that was perceived as so much socially lower than Jack, was a very rare thing to happen.

- If you would please show us the way now, after all it is still spring and it is remarkably cold this evening, don't you think so?

-Of course, please follow me. Feel free to ask me any questions, tonight I will be there to personally assist you two. Oh, but if you would like, I could get some more assistance to be at your personal disposal.

- So, you plan to get information as you get along? Are you stupid?

Elisabeth, Jack and Melody were sitting around the dining table, on which a map if the main building of Harm was placed. Elisabeth who had just insulted Jack had yet to accept the conditions under which her daughter had to work with. Jack took a deep breath to calm himself down. Having to deal with all those emotions was really hard for him. It felt like he never truly was free of them, but like he had just bottled them up until now and Melody had opened Pandora's Box. He sometimes got overwhelmed by them at the slightest of things -like Elisabeth calling him and idiot.

- Listen, at such an event, there is a person assigned to the guests. Like a personal butler of sorts, and everyone with an invitation gets one. I have such an invitation, so I will also have such a person at my disposal. It's like having a walking dictionary about the Harm main building by your side. They are trained to answer all questions about Harm Incorporated and more importantly about the building itself. We could not locate the main server till now, could we? However we will just get this information once we are on site.

- This way.

Mr. Moore was taking them down the hallway, towards an elevator. Once they entered, Jack began asking questions.

- Could you tell me how many people will be attending this dinner party today?

- Of course Sir. We sent out two-hundred invitations, and we expect one hundred and fifty of them to definitely attend today's event. With the people having an invitation bringing accompaniments, we expect around 400 people today.

That was good news. The more people there were, the easier it would become for them to disappear into the crowd and then for Melody to leave the party entirely. Jack felt the tension coming from Mr. Moore easing up, however he wanted him to feel comfortable talking to him. Although Jack wasn't sure how much Mr. Moore knew about him, he knew enough for Jack to be treated as important as the director himself. Having him relax, so they could ask the important questions was their highest priority right now.

- That is valuable information, thank you. Do you know who will be there, you know, I would like to know who the big names are.

- Of course sir, I am glad I can be of use to you. There will be all of the big names here today, even the ones from other countries. The only ones that are huge names in the underworld, but declined the offer of attending tonight would be 'the Madam of Red', from Singapore and 'the devil of the west', someone I was said you actually know personally.

Jack's face grew sinister, while hearing the name the devil of the west. It was common for people ranking higher in the underworld, to have such nicknames, sometimes using another name than your 'criminal name' was even considered an insult. Jack too had such a name, it was 'the black eyed god of death'. Sometimes just 'god of death' or 'black eyed one'. Jack didn't care about his name, it wasn't his decision to be called this way. It was in fact used to rival the name 'devil of the west'. A god and a Devil, two brothers opposing each other. Yes, the one they called devil was none other than his brother, who stood next to him while they graduated. He was also sold as a professional killer, yet Jack had only heard of his actions. He hadn't actually seen him since that day, when they murdered their own family.

- Never use that name when I am in the room, if you do I will make sure you wish to be dead.

Jack's black eyes stared at him with a glare that scared Melody. Not even while murdering someone Jack had such a scary look on his face, it was truly frightening.

- S-sorry sir, I will make sure such a thing will never happen again.

Mr. Moore had cold sweat running down his face, he was afraid for his life. Their plan of getting on good terms with him, was ruined. On to plan B, getting information by fear. Jack calmed himself down, he didn't realize how much the mentioning of his brother would throw him off. He returned to his normal expression, of no emotions, he needed to be his old calculating self to get the mission done.

- I heard that the main server of Harm Incorporated is located inside of this building.

He spoke calmly, but Mr. Moore seemed to be still frightened by the incident that just took place. Melody was standing in the other corner of the elevator, listening closely to the answer Mr. Moore would give them.

- Oh... I really am sorry to disappoint you sir, however that rumour is false.

His plan B, using Fear, wouldn't work, he was more afraid of the consequences Harm would bestow upon him, than he was by Jack's threat.

- It is in that building over there, isn't that right Mr. Moore?

Melody's tone was even more frightening than Jack's. Jack was known for what he was capable of, however Melody was new to the Underworld and they introduced her as Jack Dream's wife. Melody didn't need to make any threats, the imagination of her opponent would be doing all the work for her. She just needed to give the first push into the right direction. Moore gulped down his dry saliva, and answered in a trembling voice.

- Yes, I am deeply sorry for not telling you. Please I have a family, I have my orders, I am so sorry for not telling you where it was. Please you need to understand me.

- It is fine, after all we got the information we wanted to know in the end, right?

- Thank you, thank you so much Mrs. Dream. I will forever be grateful.

Jack looked outside the elevator made of glass they were standing in. It was actually placed on the outside of the building they were in, a skyscraper.

- So what's the deal with this building anyway, I mean why split it like that?

Elisabeth was a bit confused about the layout of Harm Incorporated's main building. It was standing on a triangular plaza, and it wasn't just the one huge skyscraper. It was three, each one placed in one of the corners of the plaza, with about 8 meters distance between each building. But it didn't end there, the buildings were connected at certain points, by bridges of Glass. A lot of the building was built with Glass, in an interview it was stated that it represents the transparency of the company. Jack couldn't help but laugh at that irony.

- It is a labyrinth.

- What do you mean Melody?

Jack was as intrigued as Elisabeth by that statement of Melody.

- I was there once. On the lower levels it is fine, however the higher you go the more difficult it becomes to navigate. Getting lost is extremely easy, because not only are there many similar looking Hallways, but it gets more and more difficult to change on which of the three building you are on. It is like it was meant to be as confusing as possible. I could bet that the main server is somewhere up there.

To Jack that was big news. He had gathered up some blueprints of the building, yet it seemed like the top floors had none. He heard rumours that it was built by different construction companies, switching out the workers every day. He always thought that was just a myth so none would dare to break into the great Harm Incorporated main building, but apparently it was true.

- Mel, do you remember anything about the layout of the higher floors?

- Well, maybe a little bit. It was hard to remember and I was only in that building for about 4 times or so.

- So you can't teach us then... Do you think that if you were to be there once again, you were able to get around there, without getting completely lost?

Melody hesitated for a bit before giving her answer.

- I really don't know. I guess there is a chance that I can navigate through there, however we don't even know in which of the three buildings the main server is located. If I were to know that, I guess I would be able to get to that building. But I would probably need a lot more time than what we first anticipated.

Jack evaluated the situation and thought about what they should do. After a while he decided that they should do it anyway. They wouldn't get such another chance like that.

- Melody, I know our plan was to go in, and get out as fast as possible, however I don't think we will be able to do that with how things are right now. After having the information where the server room lies, we will need to attend the party for at least a little while, until we can find the perfect moment for you to leave.

- It's fine. I can make it.

- But... It will be very dangerous Mel. You need to consider. I don't know how much time I will be able to buy, there is a possibility that you will be caught. We have no way to get out if that were to happen. Please think about it and tell me your answer tomorrow.

- There is no need for that. I trust you Jack. I entrust you my life, so take good care of it, alright?

She gave him a bright smile while saying that, but Jack felt as if she unintentionally loaded even more unto the impossible huge burden he was already carrying. But if it was for her sake, he didn't mind.

After asking some other question, to shift the focus from the Server room to something else, Mr. Moore, who had calmed himself yet again, told them they would need to get out on this floor. After going down multiple hallways that looked just like Melody described them to Jack and Elisabeth, they made their first switch from one building to another one. It was the one Melody pointed at earlier, here, the destination of their mission lied. After walking down the same looking Hallways like they did in the previous building, they switched back again to the first building. Then to the third and once again the second. It was ten minutes of pure walking and they switched about five more times. Jack didn't even want to imagine the poor servants who had to walk this path with less friendly clients. But then they finally arrived at a big Hallway, leading up towards a huge wooden door. The dinner party would take place inside the third building, not the one the server was located. However that probably wouldn't make a huge difference, after all it probably wasn't even possible to go down two floors without switching to another building at least once. Calling this place a labyrinth was an understatement.

- Mr. and Mrs. Dream, I will go in and announce your arrival. Please wait here and enter in a minute.

With that Mr. Moore left through a smaller door to the right of the hallway they were standing in.

- Are you nervous Mel?

- No, I can do this.

Even though her words had confidence her voice didn't. Jack held out his arm for her to clink into. She did as they practiced at home and slowly began walking towards the door.

- Just remember Melody, don't show them any emotions that could be connected to weakness.

- I know, this isn't my first time attending such an event. We can do this.

She gave jack a quick kiss on his cheeks and smiled at him.

- It's a good luck charm, so you better use it wisely.

They heard someone saying "Now, without further ado, the representatives of the one known as Nike's enforcer: Mr. Jack Dream, called the black eyed god of death and his beautiful wife Mrs. Dream!". Then the door slowly opened on its own and they stepped inside the hall.