September 10, 2013

New York, USA

Annis wearily walked up the stairs and pulled out the key to open the door, just when his hated landlady appeared.

"Good, Mr. Bridger, I finally see you this time."

"Well, Mrs. Bailey, can the rent be delayed for a few more days?"

Mrs. Bailey, who was over sixty years old, but seemed to be in good spirits, and had eyes with the shrewdness peculiar to their age, she nagged, "Maybe you'll pay the bills, maybe you're lying again, you haven't paid last month's rent, and I suspect you'll be missing again this time." ”

"Nope." Annis spread her hands, "I'm an honest person, last time I delayed paying the rent because I had some things to deal with, this time I will hand over this month to you along with last month's rent." ”

"Oh my God, I hope so."

Mrs. Bailey did not continue the subject, "Mr. Bridger, you have a package for you to sign for, you can come and get it." ”

"Package?"

Annis frowned slightly, the address where he lived now was rarely known, except for a few friends, but those friends were not idle to send him any packages. Maybe parents? With this question in mind, he took the parcel handed by Mrs. Bailey, which was not large, about twenty centimeters long, and had a signed receipt "fedex" on it.

"Okay, thank you, Lady Bailey."

"Click."

With a twist of the key, Annis took the package and walked into her rental cabin, which was small and had a small bathroom in addition to a guest room and a simple kitchen, but the frequent interruption of the water made this bathroom less important than she thought. Inside the room was a large bed with smooth white sheets without a trace of wrinkles, and on the opposite side of the bed was a small writing desk filled with books and miscellaneous items, which contrasted with the smooth cleanliness of the bed.

He casually placed the package on the table, sat on the edge of the bed, pulled a wallet in his jacket pocket, opened it and counted $33, a credit card, a social security card with a plastic cover, a few coins, and nothing else.

He sighed, put the wallet back on, took off his suit, and started push-ups on the ground, doing more than three hundred in one breath, before he stood up slightly panting. Today's application failed again, maybe he shouldn't have asked of himself, an auto mechanic, or a waiter at a fast food restaurant, these are the positions he deserves.

"Toot ......"

The phone rang suddenly, and Annis took the phone with sweat, and a gentle female voice came from inside, "Are you okay?" ”

Annis became nervous, and her tone slowed slightly: "Jessica? It's you? Well, it's been good lately, how about you? ”

"I'm fine......" There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, "Charlene wants to go to the amusement park tomorrow, Rennes and I have something to do, she said you can take her there." ”

Anis smiled a little, and her daughter's lovely face seemed to appear in front of her, and she was about to agree, but suddenly remembered the $33 in her wallet, so the words stopped abruptly before she could say anything.

Jessica over there seemed to feel Annis's silence, "Is there something wrong?" It's okay, I can tell Charlene to go next time. ”

What else could Anis say, he could only say bitterly: "I'm sorry." ”

The phone hung up, and Annis sat down on the bed decadently, took out the last cigarette and lit it, her eyes full of confusion.

"Doodoo......" The phone rang again, interrupting his musings.

Picked up the phone at random, glanced at the caller number on it, but it was a number I didn't know, if it was a salesman, then he was doomed to be disappointed, he was now a real poor bastard.

"I am ......"

"Mr. Bridger, have you received a package in the mail?"

The voice on the other side of the phone was cold and emotionless, and there was an unnatural mechanical synthesis voice, and Annis's vigilant surname suddenly increased, "Who are you?" ”

"Mr. Bridger, you have one minute to open the package, which will determine the rest of our conversation, rest assured, there are no bombs or drugs in the package." The visitor ignored Annis's inquiries and said some of the above words to himself.

How could Annis easily believe the words of the stranger on the other end of the phone, whether it was a prank or a conspiracy, he simply ignored it and decided to drop the package immediately.

"Mr. Bridger, if you choose to drop the package, then your daughter Charlene Bridger will not be able to guarantee its safety."

Annis's pupils tightened suddenly, and she shouted, "Who the hell are you?" What did you do to my daughter? ”

"You have thirty seconds to choose, 29, 28, 27......"

Without answering Annis's angry shouts at all, the phone rang with a cold countdown.

"Don't hurt my daughter, come to me for something." Grasping the phone, Annis pleaded.

“20、19、18……”

Annis's face changed, his arms were exposed, and he resisted the urge to tear the person on the other end of the phone apart, and said in a suppressed tone: "Stop immediately, I'll open the package immediately." ”

The countdown came to an abrupt end, and the voice of the person who came was not in a hurry or slow: "Mr. Bridger, I am glad that you have made your choice, and your sanity has won a glimmer of life for your daughter and your ex-wife. ”

Annis gritted his teeth and did not reply, he had a hundred and ten ways to break the enemy's neck on the battlefield, but now in the face of the threat of the enemy, for the sake of a 0.01% possibility, he could not take the slightest risk with his daughter's surname. So, he chose to obey.

He picked up the package, slightly believing what was said on the other side of the phone, the package was very light, as if it was not loaded with anything, and it was like holding an empty box in his hand, if it was a bomb, it was not so light, if it was a drug, then the amount was too little.

The knife slashed and unpacked the package, and inside was a black cardboard box, and Annis replied with her phone between her neck: "Okay, I've already unpacked it." ”

"Open the box."

Annis took a deep breath, her tension relaxed, and her hands opened the box steadily.

"What is this ......?"

Annis looked at the contents of the box suspiciously, not knowing what to say for a moment, it was indeed not a bomb or a drug, but a black watch.

"Mr. Bridger, please put on your watch." The words from the cell phone instructed Annis's actions step by step.

"No, you've got to tell me what it is?"

"Mr. Bridger, it's 10:30 and your ex-wife and daughter will be home in five minutes, would you consider meeting them at the hospital?"

"Bastard!"

Annis's eyes were bloodshot, and she stretched out her hand to pick up the black watch, which was not the same shape as an ordinary watch, with no hands and scales, and no soft straps, like a black bracelet, all of which were borderless screens with a width of five centimeters, except for a three-centimeter fault under the ring, I really didn't know how to put it on my wrist.

He tried to bring the fault close to his wrist, but the silent fault suddenly shrank back, and immediately "clicked" to lock it after cuffing his wrist, and the watch was actually put on automatically.

Annis was startled, the screen of the watch automatically lit up, his name and avatar appeared on the screen, and he immediately entered a interface.

What is it? Smart watches?

Before he could react, the phone suddenly hung up, and the watch made the same cold voice as just now, "Mr. Bridger, you won't regret your choice, now, let's look at an interesting piece of information......"

The screen began to flash, the eagle logo of the US Department of Defense swirled, and a large paragraph of English information appeared on the screen, Annis's face sank after a few glances, and he clearly knew at a glance that the so-called information was all about his service in the Marine Corps, including the year and combat skill evaluation. This information is a state secret, and it stands to reason that ordinary people cannot know it, and judging from the series of methods of this mysterious person, it is obvious that it will not be a means possessed by ordinary civilians. It's just that this person knows his identity so well, so what is his purpose?

"Mr. Bridger, according to your information on your service in the Marine Corps, you are a qualified and excellent soldier, but obviously, your life after retirement is not satisfactory, you are eager to achieve success, but life keeps hitting you, you crave family affection, but your wife and daughter have left you one after another. Now, there is a job opportunity in front of you, and if you choose it, you will become an overseas private military contractor, and you will receive a $100,000 hire and $1,200 per salary. Don't doubt that the $100,000 will be transferred to your bank account within three minutes of making the right choice. ”

Annis's hand shook, and when he heard the 100,000 US dollar mercenary payment, his breath couldn't help but feel heavy, but then he calmed down: "I have retired and will not return to the battlefield." ”

"Mr. Bridger, lies will not solve your predicament, if you choose to retire from the army, then your service information will not be registered in the Blackwater International General Database. You don't have to doubt our sincerity, you just need to make a right choice, 100,000 US dollars will be credited immediately, you can check at any bank. ”

"What if I don't say yes?" Annis asked after a moment of silence.

"Then you won't be able to bear the consequences."

Annis's heart tightened, thinking of her daughter's face, and he asked, "I'm a little puzzled, since you got my information from Blackwater, why didn't you hire me through the company?" And by this means? ”

The other party fell silent, just when Annis thought that the other party would not answer his question, the voice from the watch suddenly changed, like a voice software transformed into a living person's tone, Annis immediately found a clue, the other party's English accent is a little strange, although very skilled, but by no means American or British.

"Mr. Bridger, we don't need Blackwater's involvement, including the American political axe, they won't pay you a hundred thousand dollars in mercenary money."

"Who the hell are you? Iranian? Russian? ”

"Mr. Bridger, I think you've made your choice, you'll have an extra $100,000 in your bank account in three minutes, and hopefully you'll have a big lunch at noon, pay the rent, and accompany your daughter to the amusement park."

The other party avoided answering, but said something like this.

Is your phone being spied on?

Annis didn't speak, but his helpless expression had betrayed his inner activities, it was undeniable that 100,000 US dollars was very attractive to him, not to mention the 1,200 US dollar salary, because that would mean an annual salary of more than 400,000 US dollars, if what was said on the phone was true, as long as he took the job, he would receive a salary of 1.2 million US dollars in three years, so that he could really retire. Moreover, the safety of his family also reminds him that he must not act recklessly.

The other party was able to obtain the information of the Blackwater Company, was able to listen to his phone calls, and even knew everything about him, all of which showed the complex background behind the other party, and it seemed that Annis had no choice.

"Okay, I'll go check the bank account, I hope you're not lying."

The watch dimmed, and the other party did not respond.

At this moment, he received a bank text message on his mobile phone, which indicated that 100,000 US dollars had been transferred to his account.

Annis took a deep breath, immediately changed into casual clothes, picked up her wallet and put it in her pants pocket, opened the door and walked out.

Walking across the corner corner, next to a convenience store, Annis inserted her credit card into the socket of the ATM, entered the password, checked the information, and when the balance of 100,000 US dollars appeared on the screen, Annis breathed froze. After quickly looking left and right and noticing that no one was paying attention, Annis took out her credit card and stuffed it into her wallet, bought a cigarette at a convenience store and smoked it.

With a few moves, he walked towards the ATM in the next block, where Annis was going to withdraw some money, and besides, the person who threatened him behind his back, he wouldn't really give in, and Annis decided to use all means to find clues before making a choice.

Unbeknownst to Annis, every networked camera on the street shifted its angle to him as he moved, transmitting his every move back thousands of miles away.