Been at war for generations. Just brought the battlefield home.

　　Broken Knight

　　1 Day Later - Clearview - Bay Area Penthouse

　　My phone rings again. I block the call. Jesus Christ. You`d think a billionaire (almost/soon-to-be) wouldn`t have to deal with unwanted phone calls. Fuck you, Steve Jobs. You gave us airplane mode, but not I-own-an-airplane mode. Idiot.

　　Actually, I probably could have my calls screened through an offshore call centre. I`ll do that in the morning. No, I`ll have someone do it. Someone should be doing it right now. There`s nobody else here. I`m new to being rich. Gotta work on my infrastructure. I have the penthouse, but not the 24 hour servitude. The only services I have at this hour are pizza delivery and escorts. I wonder who`d be better at tech support?

　　My phone rings again. Dang it, shut up. Can`t you see I`m trying to order a tech savvy whore? It`s not easy, their bio`s are not helpful. Fuck it, I just pick an Asian chick. I guess that`s racist. I`ll have to pretend I want an Asian for the sex, not the tech support. I think that makes it okay. I do more cocaine.

　　Who the fuck is calling anyway? Is it the guys trying to buy my app? The Guild? Fuck them. Clearview is the premier facial recognition app. I have hundreds of police departments using it, and thousands more on the way. They`ll have to use Clearview. I`m the only one with the balls to scrape social media for the billions of pics the app needs. It`s not illegal, just against the "user agreement", and "highly unethical", and "illegal". Fuck it, everybody scrapes Facebook. Who`s gonna arrest me? My fucking clients? Hardly.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

　　I`m never selling this app. It`s a goddamn goldmine. A genie in a bottle. A million cops to grant my wishes. What`s that green dot in my cocaine? PAP!! Holy fuck! There`s a flaming hole in my marble countertop. I look down. There`s a hole through my pant leg, and my chair. A scorched line along my sack. Fuck!

　　I stagger to my feet. The green dot flickers to my chest. I freeze. The dot goes back to the table. I slowly edge away. The dot flickers back to my chest. Stays there. I slowly get back in my seat. The dot goes back to the table. Blurs out. Spells a message in green laser light - ANSWER YOUR PHONE.

　　My phone rings.

　　I answer.

　　"Listen," I beg. "I can sell you the app. We can make that happen. Or, I can erase people from the app. Nobody needs to know who you are."

　　"We`re past that." The green dot flickers to my chest. "Tell me about Empty Man."

　　I start to pee. "I don`t know what that means."

　　"Fair enough. Give me your client list."