One

He ran looking behind him and all around for exits. There were a total of sixteen exits. Twelve normal and four emergency exits.

He could hear the calls and shouts of the security guards behind him. He picked up the pace. The president of the company would be coming through this way any minute now.

He'd used his computer hacking skills to rig the fire alarm to go off. The Luther Company's systems were automated, even down to its most basic devices. The fire alarm automatically went off whenever there was smoke in any part of the building which was hardly ever.  It was one of the reasons smoking was banned in the company.

The CEO came waltzing by. Ryan froze. Incomprehensible fear kept him rooted in his spot. His hands were shaking and his forehead broke into a cold sweat. Ever since the accident ten years ago, Ryan had been incapable of societal relations. He was damaged.

As a genius Ryan had always had problems with his emotions. Because of his ability to over analyze certain details. But now he could barely leave his building without a panic attack.

This was the first time in years he'd gathered the courage to confront the CEO on what had happened and yet...

He'd tried several psychologists. Unfortunately, since he was smarter than everyone of them, his treatment was impaired, by his intellect.

Did Ryan feel cocky? Sometimes. But he was more concerned by how stupid humans really were. He genuinely wished everyone was as smart or smarter than him. Sometimes he hated his intellect, it felt overbearing and more like a curse than anything else.

Since his accident Ryan had dropped off the grid and lost his former position as General Manager of Luther. And it was the current CEO, Fowler's doing.

He was now a shut in programmer for another company, a job which he was able to land because of his connections. In short he recommended himself.

He walked out of the building dejected. Ten years prior, he was the youngest general manager. Now he was some pathetic fool who couldn't muster the courage to confront his subordinate.

He was so deep in thought he didn't notice the woman coming his way. His head was bowed. Before he realized he'd slammed into something and went sprawling. He got up. Then saw the woman getting up as well.

"Will you watch where you're going?" she snapped. "Hey, it's a two man street. If you had you wouldn't have run into me".

"Oh so it's my fault now?" she said, her voice rising. Ryan raised his hands in surrender. He knew better than to trade words with a lady. "Okay, okay", he said. "I'm sorry".

He started to leave. She must have had a change of heart because she said, "I'm sorry. I guess I was just too engrossed in my thoughts. It's my fault. I shouldn't have snapped at you. Can I offer you something as an apology?"

Before Ryan could resist he found himself in a small restaurant across the street drinking hot tea with a woman he didn't know.

Fortunately the shop was almost empty. Ryan looked around. It was odd. If his experience so far was anything to go by this place should have been overflowing with customers.

He looked at the woman slightly confused. He opened his mouth but closed it again, realizing that he had no polite word to address her.

She put down her cup and smiled back at him. "Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Adrianne. What's yours?" she asked.

"Ryan", he said without thinking. Then he cursed himself silently for giving out his name so easily. "Why did you bring me here? A simple apology should have sufficed. And what's the deal with this place? It's almost empty".

Adrianne smiled. "You're quite the perceptive guy, I see", she said. Ryan felt like slapping himself on the forehead. "Well, anybody else would have asked the same", he responded.

Adrianne shook her head. She waited for Ryan to say something but when he didn't, she replied, "do you want to know why?" she asked. Without waiting to hear Ryan's answer she proceeded to explain.

"The average person hates these words "I don't know". It's been scientifically proven. Most people, instead of claiming sheer ignorance will either reason the unknown out or lie that they know. So someone else for example would have just looked around and come up with some quack explanation for why this place is like this or would have not bothered to ask at all. You on the other hand..." she paused. "You seem confident in your intellectual skills. Confident enough to admit when you don't know something. I think your job must help with that."

Ryan was intrigued by her explanation. He leaned closer to hear what she had to say. "My job?" "Yes", she replied. "You're either very smart or you have a job that allows you to challenge your own logic. It could be both of course. So you could be a scientist of some sort".

"Everybody is", Ryan muttered, then thinking better of it he added, "at least they're supposed to be".

"But they don't want to have their hopes and beliefs and faith crushed. A long time ago I realized. Humans aren't stupid, they're just ignorant. They hate to face the truth especially with the hardship it brings".

Ryan looked at Adrianne. Who is this woman? he wondered. It had been awhile since he'd had such an engaging conversation with anyone.

"Actually ", Adrianne said. "I didn't accidentally bump into you". A warning bell went off in Ryan's head.

"So if you didn't accidentally, then why did you intentionally?" he asked slowly.

"Don't panic", she said. "Or you might have another panic attack", she said. "How...how did you know?" She shrugged. "A lucky guess", she said. "I know we barely know each other and all but ... I need your help. "

"Are you a psychologist?" Ryan asked before she spoke any further. "Oh no. I hate psychologists. They're always trying to find out what makes humans tick", she said . "What's wrong with that?" Ryan asked. "Studying humans is unique. It's not like studying anything else. You can't generalize and stereotype. Humans must be studied as individuals and not as a species. Without that psychology will continue to remain in its infancy. And very soon big data will help us understand more about ourselves than psychology. It's no wonder some personality disorders are extinct".

"So what do you believe?"

"If you want to manipulate people, you don't need to fully understand them. In fact sometimes you don't have to understand them at all. You just have to realize and understand their masks. What people want to be or want people to think they are. People will do anything to keep that image. That's why blackmail works so well".

Ryan nodded. "My family has been unjustly wronged. And I'm trying to avenge them", she said. Ryan stood up. "I'm sorry but family feuds aren't my thing", Ryan said. "What if I tell you that I can help you with your condition? You've been looking for help right? No one's been able to cure you or treat you yet. But I can."

Ryan hesitated. If  this woman could help him...

"From the way you were looking around anxiously I can tell that you're not comfortable in a place with a lot of people. You barely step out of your house. You're smart. Smarter than me. And as far as I know you pulled the fire alarm in the Luther company".

"You saw that?" Ryan asked. "No. But your reaction shows that you did pull the fire alarm. And you're not good at reading people. If you're going to get revenge for what those people did to you, you need my help".

"Revenge?" Ryan asked. He faked a laugh. "What makes you think that?"

Adrianne sighed. "There, you see? You're putting on a mask. That's the worst thing to do in front of me. Your previous disposition was better. The fact that you left your house or wherever you stay even though it was of great psychological discomfort to you and you pressed the fire alarm in the building shows that you had a vendetta. Now knowing  someone like you the fire alarm was probably a distraction to get something else. But you failed. Because of your psychological problem", she said.

Ryan looked downwards.

She could read him like a book. He could feel his cheeks turning red. His hands shook. He felt violated and naked before her. Could he really trust someone like her? He knew the answer even before the question was fully thought up. The fact that she'd been able to deduce this much about him with such little info was proof of her skill. If anyone could...

"Let's ally up and get revenge on  the people who've hurt us. Something tells me that the two of us will be an unstoppable force".

"So who do you want to get revenge on?"

Adrianne raised her head so that she stared into his eyes.

 "The aristocratic Lestrade family".

 

Reviews

[Nana]

Revenge complicates things. I'm not so sure the woman can be trusted.