Ryan woke up at 7:54 AM and lay there for a moment doing nothing.
The balcony. The wine. The city below. Zara's hand on his lapel.
He let it sit for a few seconds, then got up.
Today wasn't for that.
He checked his phone. No new messages from the unknown number. The system however had processed a small return overnight from the poker wager — pleasure spending, the system had classified it, which made enough sense.
He looked at the balance – It was six figures.
He showered, made coffee, and looked at his apartment.
The team was coming at eleven. Six people in a studio apartment that will be functioning as a makeshift office for as long as it needed to — it was going to be tight, but he'd made it work before.
He moved the couch back, set up the chairs in the same rough configuration as the first meeting, and made sure the whiteboard was clean and positioned where everyone could see it.
He stood back and looked at the setup.
