Target Locked

[January 7, 2008 8:58 PM]

Due to his predecessor's status as a celebrity playboy, Oliver had to be careful when he went outside… especially during the day. Not that he'd personally experienced it, but it was an annoying thing to be recognized by nine out of ten people you meet. The original Oliver's memories told him everything, and he already hated it. 

That's why even though it was nighttime, he still had shades on, along with his all black attire. This earned him a few awkward and pointed stares, but they remained just that…stares, as everybody stayed the fuck away. Combined with his speed, this total avoidance saw him reach his destination in less than thirty minutes. 

After resolving things with Moira, he made good on his promise and went to see Thea, only to find the girl bawling her eyes out. The fact that he found her in Robert's study with her school uniform still on told him all he needed to know. After he'd sent her away, she probably went to go look for her father, only to realize that he would not be coming home. 

He tried to console her, but his efforts went unrewarded, probably due to the little experience he had in that area. Things that he'd heard other people say in situations like this came to mind, but he doubted saying "sorry" or "it's gonna be okay" would be helpful. The way he saw it, she just had to cry everything out. 

And so that's what he let her do. He carried her to her room and stayed with her till she cried herself to sleep. In the evening, he then had dinner with Walter and Moira, suggesting to the latter to call her school. The young girl could not attend classes in her state. She needed to remain at home and grieve, or at least…till he completed the investigation. 

This saw no disagreement from both parties, as they could understand her pain. Another thing that helped was the firm establishment of the threat Malcom posed. If he somehow got wind of Oliver's return, he could do something they did not dare to think about. 

Following the dinner, he returned to his room and fiddled with the money phone Walter passed to him after which he meditated till darkness completely blanketed the land. Making good on his stance to not keep secrets, he informed Moira of his venture out tonight. 

Her reaction was obvious. She had just gotten him back, yet not even one day had passed and he was about to vanish again. Reminding her of his speedy display and inability to sleep, he soothed her worries oh so slightly. Only by promising to call and give her regular updates did she acquiesce. 

That's how he found himself inside William Tockman's secret room, which looked identical to every hacker's "hacking" room he'd seen in a movie or show. 

"What was that name again?" Tockman asked, still unable to believe what happened a few minutes ago. Someone had rang his doorbell at this time of the night, a situation that had never once occurred in all the time he lived here. As unfathomable as that was, it turned out to be pretty tame compared to the surprises that followed. 

When he went to see the reason for this unprecedented situation, he found Oliver Queen, someone he never expected to meet in this lifetime considering their immensely different lives and the fact that the latter had died and now swam with the fishes. 

Oh, but it didn't end there. 

Not only was the playboy billionaire alive, he somehow had knowledge about his "less known" skills. The purpose of this late night visit was to solicit those skills in finding some much needed information. Naturally, he refused and played dumb, politely telling his unwanted guest to fuck off. 

Instead of "fucking off" as instructed, the guest went into detail regarding his sister's condition and his ability to help her. Such a blatant reveal made him livid, but when Oliver waved a phone in his face and asked for his account number, he realized the seriousness of the other party. 

Clearly, the billionaire scion had come prepared. The playboy knew what he wanted and was willing to provide it in exchange for his expertise. Running the situation through his mind many times, he saw no reason to disagree. If anything he'd heard about Oliver Queen was true, the only people he killed were the ladies that flocked to him. 

And so he let him into his house and provided him an account number which received a million dollars shortly afterwards. This served as sufficient motivation for him to act and satisfy his guest's wishes. Because just one more of those millions and he'd be able to pay for his sister's lung transplant. 

Back in the secret room, Oliver answered the question, "Emiko Adachi." 

"Okay, let's see…" 

A properly motivated Tockman went to work and dug out every piece of information he could find. There wasn't a lot, much to his chagrin and surprise. It was as if the girl had no life. No social media, no email addresses, no criminal record, nothing. The only thing he found was the address of her mother, Kazumi Adachi's house in The Glades. 

Oliver, who spectated and scrutinized every piece of information brought up, had his features portray nothing but calmness. Hours and hours of contemplation had gone into this plan. How could he have not expected this? Interrupting Tockman's fervent attack on his keyboard, he said, "Bring up her college information." 

Seeing as his employer had not gotten angry with his incompetence so far, Tockman complied and brought the requested information up. 

Oliver read through and comprehended her achievements in less than a second, after which he said, "Check her fees. Find out who paid them." 

College fees were expensive in America, unlike in his home country. They were so costly that most people took out student loans right before they started university education. Emiko, who had been abandoned by Robert, managed to finish college without financial support from him. 

You would think she had gone on the path of taking a loan but no. Oliver didn't believe that. If he remembered correctly, Dante, the person responsible for Emiko's continued upbringing, training, and indoctrination into the Ninth Circle, wanted her as a successor. 

In the show, the man's desire for her to succeed him was so great that he had her mother killed. In his own twisted way, he hoped the woman's death would rid Emiko of any ties to the outside world and allow her to fully devote herself to the circle. 

To Oliver, if he could train, groom, and then go to such lengths to keep Emiko, there was no way he would allow her to take something like a loan. He was the leader of the Ninth Circle, an organization that gave loans to terrorists and dictators. It just didn't sound right. At least not to him. And his hunch proved right. 

"I found something," Tockman interrupted with excitement in his voice. "You were right. There is something odd here." 

"What is it?" 

"All the payments came from this offshore limited liability company, see.." the middle-aged man said and gestured to the screen. "They were all right on time too." 

"What else did they pay for? Can you find out?" Oliver asked, knowing the caliber of criminals he had decided to go after. These guys did not play. They had managed to stay hidden for god knows how long. 'Probably centuries,' he thought. 

Tockman paused his typing to push up his glasses and said, "Already on it…" After a short while, he stopped and said, "Apart from her fees and the dozens of deposits made to the account, there have been a few purchases, some of them right here, in Star City." 

"Show me," Oliver said with squinted eyes, trying to make sense of the numbers, decimals and percentages on the screen. 

Unaware of his employer's slight struggle, the hacker went ahead and explained. "The most expensive purchase was a mansion, followed by two warehouses in the Glades, roughly equal in price." 

"Get me the locations and schematics if possible." 

Oliver could guess what each building was bought for, but he decided to keep his assumptions as just that until he investigated them personally. 

Like Tockman experienced so far, the people his employer seemed to be investigating were good at covering their tracks. His attempt at finding the building schematics failed. With regards to the warehouses that could be attributed to the time they were built and their relatively small sizes.

As for the mansion though, someone had purposefully erased anything that could be used to determine its structural secrets. It's as though they had killed the architect and burned all of his files. If these people were so good at covering their tracks, you might be wondering, how then did he discover their purchases? 

It was simple. Oliver knew where to look. Few law enforcement organizations knew of the Ninth Circle, and even fewer believed the stories of their existence. Those who believed, knew of Dante, the supposed leader of this underworld bank. But no one had ever set eyes on him. If they wanted to go after him, they wouldn't even know where to start. 

But, being someone with otherworldly knowledge, Oliver knew what Dante looked like and what the man wanted: his sister, Emiko. With this knowledge on hand, it was smooth sailing from there. While the law enforcement agencies were navigating the darkness with just their senses, he had Emiko, the girl who led him to his quarry like a beacon. 

Things like this made Oliver doubt his transmigration as the Queen scion was a coincidence. Because, first of all, he woke up on an island with mercenaries he had to kill to save himself and the Ferris Air flight. Now, in his search for evidence against Malcolm and an avenue to obtain points, the Ninth Circle happened to be available, a group that had ties to most of the world's criminal organizations. 

If he didn't know better, he would think that by becoming Oliver Queen, he had gained an all you can eat, sorry, kill buffet. Should he succeed in this endeavor, all the data and wealth of the Circle would belong to him. He would practically gain a hit list of all the scumbags this world did not need. 

Just thinking about it made his breath quicken a bit. This excitement only lasted a moment and gave way to calmness as he focused on Tockman, who seemed to be at war with his computer. Aware of the man's fears, Oliver placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Relax. It's okay if you didn't find it. I didn't expect you to." 

Tockman then sighed a little, relieved for the understanding nature of his employer and confused as to what he really wanted. Before he could ask, the young man beat him to it. 

"Show me any available camera footage near these places." 

Hoping to make himself useful and find something, Tockman didn't respond and let his fingers do the talking. This endeavor also saw him deflate as he failed to obtain anything useful. There were no cameras near the mansion, and only one of the warehouses was in the view of a camera across the street it was on. 

While Tockman lamented his failure to help Oliver and his sister in turn, the playboy reviewed the camera footage with a hidden gleam in his eyes. If one were to see the screen right now, they would think he had lost his mind, because the footage showed nothing but static. 

On a certain day of every week, the camera would stop working and behave like this for the full 24 hours. For him, this was a giant red flag that pointed to one person: 'Dante.' 

Only he could warrant this kind of security and anonymity. The excitement at seeing the plan come together made him smile, an expression that left his hacker acquaintance perplexed. 

Seeing the man's worries and knowing the root cause of them, he placated by saying, "Don't worry, you'll get your money. There's just one last person I want you to find." Now that he had a target, he needed the proper tools and equipment. His rusted katana and normal black clothes wouldn't cut it. 

"Lodai, that's his name."