Taking with Cipher.

<General perspective>

After the party had drawn to a close, Ava, Elena, Regina, Deckard, Cipher, Andy, Queenie, Ares, John, Ramsey, Lee, Dylan, and Emmett descended to the 8th underground floor, where Ava had convened a meeting to discuss future plans for the world and their organization. Meanwhile, Helen, Nora, and Evelyn tended to the children, who continued their games despite the festivities being over.

Ava rose from her seat and addressed the gathering, "Okay, everyone, most of you know me, but for those who don't, I am Ava Lewis, the founder of Shadow Nexus. I am the real leader and decision-maker of this organization."

This revelation stunned Cipher and Ramsey, who had never imagined that Ava, given her youth, was the leader of the organization.

Ava surveyed the room, her gaze firm and resolute, before sitting back down. "Today's agenda is the future plans for the organization and this world."

Deckard, looking intrigued, leaned forward and asked, "I understand about the organization, but what do you mean by 'future plans for this world'?"

Ava nodded thoughtfully and replied, "We can't rule by just power and dominance; otherwise, there will be another revolution, and we might become a mere chapter in history. I don't want unnecessary massacres."

Emmett, supporting her stance, added, "Miss Ava is right. People won't like it if outsiders rule their land, and you guys being from another world makes this even more complicated."

Ava continued, "Our first goal is to issue a new currency."

John and Cipher nodded in agreement, recognizing the necessity of a unique currency even in the underworld.

Regina interjected, "Can't we use dollars in this world?" Dylan nodded in agreement with her suggestion.

Ava shook her head and explained, "We can't use that since we need a global currency because we will be ruling this entire world."

Cipher grinned, her eyes gleaming with ambition. "I like the idea of ruling the world."

The room buzzed with discussions and suggestions until finally, Ava and the group reached a consensus to create 95% of the currency digitally, while the remaining 5% would be in coins.

They christened the currency Digicoin, opting not to entertain alternative names. It was to be both physical and digital, pegged to the value of the dollar. Ava devised a mechanism to maintain the currency's stability, ensuring that the number of Digicoins would be fixed and impervious to hacking.

The next item on their agenda was the law and order of the new world. Ava declared her intention to adopt a capitalistic economy, retaining existing laws but placing Shadow Nexus in control of the military and authorities like the police and other legal entities.

The new government was dubbed Elysium, and the new city retained its former name, Aurora, where their main base was located.

Ava detailed plans for elections to be held for the mayoral positions in the new cities she intended to create worldwide. Citizens would be able to make requests to the central government, Elysium.

She outlined the establishment of new courts in cities with populations exceeding one million.

New recruits for all legal departments were to start their training the next day. Everyone alive would be registered under Elysium, with housing and jobs allocated accordingly in the other cities Ava planned to build. Katie would oversee the allocation of houses and jobs for those whose moral rating was above 4.

The final topic of discussion was education. Ava announced that schooling would be free up to the 12th grade. Beyond that, students would have to pay for their education.

Recognizing the absence of existing companies in any industry, Ava decided to create new enterprises to generate jobs. She also decided to launch a lite version of CH-24 at a price of 1,000 Digicoins, necessitating three months of work to afford it or, alternatively, obtaining a loan from Nexus Bank, the global bank she established.

Ava then decided to leave everything else to Katie as the new expert she recruited in different fields. As the meeting ended, Lee and Emmett went back to their families, while Deckard and John decided to have a one-on-one hand-to-hand combat session in the newly built fighting ring, while others were enjoying the show.

Ava created a portal to the Amazon rainforest, where Katie had created a huge lab for Ava, covering 5.5 square kilometers of forest, as Ava didn't want anyone to know its location other than herself. Ava wanted to research alone without anyone around her and had always wanted to build a research lab in the Amazon rainforest as it was the best place with the most diverse nature.

Ava took Cipher to her newly built lab to get injected with CH-24 through the portal, while Regina and Elena watched Deckard and John fight.

Upon arriving, Ava and Cipher were a little surprised, as this was more than they had expected. Cipher was the most shocked, as she knew building something like this would cost at least billions of dollars, and she didn't even recognize most of the devices in the lab.

(Pic in the comment)

Ava sighed while rubbing her head and asked as she saw the center of the lab, "Katie, how many arc reactors did you create for this lab?"

Katie replied, "Fifteen big ones and eighteen small ones, miss. Do you need more?"

Ava replied while controlling her emotions, "It's okay, that's more than enough." As she calmed herself.

Cipher looked at Ava and asked suddenly, "What's your real age?"

Ava replied teasingly, "Hey, you can't ask a lady her age, it's rude, you know."

Cipher rolled her eyes while looking at Ava.

Ava thought and asked, "I can answer your question, but I want to know your story."

Cipher replied, "How about you tell me what you know about me, and then I will start my story."

Ava thought for a moment and replied, "Okay, I don't mind. First, I am legally 15. As for the proof, you can check for yourself after this."

Cipher was shocked but regained her composure and said with a blank expression, "Okay, I don't think I need to be surprised, right?"

Ava just chuckled and continued, "Second, what I know about you is that you operate one of the world's most powerful cyberterrorist groups. Your real name is Lora—no surname, because you were never adopted during your time in the orphanage. Your father was a double agent, working for the CIA while infiltrating the KGB. The middle part of your story remains a mystery, one I am determined to uncover..."

Cipher interrupted Ava and asked hastily, "What did you say?"

Ava repeated her sentence, "The middle part of the story..."

Cipher interrupted again while shaking her head, "No, before that."

Ava replied, "That your father used to be a double agent for the CIA in the KGB."

Cipher nodded and asked, "Can you tell me more, and how do you know that? Even I don't know it."

Ava asked when she heard Cipher's question, "You don't know about your father?"

Cipher nodded as she didn't really know about her father, as she had never seen him.

Ava looked at a hologram screen and said, "Katie, show me the detailed report on Victor Quinn."

An image of a man with blond hair, brown eyes, and a long scar on his right cheek appeared on the hologram screen with a bunch of detailed information on the right side of the photo.

Cipher looked at the hologram panel and asked, with a little emotion as she had never in her life thought about knowing this, "Is my father's name Victor Quinn?"

Ava replied while moving her fingers through the data on the hologram screen, "Well, genetically, yeah, he is, but I don't know otherwise as he died twice in the records shown in KGB and CIA. First, KGB declared him dead in 1972, which is one year before you were born, and then CIA declared him dead in 1975 when you were 2 years old."

Cipher started reading everything in the report that Ava showed her and asked, "What about my mother?"

Ava replied, "Well, her name is Irina Petrova. She was an agent in the KGB, and she died in a plane crash in 1974."

Another report on Irina Petrovna appeared on the other hologram screen.

After reading everything, Cipher asked Ava, "How did you find this out when even I don't know about my parents?"

Ava replied, "You see, I have a habit of trying to get every possible piece of information on everything and everyone that comes in contact with me. You can think of it as good or bad; it's your choice."

Ava continued, "I searched for everything about you or related to you when I found your DNA sample and data. So I used it to find every possible match to your DNA from the time period of your birth. That's when I got to know about your parents, and it was not hard to hack the databases of the CIA and KGB. I've done it before, too."

Cipher just nodded, as this was a lot to take in for her. Ava just guided Cipher to the chair and asked as she took out the CH-24 applicator, "Just relax, it will be done in just a minute."

Ava then injected Cipher with CH-24. Immediately, Cipher felt an unusual yet comforting warmth spreading through her veins. A minute later, she approached the mirror. While there were no drastic physical changes, she radiated an aura of strength and vitality. Her skin had a subtle glow, and her features seemed just a touch more youthful, as if she had turned back the clock a year or two. She felt an surge of power coursing through her.

(Pic in the comment)

Ava then put a VR helmet on Cipher's head, and Cipher entered the virtual world to gain experience and control over her new body. While Cipher was in the virtual world, Ava planted two nanochips in Cipher's spine, one at her neck and the other at her lower back.

To be Continued...

[Author's note: Please write a review; it motivates me to write.]