Keep Enemies Closer.

"This unashamed man told the truth, I just contacted the owner of the building, about an hour ago he signed the documents on the transfer of ownership in the name of Marcus Taubert. Damn, I don't even know if there is anyone left in this city or country who isn't under this crazy man's heel," Daniel growled with displeasure, watching his younger brother sign some papers.

David put the pen aside and breathed a sigh of relief, finally, at least some plan had cleared up in his head. The path he chose was risky, but in the current situation it was the best he could count on.

"Hey, isn't this the paper Rick brought?" Daniel asked and picked up the just signed contract, the man ran his eyes through several pages and was ready to explode from indignation the very next second,

"Are you out of your mind?! What the hell did you sign it for? I understand everything, we are in a shitty situation, but to give the company to Marcus?! You know, Elena will eat you alive for such a thing!" Daniel threw the folder with papers on the table, in the family circle he was known as a person who liked pampering his younger brother, but at the moment he wanted to thresh the life out of David.

"Calm down and have a seat, and don't start to panic ahead of time," David answered in a calm voice, "Moreover, I have an important request for you. I can rely on you as on an older brother, right?"

After such words, Daniel's irritation vanished completely, and the man barely restrained himself so as not to blur his contented, triumphant smile, "Hmm, okay. I guess you got a plan?"

"Rick said that it makes no sense to fight Marcus and if we resist, then by the end of the month there will be nothing left of Lenali Enterprise. And, as regrettable as it may sound, I agree with him."

The fact that Marc Technologies managed all business and political processes behind the scenes made David's resistance impossible. By and large, if Marcus wanted, he would have sunk their company a long time ago, and the fact that they were still afloat meant only one thing - Marcus himself allowed it. But for what purpose?

"If the chip can subjugate the will of a person, then I won't be surprised if in the near future all our shareholders will become subordinates of Marcus. Many of them have already begun to raise issues of cooperation with his company. And even if Anderson and Lee families have a controlling stake, this does not mean that we can maintain power until the last. In the end, we must not forget about the thousands of employees who depend on the company," David explained.

"And what are you suggesting? To give up while it's not too late so that there are fewer losses since the defeat is inevitable in any case?" Daniel knew his brother too well to believe in his unexpected humility. And the sly smile on David's face only confirmed it.

"You could say that," David got up from his chair and went to the window, behind the thick glass of an office skyscraper, the city was in full swing, not knowing what was happening behind the curtains.

People rejoiced, feeling happy about the new invention of mankind, putting at stake all their hopes and desires. Only they did not know that of their own free will, together with their fulfilled desires, they were loosing their own freedom. The freedom to make independent choices. The freedom to be human.

"You know, in the summer of 1940, when France fell from the forces of the Wehrmacht, General Charles De Gaulle said this interesting phrase - "France lost the battle but did not lose the war." I then remembered this and repeated these words to myself every time, when it seemed to me, that my end was near," David turned to his brother and said with a smile,

"We will give the company to Marcus, let him think that he won. For me it will be just a lost battle," David squinted his eyes, went up to Daniel and put his hand on his brother's shoulder,

"After all, he does not know that I have a secret weapon to win the war."

"What secret weapon?" Daniel asked, not quite understanding the younger brother's intriguing gaze.

"You."

"Me?!" Daniel blinked in surprise, the man was baffled by such an unexpected twist of their conversation.

"My dear older brother, you seem to have forgotten why did you even study biology, huh?" David could hardly restrain his laughter, for a long time he had not seen Daniel so perplexed.

The "cylinders" in Daniel's head started working at double speed, trying to remember what his brother might be hinting at. After a couple of seconds, a bright light came on above the man's head,

"Are you talking about my first research?" Daniel specified, and he gradually began to get what David had in mind.

"Exactly," the younger brother confirmed his words.

Many years ago, even before David met Elena, Daniel was researching David's abilities. They conducted many experiments, trying to understand the essence of these paranormal powers, and the main goal was to create a serum that would allow David to get rid of this heavy and dangerous burden and live like an ordinary person.

In secret from his younger brother, even before arriving in America, Daniel for a long time had been testing the serum samples on Armand. Obviously, this guy was the only one on whom he could do this without serious fears for his health, given the phenomenal regenerative abilities of Armand's body.

But the maximum that he was able to achieve was blocking Armand's abilities for only an hour.

"Do you want to use this serum on Marcus? Listen, I like the idea, but I'm not sure that we will get the desired result," Daniel said with a doubt, "If it works on Armand for only an hour, then how much time will it work on Marcus? 5 minutes?"

"Yes, this is a problem, since we do not know the full potential that Marcus has, but in our case, even 5 minutes is enough to change the course of the game in our favor."

Daniel looked at his brother carefully. If Marcus becomes an ordinary human for at least five minutes, then this time will be enough to...

"Do you want to kill him?" Daniel's direct question made both brothers tense.

David was silent for a few minutes, pondering his answer, "Hmmm, no. I think I won't do that. Elena would not approve of such a choice, and Armand... No matter what an evil person Marcus is, he is still his brother. Therefore, I need your help. Can you improve your serum so that the effect is permanent?"

Daniel scratched his head thoughtfully, "Well, this is theoretically possible. I mean, I still can't imagine how I will make it, but if it works out, then Marcus will lose all his powers."

"And we'll deal with the rest," David nodded his head in approval.

"Damn, this plan is on the verge of madness. Okay, hypothetically, even if I can create such a serum, how do we get it into Marcus's body? We invite him to visit for tea, put some sleeping pills and make him an injection while he sleeps? Then even a child will realize that something's not right here."

David scratched his chin, pondering his brother's words, "Let's invite him for tea, you're saying? Hmm, that's a thought."

"Are you kidding me?! I blasted out the first crazy idea that came to my mind," Daniel objected.

"Well, every crazy idea has a bit of logic," David shrugged, sat back in his chair and smiled mysteriously,

"Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer."