Allies? Friends?

It didn't take long for Alex and Jason to get to the hotel.

At first, Alex wanted to just drop Jason off at the door and drive off but Jason invited him into his room saying that they had to talk a little bit.

Sunset had just arrived and a red glow could be seen across the skies, making everything seem beautiful.

Jason sat down on his bed looking out the window to slowly appreciate the view of the city in the afterglow.

After a while, Jason got himself out of his daze and finally turned to face Alex who had been standing in front of him.

"Sit down, feel free, I'm not the type that's big on formalities so don't hesitate to relax around me." Jason said while gesturing to the chair on the side.

Alex didn't say anything. He just exhaled a breathe that he did not know he was holding and sat down.

It was only then that he started relaxing himself. He then changed his mind about how he was going to approach Jason.

"I guess he prefers more of an ally/friendship type relationship. Hopefully I don't mess up." Alex thought a bit before putting a smile on his face.

"Okay now that you have adjusted, let's talk a little bit about how we will move forward."

"First of all, I need you to lay low in the gang for a few weeks. Let me know about every major activity they want to undertake. Especially ones concerning Marconi. Even though I feel confident enough that I don't fear what he throws at me, there's still a small chance of me getting hurt by his schemes. After all, they say if you know yourself and know your enemy, you won't fear the result of a thousand battles." Jason said.

"Second, I need you to slowly gather information about the inner workings of an organization. Any organization will do. As you can see, I'm just a 3rd year student trying to do something above me. I need to at least be prepared with some samples of these kinds of information. Plus getting a few books for me might be worth while. Just get anything you recommend... and before you ask, yes we're going to be making a sort of organization. I'll tell you the specifics at a later time."

"Last and most important, I need you to try to increase your physical capabilities from now on. Exercise, diet, go to the gym, anything goes as long as you improve every physical aspect of you. You'll need it from now on. In fact, everyone that joins us is going to have to have good physical prowess so I'll need you to be ahead of the pack. That's all for now, I'll let you know if I think of anything else." Jason concluded with a shrug which eased the serious atmosphere that he built up.

Alex took a few minutes to recall everything he said. He slowly mumbled each key point to himself and finally nodded at the end.

"Management of an organization, physical capabilities, sounds more like you're preparing an army for war or even to lead a group to survive the apocalypse." Alex joked nonchalantly while chuckling a bit.

"Hmmmm you're not too far off the mark. Too bad I can't let you know yet though. Your intuition is actually pretty scary." Jason said while rubbing his non existent beard.

"Wait seriously, something close to that?" Alex said in shock while widening his eyes.

His breathing had turned rigid as his heart beat sped up. He tried to swallow some saliva only to find out that his mouth was completely dry.

Numerous thoughts went through his head about what exactly he had gotten himself into. He couldn't help but question his decision to follow Jason a bit.

Jason saw Alex'a face go through myriad of emotions in a few seconds.

At the end, he even say hesitation in his face and knew that he was slightly regretting his decision.

He didn't hold it anything against him as he understood the reaction a normal peace seeking guy like him would have after being told something like that.

He decided up comfort him a little bit by saying:

"Don't worry too much about what you don't know. This 'change' is something everyone will have to go through in the future and no one can avoid it. You can only hope to keep yourself safe by having power and physical prowess is the most reliable. As long as you follow what I've said and be honest with me, you will be well prepared for what will happen in the future, I promise you that."

Apparently Jason wasn't good at comforting someone. He just gave the facts as they were and pointed him in the direction he needed to take to ease his mind.

Alex did not feel comforted at all but he calmed down and thought about what Jason said.

From what he knew, Jason had knowledge about some kind of trouble that humanity would face and he wanted to prepare for it.

He really wanted to ask how he knew all that but he somehow knew that Jason wouldn't give him an answer.

He decided that he wasn't going to think too much since he didn't have enough information to speculate.

He was going to wait and gain Jason's trust before he would ask about the future and how he was connected to it.

"Well I guess I have no choice but to just do what you said. But make sure you fulfill your promise. As long as you can guarantee or even just give me the hope of safety, I'll follow you anywhere and do anything."

"No criminal stuff though, it won't let me sleep well even if I'm safe." He added trying to lighten his own mood and the atmosphere.

"Ha ha, interesting. Fine, just follow me and you'll be safe. But I'm just gonna say thing now, I'm not gonna be your knight in shining armour or anything like that. I only do that for the ladies." Jason said with a smug smile on his face.

The both of them started laughing as they faced each other. The tense atmosphere had finally dissipated and they were able to make jokes.

They continued talking about light stuff until it was almost time for Alex to leave.

"By the way, while I'm doing all this, what would you be doing. I don't want a lazy boss while I run around the place." Alex asked.

"Scram!! You really have the cheek to say that while having the easy jobs. While all you'll do is exercise and send some information, I'll be learning martial arts. Real martial arts. I'll probably have a few bruises myself by the time it's over and you dare say I'll be lazing around." Jason answered back in fake anger.

"Oh right, you did say you wanted to learn martial arts the other day. Did miss Felicia actually arrange anything or did you find someone else?"

"Miss Felicia came through. She sent me a text last night saying that the martial arts master that she knew had accepted a meeting with me. It's scheduled for the day after tomorrow. Apparently I'm going to be assessed first so it would probably involve a few tests from the master." Jason said while drinking some apple juice he got from the small fridge in his room.

"I guess that's miss Felicia for you. She really works fast and efficiently. Can't believe she seriously sent the request for you. She really took you seriously huh." Said Alex with slight admiration in his speech.

"By the way, wouldn't miss Felicia be a good addition if you want to make an organization? She has the experience and is very capable since she already has a very successful company." Alex asked with some expectation.

"I thought about it but I'm not in a rush to do so. I only contacted you since you made the move first on me which brought us to where we are now. For her, it's going to have to be a slow process and I hope to get the chance since she seems to take me seriously. There's a chance so I'll just keep an open mind for her. Don't get your expectations up though, I'm not promising anything." Jason replied frankly.

"Fine fine, it seems you already have your own impressions of the people we met in the hotel that night in Malpensa." Alex said with a surrendering posture.

"But tell me though, what's your evaluation of miss Felicia and the honeymooning couple and how do you want to make connections with them? What's your plan?"