Finding a mate

 *At the back of the school 3rd Person pov*

Two people could be seen walking together, one dark-skinned that towered over the other who was short and white-skinned. The tall one was dragging the shorter one by the arm, looking every which way to see if he was attracting attention.

This of course was Paulo and Albert. Paulo was asking himself where did he go wrong in his security, he knew that he wasn't an expert in such matters but to a civilian figure him out was truly a humiliating endeavor. In his alternative life his focus was only violence so he was forced to disregard the more useful areas like cybersecurity.

'What good is cybersecurity when people are chasing you with guns, after all.' Paulo thought. He decided to react to this news calmly, he figures that Albert didn't tell him the truth to manipulate him.

Arriving at a secluded place Paulo stood in front of albert looking at him carefully. From his face he could not read any deception on his face. In fact, he couldn't read anything on his face, it was a placid face, with nary a trace of its person inner thoughts. Paulo didn't judge, he had difficulty to express his inner sentiments on his face as well.

"Ok, you got my attention. Now tell me, what is that you discovered about me." Paulo opened the conversation seeing that Albert was just staring at his face with no intention of talking first.

Albert looked at Paulo face one last time and averted his gaze, focusing on himself a bit. His hand took something from his pocket, a letter. He gave the letter to Paulo, conveying with his eyes for him to read it.

'Paulo, I write this letter not with the mind to take advantage of my knowledge of what you do in the night. I write to say to you thank you for what you did for me in the day before' Paulo began to read; he thanked God that he was right and albert didn't seem to want to take advantage of his knowledge.

'I gather that you noticed that I am not a normal person. I have a severe case of autism and have difficulty communicating so I've chosen to say to you through this letter that I approve of your actions as a vigilante or hero." Paulo read this and looked at Albert again, looking if his face changed any bit. But no, his face was as placid as ever.

'I discovered your secret identity because I am an expert on computers, your security was subpar at best. But don't you worry, I took it upon myself to strengthen and erase all your traces on the internet.' This line made Paulo stop. He looked at Albert more seriously now.

"You said you erased my traces. Was there such a clear trace leading up to me on the web?" Paulo asked. He must know, if his activities were so easy to figure it out, he was putting his family at risk. This would put a wrench on all his operations and force him to retire early.

Albert shook his head and took a breath. His mouth opened and closed for a bit before he closed his eyes.

"No, don't worry. I was able to figure you out because I knew your name first. If someone were to try to find you without any information, just from the clips you posted, they would surely find an order of magnitude more complicated." Albert said, taking deep breaths as if just this much was a difficult task for him to say.

"Hm… ok I will trust your judgement." Paulo said after he saw how his short companion made an effort to communicate with him.

'Even if I erased all traces I was inspired by your bravery and ask of you to use me to accomplish your objectives. I am useless in a physical environment, but in the digital world I am somewhat competent. So, if you need something just ask me.' Was the last paragraph of Albert heartfelt letter.

Paulo didn't know what to feel. On one side he got help from a civilian, a civilian on the spectrum even. On the other hand, he was found out anyway. If Albert was malicious, his identity would be exposed and his family would be in danger.

"I see your good intentions, Albert. However, I don't know if involving you in such busyness is a good choice." Paulo was reluctant to drag a normal person to the world that he was surely walk if he continues on his path of justice.

"Give me a chance! I want to feel useful to someone, I will do my best!" Albert said with conviction. He was convinced to do something after he saw the actions of his peer.

"Look Albert, I don't doubt your abilities, you found me after all, But I must say to you, the things I see will haunt you, when you take your blindfold to the world of violence and evil outside your normal perspective you will not be able to put them back on." Paulo said, hoping that Albert would change his mind. He knew that the horrors he would see will scar even him, a normal person would not be able to cope.

Albert stopped when he heard this. He could see that Paulo was speaking the truth, even with a few weeks of work he saw what type of thing he already found on his last capture. But even though he knew of the dangers, Albert still wanted do something that mattered.

"I understand the consequences. But I will be able to help you, so I will not back down." Albert said with clear eyes. His decision was made, even if Paulo reject him now, he will still try to help by himself.

"Sigh… Ok. I will see what I can ask of you, now let's go to class I'm tired of all these revelations today." Paulo said, tired. He decided to postpone the more difficult conversation that he will have discussing the specifics of the alliance. This would be a problem for future him to figure it out.

*Paulo pov*

Responsibility, that is what I must carry on my back so that I can make a difference on the world. If I accepted a companion on my crusade against evil, I must put him to use.

A tech guy could be used to investigate the criminal enterprise that I would have to search myself otherwise. He will be my eyes and ears on the street, he can access CCTV footages on the streets to search crimes occurring.

Now I can focus on the things that I'm good at. It is as the busyness gurus used to say. DELEGATION. To construct a successful enterprise, one must know how to delegate his own work.

I saw that the teacher was explaining something in the front of the class but my mind could not pay attention.

'I'm sorry teacher. I can't hear you today.

(AN: Man, oh man. I must say to you guys, responsibilities are hard to carry every day. Today I am exhausted but still sat down in between the periods of stillness on work to work the muse and write this down. I'm not inspired today, but I worked anyway because the muse is something we must work everyday on. So, guys, work on yourselves a little every day, and your muse surely will reward you.

Give me some coffee will ya https://www.buymeacoffee.com/manoelpaulf )