Chapter 187 - New Phase
Ever since then, there was a new routine amongst the Elite Five.
The breakfast table at the cafeteria now had two extra regulars: Sam and Betty. Now, one might think that it was being cruel to Beatrice as Betty did not have breakfast with her any longer, but this was at the request of Beatrice herself.
The idea came to Beatrice on the first day that Sam came to visit Betty at the dorms. She had done a lot of thinking and soul searching and felt that she spent quite a lot of time with Betty when she's not in class or at the Student Council. She had no other friends or activities.
Thus, she wanted to force herself out of her comfort zone and meet more people. The first step was to have breakfast with other people. This actually served two purposes. Betty can spend time with Sam, while she can make new friends - and at the same time, be able to get used to seeing the two of them together at a distance.
Betty no longer dropped by the Student Council after school. Instead, whenever she did not have extra-curricular activities, she would be studying in the library. Sam would be tutoring her, of course, so it was a win-win situation for them. Unlike Beatrice, Sam did not need to be at the Student Council office everyday.
There were a few other changes that Kyle needed to implement, for the sake of the future. He watched Sam and Betty, and knew that the first test of their relationship would be due to him, Kyle. Betty was a normal person and the last thing Kyle wanted was to pull her into his world - but Sam would have to enter, sooner or later.
Whether or not Sam would be able to keep it from her without feeling any guilt, remains to be seen.
So that afternoon, in class, Kyle approached Sam at his desk and spoke to him while keeping his voice down.
"Sam, you're going to have to take up self-defence," Kyle began, "But you can't tell anyone about it. Not even Betty. Can you do that?"
"Why?" Sam asked back, his voice also lowered.
He quickly surmised that this was something Kyle did not want to be heard by others. Still, he wondered why Kyle would approach him in class then, rather than outside or in a private room.
Unknown to him, Kyle did this because the best way to hide things, would be in plain sight. If people saw Kyle and Sam talking privately elsewhere, they might be suspicious or curious.
"Why what? The self defence or keeping it from Betty?" Kyle asked back.
"Both," Sam replied, looking at him seriously.
"Do you trust me?" Kyle asked back.
"Yes," Sam said without hesitation.
"Even though you know I'm keeping things from you? From the rest of the Elite Five?" Kyle continued asking.
"Of course," Sam replied with a shrug, "You'll either tell us one day, or continue keeping it a secret because it's not for us to know."
"Do you think Betty would feel the same for you hiding things from her?" Kyle asked.
Sam hesitated at that and replied honestly, "I wouldn't know. We've just started out and I'm sure there will be many tests to our relationship. I would never hide things from her that are important for her to know."
"But I know you would never ask me to keep things from her unless it's really important, and it's not for her to know. If she starts suspecting me, or gets insecure, then it's up to me to convince her - without needing to divulge anything," Sam continued slowly.
Kyle nodded, then made an impromptu decision.
"Come with me," Kyle commanded, "I have something to show you. As my PA, you have the right to know, and you'll understand why I say you'll need to take up martial arts."
Sam nodded, noting how unusually serious Kyle was being at that moment.
"Also, the need for secrecy from everyone," Kyle muttered under his breath even more as he looked seriously into Sam's eyes, "And I mean, e-ve-ry-one."
Sam's eyes widened at that.
Truth be told, he was getting a bit nervous by now. Just what sort of secret did Kyle hold?
?? MIB HQ (Under Shifu's House) ??
Sam was flabbergasted.
He stood there, shocked senseless, as he looked all around him.
High-tech equipment lined the walls and filled up one room on his right, just like a cyberwar room from CSI* movie. The room on his left had all sorts of weapons lined up on the walls and tables, like it was from a John Wick movie.
The room he was in was the only normal one, the middle one and the first room that he entered when descending the basement from a secret door of Shifu's house.
There was another door in front of the 'conference' room but Kyle didn't show him that room, stating that it wasn't for him to know.
Sam was fine with that. This was more than enough to fry his mind.
He looked at Kyle and Kay, who were observing him closely, as he sat there, breathing hard.
"Are you spies?" he finally asked.
Kyle leaned back at his chair and smiled, "No."
"CIA? FBI? Secret Service? What?" Sam pressed on.
Kyle gestured to someone that Sam couldn't see in the cyberwar room. He saw Zero entering with a file and he was surprised, though he felt he shouldn't have been. Things were beginning to connect a bit, but it was far from what was the truth.
"MIB," Kyle said, handing the file over to Sam, "It's my own organisation. Well, mine and Kay's."
Sam looked at the top of the file that had the stamp "Ultra Top Secret" on it.
Kyle grinned at Sam's face when he saw the stamp, "That's Kay's idea. Its level of secrecy is even higher than Top Secret. Once you open that file, you can't leave. So think carefully before you do."
"Why me?" Sam asked, "What about the other Elite Five members? Are you ever going to tell them?"
"To be honest, I wasn't going to tell you so soon," Kyle said, "I wanted you to work for me as my PA for a bit and gauge you first before revealing this to you."
"However, there have been too many unexpected variables in my life that I wouldn't want you to be caught in the cross-fire simply because you didn't know. I want you to be better protected and knowing what you're in for would be for the best."
"Once you open that, a new phase in your life will begin," Kyle finished speaking, studying Sam closely.
This was Kyle's first - and only - test for Sam.
He decided on telling Sam about MIB after hearing how Sam was trusting him completely. As such, the reason for this was just as he said it was to Sam: Sam needed to truly know what he was getting himself into. If Sam couldn't take it, then he'll just erase Sam's memories about the whole thing.
The last thing Kyle wanted was to ruin Sam's life or future.
After staring at the file for a few seconds, Sam opened it. Kyle and Kay sat there, waiting patiently, as Sam read the file. It had details about MIB's organisation, its members and its businesses. It even listed out how Master Shifu was recruited and the training Kyle did.
The only information that it didn't have were its involvement in Kyle's kids and anything pertaining to it. It did, however, outline MIB's focus on monitoring Rex Industries, and vertain key people (that had been responsible for Kylie's dearh).
As for Kyle's kids, that was something that would be revealed at another time - if ever. Kyle had yet to decide on that part, but if he did tell the Elite Five about it, it would be at the same time.
After 20 minutes of complete silence, Sam finally closed the file and looked at the Smith Twins.
At that moment, everything he had ever thought he knew about them flew out the window. What he had known was only the tip of the iceberg. This file showed another 50%, perhaps. He knew that they had much more secrets and depth to it but this was enough to make him fluster.
Were they really 14 years old? Could they be cyborgs or some immortal? They only looked 14?
His hands were slightly shaking as he put them on the file, his head bowed down.
Shaking, not out of nervousness.
As Sam looked up at them, Kyle could see, with satisfaction, the intense interest that was radiating out of Sam's eyes. He was relieved that his judgment of Sam had been correct.
He can plan, he can speculate but human nature is hard to truly understand or judge. It was always this part that made his plans extremely difficult to anticipate its end. Human emotions.
Sam had been completely shocked at the contents of the file. When he looked at the Smith Twins, it was with awe and utter respect. He always had admiration for them, especially towards Kyle, for all that he had achieved in school and as the future CEO.
This. This, however, was at a completely different level altogether.
This MIB was achieved through his own efforts. Even from that brief glance, he saw how Kyle had built up the company into the mini-empire that it was right now. Self-sustaining and creating more independent income for the Smith Twins.
It wasn't at the scale of the Smith Industries that had worldwide presence but if it kept going at the rate it did, it would surpass the Smith Industries within 10 years.
That was his estimation.
However, it was the covert things that made Sam excited. There were so many questions, so many wonders, so many interesting things - he just didn't know where to begin. So, he made it simple.
"What's next for me now?"
Kyle's face broke into a huge grin while Kay smiled sweetly at him.
"Now, we turn you into a silent killing machine," Kyle said with a straight face.