Intermission

PROLOGUE II:

A NIGHT TOO LONG

All night long, he had yet to sleep a wink. And it has been a very long night. He had believed that a firm approach and an uncompromising disposition towards the local gangs would have drove home the fact that he meant business. With the realisation that he did never compromise on yielding more grounds to them besides the settlement he gave as gifts when he had first arrived, Jefferson was of the opinion that the thugs would return to whatever occupied their time every other day, with occasional flattering remarks whenever he's onsite for the reward of some cash if it so suit his fancy. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever imagine that things would spiral out of control literarily and the bloody gangsters would become more violent instead. The conflict was further escalated by the security teams he hired taking things literarily, when he told them to adopt a tough and unyielding stance to the gangs' disturbance, by opening fire on them. The first casualty on his hands was a minor skirmish on the estate's outskirts against some of the workers who were returning to their station after a lunchbreak. Some lower ranked members of the gangs had accosted them and requested for their own share of what they've gotten so far, seeing as their boss is yet to settle their people. A particular worker who was particularly high on ethics and morals happened to be among the group and had insisted that the others mustn't part with their hard-earned money, were the gangs in dire need of cash, they can always seek out gainful employment as well. This comment didn't sit well with the short-tempered gangsters, a brawl had broken out and one of the workers had been stabbed in the stomach amidst the ensuing argument. The others were then beaten bloody and their valuables taken off them, before they were left for dead. Luckily, there were not far from the estate's premises and were swiftly taken to the hospital where even now, the worker that was stabbed is yet to regain consciousness. The report had incensed Jefferson greatly and he found himself listening to the assurance of the district police officer that the perpetrator of the attacks shall be promptly apprehended. The police lack of results weeks later, and the drop in productivity following a continuous decline in the number of the workers turning up for duty, made him emphasise an upgrade to the security level and accessibility of the estate to unrelated personnel. Two more reports had come in about the gangs increasingly violent attacks since then. He was only just now considering what other approach can be employed in resolving the conflict with the gangs so that the speed of the construction may pick-up, when news of the massacre of a group of workers heading home after the day's work came in and ruined his evening. He never imagined that such incident was only a prelude to a very long, long night for him and his group.

Jefferson had only just returned from appeasing the family members of the injured and the deceased, with promises of justice and gifts of cash to show his solidarity for the grieving families, and a brief visit to the station to resolve the issue on the legal end of things personally, when he got calls from some union of workers and a couple of activist groups who had somehow gotten wind of things and were trying to confirm the situation. Brushing them off with a shabby excuse he made up, he found himself hosting a group of his shareholders and their representatives in town consulting him with their concern on the volatile state of his current project. Their counsel was for him to cut his losses and abandon the project before things got too complicated, with him not only facing losses but countless lawsuits and litigations. However, Jefferson was unwilling to throw in the towel just yet. He considered his dream of a network of self-sufficient yet interconnected cities his brainchild and the success of the construction at this suburb would determine the feasibility of the entire plan. If he is to obtain reasonable funding for the project, and make it the future blueprint for urban development, his prototype must be a resounding success. It was nearing midnight, and he was still in the process of painting his vision and outlining his blueprint of an ultimate eco-friendly self-sufficient megacity to the stakeholders and members of his holdings, when several reports of an assault on the different trucks and vans delivering materials to the construction sites in the estate came in simultaneously. The scale of the project necessitated the establishment of different routes and roads that led to the central hub of activity in the estate - which was in actual fact, a framework for a much grander project - these roads are used by different delivery teams every night, after a day of work, to deliver a fresh supply of materials simultaneously. Every delivery team had a preassigned route they stuck to and a strict schedule they operate by. The reports coming in claimed that every single route had been attacked by an organised armed group, of course it was the gangs, and the teams laid waste to with no survivors. The vehicles loaded with supplies had promptly disappeared without a trace which spoke volumes of the level of preparedness and planning went into the ambush, and the influence of the parties involved in the bloody heist.

Jefferson felt his strength leave him and his hands hang limp. It was a miracle he didn't have a heart attack. The meeting room was thrown into an uproar and there was only a semblance of calmness after each of the participants of the meeting had come to grips with the status of things. Thoughts of how to go about mitigating the impact of the incident on their group flashed through everyone's mind and chief of their concerns was the financial losses they would suffer from the unfortunate incident. The backlash from other avenues and fallouts with partners can be slowly resolved later, but first they must cut their losses, recoup what they can and evacuate the goddamn place. And so, the deliberations begin. Proposals were made and thrown out the window, opinions scrutinised, and views aired. Through it all, Jefferson had a defeated look on his face. He was the one most invested in this project, heck he designed and planned the whole thing. Although now, however unwilling he was to just scrap it all and move on, he had to accept the reality that his first attempt had ended in a spectacular failure. Countermeasures began to flow around his head as he reviewed all the errors and flawed decisions made individually or collectively. He began to draw a new blueprint in his mind, one that left room for adaptation and improvements based on the sociopolitical environment he might find himself in. He had resolved to start afresh elsewhere and his determination to see to the success of his first prototype was rekindled. But first, like his colleagues and fellow stakeholders had proposed, they must first cut their losses without delay and resolve other complications as they pop up. The organised hit, he heard from one of his partners just as he retrained his focus on the conversation going on in the room, was spearheaded by a new crime lord who is fast gaining influence in the streets and uniting all the other gangs as a means of consolidating his power with the backing of some of the powerful figures whose interests are tied to the continued existence of the suburbs. Jefferson sighed as another remarked harshly on the futility of disseminating such information with a lack of proof which translates to their inability to act upon such knowledge. The back and forth continued with each person fancying themselves experts at crisis management and property brokage. It's going to be a long night he muttered wearily while massaging his brows, even as his mind wandered off to other possible locations likely to be receptive of his vision, and accepting of his mission. A sudden increase in the pitch of a particular speaker yanked him back to the present with the realisation that the members of the group are starting to get irritated with each other. A glance at the various individuals twisted expressions and looks of irritation, disinterest, and helpless consternation with one another's words and speeches made him conclude quite wryly that perhaps it has been a night too long, and a break from all the arguments and speculations is very much needed by pretty much everyone.