If only the technopath had any idea. Jack had spent their entire life around people that were dwarfed by their intellect, as a child they had been capable of maintaining conversations with seasoned academics, and had put most of them to shame before their 13th birthday. Interestingly the rate of Jack's development had seemed only to increase once they hit puberty, and they had a number of theories on whether it would halt or simply slow down once their body finished growing. The attitude of the Families to metahumans like Jack meant there wasn't an awful lot of early documentation on powers similar to theirs. Josephine would at least provide some stimulation before inevitably she too fell by the wayside. It would be nice to have some equal conversation for a change.

"I'm impressed that you have made the connection, from what I can gather they are operating on a cell basis, with only a few people at the top understanding what is truly going on. I only have a rough idea of how they are picking their targets, but if it's what I think it is then it doesn't bode well."

They shrugged, "I rarely operate on this side of the country, it would be more convenient for me to have an ally on the East Coast than to interfere directly in their operations myself. I can't simply fly out here whenever business requires it, and they seem relatively low level for now, so my direct attention may not be needed until they grow more active."

They had been careful to phrase it as an ally. In truth Jack didn't have friends; they didn't really have people they trusted. Anna might be their bodyguard, but they knew that eventually she would turn on them, and they had already laid a number of plans in place.

"Of course I wouldn't expect you to do it for free, although judging by your activities in the stock markets I imagine money isn't all that much of a problem for you. Nonetheless a generous sum will be deposited into the account of your choice. Untraceable of course. Beyond that, I can offer you more than money. I can offer you brief access to my designs."

This likely wouldn't be all that interesting until Josephine looked up some of their previous work. Anything accessible right now would be simplistic in comparison to what Jack was currently capable of manufacturing, but once she saw the dates on those designs she might be interested. It was a pity that nobody had ever discovered the true origin of Cryptolocker. Demonstrating that they had achieved Singularity more than four years ago would surely convince the technopath that the offer was a good one.

They had brought something else just in case she required more convincing, and they now placed a small flash drive on the table. It contained fragments of a design, enough to demonstrate just how far ahead it was, but not enough that it could be built, and without Jack's power, reverse engineering it would be impossible. Even for someone as smart as Josephine.

"Consider this a taste."

They turned briefly to Anna, talking quietly enough that Josephine would not be able to overhear.

"What do you think? Do you trust her?"

Jack was patient as 177 tapped slowly at the glass screen of the device. There was no need to rush her, and besides, she kept glancing at them ever so often, pausing in their typing to do it. It had been a lot to take in, and Jack had not exactly been sensitive in the way they had convinced 177 to listen to them. When the tired looking woman eventually handed them the phone they took it carefully, glancing at her face before turning their gaze down to the small screen.

Clearly she felt that she owed Jack something, which was true, Jack had put them up in an apartment, provided them with food, drink, medical care and anything else they might need. Jack enjoyed having that power over her, and hated themselves for enjoying it.

"I'll be honest, I don't have a lot of experience in looking for missing children in Soviet Russia, but I do have a lot of experience in finding people who don't want to be found. I'm pretty sure it's a transferrable skill set."

They placed the phone carefully back on the table. "Now I know this is a sensitive subject. And I can stop if you want. But just how much can you remember?"

Jack smiled faintly at the woman's reaction to their brief question. So the necklace had monetary, sentimental, or utilitarian value. The information was filed away for later review, though it was about to be of use once more.

"Do it, wouldn't take me long to manufacture a new one. Although I would consider it a favour if you refrain from doing so, it's five minutes out of my day I could use for something much more entertaining."

They didn't doubt that she could follow through on her threat. Her hacking prowess was well known on the dark web, and a number of different hacks had been attributed to her. The comment on Jack's parents was not entirely unexpected, but it was surprising that she had done so without looking at a device. Perhaps the necklace housed some kind of WiFi connection. They felt their urge to investigate its innards increase. Presumably that was the reason for her sitting and staring at him for a solid nine seconds. Her power, if it was to interface with the internet, was potent, but she really should learn to hide the tells.

Presumably she had been using the time to check the various documents on Jack and Nobody that she could find. Jack could only assume that time included checking on Anna as well. No doubt Josephine would dismiss those out of hand, which left Jack feeling somewhat underappreciated. After all, everything that the American Government held on Anna, from her State ID card, to her Birth Certificate, to her Social Security Number was technically genuine. It had been difficult when Jack had originally hacked their way into those systems, but it was easy enough now to produce identities that were one hundred percent real, albeit with the minor flaw of containing entirely false information.

The reference to their brother however, caught them off guard. Their face was unguarded for a fraction of a second, the emotions that flashed across it too quick and too complex to catch. Their brother was a sore spot.

Josie smirked, and Jack suppressed the ire at her apparent belief that she had the upper hand. If she was indeed as potent a technopath as she appeared then no doubt she could outhack Jack over the short term. Nonetheless her threats did not worry the young genius. They were always such a crude way of dealing with business. They sighed dramatically, raising a hand to beckon the watchful waiter over.

"You are just no fun at all."

The waiter arrived before Josie could respond.

"Yes, the Seafood Tower please. Do you want anything?"

This question was offhandedly offered to Josie, as though Jack had only just remembered their presence.

Jack rarely bothered with actually hacking the stock market, they much preferred to simply manipulate it as any stockbroker might, albeit on a much grander scale and with much less risk. It had seemed appropriate for this situation however. After all, things needed to be precise, and simply manipulating the stock market could not be as precise as necessary. People were so infuriatingly inefficient when responding to such drops.

They were currently sat in a rather expensive restaurant. Jack was not a snob, but they had noted the preference that their current interest had in the place, and so it had seemed appropriate for a meeting. They were relatively out of place. For one, they were underdressed compared to the rest of the patrons. Though there were some here in jeans, there was no one else in a t-shirt, a t-shirt with a large childish slogan emblazoned on it no less. The Maître d' had looked ready to suggest they go elsewhere, when Jack had dropped a not insignificant roll of bills onto their lectern.

The bills had disappeared as quickly as the man's complaints, and they had been shown to a table with an excellent view of the door. Jack had ordered a glass of spring water, and allowed Anna to order for herself. It had seemed sensible to bring the woman with them, though they weren't expecting any violence it would have been foolish not to come prepared.

They spotted 'The Lady' as she entered. She wasn't particularly distinctive, but then no metahuman was. They were hoping that her mind might be another matter however. They waved them over. Smiling as they greeted their guest.

"It's nice to meet you Lady, I'm Nobody."

Clearly they had hit a nerve as Anna reacted to the accusation of cowardice. It was a pity really that she was unable to talk, it made it that much harder to predict her reactions, to understand what exactly was going through her head. Without tone of voice it was that much more difficult to decide on a course of action regarding her.

The words that she had typed were uncompromising however. She was pissed.

They cocked an eyebrow, "It's nothing to do with rights. I have no real power to compel you to do this. I'm your employer, not your owner."

Jack gestured around at the apartment, "This is part payment. I'm not going to take it away. I don't in all honesty care whether you live here or not. The money doesn't matter. Money has never mattered."

They were unconsciously echoing their father in that phrase. It was something that he would often say. Money has never mattered Jack, remember that.

It was easy to say that as someone for whom money was an afterthought, something they had vast reserves of. Still, to Jack, it was true, money didn't matter, it had ceased to hold any real value to them a long time ago. They played the stock market for entertainment, not profit.

They shrugged and leaned back against the counter, "It's not an order. I'm not so unaware as to pretend that I'm nothing like my father. He was very good at giving orders, but I'm not one of those people that controlled you in Russia, you can say no to me. I wouldn't be happy about it, but what, really, am I going to do? If you wanted you could rip me limb from limb."

They carefully watched the small woman, just in case she did try to dismember them. "But that doesn't change the fact that I think you should do this, and that I think not to would simply be selfish. I leave it with you."

It took altogether too long for Anna to respond, or at least begin to respond, she had to type things out before she could properly respond to anything. Then Jack revised their expectations, after all, the question they had asked could be considered personal, and normal people, which meant anyone but Jack, might have needed a moment to deal with the approach they had taken. Nonetheless, Jack took the response with a pinch of salt. Anna seemed to have been honest with them thus far, but Jack had very little in the way of ability to ascertain whether the information they had handed over was the truth or not. If they were indeed some sort of secret Soviet Soldier they could only imagine part of her training had included how to lie.

At least, that's what they thought at first, and then before long the quiet tapping intensified, her fingers flying across the virtual keys at speeds that might have rivalled Jack's. It was like watching someone spilling their soul, albeit without saying an actual word. It was a very strange experience.

They took the proffered mobile phone, inspecting the text that had been etched out onto the screen in simple black and white font. They hadn't quite expected what they read, and the surprise, shock and after a moment anger showed on their face. Jack might not be one predisposed to caring for others, but they did not have a heart of stone.

They were mostly focused on themselves, and most of their actions would be in their own self-interest, or to be more accurate, their actions worked for whatever might be most interesting at that moment in time. Here, they felt a degree of responsibility. Anna was, to an extent, in their care. She might be employed as a bodyguard, but up until this point there had been little actual employment for her. Really what Anna had been was an expense.

Still, she was an interesting diversion.

"Well then, I suppose that gives us something to do."

They paused here, uncharacteristically respectful.

"We can find out what happened?"