The old man stared past Jack for a moment before focusing on him and saying, "Well, young man, it seems you've come into quite a bit of money recently and have wisely reached out to us for help. I assure you we will manage your new wealth most effectively. I think we can even see our way clear to provide you with a decent stipend, as thank you for bringing your fortune to us."
What the fuck? Jack thought. Is this guy serious? It sounded an awful lot like this man expected Jack to just hand over his lottery winning like a good little boy. He glanced at Henry, not sure what to expect, and found that Henry had adopted a look of stoic discomfort. It didn't look like Henry was surprised, so either the old man had told Henry his plan in the last few minutes, or Henry knew what was going to happen from the beginning. Still, maybe he was misreading things. Maybe this wasn't what it seemed.
"I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding," Jack said. "I came to this law firm for help to set up a corporation and anonymously collect my winning. I did not come here for financial management services."
"Ah, yes, I can understand your confusion," the man said in a condescending tone. And, as the old man spoke, Jack saw four large men in suits appear and post up outside the conference room, two just outside each of the conference room doors. When the men appeared, Jack again glanced at Henry and noted that Henry looked surprised and distinctly disturbed. Did this mean Henry wasn't part of this?
"It is very fortunate for us," the old man continued, "that you chose to bring the winning lottery ticket with you. Now, be a good little boy, and hand it over. There's no need for any unpleasantness."
So, not a misunderstanding. This asshole actually thinks I'm going to just hand over one point five billion credits, he thought. And given the muscle right outside the conference room, maybe the old man had justification for his confidence. And, he noted, the rat bastard thinks I brought the ticket with me, which means either the old man made an assumption, or Henry lied to him about it.
Still, how was the old snake going to pull this off? All Jack had to do was call 911. Thinking that, he pulled out his phone. When he looked at the signal meter it said, "No Service". Huh, was it just the building, or were they actually using an illegal signal jammer? He knew cell phones would crank up their transmission power when dialing 911, so he tried dialing despite the "No Signal" indicator. His phone made an angry tone and reported "Call Failed". When he looked up from his phone, he saw that the old man smirking at him.
"I've been planning for this day for years," the old man crowed. "We've had several people come in over the years with winning lottery tickets, but none with jackpots nearly as large as yours. So, I waited and planned. I just knew a prize like this would land in my lap, eventually. There's no escape, so just accept your fate and hand over the ticket." Then, in an ominous tone, "Don't even think of damaging it. If you do, my men will make you wish you were never born."
"What's to prevent me from going to the press? There are people who know I'm here, so you won't be able to just make me disappear."
"Who would they believe? You, emotionally distraught after the loss of your adoptive parents, or me, a prestigious lawyer. Even if you have a picture of yourself with the ticket, we can easily prove that it is just a deep fake. As for making you disappear, that can be arranged. I have helped many people over the years and some of them have very flexible morals and would be quite pleased to help me make you disappear."
He knew lawyers could be ruthless, but he'd always assumed they stayed within the confines of the law, using it to both shield themselves and wield it like a weapon. But this, this was the kind of shit you only ever expected to encounter in a crime drama. He was not expecting an actual villain with a capital V! The whole thing was almost comical, in a terrifying sort of way, because he didn't have the ticket, and he wondered what the old villain would do once he found out.
"Well, you see, there's one teeny, tiny problem with your plan," Jack said. "I don't have the ticket with me. I put it in a safe deposit box."
The old man, face contorted in rage, turned and pointed at Henry, finger shaking, "You told me the boy had the ticket on him!"
Henry smiled faintly, like a man who knew he was going to die but had the small pleasure of knowing the villain's plan would fail, then shrugged but said nothing. Despite the perilous situation he found himself in, Jack was relieved. His trust in Henry restored. He wasn't sure what had transpired in the time between when Henry had left him in the conference room and when Henry had returned with Mr. Gefen, but he was fairly certain that Henry had begun to suspect something was off during that brief time and, as a result, had lied to Mr. Gefen. It seemed unlikely that Henry would have even suggested consulting with Mr. Gefen if he had already mistrusted the old villain.
The old man turned back to Jack, glaring murderously, and said, "Rocko, Franky, take Henry to the basement, you know which room. John, Martin, search the boy. You, you little shit, are going to regret ever crossing me."
As the four large men moved, Jack thought, I am so glad I decided to meet Henry in a simulation first. Then he paused the simulation. Now, he needed to decide what he was going to do with what he had learned.
It was clear to him that Mr. Gefen not only represented criminals, but was one himself, and he didn't like the idea of just walking away. He could try to find a different lay firm, or he could try to convince Henry to leave the law firm and come work for him personally. And in both cases, Mr. Gefen would remain oblivious since he only learned about Jack's lottery winnings in the simulation. So, he didn't need to do anything about Mr. Gefen, but he wanted to. And it wasn't for some noble purpose, like protecting other potential victims. No, he just didn't like the old snake and wanted to wipe that smug grin off his wrinkled face.
The easiest thing to do would be to make a sapient template out of Mr. Gefen, then interrogate him. He would learn all Mr. Gefen's darkest secrets and could use them to destroy the old man. He had been contemplating the moral and ethical implications of making templates out of people, and, while he had not yet reached any conclusions, he was leaning towards only doing it if he had their permission. However, in the case of Mr. Gefen, who had proven himself to be a reprehensible individual, he felt no misgivings. If he wanted to test the loyalty and obedience modification feature of sapient templates, why not test it on someone who didn't warrant any respect?
He also wanted to get Henry's take on the situation, but could only do that during the current simulation. The Henry outside the sim had no knowledge of what had happened. Jack could run a new tiny simulation, like what he did with Madison, but that would not be nearly as effective as being able to talk to this Henry, the one who had seen Mr. Gefen's treachery.
As he saw it, he had two options. One option was to templatize this Henry, using the version of Henry from this simulation. But he would have to violate his own, admittedly tentative, policy of only templatizing good people with their permission. The other option would be to try to avoid, or deal with, the goons long enough to have a conversation with Henry.
He scanned the room, and as his gaze passed over each of the goons, he noticed that two of them were reaching for something inside their jackets. Are they armed? He wondered. Since pausing the simulation also put him into observer mode, he walked around the table and approached the trailing of the two goons on the left. The goon's hand had stopped just as it reached into his jacket, creating a gap between the jacket and the goon's chest. When Jack bent over and peered into the gap, he saw that the man was wearing a shoulder holster with what looked like a pistol. Jack stood and checked the other goons. The other one reaching into his jacket also appeared to be armed. As for the other two, Jack wasn't certain.
Since he could resume the simulation in a different position from when he paused it, he could effectively teleport to right in front of the goons and maybe be able to snatch at least one handgun, maybe two. But he wasn't certain he could get all of them. And, even if he did, would they back off if he pointed one at them, or would they decide Jack wasn't ready to commit murder and try to rush him? He was uncertain if he could shoot them, even if it was just a simulation. His experience with the cops in the first lottery simulation proved just how badly he had overestimated his abilities. Would he be able to shoot them? If not, how many resets would it take before he could? Did he want to be capable of something like that? And would Henry even want to, or be able to, talk to him after watching him shoot people, even if they were criminals?
As he contemplated his options, he realized that there was a possibility he had not yet considered. Could he edit the simulation mid-run? Leaving the simulation paused, he moved back to his white room and activated Jeeves.