The Providence contract file sat open on William's laptop, its contents repurposed for something its original authors would never have anticipated.
CLASSIFIED — PROVIDENCE INTERNAL TARGET: Henrik Larsson PROFILE: Europol Anti-Corruption Unit, Senior Investigator STATUS: Compromised (accepting bribes from Eastern European criminal networks) PRIORITY: Medium (eliminate when convenient) NOTES: Target travels frequently. Current assignment: Antwerp port fraud investigation.
William had requested the file two days ago, ostensibly for a future contract. Providence had provided it without question—their contractor was performing well, and access to target files was standard practice. What they didn't know was that Larsson wasn't going to die at William's hands.
He was going to be bait.
[OPERATION PLANNING: The Lure]
[OBJECTIVE: Attract rival User to controlled terrain]
[METHOD: Leak target information through channels User monitors]
[BAIT: High-value target (Europol official, corrupted, skill-rich)]
[KILL ZONE: Parking structure adjacent to target's hotel]
"A Europol investigator is a goldmine for a System User. Skills worth absorbing—investigative techniques, law enforcement protocols, institutional knowledge. Tier 3+ sin value from the kill itself. And the institutional chaos that follows creates operational cover."
[ASSESSMENT: Correct. A User focused on power acquisition would find this target highly attractive.]
[NOTE: You are assuming the Antwerp User operates on similar motivations to yourself.]
[COUNTER-NOTE: All Users operate under system pressure to generate SP. The specific motivation matters less than the universal incentive.]
The leak was the critical element. William needed to get Larsson's presence in Antwerp—and his vulnerability—into channels the rival User would monitor. That meant black market intelligence networks, criminal information brokers, the shadowy ecosystem of data that flowed through Europe's underworld.
Jansen handled the leak. Five thousand euros bought placement in three separate channels—a German arms dealer's private forum, a Belgian smuggling network's encrypted chat, and an anonymous tip to a darknet marketplace known for trading in high-value target information. The message was consistent across all channels: a corrupt Europol official was in Antwerp, staying at the Hotel Maritime near the port, meeting with contacts over the next two nights.
The information was accurate enough to be credible. The hotel was real. The meeting schedule was plausible. The only fiction was Larsson's actual presence—replaced by a hired actor who would spend one night in the hotel room, playing the part of a corrupt official while William waited in the parking structure below.
[BAIT DEPLOYMENT: Complete]
[CHANNELS: 3 (German, Belgian, darknet)]
[EXPECTED REACH: 72-96 hours for information propagation]
[PROBABILITY OF USER DETECTION: 70-85% if they monitor any standard intelligence channels]
The Hotel Maritime was a three-star establishment that catered to port workers and traveling salesmen—anonymous, forgettable, exactly the kind of place a corrupt official might use for discreet meetings. William had booked two rooms: one for the actor, one as a fallback position.
The real kill zone was the parking structure adjacent to the hotel.
Three levels of concrete and shadow, the structure served the hotel and several neighboring businesses. William spent the afternoon mapping it—camera positions, lighting conditions, entry and exit points, the flow of traffic at different hours. By evening, he had a complete tactical picture.
[KILL ZONE ASSESSMENT: Parking Structure Maritime]
[LEVELS: 3]
[LIGHTING: Poor (40% of fixtures non-functional)]
[CAMERAS: 4 (positions mapped, blind spots identified)]
[EXITS: 2 (vehicle ramp, pedestrian stairs)]
[TRAFFIC: Light after 8 PM, minimal after 10 PM]
[ASSESSMENT: Suitable terrain for ambush engagement]
The pre-rigging took another two hours. William disabled the fire door on Level 1's emergency exit—not obviously, but enough that it wouldn't open when someone tried to use it. He positioned three vehicles he'd rented at strategic points, creating sight line breaks and channeling any approach toward predictable paths. On Level 3, in a maintenance alcove hidden behind a support pillar, he stashed a weapons cache: a backup pistol, a combat knife, two smoke grenades, and a length of steel cable that could serve as a garrote in close quarters.
[KILL ZONE PREPARATION: Complete]
[OBSTACLES: Fire door disabled, vehicle barriers positioned]
[WEAPON CACHE: Level 3, maintenance alcove]
[CONTINGENCY: Smoke grenades for disengagement if needed]
The actor arrived at 7 PM—a middle-aged man from Jansen's network who specialized in playing roles that required looking important without actually being important. William met him in the hotel lobby, explaining the job in terms that were technically accurate.
"Security assessment. I need you to stay in the room, order room service, and act like you're expecting visitors. Don't leave until I call you in the morning."
"That's it?" The actor looked skeptical. "Five hundred euros to sit in a hotel room?"
"Plus expenses. And a bonus if everything goes smoothly."
The actor shrugged. He didn't question why a security assessment required him to pretend to be important for one night. William handed him the room key, tipped him an extra five hundred, and told him to stay off the phone.
[BAIT: In position]
[ACTOR: Paid, briefed, contained]
[TIMELINE: Monitoring begins immediately]
The parking structure was dark and cold by 10 PM.
William sat in a rented car on Level 2, engine off, suppressed pistol in his lap. The Coercion symptoms had settled into their familiar rhythm—headache pulsing behind his eyes, the occasional tremor in his hands, the slight blur in his left eye that made the shadows harder to parse. He'd compensated for all of it, building the impairments into his operational planning.
[MONITORING: Active]
[SYSTEM SCAN: Continuous passive detection]
[RANGE TO HOTEL: 80 meters]
[TIME: 22:07]
The bait was in place. The trap was set. The kill zone was prepared. All that remained was waiting—and hoping that something as dangerous as him was also as greedy.
"Four months to establish a base. They didn't come to Antwerp to ignore opportunities. A Europol official with corruptible skills, institutional knowledge, and a Tier 3 sin value is exactly the kind of target a power-hungry User would pursue."
[OBSERVATION: User is assuming rival shares acquisition priorities]
[ASSESSMENT: Reasonable assumption. All Users face system pressure to generate SP. High-value targets are universal currency.]
[NOTE: The question isn't if they'll be tempted. The question is whether they'll be cautious enough to send the associate first—or arrogant enough to handle it personally.]
William checked his watch: 10:15 PM. The parking structure was nearly empty now, just his rental and two other vehicles that had been there since evening. The hotel's service entrance was visible through his side window—a door that any professional would use to avoid the lobby cameras.
The trap was set. The bait was live. Now the hardest part.
Waiting to see if something as dangerous as him was also as predictable.
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