QualitySoft

Sophie leaned into my office, which in itself was enough to make for a good day. The news she had was even better, though.

Sophie: “There’s a man on the phone for you. He sounds… happy, and pretty keen to talk to you.”

Somebody happy about wanting to talk to me? Can’t be anyone I know. I picked up the phone.

“Hello, Last Alliance of Wrestling, Chase Sumner speaking.”

“Chase! Chase, my man, good to hear your voice, old buddy. Man, I just wanted to say, it’s great doing business with you! An honour, really. I enjoyed working for you for the past year, and-”

“Hang on, hang on – who is this?”

“It’s your accountant. I’ve finished the financial sheets.”

“My accountant? Old buddy? Would this be the same accountant who sent me a letter last month stating that… *I rummaged through the drawer and found the letter* … and I quote “LAW is a financial disaster. Neither it, nor any of it’s workers, could draw money if you dipped them in glue and dragged them through a bank”? The same accountant who sent that letter?”

“Well, uh, I guess…. Listen, old buddy, that’s living in the past. The present’s where it’s at, buddy – you made a hundred and ninety-five this month!”

“$195? Well, that’s better than losing money, but I don’t see…”

“Not $195. One hundred and ninety-five THOUSAND. $195,000, pure profit.”

The phone slipped through my fingers as I ended the conversation with delight. $195,000. The Learning Channel may have been one of the worst stations in existence, but they had made us a bundle. That was all over after the next show, of course… but still. The news of the money made Sophie grin from ear to ear. I was taking her someplace fancy tonight – one of those swanky French shindigs. Sky’s the limit with this kind of profit.

ONE YEAR IN

Well, this was it – LAW had survived an entire year, through both ups and downs. I checked back over what seemed like the key facts to me.

- Although we were currently making money, that could probably change in the blink of an eye.

- NWA Los Angeles, Hardcore City, and Detroit Michigan had all folded due to sudden, inexplicable bankruptcies. I smelt a rat – companies didn’t just vanish out of nowhere… not three of them in a row, anyway. I still didn’t know what the scam here was, but I was sure there was one operating.

- Our short-lived experience on the Learning Channel was the best thing to ever happen to LAW – our Public Image had moved on up to 66%.

- Our match of the year had been a phenomenal tag team ladder match between Tommy Suede and Garrett Jaxx vs Kurt Stryker and Shawn Wright. I’d made sure to give all four guys my heartfelt thanks.

- New National Fed City Limits Fighting had opened up, no doubt causing some serious headaches for the NWA. I fully supported these guys, even though I still didn’t know who the owner was. Apparently he had a thing for secrecy.

- I’d found out a few things about Sophie – she knows something about Jacob Caulder’s connection to the NWA, and she’s damn sure got an axe to grind with him. Wish I knew what it was.

- Sophie and I were progressing in our relationship, abiet in super-slow motion. Our secrets held us apart – hell, we weren’t even going by our real names, so it was amazing we’d gotten as far as we had.

- I stand by my oath – however long it takes. Months, years, decades – whatever it takes, I’m still coming for Caulder. I haven’t forgotten you, Stevie. I WILL avenge you. The NWA is going down.

Enhancer's Current Status:

ALPHA 0.01 finished