SSS-Class Profession: The Path to Mastery

I spent the next hour carefully copying down Alessandro Vieri's contact information, ensuring that I had complete and accurate records before delivering anything to the blackmailer. The details were extensive and specific, covering everything from encrypted communication protocols to verification questions that would confirm identity during initial contact attempts.

Gabriel had been thorough in his intelligence gathering, providing not just a name and location but a comprehensive guide to safely reaching someone who clearly operated with significant operational security. This wasn't just casual information sharing between criminals; this was professional intelligence tradecraft at a level that suggested Vieri had connections to serious organizations.

Once I had secured my own copies through multiple backup methods, I prepared a clean version of the information to deliver to the blackmailer. The instructions had been explicit about timing and location: Rua das Flores, 847, third floor, blue door, between midnight and 2 AM.

I sealed the envelope and checked the time. Eleven-thirty PM. Close enough to the designated window that I could travel to the location without arriving conspicuously early, but early enough that I would have time to observe the area and assess potential surveillance opportunities.

The diplomatic residence was quiet at this hour, with most people either asleep or engaged in private activities that kept them in their rooms. I made my way toward the exit using routes that minimized encounters with security personnel or insomniacs who might remember seeing me leave the building at midnight.

Observation tracked guard positions and patrol patterns while Instinct provided continuous assessment of potential complications. The combination allowed me to exit the residence without being noticed, slipping out through a side entrance that maintenance staff used during daytime operations.

The streets of São Paulo at midnight were still relatively active, though the character of the activity had shifted from business and tourism to nightlife and the kinds of transactions that preferred darkness. I moved through the city with deliberate casualness, appearing like someone who belonged in this environment rather than a foreign consultant sneaking around to fulfill blackmail demands.

Rua das Flores turned out to be in a neighborhood that mixed residential buildings with small commercial operations, the kind of area where people minded their own business and didn't ask questions about unusual activities. Number 847 was an older apartment building with architecture that suggested it had been constructed decades ago when the city was smaller and less developed.

The building's entrance wasn't secured, just an unlocked door that led to a stairwell illuminated by dim lights that probably hadn't been replaced in years. I climbed to the third floor, finding a corridor with several apartment doors that had seen better days.

The blue door was easy to identify despite the worn paint that had faded from whatever bright shade it had once been to something closer to gray-blue. No name plate, no identifying marks, just a door that looked like dozens of others in buildings throughout the city.

I checked the time. Eleven fifty-five PM. Close enough to midnight that I could reasonably proceed with the delivery without violating the specified window.

The instructions had been clear: slide the envelope under the door and leave. No knocking, no waiting for confirmation, no attempts to identify or contact whoever would retrieve the information. The simplicity of the exchange was designed to minimize my ability to gather intelligence about the blackmailer's identity.

But I had Observation and Instinct working constantly, processing every detail about the environment and looking for clues that might reveal something useful about who was on the other side of this extortion arrangement.

The apartment was silent. No light visible under the door, no sounds indicating occupancy. Either no one was home, or whoever was inside was maintaining perfect stillness while waiting for the delivery.

I knelt down and carefully slid the envelope under the blue door, using Observation to note that the gap was slightly larger than standard door clearances, suggesting deliberate modification to facilitate exactly this kind of exchange. The envelope disappeared into the darkness beyond with a soft scraping sound.

Then I stood up and backed away from the door, positioning myself in the corridor where I could watch for any response while maintaining the appearance of someone who had completed their task and was preparing to leave.

Instinct was providing warnings about the risks of lingering, about the potential for my curiosity to create complications that would undermine the entire purpose of this midnight delivery. But I couldn't quite bring myself to leave immediately without at least attempting to gather some information about who had been manipulating me for weeks.

I moved to a position near the stairwell where shadows provided some concealment while still allowing me to observe the blue door. If someone emerged to retrieve the envelope, I might be able to catch some identifying detail. Height, build, movement patterns, anything that would help me understand who I was dealing with.

Minutes passed in silence. No sounds from inside the apartment, no movement visible under the door, no indication that anyone was preparing to retrieve the information I had just delivered.

Maybe the occupant was being cautious, waiting for me to leave before emerging. Or maybe this apartment was just a dead drop location, and the actual blackmailer would retrieve the envelope later through some prearranged method that I wouldn't be able to observe.

I was considering whether another few minutes of surveillance would be worth the risk when Instinct suddenly activated with sharp warnings.

Someone was coming up the stairs.

Heavy footsteps, moving with the regular rhythm of someone conducting routine patrol rather than casual resident returning home. A security guard, probably making rounds of the building as part of contracted protection services that many São Paulo apartment complexes employed.

If I was found lurking in this corridor at midnight, positioned in shadows near an apartment I had no legitimate reason to be watching, the questions would be difficult to answer without raising suspicions. Even if I avoided immediate arrest, the incident would create exactly the kind of attention that both I and the blackmailer wanted to avoid.

I had seconds to make a decision.

My skills were providing rapid analysis of options. I could retreat down the corridor away from the approaching guard, but that would put me in a dead end with nowhere to go if he decided to investigate. I could try to bluff my way through the encounter by claiming I was visiting someone in the building, but that would require providing details that could be verified and might create official records of my presence.

Or I could leave immediately, moving past the guard while he was still on the stairs and making my way out of the building before he reached the third floor corridor where my presence would be obviously suspicious.

I chose retreat.

Moving quickly but quietly, I made my way to the stairwell and began descending toward the ground floor. The guard was somewhere above me on the stairs, his footsteps echoing in the enclosed space as he continued his climb toward the upper levels.

Instinct guided my movement to minimize sound while maintaining speed, allowing me to put distance between myself and the guard without creating the kind of obvious fleeing noise that would trigger his professional instincts.

I emerged onto the ground floor just as the guard's footsteps indicated he was reaching the landing where we would have encountered each other if I had delayed another thirty seconds. The close call made my heart rate spike despite my various physical control abilities.

The building's entrance was ahead, offering escape into the relative anonymity of São Paulo's midnight streets. I pushed through the door and back onto Rua das Flores, resisting the urge to look back or show any sign that I was fleeing from something.

Observation tracked whether the guard would emerge from the building behind me, but the door remained closed. Either he hadn't noticed my departure, or he had decided that someone leaving the building at midnight wasn't worth investigating.

I walked several blocks before allowing myself to relax slightly, putting enough distance between myself and the delivery location that any connection would be difficult to establish even if the guard had somehow registered my presence.

The mission was complete. I had fulfilled the blackmailer's demands by delivering Alessandro Vieri's contact information to the designated location at the specified time. Whatever came next, I had at least prevented the immediate threat of exposure that would have destroyed my diplomatic credibility.

But I also had to acknowledge that my attempt to gather intelligence about the blackmailer's identity had been unsuccessful. I knew nothing more now than I had before the delivery, beyond confirming that they were cautious, professional, and had planned this exchange to minimize my ability to trace them.

My curiosity had nearly gotten me caught by a security guard, which would have created exactly the kind of complications I couldn't afford. The smart decision was to accept that I had accomplished what I needed to accomplish and move on without pushing my luck further.

I had already secured my own copy of Vieri's information, which meant I could pursue the intelligence about the World President's identity independently. The blackmailer would presumably use the same information for their own purposes, but that was a problem I could worry about later once I understood more about what Vieri actually knew.

The walk back to the diplomatic residence was uneventful, just a foreign consultant returning from a late-night walk through an unfamiliar city. Nothing suspicious, nothing that would draw attention or create questions I couldn't easily answer.

By the time I reached my room, it was past one AM. The envelope was gone from my desk, replaced by nothing but the normal furnishings of temporary diplomatic housing. No confirmation, no acknowledgment, no indication that the delivery had been successfully received beyond the absence of the physical evidence.

But I had done what was required. The blackmail demands had been fulfilled, my position was no longer immediately threatened, and I had the intelligence lead I needed to continue pursuing my primary mission objective.

The costs of reaching this point had been significant. I had compromised my ethics by helping a criminal organization, I had damaged my relationship with President Santos through confrontation over honoring agreements with gang members, and I had submitted to blackmail rather than accepting exposure and dealing with the consequences directly.

But I had also completed a remarkable environmental restoration project, secured Brazilian participation in the coalition against the World President, and obtained intelligence that could potentially identify the single greatest threat to democratic governance in the current international system.

Whether those achievements justified the compromises remained an open question that I suspected I would be wrestling with for a long time.

For now, I needed sleep. Tomorrow would bring new challenges, new decisions, and probably new moral complications that I couldn't currently predict.

But tonight, I could at least rest knowing that the immediate crisis had been navigated, even if the larger strategic situation remained complex and ethically ambiguous.