The harbor view from the Providence safe house showed fishing boats returning with the morning catch.
William had been in Lisbon for four days, establishing new routines, mapping new patterns. The apartment was smaller than Amsterdam but better positioned—direct sight lines to three exit routes, proximity to both the airport and the port, a neighborhood where foreigners were common and questions were rare.
[LOCATION: Lisbon, Portugal]
[OPERATIONAL STATUS: Rebuilding infrastructure]
[TIME IN LOCATION: 4 days]
[COVER IDENTITY: Active (Identity Fabrication — deep cover)]
The encrypted channel chimed at 2:47 AM.
Olivia's handle. William answered before the second ring.
"You're awake," she said. No greeting, no preamble. Her voice carried the particular fatigue of someone who had been working through the night.
"Couldn't sleep."
"People who can't sleep at 3 AM are either haunted or hunted." A pause. "Which one are you?"
[OLIVIA HALL: Intelligence contact]
[STATUS: Primary asset (Jansen severance complete)]
[RISK ASSESSMENT: High dependency, high value]
"Just adjusting to a new time zone."
"You're not in Amsterdam anymore." Not a question. "Your communication patterns changed four days ago. Different routing, different timing. You moved."
"She's tracking my operational patterns through our encrypted channel. Of course she is. That's exactly what I would do."
[OBSERVATION: Olivia Hall has identified your relocation]
[ASSESSMENT: Expected behavior from intelligence professional]
[IMPLICATION: She cannot be kept at arm's length indefinitely]
"I needed a change of scenery."
"People who need a change of scenery take vacations. You took a scorched earth exit." The tiredness in her voice shifted to something sharper. "The ICA reopened UNKNOWN-7 at high priority. Agent 47 has been assigned to active investigation. Your timing is... notable."
William said nothing. The silence stretched.
"I'm not asking for confirmation," Olivia said finally. "I'm telling you what I know. Someone is looking for you, and they're not going to stop."
The intelligence she provided was worth the risk of the call.
[INTELLIGENCE PACKET: Olivia Hall]
[CONTENT 1: ICA investigation focus — Northern Europe (Amsterdam area). 47 operating in Netherlands.]
[CONTENT 2: No Southern Europe flags. Lisbon is currently outside investigation scope.]
[CONTENT 3: UNKNOWN-7 profile parameters — 85% match to William Green. 47 has physical description, operational pattern, organizational backing assessment.]
[CONTENT 4: Anomalous operative detected — Eastern Europe. Generating unexplained results for organized crime syndicate. Possible rival User.]
The fourth item caught William's attention immediately.
"Tell me more about the Eastern Europe operative."
"Budapest. Someone appeared six months ago, started working for a local crime family. Since then, the family's operations have expanded dramatically—impossible intelligence, hits that shouldn't succeed, rivals eliminated with surgical precision. The pattern is similar to..." She trailed off.
"Similar to what?"
"Similar to you." Her voice was careful now. "Before you started working with Providence. The same signature—someone who knows things they shouldn't know, who moves through situations that should be impossible."
[RIVAL USER: Detected]
[LOCATION: Budapest, Hungary]
[PHASE: Estimated 3 (based on timeline and capability description)]
[OPERATIONAL STYLE: Social manipulation, empire building]
[RELEVANCE: 90-day quota at ~45 days remaining]
Another User. Another rival. Another opportunity to satisfy the system's demand for User kills—and another mirror reflecting what William might have become if he'd made different choices.
"Can you get me more detail? Schedule, security, organizational structure?"
"I can try. It'll take time—Eastern European intelligence is fragmented, and the Hungarians are paranoid about foreign interference." A pause. "Why do you want to know about a Budapest crime lord?"
"Professional interest."
"You don't have professional interest in crime syndicates. You work for Providence—oligarchs and shadow governments, not street-level organized crime."
"She's profiling me. Reading my operational patterns, my interests, trying to build a picture of what I actually do."
[ASSESSMENT: Olivia Hall is conducting intelligence analysis on User]
[RISK: Continued contact increases her insight into your operations]
[COUNTER-ASSESSMENT: Cutting contact means operating blind against 47 and rival Users]
"Just get me what you can," William said. "I'll make it worth your time."
"You always do." Something shifted in her voice—softer, more uncertain. "You sound like you're running from something."
"Just relocating."
"People who are just relocating don't call their contacts at 3 AM."
William didn't have a good answer for that.
The call ended twenty minutes later.
William sat by the Lisbon harbor, watching the fishing boats unload their catch. The pre-dawn light painted the water in shades of gray and gold. Somewhere across Europe, Olivia was also awake, also alone, probably wondering why the man she didn't fully trust kept calling at 3 AM.
[OLIVIA HALL: Relationship status]
[OPERATIONAL: Primary intelligence asset]
[PERSONAL: Dependency forming]
[SYSTEM ASSESSMENT: Vulnerability identified. Olivia demand remains suspended while User kills continue.]
The Professional didn't need to hear her voice at 3 AM. Providence provided resources. The system provided objectives. There was no operational requirement for a phone call in the small hours when the apartment was too quiet and the weight of what he was becoming pressed down like physical mass.
But William had called anyway. Because the system's interface was poor company. Because somewhere underneath the Professional and the stats and the Humanity counter ticking down, there was still someone who remembered what connection felt like—even if he couldn't quite access it anymore.
"An intelligence partner who notices patterns. A User in Eastern Europe. A 90-day quota. And 47, somewhere in Amsterdam, finding empty rooms."
[47 STATUS: Searching Amsterdam infrastructure]
[ESTIMATED TIME UNTIL SOUTHERN EUROPE FOCUS: 2-4 weeks]
[RECOMMENDATION: Complete Budapest operation before 47 expands search radius]
The sun rose over Lisbon. William watched the light change and began planning the siege of Budapest.
Reviews and Power Stones keep the heat on!
Want to see what happens before the "heroes" do?
Secure your spot in the inner circle on Patreon. Skip the weekly wait and read ahead:
💵 Hustler [$7]: 15 Chapters ahead.
⚖️ Enforcer [$11]: 20 Chapters ahead.
👑 Kingpin [$16]: 25 Chapters ahead.
Periodic drops. Check on Patreon for the full release list.
👉 Join the Syndicate: patreon.com/Anti_hero_fanfic