EPISODE:5 The Zao Monarch

Three years ago,

FBI Headquarters, 3:00 pm

It was a regular day at the FBI when the emergency alarm started ringing. All agents got alert and looked out for the enemy who entered their workplace.

‘Boom’, a bomb exploded killing twenty agents and injuring many more. Among the injured, there was Rebecca and as her vision started to fade and she began feeling unconscious, she saw a man with the Chinese black and grey demon tattoo. She understood who attacked them in their own house- ‘THE ZAO MONARCH’.

‘Zao’, stands for evil in the Croatian language. And ‘The Zao Monarch’ stands for the gang of the most notorious criminals in the world. The main center of Zao was located in Chinatown. The characteristics that distinguish Zao from other criminal organizations are its worldwide network, criminal diversity, and ability to commit all sorts of illegal activities so smoothly that even the best unit of agents of the FBI had little to no proof against them.

Drug dealings, murders, terrorism, human trafficking, slavery, kidnapping, and weapons exchange were normal day-to-day crimes for the Zao Monarch. The world’s top and best specialists in hacking, piracy, kidnapping, research, etc were affiliated with Zao. Zao can be described as an impenetrable web of crimes and criminals.

Rebecca was one of the five agents after the Zao Monarch. After weeks of research, they found out ‘The Bowl’, a shady restaurant in Chinatown where the members of the gang met frequently to transact business deals. Rebecca was a field agent who specialized in combat, hacking, and communication skills. She was beautiful and quick-witted. She was the most suitable agent to go undercover as a waitress at ‘The Bowl’ restaurant.

After working there for two weeks she finally caught the attention of Mr. Ying, their local leader. As he started to talk with Reb, she charmed him with her excellent wit and showed interest to join the Zao.

“What makes you think that you can? What makes you special to work for us?” asked Mr. Ying.

“I am the best hacker in this entire miserable world.” replied Reb.

“Prove yourself.”

“I already did.” said Rebecca.

“What do you mean?” asked Ying.

“Well, I hacked into your system through the restaurant wi-fi your mobile is connected to while you were in the washroom. I have access to your files, accounts, and contacts.” Rebeca said while showing the details of Zao on her phone to Mr. Ying.

“Or I can kill right here, right now.” Said Ying angered but at the same time, impressed.

“You can but you won’t, will you? I am much greater of an asset for your gang.”

“You are hired,” said Mr. Ying with a smirk.

It was quite a day for Rebecca. She was within a whisker of knowing about the modus operandi, members, and dealings of the Zao worldwide. She for the first time felt that the Zao isn’t inevitable.

Mr. Ying invited her to meet him in a garage where his marijuana, cocaine, and heroin stock was to arrive the next day. As the clock struck 1:00 am, Rebecca arrived at the garage for that was the time Mr. Ying asked her to come. He wanted to show Rebecca how things worked around at The Zao Monarch. There were five other members at the garage to load and unload the drugs.

“Nathan, Sid, John, Mike, Joan,” Mr. Ying introduced them to Rebecca by pointed his finger and telling the names of all of them to Rebecca.

“Hey guys.” said Rebecca.

Three huge, black-colored trucks arrived at the garage and everybody started to work. It was just then when Rebecca noticed that Mr. Ying had disappeared. She quietly slipped out and followed Ying.

When Rebecca found Mr. Ying, he was about to shoot a local resident. His keen and shrewd eyes didn’t fail to notice that a local had seen the garage, the trucks, and the armed men.

“Bang” Rebecca shot Mr. Ying before he could shoot the resident.

“Run! Go, go away at once.” Rebecca said to the man.

Rebecca had no choice but to leave and hide too. The Zao would soon have known who killed one of their local leaders and Rebecca would have been killed. To sum it up, all of Rebecca’s hard work, bravery, and progress went into the gutter to save an innocent person’s life.

The bombing at the FBI headquarters was an act of revenge for Ying’s death. They found out Reb’s true identity and came for a payback.

Three days after the bombing when Rebecca woke up in the hospital, it was then when she knew she had to give it all up, be dead for the world, and go into hiding to protect her family and put an end to one of the world’s most extensive and savage gang.

And meanwhile, when Rebecca was recovering at the hospital, I was thinking that my wife was on an office trip to Singapore. And when she returned home on my birthday, that was the last I ever saw of her. Rebecca can be a brilliant hacker or a brave agent but for me, her husband, she will always be just an excellent hider.