Getting A System In A Modern World

57  The Country's Current Deplorable State(II)

Later that night, at the hotel's restaurant area.

Silas sat at a table, waiting for his order to arrive. He could have ordered his food and had it delivered directly to his room but he decided against that.

He felt the need to walk around and stretch his legs and also, he's curious and wants to see the city's nightlife.

While he waited for his order to arrive, he took a look around the restaurant.

From where he was seated, he saw that the restaurant was sparsely populated with just three to four more people in it, including him.

Silas didn't know if it was because the hotel isn't a big hotel or some other reason. Not just the hotel' restaurant but Silas noticed the hotel had very few guests, in contrast to its bustling location.

Silas felt the reason for this would be attributed to the hotel's low popularity but after much thought, he felt that this wasn't the reason.

With the location of the hotel which is close to port, it should be bustling with activities but none of that is happening. Silas also noticed that when he took the elevator, it was empty and so was the reception area when he got there.

There was only one conclusion, business is bad.

'Things are hard, it seems.'

Not just the business, even though they tried to hide it and be professional, Silas also saw how downtrodden the hotel's staff looked.

{Yes, sir.}

Silas waited for a few minutes before his orders arrived.

The waitress placed his order on the table and Silas immediately started eating.

After he was done eating, Silas stood up and walked out of the hotel to take in the city's nightlife.

He didn't bother to personally make the payment for the food as he knew that LUNAR would take care of it.

Outside the hotel, Silas chose a direction of one of the city's main attractions and walking towards it.

As he walked around, Silas saw that most of the businesses were still open even by 11PM, waiting for customers to patronize them.

Luckily for them, a port was close by, but unfortunately, they had little to no sales. However, they were undeterred by this as they still remained open for business.

Silas knew that the reason why these people who were supposed to be having their night's sleep are still out here doing business is because of the country's current economic situation.

He continued his stroll, until he finally decided to return to the hotel. To his surprise, on his way back, he saw that the businesses were still open, and were not even ready to start packing up, even though it was already 1AM.

"This is really bad" Silas said to himself, as he shook his head sadly.

Walking into the hotel, Silas went straight to his room, to take his shower and get some sleep

After he was done taking his shower, Silas put on some clothes and went to bed. Unfortunately for him, the sleep eluded him. He just couldn't get the things he saw during his walk out of his head.

Young children who look to be of the same age as Alex, some even younger, sleeping on the hard, cold floor and also unprotected from the night's cold that was amplified by the nearby sea, and some still trying to sell their wares even deep into the night.

Silas tried to give them money without buying the wares, but the children refused the money. When Silas saw this, he bought all of the wares they had and paid more than the stipulated price for them.

Silas also saw some people with similar age to him, some older, some younger, and also very old adults, all of them trying to eke out some living.

The country's current economic situation isn't news anymore but hearing about it and seeing it in person had different impacts.

"It seems like my previous situation wasn't as bad I thought it was."

"It's true when they say that no matter whatever bad situation you're going through, they are people going through worse."

Silas was no hero or angel but he wasn't heartless either. No matter how twisted he felt his character is, he's still human.

But the actual question is, how much effect would his little show of kindness have?

"The world is so unfair!"

"No, it's not unfair. It's just extremely indifferent to our plights."

"LUNAR, call Mr Andrés and tell him that we can meet at the island," Silas said, after finally making his decision

Silas was finally able to sleep after some minutes of restlessness but his sleep was not an enjoyable one.

8:49 AM

Silas got out of his bed and went to the bedroom to freshen up.

After he was done, he put on a new set of clothes and wore the Gear. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"LUNAR, any reply from Mr Andrés?," Silas asked as he got into the bathroom.

{Yes, he said that he will be at the island, 9 this morning,} LUNAR answered.

"Oh.... Wait..9 AM this morning?"

{Yes, sir.}

Silas immediately checked the time and saw that it was already time for his meeting with Mr Andrés.

"I'm late!"

He quickly left his room and made his way to the hotel's entrance.

When he got to the entrance, Mr José was already waiting for him. Seeing this, Silas quickly got into the car and he drove off.

When he got to the port, he saw Mr Antonio waiting for him beside the docked speedboat.

When Silas got to the island, only Mr Andrés' guard was standing at the pier. When he saw Silas, he greeted him and took him to the wooden cabin where Mr Andrés was waiting for him.

Silas walked into the cabin and saw Mr Andrés sitted with a laptop on the table in front of him.

When he saw Silas, he stood up from his armchair and went to greet Silas.

"Mr Silas, I thought you weren't going to make it," Mr Andrés said with a smile, as he shook Silas hand.

"Sorry about that. Something happened," Silas said.

"No, it's fine. Please, do have your seat," Mr Andrés gestured to Silas as he also took his seat.

"Mr Silas, I believe the reason why you asked us to meet means that you have made your decision?," Mr Andrés asked after both of them were seated.

"Yes, but I do have conditions of my own. If you can meet them, then I will give you any assistance you need as long as it's within my power," Silas replied.

"You don't need to worry about that, Mr Silas, our request isn't something excessive. Please, state your conditions."

"Good. But before I start listing my conditions, I want to know how many people are in on this. How many people are supporting your ambition?," Silas asked.

"A significant number of us in the cabinet are in support of this," Mr Andrés answered.

"List people with key positions in the cabinet in support of this."

"The minister of Internal Relations, Justice and Peace, minister of Foreign Affairs, minister of Economy, Finance and Public Banking, minister of Defense, minister of Education, minister of Health, minister of Commerce."

"Is that all?," Silas asked.

"No, there are still more but they don't hold that much of an authority in the cabinet," Mr Andrés explained.

"Fair enough. Now, I want to ask, what are you willing to give me in compensation for my assistance?," Silas asked Mr Andrés, and the cabin's atmosphere changed.