[60: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)]
Aoyama couldn't stop his tears. All the guilt crushed him at once. He was crying.
Eleanor didn't care. She looked at him the same way and continued pressuring him.
"You are the one who leaked information to the League of Villains, aren't you?" Eleanor asked calmly.
Aoyama could only nod his head. He was a complete mess.
"I—I didn't want to—" Aoyama spoke through his tears, his voice cracking. Aoyama stopped talking when Eleanor held up her hand.
"I know," Eleanor said.
"P—please. Don't tell anyone. Don't tell the class. Don't tell sensei. Please." Aoyama's hands were clenched, clutching his pants. The tears kept falling.
"Here is what will happen. I won't tell anyone. I won't tell Aizawa; if I did, your career and life would end quietly. I won't tell the class; if I did, your career and life would end loudly. But that's how it stands right now. This can change, depending on how good—or bad—a job you do. You will continue reporting to All For One and the League of Villains. You will act as you always have. You will keep up the same masquerade and facade you always have with the rest of the class," Eleanor said.
Aoyama looked up at Eleanor. "T-then why—?"
Eleanor interrupted him again. "You will also report to me. Everything. Every message. Every order. No omissions. You won't get forgiveness with me; you'll get usefulness. And if you refuse, your secret becomes very public. And very loud. You and your family will be killed to silence you. I won't kill you or your family, but there are people who will. It's not hard to imagine who."
Eleanor took out a phone and a small card, and slid it across the table to Aoyama. "Use that to report to me. And don't think about tampering with it or revealing it to someone. I'll know. I've also put in a dead man's switch on the phone. You need to insert that card into the phone to use it. If the phone is used in any way without the card, it'll delete all information on the phone, and it will send a ping to one of my devices that will then release and send evidence of you being a traitor to UA and to the police, as well as leak a newsworthy script to the media. The same goes for the card. If the card is tampered with in any way, it'll also send evidence of you being a traitor to UA and the police and be sent to the media as well. So, think wisely, Aoyama," Eleanor said calmly.
While that was true, Eleanor left out other things. For example, she could literally blow up the phone while the card was inserted, destroying all information on the phone and all physical components of the phone and card instantly. Any evidence tying it to her would be destroyed. And if he tried uploading data to another machine? She would know. Since transferring data from the phone to any other device would also upload a piece of malware, which would let Eleanor do almost whatever she wants.
Aoyama reluctantly took the phone and card. He hated all of it, but he had no choice.
"Don't worry about being caught either. Any messages you send to me will be a nightmare for anyone to track down fully. It can be done, but the people, or organizations really, who have that ability have bigger problems to deal with. As long as you don't do anything monumentally stupid, you'll be fine. And if you do? Well, you're going to die young. Simple as that," Eleanor said calmly.
Eleanor got back to eating and drinking a milkshake. "So, let's have another conversation, Aoyama. Tell me all that you know. I need to see how good my double agent is." Eleanor finally gave a slight smile, but it was like looking at a devil for Aoyama.
/\\//\\//\
Eleanor smiled as she got up from the booth of the café. She took out some money and left it on the table. "Goodbye, Aoyama. Enjoy the rest of the food. And please finish it; it'd be rude to leave it untouched," Eleanor said as she walked away from the café, leaving through the doors and out onto the streets.
Aoyama could barely move. A storm of emotions raged inside him. The entire world around him seemed to disappear. He didn't even know how long he sat there before a waitress disturbed him.
When he finally paid attention, a lot of people were gone. The café was still open, but it was almost time for it to close. Aoyama forced a smile before quickly finishing the rest of the food and paying with the money Eleanor left.
Some of the employees who worked in the café looked at him with pity. They thought he had a bad date with a girl and was brutally rejected. If only that were true. It would be many times better than what he went through.
Aoyama was now forced to work for two people. 'Everybody's looking for something. They only want to use you. They only want to abuse you.' Thoughts like this flooded Aoyama's mind.
/\\//\\//\
Well, that's settled. Now, I have to find a base of operations. Mainly just somewhere to live. I also need some allies. Two important things to do before I can get started with some things.
Now, how do I find allies and find a place to live? Easy. Just a bit of cyberattacks and leaking things to the media.
Cloaked drones were in the skies, and Theodore was running a massive information-gathering scheme right now. Phones, traffic cameras, open ports on devices connected to the internet. Seriously, open ports are a thing normal people don't think about. A port is just a communication channel, and an open port allows data to flow in and out. I have my drones and Theodore running scans for open ports, so I can compromise them. It's very easy. So, make sure your ports are protected and close any you aren't using to reduce overall attack surface unless you want to give a hacker an opportunity. Anyway, it was a lot. A few commands here and there—and a bit of unethical hacking and exploitation—and I'll find a new place to live and set up a base of operations.
As for allies…I can make them come to me instead of me going to them. Not for everyone, but some people. And luckily, I know a person.
And this is where the Hero Public Safety Commission comes in. Here's a little lesson in how to leak information and secret files. You see, a big problem with things like this is that if you release everything with all the names and details, it'll get people's attention for about a month, and then people will stop caring as they move to something else or get distracted by some really stupid stuff like a slop TV show when they should really be out there protesting like crazy and demanding accountability.
Hmm…where have I seen this before?
Anyway, I'm going to find somewhere secluded in the meantime and work my magic.
/\\//\\//\
(Juko News Agency)
"We need a new story or something to get ahead! We need ideas here people!" The Editor-in-Chief of this modest magazine publisher had gathered her workers. "We need a scoop that'll put this company in the spotlight!"
"Yeah, but that's hard. We don't have as many resources as other news or publishing agencies," one of the employees said.
"You guys are journalists! Get out there and investigate! That's your job!" The Editor-in-Chief waved her arms up and down. She was getting desperate. "We can't expect something to just fall into our laps of nowhere—"
Everyone was interrupted when everyone's devices suddenly started receiving alerts and notifications out of nowhere. Phones, laptops, TVs, and monitors were all affected. Everyone looked at each other, confused and wondering what this was all about.
"Uh…what happened?" One of the employees said.
"This can't be a coincidence! Everyone, check your phones and laptops!" The Editor-in-Chief was already typing away at the keyboard of her laptop, wondering what caused this.
What she saw made her eyes widen. A few moments later, everyone else had the same reaction.
"T-this…can't be real. There's no way," one of the employees stuttered. Their hands were shaking slightly at the monumental piece of information they had on hand.
Trust, but verify.
"There's no way we can run a story or publish something of this magnitude," another employee said.
"Is there a way to verify this?" The Editor-in-Chief said. "We have to. This is a golden opportunity. Think about it! If something like this fell into our laps out of nowhere, and remember, we're a small magazine publisher, the other big media agencies probably also got this! While others are staring shocked at their screen like we are, we should be scrambling to get out a story! Quick, start writing!"
"But we need to verify this!" a worker exclaimed.
"You think those other news agencies are going to do it‽ No! We have to be first! That'll put us ahead of all of them!" The Editor-in-Chief and her team started scrambling to write the story.
At the same time, other news agencies were doing the same thing. While some tried to appraise the authenticity of what they received, they also realized that it would only put them behind. It was a race to publish and run the story first. And while a small agency might be easy to shut down, good luck doing so when all the might of them are unknowingly working together to advance Eleanor's agenda.