Chapter 11 - Paycheck

So, I like globetrotting adventure movies as much as the next cinephile. Crowded cities, car chases, rappelling down skyscrapers and such, you know what I mean. Now, not a lot of people get to experience this in real life. But, as per, it happened to us. Gather around the fire people, time for a story.

Somewhere in late 2004, a ‘mission, if we chose to accept’, arrived at Preferred Solutions. Please come over to Lagos, Nigeria and implement Pastel Evolution. So, as the red drawing pin dropped on the map of Africa, the agents drew lots to find who would have to accept this mission. Special Agent Rico Ferreira, codename ‘Bald Eagle’, was nominated for the task. (Get it, get it? Cause he has very little hair. It’s funny, I promise.)

To give a little context on Nigeria, the population of the country at that point was 150 million people, 20 million of which lived in the city of Lagos. As a comparison, Cape Town and surrounds, house 3 million. So that is an obscene amount of people! 

But the adventure continues. Rico made his flight by the skin of his teeth (something about throwing tickets in the bin ‘by accident’). And upon his arrival, like every spy movie ever, the massively long line at security, the AK 47’s guarding the entrances and the general stressed aura around everything started the thriller early. He made it through the gates safely and, as he stepped into his taxi, he met the next spy movie trope, the driver. This man feared nothing. The MILLIONS of cars, motorcycles, bicycles and people were but a minor inconvenience to this man. Armed with his car horn, which he fired with abundance and zeal, he wove through them at a speed that would make The Fast and the Furious look like a pushcart race. And his fine motor skills put Rico at his destination, a three-story building in the heart of the city. Here he planned, schemed and conquered Pastel Evolution with Africa bustling outside.

Rico survived, completing his mission while dodging armed roadblocks, more car chases and very incessant street sales people. And finally, making his way back through the long lines at airport security and the AK 47 search parties, he landed on South African soil, safe and sound. Adventure is the spice of life, and the spice was strong with this one. Very strong indeed.