Location: LA Tech Industries Main Arcology
Date: Year 2127 Month 12 Day 08
High above the clouds, in his tower of steel and glass, chairman Aries Drach sat at his desk.
The interior of his office was worth a fortune. His gray armchair alone was more expensive than the average apartment, it was very comfortable to sit on. The warm reddish hues of the wooden floor and desk brightened the environment. In the corner, a wide bookshelf stood. In it, actual paperback books were kept. There was one single bonsai tree set on a low table, that was the entire plant life within the space. Two couches and as many chairs were around the low table. The desk was empty except for two things. On the corner of the desk, there was a fountain pen set on a small stand. It could not write, it was a gift from his late daughter. In the center there was a notebook, he was busy writing something in it.
His skin was lightly tanned. Short red hair and gray eyes adorned his face. He looked like someone in his twenties, but he was much older. He was wearing a crimson suit and a white shirt. He didn’t bother with the tie.
He was waiting for the last members to join the encrypted video call he was on, the holographic display of his neural interface was set a bit further away towards the other side of his office, so as to not bother him.
A ping from his interface notified him that the last member had joined the call. He raised his gaze to the sight of the holo faces of the people that worked under-
That worked with him.
He spoke in a strong voice. “Let this meeting begin.”
The smart-looking woman that was the chairwoman of Med Tech was the first to respond. “On behalf of the entirety of Med Tech, I would like to thank you for the aid you provided in smuggling away the test subjects right under the eyes of cyber spec ops, and for the deployment of the elite squads of ghosts. Things went exactly as you said they would. Spec ops would move in and unlawfully assault a research center that studied how to cure the cyber vampire condition. Where only young victims that had been forcibly turned by others and volunteered to enter the program would be found. The media is propagating the news like wildfire, our public support has never been this high and the one of the government this low.”
Aries frowned. “Yes, it went well. I regret that we had to get rid of those guerilla forces. They were useful.”
At the several confusing looks thrown his way, he decided to explain the rest to those who were slow. “They were inconsequential, but the government felt like it was doing something through them. Now that they are gone, they will turn to other means.”
One of his senior executives of the science department, a heavily chromed man with long white hair, scoffed. “We have nothing to worry about, the ships from our earliest site will be ready to launch in one week. The others will be ready in two months at most. There is nothing they can do to stop us now.”
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Aries glowered. “Do not grow conceited, the eagle is at its most dangerous when cornered.”
The senior executive waved his hand unconcerned. “The president is all talk and no action.”
Aries shook his head slightly. “It is not the president that worries me, but rather that woman that sits in the white house.”
Uncomfortable silence reigned for a moment, nobody wanted to speak of the director of national intelligence.
Eventually, the previous executive gathered the courage to utter some words. “They will not let her have the final say, they never do.”
Aries leaned back on his comfortable armchair. He turned away from the interface and looked outside the tall windows of his office, the dawning sun looked beautiful today. He wished that his daughter could see it.
He spoke without turning. “They know they’re running out of time, they will listen to anybody that can save them from their predicament.”
Aries knew that he could not leave things to chance, so he sent an encrypted message to his secretary.
Tell the representative of Paragon International that I wish to speak with them, and let them know that it is urgent.
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Location: White House Secret Room
Date: Year 2127 Month 12 Day 08
They were having yet another emergency meeting.
The presidential staff was arguing with each other. The vice president was being quite vocal, his South African accent coming out stronger than usual. “You had one job, John. Not only did you screw that up, but you also let the one who you claim is responsible for the go-ahead get away from you. No shit we lost the support of the people if this is what they were supporting.”
President Sherman was pretty sure the secretary of defense had more than one job but chose not to mention that to the vice. He felt like it wouldn’t solve anything. The president sighed, he had dark circles around his eyes, and the headaches have only been getting more numerous.
He closed his eyes. Hoping that by the time he opened them, things would have quietened down. After twenty minutes of uninterrupted quarreling in which the staff could not agree to anything he gave up and opened his eyes.
He banged his fist on the table several times, hoping to get their attention. They did not stop bickering.
The only other person who was not part of the pandemonium was the director of intelligence. Irene Croft had not uttered a word since the meeting started. She looked relaxed, not overworked like the rest of them. Her dark complexion was contrasted by her two golden eyes, she had long purple hair tied in a loose ponytail.
She was one of the few human beings with extremely high cyberware compatibility. This meant that she could alter more significant amounts of her body without facing repercussions on her nervous system, and she most certainly took advantage of that. Below the neck, she had very little organic material left.
She clapped her ebony metal hands.
Everyone froze, they turned to look at her.
She smiled and started speaking in her melodic artificial voice. “We have, unfortunately, too little time to consider changing the crowd’s opinion. My agents tell me that we have one week at most before the corpos launch their first ships.”
The vice president sat down, sighed and rested his forehead on a closed fist. Looking like a stressed philosopher. He eventually asked. “What do you suggest we do?”
“We are already viewed in a bad light, we can either try to fix that and become the losers, or embrace it and become the victors.”
She looked at the president, waiting for his approval to speak. Not that she needed it, but she still wanted to be somewhat respectful.
In the last decades people have been so obsessed with cyber vampires that they forgot that there were still regular psychos out there, and Irene Croft was very much a psycho. The reason why she had her position was that she was very good at her job. It is no exaggeration to say that the corpos feared her and her agents more than the rest of the government combined.
Normally they would never entertain some of the more radical ideas that she proposed, but desperate times required desperate measures.
“Speak.”