Chapter 18

Territorial Governor Jarvis Mann /// Earthtown House of Commons

It had been a day of non stop meetings and interviews, it still isn't over. He had one last meeting he had to take, and he expected this one to at least be easy. The official title of this meeting is the coalition for mining and agriculture, and his office had gone to great lengths to hide it. This particular meeting was a coalition of some fairly influential members, and to not put to fine a point on it, it would be not only Governor Mann’s, but humanities Magnum Opus. a wonder that would make the very stars weep.

Project Absolution, as it was called, was lead by a Governor Mann, as well as 3 Admirals from the Alliance, 2 Ambassadors from Cerberus, and Sol Habitat Stations, and one corp exec from Anderson Celestial Mining. To say these colliding personalities had their own plethora of issues was an understatement, but they had one binding principal, that was the foundational piece of Project Absolution, and Mann had become the Broker of this Tenuous peace

The door swung open as his secretary led in the congregation, one by one sullen and hard set faces walked through the door. A few robots, for the corporate rep, and the alliance admirals, standing next too the two genetically engineered Lawyers working as ambassadors. Only the council would be in for this meeting so with a nod, the room was cleared.

“Well today has been a massive shit show, please tell me the project hasn’t been affected.” the Governor said flatly.

An admiral and the corpo rep’s robotic forms turned looked at each other, almost daring each other to speak first, the corporate snake talked first.

“On my end, i've been shuffling resources back and forth… it should be hard enough that anyone who tries looking will spend months chasing their own tale. Other than that, since were attempting to do this quietly its slow, couple tone here, couple tons there. And i've already had an entire fleet of smaller cargo ships put aside.” the flickering anti-survelliance software flickered as the robot pretender struggled under the near instantaneous messaging, as thousands of bits of information are projected for everyone around the room to see.

Most of it was only flashes for Mann, but he didnt mind, he could dissect the info later. Looking at the other formless robots there seemed to be no immediate concerns as they reviewed the information. He also didn't mind the additional security of the faceless robots but he also found their tech grating.

“And the overall funding for our project, any issues there?”

“None, the stock in question has already been shorted… and the auditors have accepted my proposal of why we should short the stock in question. Assuming phase two happens before the 7 month time limit we should make almost quintuple what we need.”

Jarvis nodded, phase two was the least pleasant idea he could imagine but since this plan really was the best they could do, he gritted his teeth and swallowed. Turning his attention back to the rest of the group the admirals were next to report.

The admiral that spoke next was seated in the middle of the group, “on my end we have two patrol battle groups currently scouting the area for “maneuvers”, they'll more or less enforce our exclusion zone”

The Governor nodded along. So far so good.

“How many ships?”

“ 17 in total, no battleships or carriers yet, just frigates, cruisers, and corvettes” the admiral replied.

“Can we get more?”

“Not until after phase two, i can probably collect a few ships when the reshuffle of personal happens. Not to mention my colleagues can move the entirety of their fleets after phase two.”

The two robots to either side affirm this declaration.

The second admiral continuing from where the first seemed to pause, put their piece forth, “as for the status of the actual engine itself it seems like we should have a working prototype soon enough”

Jarvis had been chewing his thoughts up until this topic, “how… how dangerous is it?” he asked more to the room, than to the admiral in question

“Well considering what its going to do, lets just say we would all be killed and dropped in a very dark hole, if anyone else from the alliance hears about this little cabal of ours.” was the vague response

“Alright… fuck…. So worst case what happens?” Jarvis asked

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Short answer, it just fries itself; however thats absolute worst case, but if we end somewhere in the middle…. It would be an explosion comprable to the birth of a star.” there was a moment of confusion before Jarvis asked

“How the fuck is that the middle ground? That feels ass backwards.”

“No worst case is that what were trying is so far off we've completely missed the mark, hence the whole burns itself out being the worst case. The explosion if it happens would atelast be a sign we were close.”

“Not exact sciences eh?” the corporate robot responded.

“Considering how much bullshit goes into these equations… its either completely precise science or its close as we can get”

“Alright alright enough the two of you, we still have to check in with everyone else.” Jarvis said chding the two before there meeting broke down into pure anarchy.

The final admiral cleared there throat which came across as reverb from the robot. “Operations wise, the alliance just approved my application for the Quarantine Shielding. No unforeseen issues, and thanks to Black Wolf Industries, we should have a working prototype within 4 months.”

“Do you think anyone will suspect anything after we engage phase two? Calling them Quarantine shielding seems a little on the nose.” Jarvis asked

“Well i didnt call them Quarantine Shields on the application, i actually called them the Bastille Planetary Cordon.” the robot corrected

“Still, any suspicions can’t fall back on us..”

“We dont have to worry, i sold it as a a frontline mobile defense network for the nightmare line, even if they could put two and two together, i made sure it got locked under above top secret. No one will learn anything until they wont care.”

“Lets hope your right…”finishing that thought with a cliffhanger, Jarvis turned and looked towards the two ambassadors who sat silently watching this whole presentation unfold. Their suits well made sat flush against them, the looked like chiseled statues of what lawyers should be rather than actual humans sitting there unmoving.

“So how is everything on your ends? Do you need any assistance with your parts?”

“No” they both responded in unison

“Alright status then?”

“Cerbersu station has acquired a… functional agent, to handle the theft in question. We are still awaiting the target with security codes needed to get inside the facility. Other than that Material has been supplied for the mission, and we have securities in place for every phase of the plan.”

“No one from the free navy right? Last thing i need are those fucking psychopaths getting wind of this?”

“No, this is a local outfit, no affiliation with the free navy or alliance. The agent is fanatical but that makes them pliable. They think the ship in question will be carrying a new type of cryo stasis shell. ”

“Good. send me a write up on this agent, i don't want any surprises” Jarvis said, before turning to the admirals “ill send you a copy”

Turning back to the final member of their cabal a rather stoic looking human perfection much akin to their counterpart.

“Sol station?” Jarvis asked

“We didnt really have much to do but weve distributed the gene strips searching for good genetic diversity, along with a lottery for the first and second wave that will make there egress.” the pristine engineered human sat there, but Jarvis’s gut squirmed, his instincts told him there was more

“Is that all?” Jarvius asked

“Pardon?” a small head tilt accompanied this question

“Im just being thorough, no unforeseen roadblocks or issues?” Jarvis continued

“We may have had a small complication” the statue-esque lawyer said after a long unneeded pause.

“Which is?”

“Some of the Sol Coalition are… uneasy about phase 2, they’re beginning to backpedal” they admitted sullenly

“*sigh* how many are having these doubts” Jarvis asked

“Less than half but its a growing minority.”

A deafening silence fell over the room as the reality set in about this statement. Jarvis had always feared that this would become a major issue, the gathered parties growing weak stomachs as the destined day approached. Due to those fears and his years of skirting party lines, had taught him; always have a plan B.

“Its fine, but before we continue then… is council woman Souza one of the loudest voices of this counter movement?”

Again the lawyer went silent, contested between loyalties to the cause and a legitimate leader.

“She is…” he professed

Jarvis put on his tactical smile as he said as smooth as he could muster “relax, she’s loud, and passionate but generally she can be reasoned with. I just wanted to be sure my future efforts wouldn’t be in vain.”

As a rule Lawyers generally were as good as politicians at reading through bullshit, but Jarvis had one card to play. He was a moderate, or at least he was the glue that bound their little group together. Meaning the pressure to trust Jarvis was strong, unspoken, and unseen. Effective enough to allow this Lawyer who was trained to see through deception, to lie to themselves. Human psychology was a terrifying thing. We could lie to ourselves far easier than we could lie to each other, and the crazy thing is even if you know someones lying, you still want to trust them. Reluctantly, slowly the dubious lie slowly solidified into truth even before the next sentence was spun.

“So i'll reach out to council women Souza personally, we need to remind everyone that this is far too late to back out. Now, are there any other issues?”

A series of no’s, and head shakes responded

“Alright then the meeting adjourned, same as last time if any emergencies arise let me know.”

As the delegates of the Absolution project walked out of the office, Jarvis was already making contact with an ambassador from Artemis Habitat.

“Hey Tyson, it’s me… i need a favor.” words laden with honey hiding the sinking darkness were whispered that day, and Jarvis knew then, if the old world stories of the kingdom of heaven were real, he was certainly going the other way.