Noss sat at his desk, his eyes flicking nervously between the handful of screens floating in the air around him. He eyed the various people who were in attendance for this meeting; the Planetary liaison, the five Prime Ministers of Arkane, a security minister for their star cluster, a secretary from one of the ministers representing their entire quarter of the galaxy, and King Decon.
Noss desperately wished he didn’t have one of these high tech desks that linked him to all these people at once. He wished he didn’t have a Data-com in his pocket at all times. He wished he could just run and hide away somewhere. They said that some people ran off to planets located in various dark-spots in the galaxy. Who he would have to pay to get to one of those dark spots if it came to it? Of course, doing that meant being disconnected from the entire galaxy. He’d have no access to all the media he enjoyed, the drinks and drugs that helped lull him to sleep, or the immersive simulations that he had come to rely on in the thirty years since his first and only wife had left him.
If it came to it, he’d probably have to run anyway. Would it be worth living in a disconnected society? He didn’t know. It wasn’t fair though, none of this was his fault!
“We were told that the issue of the Despair Insurgency would be resolved within the planetary cycle.” the security minister, a humanoid with a blue-green exo-skeleton, four black eyes, and mandibles around her mouth. “And while it seemed at first like their actions were starting to subside, we then had the attack on King Decon-”
“That was on Caerlapis, I must point out.” the human liaison, Lucas, said. Lucas was perhaps the only one in the meeting who looked more scared than Noss felt. It made sense; Noss was just a minister, Lucas was in charge of the whole planet. “And there’s no evidence that it was linked to Arkane!”
“As a note.” the squidlike secretary said as they brought up a file that popped up on a separate screen in front of Noss, “No evidence has been traced from that attack at all. We do not know where the assailant came from, nor could we find sufficient evidence to provide a guess at galactic placement.”
“Even if we were to discount the Caerlapis attack,” the security minister continued, “their activities have only continued from that point. Not only that, the attacks have become more effective, and more frequent.” Another list popped up before Noss. “These are the various attacks that have occurred since the attack on King Decon on Caerlapis. Now, beforehand most of the attacks were planetary; targeting synths on the ground or planetary galactic offices. Now, however, they’re targeting more vital stations off planet; storage and supply centers, production centers, and training centers. There have even been several more attempts on King Decon Himself, but of course due to the rigorous security surrounding King Decon, those attempts were caught.”
“I could overlook all of this.” King Decon said. As He spoke, everyone else stilled. “I have resources to compensate for the damage done, and under normal circumstances I wouldn’t consider this something worth so much of my attention.” His unblinking eyes focused on Noss, “But I was told that this was dealt with. I have concerns when I am fed lies.”
There was no change of tone, not even any sign that King Decon was angry, but Noss felt his insides turn to ice regardless.
“M-My apologies, King Decon.” Noss said, bowing his head, “From the information I was given it seemed clear that with the execution of those I presented to you-”
“I recall, a man, a woman, and a child. I doubted that they would be that important to the insurgency but I took your word for it.”
A man, a woman, and a child. Noss hadn’t expected them to be killed so quickly. Well, he expected the adults to be killed. He assumed the kid would have been taken into kingdom custody. He hadn’t expected her to be killed; especially not like that.
“And from my information, with them gone then everything should have fallen apart for the Despair Insurgency” Noss said, “But... But something must have changed. There shouldn’t have been anyone left to take over, let alone someone with the knowledge to so quickly perform so many attacks.”
“And what do you suppose that might have changed then?”
Silence. Noss didn’t know. Noss had been struggling to try to fix this, to get his own people to work with the synths that King Decon had sent so that they could find out what had happened.
Those synths had disappeared weeks ago. Noss had no more leads, and no more ideas. His informants had disappeared, the planetary police force had no leads, the various regional police were useless, and his greatest skill– his ability to get people to accept bribes– wasn't working for him anymore.
“If I may, King Decon?” The security minister said.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
“Go ahead, Minister Gyrini.”
Noss nearly laughed. He had spent hours trying to perfect the way to say that name - one he had only seen in text before. He had gotten it entirely wrong; It was Jai-rin-ee, not Guy-ree-ne. At least King Decon had said her name before he had.
“The sudden advancement in their tactics and their knowledge base has to be taken into account when determining what has happened.” she said, “They’re also coming into more equipment and resources. As well, these successful attacks have been performed by manipulating existing Galactic tech. I find it hard to believe that mere laymen could have had such a breakthrough on their own so quickly. As such, their use of our tech along with everything else points to one possibility: a massive information leak. Either a rather grand and elaborate hack of the entirely of King Decon’s systems has been performed-”
“It has not; I would know immediately.” King Decon interjected. Gyrini bowed her head and fell silent until King decon spoke again, “Continue.”
“-Or failing that very unlikely situation, they have help from someone who has worked in depth with these systems.”
“A traitor?” Lucas said in a very carefully controlled voice.
“That would be my guess.” Minister Gyrini continued, “And given that most of the activity has happened on Arkane, then it makes sense to focus an investigation there.”
King Decon turned to Lucas, “Well, it seems like you’ll be busy trying to resolve this.”
“King Decon, I assure you that Minister Noss-”
“After allowing this to happen, you believe Minister Noss to be competent enough to deal with this?”
“King Decon, please!” Noss almost went to bow, but remembered that he wouldn’t be seen then because of the way the desk and the screens worked. Instead, he simply bowed his head down so that his nose was nearly touching the desk.
He hoped his toupee didn’t fall off.
“King Decon, I beg for your patience. I did arrest the main players of the insurgency, I simply did not factor in that a traitor-”
“I have patience, Minister Noss.” King Decon said. Noss thought that he might have felt better if King Decon snapped at him, but no; there was always that flat, deadpan tone, “I of all people understand that things take time. However, what I do not have patience for is incompetence.”
“It-” he almost said that it wasn’t his fault, but knew that that was the absolutely wrong thing to say, “It… Has been difficult as of late, King Decon.” He said instead, “Our terrestrial forces are overrun at the moment, and not by the insurgency but by common citizens! The newcomers from our solar system’s relocation program have created unrest, especially with the added tariffs and sanctions! There’s too many people, and not enough resources! The black market is thriving more than our actual economy, Crime has spiked, and the last synths to be sent…” he trailed off, feeling his throat tighten with anxiety.
“Ah, yes. Two more synths that have been sent to your planet are gone.”
“They have gone missing.” Noss admitted.
“... A question, if I may, King Decon.” Gyrini interjected.
“Go ahead,”
“It... might potentially be an impertinent question.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“Well, King Decon…” Gyrini normally had such a confident tone, but in this moment she faltered, and her voice took on an unfamiliar hesitance, “Is there any chance that a synth could turn from Your service?”
The silence that lingered in the air before King Decon answered was so heavy and so suffocating that Noss felt himself holding his breath. He knew that if he had asked that, he’d currently be babbling out his apologies.
Could a synth turn from King Decon? Was that possible?
“If such a thing were possible, then I would perform my own internal investigation.” King Decon said. “Were I you, I would not be concerned with such things; focus on your civilian investigation.”
Gyrini’s lips pressed together, but after just a moment of silence she managed to say, “Understood, King Decon.”
King Decon turned back to Noss, “After the relocation of civilians and the conversion of the other planets to mining and farming operations, your people should have plenty of resources, even despite the tariffs and sanctions. If you have not managed to deal with this simple logistical issue, and if the situation is so dire there, then it might be best for me to declare martial law and send in an actual squadron of synths to deal with your planet.
“That… I can do this!...King Decon I…” he took a deep breath; he couldn't lose his head, he couldn’t break down. “I can do this. Such a waste of Your resources will not be needed. I just… we simply need more time, and more resources for our people.”
“Liaison Lucas.” King Decon said, “Your thoughts?”
“It has been difficult with the sanctions, and the relocated civilians have stressed our planetary resources… Not that it was a mistake to send them here, of course! But… Given the circumstances we have not been able to function as we should.”
“I see.” King Decon said, “Very well. Then, in an effort to support your planet and in a show of faith and goodwill, I will lift the sanctions for Three galactic cycles. In that time, I expect you to deal with the situation. If you have not, then I will deal with it myself.”
“My deepest thanks, King Decon.” Noss said, but on the inside, he was panicking; that was what, two planetary years? He’d have to do the actual calculations when this was all done. That wasn’t a lot of time given all the issues they had been having.
Could he still bribe someone to take him off planet and far, far away?
“The next time we speak, Minister Noss.” King Decon said, “Then this issue will be resolved; either by yourself, or by Me. For your sake, you’d best sort this out yourself.”
“Yes, King Decon.”
Very good. You are all dismissed; I have far more important things to do.”
“Yes, King Decon; hail to King Decon.” was the chorus that ran out from all those in attendance. The last syllable wasn’t even quite done when Noss reached out and shut off the communication function on the desk. When the screens were gone and his office was quiet he leaned forward and rested his head on his desk.
Two years, and maybe a handful of months. He’d have to figure it out.
He reached under his desk, and took out a bottle of expensive liquor that had been ‘gifted’ to him by a previous informant. He had wanted to save it for a special occasion, but right now he just needed to drink something to calm his nerves. If he failed, would he be killed? Would he be killed like those insurgents were?
Like that little girl was?
Maybe it was what he deserved.