“Good evening, all you denizens of the planet Earth. This is GNN and I’m your host, Brendan Baird, bringing you all the updates you need. Tonight we’re here with breaking news: Bob the Faceless Minion! Everyone around the world is discussing the article they received straight to their phones! Yet, despite the supposed evidence, no one has been able to locate this so-called Bob, nor has any government or the ILS released any statements on the issue, leaving us all to wonder: was this just the latest clickbait spam, or is there truly a dark mastermind ruling our world from the shadows? Let’s go to GNN’s super-analysts, Lacey Cook and Liam Reynolds, to find out! Lacey, Liam, how are you doing tonight?”

“I’m doing great, Brendan.”

“Same here.”

“Glad to hear it. Well folks, let’s dive right into it. Lacey, Liam, what’s your take on this?”

“Personally I think it’s nonsense, Brendan.”

“Oh? That’s a bold statement, Lacey. What makes you say that?”

“We’ve never seen any indication of such a person prior to this and that makes no sense. They haven’t taken control of any nation or corporations. They aren’t siphoning away millions of dollars into some criminal void. They aren’t building an army of fanatical followers or any sort of cult or organization. None of the things that would give them any benefit or any authority over the world. And if they don’t have a global organization like that, then how would they actually be controlling the world? And what’s the incentive? So this person is supposedly manipulating the world…and yet the world just keeps going on as normal? Or as normal as can be with all these challenges, many of which no one, including this supposed mastermind, could possibly have foreseen. So…what are they even doing? What are they gaining out of this? It just doesn’t add up to me.”

“Liam, do you agree?”

“I’m not so sure, Brendan.”

“Oh come on, Liam. Don’t tell me you believe in this conspiracy theory from one unattributed article?”

“It’s the article itself that’s convincing to me. Someone managed to deliver a message to every phone on Earth, all without even being noticed by any organization on Earth, whether corporation, government, or even the ILS. So whatever was in the article, clearly the sender is a person or group of extraordinary means. And to me that means we should pay attention, and not just brush this off as some sort of spam.”

“But the sender gave us no information regarding themselves, at all, Liam. To me that says they are untrustworthy, whoever they are. Even if they are highly capable, I don’t think we should give them our attention, period, until they step forward and open themselves to reasonable scrutiny. If anything, they might be the ones we need to be concerned about.”

“That’s the thing, Lacey, what if scrutiny isn’t reasonable? If this is true, and there truly is some sort of shadowy mastermind, then it would be extremely dangerous to try and out them. Maybe even this step took a great amount of courage and risk.”

“Which I would agree with if there were any other confirmation of this theory. But there’s not. No one official has responded to this, good or bad. Even the ILS has not bothered to say anything on the matter. Which to me implies they don’t consider the matter worth their time, and thus that there is not anything for us to worry about either.”

“I think that’s a dangerous assumption, though. Again, who’s to say this mastermind doesn’t have influence over the world governments? Maybe even over the ILS? What if it’s not that they don’t want to say anything, but that they can’t?”

“I trust Director Green to have a plan, even in that scenario.”

“But from what it sounds like, this person may even have manipulated Director Green.”

“Again, if such a person even exists. And even if they do, I doubt it’s as simple as that. You can’t always choose your sources, Liam. Director Green would definitely be aware that those sources have their own angles. That doesn’t mean she’s unprepared to deal with them if necessary.”

“Maybe, but that may also be wishful thinking, Lacey.”

“But that’s my point, Liam. We have no truly verified evidence this threat even exists, much less the measures taken to handle it if it does. Wishful thinking is all we have. So as far as I’m concerned, we should rely on what we do know, rather than what we don’t. And what we do know is that Director Green has done a wonderful job protecting the world thus far. It will take more than one unverified article to change my mind on that.”

“Frightful times indeed, but fortunately we know no matter what happens, Director Green and the heroes of the ILS will be there to face it. We will continue our coverage of this story as more developments unfold. Lacey, Liam, thank you for your time.

“Thank you, Brendan.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Any time, Brendan.”

“And now for a quick word from our sponsors.”

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Bob’s grav-jet arrived at Nemesis HQ. The minion team was already packing, some jets and trucks were already starting to leave. Chris and Cikizwa were waiting for him.

“We’re on schedule to go, boss. Any idea what’s going on?”

“Someone’s trying to create a mess.”

Cikizwa just heaved a sigh.

“Someone’s succeeded, in that case. Do you have a plan, Bob?”

Bob rubbed his chin.

“We need to track down whoever this is first and foremost. Cikizwa, do we have any intel from Nemesis or the AVS?”

The pair jumped slightly at the mention of the AVS. Bob raised an eyebrow.

“Did something happen?”

“Well…we’re not sure about that…”

“What is it?”

“Arachnalich’s…not responding. We lost contact with her.”

Bob went silent for a moment.

“What about Linda?”

“She said she hasn’t seen Arachnalich since it happened.”

Bob started to frown…

Just then the ground cracked and opened before him. A giant undead spider crawled out and leapt at Bob. Bob jumped to the side and rolled across the ground, Cikizwa and Chris scattering away from him.

They heard the sound of a ferocious bark as Cerberus ran into the room. He leapt on top of the spider, all three mouths tearing at the monstrosity’s head.

And then they heard cackling.

“AHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA! I’M FREE! I’M FINALLY FREE!”

Arachnalich crawled out of the hole in the ground, eyes wide and mouth locked in a massive grin.

“Hello Bob, nice to see you again.”

Bob frowned.

“What’s the meaning of this, Arachnalich?”

“Oh my, you haven’t noticed? I got my phylactery back!”

Her grin grew even wider.

“And that means I don’t have to work for you any more. I’m free, finally free!”

She narrowed her eyes and lifted a hand at Bob.

“And now…now I will make you experience even a small portion of the hell you put me through! Prepare yourself, Bob!”

“Counter Recommendation: This unit recommends traitor Arachnalich prepare for justice instead.”

Arachnalich suddenly dropped to the floor, clutching at the robotic half of her head. Her robotic eye was flickering on and off. Elise walked into the room, her robotic eye flickering as well.

Unlike Elise, Arachnalich’s cybernetic components were just that, components. A computer she could control with her mind. But just that. She did not have a bonded, sentient AI like Elise. And so she could not win a cyber-duel against the girl with a truly machine half.

She had cut herself off from Bob’s networks the moment she was free, of course. But…she had forgotten that she had the local WIFI password saved for Nemesis HQ, in case she ever stopped by. A WIFI network Elise always had full access to, that could be called something of a home for Elise’s net presence.

And so Elise disabled Arachnalich’s cybernetic components, stopping the villain in place. Bob stood back up and brushed off his clothes.

“Thanks Elise. I guess that explains why the article didn't mention the AVS. This shadow mastermind is so annoying.”

And then Bob pulled out a gun and shot Arachnalich in the head with an enchanted bullet, disrupting the magic holding her body together. She crumbled away into ash, leaving behind the metallic implants. He turned to Chris and Cikizwa.

“Wow, that was kind of cold, even for you, boss.”

Bob shrugged.

“She’s fine. She has plenty of bodies where that came from. Let’s get moving, she’ll be back, and in greater numbers.”

He heaved a sigh.

“Let’s split up. I’ll take the Nemesis strike team, if they’re willing. You bunch get everyone out of here. At this point probably best not to be directly associated with me and we already know we’re compromised, so you should hook up with Linda and give her a hand instead. She’s going to need help keeping the AVS running with its leader running amok…and the damage control. Go ahead and confirm if the phylactery’s truly missing on the way.”

The pair nodded and walked off to get things rolling. He turned to Elise.

“Have you been tracking the message?”

“Affirmative. Apologetic Statement: There is a great deal of data to sort through. This unit will require some time to determine the origin point.”

“That’s fine. No one who can pull this off will be easy to track. Just let me know when you have an update.”

“Affirmative.”

As they spoke, the rest of Nemesis walked in.

“Boss man, what’s going on?! Why are you a supervillain now?! I thought we were supposed to be quiet!”

“We were. Someone’s out there who’s on to me. I intend to discover who.”

Bob took a deep breath and looked at each member of the team.

“This isn’t like before. The ILS will be coming directly for me. Arachnalich is compromised too, so at least part of the AVS is on my tail as well. Probably the regular authorities as well. And we will not be able to keep this clean, or excuse it as mercenary work. If you come with me this time, you will become guilty by association, and the whole world will turn against you. So I won’t ask you to come. I’m already sending the rest of the staff over to the AVS, they’ll be going clean from now on. You have that opportunity now too, and if I had my choice, you all would take it. So tell me now, what do you want to do?”

Elise and Nana immediately stepped forward.

“Resolute Statement: This unit will follow Commander Bob wherever he goes.”

“That’s right! I will never abandon you, Bob-sama!”

Kiyosuke grunted.

“You think I care about that? Please. You can’t scare me off that easily.”

Saydaa nodded, a frown on her face.

“After everything, do you think I’m just going to leave? I’m coming too.”

Arvid took a step forward. Bob raised an eyebrow at him. The man just smiled.

“Our place is here. And I will see it through to the end, whatever the consequences. We are yours to command, even if we must fight the entire world.”

He smirked at Bob.

“Besides, they may have the world, but you have the Great Mistress, do you not? The winning side is obvious to me.”

Saydaa immediately began nodding her head.

“That’s right! No way I’m going against that demon. Nope. Not a chance!”

“I’m not going to defy true power.”

“Analysis: Probability of defeat determined as statistically insignificant with inclusion of Great Mistress Xiong Huang as a friendly.”

Nana just trembled at the mere thought of not being on Xiong Huang’s side.

Bob just shook his head and chuckled. He pat Arvid on the shoulder, then turned to head back towards his grav-jet.

“Thank you, all of you. Well let’s go then. We have a mastermind to catch.”