I have to admire good planning, but sometimes someone is able to see so far and plan so well that it is more terrifying than anything else. You would think that the Illuminati would not be worried about people working in the shadows to manipulate them- because they are the people in the shadows, the man behind the curtain, so to speak. But Wang’s foresight is enough to make me question if she does not already run the world herself and that this is all part of a plan I can not even conceive of…

Why? Because she did not need to send anyone over to help me, Kate was already with me! She was just as much a ‘news reporter’ as she was a fish- her knowledge about media, and manipulating it, was damn near encyclopedic. She was precisely the kind of person I needed, and I could not help but be a little suspicious. But all that did was cause her to laugh.

“For someone who grumbles so much about being blackmailed,” Kate said when she finally caught her breath after a laughing fit. “You really do not seem to mind giving me more material to blackmail you with!”

In retrospect, it seemed obvious that Kate- who despite what I said, actually did have experience as an investigative journalist- would be able to plant a hidden camera, but who ever really expects that kind of thing? Or someone doing it multiple times?

“You know, we had a whole team of psychologists comb through every appearance you ever made and analyse the best way to reach this point,” Kate mused. “But I never really expected the untouchable Mr. Sterling to lose his composure quite so quickly- or to just throw it out the window after that composure cracked a little.”

This was the first I had heard of a team of psychologists, what the fuck Wang? I mean, clearly they did their job, but how much time and money did you pour into this honeytrap? For that matter, am I can not be the only one of the group caught like this- that Chinese woman was probably damn close to ruling the world! That does not bother me too much though, aside from her manipulating me, overall she is an incredibly positive influence in the world.

“I would not say I threw it away…”

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“That is not a very convincing statement right now.”

Well- the only thing she was wearing was one of my shirts, so I suppose that line of argument would go nowhere. Time to change the subject.

“These articles you have written,” I spoke as I skimmed one of them on my tablet. “They are quite well written, and some of them appear more up to date on Brazil than I am. Your research was superb.”

“Thank you, a knowledge of the situation and audience are the two most fundamental parts of convincing them of your point of view.” She grinned, then became a little more serious, “The situation will evolve though, we will need a team to monitor and adapt to the changes.”

“Easy enough if it is phrased correctly. The loopholes the governments of the world left in after that bullshit last decade are wide enough to drive a truck through.”

Direct political interference from foreign powers was heavily watched for by the governments of the world, even in places with a great deal of turmoil. However, that only covered ‘direct’ interference, and there was so much more you could do than that. In this case, I had my legitimate businesses begin to offer real and legitimate services and advertise them in an above board legal manner.

Sounds fine, right? But here is where Kate comes in. The products on offer only made sense in unpleasant situations that could theoretically arise from the secession of those parts of Brazil. Not that those situations would arise, but they could, and legally that is enough to get by with. By heavily advertising these services, and doing so with some rather brilliant ideas, it would create the same effect as a political ad- no, it would be more effective.

Kate had even been able to get advertisement spaces on things like billboards and signs- just to make sure that even those without access to the internet would still see the advertisements and still contribute to the general feeling that the ads were meant to accomplish. Hell, she had even managed to rope in newspapers and magazines- there would not be a single place in the country free of these ads or their influence.

“Are you sure I would not be able to hire you? Whatever she is paying, I would happily double it.” It would be a bargain with this level of skill, but she only laughed and crossed her legs over my lap- a move I should resist, but wouldn’t.

“Nope, I enjoy making you squirm too much.”

I sighed and considered the following truth- women will be the death of me.