Interesting Times - Chapter 36

October, 21st 2173

18:09 Local Time

Illium, Tesale-System

Nos Astra

"In other news: An Alliance cruiser was attacked by pirate forces the day before yesterday in the Anateus-System of the Hades-Gamma-Cluster. The Hyderabad was damaged immensely in the attack, and only the arriving reinforcements prevented the complete destruction of the ship. Dozens of Alliance members died during the attack. A speaker of the Alliance said that the investigation into the attack is still ongoing. He also mentioned that a higher number of patrols are going to be sent to the region to account for the increased pirate activities. Several colonies in the outer reaches expressed their concerns that they could be targets for pirate and slaver attacks beforehand."

A gesture of my hand shut off the news feed, and I asked with skepticism: "Is the investigation truly still ongoing? Or is the conclusion something that is politically volatile?"

"The latter," answered Andrew's hologram. "It's another try of the Batarian Hegemony to attack us by proxies. The cruiser was reported stolen by pirates five weeks ago, at least according to their files. However, my people found out that those files got backdated, and there exist records that it was in a Batarian military dock for repairs less than a week ago. In short, nothing that would give us an advantage in any Citadel court, especially not before the Council."

"And if we got through with it anyway, the Batarians have more than enough reason to cry defamation," I concluded. "It looks like that avenue isn't of use to us. Not that I ever expected it to be. The Citadel will only do something if confronted with irrefutable evidence. And what counts as such is open to interpretation." Unconsciously, I rolled my eyes. Irrefutable evidence could be anything from the word of a drug addict who was on the other side of the galaxy at the specified moment to bringing a judge to witness everything and broadcasting it on live TV. It all depended on the motives of those sitting in judgment and the agendas of the people behind them. "At least tell me you're planning to address the issue."

"Who do you think I am?" scoffed Andrew. "I always have plans. This one is no different. I already gave the green light for Operation FERVOR."

A whistle escaped me. "FERVOR, huh? Do you really think that's necessary?"

"Yes," answered Andrew in a cold tone. "The Batarians are cracking down on dissidents. Everyone showing even an ounce of displeasure with the current government gets redeployed to operations close to the Terminus systems. Many of them suddenly become pirates that operate inside Alliance territory. And since the Alliance has a zero-tolerance policy towards pirates and slavers..."

"They cease to be a problem for the Batarian Hegemony," I finished.

In theory, if one is able to ignore any and all moral and ethical problems, their way of doing things has its advantages.

Sending those people who could become troublemakers for the current government on missions with a high probability of getting killed by the Alliance in such a way that one could shift all the blame onto the Alliance. The Hegemony didn't just sacrifice the people that could become problems for them but wrote the narrative in such a way that those still sitting on the fence were anticipated to work, if not for them, at least against the Alliance.

"Are there any issues regarding that?" I asked.

"News are traveling slowly," commented Andrew. "And for the most part, the official Hegemony news arrives at the aggrieved parties first. Spinning tales of how the big bad Alliance is at fault for getting their son, brother, husband, fill blank in here, killed. They're not very quiet about that, so even the people on the other side of the city will know about it in a matter of hours. Of course, the how and why will not be mentioned or designated as classified. The latter gives it an air of mystique as if they had done something of immeasurable value for the Batarian government."

"Nudge them in the right direction, give them room for interpretation, and people are going to believe whatever you want."

"Correct," agreed Andrew. "It's not like we don't do it ourselves, so I don't believe we have any room to judge."

"Oooh? Anything I should know?" I asked with a playful grin.

"I would tell you if I could," responded Andrew laughing, "but you know how it is. Classified."

A quiet chuckle escaped us both. Andrew's joke wasn't that funny, nor did it come unexpectedly. Yet, somehow we could still find some humor in it.

"Changing the subject," said Andrew, and his usual seriousness had returned to his face. "I believe I should congratulate you. After all, you're now the first human to obtain permission to research AI legally."

"Thank you," I responded with a small bow of my head. "It wasn't easy. Especially after the Council itself got involved in the process."

"How did you get them to agree anyway? I haven't followed the proceedings as closely as I wanted, but I can't imagine they were happy with that."

"They definitely weren't," I sighed and smiled exhaustedly. "I took a while to remove the roadblocks they put in my way, but it wasn't impossible. The Council got involved too late to stop the process legally. I made sure to keep the process quiet until they got involved. After they noticed, I just notified the new friend I made here on Illium to report the story."

"Miss De'Tiyovi, I guess?" asked Andrew.

"Correct. She was happy enough to run the story, especially since she got exclusive rights to it from my side."

"And since there was no evidence of any wrongdoing from your side during the process, the Council couldn't do anything to stop it, am I right?"

"Absolutely," I confirmed. "Furthermore, the interest of the press put some more pressure on the Council too. Anything they did could be seen as trying to undermine the laws they themselves put into place. And nobody likes a government that ignores their own laws."

"Your talking as if that wasn't happening anyway," laughed Andrew. "If you got a position in the government, there are always decisions to make that could lead to that. You should know that, Mr. Ex-Minister."

"Of course. I know that, but if anyone asks I will always say that I didn't have to make such a choice since there were always better alternatives. Are you telling me you don't?"

I put on my best-scandalized face as if I was truly asking the question and didn't know that Andrew probably went against Alliance laws daily.

"I see what you mean," said Andrew. "And I, too, would never break or go against any of the laws the Alliance parliament put into place. Not even when they're limiting my ability to protect the Alliance."

I rolled my eyes. "Now you're laying it on too thick," I said to which I got a dismissive grunt over the connection. "Anyway. Only the most naive and oblivious people believe that their governments are squeaky clean and that nothing is happening behind the curtain. Yet, everyone is happy to pretend that they are."

"A lie, or perhaps it would be better to call it an illusion, people prefer to believe in than to face reality. Furthermore, they get angry when it's shattered," continued Andrew. "The actions that come to light often go against the prevalent current moral codex of society, and even if individuals don't see anything wrong with the actions the government has taken, society demands from them to take a certain stance if they don't want to be labeled as outsiders or different."

"Every society has to deal with something like this. How many Alliance citizens would call for your imprisonment if everything you did ever came to light?"

"I would say they're not even going to call for my imprisonment but for my execution," corrected Andrew with a smile that was a part grimace. "And even if I showed them why I took those actions, how many lives my actions protected, society would still decry me as the bad guy."

"Silent praise, loud condemnation. Going against the law is wrong, so you're bad. It's an easy logic. Perhaps too easy, but it keeps most people from thinking that breaking the law is alright. The pressure of society's expectations keeps them in line better than the laws themselves."

"How did we get to the point that we're starting to discuss philosophy?" asked Andrew jokingly. "I just congratulated you on your AI permit."

"I don't know," I chuckled. "It just happened."

"Yet, I still have to warn you," said Andrew with a serious expression. "Since the news of your permit got out, there has been a wave of resentment against you."

"Let me guess. AI opponents?"

"Correct," he confirmed and added: "and they're not just popping up in our territory where I can monitor them."

"It doesn't surprise me that I'm making enemies with groups of the other species. There has been a large distrust toward AI since the beginning, led by the Asari, and that distrust has turned into outright fear after the Geth uprising."

"And some of those groups are known to not shy away from extreme measures if they feel that someone could be unleashing a new AI threat onto the galaxy."

"Are you telling me that I'm now the target of some extremists?" I asked incredulously.

"You have been the target of extremists and nutcases since you became one of the most famous humans of our time, and now you're astounded about some AI opponents?" asked Andrew with a raised eyebrow.

To be fair, he wasn't wrong. While my popularity among the Alliance citizens was high, there were also people, and not just those opposing me in the political or economic arena, who wanted to see me fall, or in the worst case, dead.

One of the more interesting groups among them, back in the Alliance territory, thought I was a being from beyond the stars, sent to lead humanity into a golden age that would last for eternity.

How that belief also translated into that eating my heart would grant them powers to rule over the galaxy, I will never understand.

"It's just that I didn't have time lately to keep up-to-date about such things. My dealings here on Illium are picking up the pace, and I have to keep ahead of the other Circle members."

"Oh, anything interesting happened?"

"The deal with Cicerio is through. The weapons and gear got delivered to his warehouse. From there, he is slowly distributing them to different smaller warehouses without my assistance. Seems like he doesn't want to risk me muscling in on his territory."

"Yet, if I know you, you got more out of this deal than he anticipated, right?"

"Of course I did," I answered with a pleased grin. "I got the names of his suppliers, contacts, distributors, and customers. The time isn't right to make a move yet, but the organization of the plan to slowly reduce Cicerio's support base is complete. I'm just waiting for a bit. If I move so shortly after we worked together, he will know instantly that it is me who is pulling the strings."

"You're going for those at the edge of his influence sphere first, correct?" guessed Andrew. "Slowly moving inward, eroding his support while masking all your tracks until it becomes irrelevant if he discovers your involvement because he has become irrelevant?"

I couldn't help but sigh. "It's no fun if you're guessing my moves. The suspense just went out the window."

"It's what I would have done," he shrugged. "I'm ordering such moves almost daily, so forgive me if it isn't that interesting for me."

"Yeah, yeah," I waved his comment away.

All in all, Andrew had guessed my strategy correctly, at least for the most part. I wanted to slowly work on the unimportant aspects of Cicerio's business and turn them to my side. Yet, I wasn't willing to wait for too much longer after that. Instead, I was planning to move against the Turian directly and put him in a situation where he wouldn't be able to do anything.

So instead of slowly turning him irrelevant while taking over, I wanted to acquire everything he had in one fell swoop.

The thing Andrew hadn't thought of was that Cicerio wasn't my only target.

The whole Circle of Alameina was my target.

Cicerio's contacts and weapon distribution, Nisco Ron's stocks, Nessara's properties, De'Tiyovi's media and communication empire, and everything else those four owned. Not to forget, the secret funds the Circle shared and only opened for cooperative projects.

In the end, everything would belong to me.

Was I perhaps too greedy? What use did I have for such funds if I could generate the same amount with my assets in less time than I would need for my plans to come to fruition?

I asked myself this question more than once, and I always came to the same conclusion.

I didn't need them.

Yet, I would do it nonetheless.

I decided on a course of action, I decided I would do this, so I would do this.

The monetary gain was a minor objective anyway but not unimportant. After everything I found out about my fellow Circle member's assets, the money would be enough to pay for a second Ruler-Class, especially now since developing the necessary technology was finished.

And who knew how much there was in the Circle's fund? It wouldn't surprise me if there were even more in it. After all, the Circle existed for centuries by now. It wouldn't be farfetched to believe that there were enough funds to match the amount my companies generated in a year.

But in the end, that wasn't what truly interested me. It was the opportunity to take over their connections and assets outside the Alliance territory.

It would take me, as a human, decades to gain the same amount of influence with the other species that those four cultivated over their lifetimes.

Take Nessara's properties, for example.

She owned land on all homeworlds except Tuchanka and Rannoch. It would take longer than the rest of my life to buy enough land on Thessia to build a small mansion. And that land would probably be on the other side of the planet from their capital.

Just having her as an intermediary was enough for now.

I was actually coming back from a meeting with her. Thanks to her help, I was now in the process of buying a sizeable plot of land on Palaven, the homeworld of the Turians. The land was close to the second-largest city on the planet and was known as the city with the most developed industrial center on the planet.

I had no specific plans for it yet, but considering the prices were lower than usual at this time, it fell under the category of nice-to-have.

Of course, that also meant dealing with Nessara and her nervous nature. The woman seemed like she was constantly under pressure, and that did make dealing with her a chore. I was glad everything was finished as far as personal dealings were concerned, and I only had to deal with her by electronic communication.

"Sir, we're approaching the landing platform," came the voice of my driver over the intercom. I didn't recognize the voice of this particular driver, but it wasn't too surprising. They got replaced regularly to prevent them from spilling my travel plans to any of my enemies.

After all, not everyone was as loyal as Janet, my old driver, and I couldn't expect her to follow me through the whole galaxy whenever I went to a different planet. I liked and owed her too much to demand that of her.

Now, she was only driving me around whenever I visited Terra Nova, something I hadn't done for some time.

Perhaps I should find a free spot in my calendar for that. It would be a good idea to visit the university there, too. Talk to some professors and students, and show some concern for the ongoings there. It would be good PR and uplifting for the school spirit if the patron of the university showed up from time to time.

"Thank you," I replied to my driver and turned to Andrew. "It seems like I have to end this call. It was nice speaking to you. Perhaps we can meet in person the next time I'm in Alliance territory. That way, we can talk more openly."

"You know I'm not going to tell you everything, right?" said Andrew. "You're not part of any government agency at the moment."

"But I'm still the biggest Alliance contractor, and nobody revoked my security clearance from my time as the Minister of Economics."

"You mean, nobody dared to even suggest it," scoffed Andrew with a smile.

"That too."

"I'll look forward to it," Andrew replied to my previous question before his expression turned serious once more. "And don't forget what I said about those anti-AI fanatics. I may have some people out there, but not enough to keep everything under control."

"Don't worry, my own security forces should be more than enough to cover the gaps."

"If you say so," said Andrew, not sounding overly convinced.

I waved away his concerns, and after the usual farewell phrases, I ended the call.

Just a moment after that, the shuttle landed, and I got up from my seat, walking toward the door. It opened with a hiss, and I suddenly got hit in the face with a strong gust of wind that forced me to squint.

Through my squinted eyes, I could make out shapes running towards me, setting off the hairs on my neck. Something was wrong.

I forced my eyes to open, relaxing momentarily, when I noticed the shapes were four of my security guards. Yet, that went out the window too, when I saw what kind of expression was on their faces.

I hurriedly walked out of the shuttle and toward them, my eyes flitting around to find out what had them so worried.

There was nothing that stood out immediately, but perhaps something happened inside the building.

"Sir," screamed one of the guards over the howling find and the engine of the shuttle behind me, "get back into the shuttle!"

"What?" I screamed back, having not understood his last words. The wind was just too loud to understand him clearly.

"Into the shuttle now!" he screamed again, louder this time and loud enough for me to understand him.

It took me half a second to process his command, but as soon as my brain did, my body was in the process of turning around.

If someone you hired to protect you gave you such an order, and with such concern and desperation in his voice like this one, you followed that command without questioning it.

I wouldn't be that kind of idiot that got killed by ignoring the people I paid to ensure my safety.

Yet, following that order made no difference as the shuttle door shut close, and the engines started howling as more energy got sent to them in preparation to take off.

I jumped backward, landing on my left foot, and turning on it to my security guards to run toward them.

Apparently, my idea of exchanging drivers every so often wasn't the failsafe I believed it would be. I knew I didn't recognize the voice of my driver, and I hadn't even seen his face. Was he new, or was he even one of my people?

The shuttle slowly lifted off the ground, and I took another two steps closer to the guards, who were also coming closer to me. It would only take one more step, and the guard closest to me would be within arm's reach.

Suddenly, I noticed something that sent a chill through my whole body.

The eyes of the guard before me widened to an almost comical size before his mouth opened slightly in absolute horror.

Something was happening behind me, and I had to squash the urge to turn around to see what it was. Whatever it was, it wasn't good, and the farther away I was from it, the better.

The security guard raised his right arm, holding his hand out for me with an expression of sheer determination, and I took it without hesitating even for a single moment.

He pulled me toward him while slightly turning his body sideways, and the moment I was halfway past his body, he got behind me, shielding my back with it.

The next thing I remembered was how I was flying through the air before hitting the ground hard and skidding over it.

My whole body felt hot, and there was a loud ringing in my ears, drowning every other noise. I felt a weight on my back, pressing me to the ground. It was uncomfortable, but at the same time, it was making me feel safe?

My thoughts were a mess, I couldn't keep a hold of any of them before it slipped my grasp and another took its place. The pounding headache wasn't making it any easier.

I didn't know how much time had passed when the weight on my back finally disappeared. Hands grabbed me under my shoulders and lifted me to my feet, and I saw the face of a human wearing the outfit of one of my security guards. His mouth was moving, but I couldn't understand a single word he was saying, the ringing in my ears still too loud.

Thankfully, the ringing was slowly receding, and I could make out other sounds around me. The first sound I could make out was something familiar to me. It was the staccato of firing guns.

Was there someone shooting around me? Were we under attack?

As that thought flew through my mind, it was like a veil lifted from my perception. Adrenalin was shooting through my veins, the ringing in my ears disappeared completely, and I could finally hold a thought longer than for a few seconds.

"What's going on?" I asked. The words came out as a wheeze, and even that took effort on my side.

"We're under attack, sir," said a voice behind me, and I thought that that statement was quite obvious.

"Who?"

"Unknown, sir," replied the security guard helping me stand. "And unimportant for now. We have to get you inside, sir. It isn't safe out here. The mobile shield won't hold for much longer."

I turned my head sideways, ignoring the sharp stab of pain in my neck, and out of the corner of my eyes, I could see the blue, shimmering wall of a mobile kinetic shield generator.

Furthermore, I noticed how small ripples appeared all over the shield and understood we were under fire.

The security guard pulled me forward, and I did my best to put one foot before the other to get to the entrance of the building.

More and more security guards poured out of the building in our direction, armed to the teeth. Some of them had riot shields strapped to their arms, and positioned themselves behind us, walking slowly backward to protect our backs.

The closer we got to the entrance, the foggier my mind became. Perhaps it was the feeling that everything was going to be alright that resulted in that, or it was because the adrenaline boost was slowly losing its potency, but my head started to pound like wild, and the pain in my neck and back became more pronounced.

We were only a few steps before the entrance when somebody cried: "RPG!" and I got shoved to the ground.

Thankfully, the rocket exploded some distance away, and we got only pelted by small debris.

Seconds after that, we passed into the building, and I was more pulled than walked through the lobby until we reached a medical team that took over my care from the security guard that had escorted me to them.

I wanted to ask his name, he definitely deserved a raise after today, but the darkness that had sat around the edges of my vision for the last minutes, wouldn't wait anymore.

The last thing I remembered before everything turned back was the shouting and cheers from the people outside.