CHAPTER 015(Swiss Vault)
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CHAPTER START---
As the plane descends to the runway, Horizon looks out the window at the mountainous swiss landscape. Picturesque, somehow layered with the massive sprawling city of Bern, the capital of Switzerland.
One of the only places Horizon has ever been that he can honestly say, perfectly blends traditional architecture and the modernity of 2114, it truly was a sight to behold.
A winding river dividing the city, bridges built over it, appearing as if they were built hundreds of years ago, the style perfectly emulated, but no older than he was.
Skyscrapers reaching to the heavens as if trying to compete with the mountains in the distance, a fruitless effort as the snow-capped peaks give a sense of grandeur that no skyscraper could ever match.
He can't help but smile beneath his mask, thankful that he'd never be able to forget this portrait-like view, with light snow falling upon the city.
"I could get used to this," he mutters as the plane touches down.
A moment later the jet comes to a full stop, and Horizon gets up, bag already secured at his side, and makes his way to the exit ramp.
He receives a stiff nod from the flight attendant before exiting the jet. Immediately greeted with the sight of a literal mountain only two hundred meters away.
Covered in trees and grass, but with a section carved into it at the side of the runway. Doors running parallel to the landing strip itself.
But perhaps doors wasn't the right word at all.
"Wow," was all he could say. Two massive tungsten gates. Each is thirty meters tall and together fifty meters wide. The Switzerland coat of arms pained in the middle of the otherwise black surface, a red shield with a white cross.
Making it to the end of the ramp his gaze finally drops, seeing all the fortified buildings along the runway and especially toward the gate.
He takes a moment to appreciate no longer being on the plane. He had no fear of flying it itself. But moving at nearly 500 meters per second meant his Quirk was damn near useless, the travel speed would rip him out of his ROOM before he could give any real commands, it's the only time he has no true control of his world.
Casting that thought aside he focuses back on the view around him.
The light snow falls around him as he turns to see two small carts, one with a driver already in the seat and a slim blonde man standing beside it, the other driver approaches and politely takes his bag, after some hesitation on Horizon's part.
"I see you're awestruck by the magnificence of my nation," the blonde man says in clearly rusty Japanse, this thick accent somewhat slurring the words. He walks up and reaches out the shake Horizon's hand.
"I speak your languages sir, we may speak normally," Horizon says while shaking his hand, oddly fluent Swiss German leaving his mouth. "And yes, this country is breathtaking."
The man smiles and takes a step away, turning to gesture at the mountain fortress, "she truly is one of a kind," he says, returning to his usual Swiss German. "And it seems I stayed awake refreshing my Japanese for nothing, yes?"
Horizon chuckles, "my mother traveled a lot for work, she taught me that learning a language is always better than having a translator, more reliable...and secure."
The man nods, "a woman after my own heart, please allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Lock, I control this unique establishment," he gestures to the entire area around them.
Looking down the runway Horizon couldn't see the end, he also couldn't see barriers in any direction aside from the mountain itself. "It certainly is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr. Lock, I am Horizon...and please, don't call me 'doctor,' it's already gotten old for me," he chuckles.
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind, now, shall we," he gestures to the leading cart and Horizon begins walking toward it. "So, Mr. Horizon---"
"Horizon is fine, no need for titles with me."
"Ahh, then I suppose you may simply call me Lock," they arrive at the cart and both take their seats. " So, what has Mr. Nezu told you about us?"
"Almost nothing," Horizon says as the cart begins driving toward the gates. "He said that you can facilitate my business, handle the bids and cash flow, as well as manage my assets."
Lock chuckles, "he truly spoils me, he knows how much I enjoy giving the breakdown and tour."
"Oh, then please, enlighten me on this mysterious place."
"This my new friend, is Swiss Vault," Lock says as they arrive at the gates. Unlike anything he expected, a portal opens a few meters before the gates for them to drive through.
The border was angular, with each point appearing like a shining star, giving the sense that they drove into a constellation. The portal made it visible what was on the other side, a massive black and gold palace-like atrium.
Ceilings twenty meters high, massive columns of black marble along the walls, guards standing posted. And a woman positioned above who was giving energy to the portals.
"The doors never open if not absolutely necessary," Lock says. "She is our Gatekeeper, warping Quirks are among the rarest, only a handful exist, and we were fortunate enough to hire one."
"Truly incredible," Horizon admits, opening a perfect Warp Gate is something that anyone could be envious of and see the appeal in.
"A necessary measure to protect our assets," the cart comes to a stop as Lock nods toward Gatekeeper.
She closes her eyes and focuses, then a dagger appears to float above her, glowing bright white before staking the ground a few feet ahead of them.
Another gate opens, this time leading to an office overlooking the runway itself.
"My office," Lock says, gesturing for Horizon to enter.
"I like your style Lock," he says, entering before Lock, followed by the bag handler who rests his bag on a table in the office.
Lock moves to take a seat at his desk and Horizon sits opposite him, not spending more than a passing glance at the pristine and luxurious office, clearly black and gold were Lock's colors.
"So, impressed yet?" Lock asks, a cheeky grin on his lips. "Nezu said you'd be impossible to impress."
"This facility, and your staff, are incredible, but I'm still not sure what exactly it does."
"That's why we're here, the fun part," Lock smiles. "What do you remember about World War three?"
"The long or short version?" Horizon asks.
"Short version."
Horizon relaxes back into his seat. "After the advent of Quirks countries started an arms race, five years later war is declared after both America and Germany each invent entirely green and cheap alternative synthetic fuels using Quirks. Some militias took over Africa, and Europe tore itself apart."
"Go on..."
"And the entire world nearly burned itself to the ground. Countries had to call off the war because of internal threats, the first wave of Villains. Since then the entire world went from fighting each other to focusing everything on internal security, hasn't been a single military skirmish between nations since, almost two hundred years," Horizon shrugs. "Did I mention what you wanted?"
"Close enough," Lock says. "During that war, Switzerland, like many nations, went bankrupt. We became scraps for everyone to pull apart, and because of our location, we didn't last a week. Our main resources before Quirks were Salt, Granite, Sand, and Marble."
"All cheaper than dirt because of early Quirks," Horizon says.
"Exactly. We had nothing, and until fifty years ago we were heavily dependent on our allies to help us, until..."
"Swiss Vault?" Horizon asks.
"Exactly," Lock says excitedly. "Fifty years ago a mouse was discovered to have a Quirk---"
"Nezu..."
"Yes, High Spec, intellect beyond comprehension. He saw our situation, and on his campaign across the world to design systems and infrastructure, he came to us. With his consultation, we reformed our national constitution, mainly in the areas of taxes and privacy laws, and became the world's largest asset and capital holding company."
"Swiss Vault?"
"Switzerland," Lock corrects him. "We have no villains. Our best military assets are within this mountain protecting the vaults and supercomputers, also designed by Nezu. Our business is money, and it's brought us out of that slump and into fortune once more."
"I see," Horizon brings a finger up to tap the chin of his visor. "And how does it work exactly."
"In theory, it's actually quite simple," Lock says. "Effectively speaking we offer a subscription service. You open an account with us, we hold your assets and funds under the name of the Swiss government, insured by the Swiss government. And each year you pay either fifty million USD or five percent of your assets, whichever comes first. If the payment cannot be made or you cancel your account, then all assets are transferred back into your name."
"So if I get into any legal trouble..."
"What are they going to do? You don't technically own those assets since it's on our name, not yours," Lock shrugs. "They can't arrest Switzerland, and with Nezu's assistance we effectively have immunity so long as it's short of starting a war."
"But if my name is on it---"
"No name," Lock shakes his head. "Only a number and biometric security, which is protected by our privacy section of the Swiss constitution."
"Very smart, as expected of Nezu," Horizon says.
"We are a full-service company to act as the middle man, so to speak. If you require any service that can be legally purchased in your current country and don't want the hassle of sorting it out, we can take care of things for you. Want us to host a business for you, sure. So long as it involves money we have no issue with such things, and the infrastructure for your own business has already been constructed."
"Hmm, no wonder Nezu sent me here. You're exactly what I need, a way to move my assets without worrying about someone connecting my identities," Horizon says.
"Another thing protected by our laws, I assure you. The only way anyone will know that either of your identities are connected to us is if you inform them," Lock says.
"Right," Horizon nods. "I guess now we've just got to get to reading the contract..."
Lock reaches down and rests a stack of nearly five hundred pages on the desk.
Horizon loudly groans, "Of course..."
---2 Hours Later...
"How are the tax laws this simple?" Horizon asks, handing over the final page of the four-hundred-page contract before storing his copy in his bag.
Lock smiles and chuckles slightly, "the office of many world leaders -at least the ones that can afford it- each have an account with us. We also only offer services to people or companies with a total value of atleast ten billion dollars, you being the only exception. They have a very good reason to keep tax laws...lenient, for us."
"Wow," Horizon nods. "That's a pretty high bar of entry."
"Exclusivity and security demand it," Lock says as he sets the contract aside and reaches down, placing a black briefcase on the desk between both men.
"What's this?"
"Your membership package," Lock opens the briefcase and turns it around to face Horizon. He pops it open to reveal a few objects. A sleek black laptop, smartphone, and a banking card, all with Horizon's logo already printed on them in blue.
"So Nezu told you about the logo," he chuckles, reaching down to pick up the phone.
The moment he does it activates, and begins powering up.
"The biometrics were set to imprint when you touch it," Lock explains. "Your account has officially become active and the bids for your services have already begun."
"Scanned me through my gloves, not bad," he sets the phone aside to inspect the cards.
"Those are directly connected to your account, they're made of platinum, and can be used with any bank globally, even the most obscure banks. And can only be used by your or any person you give access to your account."
"So only ever me, nice. I assume the laptop is the same thing?"
"Exactly so. If any of these breaks or are reported lost we will contact you, or you may return here for a replacement."
"Good to know," Horizon puts the cards in his wallet and leaves the phone and laptop on the desk. "And about the bids?"
"Already connected to both your new devices, I recommend only using them for your business. We have one of the best cyber security systems in the world, best put it to use."
"You really do provide everything, so, shall we see how good business looks?"
"Be my guest," Lock gestures to the closed laptop and leans back into his chair, watching Horizon open it up. With the screen facing away from him to protect Horizon's privacy he only sees the blurry reflection in the visor as Horizon leans forward.
Horizon couldn't believe what he was seeing, the list constantly changing, the leading bid increasing by the second as people fought for the top spot.
"This is a lot higher than I expected, and it's barely been a minute," Horizon says in awe.
"I may have changed it slightly," Lock confesses, causing Horizon's head to snap toward him. "I did some data collection and found that the starting 10 million dollar bid you set was too low, the clients felt insulted or as if they were being scammed, especially considering the services you claimed to provide. So I changed the opening bid, 50 million was much more reassuring to them."
Looking back to the screen Horizon saw the highest bid at nearly 200 Million and just shrugged. "Well, I won't complain...not. One. Bit. Looks like I'm on the way to hitting the ten billion dollar requirement you have, huh?"
Lock chuckles, "that would still make you account number five thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine in terms of the pure liquid value."
"How many do you even have?"
"Five thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine, now that you've joined," Lock smiles cheekily. "But this is good, I've informed all those account holders of your service and since Swiss Vault is the middle man, good business for you is good business for us."
Horizon laughs at that, "get your interests to line up with that of all the powerful people and you're well protected, very clever."
"Well, it was Nezu's idea," Lock admits.
"I'll be sure to thank him when I see him, but for now, it's time to get rich, I think I'll quite enjoy that..."
"And I'll enjoy the business you bring us," Lock says as they shake hands, putting an end to this meeting...
12 Months Until UA...
END CHAPTER---
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