Matriarch Maiya?" Eri repeated with a frown before asking, "You plan to give this information to that bitch Leiko's older sister?"
"Not directly, we plan to send it to her assistant, Sata," Rowena replied.
"And you don't see a problem with that?" Koki asked.
"I know what you're worried about and no, I don't see Matriarch Maiya covering this up," Rowena replied before adding, "Also, as Eri put it, she's the lesser of two evils out of her and Councillor Aimi"
"Well, I can't argue with that. Aimi is definitely a scheming bitch who looks out for her own self-interests first," Koki replied before adding, "She's the worst sort of politician."
"Sounds like you've had dealings with her before," Rowena remarked.
"We've had our dealings," Koki replied without saying more.
"Fair enough," Rowena replied before continuing, "So we plan to anonymously send Sata the evidence along with a certain message."
💫💫💫
In another part of Felinia Seven, Maiya sat behind her desk, working away at her console, when a knock suddenly came from her door.
"Enter," Maiya said without looking up just before Sata entered.
"Maiya, we have a problem," Sata said in a serious tone.
"What's wrong?" Maiya asked as she finally turned to Sata.
"Someone just anonymously sent me evidence pointing to your sister and her company committing many crimes," Sata replied.
"What!" Maiya remarked before asking in concern, "How bad is it?"
"Very bad, take a look," As Sata finished speaking, she pulled up some of the evidence and sent it over to Maiya's console.
"Fraudulent Trading & False Accounting, Bribery and Corruption, Money Laundering, Tax Evasion," Maiya remarked before cursing angrily, "That stupid bitch. She's been actively ripping off her own sister's government?"
"Take a look at the rest," Sata replied, causing Maiya to refocus on the holographic screens before her as she kept reading.
"Fuck!" Maiya cursed as she slumped back in her chair before looking at Sata and asking in a worried tone, "Is this blackmail material?"
"That's what I thought when I first saw it, but then I saw this message," Sata replied before sending another file over to Maiya's console.
[Martiarch Maiya, we trust you will do the right thing with this evidence, as you being the matriarch is preferable over Councillor Aimi. However, should you decide not to do what is right, we will be forced to release this evidence ourselves.]
"The right thing," Maiya mused before asking, "I'm guessing they expect me to release this information myself, what do you think?"
"I agree, also, there is the comment about Aimi," Sata replied before adding, "It seems they sent you the information as a way to get ahead of this and allow you to distance yourself from Leiko."
"You mean they basically want me to throw my sister under the hoverbus?" Maiya remarked with a sigh.
"Well, what has Leiko ever done to help you politically? From what I hear, she just uses her position as your sister to put pressure on her rivals and those she's negotiating with."
"I can't deny that I have heard those rumours myself," Maiya said with a sigh.
"So what do you plan to do?" Sata asked before adding, "I would advise against warning Leiko that this evidence exists."
"I'm aware of that, Sata. I'm fully aware that if I tell my sister about this evidence, she will flee and my political career will be ruined," Maiya retorted before falling silent and staring at an old family photo that sat on her desk.
Sata didn't say anything and just patiently waited as she knew that this was a difficult decision for Maiya. She might not get on particularly well with her sister, but they were still siblings who had been raised together in the same home.
Finally, Maiya sighed before saying in a defeated tone, "Order the security forces to go take my sister into custody and also call a press conference while I prepare a statement."
💫💫💫
Approximately twelve hours later, Adam groaned as he came to.
"Adam?" Stacey asked in a happy tone as she turned to look at him after hearing him groan.
"Ugh, where am I? Last thing I remember, I was talking with you all from virtual reality," Adam asked as he opened his eyes and blinked away his sleepiness.
"Spector suddenly ended your virtual reality experience after your brain began to show signs of cognitive fatigue," Stacey explained.
"I see," Adam said as the medical bay came into focus and he looked around.
"How do you feel?" Stacey asked.
"Fine," Adam replied before asking, "How do my readings look, Spector?"
"All readings look normal; however, without further understanding of Temporal Displacement Syndrome, I have no guaranteed way to detect it," Spector replied.
"I guess it's something we will need to look into in the future if possible," Adam replied as he sat up in bed before turning to Stacey with a smile and saying, "Thank you, Stace."
"For what?" Stacey asked.
"For staying by my side the entire time I was unconscious," Adam explained.
"You don't have to thank me for doing that, babe," Stacey said as she smiled at him.
Adam smiled in return before asking, "So did anything else happen while I was out?"
"Grandmother and Emma negotiated with Koki regarding her becoming Spector Entertainments manage," Stacey replied while winking.
"Oh! How did that go?" Adam asked with interest.
"Take a look," Stacey said with a smile as she fiddled with her uniband before a holographic screen popped up showing a video of Matriarch Maiya standing behind a podium, who began to speak.
"Thank you all for coming here today and before we begin, I want to inform you all that I will not be answering any questions here today.
I have called this press conference to announce that a few hours ago, my office received an anonymous tip-off regarding illegal activities performed by both Alpha Entertainment and its owner, my sister Leiko."
As Maiya reached this point, members of the press who were obviously sitting behind the camera started to shout out questions all at once.
"Quiet please, quiet," Maiya said as she raised a hand before adding, "As I mentioned at the start, I will not be answering any questions today.
After receiving the anonymous tip-off and the evidence attached to it, I immediately ordered that my sister be taken into custody while the security force began a full investigation into these claims.
Additionally, we have informed the Universal Entertainment Authority about this whole situation and are working with them to investigate Alpha Entertainment.
I want to reassure the Catonians and other races of both Felinia Seven and the Felidae Galaxy that my office will work with both the Catonian Security force and the Universal Entertainment Authority in order to ascertain the validity of these crimes and, if they turn out to be accurate, to charge them to the full extent of the law.
No one is above the law, not me and not my family."
As she finished speaking, Maiya turned and left the podium while ignoring the questions that the members of the press eagerly shouted towards her.
"Maiya did a press conference about the whole thing? Why did she do that?" Adam asked in surprise.
"Along with a copy of the evidence, we sent her a message telling her to 'do the right thing,' or we would make the evidence public," Stacey explained.
"So you blackmailed her?" Adam asked with a chuckle.
"Blackmail is a bit much, don't you think? We just gave her a chance to do what is right," Stacey replied with a smirk before asking, "Before we continue, however, how about you end this lockdown?"
"Oh, right, Spector, end the lockdown," Adam instructed.
"Affirmative. Lockdown ended, resuming normal operations," Spector replied.
"Well, that should make the others happy, though I suppose we should disembark soon so that they can finally start the celebration," Stacey said with a smile.
"So I take it Koki accepted the job?" Adam asked.
"On the condition that the evidence leads to Leiko's imprisonment."
Adam got up from the medical bed and stretched before asking, "I take it Tephe continued to refuse to partake?"
"Yup, she's still being insistent on not partaking without you."
"I appreciate her loyalty towards me, but she really doesn't need to go so far."
"Apart from her truly believing that this celebration should be for you and not her, I think she's trying to show you how serious she is about being with you," Stacey reapplied.
So you also think I should accept her affections?" Adam asked as he looked at her.
"I take it grandmother has spoken to you about this?" Stacey asked.
"Yup," Adam replied.
"I can't deny that taking Tephe as a lover and adding her to your harem would be beneficial to us; however, I also know that you're still hung up on the fact that you see her as a little sister."
"I know full well that she's older than me, but you can't deny how innocent and naive she can be."
"I agree, she can be like that, but that's because she was apparently raised in isolation back in her original timeline. Also, you can't deny that recently she's acted more mature on occasion."