"This is definitely not part of my plan!" Hianyan shouted. "You! How is it possible that you are not unconscious?" He pointed his finger at Aldoux, who had freed himself from under the robot.
"Let's just say I have a very strong immune system," Aldoux said. "Believe it or not, this trick works every time."
"Who are you?" Nagara asked with rage. "And... what is your connection with Doctor Sevda?"
"Who am I? As a dead man, the only thing you need to know is that I am the man with the gun in this room."
"A dead man? Me?" Nagara said, letting out a short laugh. "You've lost your mind... Do you know what will happen when you kill me? First, they will torture you beautifully and kill you. Then, they will find and wipe out your entire lineage."
"I'm sorry, but I might not have a lineage you can wipe out."
"Please..." Hianyan intervened. "...maybe we can make a deal."
Aldoux looked out of the corner of his eye at Hianyan, who was waiting anxiously at the head of the table. "Yes..." he said. "...I was thinking of making a deal with you, dear Hianyan."
"Yes... put the gun down so we can agree," Hianyan said cautiously.
"No... my deal involves this gun being fired." He paused for a moment and continued. "If I understand anything about politics—and looking back at my life, I realize I truly do—the moment I pull this trigger, a major war is likely to break out, isn't it? I can ensure that the tension between TESO and TESO2 turns into a war right now with this gun in my hand."
"A war that no one would want," Hianyan said.
"A war that Uruzen City would win..." Nagara added.
"Look Hianyan... Labiba might be stronger..."
"Of course he is stronger!" Hianyan shouted. "Please do not fire that gun because it would be the end of me. Even if I could stop Labiba, I won't stand a chance when the SWR comes to support him!"
"If you let me finish my sentence!" Aldoux roared. "Look... Labiba might be stronger, but you might be more in the right."
"What does that mean?" Nagara asked.
"Yes... what does it mean?" Hianyan echoed.
"Labiba was truly the person who stopped the SWR Net. And he didn't do it because of a malfunction; he did it intentionally."
"Liar! You are polluting the room with your nonsense!" Nagara shouted. Hianyan signaled Nagara to stop and leaned in to listen to the stranger.
"Do you have proof?"
"I had proof. But even though I came here with her, she moved a bit away from me. The proof itself is Doctor Sevda. Labiba shut down the Net to kidnap Doctor Sevda, who is an SWR citizen, without her consent!"
"Kidnapping is already done without consent, you fool!" Nagara barked.
"For a half-dead man, you sure have a big mouth," Aldoux remarked.
"Sevda? I heard a crazy doctor was doing research in Uruzen. Why would Labiba do this?"
"I don't know that either."
"This is not worth making a deal over... Hianyan! Definitely do not listen to this man!" As Nagara spoke, Aldoux pulled the trigger and blew Nagara's brains out.
"Why do I even think about keeping this man alive," he muttered to himself. "I need this man dead... Ah, what was I saying?" He pointed the gun at Hianyan this time.
When you strike a cybernetic in many places, you only see metal sounds and metal fragments scattering around. In a cybernetic, especially an expensive one, you can find very few points that still contain tissue. But every cybernetic has a humanoid, chip-implanted brain. That is why when blood needs to be shed, one aims for the head of a cybernetic.
Wincing at the blood spurting from Nagara's shattered skull, Aldoux walked slowly toward the corpse. "I'm a bit tired and I need to sit down," he said, kicking Nagara's body aside and sitting in the chair. He kept the gun aimed at Hianyan.
"You... what have you done?" Hianyan said in a mournful tone. "You have started an irresistible war!" Then, through his teeth with rage: "A war that will surely put me in a difficult position."
"Wasn't that my goal? Ah... are you even listening to me? Am I talking to a wall? Hianyan... I am the one who made this war inevitable, yes, but I will also ensure you win it. And you will help me..."
"How will you do that?"
"Now, because I blew Nagara's brains out, a war will break out, right? Labiba will think you were the one who attacked the transport vehicle and will pounce on you. He will march upon you with his planes, drones, and even tanks..."
"Yes... he will even get the support of TESO6, TESO7, and TESO4. Including Uruzen, four TESO factories will be our direct enemies. Because we started the war and we are in the wrong."
"But the others will act cautiously, won't they?"
"Even if they act cautiously, they will eventually stand behind Uruzen."
"Unless you convince them."
"And to do that, I will use Labiba's sabotage of the Net, right? I will say Labiba sabotaged the Net because he is a paranoid. Since sabotaging the Net is a major crime, the SWR and other TESO factories will stand behind me."
"Call it paranoia? I don't know how you'll put it, but Labiba sabotaging the Net is a massive crime... You must use this."
"They will demand proof."
"As I said, I will find the proof and bring it to you. We can extract direct evidence from Doctor Sevda's memory modules."
"We don't have that kind of technology."
"But the SWR does... The SWR will not ignore the war happening in END99141. The galaxy has been very messy lately, so they will act cautiously."
"Since the SWR shows such concessions here, they obviously won't ignore a war here."
"As I said... the SWR will want to take a hand in this war, so they will feel forced to support one side. I know the SWR well... even taking the simplest decision requires many bureaucratic stages. If we can copy Sevda's chip and send it to the SWR during that time... then they will be on our side."
"Labiba's men will want to prevent that chip from reaching them."
"That's where you come in. You will need to use your political power."
"I don't have that much political power."
"Find what you have then..."
"I'll talk to Capazo about this... but I will owe him a massive debt."
"If we can deliver Sevda's chip to the SWR, with the SWR taking our side, it will mean the end of Labiba."
Hianyan looked at Nagara's body lying on the floor. "It will only take a few hours for Labiba to realize something is wrong. It will take many days for the SWR to make a decision. During those days, the war will be very destructive."
"Yes..." Aldoux said, leaning back. "...a great war is about to break out. But we have a plan. We won't fight; we will defend. Until we are proven right."
"It won't be hard to pull TESO3 to my side. At least it will prevent TESO6 and TESO8 from attacking me personally." Reaching for the table, Hianyan swept all the holographic photos onto the floor with the back of his arm. Aldoux noticed that only Hianyan's face was in the photos.
"Do you have a stalker?" he asked.
"I have a stalker who is now dead."
At that moment, a massive screen appeared on the holographic table. Aldoux began to examine the screen.
In the far south was Uruzen City. To the east of Uruzen was a massive lake, and all the TESO factories were on the west side of that lake. A bit to the north-west of Uruzen was Calos city. The city where the TESO2 factory was located...
A bit further north-west of Calos, in a mountainous area, was Jijige City. Right in the middle of the city was the TESO3 factory. To the north-east of the city was Gondo city and TESO4, managed by Martin. Directly east of Gondo City, right on the coast, was Lapik city and TESO5, managed by Nandu.
TESO3, TESO4, and TESO5 seemed to be lined up in a crescent shape. TESO6 was a lone factory far to the north-east, at the top of the lake. It was in a city called Brezya and its manager was Tallus. To the east of TESO6 was Ravnez city and TESO7, managed by Veltin. To the north-east of TESO7 was the last city, Hanem, and Ormene, who had recently become the manager.
"From what I see on the map, TESO3 can be a good barrier against TESO4. If you pull TESO5 to your side, they can sandwich TESO4."
"Yes, but Martin and Nandu are very close friends. They would rather one of them withdraw from the war than fight each other. If Martin enters the war directly with Labiba's encouragement, we can forget about TESO5."
"I see you've thought about these things before," Aldoux said. "It seems TESO6 and TESO7 are quite far away anyway. Do you think TESO8 would help us?"
"Ormene is a coward... and since he became manager through Ashengine's favoritism, the city people and employees have little respect for him. He doesn't have the courage to enter a war."
"So I understand there will be two sides in this war. The first side is TESO1, TESO4, TESO6, and TESO7. The other side is TESO2, TESO3... Two against four, you say?"
"TESO6 and TESO7 won't fight us directly. At least, even if we fight them, I don't think it will be a fierce battle. The most frightening one is..." he said, pointing to Uruzen City. "...the fact that we will fight Labiba directly. Since we are going to war with the most powerful TESO factory, we don't even need to think about the others."
"A strong defense will be required," Aldoux said. "You might also need the strength of the locals in this war."
"I should ask for help from the Calosians? I... don't think so."
"You should," Aldoux said. Then leaning in toward the screen. "What is this damn transport or whatever?"
"That is Labiba's whole paranoia..." Hianyan said, and at that moment, a transport vehicle appeared on the hologram. The route the vehicle would follow was also visible on the map. "...whatever is in this vehicle, he values it more than his life. He is willing to go to war for this vehicle."
Aldoux could clearly see the curiosity on the face of the man whose emotion modules were broken. "You are curious about what's in that vehicle, but he will protect it at the cost of his life," Aldoux said. Then he examined the destination of the vehicle.
"This road... Labiba has been working on building this road for years. This road, wandering through the no-man's-lands, ends right here after touching the borders of Calos city."
He pointed to a barren region to the east of Calos, south of the TESO5 factory.
"Very interesting..." Aldoux said. "...why would a cargo settling in such a place be so important to Labiba?" Then he made a rough measurement with his hand. "But interestingly, this point is quite close to many cities. Could the thing this transport ship is carrying be a bomb?"
"That... that is an incredible theory... In such a case, we must prevent that transport ship from approaching the Calos border. But why would he make such a bomb?"
"I don't have much of an idea about your TESO policies. If it's not a weapon, Labiba would want to withdraw the vehicle. After all, you wouldn't want an object you value to continue on its way with just a few guards, right? But if it's a weapon... then it will continue on its way."
"Right now..." Hianyan said. "...because of those damn black clouds, we can't track the vehicle through the Net. But I can send a few drones to track it. After all, considering the speed, I know where it is on the route. We will watch it... If necessary, we must even risk destroying it."
"There might be a moment when all our power must be focused on it. We must gather our strength well."
"So how will you find Sevda?"
"From what I followed on the cameras, Sevda went from the lower floors to the upper floors, that is, to the production area."
"Impossible without a security card. Even though the lower floors are places where you can wander around freely, the floors where production is located are as secure as the SWR institutional offices. I assure you that no one can easily enter the production section, which is monitored 7/24 with AI-supported camera systems. Everyone's face is read, everyone's identity is identified, and everyone is tracked. I would definitely have known about such a thing."
"Check Bolver's cameras if you want."
"In this damn room, I can't even connect to my secretary!" Hianyan said, and with angry steps, he went to a metal box on the wall. He broke open the lid of the metal box with cybernetic strength. "I won't be needing this room anymore anyway!" he said and punched into the box full of circuits. At that moment, the wall reflections of the room disappeared, and Aldoux realized he was inside a metal box in a way that felt suffocating.
Hianyan put his hand to his ear: "Secretary, send me Bolver's camera recordings and the recordings of our factory."
Hianyan scrolled through the camera recordings for a while and then said with astonishment: "This is impossible!"
"I told you," Aldoux said, spreading out in the chair.
"A Calosian woman takes Doctor Sevda and brings her to production, but at the same hour, there is no camera record or system record of that door being opened."
"Maybe your system was hacked."
"By whom..."
"By that Calosian woman..."
"What do Calosians know about technology!" Hianyan shouted. "They only recently learned how to wipe their own backsides!"
"I think they were wiping their backsides before too," Aldoux said. "But I assume someone is helping the Calosians. Maybe a revolution is being plotted, who knows?"
"Revolution? In this planet, the word revolution alone is meaningless."
"The important thing is, whoever helped those Calosians hack this system, I think they also kidnapped Sevda. I need to find her..."
"Do you know where she went?"
"While I was at the incinerator, a few Calosians told me there was a town to the north near the TESO3 factory. There are some Calosians there who call themselves revolutionaries. Maybe they have an idea."
"Are there Calosians stealing trash from the incinerator?"
"Boss, you have no idea about anything," Aldoux said, pushing his chair back and standing up. "I'll go to that town and ask about Sevda."
"Then let me give you a team. An armored vehicle and..."
"Don't be ridiculous, boss!" Aldoux said. He was starting to like the word boss. "If I go like that, I'll be nothing but a target for Labiba. Just giving me a small motorcycle is enough. I'll go alone, and I'll come back without drawing attention."
"What if you can't find Sevda?"
"Then I hope the SWR remains neutral and I hope we can find a power to win the war."
After scanning the hologram on the table a bit more, Hianyan smiled and said: "There is a chance... normally, I thought everything was over the moment you killed Nagara. I had identified you as the greatest enemy of my life."
"And now?"
"If we win the war, you will be my greatest luck; if we lose, you will be my greatest curse!" Then Hianyan extended his hand. Aldoux grasped the extended hand.
"You truly do understand politics, dear..." Hianyan paused. "...what is your name?"
"My name?"
"Yes... you must have a name."
"I'll tell you my name but... first I might need to rest a bit. You tell me this? Do we have a deal?"
"Deal."
"Then it wouldn't be a problem if I take a nap and sleep here for a bit, right? I just woke up from a sleep like death and I'm still groggy. In fact..." Aldoux took a few steps and could feel his head starting to spin. Finally, the body that didn't need to be on alert had let itself go. An Enhanced body would live as if it had infinite resources in moments of panic. And then, when you relaxed, you would realize how drained of energy you were. "I guess my body has finally run out of battery..." Aldoux said, and unable to stand any longer, he collapsed to the floor.
Aldoux truly did understand politics. Because his family had left him no other choice back in the day. And probably, the place where the most politics in the galaxy occurred was his home.