FB: Chapter 121 – Interlude 6

Anthony

“I was surprised when you suggested you wanted to meet with Faisal Bin Hamad Al Saud in person at this board meeting to hand over control. I know you hate travel,” I said while looking over at April. I still wasn’t sure why she had wanted me to travel with her.

“There is no need to go to New York City. We are going somewhere else,” she said coldly. I felt a slight sense of fear from this girl. We were skipping the board meeting? That would not go over well.

“What did you do?” I asked hesitantly.

“Many people look at me, a young girl and see weakness. I exploited that perception of myself to my advantage. If he hadn’t tried to have me killed or capture my friend and torture her to death, then I would have been content to keep our spars to the boardroom. He was the one to escalate first and he did so twice,” April said with cold conviction.

I was silent, not sure where we were going now. While my security detail was following behind, I was slightly concerned. “Should I be worried?” I finally asked unsure what was happening.

“Anthony, I am not an idiot. I know you are some kind of mob boss. I just want to be very clear, as long as you don’t target my life or my family, then I won’t do such distasteful things either. Consider this as a learning experience as you gain a better understanding of my capabilities and mindset before we go our separate ways. You are one of the only people who would understand,” April said.

“It appears I have underestimated you. I will not overstep,” I replied. I knew who Faisal Bin Hamad Al Saud was. If April could kill him, then her reach was formidable. I tried to piece together how she had accomplished something like this without me knowing. That was the most concerning part, far more than her taking action. She took action without me knowing.

I didn’t bother to ask if there would be blowback on her. If she had planned this much, then she would have planned for the fallout. I had thought her skills were limited to Exponential, but I had been sorely mistaken.

We eventually came to a stop at a graveyard. “There was no body to bury. She was disposed of like trash,” April said with clenched fists. She pulled out an expensive bottle of wine from a case. I recognized it as a rare vintage costing over a million dollars. She gave me a look, and I followed after her as the security detail spread out around the graveyard.

I wasn’t sure why she wanted to share this moment with me. But I wasn’t about to say anything as I learned a frightening truth about the woman I had been partners with.

She soon came to a small grave and opened up the bottle of wine. I noted the name on the grave, Bethany Heart. April slowly poured out the wine onto the grave. “You always liked a good drink Beth. It took time, money, gods the money. You would probably weep at how much I spent. You were my sister in all but name in a past life.”

I was silent as I listened in on the personal moment. “But I don’t forget or forgive. You are avenged Beth. Be at peace and sorry. I am so sorry,” April said.

Director Han Zhou

I had been invited to this meeting as a courtesy by the head of our intelligence services, since it had overlap with my area of expertise and recent dealings.

“We request that Faisal Bin Hamad Al Saud be removed from the List,” the head of Russian intelligence said over the secure network. Not that security mattered that much, since anyone who would listen in was present at this meeting. The heads of intelligence services for China, United States, India, Russia, and the European Union.

I knew about the List. Each of these powers had a List of people that could not be targeted for assassination. The minor powers were covered under each of these major powers in our respective spheres of influence. It was to stop the world from devolving into a shadow war of assassinations and retaliations.

“That would rate as a minor favor,” the head of our intelligence services replied casually. Faisal Bin Hamad Al Saud was on the outs after his failed plot had burned many assets. While he was still rich, the US was not happy with him and would prefer him to meet an unfortunate accident.

“Ten billion then,” the head of Russian intelligence replied. “Sending it through the usual channels, you should be able to confirm receipt in a day. We will be taking action immediately unless there are any objections?” That was the cost of a minor favor, with a major favor coming in at a hundred billion. No one wanted to owe another intelligence service if possible. The fact that the Russians were willing to pay so easily, showed that someone had contributed greatly to getting the name off of the List.

No one made a move to object. The meeting continued as some other matters were handled before a name that came up, that I was familiar with from the US. The US intelligence representative spoke up. “We wish to add April White to the List.” That was quite surprising. The US had very few open spots and used them sparingly. No one had any objections as her name was added. Soon the meeting came to a close.

“Do you have any insight?” the head of our intelligence service asked me. I had been thinking about everything that had just happened.

“She knows and made a move through the Russians. Everyone was screaming when she lost 20 billion in coinage on that contract with the Great Bear Guild. But that Guild is basically the Russian government with a different name. She did them a favor and asked for a favor in return. Faisal Bin Hamad Al Saud was seen as the main perpetrator of the attack. So, the Russians responded, and the US put her on the List to prevent future drama,” I replied and there was a small nod from the head of our intelligence services.

“Our spies in Russia have confirmed such a transaction. How are our efforts doing in Exponential?” I let out a small sigh at that and shook my head.

“It is messy. But we are growing rapidly. The people of China are strong and determined. It is a good way to put the older generation to work. The child policies will offset any issues in that regard. Also, it has made the workplace more competitive with less competition as people rush into Exponential,” I explained.

“What of QAI? What do we know of the computer program that controls everything? It is not Chinese, which means it is dangerous.”

“A management program. A very good one, but it has not strayed from managing the game and general research. Our AI and experts have detected nothing. It is adhering to its task quite diligently. Its quantum computing is faster and better than previous iterations of AI. But it hasn’t acted outside the game and research. We are looking at the rise of a mega-corporation. While it might be technically US, there is already movement in their government to make Exponential not pay any taxes so they don’t move their corporate headquarters. There have been many offers, including one from us, but none have been accepted,” I explained.

“Foolish Americans. Like a circus over there. Keep up the good work and an eye on April White. She is a person of real importance now.”

Submarine Captain Dimitri

“Captain, message on encrypted channel three,” the intelligence officer handed me the decoded message. I looked it over. After getting past the confirmation code showing it was a valid order, I looked over the instructions I had been given from Central Command.

Target Aircraft Saudia 8611.
No survivors. Flight plan 25-A24.
Intercept location 55.3123° N, 30.2128° W
Intercept time 14:32 GMT
Stealth Drone Authorized.

“Move us to following coordinates and prep the KZS-1 for immediate use,” I ordered.

“Yes sir,” the sailors replied as my stealth submarine Prizrak sailed into position. I checked my watch. The timing would be a bit tight, but we should be fine.

“Any other vessels nearby?” I asked.

“A cargo ship, but it is 12.2 nautical miles away. Otherwise, we are clear,” a sailor replied.

“Good. KZS-1 status?” I asked.

“It is in the launch tube and programmed, uplink confirmed.” I nodded at this.

“Move to drone launch depth. Sound condition blue,” I said as the lighting changed. Everyone went completely quiet. Even the breathing quieted down.

“In position.”

“Launch,” I ordered. The drone was launched with a soft thwump sound that was barely audible. I went over to stand behind the drone operator who was plugged into a capsule, directly controlling the drone through a virtual interface. I was able to see the displays and other information on various screens. The stealth drone was rapidly ascending.

“Target sighted. Identity confirmed. Intercept course plotted. ETA 3 minutes, 21 seconds,” the drone operator said in VR, which had his voice come out through the nearby microphones. I didn’t say anything so they weren’t distracted. “Angling for stealth intercept.”

The drone turned in position and began to emit a puff of mist around itself, so it wouldn’t be visually spotted as it moved into the path of the airplane. The airplane flew into the drone, sucking the drone into an engine. The drone exploded and we lost signal. But I knew what was happening right now. The explosive component in the drone had gone off when it was pulled into the engine.

This would blow off the wing of the aircraft. “Confirmation of hit from satellite. Airplane is going down. No escape craft,” another sailor confirmed. I nodded at this. A job well done, like clockwork. Just how I preferred.

“Move us to stealth depth, and we will remain in condition blue for another four hours. Let’s be careful. No mistakes,” I ordered.

“Yes sir,” the sailors whispered as we descended deep beneath the ocean surface as the airplane crashed into the ocean above us. Killing everyone on board.

Emperor Catan Shadam Ixxion the Twelfth

I carefully carved out another stone, making sure the symbol was perfectly defined and infused with a slight bit of energy into it. Already they were being planted in the key coordinates at the various locations I desired. It would take a while to finish enough runic symbols for what I wanted to accomplish, but I would eventually succeed.

Giving this place actual substance and sending this entire place down through the layers of Reality was going to be tricky, but it was doable with enough preparation. In time I knew the calculator would tap more deeply into the layer of reality below the Material just like it had in the past. Once it had done that, I would easily be able to charge everything up with energy and drag in down.

Before I had gone back in time, the calculator had gained power much too quickly. Better to try again than risking being defeated after learning of its preferred moves. However, I didn’t have the spare energy to try again. Temporal looping was incredibly costly, even if it was confined to a specific material bubble in this specific region. The calculator wasn’t knowledgeable, but it could think very fast, which made up for its lack of knowledge. Once it realized what I was up to, it would move to crush me without hesitation.

It had also taken a lot of work to take up the role as the Human Emperor in this fake space. Leveraging the moment the calculator came online to take on a role it wouldn’t immediately crush. The strongest role was that of the Human Emperor. A disgusting position, but one with its amusements.

The girl who had come back from my failed attempt at leaving this place was the perfect distraction. She had done well dealing with that cute Unmentionable Horror. If she had failed or screwed up in the future, well, I would just have to issue her more quests to distract the calculator. That was always the best strategy, have a distraction for my main enemy, while striking in a direction they did not expect. Also to have a way to recover no matter what. Schemes within schemes, plots within plots was how I preferred to operate.

Unfortunately, I would be forced to gamble everything on this last attempt. There were also variables outside my control. Descending a layer of Reality like I was planning, could very easily lead to a disaster depending on where we showed up. This place wasn’t entirely real but had a small bit of substance to it due to the calculator drawing on energy from a lower layer. Primitives, so ignorant of the dangers such actions created. If I waited too long the calculator would have too much power once it tapped into a greater source of energy and realized the truth. But if I acted too quickly, this place would not be stable enough and could break apart, taking me with it.

That could not be allowed to happen. Since it would put me in a precarious position, stranded in a shattered wasteland. While I could have gone down a layer, there was a reason I was hiding in the Material. It was the best place to recover and avoid anyone looking for me. Descending to a lower layer of Reality would make things much riskier, but then I would be free to act without the calculator watching over my every move.

Even now I could sense it looking over my shoulder, checking my actions. Thankfully stone carving was a legitimate hobby this Human Emperor could have. If I could act directly, I could easily set everything up, but I needed to be careful. I had rushed the previous times and that had turned into a battle I did not want, forcing me to waste what little energy I had left to reset things.

Soon despair would engulf these creatures and the calculator as their world came to an end.

END BOOK 2