FB: Chapter 117 – Nuclear Option

Everyone was quiet as I took my seat in the conference room. “I see several new faces. Well, it is time to deal with an information leak from a Vice Leader,” I said.

Patriot stood up. “I must take full responsibility for the leak. The information was shared with an associate which accidentally shared it in a bar, leaking your location to another guild. They have since been expelled from the Guild,” Patriot said. I gave him a smile and shook my head.

“That handles the problem, but not responsibility or compensation. Will you pay out the damages for your mistake?” I asked calmly.

“How much?” he asked.

“That isn’t the question. You said you take responsibility. Does that mean you will pay compensation to pay for your mistake and leaking top secret guild information?” I asked back. Everyone was silent as they watched the power struggle between me and Patriot.

“If the compensation is reasonable then yes,” he replied, and I shook my head.

“This is a Guild, not some bureaucratic office or campaign event. You will say your determination is reasonable or ask for a third party that you control to provide an evaluation. I will ask once more, will you provide compensation, yes or no?” I demanded.

“I can’t answer that at this time,” he replied, and I nodded.

“Very well. Under my authority as Guild Leader you are hereby expelled from the Fanged Fox Guild for a security breach of epic proportions. I also find you in violation of the agreement that QAI ratified and the betrayal clause. I invoke-“

“Wait!” I looked at Patriot. “I will cover the compensation cost.”

“Very well, you have one hour. Here is the bill,” I said and pulled out the costs associated with my title grinding. I didn’t list out the goal, only the expense report, which listed 1,860 platinum of expenses and 140 of remaining supplies. He picked up the bill. “I am owed 1,860 platinum for material supplies and based on the value of time invested based on a factor of 10, that is another 18,600 platinum for a total of 20,460 platinum.” There were several gasps around the table.

Patriot had paled. “I can’t pay that,” he replied.

“Then you will be found in default and expelled from the Guild for a security breach. As Guild Leader I won’t be authorizing a repayment, since it is more cost effective to fire a failure rather than spend so much. Unless your bosses have an objection?” I calmly asked.

“I still hold 10% shares,” he replied, and I nodded at that.

“And I currently hold no shares. While you were taking things over, I sold everything. Now, since you are unable to pay, I find you in violation of the agreement that QAI ratified and the betrayal clause. Command, administrator alert, I officially invoke adjudication from QAI for a contract dispute,” I calmly stated out loud, invoking a nuclear option.

QAI’s avatar appeared above the conference room table. I knew it wasn’t really QAI, since it used programs to act on its behalf. But it was probably a primary program it was closely monitoring. Maybe, I still wasn’t sure how the thing worked.

“State and present your evidence of a contract breach,” QAI stated. I pulled out recording crystals, that could record scenes in Exponential.

“I shared my location with three people, but two of those people were given wrong information, with Patriot here having full information on my location. He released this information on me which resulted in a failed assassination attempt, he admitted as such in this conference room. This is in violation of the betrayal clause he signed when taking up his position as Vice Leader of the Fanged Fox Guild,” I stated while placing the recording crystals on the table.

“State and present your defense,” QAI stated as its red orbs and rings spun to face Patriot.

“The information was leaked through a trusted associate. They have been fired and punished,” Patriot said, clearly confused about what was happening. But that was fine. Using QAI adjudication on a contract was never pleasant.

“Analysis complete. Active betrayal occurred in violation of the contract. Do you wish to implement penalties now?” QAI asked me. I smiled at that.

“I wish to defer them if John here releases me from my non-disclosure and non-compete contracts,” I replied.

“Impossible! You would sink the Guild and our investment,” he declared.

“And I will destroy it anyways, firing everyone you appointed, splitting ownership of the Guild from the Corporation. Who owns the Guild? Who controls the command interface? You won’t have time to stop me if I dissolve everything,” I declared.

“You will be taken to court,” he countered.

“And it will be all your fault. That we sunk together. Or you can let me go and run this place however you want. I won’t be part of a Guild where the Vice Leader was complicit in an attempted assassination attempt on me, wasting thousands of platinum,” I replied calmly. Everyone else was just watching this back and forth.

“Only the non-compete. Not the non-disclosure,” Patriot said, and I nodded at that.

“It only lasts six months and I will let you review my public statement before it is released. I wish to defer the penalties,” I said.

“You may reach out in the next 10 days, before penalties can no longer be applied for breach of contract,” QAI said before disappearing with a red flash. The ultimate arbiter of contracts. That was why I insisted all contracts go through Exponential, since QAI couldn’t be manipulated like the courts or a third party could be.

“I guess your expulsion is halted as well. Also, you won’t make trouble regarding my departure, otherwise I will hit you with the bill for your actions,” I said as I stood up.

“So, this is it, through treachery and betrayal,” Hammer Crusher said. I smiled at him.

“All your contracts have a Guild Leader removal clause. I suggest you review it,” I said.

“You will regret this,” Patriot declared.

“Many people say that, but few have the courage to follow through. I suggest we part amicably. You got the Guild like you wanted. Really, an assassination like that. Pathetic. If that was your best move when I was only partially prepared, then you will suffer quite a bit going forward. Feel free to enjoy the fight for the position of next Guild Leader and finding a new Lead Champion,” I said. I noticed Clara trying to conceal a feral smile.

Standing up, I let out a deep breath. There was nothing left for me here. I had already taken everything I had wanted from the Guild. Quant Z caught up with me and several of the Champions as I began walking out.

“Joining me in leaving?” I asked.

“Without you this place is nothing but trash. I have gotten suggestions on how to manage things. Suggestions! How dare they interfere with my artistic decisions! You might be less intelligent than me, but you are interesting and respectful of my genius,” Quant Z said.

“We were only here because of you,” Hammer Crusher said, and several Champions echoed his statement.

“Well, perhaps we can start a new venture. Cut out all the bloat. Your teams had quite a bit of success in the operation in the Rampant Growth. A small, but highly elite Guild,” I said as I exited the Fanged Fox Guild.

“What are you thinking for the name?” Sunfold Illumination asked.

“Well, since you are all joining, why don’t you come up with suggestions,” I replied.

“Black Company. It exudes power and determination,” Quant Z declared.

“Too common and there is a Guild with that name. We need something more impactful. The Bloody Reapers,” Hammer Crusher declared. We made our way through Halfenbrook as everyone followed me.

“Where are we going?” Quant Z finally asked.

“I am the Viscountess of Halfenbrook. This is why you need to be sure about the noble players in your Guild. All the improvements you did Quant Z, they belong to the town, not the Guild, even if we employ a large number of Fanged Fox Guild members,” I explained. Everyone went silent at this.

As I entered a building I had set aside, I pulled up my guild interface. Just as I was about to resign I got a call request from Patriot. I pulled it up.

“Yes?” I asked.

“You have a call in the real world,” Patriot said.

“Or a court injunction, before I officially resign from the Fanged Fox Guild. I am going to resign and if there is actual important phone call, then I will see if differences can be resolved,” I said and hung up on the call. I selected the option to leave the guild and hit the confirmation button.

Entering the building I had prepared, I made my way to backroom to log out. As everyone else began to figure out exactly what they would be doing. Exiting my capsule, I got cleaned off, and made my way out of secure room to my underground office.

“April, a phone call. It is the President,” Henry told me and handed me a cell phone.

“This is April White,” I said.

“Please hold for the President of the United States,” the secretary said on the other end of the line. Now that was power, you made other people wait, you didn’t wait. My call went through in under thirty seconds.

“Hello Miss White,” the President greeted me. While the man might be smarter and more charismatic than the average politician, he was still a politician. I also couldn’t afford to offend him, which was why I decided to show respect for the office and the people who put him in power regardless of my personal feelings.

“Mister President. How can I help you?” I asked respectfully. While I didn’t like the man, I didn’t like any politicians, that was no reason to be rude and invite trouble I didn’t need or want. I had to keep telling myself this, so I didn’t say anything rude or dig myself into a hole.

“John has been reprimanded. I would personally ask you to not self-destruct everything and drag it into the courts. The US has a vested interest in your Guild.” I let out a sigh at that. Too many people had entered into Exponential. Now the US Government wanted to use the Fanged Fox Guild as a springboard to consolidate power inside the game.

“There are things that are intrinsically tied to me. The hostile takeover was done without truly understanding the scope of what I personally own and control. This was done when the Guild was set up, since it didn’t have the funding otherwise. It hasn’t been concealed, but it is also much more devastating than your people know. I was content to let sleeping dogs lie, but the assassination attempt, is a step too far,” I said.

“It was an accident, John told me he took full responsibility,” the President said.

“He said words, but taking responsibility means paying compensation. The standard rate would be consumables plus ten times that rate for my time investment. At 1,860 platinum spent on consumables, that is a total compensation cost of 20,460 platinum or approximately 122 billion US dollars at the current exchange rate. That is the cost of the mistake that John made by leaking information about my position and allowing an assassin to target me,” I stated.

“That is excessive,” the President replied. I wanted to put the pressure on him, since their side had screwed things up by making it personal. Inside or outside of the game, I didn’t take kindly to assassination attempts.

“I take assassination attempts seriously. I was willing to work with your people, that is why I stepped away from the Guild for a long time Mister President and endorsed your Exponential Tzar in his takeover,” I explained.

“Now you are going to burn everything down. That can be blocked by the courts and by executive action,” the President replied. It was a power measuring contest. Neither of us wanted mutually assured destruction, but we were probing for weaknesses in order to get the upper hand in this negotiation. I focused and tried to stay calm while holding my own against the most powerful nation on Earth and its highest executive.

“Your side started this. Not me. If you have a solution, I am more than happy to listen,” I replied.

“John will publicly take responsibility and resign,” the President said.

“And release me from my non-compete and non-disclosure agreements in Exponential. I will then meet with a team and negotiate the full handover in good faith,” I declared.

“I don’t like preconditions,” the President replied.

“I don’t like assassination attempts. I personally control a lot of the resources both the Guild and Corporation use and lease them out at a very small rate. I am not some foolish young girl to be taken advantage of. If you want to cut me out of what I have built, then let’s have a proper discussion rather than trying to screw each other over. The US clearly wants a stable guild. In exchange, I will reveal a major pitfall that is coming up in Exponential to show good faith,” I stated.

“What pitfall is that?” the President asked.

“A guild should not grow beyond 900,000 members without good reason at the moment. The Fanged Fox Guild just hit that number recently, but if it gets close to a million there will be issues,” I stated. I needed to show both the stick and the carrot. It was the only way to make these politicians behave. And I did want to negotiate in good faith. While the President was limited in many ways, he also had quite a bit of real world power and could leverage the US Government against me. If he truly wanted to go scorched earth, I could be painted as unpatriotic and lose a lot of my popularity as I was dragged into the political arena.

There was half a minute of silence as the other side was no doubt discussing my offer. “Very well, a team will be sent to your physical location and those prior contracts will be canceled,” the President said.

“I look forward to meeting with your team, thank you Mister President,” I said.

“I hope to hear good news Miss White,” the President said and then hung up.