15

Serp Pros, CEO and President of Bureogis corporation, sat calmly when he received the news from his counter-intelligence department. Apparently, Liam Raycevick, the head of engineering, has decided to sell all company stocks. Pros asked if there was anything else he needed to know, but was told that he was already given all current information. He told the company spies that their work was appreciated and that they were dismissed. As his office door closed, Serp bit into his pen – a habitual action of his when he was thinking. Serp didn’t know what to do. It was clear that his chief engineer was going to leave, perhaps to another competitor. However, he suddenly remembered that Bureogis had no competitors, which made Liam’s move even more baffling.

The only possibility left would be that Liam had stolen something from the company and that he was now running, knowing that he would be discovered. Serp thought about using assassination, how he could easily order to have Liam’s life taken. However, the issue was too personal, and plus, Liam was too talented of an engineer to lose. Moreover, Serp liked the engineer and thought that perhaps some people did deserve a second chance. It was for these reasons that when he messaged the BSF, he told Colonel Elizabeth not to harm Liam in any way, but simply to bring the man in.

Serp sighed as he thought about how he could teach the man a lesson. A little manhandling like he did with that journalist years ago wasn’t going to cut it, there needs to be something more. Perhaps a little branding or a few broken fingers would do. He sighed again and wondered why it is so difficult to get people to listen. If people only just simply listened to him and didn’t betray him, it would really only be better for all of them. Serp returned from his thoughts back to his screen. He was observing the finances in one of his company’s divisions in Australia, who were using prisoners effectively as slaves. It was a very nice business model, Serp reflected. Since there was no one to look inside the private jails, the guards really could do whatever they want, and mining precious metals for the compartments of the TAC IIs were indeed very productive. Add in the fact that the prisoners didn’t need to be paid, and had no one to protect them, the efficiency of the whole project was able to achieve historic levels.

Serp continued to look through the files and reports and were satisfied that everything was going well. Then, he brought his attention back to himself and was unpleased. Although he was the richest and most powerful man on the planet, he felt empty with his power. His whole life had been all too easy, inheriting everything from his father, like his father with his grandfather, and so on. He felt that people only showed respect for him out of his power, his wealth, or fear. Even his wife, whom he loved dearly, sometimes looked at him pensively, and Serp could only feel her judgment. Serp felt that his wife didn’t care for him at all sometimes, but was only manipulating him for the money. However, Serp had to acknowledge that she was very good at it, for he was never able to bring himself to a divorce. She always treated him just with a little bit of what felt like love, and Serp was never able to be sure in his heart the intentions of his wife, although his head was perfectly clear.

Serp opened a drawer on his desk and pulled out a bottle of A. H. Hirsch Reserve as well as a cup. He went through two cups before his desktop beeped three times, notifying him that he received a direct message from counter-intelligence. He cursed and turned on his screen, annoyed at what he might find. He opened the message and was surprised to discover it was a report from his chief engineer on security recommendations, sent not directly to the BSF but rather to counter-intelligence directly. He was curious for the reasons for doing so but then found out that at the end of the message, Liam suggested that members of the BSF officers may prove to be dangerous.

Serp thought about the message and decided that it was necessary to investigate further. The initial reason that he decided to follow The Curator’s advice, although it seemed irrational, was because Serp didn’t trust the officers. Officers were meant to lead, to make decisions. That didn’t fit well with what the BSF was intended to do, which was to operate like a machine for the interested of the company. All the members in the BSF were to functions like parts in a machine, doing their jobs unquestioningly, and nothing more. The problem with officers was that they, unlike the soldiers, questioned orders repeatedly. There was no direct evidence on such claims of course, next to the fact that the more morally questionable a mission was, it appeared that the more delays the colonel reported and the higher the possibility that the captains failed.

Serp was felt absolutely blissful when the engineering department told him that The Curator suggested that it could handle all the functions of the officers by itself. Initially, Serp tried to drive the officers away with lower wages but discovered that such wage changes were expected anyways due to the cut made in the military by The Curator. Thus, he decided to simply fire the officers, but to keep all the soldier in the BSF. However, The Curator did suggest a one week transition period which Serp was not pleased with, for he absolutely wanted the absolute control of the BSF as soon as possible. However, he followed The Curator’s orders because he didn’t want to disobey any of the TAC IIs publicly in front of his employees. It was important to keep the illusions that it was the AIs who were in charge.

Returning from his thoughts, Serp looked at counter-intelligence’s annotations on the document, as saw that there were 5 potential officers suspected. With some further searching into the company’s logs, Serp saw that George and Lucas were out on a mission, that Aiden had twisted his ankle and been fired. That left only Elizabeth who was the colonel in command of the BSF New York, and another officer named Benjamin Fish. Serp was almost sure that if there was such a plot, then the colonel would be the one leading it. However, he wanted to make sure and started making a call to arrange an interrogation team. It would seem that captain Fish was going to have a surprise visit at work.