The Machine God

Chapter 311

Alexander glanced at Maximilian. “Should I go first? I don’t have as much to order.”

Maximilian shook his head. “There’s a good chance you’ll offend the lady, and then I’ll get a worse deal.”

Annie snickered. “An Alexander surcharge.”

Alexander nodded. “That’s fair.”

Maximilian turned to Agatha and interlocked his fingers on the table. His posture shifted, the casual ease replaced with the bearing of a man who’d been trained for moments like this.

“The Compact requires four complete EOD command bunker installations. Each installation should include two large-scale reactors, and fourteen automated weapons platforms divided as follows: two railgun emplacements, two surface-to-air missile batteries, five plasma systems, and five conventional kinetic belt fed systems.”

He paused for a moment, then continued.

“The installations will be located at four sites. Western United States. Northern Europe. Central Africa. Eastern China. The precise coordinates will be provided when work is to begin.”

Agatha nodded. “Of course. Please continue.”

“In addition, we require two heavy cargo orbital shuttles, six Raptor-class escort jets, twenty-five Jericho tanks, and fifty rapid-response armored personnel hover carriers.” Maximilian took a breath. “Finally, ten thousand automatic rifles and five thousand sets of standard-size ballistic armor with full field kits. Sidearms. Medical packs. Encrypted communications units. The complete works.”

The room was quiet. One of the executives sitting beside Agatha was staring at Maximilian as though he’d grown a second head.

Agatha studied Maximilian for a long moment. “Mr. de Castillo, you indicated that you were looking to purchase approximately four billion credits’ worth of equipment.” She leaned forward. “What you’ve just described is a small nation state’s arsenal.”

Maximilian nodded. “You misunderstood. The four billion was the combined estimate for what the individual guilds require. We’ll get to those orders in a moment. The list I just provided is what the Compact, as an institution, requires as initial strategic infrastructure.”

Agatha blinked. “I’m not certain that we can legally facilitate this request—”

“You can,” Jasmine said. “And you will.” She reached inside her jacket and pulled a folded piece of paper out, then slid it across the table. “While you are of course free to decline any orders placed by our guilds, though I don’t see any reason you would want to alienate some of the most powerful and influential superhumans on Earth, not to mention at least three known Divine entities, that is not the case when it comes to the Compact itself.”

Agatha frowned, then took the piece of paper. She unfolded it carefully, as though expecting it to detonate in her face. Then she read it, her frown deepening at first, before her eyes suddenly widened.

She looked up and waved the piece of paper. “What is this?”

Jasmine leaned back. “It is a signed directive from the Galactic Councilor of Earth, Marcus Thorne, issued under the Emergency Crisis Powers Act, compelling all designated military contractors and suppliers to fulfill any procurement orders from the Special Asset known currently as ‘the Compact,’ granting it the same Authority to Purchase that AEGIS previously held, at standard military contract pricing.”

Alexander glanced at Jasmine, then turned to Maximilian. “Since when did we have that?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Since shortly after you left the meeting to pick out your combat suit. While you were playing with your toy, the rest of us were negotiating with Marcus and the Space Force around how much authority the Compact required on Earth and Mars in return for filling some of the void left behind by AEGIS.”

“It doesn’t cover purchases made by and for Grimnir’s personal use,” Jasmine added. “Because you and the other leaders of the Compact are classified as Special Assets, all the standard privileges apply. You can legally purchase most things, but that list doesn’t include military vehicles and weapon installations.”

“So no nukes, huh?” Annie asked.

Jasmine leaned forward slightly to look at Annie, down the other end of the table. “That is correct.” She paused. “No nuclear weapons.”

Annie clicked her tongue. “Lame.”

“Why didn’t you just present this at the security checkpoint, Ms. Sharpe?” Agatha demanded, again waving the paper. “It would have streamlined the entire process. Truthfully, this deal should be managed by the President of Goliath Industries directly, not me.”

Jasmine stared at the older woman for a moment. “Nobody enjoys being strongarmed, Mrs. Fairchild, and the Compact recognizes the importance of Goliath Industries, especially as we head into uncertain times with global stability and untold lives at stake. It is our desire to establish amicable trade arrangements, while also keeping the Compact’s future role quiet at this time.”

Agatha returned the paper to Jasmine. “So you led with Mr. Rooke, the most undesirable person on the planet to have near anyone’s computer?”

“Hey,” Alexander said. “That’s rude. It’s not like I’m looking up anyone’s search history.”

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“But you can. And like you said, nobody can stop you.”

Jasmine held up a hand, cutting off Alexander’s retort. “Goliath Industries will need to deal with Mr. Rooke on a regular basis. It is best that you get used to it now.” She paused. “We all know what the Machine God is capable of, and what he is willing to do to achieve his goals otherwise.”

Agatha’s eyes narrowed. “That sounds dangerously like a threat, Ms. Sharpe.”

Jasmine shook her head. “Not at all. I am merely pointing out that the Machine God is not known for his adherence to the law.” She glanced at Alexander. “That said, I have come to know Mr. Rooke quite well during my time as Grimnir’s lawyer. He is a man of his word, and he has given it. Now that everything is on the table, all that is left is for you to decide whether Goliath Industries will treat with the Compact-affiliated guilds or refuse service.”

Agatha made a face, looking like she’d just sucked on a lemon.

Alexander frowned, then turned to Jasmine. “Wait a second. Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

She raised an eyebrow. “And just what, Mr. Rooke, do you think I’m saying?”

“You’re treating me like I’m the stick, and all the money that the Compact is willing to spend is the carrot.”

Jasmine nodded thoughtfully. “That is an accurate representation of your position here, yes.”

Alexander huffed. Then he made eye contact with Agatha. “I just want you to know that I was an unwilling participant in this whole charade. I’m here with no ulterior motives whatsoever, other than to start building an unstoppable drone army using things I’ll buy from you.”

Agatha sighed. “Fine. We will do business with the Compact of course, as legally required, though the cost will be prohibitive given the timeframe.” She glanced at Maximilian. “That is, assuming you want everything delivered and completed within two months.”

“We would prefer one month,” Maximilian said.

Agatha shook her head. “Impossible. The equipment deliveries, fine, yes. But the End of Days bunker installations, even deploying twice as many construction bots and hiring external contractors to accelerate the process, will take at least two months. We cannot deliver on them any faster than that without taking potentially catastrophic risks.”

Maximilian dipped his head. “Very well. Two months. Ms. Sharpe is one of the Compact’s lawyers. She’ll work with your people to formalize the contract.”

Alexander glanced at Jasmine. He hadn’t realized she’d taken on the Compact as a client.

“Talia and Augustus approved the dual responsibilities while you were gone,” Jasmine said quietly.

“May I continue with the guild orders now?” Maximilian asked.

Agatha nodded wordlessly.

“Good. Now, the Throne of Scales requires the following…”

Alexander leaned back and listened while Maximilian laid out each order. Besides the list for the Royals, each order was fairly straightforward and similar. Most of it was personal kit. Armors and weapons, along with specialized combat and utility equipment.

But the Royals were placing last minute orders to expand the Mars habitats, both on the ground and in space, and to upgrade some of Astra Omnia’s dated power and propulsion systems. Ever since the precogs began seeing signs of space stations and starships falling to Earth, additional precautions were being taken. Compared to stations like Prime Orbital, Astra Omnia was not likely in any danger, as it was positioned intentionally distant from Earth. That was done largely for legal reasons, but also because the space station acted as a stepping point between Earth and Mars.

A navigational challenge Alexander was glad he didn’t have to deal with. Given the disparity between Earth’s and Mars’s orbits around the sun, it was impossible to keep Astra Omnia perfectly positioned between the two planets.

“And you, Mr. Rooke?” Agatha asked, cutting through his musing. “What is Grimnir in the market for today?”

Alexander sat back up. “Finally.” He rubbed his hands together. “For context, one of my drones has a hydrogen micro-fusion reactor roughly forty-five millimeters in diameter.”

Agatha’s eyes widened. “Impossible!”

Alexander ignored her outburst. “It’s contained in an unknown alloy shell with an active counteracting energy field generating exotic particles.” He shrugged. “Now, I know of nothing else on Earth that even comes close, in design specs alone, let alone the power output it’s capable of. But I also happen to know it came from a boutique firm out of Europe called Veritus Praxis…”

Agatha and a few of the suits flanking her glanced at each other.

“You know who they are.”

“We have dealt with Veritus Praxis on occasion,” Agatha said carefully. “They have been a valuable business partner for almost a decade now.”

“Can you get me in contact with them? Or place an order with them on my behalf?”

Agatha shook her head. “The only communication we’ve received from them since the Lost Prophet incident was a notice sent to us and their other clients stating that they are no longer accepting any orders. We cannot help you.”

“That’s unfortunate, but not unexpected,” Alexander said, nodding slowly. It sounded as if Veritus Praxis had suffered during the vampire outbreak. “In that case, I need as many reinforced compact fission mini-reactors as you can provide within the next month. Ideally, I’d take a thousand to start with.”

Droney’s fusion reactor would likely last centuries, if his best guesses combined with the minimal readouts he was able to get were any indicator. Goliath’s fission reactors, the ones specifically designed to survive combat, were quite a bit larger and might only last two years at most, though that was speculation about baseline operations.

It was more likely the fissile material would need to be replaced every ten to twelve months based on his calculations. Assuming the reactors themselves survived that long.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Agatha glanced at one of her aides, who nodded. “We may not be able to provide one thousand of them on such short notice, but we’ll see what we can do. What else?”

Alexander smiled. That was the biggest problem resolved. Now it was time to see just how much he could get away with.

“I need military-grade ablative coating,” he said. “But I don’t want to keep coming to you for it. I need to license the rights to produce it myself, non-commercially. Personal use only.”

Agatha frowned. “I’m not sure we can agree to that. The technology is proprietary and highly protected.”

Alexander shrugged. “I haven’t borrowed the recipe from you even though it’s probably right here on one of the servers in this building. If my word is good enough for that, it should be good enough for this. Just rent me one of the printers and enough feedstock to last me the next two years.”

One of the suits leaned in and whispered something in Agatha’s ear.

He decided to be polite, and didn’t enhance his hearing.

“Alright,” Agatha said. “We can agree to license the rights to you, solely for personal use. On the condition you do not tamper with the black box controller attached to the printer.”

“Agreed.” Alexander narrowed his eyes. “Provided you’re not stupid enough to try and slip a tracking or listening device into it.”

“Despite your history with Santiago Systems, Mr. Rooke, I can assure you that corporations like ours are not run by simpletons.”

Annie laughed. “Just egomaniacs, right?”

Agatha offered her a tight smile. “Sometimes, yes.” She turned back to Alexander. “Is that everything?”

Alexander grinned. “Not even close.”