The Protagonist System

Denise was the first to notice the change in the behavior of the people around us, since I was intentionally keeping my telepathy closed off from everyone around us and I was facing away from the entry to the lounge area.

“Come on, girls. We need to give Veder some privacy for a while.” Denise whispered.

I turned around to ask her why and saw Hanako Arasaka herself standing near the doorway with someone that looked slightly younger and quite similar to Yuri.

Denise didn't have to say anything else as her friends saw the top executive and made the same assumption. They left my side and didn't have to urge anyone else to leave, because most of them wanted to avoid gaining the attention of someone so powerful.

I slowly stood up and waited for everyone to leave before I bowed and motioned for the two company executives to sit on the couch where the girls had been. They came into the room and the door was closed behind them, which they ignored, and they walked over to the offered seat and sat down next to each other.

I resumed my own seat as I kept my telepathy constrained, just because I didn't want to automatically know why they were there to see me or to bias myself with knowledge that I wasn't supposed to have. If it was something they wanted to use against me, I would lift that self-imposed restriction. It all depended on what Hanako said first.

“Veder, I want to introduce you to my niece, Michiko Arasaka.” Hanako said.

I felt slight surprise, because I did not think we had that kind of a relationship, namely none. It had been her dictating things to me and there wasn't any real familiarity between us... until I thought about Yuri and her situation and how that last interaction had happened.

Ah, she's approaching me as a friend in the hopes to soften me up for something. I thought, catching on to her scheme right away. It was a good move, so I had to applaud her approach. Michiko looks completely okay with it, too. In fact, she seems pleased with it, which meant I had to test it.

“Isn't Mrs. Arasaka married?” I asked, just to see their reactions.

“I am.” Michiko answered for herself. “However, depending on the role I am playing, whether it is for the progressive faction within the company or as a family member, I will use my married name or my family name.”

That answer told me a lot about her and her motivations. I had to give her credit for being completely honest, too. She didn't balk at it or tried to mislead me.

“Then, I am more than pleased to meet another member of the Arasaka Family.” I said and bowed my head with respect.

Michiko looked even more pleased by my response, so I had to let my telepathy out to check a few things. The reason she was so pleased was because she was introduced to me without giving away that it was her that had set Susan Abernathy up as my sponsor to join the Counter-Intelligence Department and to insert me into the adversarial role to stir that whole mess up.

Apparently, they wanted her as the Special Operations Director above Arthur Jensen, while also leaving him in his recently earned job as the Director of the Counter-Intelligence Department. It was underhanded for them to use me as a tool and shove me into the middle of that; but, it was also pretty tame in comparison to some of the other games corpos usually engaged in to gain better positions inside a corporation.

“Thank you.” Michiko said, graciously. “I have heard a lot about your skills and would like to see some of it for myself.”

“Your aunt didn't share what she has access to?” I asked, a little confused.

“She did.” Michiko said and slowly reached inside her suit coat and pulled out the updated Arasaka standard pistol. “This modification was quite the interesting change to the standard pistol, making it a much more versatile and deadly weapon without a visible change in its appearance. That kind of ingenuity piqued my interest and I wanted to meet you.”

Again, she didn't lie; but, she was also presenting a false front. She was taking the current situation as an opportunity to do so without making her look suspicious. A top exec talking to a recent hire was unheard of and usually brought the wrong kind of attention to whomever they met with. That was usually why they arranged for them to meet at another location other than their offices, and hopefully out of sight.

They didn't do that this time and I was sure I knew why. With the current state of the building and the chaos Saburo Arasaka had caused before his death, they had come to me in full view of a room full of secretaries, some of the worst gossips in any business, to make sure everyone knew they had come there to meet with me.

My Danger Sense hadn't gone off, so I didn't react to a weapon that could fire armor-piercing rounds being drawn in front of me. Both Hanako and Michiko looked slightly surprised that I didn't even look at it and Michiko put the gun away without comment and glanced at her aunt.

Surprisingly, Hanako had given her niece a small glare before she schooled her face and Michiko blushed slightly. Drawing a gun in my presence was not the kind of atmosphere she had wanted to create around me, since the implied threat was always there after a reveal like that.

I did not draw my own modified weapon to counter it for that exact reason.

“As you must have guessed, we have come to visit you for another reason.” Hanako said as she tried to recover from the social faux-pas her niece had performed.

“It wouldn't have anything to do with the building's current inability to function, would it?” I asked, a little cheekily, to try and relax the both of them. Fortunately, it worked. Both women let their straight spines bend slightly as they took a more relaxed sitting position.

“It does.” Hanako said and went into a lengthy explanation of what her father had done to ensure that no outside influences could affect him as he checked on his personal projects, one of which was missing completely and had set the man off on a violent tantrum before he had a heart attack. She didn't mention what the project was, even if we both knew what it was.

Michiko on the other hand, sucked in a sharp breath and turned her head to stare at her aunt. The emotions playing across her face gave away everything she was thinking, including her utter shock to hear her grandfather's main project was gone, because no other project could get the old man to react violently.

“What do you want me to do about it?” I asked, just to see if she would say it.

Hanako took in a small breath and let it out, to give herself a moment. “Please contact Atlas on my behalf and request his assistance. With the both of you working towards fixing things, the Arasaka Corporation can get back on their feet long before the week long estimate the maintenance crews have given me.”

I thought about agreeing immediately, since it was a great opportunity. However, Atlas was back up in space and was busy entertaining the Interpol Space Police as he continued to build the DS9 space station. That meant I would have to do a bit of damage control to not insult the Arasaka women by denying their polite request.

“I believe I have a much better idea than contacting Atlas directly. As the CEO of Atlas Incorporated, he's currently heavily involved in a building project that requires all of his attention and he wouldn't be able to give you the 100% effort you would need from him.” I told them.

Both women looked surprised at my answer.

“However, I do have access to the same resources and can arrange for a parts delivery that should get the main servers up and working in no time.” I pledged. “After that, I should be able to recover the proper programs for everything to reinstall them and the building can be put back to the way it was supposed to be, and perhaps even a little better.”

“I doubt that.” Hanako said, sadly.

Michiko put a hand on her aunt's arm and Hanako gave her a grateful look.

“I think you will be pleasantly surprised by what can be done with the right equipment and some prep work.” I said suggestively and Hanako blushed and Michiko gave me a pointed look, since she was married. “That wasn't me making a pass at either of you, it was a distraction. I'm in a committed relationship and my inputs would be offended if I made any kind of offer to anyone else without talking to them first.”

Michiko nodded and Hanako didn't lose the blush, since her thoughts were imagining me with two women in bed at the same time.

“You may take them with you, since there is no work for them to do today.” Hanako said. “In fact, please inform the rest of the secretarial pool that they have the rest of the day off and won't be docked their usual pay.”

I smiled warmly at hearing that. “Thank you, Lady Arasaka. I'm sure they will all appreciate that.” I said and stood. “If you will both excuse me, I need to head outside to make a call and arrange a few things.”

“The front doors have been breached by another company when they came here to offer their own help, which we refused after such excessive force was used.” Michiko informed me. “You can take the stairs and can leave that way.”

“Thank you for telling me. I shouldn't be long and will return with what you need to bring the building back to functionality.” I said and bowed, then walked towards the door out of the lounge.

“How were you going to leave if you didn't know the front doors were open?” Michiko asked and her aunt tried to hush her. “It's a valid question.”

“I came all the way up here from the Academy on the ground floor on my own, through several securely barred doors, and freed Denise and her friends.” I answered and reached the door to open it. “Going through one more secured door wasn't going to make much difference.”

Michiko blinked her eyes at me. “You... you could have left the building whenever you wanted?”

That comment made me smile. “I always could, even before I started working here.”

The surprised looks on their faces kept the smile on my face as I went to Denise and her friends to tell them the good news. They had the rest of their shift off and would be paid for it. They let out a soft cheer, which was soon joined by the rest of the secretarial pool and it became quite loud.

I waved them forward towards the open stairwell and everyone ran to their offices to gather their things to leave, then we all piled into the stairwell and went down them in a mass of women that chatted with happy voices.

Most of them let out sighs of relief when we reached the lobby and they said their goodbyes to each other before passing the guards securing the blown open front doors. We all split up when we were outside and they all scattered, except for Denise, her friends, and myself.

“You have a choice. You can come with me to Atlas Incorporated to hang out, or you can head back home to get ready to go partying tonight.”

“PARTYING!” Denise's third friend yelled and the others laughed.

“Will you be joining us?” Denise asked.

“I'll be done in an hour and a half.” I promised and she gave me a kiss. “I have a ringer to bring in to handle the mess after I finish replacing the servers and getting them working again.”

“Have fun!” The third friend said and they walked off towards the transit stop not far away.

“I will.” I said and walked in the other direction. Especially when I reveal Yuri isn't as destroyed as Hanako thought she was.

*

“Our shift is coming to an end, Atlas. We need to leave to arrive back in time.” The commander said over the comm signal to Atlas as the man finished adding the top circular panel with the massive broadcasting antenna on top of the central section of the space station.

Atlas had completed the entire center section, according to the plans, and all he needed to do was add the joining corridors and supports and he could start on the inner ring, which could easily be done in sections and would be built even quicker than the first part had been.

“I'll be right in to send you off properly. Atlas out.” Atlas said and clicked off.

“Vill he be more vormal or did he mean something else?” The female lieutenant asked.

The commander glanced down at her pristine uniform and looked back at her face.

“Yes, sir. Probably both.” She answered herself.

“We should head back to the barracks to change.” The corporal said and gathered up the garbage his munching had produced. He would save a few of the packages as a physical record of the deliciousness he had indulged in while on one of the easiest and mind-blowing missions he had ever been on.

“We should.” The commander said and didn't get up to move. Like his compatriots, he felt quite comfortable in his new uniform and was reluctant to give it up to put on a stiff bulky spacesuit.

The lieutenant looked from her commander to the corporal and she also didn't want to give up how she looked and felt. It was one of the first times she had actually felt comfortable while professionally dressed up and she had to ask Atlas if she was allowed to keep the uniform and bring it back with her.

The door to the control room opened and Atlas stepped inside. “You're still here, good.” He said and waved for them to follow him. The three of them stood and followed him back out of the room and down the hallway, then they took a corner and kept going.

The Interpol agents glanced around at the corridor that hadn't been there when they entered the control room. In fact, they were going in the opposite direction than where the barracks were and where their space suits were stored.

They approached a large circular door that looked both heavy and secure and Atlas hit a button beside it. It rolled out of the way as if it weighed nothing and he stepped through. All three Interpol agents paused to stare at the mechanism to inspect it, then they followed Atlas inside.

It was a nice roomy area that seemed a little small to have a farewell party like they expected. Atlas turned and saw the disappointment on their faces and let out a little laugh. He hit the button on the far wall and the hatch opened to reveal a cockpit that looked familiar and different at the same time.

“The route back to your station is already in the navigation computer, so all you have to do is follow it or let the computer follow it for you.” Atlas said and waved them inside. “Go ahead and have a seat to familiarize yourselves with the shuttlecraft and its functions.”

The three agents just stood there and stared at him, since none of them knew what to say or what to do about what he was implying.

Instead of being insulted, Atlas laughed and opened a side compartment to show off their old space suits and then opened the next compartment to show off three sleek new ones like the one he had worn.

“Thank you for visiting. Your other transport vehicle is tethered to the roof.” Atlas said as he patted each of them on the shoulder, then he walked by them and hit the button on the side of the entrance door and stepped through. The smaller door of the shuttlecraft closed as the large circular one on the station behind it also closed, which left them alone on the new ship and Atlas back on the station.

The comm station lit up briefly and Atlas gave them one last message. “Have a safe trip. Atlas out.”

“M-m-marry me.” The lieutenant whispered as she caressed the sleek space suit with her name on it. That she hadn't told him her name had not occurred to her.

“Our reports really are going to be long ones.” The corporal said, only it wasn't a joke this time. He really meant it and he was sure they wouldn't get to keep the new craft for themselves.

Their commander had a similar thought that it would probably be sold off to a tech company for an obscene amount of eurodollars to let them tear it apart and hopefully reverse engineer the various systems it had to contain.

“Let's get to work.” The commander ordered.

The corporal sat in the pilot seat, the commander sat beside him, and the lieutenant sat in the third seat at the navigation and information console behind them. The three of them started checking systems and watched their screens as the checks went by almost instantly and everything came up green.

“All systems are go, commander.” The corporal and lieutenant stated.

“Take us out, corporal. Let's see what this little baby can do for the short time we'll have access to it.” The commander ordered.

“Yes, sir. Unlocking umbilicals. Clearing moorings. Engaging engines.” The corporal said and the shuttlecraft pulled away from the station like a bullet from a gun, because he had been used to using a large shot of fuel to start moving the mass of their old craft.

To the surprise of all three occupants, none of them felt the sudden acceleration at all.

The corporal eased back on the throttle to slow them back down and glanced at the commander, whom glanced back with a particular look on his face. The corporal glanced over at the lieutenant, whom also glanced back with a similar look as the commander.

“So, we're editing our reports to leave a certain vehicle out of them?” The corporal asked.

“Ve park on the side of the station and transver to our old transport and vly that to the docking ring.” The lieutenant suggested. “No one must know ve have been given this.”

“It's on temporary loan and still property of Atlas Incorporated.” The commander stated to cover their asses if they were discovered. “We'll introduce it as a support vehicle after we establish a timeline for its acquisition.”

“Agreed.” The corporal and lieutenant said at the same time.

They parked using the magnetic lock on the side of their space station, dressed in their new space suits, and transferred to their old transport ship. The only one that noticed how new the thing looked was the corporal and he silently sent a thank you to Atlas for doing his job for him.

They flew their old transport to the docking ring and secured it, shut everything down, and disembarked. The corporal waiting for them looked shocked at seeing their new suits and the three of them knew their decision to hide the new shuttlecraft was the right one.

They arrived in the main area just in time to have every monitor and vidscreen on the station change as it showed the head of the Interpol Police as he made the announcement of the new station being built in high orbit and that they already had people there to inspect it. This was met with applause and many questions, so the man spent the next few minutes answering them.

“I'm glad that's not us.” The corporal said out loud instead of keeping his thoughts to himself.

The other corporal gave him a wicked grin and led them through the main area of the station and down a hallway, then right into the conference room where the head of Interpol Police was conducting the broadcast live. The lieutenant cursed under her breath at the man not keeping his stupid mouth shut.

The three of them were ushered up onto the stage and were met with gasps and shouts of surprise at their new style of spacesuits. The questions doubled and the three of them knew they would be stuck there for a very long time.