Free Web NovelChapter 47: New Venture
A few moments later, John left the private room after serving the Major and the CEO. Up to that point, the conversations had been trivial and therefore allowed his presence there. But from now on, the central topic would be addressed. Naturally eliminating his presence from the place. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
And so, John walked calmly through the hallway while watching Ryan’s performance from a distance. And well... he was surprised. Ryan had clearly done a number on both of them. Brayan, from afar, was visibly exchanging glances with Ryan that seemed to converse with each other without any difficulty. Almost like telepathy.
While the girl, Elisa, seemed to be having a great time with him. A kind of fun... not quite the kind between friends, but they were getting along well with each other and that was good enough. John thought it was a success in some way. Aron probably wouldn’t complain about that outcome.
Either way, John decided it was a success as far as Ryan’s main mission went.
Now regarding the espionage...
Suddenly the private room door swung open and a loud shout drew everyone’s attention. "I don’t even know why the hell I came here! Every time it’s the same nonsense! You military types think that just because you protect the people, you have the right to boss us around! You dump impossible requests on our heads and expect us to comply with a smile on our faces! Like good little children! But let it be known, no! I won’t do it!"
The CEO marched out of the room furious, the veins in his face standing out visibly. The ordinary man put his scorching rage on full display.
"My request wasn’t anything unreasonable." The Major said from behind. "And it is in the nation’s interest that-"
"Quiet! Quiet, damn it!" The CEO shouted. "You’re asking for goodwill in the business world!" He laughed, finding it absurd. "You want a service? Money, talk to me about money! You can print plenty of that, enough not to depend on goodwill, and yet you still have the nerve to ask me for a favor?! On top of everything, go f-"
"You’re very worked up." The Major said, cutting through his voice with deadly coldness, before it was too late to regret what had been said. "Rest, think it over, later when you have a cooler head. I’m certain you’ll reach a different conclusion. I know challenges exist, as they always have before, but the profit that will come afterward is far too much to simply call goodwill. This is an opportunity in disguise! We are offering real, hard money, just in the future. As a consequence of your actions. Along with many honors and distinctions. You would be the father of a technology-"
"Hahaha honors and distinctions, my ass." The CEO said before concluding: "If you want a service, do like everyone else and pay for it." The CEO stared the Major down with burning intensity. Were it not for the positions of the two men, Ryan was certain punches would have been thrown.
"You’ll profit in the end too." The Major said, returning the intense gaze. "More than you ever dreamed. And you know it. I offer you the opportunity of the century and you still laugh in my face? I think you’ve lost your mind, but you’ll find it again soon enough, otherwise you’ll bitterly regret it."
Silence stretched between them, as everyone around watched tensely.
"I think we’re done here." The CEO said, turning away. "Lisa, my dear, come! Before we catch the same disease that eats the brain of these idiots." Elisa nodded, quickly gathering herself and running to her father’s side.
"See you later, Ryan, I hope to meet you again. In a better situation, I hope." She murmured to Ryan before running off to her father’s side.
Ryan watched them leave and soon step into the car through the window front. He felt cold and empty. And that brought the necessary sobriety to reflect. ’It seems it was a big request on the military’s part. And it seems the negotiations failed.’
The Major beside him soon snorted like a bull.
"He wouldn’t even exist without our support. He’s only someone today thanks to us! And this is how he treats us!" The Major said. "His company was founded with government aid, it still prospers to this day only through government assistance, because of the defense of national interests. Otherwise, foreign companies would have taken his place long ago. Even so, he dares raise his head and spout all that crap right in the face of the very Father that raised him, the government. Oh! If I could get my hands on him, what wouldn’t I do? Good heavens! I’d start plucking him like a chicken!"
The Major then turned to John and said briefly. "It was good to see you again, but I must go and report this disaster as well. I may even recommend to my superiors that they find a replacement." He said with undisguised hatred in his voice. "Running his company into the ground isn’t difficult, building a new one in its place even less so. It only takes the right order from the right person. Who knows, perhaps my report alone won’t be enough?"
Without thinking or saying anything more, he signaled to Brayan who quickly followed, and they left the Manhattan Café. In silence, without another word. The hot and violent atmosphere suddenly reverting to a cold one, though no longer pleasant. Rather, sober and reflective.
"I thought the military and the Big Tech companies were more united." Ryan said, to which John shrugged.
"I thought so too." John said mysteriously. "The fact is, the government has infinite money and making deals with the military is making deals with the government. Any research they fund is a gold mine."
"But they didn’t talk about money..." Ryan recalled. "The military wanted a favor."
"If we follow that reasoning." John said with a grim expression. "That means not even a government with infinite money has enough for this research." He then added. "Or at least, the government isn’t certain of the project’s success and is therefore being cautious about investing." freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Ryan sighed, sitting down in Elisa’s seat and quickly taking a forkful of the cake she had been eating. "Aron was right, I have no idea what was said in that room. But it was like a movie, they came out arguing about the matter, giving us a few valuable fragments of information."
"I’ll inform him." John said. "As for you, you can rest. You did good work today." Ryan nodded but then added.
"Even so, in practice, I’ll never run into them again." Ryan said. "I didn’t get their numbers and I don’t know where I might find them again. Despite the friendly relationship." John shrugged.
"Aron has probably already thought about that. For now, rest. New orders will come sooner or later, as needed." Ryan nodded and this time did just that.
***
"So that’s how things went down?" Aron asked over the phone, to which John simply remained silent, tacitly agreeing. "Intriguing, it will help piece together some information that had been scattered and without any clear connection."
"What do we know so far?" John asked.
"We know that the government is about to embark on a new venture. One of the big ones. The kind where we don’t even know when it truly began. We have only hints of a long-term, continuous, and growing interest. One that is about to explode. And that is precisely why it reached us. There was no longer any way to keep it all secret. Not at this stage of things." Aron said seriously. "I would say it’s probably on the same level as that classified military project."
John abruptly coughed, his face going pale. "It’s something that big?!" He immediately reached for a chair to sit down, the strength draining from his entire body. "That project, to this day the public knows nothing about it. Human rights organizations would tear our government apart if they knew about it. Not even nuclear bombs were so controversial and dangerous."
"But this one is bigger. Much bigger." Aron said. "That one was an entirely military project. Which is why it was easy to keep hidden, since it never left military grounds. This one here seems to have an economic angle as well. In some way I still don’t fully understand. The military wants a weapon capable of generating money on its own. Sounds strange, doesn’t it?"
"It does..." John swallowed hard.
"But anyway..." Aron changed the subject. "Ryan was exceptional as expected." He said, tossing the folders onto the table. "We’ll proceed then to the next stage." Aron opened the folder and revealed some documents.
"Elisa Montevideu and Brayan Bariloche. These two have a great deal of potential. A girl from the business world and one from the military world. If Ryan can integrate himself into both circles, the Savant Mafia will have a strong foothold in both worlds. We could even think about becoming an official organization."
"Still on that idea?" John said with evident judgment.
"We can step out of the shadows, John, with the right planning. Making our operations legitimate is something we’ve always dreamed of, and perhaps with this new generation we can finally pull it off!" John snorted, but then added.
"Ryan would be even more important. Aren’t we just repeating history?" He asked in a grave tone. "Won’t he also vanish mysteriously one day, like his father did?"
"I’m not going to talk about that again." Aron adjusted his glasses in the dark. "I’ve already said we have nothing to do with that and we are still investigating and that’s that."
Aron then coughed. "Either way. I have a new mission for Ryan, and this one is going to be one hell of a challenge." John on the other end of the line listened with interest.
"The Savant Mafia is going to invest heavily in him and enroll him at Gran-Mozart University." Aron said, nearly giving John a heart attack.
"You’re going that far?!" John shouted, beside himself. "But how? Ryan hasn’t even finished high school or met the minimum age requirement! He’s a teenager, for the love of everything sacred! And you want to throw him into the university world this soon?! And I won’t even get started on the tuition fees! Those aren’t something we can just pay!"
"I will. But I have a plan, one you are not going to like." Aron said, taking a deep breath. "Ryan will enter through special admission under a professor’s recommendation. He just needs to pass the test as an absolute prodigy."
"You... you’re not going to do this... it’s a joke... it’s a bad joke, but it’s a joke. Isn’t it?!" John shouted.
"No. Tell Ryan to study hard. I’ll inform you of the exam date shortly." Before John could scream in his ear.
Aron hung up.
"I need a whisky." He said with a heavy sigh.
