Agent047
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919 - Briefing II
🕑 Added 2025-05-30 18:18:22 +0000 UTC“Are any of our people harmed?” Aron finally asked, breaking the silence in the room as he turned toward Nova.
{None so far. Per deployment policy, our personnel were not allowed to leave the wormhole stations during their shifts. As long as the shields remain active, they are fully protected.} Nova replied, projecting live CCTV feeds from inside the wormhole space stations. Imperial citizens could be seen calmly going about their duties, documenting everything occurring outside through functioning sensors, completely unbothered by the chaos beyond the walls.
“That’s good,” Aron said with a nod. Then, turning to John, he ordered, “Prepare twenty of our fleets for mobilization.”
He then shifted to Youssef. “Contact the affected civilizations and request an explanation for the delay. Remind them that the responsibility for wormhole security lies with them. If their fleets don’t arrive within half an hour, we’ll deploy our own, and they will be billed for the full cost of our intervention. Additionally, demand a detailed report on where their assigned defensive fleets were sent. If that’s not provided, we’ll suspend operations of those wormholes until we receive a satisfactory explanation.”
He paused briefly before continuing.
“Request that all civilizations with wormhole access immediately redeploy military forces in proximity to the gates until the investigation concludes. Inform those who were attacked that the Empire will participate in the investigation to ensure full transparency and ensure that those responsible are punished accordingly.”
Finally, he turned to the Head of the Imperial Transportation Agency. “Increase screening of all ships using the wormholes. Reduce transit speed to a quarter of the current pace to allow thorough scans. Isolate and search every ship carrying volatile materials or unusually large fuel reserves that could be used as explosive payloads.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” all three replied in unison.
“The meeting is adjourned for ten minutes while you deliver our requests and demands,” Aron said calmly.
Those who had been given orders nodded and left the room, leaving only Aron, Nova, and Nyx behind.
“Any related information found in their VR data?” Aron asked, turning toward Nyx.
{I reviewed their brainwave data the moment Nova forwarded their profiles to me,} Nyx replied. {Interestingly, the captains of all the ships that exploded hadn’t logged into VR in the past week to a month. Before that gap, both they and their associated crew behaved normally. There was nothing in their virtual behavior that suggested they were acting under an alias or trying to fake a persona.}
She paused briefly before continuing.
{Whatever happened to them likely occurred during the period they were offline, and from their extended absence from VR, which differed from a week to a whole month of not logging in, especially given their roles, is highly suspicious.}
This was a line of investigation Nyx had initiated the moment she was informed of the incident. The VR data alone often provided a psychological and behavioral profile that could uncover hidden motivations or false identities, especially when cross-referenced with neural activity.
Although the version of the VR devices sold to the Conclave had omitted the modules responsible for collecting and reading brain data, to prevent diplomatic issues if it was discovered, the Empire's internal systems retained limited access to certain neural waveforms. These were necessary for synchronizing with the VR towers and could still be used to detect lies, persona testing, or attempts to mask true intentions.
Thanks to this capability, the Empire could now confirm with high certainty that these individuals were not pirates.
“Pirates wouldn’t be stupid enough to use the VR,” Aron muttered, pausing for a moment before continuing. “So you're saying they were either radicalized during that period, brainwashed in a way that avoided alerting their crew, or something else happened, like their families being threatened to force their cooperation?” He narrowed his eyes. “But who has the kind of power and reach to coordinate attacks spanning more than twenty civilizations?”
{We don’t have enough information to identify the potential party behind this,} Nyx replied calmly as she brought up the digital profiles of the suspects' known contacts. {But we can rule out coercion through kidnapping. All of their connected social circles are still logging into VR regularly. Their behavior shows no notable deviation, nothing that would suggest they’re acting under duress or trying to avoid suspicion.}
She let that sink in before continuing. {That leaves us with the other two possibilities, radicalization or brainwashing. But there is one more potential explanation.}
Aron tilted his head. “And what’s that?”
{We have already encountered a case where someone completely unrelated could be made to act against their will, without their knowledge or consent, remember?} she said cryptically, choosing not to answer directly.
Aron’s face darkened instantly. “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.”
The memory struck him hard. The cult leader. If that kind of ability, or something like it, was in play, it would explain everything. Normal people, clean records, trusted by those around them… suddenly sacrificing themselves and their crew without hesitation.
{It’s just a hypothesis for now,} Nyx cautioned. {We don’t yet have a full catalog of the Conclave’s abilities, so we can’t say for certain if it’s the same ability or something different. But it should remain on the list of possibilities.}
Aron nodded grimly, his fingers rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“And what about the synchronized withdrawal of their elite fleets from near the wormholes? If we are to dismiss their excuses as weak. Wormholes are quickly becoming the backbone of their economies. Any disruption to traffic would slow their growth, which should’ve pushed them to increase security, not leave a ten-hour gap in coverage at maximum speed.”
{If we take your logic at face value, then there’s only one plausible alternative: they needed those fleets elsewhere. All of them. Around the same time. That kind of synchronized redeployment implies a joint operation.}
“A joint operation!” Aron repeated sharply, beating her to the punch. But even as the realization struck, another possibility surfaced in his mind, even darker.
“Is it to attack us? To deliberately allow pirates to strike? Or are they preparing to strike at Dreznor… or some other enemy they don’t want the Empire to know about?”
Comments
Sol_Invictus(Hail the Terran Empire)
Ugh, you have no idea how much I wish I could refresh the page and see chapter 3919 instead of 919.
Sol_Invictus(Hail the Terran Empire)
TYFTC!!
