Agent047
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889 - Negotiating a Deal
🕑 Added 2025-04-18 00:30:10 +0000 UTCBAM!
The interrogation room door burst open as a formation of guards marched in, splitting off with practiced precision. Each moved to a corner of the room, securing their positions, while two remained at the entrance, stepping aside and standing at attention to allow passage.
Dreznor didn’t flinch. His eyes stayed closed, his expression calm, as if the sudden intrusion meant nothing to him.
A man in richly adorned garments entered, his posture regal, each step deliberate. Authority radiated from his very presence. He took the seat across from Dreznor without a word.
A tense silence followed before Dreznor finally opened his eyes and said, “I greet Your Excellency,” in a tone of respectful acknowledgment. The man before him was the planetary leader—the most powerful individual on this world, whose distance from the central government gave him near-sovereign control.
“Let’s begin with introductions. Who are you?” the man asked.
“As your officers have already reported, my name is Dreznor. I’m here on business. That’s all that should matter,” he replied calmly.
“And what proof do we have that you’re not just a pirate trying to offload stolen goods? We need real answers.”
Dreznor smirked slightly. “And what if I am? If there’s no record of me in your databases, then by your laws, I’ve committed no crime here. Besides, shouldn’t the value of what I brought be enough to make my origins irrelevant?”
He wasn’t wrong. Long-distance data transfers between star systems were expensive, especially those involving personal records or criminal histories. Unless someone was a major threat, the cost to flag and pursue them wasn’t justified. Petty criminals with means could simply vanish into another system, free of consequence.
Identification systems weren’t much better. The conclave-wide DNA ID system stored only basic encoded data. Full profiles were kept locally on planets a person had visited, meaning gaps in information were common.
“Where did you get the mana canisters?” the leader asked, ignoring Dreznor’s bait and moving to the real question.
Dreznor noted the shift. If the canisters were stolen, it would’ve triggered alerts across nearby star systems. The absence of such alerts only reinforced his position.
“That’s a business secret,” he said flatly. “I’m not about to give up my supplier just so you can undercut me. I came to sell, not hand over my edge. And if that’s a problem, I’ll find someone else who understands the value of what I have.”
“What makes you think I’ll let you walk out of here?” the leader asked with a smirk, his tone laced with amusement. “I could just keep you locked up and take the mana canisters for myself.”
He didn’t bother to hide the fact that he was seriously considering it. It was, after all, a tempting deal.
But Dreznor didn’t answer. Instead, he lowered his head and began to chuckle. At first, it was soft, shoulders shaking slightly. But the laughter grew, louder and more uncontrolled, until he was clutching his stomach, gasping for air between fits of laughter.
“You really think,” he managed between wheezes, “that what I brought is all I have? That I came here without insurance?” He paused, catching his breath, before continuing. “You’d throw away a source that could provide a steady stream of mana canisters, for the handful I brought today? Are you really that foolish?”
The room fell silent. The leader didn’t respond immediately. He simply listened, his expression unreadable. But Dreznor had struck a nerve. The idea of a constant supply of mana canisters was too enticing to ignore, especially when the planet was running on reserves, with the next shipment from the capital still years away.
“So you’re claiming you can supply mana canisters regularly, if we were to enter a business arrangement?” the leader asked, maintaining a composed exterior, though a flicker of excitement betrayed him.
“If we’re not interfered with, receive a fair price, and our terms are respected, then yes,” Dreznor replied, fully composed again, the laughter gone, replaced by calm assurance.
The leader leaned back in his chair, weighing the situation. Maybe Dreznor was bluffing. Maybe this was just a ploy to avoid captivity. But even if that were the case, they’d still walk away with the canisters in hand, and that alone was worth the risk.
“Alright,” the leader said at last, adjusting his posture to project authority, “let’s hear your terms and your price.”
“Nothing outrageous,” Dreznor began, glancing sideways. “First, I want to beat that guy.” He pointed toward the interrogator who had punched him earlier, the same man who had threatened him with a knife before being silently removed it a few minutes before the leader arrived. The interrogator now stood stiffly in the corner, eyes fixed forward.
“Second,” Dreznor continued, “I want the authority to purchase any slave I want on this planet, regardless of their current owner. And finally, I want the right to buy anything produced here at the base production cost.”
He said it casually, as if he were asking for nothing more than a drink of water.
The interrogator’s face turned pale the moment he heard Dreznor include beating him as part of the deal. Of all the demands, that was the one he never saw coming. His stomach sank, knowing that if the leader agreed, there’d be no way out. He silently prayed for the deal to fall through or for the talks to be delayed, just long enough to somehow convince Dreznor to drop that condition.
A moment of silence stretched across the room before the leader finally spoke.
“The beating,” he said thoughtfully, “is possible, but I can’t just hand a man over for punishment without giving him a chance to defend himself. So I’ll accept that condition on one term: he must agree to it, and he has the right to fight back.”
He gestured toward the interrogator as he spoke. The pale-faced man, upon hearing those words, suddenly lit up with. He believed himself more than capable of handling Dreznor in a fight, maybe even enjoying the opportunity to return the earlier insult with interest.
“As for the matter of the slaves,” the leader continued, “I can accommodate that under my authority. However, purchases of slaves not already on the market will come with a premium to compensate their current owners.”
He shifted in his seat again before addressing the final point. “Regarding goods produced on this planet, you may buy government-produced items at base production cost. For privately owned goods, I can authorize a discount, but it will be capped once it amounts to ten percent of our total trade value.”
Dreznor took a moment to consider the offer. It wasn’t exactly what he’d asked for, but it was close, surprisingly close. Pushing for more right now, while he still lacked leverage, might backfire. The leader could just as easily walk away or have him tortured for information.
“That’s acceptable,” Dreznor finally said, giving a slight nod. It was a solid deal. Close enough to what he’d wanted, and far better than what most would’ve expected in his position.
“Then we have an agreement,” Dreznor said, raising his chained hands toward the leader for a handshake.
The leader glanced at the restraints, then at Dreznor, but didn’t extend his hand. “We’ll shake on it once the agreement is written and secured,” he replied coolly, turning away.
Without another word, he stood and walked out of the room, unwilling to dirty himself by touching Dreznor’s unwashed hands.
Comments
GripenSupremacy
TYFTC!!
Sol_Invictus(Hail the Terran Empire)
But i do miss Aron a little. I hope he doesn’t vanish for a hundred chapters.
Sol_Invictus(Hail the Terran Empire)
Thank you!
