Agent047
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700 - Preparations for the Handover
🕑 Added 2024-08-16 04:24:56 +0000 UTCA week later.
Following a full week of recovery efforts, the rebuilding process for the destruction caused by the fights and the planetquake triggered by Aron was well underway.
During that period, nearly all details of the meeting, except for a few classified points, were made public. Along with this, the announcement of a handover agreement was revealed, alongside the news that strict limitations would be imposed on the elders to prevent them from interfering in the lives of the Proximians, ensuring such an incident would not repeat itself.
The news was met with overwhelmingly positive reactions from both the empire's citizens and the Proximians. After enduring the recent chaos, many Proximians had been anxious that another elder might go rogue, plunging them into a similar situation once again.
While joining the empire was already seen as a favorable step for them, the announcement that the emperor had made it impossible for the elders to interfere in their lives — combined with the swift punishment of the two who had caused the turmoil — elevated their respect for him even further.
The emperor’s decisive actions reassured them, solidifying his already high standing among the Proximians.
However, the official handover of the Proximian government to the empire would take place three weeks later. This delay was necessary for the paperwork to be processed and all relevant data to be analyzed and proofread before being officially handed over to the imperial authorities.
Despite the formalities, there would be little change in the actual governance structure or officials in power, as all had already been selected according to imperial leadership guidelines.
This ensured that the current government was composed of the best-qualified individuals, fully aligned with imperial standards.
With that positive news, the Proximians began returning to their day-to-day lives, reassured that little would change even after the handover. The only noticeable shift would be the removal of the live stream facing the planet, which was set to be taken down after the handover, marking not only the official transition but also the end of the exploration mission.
The star system would formally shift from an exploration zone to imperial territory. From that point forward, the Proximians themselves would take over the research and exploration of their own star system, as part of their new responsibilities under imperial rule.
During that three-week period, the Emperor and his entourage would be—
"Enjoying the vacation while doing some light work," Aron said with a grin, looking at his friends, who shot back envious glances, knowing they wouldn't get to enjoy the downtime as much as they wanted.
“Are you sure you brought us here for a vacation?” Sarah asked, recalling the list of tasks Aron had assigned them for this waiting period. It hardly resembled a vacation at all.
“Why can't you do both?” Aron replied with a smirk, trying to hide his amusement. “All you have to do is send out announcements, and people will line up with their resumes. From there, you can easily choose those who fit your needs and start the companies' creation process.”
Felix, curious, asked, “What would you have done if we hadn't come here?”
Aron shrugged nonchalantly. “There’s the VR network. It wouldn't have been a problem at all since you could handle it from Earth.”
“How about you make it easier for us and provide some information about the people?” Sarah asked, trying to negotiate for less work.
“Nope, I can’t do that,” Aron replied with a grin. “Do you want me to break the rules and invade citizens' privacy before the handover is even complete? I promised their elders that I’d treat them like imperial citizens from the moment we finalized the deal. I can’t make exceptions now, especially not before they’re officially part of the empire.”
“Anyway, let’s get going,” Felix said, grabbing Sarah’s arm and leading her out of the room. “We’ve got companies to register and workers to recruit.” Despite the hectic days ahead, they didn’t mind. It was a welcome change of pace that reminded them of their beginnings.
“Are you planning to have those discussions during this period?” Aron asked his wife.
“Yes,” Rina replied. “After reviewing your recent battle, I had some significant realizations. I want to explore those insights further with them.” She remembered her astonishment at how Aron managed the overwhelming barrage of attacks so effectively, and it fueled her desire to develop similar capabilities in her own approach.
“If I can make a suggestion, you should start with Crabapple,” Aron said. “He’s the most curious among them and can explain things in the level of detail you need. Plus, he seems to be quite absorbed in VR.” He shared this insight based on his monitoring of their activities over the past week.
“I’ll keep that in mind. But what about you?” Rina asked, taking his recommendation to heart while inquiring about his own plans during this period.
“I have some places to visit and information to review, but I’ll be available if you need me,” Aron replied. His plan during this time was far from the leisurely vacation he had described to his friends. He, too, had a mountain of tasks to tackle over these three weeks, though he had playfully framed it as a vacation.
Their discussion continued briefly before Rina decided to proceed with her conversation with Crabapple, leaving Aron to focus on his own tasks.
Once alone in the room, Aron asked, “Did you finish analyzing the brain data of the tree folks?”
{The analysis is complete, and I think you should join me to take a look at it. I discovered something extremely interesting about them,} Nova responded, teasing an intriguing revelation without disclosing any details.
Upon hearing Nova’s response, Aron immediately lay back on his bed and logged into the VR, eager to delve into the information. He didn’t want to waste any more time, given the extensive period it took for Nova to complete the analysis of all the data collected about the tree folks.
“Let’s take a look at it,” he said, his tone laced with excitement for what he was about to see.
