Selective Memory

[Hira Mitsae]

9:42PM Corporate Office
Annaj, Shipyards

It was a couple of days after the corporate takeover of Iron Crown Enterprises, a surprisingly profitable venture the more they dug up about the operations the former state-run company had been running. More and more Irani was starting to think it would be best to have someone else run the company though, at least in the direct-sphere of things, he didn’t have the time or energy to commit towards running another company.

Especially a big one such as ICE, which brought him down to a single person on the list.

Moriarty had been too old, he would have died of a stroke taking a single look at the revenue generated and spend in a single night. Clark too young, the baby would have probably put them in the red numbers after a fortnight.

Left him Truddle and Desparango.

Des was ruled out immediately, the name was vastly too difficult to spell and Irani didn’t have enough time to learn it by heart.

Truddle it was.

‘Bianca, find one Elias Truddle- Truden, yes. [member="Elias Truden"] I want him. What for? Miss, I pay you to execute my wants, not questions them.’

Elias would be requested at the Annaj Shipyards immediately, wherever he was. Transports would be sent, escorts flown over, all would be done to get the guy here as quick as possible.

 

[Asher]

I awoke with great struggle that morning. It had been six years yet the nightmares still plagued me like it had on that unfaithful day. Whispers and echoes of a person, no, of people who were no longer with us. Kana and the unlucky few I knew who had not returned from the Netherworld, at least not in the same state as they had entered it.

I still couldn’t wrap my mind around how that had worked but in the end I had still decided not to question it purely out of superstitious nonsense. I wasn’t a man of such silly notions, but with the ever increasing exposure to people who rocked ‘the force flag’ I simply couldn’t just sit still and twiddle my thumbs as the unnatural slowly started to become natural.

I rubbed my eyes in an effort to wake up as the world turned into a blurry image. My communications device chimed up. It had remained quiet for a long while ever since times had turned rough for my company again. The small boost on Eriadu had certainly helped spread the word but in the end it still wasn’t enough.

Groggily grasping at the tiny machine I raise it towards my face and squint to get a better look.

“Darell Irani?” The question lingered for a few seconds before it hit me. Eriadu. “Darrel Irani!”

He wanted me present for something. It hadn’t occurred to me what, but when a man such as him requests your audience you make haste. A quick shower, the picking of a suit and off I went. The shuttle was practically waiting at my doorstep as the chain smoking driver lit his cigarette in a bitter stare my way.

“You Mister Truden?” He placed the cig in the corner of his mouth and I slowly nodded. “Get in.”

The trip seemed to take ages as anxiety and excitement formed a cocktail of emotion inside my very gut. It was not long before I stood outside the doors to the man’s offices and his assistant lead me inside.

I took my coat off and hung it around my arm. “You wanted to see me, Mister Irani?”

[member="Darell Irani"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

What Truden would see was a man of middle age, hair graying at the temples which lend him gravitas and respectability, a cigar was resting on his finger and above all else... Darell Irani was positively huge.

Invigorated, with piercing blue eyes that weighed and judged and currently sitting behind his oaken table. The businessman didn't seem to notice Truden, the assistant would guide the young man into the room, offer him a consoling smile and then leave him alone with the dragon himself.

After what seemed an age of signing papers and ponders, Irani looked up and settled a long gaze on Truden.

'We will need to get you a new suit.'

Then he was back to looking at the screen.

 

[Asher]

The coat weighed nicely on my arm as the man seemingly made a comment about it. Not that I was sure what to expect, perhaps I would have expected him to get straight down to business but it would seem his holopads and datapads and what-nots kept him more occupied than my presence.

“My suit, sir?” It was after all a very weird request. “What are you talking about?”

The fashion advice from someone rich-and-powerful left a sharp burn. It was great to have someone give me ‘advice’ on what to wear, but it wasn’t exactly what I’d expect he had in mind when I got the message.

“What’s wrong with my suit?”

 

[Hira Mitsae]

Irani's gaze left the screen again. This time it stayed on Truden for a while, going up and down his frame as if he was looking, searching for something. In the end the businessman shrugged and went back to the screen.

"CEO of Iron Crown Enterprises."

He ticked a few things into the system and then continued unceremoniously.

"If you want the position, you will need a new suit."

It seemed that for all intents and purposes Irani was not a believer in due process. He went with his gut feeling and perhaps the subtlest of feels extracted from the mind.

Apparently, whatever the cursory look had revealed it had been to Darell's liking.

 

[Asher]

He liked to look, keep it brief and quiet. It wasn’t a meeting protocol I was used to. They mostly went along the lines of ‘We are screwed’ or ‘Things could be better’ so to have the man remain as enigmatic about things as he insisted on being was both infuriating yet uplifting at the same time. Then he shrugged and simply said ‘CEO of Iron Crown Enterprises’.

At first I wanted to smack him across the face for wasting my time but then he said that one thing I’d never forget. An offer for a position I had never even been able to dream of. I had heard of ICE, anyone who ran a business around Annaj did.

My finger slowly curled itself back into my fist as my face softened up in surprise. This was certainly a role that would require a new suit but the doubts still remained if I would be the right man for the job.

“I-...” Words served no use to me as my tongue twisted itself into a thousand knots. What was I supposed to say? “I want it.” The words slipped straight from my mind and into the open. “But why? How? I mean, my company-... My track record with these things are…”

My teeth gritted. “They could be better.”

[member="Darell Irani"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Elias Truden"]

Irani sighed and finally shut down the system, taking a moment to drop the cigarette into the ashtray and then stand up. He walked over to the big transparisteel window that separated the office on the shipyards from the cold vacuum of space, beneath them Annaj was easily visible and the silence stretched on between the two of them.

Until he spoke again.

‘You served under the High Councilor Sivas, Military Affairs.’ a snort followed. ‘Her competence is questionable to say the least, but the military complex of the Fringe Confederation knows your face.’

The businessman turned around, sizing up Elias again.

‘The military is everything in the Fringe and even though you made a few… questionable decisions.’

Clearly referencing to Truden’s decision to start working for Cordel right after he was disgraced as a High Councilor and currently only held Zaadja- a world of ice and mountains, for the Fringe.

Not exactly the most prestigious of men currently within the Confederation.

‘That recognizability will serve you, but don’t kid yourself here. It will be hard, these people are used to doing things their own way, they will try to walk all over you and I won’t be there to hold your hand at every step.’

Irani scratched his jaw and tilted his head slightly, pondering, maybe even second-guessing himself.

‘Last chance to back out.’

 

[Asher]

The man had me in a nutshell. My jaw had shut itself tight to not let myself pass as a blubbering buffoon but the amazement and surprise was still there for the man to sense. There was something about the way he talked though. Something that just felt odd. He knew who I was and of my every move, yet spoke of them as if being horrible ones. I was not one to question, but I certainly needed the money at the time. Still did.

“I’ve made some mistakes in the past, sure.” Or ‘questionable decisions’ as the man had put it. “This looks bad on the paper, but in the end I regret nothing. Credits speak and I needed them.”

I wasn’t really looking to defend myself but this man was intimidating in himself. “With that said I would be a fool to step away from this” A once-in-a-life opportunity if I had ever seen one. “No guarantees I won’t continue making the wrong moves but I need this. I want this, I need this and to say no is not even on the table.”

“So where’s the tailor? You said I needed a new suit.”

[member="Darell Irani"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Elias Truden"]

‘All in good time, Kimberly.’ the Irani responded, walking around the table and brushing past Truden, it was clearly time to leave the office space behind them and go… somewhere else. It seemed that the man simply assumed Elias would follow him, it seemed that he didn’t even consider any other option available to the questionable decisions man.

In truth Irani wasn’t all that impressed by the ‘I regret nothing’-attitude. It was the attitude of the wise to realize when you made mistakes and to learn from them, but in the end Darell didn’t need a wise man, or even a competent man.

He simply needed someone who would pull his weight without being a huge hassle to deal with.

‘The Unknown Regions are full of dangers, you know this.’ he said over his shoulder, still assuming Eli was following him. ‘But the things ICE has been doing… heh. It even worries my questionable ethics.’

The huge frame shrugged itself once again.

‘If you want to lead this mammoth, you will need to realize just how experimental some of this is. Are you following me?’ and he clearly didn’t mean in the literal manner.

 

[Asher]

No sooner than I had said it did I realize exactly how stupid I sounded. The fact that he knew my middle name was surprising, but then again, he seemed well-informed. Was I supposed to be surprised he had the ability to pull data from a registry? Hardly.

Questionable ethics or not my mind had already slowly begun to wander onto the ‘sources of income’ that would open up for me. In that moment I had not been a very wise man, never had been one either but there were always room for improvement as time passed. Which in itself was perhaps the most wisest thing I had thought during the conversation as a whole.

“Experimental, as in what? R&D or something more... Sinister?” My eyebrow perked up. “I’ve no qualms about it but you’re going to have to be a bit more specific on what exactly ‘questionable ethics’ and ‘experimental’ is, Mister Irani.”

“I have a wild imagination.” An imagination which at that point had said child labor while hoping to whatever force drove us forward that I was wrong.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Elias Truden"]

Irani stepped inside the elevator and pushed the button after Elias stepped in next to him, it would take them a few levels down to the more secure layers of the facility. The layers that held the more prizes experiments currently going on, the visceral image of little children trundling along factory lines and doing work for them flashed before his eyes and he had to shake his head.

‘Nothing as crude as a capitalized S, mister Truden.’ the businessman replied. He wouldn’t be showing him anything in flesh and blood, the thing they were about to go and witness was one of the more dangerous applications of fringe science that ICE employed.

It was one of the finest creations that ICE had designed, with a little bit of help of the research done in the old Styx Facility. But it was so dangerous that it couldn’t be kept anywhere near any remotely useful operation.

It had to be kept under lock and key, so the only thing they would be able to witness were the schematics itself, a few very interesting recordings and the musings of Ty’rel scientists coming in and looking at the problem from a new perspective.

 

[Asher]

[member="Darell Irani"]

At that point I simply let the man lead me for the elevator in silence. The elevator ride was painful enough as it was even as the only thing exchange between the two of us would be reassurance that I was wrong in my assumption. Thankfully.

A very awkwardly timed cough rang out through the silence. I had no idea what was going to happen next. Perhaps I should've asked but quite frankly the man scared yesterday's meal out of me. There was that thing about him that just reeked of 'industry giant.' Something I hadn't even been able to comprehend or see myself as anytime soon, if ever.

"So, this thing you're showing, what can you tell me about it?"

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Elias Truden"]

‘An experimental reactor.’

It was more than that… so much more, theoretically it was more powerful than any reactor currently being used in the Galaxy- private, public or military sector. Statistics showed that when everything went right it produced more power than a capital-scale hypermatter reactor, an antimatter reactor, a solar ionization reactor, or most exotic reactors.

Scale for use in large space stations, ships of the line, essential facilities or experimental high-energy applications.

That was the problem though.

When it didn’t go well… well. Things went very wrong and that was the entire point of the exercise, it was to show Truden what kind of company this was and of what he would get theoretical control.

What his responsibilities would be et cetera.

They stepped out of the elevator, Irani flashed a card to the security personnel currently manning the check-point. Iris-scan, fingerprints, everything was checked out before Irani’s security status was approved.

Of course they wanted to make a hassle about Kimberly, but one eye at Irani’s unmoving expression and his already approved clearance made them shut up.

Then they walked again, entering one of the many facilities, finally ending at a large circular platform that was currently inert.

‘Now understand, this is top-secret. Even from the Fringe High Council only a few are in the know, so you should feel very privileged right now.’

Then he tapped a button and a hologramhttp://th07.deviantart.net/fs31/PRE/f/2008/220/e/2/Reactor_by_ChrisCold.jpg appeared of the reactor.

 

[Asher]

I had never been much of a tech guy unless circumstances called for it. Tech passed me by as disposable and renewable but not much else. I knew how they worked, the processors and memories, but that never meant I had to be one of those nerds who dedicated my life to it. It’s why I decided to form DataSec in the first place. Well that and money, so needless to say my experience with reactors was lackluster at it’s very best.

The security measures in place for this whole deal was overwhelming. Everywhere you turned there seemed to be something to help keep intruders at bay. The idea that I was a bit in over my head solidified but it was definitely too late to back out at this point unless today was to end with a plasma bolt in the back of my head. At least that was the security precautions would imply.

I nodded in silence as he stated just how privileged I should feel.

“I’ll be honest here, I have very little experience with these things.” Should the situation call for it I’d definitely read up on it, no expenses spared. “What exactly separates this from other reactors?”

[member="Darell Irani"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Elias Truden"]

A few more taps and schematics came up, solid state holograms which meant that they could be pushed, prodded and turned at every corner. Irani made use of it, pulling the reactor out and tapping on various points of it and exploring the depths of the aparature.

In the meanwhile he started talking, each time taking the time to point out certain things on the hologram itself.

‘A ZPM-E, Project Damocles.’ the Irani began, ceremoniously this time. It seemed that even the no-nonsense businessman was finally impressed by something. ‘Theoretically it’s a reactor that can produce more power than a capital-scale hypermatter reactor, antimatter, solar ionization or any other more exotic tech.’

Brief ponder, before continuing.

‘You would think that raw increase in power means that the reactor would need a lot of fuel to be useable, and yet… it also needs progressively less fuel than any other reactor currently on the market. A perfect dream, a reactor that produces more power while needing less fuel to do so.’

And yet… the reactor hadn’t seen widespread usage, hell. Elias wouldn’t have ever heard of such a thing, except maybe in the wildest dreams of scientists.

There must be a reason for that, no?

 

[Asher]

I slowly nodded as if I understood what he was saying. In truth it passed right by me as the thoughts of me being in charge of ICE struggled to settle in. Hell, one moment I had been this lowly data engineer on Annaj, struggling to get by. The other I’m standing in an office as the next in line candidate for the Iron Crown throne. It was almost enough to have me in panicky tears but I wasn’t quite there, yet.

Attention reset on [member="Darell Irani"]. “So it’s a more efficient reactor that can be used to… What? Power bigger ships and facilities?”

The notion that I was an idiot was hard to miss up, even to me. I felt like the kid in school asking about homework at the end of class, the customer asking about free refills or the corporate drone asking when he could ask for a promotion or raise. In short: an idiot.

"So if we have this technology, why don't we use it? Is it dangerous, or what?"

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Elias Truden"]

Irani finally removed his staring gaze from the hologram and settled itself into the presence of Eli, it seemed that he was getting more and more out of his depth. Mind descending into erraticness as his psyche caught up on the realization that this wasn’t a dream or anything alike to a dream.

This was real life and if he didn’t feth up, he would be in charge of the core presence in the Unknown Regions.

Probably a leg-up from yesterday when he woke up having to deal with a smallish-time, unsuccessful tech firm and being the lapdog of a disgraced politician. He probably hadn’t really thought his day would turn out so… well, relatively speaking of course.

Because what was ‘well’ in the grand scheme of things? Would this promotion make him happy? Or would it get him killed? The life of a corporate magnate wasn’t for everyone, but Irani must have had some measure of trust in the kid’s capabilities.

He wouldn’t have contacted him otherwise… right?

‘To answer your question.’ the Irani finally replied, after taking another appropriate silence to let the man think for himself for a while first. That was the best way to deal with new apprentices, and Kimberly was a new apprentice even if not of a Sith kind.

Instead of answering it with words, he pushed another button and suddenly there was a holographic recording of a ship sitting in deep-space, waiting for something. Moments passed and suddenly… a bright light, a roar and suddenly two seconds later the ship was gone.

In its stead was the wreckage of the starship, vestiges of scrap and durasteel that drifted across space.

The explosion had been quick and powerful, and it answered all of Kimberly’s questions.

‘That… is why we don’t use it.’

 

[Asher]

I had to keep it cool, focus on what was at hand. As much as the future was an important aspect to what would come next the here and now should have gotten more focus. Maybe it was to be boiled down to the fact that this was by far not how I saw this day playing out. A walk around the office as I feared what would happen to DataSec, a dried up lunch from a few days ago followed by more work before going home to rinse and repeat. It was in that very moment when the virtual explosions went off that I had some sort of mind implosion of my own.

“So how do we fix it?” The question rang out by itself. “How do we get rid of the flaws and deficiencies? Do the engineers have any idea of what may be causing it, and if so what theories do they have about fixing it?”

My hand reached up to scratch my beard. “Have you tried looking at different reactors made by your competitors and compared them to your own?”

I was about to ask way too many questions in one go. I let the silence hang for a second before apologizing.

“Right, you can only answer so many questions at a time.” I bowed my head in an apology and clasped my hands together. “So, let’s just start with the first one.”

Even now I still have no idea what had happened in that very moment. It just kind of clicked. “I take it your scientists and engineering teams are both hard at work on this, right? My products are hardly something you could compare to a reactor, but bug fixing is always present no matter what project you work on.”

“What is the current plan? Do they have any solid idea of what is causing the problems yet?”

[member="Darell Irani"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Elias Truden"]

It seemed Elias had finally found something close resembling to footing into the situation, approach it from an angle he could understand and could relate to- smart, definitely more than Irani had thought the lad was capable of. Perhaps there was something more to him than met the dossiers and reports, a bit naive here and there, but nothing that a few months in the real corporate world wouldn’t solve eventually.

‘This is experimental technology for a reason.’ the Irani finally stated, which didn’t translate into him not knowing the answer to the eventual question. But there was need of some background before an appropriate answer could be given.

Just the way of things.

‘The scientist from Ty'rel Holdings have been closely working together with ICE to first figure out how the reactor should work, which is not as obvious as you might expect it to be. In layman terms what the reactor does is extract so called ‘Zero-Point Energy’ from our space, which basically generates massive amount of power.’

Darell was obviously simplifying the entire of the technology by gross margins, but for the simple point of bringing a point over it was enough.

‘Do you follow?’ Irani waited patiently, he wouldn’t be surprised if Eli was already having trouble with all of this.

 

[Asher]

The word experimental had been tossed around more times than it had during the development of the turret security measures that DataSec had been developing. Granted there were difference but approaching it from familiar territory was very much something that eased my mind when it came to understand Mr. Irani’s idea.

Clearly it was all still out of my league but the small similarities were enough to assure me that we were indeed on the same wavelength at this point. Then again, most of what I had brought up came from project management as a whole, the first basis of the one thing I had been educated in my whole life. Perhaps now more than ever said knowledge would come in handy.

An audible sigh parted my lips as he asked if I followed. I shook my head in obvious denial.

“No, I can’t say that I do.” My bottom lip tucked itself neatly underneath the other as my eyebrows furrowed. “Are you saying it runs off of the vacuum of space, or that there is some kind of new discovery that I am yet to be aware of?”

I hated that feeling of being an idiot. “Solar power?”

I could have spent an eternity asking questions about how it worked. Really, just admitting I wasn’t following him should have been enough but I was never one to admit such weakness.

[member="Darell Irani"]