“Someone let it loose on purpose. And there’s only one person I know with the access and the knowledge to do such a miserable thing,” General Cain said.
“Dr. Stein fucking Volda, huh?”
“That goddamn bastard.”
“Whaddya want me to do, sir? I can ice him in his sleep. He wouldn’t feel a thing,” Daav suggested.
“No, don’t underestimate that madman. He’s worth more to us alive than dead,” General Cain said.
“So, what’s next?” Daav asked.
“I’m calling him here to meet with me immediately. We have some things to discuss.,” General Cain said, with determination. “AI, contact Dr. Stein, please. Connect the visual call to my holo-display,” General Cain ordered.
“Calling Stein Volda,” the AI system responded. The call connected.
“Hmm, to whom do I owe the divine pleasure, oh powerful one?” Dr. Stein said with a sardonic undertone.
“Cut the bullshit, Stein. Meet me in my office. Now!” Cain demanded.
“Ooh, for a man of your stature and influence demanding the counsel of a mere scientist like me at four thirty in the morning must mean it’s serious. Despite my deep intellect, inexhaustible hunger for knowledge, quest for unattainable absolute power, you do know that I am not a morning person, yes?” Dr. Stein said.
“Get your ass here, stat!” General Cain shouted, disconnecting the call.
“Jeez, couple nuts short of a scrotum, huh?” Daav said.
“He’s always been that—”
“Sir, Agent Bloodfall is calling. Shall I put him through?” The AI system asked.
“Yes.” The AI system complied. “Agent Bloodfall, I anticipate good news,” General Cain said.
“Sir, the still taken from the security footage proved insufficient. The target is essentially a ghost; no pictures of him online, no social media profile, no medical records, no police records, no name. Absolutely nothing. He’s good; extremely good. Nearly everything we’ve tried has failed,” Bloodfall replied.
Cain let out a long sigh of discontent. “Keep looking. Don’t stop until you find him.”
“We’ll do our best,” Bloodfall replied, before ending the call.
“Sir, while we still have some time before wack job Volda gets here, I believe you also wanted to talk about Councilman Ren Krong at some point?” Daav said.
“Ah, yes, the beloved Ren Krong. Touted champion of the people. Reformer of justice, and leader for the working class. A major fucking thorn in my side,” General Cain said.
“For far too long he’s been getting in our way, cleverly using the system established by The Chosen Three, against us! He won’t take corporate Creds. No bribery. He won’t accept any promotion, and he’s hellbent on changing the system we use to rule by law and order. Shit. And above all of that, he’s got the unequivocal support of most of the city’s population,” General Cain said.
“Lieutenant Daav, I think it’s time we handle that problem. But we need to be smart about it. Keep it off the books. I want him erased. Do you still have a contact within the ZOBE organization?” Cain asked.
“Yes, sir. Agent Marken reports to me every seventy-two hours on the organization’s movements. I’ll get in contact with him as soon as we finish the meeting with psycho-doc,” Daav said.
“Good, and tell him he will be handsomely rewarded if he completes his mission,” Cain said. Just as they were about to get into the logistics, they heard a knock on the door.
“Enter,” Cain ordered.
In came a tall, lanky man with short, unkempt greyish-black hair and a lean and slender face. He had an unusual cybernetic eye implant that stemmed from the back of his head on the right side, formed a V-shape down toward his jaw, and then up toward the space just beneath his right eye. The implant wasn’t protruding at all, rather, it looked like it was seamlessly molded around the curvature of his face. Unlike his normal left eye, the sclera around his right iris was black, and the iris was a glowing red. He sported a scruffy goatee and had distinct wrinkles under his eyes and on both sides of his mouth. He looked to be a man in his sixties, but the truth was that no one knew how old he truly was, not even General Cain.
“Ah, the great General Vladimir Cain, as intense and ominous, as ever, I see.”
“Sit,” an impatient Cain interjected.
“Certainly,” Dr. Volda replied, unperturbed.
General Cain sat across from him in silence. He was livid, and made it a point to let Dr. Volda know. Whether it was a conscious attempt at intimidation or not, even Volda understood the nonverbal message being delivered. General Cain motioned with his hand to the holo-display and enlarged the frame exposing the attacker who had ambushed the TEAR unit just hours before.
“Explain this. And I’m warning you, don’t fuck with me,” an eerily calm Cain stated.
Dr. Volda appeared cagey, unnerved, which was a surprise to Cain. And then the air around Dr. Volda changed. His shoulders relaxed, and he leaned back in his chair crossing his legs and clasping his hands.
“Lookie here. I wonder how that got out, huh?” Dr. Volda said with a condescending smirk on his face. Dr. Volda’s unusual mannerisms made it hard to get a good read on him. His life’s work made him eccentric and bizarre at times. What a sly bastard, Cain thought.
“Stein, I’m giving you one chance to explain yourself,” General Cain persisted.
“Whatever do you mean, sir?” Volda replied innocently. General Cain slammed his fist on the metal desk, leaving a small dent. Dr. Volda’s relaxed demeanor changed to a serious one.
“Do remember, I have every record of every single offense you’ve committed that we swept under the rug for you! Your little fetish with raping and murdering vagabond prostitutes and hookers? Ring a bell? Or your backdoor dealings with black market doctors for your illegal experiments, hm? Or maybe your strange devout attachment to your lab? I can easily turn you into our authorities and have you rot in a prison for the rest of your godforsaken life if I wanted to! And don’t forget that I can force Prime Minister Honda to issue an
