The Industrialist

"I really hate myself," she said.

"No, it’s fine. Don’t worry. I already moved on and it’s a long time ago. Well, you know this age, death comes naturally." Lance said.

"How about another topic then? This wine makes me emotional and stupid," Jaqi said.

Lance finished the whole glass of wine with one drink. He was thirsty. The sweet flavor rinsed his mouth. It was his first time to taste fancy wine or any wine for that matter.

"Ok, Jaqi. I am just curious, you know. How can as young as you become one of the Awards Committee? These are carefully selected individuals with significant experience or with vast knowledge of Science. I mean, I am not saying that you don’t have that same acumen. But I am saying that you should be older to become one of them," Lance stammered.

"Yeah, some points there. Hmm. How should I explain this to you? Well, for one, I founded CISU. If you know, it’s a regulatory body for scrap illegal use. And inventions are mostly made of scrap materials.

This secret stays between us, ok?"

Lance nodded.

"There were reports of illegal entry of components or any tradeable materials smuggled inside the city. Father always complained about this during dinner. I asserted to establish a regulating body starting from the inventions."

"Hmm. What smuggled items?" He asked.

"A lot. We don’t know how the unregulated items found their way inside; my father had his men stationed at every entry. And the established inspection procedures are very stringent. That is what makes him confused."

"What are the items that came from the outside that are regulated? I mean, there are no more surviving cities anymore."

"Bunkers. It’s not really confidential but it’s not being announced. The Corporation established expansions in jewelry mining, and the bunkers were constructed underground, away from the reach of Abominants."

"What are they doing inside these bunkers?"

"Gold production, other precious stones refinement processes. You know we don’t sit on a mountain of precious stones, do we? The Corporation identified the locations of these precious stones before. We have a Geologist way back who spearheaded the identification of these precious stone deposits but now he is gone. And the deposits are depleting.

So, a multi-million currency business is in dire need of another source to survive the next decade."

Jaqi poured again another wine into Lance’s glass. "You drink fast!" She smiled. That teasing smile that one could melt.

"It was sweet, so," Lance sipped again after refilling.

"So, I have heard from my father some of the smuggled items. One of which is raw gold and precious stones, even livestock, and spices. It’s been a problem for years and my father has not found a way to cease these illegal exploits."

"Livestock?"

"Yeah. I don’t know how these livestock productions made possible with contaminated air. I know animals can’t survive the atmosphere."

Lance knew how. He saw Axiom Trench having livestock farms. Well, she did not know that Axiom Trench had their own Air Filtration Systems.

"More others, just recently. Salt. Tyllrium. Even Zelkians. My father is so frustrated about this problem. Therefore, the Governor empowered him with a budget to form a team."

Lance had a cold chill on his spine and raised his heartbeat. He felt it inside his chest, thumping hard.

"Team?"

"Special Homeland Security. Or Special Forces. I am not sure what he called them. But they are formed just to fight against rebellion. You know for sure that these illegal exploits are made possible because of Rebels, don’t you?"

It’s true. Their suspicions were true. Rebels made smuggling possible by the use of tunnels below the walls that everyone was oblivious about.

"Special Forces? Wow. That’s a bit too much."

"Yeah, I know. But he said a special budget was already allocated. Hmm. That is also why I founded CISU. To help him in this endeavor. So, of course, my father and Doctor Menks are close and pulled some strings that I can help out in the Awards Committee."

"Doctor Menks? Levi Menks?" Lance asked. The name boiled to his chagrin.

"Yes. Corporation Father. We call him that nowadays. They formed a team together to identify the root causes of these smuggled items. And the Corporation can provide great help in the Scientific sense of how these items were produced."

Then it struck him.

"What about the Wolf? How did it enter? We have these walls surrounding us and your father’s department guarded the entry points. And I know those entry points are on the Northern and Western walls. How come the wolf entered the Southern wall? What is your father’s take on that?" Lance trained his questions to unfold the mystery.

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Jefferson could not just make that possible on his own. He could not just invite an Abominant to go through the tunnels and lay waste inside the city without any casualties from the rebels. His suspicions might be astoundingly wrong.

The more he thought of it, the more it became more mysterious and sinister. The strings pulled during that day were way beyond his comprehension.

"Yeah, it was a devastating month for my Father. He was scrutinized for the whole month by the Governor Lassiter, even Vice Governor Valentyne. He handled the City Police Department and the Border Defence Department, and there was no one to blame. He blamed the rebels, but he had no hard evidence. Only a theory. I am not sure how that creature managed to slip in through our defenses.

My father assured me that the walls are impenetrable." She explained.

"Maybe there is a loophole in the wall’s design that we did not know. Maybe Doctor Menks knows," Lance said.

"It’s odd, actually. Doctor Menks did not participate in the investigation and also none of his trusted Scientists. They should spearhead the investigation because the Corporation designed the walls."

"It happened in Steelpoint. Just in my neighborhood. It’s sad to reminisce on it."

Lance was comfortable sharing his originating Sector with Jaqi even though she came from a High Echelon family. For that reason, it was still a mystery. Or it seemed that Jaqi was not just the type of person who judged lowlifers on where they came from.

She was not boorish in their first meeting in SARS and even defended him from the Assessor’s condescending tone.

"Really? Have you seen it?" She asked.

"Yeah. I have witnessed it. The wolf killed a dozen of my neighbors. It’s sad actually. The lasers won’t just stop one strong Abominant."

"No, it can’t. And sadly, the Police Department had not made weapon augmentations yet. My father talked about budget constraints again. It’s been happening to most of the Departments in the City. Budget constraints. I think the economy is dwindling.

I am not really sure, but there’s got to be an explanation to it."

Lance heard about the budget constraints even from the WWMDs. Grebert complained about the lack of budget eventually, he had made a deal with Lance about the Tyllrium and the recent Salt trade.

"Rumors from my friends in Sectoral Budgets Office, large sums of money were being allocated in special projects approved by Doctor Menks." She explained.

"Special projects?" Lance asked.

"That’s the mystery, right there. There are no details about these Special projects. But the allocation is significant that one you can’t hide."