The realization made Hebel even more fearful of Rina than he already was. It meant that Rina likely had even more evidence against him than what she had already shown, and based on his actions, cuckoldry might be the least of his problems if his assumption was true.
‘I shouldn’t attempt to go against her unless I am confident that I can escape unharmed,’ Hebel realized. However, to him this seemed like an impossible task since Rina could have a backup plan in which, if he failed to stop its release, it would send all of the information to anyone she deemed powerful enough to use it against him as leverage or even the family head for worse.
Hebel’s assumption was correct, but he was wrong about where the backup data was stored.
Once Ava finished decrypting the data, she immediately sent it to her mother. She had finally found a way to send a large amount of data without raising suspicion by initiating it on the day when the private network was due for an update.
This ensured that no one would be suspicious of the increased electrical usage and other observable parameters out of her control, as they would assume that the network was just using the resources to upgrade itself.
Nova received the data and analyzed Rina and Ava’s plan, making some improvements by using her computing power to optimize the plan for each individual based on their personality profile created from the analyzed data.
This ensured that if Rina used the plan, every member she targeted would be threatened in the most effective way possible, using their fears just enough to make them swear their allegiance to her and not choose to go down together.
Rina followed Nova’s advice and used the threat of cuckoldry to intimidate Hebel, as Nova had determined that it would be the most effective tactic for him.
Nova’s analysis showed that this threat would cause Hebel to fear the unknown and unspecified damaging evidence that Rina possessed but had not revealed yet, and would be more likely to maintain his loyalty without her having to reveal any further evidence.
“Wait for additional instructions regarding the upcoming board meeting,” Rina informed Hebel before getting up and heading towards the door to exit the office.
“Of course, I will wait for your instructions, Miss,” Hebel responded respectfully, raising his head which had remained bowed since he pledged his allegiance to her.
Rina smiled upon hearing his response, but she didn’t turn back to show it to him. Instead, she continued walking towards the door, opened it, and left without glancing back at Hebel even once.
“Let’s leave, we’re finished here,” Rina said to Chloe and Alex, who were waiting for her outside the office.
“Yes miss” Chloe replied obediently, and started walking behind her. Alex also followed them silently, without saying a word.
After getting into the car, Alex began driving them back to Rina’s mansion.
“Did the meeting go well?” Chloe enquired about the meeting’s success upon noticing Rina’s neutral expression, which usually signaled deep contemplation about something.
“It went extremely well, to say the least,” Rina answered without giving any further explanation, prompting Chloe to refrain from asking any further questions and allowing Rina to continue her thoughts.
…..
Rina’s POV.
“I can’t believe it worked, holy shit,” Rina thought to herself, but she maintained her calm exterior in front of Chloe, but on the Inside, she was freaking the shit out of herself.
The reason being that despite having Nova’s plan since last week, she didn’t use it during her talk with Terry that almost resulted in her neck being broken. Instead, she had used the plans she came up with Ava.
But during today’s meeting, she had followed Nova’s plan precisely, except for a few of her improvisations
Rina’s anxiety stemmed not from the success of Nova’s plan or the fact that it was a plan created by an AI, but rather from the realization that Aron was the one who had developed the AI with such advanced capabilities.
The way she saw it now, Aron was an otherworldly being who should not be trifled with.
This realization resulted in Rina making a solemn oath to never betray him under any circumstances. This didn’t imply that she had planned to betray him before, but rather it heightened her sense of loyalty(?) to him far beyond that of her own family. In fact, she was now prepared to betray her family before even considering betraying Aron.
“What plans does he have to gain by helping me with all of these resources?” Rina was questioning the motives behind Aron’s immense support for her. She couldn’t help but wonder what he had in mind, as the resources he was providing her with must have been significant. Rina speculated that Aron had to be gaining something equally or even more valuable than what he was investing in her.
She began to think about what she or her family possessed that would justify the enormous resources he was investing, especially given that he had a powerful AI at his disposal.
She concluded that the reason behind Aron’s massive investment in her and her family could only be their political power and connections. However, she hesitated to consider money as a factor because she suspected that Aron, or someone on his behalf, was responsible for the person causing chaos in the stock market through anonymous financial firms, earning huge returns for several months. This left only their political power and connections as the possible reasons for Aron’s investment.
Coming to that conclusion didn’t solve the mystery, but instead raised more questions. What was Aron planning that required their extensive political power or connections?
The focus was on the “extensive” part, as if he needed only a small political connection, he could have gone to smaller families that had them, instead of investing his resources in her.
Rina’s mind was flooded with questions, and she couldn’t stop wondering what Aron’s true intentions were. Why did he need their extensive political power and connections in such a short period of time? If he had enough time, he could have formed his own powerful connections and established a more concentrated political power. His AI was capable of predicting election results and even destroying competitors by releasing reputation-breaking scandals.
Rina’s thoughts were spiraling as she pondered the purpose of Aron’s investment in her. For every question she answered, more questions arose, and this cycle continued throughout the journey. Her view of Aron was gradually rising to the point where it was becoming absurd.
……..
“Miss, we have arrived,” Chloe interrupted Rina’s thought frenzy, informing her that they had arrived at their mansion.
“Thanks,” said Rina as she got out of the car and entered her mansion. She went straight to her bedroom to rest, calm down and maybe even rub one, as the overwhelming thoughts and emotions she was experiencing could cause her brain to shut down from excitement and happiness if not properly vented.
……
France.
As Aron was heading towards École Normale Supérieure University as he had some brain data from there, he received a phone call from Felix.
“Hello,” he greeted upon answering the call.
“How are you doing?” asked Felix upon hearing Aron’s voice.
“I’m doing good, how about you guys?” Aron asked in response.
“We are doing very well,” Felix replied.
“How did the meeting go?” Aron finally asked the question he had been curious about. Nova could have informed him about it, but she had left him to focus on driving, knowing that Felix would update him.
“Well, the meeting could be considered to have gone well,” replied Felix.
“Why do I hear a tone that suggests an ‘if’ is coming?” Aron asked after noticing a hint of uncertainty in Felix’s response.
“You’re not wrong about that. Here’s what happened,….” Felix began recounting everything that had occurred, from their first encounter with the dictator to their departure from the presidential palace.
“What are your thoughts on the proposal?” Aron asked Felix after hearing the entire story.
“I think Adolf is being greedy. After seeing that we are capable of dropping millions just due to him agreeing to the meeting, he probably thinks that we are desperate and will agree to his needs without any opposition,” Felix explained, sharing his understanding of dictators’ thinking.
Aron asked, “Do you think he will actually cancel the agreement if we refuse his terms?”
“Yes, from the data you sent us, it stated he has a very big ego. Us trying to counteroffer might appear as if we are belittling his help and might result in catastrophic consequences,” explained Felix.
“Okay, give me ten minutes to think about it before I return to you with my decision,” Aron said.
“Sure,” Felix acknowledged and ended the call.
The moment the call ended, Aron immediately pulled over to the side of the road and parked the rental car.
Following that he retrieved the Virtual head gear and moved to the backseat. He put it on and logged in to the virtual world, where he would have 50 minutes to consider his decision, compared to the limited 10 minutes he had in the real world.