Chapter 280: Lying Through Your Teeth
The journey to Tehran from the border with Iraq was a long one. But Alex successfully made his way to the country in as covert as a manner as possible. Of course, there were spies inside the Iranian nation that worked on behalf of its enemies.
Enemies, who Alex had in common with the Iranians, but these spies did not manage to identify Alex, or his purpose for visiting the nation. Eventually, Alex was brought into a holding area, no doubt to be interrogated by Iranian intelligence.
After all, when a foreigner shows up at your borders, stating they wish to help you with a nuclear weapons project, something which the rest of the world condemned. It would naturally arouse suspicion. And because of this, Alex sat in a room waiting for the interrogator to arrive.
It was a dangerous position to be in. If Iran determined Alex was an agent of a hostile foreign power, then his life would be forfeit. But Alex was convinced of his ability to sway anyone to his cause. After all, his [Master of Disguise] ability gave him a flawless persona. And thus he was not the least bit anxious as he sat there and waited for the interrogator to arrive.
Of course, Alex was not the least bit aware that the interrogator was sitting behind a one-way glass, watching Alex as he patiently and calmly waited. The interrogator was quick to speak with his fellow agent about Alex’s alleged identity.
“You’re telling me this man’s background checks out? He is an Iraqi-American who attended university in the United States, and graduated with a degree in nuclear engineering?”
The other agent confirmed this was true, stating that Alex’s alleged sympathies were anti-American.
“This appears to be the case. He has a master’s in nuclear engineering from MIT and appears to be against the United States and Israel. Specifically, because of the War in Iraq which his family fled from.
Of course, all of this was the ability [Master of Disguise] at work. In reality, Alex cared little about America’s foreign policy, especially in a region that he had nothing to do with, like the Middle East. He simply wanted to piss off his enemies by making one of their enemies nuclear capable.
Something that was bound to have drastic effects on the global stage. The consequences would be severe, and that was the point. The shadow government behind the United States had crossed his bottom line, so he planned to make them, or more specifically, their proxies, pay a miserable price.
Of course, nobody knew this but Alex, and thus the Iranian interrogator sighed heavily before accepting the burden he had to bear. He entered the room, where Alex stood up from his seat, and reached out his hand in a friendly gesture, while introducing himself to the man as if this was not a literal interrogation by an intelligence agency.
“Omar Assad, but I’m sure you already knew that. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”
The interrogator shook Alex’s hand, albeit begrudgingly, before insisting Alex sit down. Where he himself followed shortly thereafter. Once the two men were sitting across from one another, the interrogator placed down a manila folder which contained a vast amount of information on Alex’s false identity. He then spoke with a stern tone in his voice.
“Mr. Assad… We have confirmed that you are indeed a nuclear engineer, one that seems to have sympathies for our cause. But it is my job to find out whether or not you are telling the truth, so why don’t you tell me about your background?”
Alex had read everything the system had generated about his identity’s backstory, and recited it word for word, with no flaws whatsoever, while also speaking in a natural tone.
“Well… As I am sure you are probably already aware, I was born in Iraq, but moved to America during their invasion of my home country, along with my family. Because of that, I grew up in the United States and attended an American university.
And while I was too young to fully understand the war that the Americans waged in my homeland, I eventually grew informed as I got older and became angry at my host country for what they did to my people.
But I let it go, as such hatred is unproductive, and there was nothing I could do about a war that had ended years before I was fully capable of even understanding it. But then the war in Gaza began. And I felt as if the United States and their Zionist masters were at their old tricks again.
I felt compelled to do something to stop the both of them! So I took the first flight back to Iraq in the hopes that I could help you finally achieve your dreams of obtaining nuclear power and weapons… This way, at the very least, the United States will never be able to do to Iran what they did to my country…”
After two lifetimes’ worth of constantly lying to women, or at the very least speaking half truths. Alex had become an excellent liar. So much so that he was able to perfectly speak with the passion and zeal that somebody who genuinely believed these things would do so.
There was not the slightest flaw in his performance. Unfortunately for him, this interrogator was not a woman, because if he was, then his skill [Siren’s Call], would cause his argument to be far more persuasive than it was..
Still, Alex had done enough to win over the interrogator, and after a brief back and forth about a variety of questions, mostly political issues, Alex was cleared, and permitted to speak with the team of scientists and engineers responsible for Iran’s nuclear program.
Thus, after lying through his teeth, Alex was now permitted to freely roam Iran’s capital, albeit with a security detail to ensure his safety.