The Council’s Machinations

As Preston, Black and the rest of the Resistance took to the streets in escorting Jurgen and the other Resistance leaders away from the smoking ruins of what once was the Palace of Justice; several grim faces watched the bloody street battles with grave concern and contemplation, and a measure of panic. The only face among them who seemed unaffected by the recent events was Vice-Council Heinrich Ducard. To him, he had already anticipated this move by the Resistance, and indeed, had been counting on Preston going rogue. In fact, the demise of the late “Father” Dupont couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Cleric Monastery was already put under Red Alert and all available Clerics, not including the Cleric Reserve Corp., were out in full force providing much needed back-up to the Sweeper teams. Much of the outer rim of the city was under the control of the Resistance. The Sweeper teams had managed to set up a tight barricade closing off the inner section of Libria. The fighting was dying down as both sides set up camp to regroup and strategize their next moves. All was being monitored and information was being fed through to a dark control room fit with a large round table displaying a holographic projection of the city. It displayed both the sectors freed by the Resistance and those that remain under the control of the Council. The Council members were scattered around the room, viewing the monitors with growing concern and panic and blaming each other for the sudden uprising. An elderly Vice- Council Walters was growing impatient and was waiting for the full report on what was happening from Cleric Commander Braddock.

“Commander, what is the status report? Where do we stand and what are our current losses?” Walters asked Commander Braddock.

“Twelve Grammaton Bomb Squadrons have been lost. Twenty Sweeper teams have been compromised. Currently we have lost contact with four of our best Gunslinger Squads. We have lost control of nearly half the city, with the outer perimeter under Resistance control. All Prozium clinics have been completely destroyed. The reserve Prozium supplies have been moved to the Equilibrium center and we have doubled the security around the perimeter. Whatever remained of the SWMS (Special Weapons Masters Squad), which is not currently assigned to your personal security detail, has been mobilized to personally oversee the security and distribution of the Prozium reserve inoculations. We are getting reports that Jurgen and the rest of the Resistance leaders have escaped from the Palace of Justice, led by First Class Grammaton Cleric John Preston. The Cleric Reserve Corp. is currently awaiting the Council’s orders.” Commander Braddock completed his report.

“Thank you. That will be all Commander. Report back to the Monastery until further orders. Dismissed.” Walters dismissed Braddock. As Braddock left, the rest of the Council began to argue even more, with blame being placed upon Dupont, Preston’s betrayal and even upon each other. Walters’ patience had reached its limit.

“ENOUGH! Fellow Council members, it is time to put an end to all the arguing and for us to decide what the next move will be. My patient grows thin. Any bright ideas, gentlemen?” Walters called the room to order.

“Well, the Monastery must remain under Red Alert and our Cleric Reserve Corp. must be sent to the frontlines and sent to support the Sweeper teams and gain back whatever we can from this disaster. Barricades have already been set up around the primary building and throughout whatever sectors we have adequate control over.” Vice-Council Mason explained with little strain.

“You’re attention to the obvious continues to astound me. If you don’t mind, the rest of the Council doesn’t have the time for the mindless drivel of a senile old fool. Do yourself a favor and sit down and shut up!” Ducard replied coldly.

“WHY YOU SON OF …” Mason was about to reply when Walters interjected.

“That’s ENOUGH! The Council’s patience is growing thin. Mason, are you incapable of keeping yourself from being a complete malcontent? And, Ducard, this better be good.” Walters silenced the argument promptly.

“The Cleric Reserve Corp. would do little to help the situation now. The best they can do now is to be open targets for the Resistance. If the Council recalls, I had protested when the Council had elected Dupont for taking on the role of Father. I had warned the Council then that we had too much reliance on the Clerics and that the risk of them going rogue was just a matter of time. The Tetragrammaton was given too much judicial discretion during active duty and became an almost autonomous arm of our will. This was bound to occur. With nearly all the Prozium clinics destroyed by the Resistance, we have maybe 2 month’s supplies left of the original Prozium formulas to distribute throughout Libria. A new set of Prozium inoculations is currently being synthesized, but with the loss of the original formulas from the explosions, the new Prozium supplies will be less effective, especially on the Tetragrammaton as they experience stress levels much higher than the normal Sweeper teams and civilians. There is even a chance they may become addicted to the new versions of Prozium which could lead to periods of heightened emotional discharge, further destabilizing our control over the entire Cleric Corp. giving the Resistance an upper-hand. Reliance on the Cleric Corp. is no longer a viable option for us…” Ducard began explaining with relative calmness and assurance.

“And what exactly is your grand plan, Ducard?” Vice-Council Richards inquired.

“As the Council recalls, I had proposed Project Genesis as an improved alternative to using the Cleric Corp. I urge the Council to reconsider Genesis now that Dupont’s role of Father has ended and our situation has become a dire one…” Ducard was suddenly interrupted.

“Ducard, have you lost whatever sense you still had? Why are we even listening to this?!” Mason argued.

“Before the two of you begin to bicker and argue would you mind filling the rest of us in what exactly is Project Genesis?” Vice-Council Richards inquired.

“My apologies to the rest of the Council. I forgot that some of you were not presiding on the Council 15 years ago. Project Genesis was commissioned by the first Council, in which only Mason and I are the only ones aware of the particular details of the project. The purpose of Genesis was to create a set of armed assets that would be completely subservient to our commands. The solution was a set of highly advanced and well-armed androids whose prime directives would be to carry out our direct commands. There would be no need to use Prozium as a method of control. Project Genesis was created with several prototypes ready for active service. The initial stages of the project were a complete success, with the new Android Grammaton Units (AGU) carry out orders with lethal efficiency. In addition to the increased level of control, the AGU’s had an incredible invulnerability to normal gunfire. The need for these new units arose after the first assassination attempt on the original Father demonstrated unforgivable gaps in the effectiveness of our most Elite Cleric units against the guiles of the Resistance.” Ducard explained, with a hint of excitement in his voice.

“What happened, then? If the AGU’s were carrying out their orders and we had the Resistance pinned down, why are they currently not commissioned? Why did we have to revert back to the Cleric Corp.?” Vice-Council Drake, who up until now had been patiently listening to Ducard’s message, had inquired.

“Well, the AGU’s had slight programming malfunctions when it came to having the proper security countermeasures against Resistance hacker attacks on the internal prime directives of the CPU’s. The Resistance was able to hack into the master control of the AGU’s and activate the self-destruct mechanisms during a critical strike on one of our Sweeper Armories. Despite the advances we had made, Father decided to cancel the funding needed to continue and perfect the project. The minimal collateral damage that resulted compelled the original Father to make a foolish decision, which led to his untimely demise when his personal Cleric security betrayed him. Back then, Father and the first Council had shown the Cleric Corp. too much leniency by allowing the Clerics to retain emotions, thereby opening themselves up to multiple security breaches and leading to Father’s assassination…” Ducard answered Drake’s questions.

“Minimal collateral damage?! Your incompetence destroyed three whole Sweeper squadrons, the entire West-Side Sweeper Armory, and nearly two city blocks were completely ANNIHILATED! You’re little project nearly brought down the entire Librian infrastructure! Not to mention that there are rumors that the Resistance was able to steal key design schematics of the AGU’s. Fellow Council members, close your ears to this garbage!” Mason argued back.

“Mason, sit down and shut up. Ducard, if the project was scrapped, then how would Genesis be of any help to us now?” Vice-Council Brahm, who up until now was listening in decided to speak.

“The chief engineer overlooking the program, Dr. Teager, survived the aftermath and is currently researching radical new designs for new AGU’s that are awaiting a full commission by the Council. The new designs will include a new chip interface that will allow the AGU’s to evolve in their neuroprocessing functions, thereby removing the risk of the self-destruct mechanism being inadvertently activated by the Resistance. The new AGU’s would be a lot more autonomous than their failed counterparts, thereby requiring less dependency on a central command signal. The prime directives in the internal programming of the new AGU’s are hard-coded to protect the units from Resistance hacker attacks. Therefore, they will be more of a challenge for the Resistance, and they will carry out our commands with exceedingly lethal efficiency. The longer they fight a particular opponent, the quicker they are able to learn and adapt to different strategies. The rate of evolution in their algorithms is astounding and goes well beyond even the peak abilities of our First Class Clerics.

Fellow Council members, the Resistance knows our every countermeasure. They have access to most of the designs and strategies that are out our disposal. Our current resources are inadequate to deal with the current threat. With Genesis, we will have an undeniable advantage. Within a week’s end, we will have regained control over the entire city and within a month’s end the Resistance will meet its END!” Ducard concluded with supreme confidence.

“That’s a pretty bold statement, Ducard. What assurances do we truly have that this time Genesis won’t fire back in our faces? We can’t afford any failures. The Resistance has already gained too much ground and our effective resources have been cut in half. How soon can we expect to see the AGU’s in full service?” Vice-Council Stryker, asked with disbelief and resignation.

“Neo-AGU’s, the upgraded AGU models, can be deployed within a week’s end. Dr. Teager needs to run some last minute diagnostic checks and to make sure that the units are properly armed and ready for action. The new models do not need any external firearms as they are already built into the designs. “ Ducard said.

“Well, Council members, we have two options available to us. Continue the present course and send all available Clerics, including those in the Cleric Reserve Corp. to the front lines and regain control of Libria through incremental acquisition, or give the final approvals for re-activating Project Genesis and sending out the first wave of Neo-AGU’s to break the enemy’s position and to take the fighting to the Nethers rather than in the city streets. What is your decision?” Walters asked with finality.

“I think a fresh approach to this problem is what we need now. I agree with Ducard, Project Genesis is the path we need to take now.” Vice-Council Brahm answered.

“I agree with Brahm, Ducard’s idea is sound and the reliance on the Cleric Corp. is an obvious exposed weakness we need to address immediately if we are to take serious steps to regain control, let alone defeat the Resistance.” Vice-Council Richards pitched in his vote.

“Well, I hope that this doesn’t come back to bite us in the ass. I vote to go with Project Genesis. Ducard, you had better be sure about this.” Vice-Council Stryker voted, with hesitation.

“Well, obviously, I vote for the motion to use Genesis. It is the only reasonable option that we have.” Ducard said with absolute confidence.

“This is completely absurd. I will not condone the Council making the same mistake twice. These mechanical monstrosities you call “Neo-AGU’s” are going to end up costing us the entire war. Your personal thirst for conquest will end up annihilating us. I object to the motion and move to the immediate deployment of our Cleric Reserve Corp. to the frontlines and to make a strong offensive against the Resistance. We should focus on conserving the original Prozium reserves for the Cleric Corp. and releasing the new Prozium supplies to the rest of the citizens and Sweeper Squads.” Mason firmly objected.

“My thoughts, exactly, Mason. This program doesn’t strike me as a sound countermeasure to the Resistance and there are too many liabilities associated with relying on such a project. The Cleric Reserve Corp. is our only true option.” Vice-Council Drake agreed with Mason.

“Well, it seems as though the Council has decided. I, too, am in favor on this new approach. The motion to utilize Project Genesis and activate the Neo-AGU’s is granted. Ducard, you have full approval and authority to use whatever resources we have at your disposal to send in the Neo-AGU’s. As such, you are now the Grand Council and in full command of Father’s powers, with final approval still left in the hands of the Council. Your first task will be to take over the role of Father and reassure Libria that Father is still alive. Ducard, we are placing our trust on you and this new program, don’t make us regret it. Council is dismissed.” Vice-Council Walters called the meeting to a close.

“Ducard, I hope that for all our sakes, you are right about this. Somehow I doubt this will end well. I will be watching your every move.” Mason said with disbelief and suspicion.

“We tried it your way and it failed miserably with Preston completely destroying the Palace of Justice and freeing the Resistance leaders. Perhaps if you had not been such arrogant and ignorant traditionalists, you would not have allowed the Tetragrammaton to gain so much access and control over all our resources or for a rogue Cleric to infiltrate our security so deeply. Your faith in Dupont was ill-placed. At least the Council was not willing to make the same mistake twice.” Ducard argued back.

“We’ll see about that…” Mason said as he left the Council chambers.