3731 words
Once he was back at Prometheus Motors, Kiyotaka changed into a new set of clothes. It was a formal tuxedo with a tie. He had left his long hair hanging without tying or cutting them as his mind was occupied with something else.
'This is strange. My abilities are far stronger than the threshold which was conveyed to me through the information stream after drinking the potion. Is it because of the extra set of Characteristics?
William Sikes was a Sequence 6 after all, and using his Beyonder Characteristic as substitute for the main ingredients means I have consumed Lawyer, Barbarian and Briber again. This means I have to act for all of those, alongside Baron of Corruption.
The previous three should be quite easy. That said, I have yet to grasp the Acting Method for Baron of Corruption. From my rudimentary understanding of it from its name and abilities, a Baron of Corruption is someone who is proficient in law, complies with it in appearance but corrupts people and systems from the inside.
According to entries from Roselle's diary, the titles Baron, Earl, Mentor were added later to match its Sequence 0 name. Which means that I do not actually need to become a Baron. That said, becoming a Baron in itself is quite a hard task, given naturally one can't become it, and buying the Baronette title costs about £800.000
Despite all the recent success, I am nowhere there.'
Kiyotaka was lost in his thoughts, when he heard a knock on his office door.
"Come in." He called and Leppard walked inside.
He was dressed in a rather expensive looking tuxedo, however, his hair was still all disheveled. He somehow looked several years older than the first time Kiyotaka had met him, which was not a good tell-tale given how they had met only about three and a half months ago.
His eyes were wide and big black bags lined the lower side of them.
"What is the matter?" Kiyotaka asked without turning away from the mirror.
"Williams... The guests are arriving... Oh they are arriving! I didn't see the preparations! I don't know if everything is here... These are big people we are talking about! What if they take offense to something?!"
Leppard was droning nervously, biting his nails. Kiyotaka could tell that he had been doing quite a lot recently given how the nails of a lot of his fingers had hidden underneath the flesh that took over at the tips.
Taking one last glance at himself in the mirror, he turned around and placed a hand on Leppard's shoulder. "Calm yourself." He said and Leppard stopped biting his nails. "Everything is here. Besides, it is not supposed to be a grand party, but rather an update to our biggest shareholder, other than the two of us — Mr. Framis Cage."
He paused and then continued. "As for the others, they are here just to see the progress on the project that has been given to us."
As if remembering something, Leppard's face paled. "But Williams... We forgot to name it! We have to give it a name!"
Looking at his haphazard hair, Kiyotaka patted Leppard's shoulder once more. "Comb your hair, and stop fidgeting. I will do the presentation instead and you can fill in the minor details."
Leppard breathed out and was about to reach out for his hair to pull them but stopped himself. Rubbing his forehead, he shook his head. "I think I am going to die..."
"Oh, you won't." Kiyotaka turned around. "You have a lot to do, so you can't." He then stopped and after a moment added. "I won't let you."
"God help me..." Leppard sighed.
*****
A few minutes after Leppard was done adjusting his hair and presenting himself into something acceptable, the guests began to arrive. There were a total of four main people which consisted of Maury Macht, General Edmund, Admiral Theodore and Sir Alistair Pembroke.
When Kiyotaka saw them arrive one after another, he took a note of how Mr. Arthur Bell was absent.
These were the five people he had met during the high-tea at Machts and had discussed regarding the manufacturing of military vehicles. The other guests were mostly junior members of the New Party and followers of the military.
Kiyotaka adjusted his tie and left his office as he reached into his mind and began categorizing his first impressions on each of the main guests.
The first to come into his field of vision was General Edmund. He was someone who appeared to be in his late sixties. He had thin silver hair and a broad forehead with deep wrinkles. His skin tone appeared to be bronze but whenever he adjusted his suit, the arm above his wrists appeared to be pale, suggesting service on colonial islands.
The second one was Admiral Theodore. He had peppery hair with deep-set eyes. During their previous meeting, he was the one who had the most positive impression regarding Kiyotaka. Whereas General Edmund was quite hard to impress and was naturally probing, Admiral Theodore was rather jolly and easygoing.
It was not as apparent before, but Kiyotaka could infer that not only was Admiral Theodore a Beyonder, but he was also affiliated with a Church. It became quite apparent after his own observations and while he was giving Hyde a test run.
The third one, and perhaps the person Kiyotaka was the most cautious of, was Sir Alistair Pembroke. It was partly because he was a businessman himself while simultaneously being the permanent undersecretary for war.
He was wearing a conservative black suit and silver rimmed glasses. Alistair was less quiet than Arthur Bell, but the latter was much more direct in his hostility and suspicion, while Alistair was quite well-versed in the art of putting up appearances and backstabbing.
Alistair Pembroke had dark hair which had been dyed in that color and brown eyes.
The last to arrive was Maury Macht.
Most of the staff of Prometheus Motors was given an early day off while samples from Janus Engines had been brought into the showroom a day ago.
"Good afternoon." Kiyotaka greeted, shaking hands with the four of them while merely acknowledging others with a slight nod. Courtesy, after all, had its own hierarchy, and there was little reason to surrender his position by pretending otherwise.
This kind of euphemism was something Kiyotaka desperately needed now that he had dipped his fingers into politics. Kiyotaka paused for a while, and somehow, his mind went back to before arriving in this body.
He remembered the White Room and then his mind went immediately to his father, Atsuomi Ayanokōji. It was quite evident that he was becoming more and more like him and he did not resent the feeling, but it was still quite strange.
Life truly had a way to come back in a circle, where he once wished to go against all his father stood for, to him doing the same things as him, but with a slightly different approach. A rather nostalgic look appeared on his face as he followed behind the four.
Did he miss his old home? No, he did not. But he was still thankful to that place. Perhaps he would have never arrived in this future, or another world — he was not sure — if he had never been a part of the White Room, but the opposite of that scenario was also true.
It made him who he was, at this moment, enabling him to accomplish everything he had, and was going to.
And that was an undeniable fact, making him, sort of, indebted to that man. It was strange how this feeling and thought had made its way into his mind, and how conflicted he thought about it.
"I see your business is doing well." Admiral Theodore commented as he entered the VIP lounge and took a seat in one of the leather couches that were placed around a glass table.
"Thanks to the parliament, we did not go bankrupt." Kiyotaka replied. He was about to close the door when suddenly Leppard arrived and stood behind it.
"Mr. Framis Cage is here... What should I do?"
Kiyotaka looked back at the four and then returned back to him. "Show him the financial statements on my table. It has his total withdrawable drawings and an envelope in the first drawer has that amount. If he wishes to withdraw something, give him that and take his sign. I will be back in a moment."
"Ok... Ok, yes, I can do that... Will you be able to handle them? Call me if you need... No, don't call me. You handle this, I will talk to Mr. Cage." He paused, thinking about something. "What if he wishes to meet you?"
"Tell him I will meet him, a while later."
Leppard only nodded and left. Once Kiyotaka locked the door, he turned around. On the table were a wide assortment of walnuts, almonds, cashews and other dried fruits, accompanied by small butter biscuits, miniature fruit tarts and neatly cut sandwiches.
A silver tea service was present at one end of the table beside a pot of freshly brewed coffee, while a crystal jug of water and several slices of lemon had been placed on the other. It was enough to make the room appear hospitable without giving the impression that they had gathered merely to socialize.
After all, that was not the agenda of today's "gathering" or "mini-party" — at least not technically. While there weren't many people present to begin with that required some kind of cover and the meeting itself was not wrapped in subtlety, the four had still decided to do so.
"So, how is the progress with our... machine, if you would." General Edmund began as Theodore, Alistair and Maury poured themselves some coffee.
Kiyotaka sat on the single couch and adjusted his coat. "The progress was affected by the incident, but the general design is ready."
His eyes darted between the four of them, carefully observing their movements, facial expressions and tiny ticks that could give him a read on them. The acting method for a Baron of Corruption seemed to be quite simple on the surface, but in hindsight, it was quite hard, especially when half of a dominant party was against him.
It was a conclusion he arrived at himself. There were many factors to consider given the New Party was basically pro-capitalism. While the idea itself had immense potential for them to reach new heights of wealth, they were really not happy at just one person holding so much power and freedom.
This was not to be confused with them being against the consolidation of power, no, since that was false. What they were actually against was themselves not having a part in it.
They only tolerated things which made them richer and currently, Prometheus Motors showed no such opening due to the nature of the patent that Kiyotaka had made. It was made in a way that even manufacturing spare parts could land people in a lot of trouble.
There was also the matter of espionage, but that was not something they were afraid of, at least not now.
Following Edmund's inquiry, Alistair sunk back into his seat and with an amicable smile asked. "I think Prometheus has been running long enough for you to know what downsides it has. I mean, apologies if it sounds crass to say, but that machine of yours is not perfect. What I, or rather we all, are interested in is the shortcomings."
Kiyotaka turned his head towards him and looked right into his eyes. He had a blank look on his face as he stared deep into him and then picked up a glass from the table. As he poured himself the coffee, he answered: "Well, that would be rather unideal for me to answer. That said, shortcomings have been identified. Which is why there were interviews being conducted."
Theodore let out an amused chuckle. "Mr. Pembroke, why don't you ask him to hand you over his patent?"
Alistair Pembroke shook his head. "Curiosity is a strange thing, isn't it Mr. Holmes?"
Kiyotaka's eyes moved between the two. "It is." He reached out behind himself and took out a giant chart that was rolled and tied with a rubber band. Removing it, he let it roll open and then held it up, laying it over the place of the couch where he was sitting.
"This is the initial model that we — what I mean by 'we' is me and my engineers — came up with."
Kiyotaka let them see the giant vehicle that was rectangular in shape with its body enclosed almost completely underneath sloping sheets of metal. Unlike an ordinary carriage, there were no exposed wheels.
Two continuous bands of linked metal plates surrounded either side of the vehicle, running around a series of smaller wheels before curving upward at the front and rear.
Theodore's amused expression faded somewhat.
Kiyotaka placed his finger on one of the tracks. "These are not wheels in the conventional sense. The weight of the vehicle is distributed along the entire length of these plates. Obstructions such as mud, loose soil and shallow trenches which usually immobilizes a wagon should consequently present considerably less difficulty."
General Edmund's eyes looked at the blueprint from top to bottom before breathing out through his nose. "I would like to take a look at it."
"Me too." Sir Alistair Pembroke added.
All the while, Maury was sitting with his lips shut. However, he was observing everything quite intently. It was obvious that he was the lowest ranking member here, but his behavior made him quite suspicious.
Kiyotaka looked down at Maury Macht and then at Theodore who was busy eating the butter biscuits. When he felt the room go silent, he looked up and shrugged. "Mr. Holmes here really does understand that such topics cannot be discussed on an empty stomach."
"Your stomach is always empty." General Edmund commented while shaking his head.
'These two know each other from before their service days. Perhaps their parents were friends, or they themselves are childhood friends. General Edmund and Admiral Theodore are quite easy, but Sir Alistair seems to have an ulterior motive. He's appearing unusually confident, which contradicts his previous sitting patterns. He's hiding something.'
Kiyotaka nodded in response to their previous dialogue. "Of course. Would you like to take a look now or once the other guests are gone."
Edmund rose from his seat after placing his cup of coffee down. "Now."
*****
After leading the four gentlemen into a storage room, Kiyotaka removed the cloth from over the machine that he was building. As the four circled around it, General Edmund turned towards Kiyotaka and raised a brow as Admiral Theodore knocked on the frame.
"Good quality. Good to see that our money is being smartly utilised." He commented.
"Would you mind giving us a rundown on it?" Sir Alistair asked, carrying the same amicable smile.
Kiyotaka nodded. "The external frame is built primarily from hardened steel produced in layered plates. It uses ordinary high-carbon steel for its internal skeleton, while the outer shell uses a nickel-strengthened steel alloy. It is considerably more expensive than the iron plating used in conventional industrial machinery, but it resists deformation better while allowing us to reduce thickness in several places."
"And in extension, weight distribution." General Edmund completed.
Kiyotaka hummed and nodded in affirmation. He was not using Fluency or anything else of mystical nature before he heard the General continue. "What about the bullets?"
"Ordinary rifle rounds should fail to penetrate the main plates from most practical distances." Kiyotaka tapped another section of the behemoth. He was purposefully using vague words to leave a few things up for interpretations.
Of course, they could just ask in detail, but that was less likely to happen. The reason for this was because Admiral Theodore was less likely to take interest in this entire ordeal. He was the First Sea Lord back in his time and was currently under the direct apprenticeship of a Cardinal from the Church of Lord of Storms.
Hence, he was less likely to take a deeper level of interest in this. Other than him, Maury Macht was a pawn in a bigger game and hence was less likely to ask detailed questions too.
Yes, Kiyotaka did suspect him of being in cahoots with Arthur Bell after he charmed Riana and used redirection tactics to extract information from her, but he was quite sure that Maury Macht was not going to involve himself more than necessary.
Sir Alistair Pembroke was quite meticulous in his questions. Currently he was the hardest to deal with, and the most cunning as well. Unless he was a Beyonder — which was most likely not the case — there was no way for him to pick up on Kiyotaka's verbal misdirection.
Lastly, General Hargreaves, while being smart, was the most openly vocal about his disdain and doubt regarding Kiyotaka. Which meant that the others would mostly stay silent, even if they felt that General Edmund had been guided into a loop.
"So it isn't invulnerable."
Kiyotaka looked towards him. "Nothing useful is. For the most part."
Hargreaves' mouth twitched faintly as Kiyotaka continued. "The supporting frame uses steel beams fixed through riveted joints. Bronze bushings are used around several moving assemblies because they tolerate friction better than untreated iron, while the track pins use hardened steel. The interior flooring is reinforced timber over a steel support frame."
"Why timber?"
"Timber is lighter, easier to replace, and provides some insulation from the heat generated underneath."
"And what exactly generates that heat?"
"The engine." Kiyotaka replied as a matter of fact. "The power unit is derived from the engine already developed by us, although this one is considerably larger. The engine sits toward the rear, separated from the crew compartment by a steel partition treated with asbestos cloth and a layer of mineral insulation."
Theodore raised an eyebrow. "You put men in front of that?"
"The alternative was putting the fuel tank beside them."
"That is...reasonable." Theodore shrugged and bent down to take a better look at the skeleton. Maury and Alistair did the same, but everyone had their ears on the conversation taking place between the two.
"The fuel itself is stored in reinforced containers toward the rear quarters. Two independent lines feed the engine because if one is damaged, the second can continue operating for a short period. Cooling is provided through a water circulation system connected to radiator panels protected behind steel grilles."
As he was explaining, Alistair Pembroke suddenly pointed up towards a circular structure drawn at the center of the roof. "Sorry for interrupting you, but what is that?"
"That is a rotating mount."
Alistair needn't say anything else as General Edmund immediately stepped forward and asked while inspecting the mount from nearby. "For what?"
"A cannon." Kiyotaka replied.
The Minister of War had a surprised look on his face and seemed to be somewhere between astonished and even more skeptical than before.
"It won't have a heavy artillery gun as that defeats the purpose of this vehicle. A comparatively small-caliber field cannon will be mounted within a rotating steel housing which should be sufficient against infantry positions, barricades, carriages and lightly fortified structures. Additional firing apertures can accommodate machine guns along the sides."
Theodore slapped the steel behemoth and let out a gravelly laugh. "Oh you are doing some good work, Holmes, I'll tell ya that much. This is really something."
"It is." Sir Alistair commented as a slight smile graced his face. It wasn't the foxy smile that always remained plastered on his face but rather a genuinely impressed one. "Something that can cross trenches, ignore rifle fire and carry artillery directly toward the enemy is going to be an undeniably strong weapon against land forces."
"Thank you." Kiyotaka replied.
There was a visible tension in the air, but obviously none of the men talked about it. As they waited for it to happen, General Edmund did so anyway. "Alright, this is all well and good, Mr. Holmes, but what are the downsides you are facing?"
When Kiyotaka stared at him for a while, Edmund continued. "Despite your talk of the recent conditions slowing down your progress, you have still made a considerable amount of it. That tells me that this time was enough to make the first functional prototype. But you didn't present a fully functional one. Why?"
General Edmund paused and then continued, repeating in the same words as Kiyotaka. "Nothing useful is, without fault, as you say."
Kiyotaka nodded. "There are several problems remaining with throttle regulation, ignition, lighting, fuel monitoring and communication between the driver and the engine compartment. The mechanical linkages work, but they are unnecessarily complicated. We are, however, planning on replacing several of them with electrical wiring wherever possible."
Pembroke seemed to appear a little curious. "Electrical wiring? Inside a battlefield vehicle?"
"Electricity already operates telegraph systems across vast distances. Making it carry a signal across three meters of steel is considerably less ambitious."
The reply seemed to amuse Admiral Theodore enough to make him chuckle.
Kiyotaka pointed toward several marked channels running through the interior.
"Insulated copper wiring will run through ceramic-lined conduits along the interior walls. Rubber insulation will be used where flexibility is necessary, although I would prefer gutta-percha around sections close to the engine because it tolerates moisture and chemical exposure better."
General Edmund shook his head a little and raised his brows. "I must say, I am impressed. When can we test one of these... things, on a battlefield? Have you decided on a name for it?"
Kiyotaka looked at the machine and then factored in the general progress before responding. "It will take another month or so to create the engine big enough to power all of this muscle. That is the hardest part and will take the majority of the time. We are currently testing with smaller engines." He paused. "As for your latter question, for now we are calling it WH-01."
"WH?"
Kiyotaka took a step to the side before placing his hand on a silk cloth that was draped over what appeared to be a rectangular shaped sign. With a tug, he removed it, letting everyone see the letters etched into it.
"Oh Holmes, I think we are going to be good friends." Admiral Theodore commented as he read the text.