At the board meeting, Arthur dropped a bombshell.
When he reported to the board that the data R&D needed had already been obtained by Kai, Susan's expression changed instantly as she watched remotely from her office, glaring at the screen.
She had not expected Arthur to still have a card left to play, only revealing his trump card at a moment like this. It was obvious he wanted to step on her in front of the board.
Seeing the faint smile on Arthur's face while he made his report, Susan felt an unprecedented sense of humiliation and fury.
If the target cyberware's data had been lost, then both departments would have counted as failures. At most, it would have been one loser mocking another.
But now Arthur had obtained the data without anyone knowing and without losing any of his own people.
The board could see at a glance which side was more capable.
No matter how much Susan tried to shift blame, in terms of competence and image, Arthur had completely crushed her.
And yet there was nothing she could do about him. She could only watch as he stole the spotlight in front of the board.
"Wait, he said Kai got the data?"
Susan seemed to seize on the key point.
At a meeting this important, Arthur had not taken the credit for himself. Instead, he had directly handed it to a subordinate.
She refused to believe any story about a wise mentor recognizing a talented subordinate. Nobody clawed their way up to a minister-level position in Arasaka with clean hands.
That was completely different from the selfish and arrogant Arthur she knew. For a man like him to do something like this could only mean one thing.
Kai was extremely important to him. More than that, Arthur, who had nobody else to rely on, wanted to use Kai as a ladder to climb even higher.
Arthur was clearly using Kai as a sharp blade to cut away the obstacles on his promotion path. Once the road was clear and the blade dulled, it would be discarded.
"Well played, Arthur. I really didn't expect you to still have a card like that under your hand."
Susan folded her arms across her chest, her right hand, covered in light dermal plating, rubbing thoughtfully at her chin.
She had noticed Kai before. In just over a year, he had made repeated contributions and become one of Arthur's most capable people.
Back when she had arranged for the Animals to assassinate him, she had only sent a single vehicle.
She had assumed he had never undergone any cyberware conversion and that at most he was just Arthur's loyal dog, so she had underestimated him.
That was why he had dared provoke her by the elevator that day, just to win Arthur's trust and favor.
Unexpectedly, Kai had also known how to sit back, fish in troubled waters, and secure the cyberware data for himself.
Clearly, Arthur had not been the one truly controlling this whole game. The person who had played the decisive role was Kai instead.
Once Susan understood the core of the matter, she began thinking about how to deal with Kai. His priority in her mind had clearly risen another level.
She looked at the electronic display in front of her and pressed her lips together.
"Coffee."
The secretary standing silently nearby had heard Susan muttering to herself for a while, but she had not dared respond.
She knew her director was in a terrible mood, and if she said the wrong thing, she would get screamed at for it.
So when Susan asked for coffee, the secretary did not react at first. She quickly looked up at her boss, wanting to confirm whether she had heard correctly.
Seeing that the secretary had not moved, Susan grabbed the electronic tablet on her desk and hurled it at her head.
"Are you deaf?"
The secretary was so frightened she began trembling. Ignoring the blood on her forehead, she hurriedly crouched down to pick up the tablet from the floor, only to find the screen already shattered.
Even so, she did not dare waste a second and rushed off to make Susan's coffee.
Back at the board meeting, after listening to Arthur's full report, Michiko did not disconnect him right away. Instead, she calmly pressed further.
"Everything you just reported, was it all done by your deputy director, Kai?"
Arthur gave another firm confirmation.
Michiko then immediately ordered Arthur to send the data to R&D supervisor Tanaka for verification.
Not long after, Tanaka also joined the board meeting link and, in front of all the board members, confirmed that the live-body performance data did indeed come from James, the cyberpsycho who had been using that military-grade Sandevistan.
Only then did Michiko give a slight nod of satisfaction.
"Not bad. Counterintel managed to recover the mission objective and clean up this mess."
"As I recall, Special Ops was the one so eager to snatch this task, bragging about it and promising it would be handled without fail."
"That's a snake trying to swallow an elephant. And you still had the nerve to steal intelligence from the department next door. Have your days at Arasaka become so comfortable and uneventful that you've forgotten how to behave?!"
Michiko's cold gaze swept across the nine board members, while every one of them chose to stare straight ahead and remain silent.
Michiko knew that each of those nine harbored their own agenda.
Some relied on the fact that they belonged to her grandfather Saburo's faction and simply did not take her seriously.
Some were pieces planted by her uncle Yorinobu, constantly stirring up hostility and competition with Militech.
Lately, rumors had even begun circulating that Yorinobu was about to take over Arasaka Corporation and establish a new headquarters in Night City.
As for her aunt Hanako, she was still far away in the Arasaka family estate in Kyoto, and her influence had not yet reached this place.
But Hanako had always seen herself as the true orthodox core of the family and moved under Saburo's name. Her influence within the Arasaka family was not to be underestimated.
That was why Michiko had convened this board meeting. She wanted to use the chance to remove her rivals and solidify her own position in Night City.
That way, even if Yorinobu really did take the throne one day, she would still have the power to protect herself.
Now that the meeting had reached this point, Michiko no longer bothered hiding her true aim.
"Susan Abernathy, as director, failed in this operation and failed to control her subordinates. She is suspended from her position as Special Ops director for three months, given a major disciplinary demerit, fined the equivalent of twenty-four months' salary, and the entire Special Ops division will be penalized with a six-month salary reduction."
As soon as Michiko finished delivering the punishment, the board members began exchanging looks and gauging the situation. Before long, one of them spoke in opposition.
"A three-month suspension is inappropriate. Militech is pressing us step by step right now. We cannot afford to have no director overseeing countermeasures."
Another board member added, "Abernathy did fail in controlling her people, but the main responsibility still lies with Caitlin and Carter Smith. They colluded with each other, fought for credit and personal gain, and deserved what they got."
"And this mission failure cannot be separated from Militech either. The idea that Maelstrom would dare attack an Arasaka Special Ops squad without Militech's backing is a joke."
After hearing that, several board members nodded in agreement.
As long as the contradiction could be redirected onto Militech, then even if Saburo himself were present at the meeting, he would have to think carefully about how to handle it.
Michiko had not expected that even now, these blind fools would still dare contradict her. A nameless anger rose in her chest.
Then she thought of Kai, the "hero" of this mission, and another plan formed in her mind.
"If you are all so worried about losing a Special Ops director, then I see that Special Ops just happens to have an open deputy director position."
"Let Kai, deputy director of Counterintel, take on the role of deputy director of Special Ops as well. That seems quite fitting."
The moment those words fell, the entire conference room went silent.
(End of Chapter)
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