Once, he received the message from Robert, he immediately replied to it and told him that he would take care of it and would like to further discuss the same with him. He knew that though it was a viable option, it isn't the best one.
He knew a few people who can take Balthazar's place, but they are not ones who would allow any hearsay that they are working under a young man for him. They were all tough ones who had their own prestige and fame and wouldn't allow it to be diminished for him. They might consider if Walter proposed it, but even he would have to trade something worth it.
"If only Walter considered that his grand kid would do something like this," he said aloud talking to himself. Richard knew that if Walter expected that it would be a long journey or wasn't angry that Max had actually attempted to kill Robert, he would have definitely made arrangements for Robert.
He got a message from Robert informing that they could meet right now, and he would also introduce Balthazar as he was in the room. "I don't mind being introduced to the kid. I would be meeting him some time in the near future. Better now than later," thought Richard as he got up and made his way to Robert's room.
Once, he went to the room, he found Balthazar sitting on a chair with the screen in front of him, playing some videos of fights and was fervently discussing about them with Robert who was lying on the bed and looking at the same.
"What are you kids doing?" asked Richard gently as he entered the room. Balthazar was shocked to see this person enter the room with getting permission from Robert. All rooms usually required a password that would be set by the resident or at least his permission to enter. Seeing this person quietly enter the room, he began to quickly scan the room for objects, he could use against the intruder.
He only calmed down, once Robert introduced the person. "Balthazar. This is Richard. He works for grandpa. He had been guarding me since the incident with Max," said Robert pointing towards his neck.
Listening to Robert, Balthazar calmed down and clasped the hand which Richard extended to him on being introduced. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Richard."
"He was willing to represent me in the contest."
"Yes. I am going to fight in young master's stead. I am glad that you who are eligible for the same are supporting him instead of trying to gain the seat yourself. You are a good brother," said Richard as he held Balthazar's hand tightly.
It looked like he was trying to ascertain, whether Balthazar was really supporting Robert or if he has an alternate agenda. He was only told by Robert that Balthazar and Winston were supporting him, and he had no idea why or the circumstances and the agreement under which this happened. He would be an extremely foolish man, if he didn't consider foul play.
"Yeah. It is for the best the Robert is included in the Elder council. I don't expect myself to be joining anytime and my sister doesn't have the time to indulge this at the moment. So, supporting Robert was obvious," explained Balthazar who guessed the intent behind Richard's words.
"By the way. You don't have anything in the room to protect yourself against anyone. WTF dude!" continued Balthazar as he sat back down into the seat.
"Come on. I got a decent guardian who looks after me all the time and who told I don't have any weapons in here," said Robert as he pushed his hand into a small tile by his bookshelf. This caused a small door to open up beneath the tile revealing a gun and a knife.
"That would be a viable option if someone unexpected asks permission to enter the room not in situations like these, where one comes in barging," said Balthazar. He almost wanted to slap his cousin. Such false panels would be of use in a common place for visitors like a hall, not the bedroom of a bachelor. Their main use is in situations where one expects his opponent wouldn't think that he would have a weapon. Any person that would sneak into a bedroom, would make sufficient preparations, attack and kill as soon as he enters.
"Dude! Chill out. He is my guardian and I gave him standing permit to enter the room in case of emergencies. I got lucky and was saved as Max in his hurry to leave left the door open," said Robert. He heard the words barging in and thought that he was angry with Richard and was trying to cover for his guardian.
"Still, it is always sensible to have a quicker access to weapons, if you are to survive or hold back the intruder before the help comes," said Balthazar in the same spirit.
"I agree with Colonel Balthazar, you need to have a weapon on your person, young master or at a location which you can access within a second. Given the recent attack on you, there is a high chance that one might be able to fool the security and sneak into your room," said Richard agreeing with him
"Fine, I will try to get it done as soon as possible," said Robert agreeing to their suggestions. He was already suggested the same by Richard, but he felt it would be extremely uncomfortable to have a weapon by his bedside. He was also the kind of sleeper who rolled around in his sleep which made having a weapon by his side dangerous.
"Now, can we continue with the observing his fights," said Robert pointing at the screen. "Ya, you told that you wanted to talk about something," he asked Richard.
"Ya, I wanted to talk to you about this prospective solution that Balthazar suggested. I already know that they are working on a proper combat arena through the samsara framework and they already have a proper arena made for weapons combat and working to create combat suits and warframes. I have already contacted Mr. Edgerton and informed him of your suggestion. Though it would be hard to create a large ground or an actual fight-based scenario, he says a simple ground to fight with warframes could be easily done in a couple of days," said Richard.
"This guy is helping Robert a lot. I guess, he holds an important place under Walter. Else, he would not take such initiative and be so fast and efficient," thought Balthazar.
"So, for now, we need to focus on the excursion to DG-150 planet, rather than the other thing. They wouldn't suggest a fight even before the hunt, else they would be marked as cowardly," explained Richard.
"But first, we need to consider what kind of tests did you have in mind, if you were serious about using the somnium tech for recruitment. The present versions were all meant for practice between two contestants. We need a good method for grading their performance, if we are to use somnium tech," continued Richard.
"I will let you both discuss this, I need to be somewhere else," said Balthazar as he got up and left the room. It was a good opportunity for his cousin to think and discuss this with Richard. Until now all his cousin did was to forward his suggestions to Richard. If they are both alone, Robert would be providing his own thoughts. Even if they might be stupid it was a chance to grow and him staying would hamper that.
He also wanted to go to Winston, and he wanted to get hold of few weapons. He also needed a hidden one on his body as it was important for him to be prepared for unexpected intruders like he told Robert.
He contacted Winston for the same who asked him to get in touch with Ellie Edgerton as she was the one who would be the fastest and most proactive for such things. Moreover, Winston knew that she is the only one who wouldn't be intimidated by the fact that he was the patriarch's grandson and interact with Balthazar without any inhibitions and suggest anything that comes into her mind.
She liked to experiment with people and had a record of trying to fool people into trying out dangerous thing like attaching equipment directly to the body. The failure and sometimes even success of such things would cause physical and even mental damage to a person. Despite all these, he suggested her to Balthazar as he wanted to see how he would handle her. If he couldn't even do this, then he wouldn't have a good time in the world outside.
As much as Winston knew his grandson had been in the military where the technology and weapons used needed to follow a standard safety protocol. If he had any intention to go after the military and use resource out of the standard or join Evelyn Price's group, he needed to learn how to interact with such people. This required him to learn how to handle, extremely strong-willed people and from Winston's perspective, Ellie was the best person to give him that experience.
Balthazar on the other hand didn't mind the slightest, he was used to working with a bunch of assassins' whom he never trusted to do only that would profit them. He was someone who would never knowingly let someone get into his blind spot.
He considered Ellie the best option as he liked such people whose passion for their work made them ignore protocol. Such people would provide their uncensored opinions and thoughts when enticed. It would allow him to thoroughly understand his existing options and also they would simply try to create his equipment as per his requirements and that is the best point in having custom made equipment. He always considered people who restrict themselves by the standards to fail in this. So, he appreciated Ellie more than others who were worried about fame or standards.
He went back to the armory again. Ellie was waiting for him at the entrance as he didn't have the permission to enter it. She practically pulled him into the armory by his hand. She quickly pulled out a thin, skin colored full body suit and made him hold it like he was displaying it.
"Yes! I was waiting for you to come back to the armory. How can someone like you who managed to take down an alien armada and almost died not want some emergency equipment to take back. I have been working on some of the best clothes that can be worn underneath your uniform. They are made of a material made by me. It is less than a micrometer thin and provides high insulation and it doesn't tear easily. It provides the same protection as a standard recruit military vest," she explained. She took out a blade and began swinging it at the suit to demonstrate its toughness.
"Stop! Stop! I didn't come to the armory for a vest. I needed something else," said Balthazar.
"You didn't like this? You realized that the material is a bit abrasive, right? The two testers also thought the same, it kind of grates at your skin when you are running. Why don't I suggest something else for you? You probably want more defensive equipment, right? I can provide you a better version of the equipment you took last time. The force field can have a larger range, but there is a chance of overheating and explosion, but I added something which would allow you to customize the range of the force field. This would also give you more options, right?" she continued without listening a thing that Balthazar was about to say.
"That sounds like a very good idea, but I didn't come to for more defense oriented tools. I wanted to have a few weapons," said Balthazar.
"Oh! I was about to show you my collection the last time we met. Come on," she said as she began to move.
"Hold it," said Balthazar as he caught her by her shoulders stopping her. "Let me finish. I am not here to check the guns you created. Actually, I don't have any idea of the tools that are available here, but you have piqued my interest with this suit. First, I would like to have a suit similar to this. I need it to be quite thin, but also comfortable and I should be able to wear it for large amount of time, at least a few days without a bath and shouldn't get any abrasions from it."
"That is hard. You can't have both defence and those other things that you asked for. I thought you were well educated. It would take a lot of time and effort and wouldn't be worth the price of the research involved. Why do you need to wear it for such a long time?" she asked disappointed by his request.
"Don't need the defence. In fact, I don't even need an entire suit. I just need something thin and hard to be noticed by others and it to be able to cover some hidden weapons. Say poison coated needles or a small blade. Consider it something that would be used in an emergency to buy myself some time from a superior opponent," said Balthazar explaining his requirement.
"These are something that is required for an assassin, but one would always use a combat suit for such purposes. You don't need some micro thin fabric like this. You are just like the rest of them," said Ellie getting disappoint more by the second.