Pierre Beaumont was drinking a glass of Chateau Margaux 2000 red wine and listening to Chopin - Nocturne op.9 No.2 in front of the fireplace in his mansion. It was a warm evening and it was ridiculous to run the air-conditioning and the fireplace at the same time, but Pierre enjoyed the setting. Pierre had his Zetan monocle lying on the coffee table. While he enjoyed the heightened intelligence it provided, he needed to unwind every now and then and have the mind of a human, a lesser species.
The monocle beeped to warn for danger, and Pierre was about to insert it, but he was too late. "Freeze! Hold it right there!" An American voice commanded.
Pierre got startled, spilled wine over his shirt, and turned around. CIA agent James Winter was aiming a silenced pistol at him. Pierre:
- Did you injure my guards?
James:
- There was no need. I hacked the house's security system and my monocle made it easy for me to infiltrate the house undetected.
Pierre:
- That's a relief. It's such a pain to find good employees these days.
- Why are you here, James?
James:
- I want you to tell me about your involvement in the biological weapon attack on New York.
Pierre:
- I don't know what you are talking about.
James:
- Yes, you do. I know that you and the World Bank made an absolute fortune from shorting the international markets before the attack.
Pierre sighed. He realised that he hadn't hidden his tracks well enough if James Winter had found out. However, James had heightened intelligence via his Zetan Monocle, so Pierre hoped that the other dimwits wouldn't realise. Pierre:
- You are right, James.
- I knew about the attack in advance and I chose to benefit from it. But I was never involved in the attack.
James:
- So, who is behind the attack?
Pierre:
- Jing Xi and agents from the Columnist Party.
James:
- Do you have any evidence?
Pierre:
- Yes. I have these videos. I also have reports showing that Jing Xi bought five tonnes of Selenium Hydride to contaminate the New York water supply.
James:
- How do you know all this?
Pierre:
- I own the company that is maintaining the Chinese government's surveillance AI. I have backdoors into their systems and I know everything they are up to.
James:
- Wow. This is amazing.
Pierre:
- Yes. Now put that gun away. You are making me uncomfortable.
James put away the pistol and looked at the files and videos that Pierre had provided him with. James' Zetan monocle indicated that the documents and videos were genuine.
After a while, James sighed:
- Wow. This is explosive stuff. I would have hoped that some less powerful terrorist group had released the virus. A biological warfare attack from China. This will lead to war.
Pierre:
- I didn't know that the CIA was so afraid of war. You have started quite a few in the last few decades.
James scoffed:
- Bah. That's different. Bombing Iraq, who didn't have any weapons of mass destruction, is a lot less risky than attacking China. China is armed to the teeth and has a large nuclear arsenal!
Pierre:
- What if I can help you out?
James:
- What would you do?
Pierre:
- I can access the Chinese AI and designate Jing Xi and other top-ranking Columnist Party officials as enemies of the state. Then we can watch as they kill each other.
James:
- Hmm. Any chance that you can free Eileen Lu from her imprisonment?
Pierre:
- Eileen Lu? Who is that?
James:
- Eileen Lu is the most prominent leader in the Chinese civil rights movement. I suspect that the Columnist Party arrested her during the outbreak in Xuwan.
Pierre:
- And why do you want to free her?
James:
- Because if we can make her the president of China, China will become a weak pushover. Eileen is meek and a lot of the old guard would hate her. She would be completely dependent on foreign help to stay in power. Wouldn't that suit the Bank?
Pierre reached for his monocle and he inserted it. He pulled up Eileen's file and analysed it. Pierre realised that James was correct. Pierre had never considered installing a weak president in China to strengthen his power. His original plan had only entailed carrying out the bioweapon attack on New York to crash the markets and expand his wealth. But James had brought a new interesting scenario to the table.
Pierre accessed the Chinese AI and he found a video feed of Eileen in a prison cell together with the Australian spy, Jared Pond. Pierre didn't know why the Chinese had placed them in the same cell, but it wasn't particularly important. Pierre spoke:
- I am in on your plan. I'll instruct my agents to save Eileen. Furthermore, I will mark all the Columnist Party leadership as 'enemies of the state' in their AI. Then we can watch from afar how they are killing each other hoping to rise to power!
James:
- Excellent. I am sure that this will please President Mitchell Cent, who replaced Deidrick Dump when he died.
- Are you going to release the documents proving China's guilt?
Pierre:
- Yes. The compensation claims will drive them bankrupt and the Dragon will fall.
James:
- And the Banker will rise?
Pierre:
- Exactly!
James:
- Are you sure that you had nothing to do with the New York outbreak?
Pierre:
- Don't ask questions you don't want answered. Now get out of my house. Leave via the front door this time!
Pierre pressed a button on his phone and two bodyguards arrived. Pierre:
- Gerard, Philip. Escort James from my property. He is overstaying his welcome.
For a second, Pierre noticed how James' threat level increased to 'moderate', but he quickly returned to 'low'. Without a word, James got up and followed the guards away from Pierre's residence.
Pierre called Vladimir:
- Vladimir, we have a new objective. You need to get Eileen Lu out of the Ministry of State Security facility in Beijing.
Vladimir:
- Do you want me dead, Pierre?
Pierre:
- Yes. But that's not going to happen, is it?
Vladimir:
- Correct. I'll speak to our contact on the inside. I'll get her out. But why do you want to save Eileen? I thought Jing Xi was the objective.
Pierre:
- Jing Xi is still the objective. But James Winter wants to save Eileen and make her the puppet president of China. We got to keep James and the CIA happy.
Vladimir:
- Understood. I will get her out.
Vladimir hung up the phone and Pierre got changed. He was annoyed that he spilled his exquisite wine after James Winter had threatened him at gunpoint, but he would have to forgive James. Pierre was certain that James had proof against him that he would release if Pierre sent Vladimir to kill him. In the end, it was all good. Pierre was certain that he could also benefit from installing Eileen Lu as a puppet president of China.
Pierre returned to his armchair and enjoyed another glass of wine. He turned on the stereo and resumed enjoying classical music.