[Nyra's POV]
I closed the door behind me. I was back outside on the small clearing in the forest. There were three small one room shrines. One for my father, one for my sister and one for my mother.
Then there were also the ruins of a fourth one, which was meant for my brother as they expected to find his body when he went missing, but after he appeared again and showed no intention of returning to his family it was demolished by my father in range.
As I followed the stone path back to my car, I listened to the sounds of the forest. Some animals I couldn't identify were screaming far away. My father wanted to burn down all of this forest to make more place for the buildings and to get rid of all annoying and dangerous animals, but mother was a protector of nature. Even though he was cold as ice when it came to business, as mother intervened, he had no chance to win the discussion.
I sat back into my car and closed the door. 'Damn is it hot in here' My idiotic self parked the car in the only spot with son in this entire forest and now this thing was the equivalent of a sauna.
I started the motor and turned the AC on full power. 'I hope this car cools down even a single degree before I have to get out again' I drove a few miles on the forest road before I finally came back to an asphalt road. I turned right and was stopped by a train crossing the street.
I hit my head on the steering wheel before I looked up again. The train had loaded a bunch of the new TMBR-Model 1 tanks. I looked as the train drove by. 'Red… red… red… red… why are all these red?' As far as I knew, these tanks just came back from the testing site and apparently, they all had failed in some sort of way.
Then another load of tanks came by. But these were… well… not identifiable as tanks anymore. They were just a bunch of metal pieces. 'What in god's sake did they test them with?' My mind already pictured the red numbers on documents I'd have to sign.
I nearly walked right through the wall as I entered the management building. Alex, the second in command, cut me off before I could even say anything. "We're selling weapons, not toys". "But our own army has been using this model for years."
"I guess your customers have special needs" he said before turning back to his laptop. "Why are we even selling weapons?" He asked me. "We are a weapon producer, not mercenaries" I said to him.
"Your father would say something different" I glared at him. He knew I didn't like it when people were talking about my father, but I also knew he was right. My father was obsessed with having a military force which he could use to protect his beloved ones after he lost his wife. Even though he went more and more crazy over the years, I still loved him as my father.
After his death I became president of black ring and I shifted the focus more on producing, developing, and selling weapons than using them ourselves. On the other hand, the Armed Forces still exist and are provided with our best equipment. They don't just see service anymore.
Stefan, our weather guy, came through the door. "Shitty as always… Storm incoming" he said as he threw the report right in my face. "Steve…" Alex wanted to say something. "Stop calling me Steve!"
"Is there any chance It's going to miss us?" I asked, but he just shook his head. "Who came up with the idea of making an island our HQ? This is impractical in more than four ways!" Alex complained once again, obviously hinting at my father.
Thunder could be heard in the distance, and the sun slowly vanished from the sky as it was covered by clouds. "There we go once more… I'm going to get myself a coffee" Steve walked out of the door. 'I should go back home before the storm arrives' I though and made my way back to the car.