Sophia went back to the training room, her nerves rattled. Truth and fiction. Interrogations. But this wasn't an interrogation. It was a reality show that was on 24/7.
'The scientists didn't say anything false intentionally,' Sophia recalled Major Hsuzel's words.
She pulled out her shotgun.
'False. Unintentionally. False. Unintentionally,' Sophia thought.
She unloaded her shotgun on the sandbag.
'False. Unintentionally,' Sophia thought once more.
She reloaded her shotgun.
'Part truth. Part misleading,' Sophia thought again.
She closed her eyes and concentrated. She remembered the restorative capabilities of the dark gray shotgun. It hid within the shadows of her primary shotgun.
'The truth. Hidden among other facts,' Sophia focused.
She opened her eyes and separated the secondary from her primary.
'No proof. No proof. No tangible evidence,' Sophia thought deeply.
She eyed the dark gray shotgun. It could only restore the damage that it actively recorded.
'Out in the open. Misread,' Sophia thought some more.
She put the barrel of the secondary right in front of her eyes. Took a closer look. The color wasn't dark gray. It was black. Sometimes white. They switched rapidly, giving the illusion of gray, but there was never real gray. Now it was actually dark gray. Were there 3 colors? 2? 1?
'The truth was explained away by other facts. Easiest explanation? Easily accepted. Low-risk explanation. Easily fooled. The odd bars in the video. Looked like some kind of sample being held in front of us, but maybe that was the point,' Sophia thought even more deeply.
She turned around as an odd feeling rose from the pit of her stomach.
'Someone spliced the video in real-time and reorganized it. How did it bypass our checks? It was happening in real-time, fooling us. It's easier to believe a prerecorded video was edited, not live. Can you even edit a live stream in real-time?' Sophia thought.
(Silence)
'Was it even a live stream? Could it have been timed to look like a live stream?' Sophia shuddered upon thinking. 'Such a simple thing, but it's easier to believe there was massive production effort taken to make it seem like the case.'
(Silence)
'I'll go to the visual media department. I hope I'm right,' Sophia thought as she ran.
——|——|—|—|——|——
"Have you finished repairing the link? It was an important message."
"There were some artifacts since it was a new line. I worked the kinks out, though. Timed it just right. Any mistakes, and we would've been disciplined for slacking off."
"What was it?"
"Some analysis."
(Bang)
(Bang)
"Hmm? Who is that?"
"You're the secretary for today. You go get it. Don't roll your eyes."
A young woman got up and opened the door.
"You're Sophia? I've seen you around," a young woman asked.
"Did you guys receive any prerecorded video recently?" Sophia asked while panting.
"No, but the A/V expert over there was just repairing a live feed in real-time," the young woman answered.
"Live feed?" Sophia frowned.
"Aye, aye," a young man, the A/V expert, confirmed.
"What was the issue?" Sophia asked, the confusion in her heart growing.
"You're Sophia, right? It was a live connection between Hsuzel and the scientists over at the National Forensics Lab," the young man explained.
'Live, not prerecorded,' Sophia thought. 'Was I wrong?'
"Problem on our end or somewhere else?" Sophia asked, holding onto her last hope.
"Too many hot showers. A weak pipe finally burst. Fried a line," the young man explained.
"Oh, those hourly brawls. Those are good. Keeps everyone sharp," Sophia nodded. "Any good fights?"
"Yeah. Two rounder. *Knock-Em-Sock-Em* One-Eyed Jimmy is crafty as always. Conditioned a critical hit. The opponent lost a lot of blood. A couple of hotheads got overheated. Knocked out all the same,' the young man said, laughing.
"Thanks. I appreciate it. Keep up the good work," Sophia nodded.
"Thanks for coming by. It can get lonely working by yourself," the young man joked.
"Hope to find you around, Sophia," the young woman bid farewell.
Sophia nodded as she left, deflated.
'Did I overthink it? It shouldn't be this hard, right?' Sophia complained to herself as she walked down the hall, annoyed.
——|——|—|—|——|——
[Somewhere, Earth]
"Well?" a voice asked over a private line. "Was the full meal to your liking?"
"Organic, untraceable," a deep voice replied.
It was sharp, quick, and to the point. It afforded no compromise. No fear.
"Like I said," a voice replied.
"The others?" a deep voice asked.
"Merely a bit of fun. Must be fun, bird's eye view," a voice replied.
Five minutes of silence.
"Impeccable nerves, General *something starting after the letter A…*. I wonder if I should spell it out," a voice spoke.
Fifteen minutes of silence. Some paper ruffling. Typing. Calm but emotionally suppressed breathing.
"Guesses, not nothing concrete. You're quite terrified, not being in control. You expect to be in control. It's how you rose up the ranks," a voice commented.
"It seems you've figured me out quite well. How long you been in the know," the General finally replied.
"Business folks are just normal people with a lot of wealth. No training or experience to control their emotions. Naturally cold, but no grander goal. Cutting-edge capabilities means resources and connections. Dojos are too simple. Academies have backing from the government. Their stance is presence and control," a voice said casually.
"Occam's razor. The simplest solution is usually the correct one. If everything else is impossible, no matter how improbably, it is the answer. I hate those f**kers," the General mentioned.
"Principled. If I wanted to do you in, it would've been done several years ago," a voice replied.
"How long till I get the final product," the General asked.
"A few more trials. A few more modifications. I'm not interested in being misunderstood," a voice said sternly.
"Understood. How much?" the General questioned.
"I already have enough. Just have fun," a voice commented.
"Why the partnership then," the General asked.
"Too obvious if I dive in. It's less inconspicuous with you," a voice replied.
"Why so interested in the Military," the General asked, curious.
"Something of great interest to me," a voice said.
"Can't you give me a hint?" the General pressed.
"Oh. The urgency. A tactic to let slip my ego," a voice exposed.
"Gotta try," the General said with a sigh.
"The smart don't need such tricks. They would cause fear," a voice said.
"Reverse psychology? I don't know. I've stumped many fellas," the General rebutted.
"The best don't care. Merely do. Fools flex their capabilities," a voice hit like thunder.
"Not bad. Exploiting the injury," the General laughed.
"You seem to be greatly affected," a voice sounded calm, composed.
"Been a long time since I've been in a word game. Usually, I just stare, and they shut up," the General ruminated.
"The military is only one thing in the world. There are many. None dominates. They are equally afraid. Complacency sinks like a rock thrown in the river," a voice commented indifferently.
(Click)
The General was smiling as he dialed another number. There was an incoming call, but he ignored it. When was the last conversation where something like that happened? Never. There was something important. He didn't know it. He needed to know it. It wasn't good that he didn't know it. That was a problem. Or maybe his partner was playing mind games with him. But, the slip-up happened. He needed to know where the circle had a break. It wasn't about sealing a leak. Those always happened. It wasn't about trust either. Deals weren't related to trust. Benefits and risks. It was about understanding the situation and your importance. There was a process that he wasn't important to that affected him. That was unacceptable.
"Sir?"
"Have the Limitless Truth Alliance shown any activity?" the General asked after adjusting his vocal chord.
"No, sir. Ever since the last battle, they've been hiding in their holes. I think we scared them quite a bit."
"Good. I have some intel. I just sent you the coordinates. Possible jackpot. Tell me what you find. Send in command O.A.I.H just to make sure. We don't want any losses," the General stated.
"Sir, yes, sir. Are you sure though? We don't have many of them."
"It's fine. I personally guarantee their safety," the General replied.
"Ah. Going overboard. Understood"
"Thanks," the General expressed gratitude.
"No problem, sir. It's an honor to speak with you."
"You're the future generation. I gotta give you guys some slack every now and then. Can you do me a favor?" the General said with a chuckle
"Sir?"
"I just sent you something. Can you tell me where they pop up?" the General said mysteriously.
"I understand."
The General ended the call and leaned back into his chair. He took out a cigar, lit it, and began smoking.
'Stupid b**ch. Crazy lass. I'll be sure to send you a check for the mental asylum. I'm too old for this s**t. But alas. A soldier's duty is ultimately to his country, no matter how f**ked up the world is,' the General thought.
After a while, he got up, stamped the cigar on the ashtray, and left his office.
"Back to work," the General's voice came through as a mutter.