"Are you sure this is a good idea, Dr. Robertson? Your patient's medical condition isn't exactly what I would call acceptable yet," said Djibril as he searched his pocket for some change to deposit in the vending machine.
"Giving him some light work and familiarizing him with certain members of his 'unit' will do good in the long run. This will allow the identity of Neo Lorrnoke to really settle in our patient's mind. The mask I've given to him plays a role in that too." Dr. Robertson glanced at his watch and noted that the meeting between the representative from Aktaion Industries and Phantom Pain's team had gone on for over an hour now.
"And once the new identity sets in, will he still need drugs to suppress his old memory?" The man deposited some coins into the machine and made his selection for a certain candy that he had liked as a child.
"There aren't a lot of major sights that can trigger his old memory. From the data logs of the Jachin Due battle, the Strike has been completely destroyed. As for the Archangel, it's not like he'll be seeing them soon with their last whereabouts that they were in space while he's here in the Lodonia facility on earth." His thoughts were interrupted as Djibril began to pound on the vending machine glass.
"GIVE ME MY CANDY, YOU DUMB MACHINE!!!!!"
**********
"Er... did you hear something?" The representative, who was none other than the sneaky executive who tried to 'purchase' Red Frame months back, glanced around the conference room.
"I think I heard something about candy," muttered Ian Lee, who had been assigned to play the role of Neo's trusted first officer. He didn't have too much of a problem and acted like he and Neo had served together for years. The fact that Neo warmed up to him quickly helped cement that 'friendship'.
"Can we get back on track here?" asked an irritated voice which was not his own nor Neo's. Other than himself and Neo, there was a third member of the negotiating party to help draw out the Aktaion contract. He was a young seventeen year old soldier who has had experience battling in a mobile suit on the front lines. Dressed in a blue Alliance uniform, he had white hair and brown eyes. His part in the charade was that he was Phantom Pain's second lieutenant and he went by the name of Sven Cal Bayan.
The executive quickly apologized and turned to pay attention to the youngster who seemed to be the one who initiated the whole meeting in the first place. Right now, his company was suffering from a drop in profits from the negative publicity which had been created when word got out of how he had attempted to convince Lowe to sell Red Frame to the company. The Alliance contract would be a first step in repairing the company's image. "My apologies. I believe that Mr. Lorrnoke had been speaking of an updated version of the Moebius Zero mobile armour?"
"That's right. I was hoping that your company can construct a mobile armour like the old Moebius Zero units which would use beam weaponry for the Gunbarrels. Would that be a problem?" asked the masked man who was now dressed in a full military uniform.
The executive gave a rough estimate. "It would probably take about ten months to complete and then you'll need to come by and test it for a few weeks to make sure that everything fits your specifications. Creating wire-guided Gunbarrels is delicate work according to my engineering team."
"Sounds reasonable," murmured Neo. "Is there anything else we forgotten?"
"What about my request for the mobile suit? How soon can you complete it?" asked Sven quickly.
The executive glanced at the specs again for this 'Strike Noir' unit. "We would need about nine months for the basic unit itself. I don't see any major problems for creating new Striker packs or other accessories but what's with the request for creating an anti-Coordinator AI that accompanies the OS?"
"Security measures. I don't want my mobile suit to be stolen by a damn Coordinator and used against the Alliance," replied the young soldier.
"Well, the programming could take up to a year or maybe a year and a half by itself. To actually create an AI that doesn't like Coordinators is quite a challenge." He could feel that his staff union will definitely be wanting to talk to him about too much overtime work when he lays this request down.
"How about if an additional 8 million Aado was added to the current offer? Would that be sufficient?"
"Sven!! You're overstepping your authority!!" barked Ian. Before he could go further, Neo raised his hands to calm both of his subordinates down.
"Ian, it was Sven who took the effort to bring our guest here to discuss the arrangement. He's simply trying to negotiate a fair deal for us. Sven, please keep in mind that we have a limited budget and can't afford to make hasty offers." After both officers calmed down, Neo spoke again. "Perhaps we can make a small compromise. We'll do the programming of the AI on our end and you just make sure that the OS accompanying the mobile suit is Natural friendly and is compatible with our AI. Of course, we will send regular reports on our progress so that you have a framework to work with. Would that suffice?"
"That works for me," said the executive. Neo glanced at his officers and they simply nodded in agreement. As the meeting concluded, the executive and Neo Lorrnoke shook hands. "I look forward to working with you, Phantom Pain."
After the executive left the officers alone in the conference room, Neo gave a small sigh. "You know... I always wondered what's the story behind my nickname?"
Sven recalled the instructions that he had been given and spoke up. "I can fill in the spots for you, sir. It all started when you tested the very first Moebius Zero..."
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(Posted Fri, 10 Mar 2006 01:46)
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