“Absolutely not!” Laura slammed her hand down on the table, cracking it. “She has been through enough. I will not have her put in this position.”
“Her being through what she’s been through is the reason why I… we need her, Laura.” Stacey put up her firewalls, she wasn’t sure if Laura would launch a cyber attack but she couldn’t be too certain. “Ben, Lauren, Jane… they are who they are because of Raymond. I’d do it myself or even grab Lorelei but we need a human victim…” Stacey doubled down.
“I’m going to have to agree with Stacey on this one…” Marco said begrudgingly. “You risked a lot to get her out of that prison. Not everyone saw the value in that. Like you said to the General it was a personal mission. We need to turn it into one that helps the cause.” He shook his head and sighed. “And yes a human will present a better message, especially to the Anti-Doll members of our cause.”
“I don’t care, I’m not letting you or anyone put her in harm’s way ever again,” Laura wouldn’t budge on this. “We’ll release all the files we have so far. Anything but this.”
“I don’t think it’s your choice to make,” Stacey changed strategies. “Let’s ask Jane what she wants to do. If she says no then it’s a no and we’ll do it your way.”
“You bitch…” Laura cursed Stacey for using her core morals against her. “Fine but give her a few days, she’s hurting right now.” Marco nodded to this request. Surprisingly so did Stacey. “For now I want to focus on the assistant, Tamara. If we can find out where her original upload is and get her on side.”
“That’ll be risky,” Stacey pondered. “Tamara was fiercely loyal to Raymond. They have a real Harley Quinn / Joker relationship. I’m not sure if there’s even an unaltered upload. They only kept one for Lauren to see how an unaltered mind would cope with being a Doll. Raymond’s probably modified whatever’s there into a virtual assistant.”
“It’s worth a shot, if nothing else we can get more data. I could also build up what’s there into someone new, like I did with you.” Laura suggested. “Before we commence Operation Blindfold, I want to gather as many resources as possible, while denying Raymond what we can. We don’t know how many people he has under his control and to what extent so we need to be careful. Stacey I want you to start waking up more Dolls and recruiting more drones.” Laura turned to Marco. “Work with the General; start getting as many veterans in on this before shit hits the fan.”
“Understood,” Marco saluted and headed off to their makeshift communication center.
“There is another avenue to pursue, ma’am,” someone else spoke up. “Hilary has some powerful friends, not all of them travel in the same circle as DollTech or Raymond. Their resources could come in handy, and she does owe us for rescuing her.” Laura turned to them and nodded.
“Alright get on that,” Laura approved. “I’m going to contact our international cells and let them know to be ready.”
* * * * *
Raymond sat down at the head of the table to discuss things with the board. It wasn’t to discuss the direction of DollTech or its subsidiaries; instead it was to delegate tasks to his subordinates. At the table sat Raymond, Benjamin, Yuki, Hiro and a few others Raymond never really bothered learning the numbers or names of. There were also several DX units and Tamara.
“Today has been a disaster!” Raymond slammed his fist down on the table. “We lost both DX-9 and 299935. The mental facility has been exposed and the media has been asking questions. Fortunately we’ve managed to make this look like an attack by terrorists against the company and Benjamin in particular. Though now we need to spin the narrative as to why…”
“We could expand the attack on the company angle,” Benjamin suggested. “Make it look like Lauren and I were just their first target. In fact, to garner more support we could have the attack be successful.” Ben turned to face Yuki. “The Dolls are currently compromised. Do we need our Japanese head?” He then turned to the other members at the table. “And do we really need families asking questions about why people have changed. I would suggest we have Lauren killed but the enemy already has her.” Raymond smiled at his inferior counterpart while the others nodded in approval, even though they were screaming on the inside.
“While I approve of the plan,” Yuki acknowledged, knowing her life was forfeit. “We also need to create fear, force people into Dolls in their day to day life, to allow for more programming. I recommend we hit random targets across the country and globe. Let’s put the nation under siege. We can even use my death to promote the DX sales.”
“Not until we fix the security issues with the Dolls,” Raymond turned to Hiro. “We’ve had more than a few go missing over the years and there were the Dolls that attacked our soldiers and others today. The therapy Doll was responsible for half a dozen deaths.”
“We have retrieved the unit and are doing a full scan on its mind now,” Dr Hiro assured Raymond. “We have also taken in the orderlies for analysis as well. Once we find the flaw it will be patched out in any future models.”
“Excellent,” Raymond stood up. “I want everyone to give me their family’s current location. Yuki I want you at the airport tonight heading back to Japan. Hiro you will wait an extra day. Benjamin, you have an interview to conduct. Dismissed.” He ordered as he got up off the table and headed to his office.
He was pleased with the outcome of the meeting. Sure people will suffer but that would get others on side or at least in the position to control. Soon no one would be able to stop him or his plans, the world would be his.