“Tonight, a company under siege” the news anchor straightened his papers. “Attacks across the country have continued for a third day this week. All have been centered around DollTech employees. A total of fifty people have been left dead, with hundreds wounded. Even Channel 4’s very own Kate Watson lost her life today, our hearts go out to her family.” The anchor’s voice was cracking. “We go live to DollTech for more.”



The feed changed to a press conference with Raymond Jones at the podium. Behind him sat Benjamin and their CFO Adam Faraday.



“It is a dark day in the history of DollTech, not seen since the worker riots of the mid twenties. Our company is under attack by a terrorist organization calling themselves the Saviors of Humanity. Their actions prove they don’t wish to save anyone and instead want to watch the world burn because it has outgrown their ideals.” Raymond spoke with a solemn voice. “Let us have a moment of silence for those who died today. As we remember, Yuki Yamato, Kyle Foster, the Matthews family, the Walters family and all the others who lost their lives today.” Raymond took a step back from the podium and bowed his head.



Everyone except the heavy security bowed their heads in silence. Once the minute silence was up, Raymond returned to the podium.



“DollTech remains committed to the safety of our employees and we are cooperating fully with law enforcement to bring these terrorists to justice. However they have also taken hostages and have not reached out for demands. My good friend Benjamin Smith would like to say a few words.”



Benjamin got up off his seat and walked past Raymond giving him a nod. He took his position at the podium and cleared his voice while ensuring the mic was working.



“My name… my name is Benjamin Smith. I was the first to be attacked by these terrorists. I am only fortunate to be alive because my old residence was the place targeted, my former neighbours weren’t so lucky. They also attacked the mental health facility where my sick wife, Lauren Smith was being held. They kidnapped her as well as six other patients. Please…” Benjamin was told to think about crying so he did. “She’s done nothing wrong… I wasn’t even working for DollTech when she felt ill… she’s innocent… I just want my wife back…” Benjamin struggled to keep his emotions together, a part of him meant those words. He was barely holding it together when he sat back down.



“Excellent work,” Raymond whispered to him as he sat back down. Using Jane and the others was a great way to gain more sympathy but they weren’t the only card Raymond had. People cared about kids way more than mental patients. Raymond nodded to Adam Faraday to give his speech.



Adam got off the seat and approached the podium with a resounding calm. He looked out into the audience and thought about what he was going to say. Raymond had instructed to give him an emotional speech about his daughter’s kidnapping but he was also told he wasn’t meant to care about his daughter.



“My name is Adam Faraday, I am the Chief financial officer for DollTech,” Adam got the easy part out of the way. “My Daughter… Lily goes to school at Judas Academy. She…” Adam paused.



‘Didn’t matter… is the most important thing in my life… was rescued from DollTech…’ These three options circled around in his brain, he didn’t know which one to say. The first option was what he was told the other day, that it was a good thing she was going to die. The second was true but here it was fake. The third was the one he wanted to say…



“She… She…” Adam froze up on stage. His head began to twitch as blood began dripping from his nose. “She… She…” Adam went into a violent fit as he collapsed on the ground.



The signal of the press conference was cut, as staff ran up to the stage. It was too late Adam Faraday was dead.



“I’m sorry folks,” Tom said looking off camera shocked. “There appears to be a medical emergency unfolding…” Tom returned to face the camera. “We will give you an update as we know more…” Tom said, unsure of himself…. “Once again….”



The TV was turned off as Stacey stood there tilting her head at what she saw. She would’ve probed Channel 4’s network to see what was happening at the press conference but she had so much more on her plate.



‘Ieso,’ Stacey contacted the paramedic. ‘What just happened?’



‘Reviewing the footage now,’ Ieso commented. ‘Medical diagnosis: fatal brain aneurysm.’



‘Interesting…’ Stacey thought mostly to herself. ‘Did you see the way he looked beforehand?’



‘Yes… Patient… Adam was presenting strange characteristics. He was unusually calm showing no signs of emotions or physical distress. During his speech he was informative until reaching the subject of his daughter. Then his mind… froze? Enquiry: DollTech reprograms people to obey commands, what happens if two commands clash with each other?’



‘That’s a great question, what do you think?’ Stacey enquired.



‘DollTech were behind today's attacks, those attacks were carried out on high profile members. One would assume those they wanted to live would be programmed not to care as their families were targeted to maintain public image. Before Adam began his speech, Benjamin also gave an emotional speech about Jane. It would’ve been in the best interest of DollTech to follow up with a similar speech. So he would’ve been programmed not to care about his daughter but then give an emotional speech on her, from their point of view, kidnapping. The two commands are incompatible.’ Ieso conjectured. ‘Programming living brains can cause long term damage.’



‘Thank you for confirming my suspicions Ieso,’ Stacey disconnected their link. This would be one more piece of information that would help them in the upcoming war.



There wasn’t much going on with Troy at the moment. The Doll had trapped the artificial mind and had been taken back to DollTech. The Doll would be useless until it was hooked up to their systems when they examined it.



Stacey turned her attention once more to what had happened with the CFO. This was something Laura would want to know.



‘I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation with Lorelei and Jane, but we have a situation. Adam Faraday just died on live television…’ Stacey spoke to Laura and waited for a response.



‘We’ll be right there…’ Laura answered after a long silence.