Underground Vault: The Code Black Arms
On a narrow hallway, there's only one location in this sublevel. Rafael has direct access to it, along with two selected personnel in charge of cleaning the exterior, while the inside of the vault automatically cleans itself.
"Access granted: Welcome, Administrator, to your black arms vault," a cold, mechanical voice responded when Rafael inputted his DNA sample and a password almost similar to the US president's nuclear launch code.
When Rafael walked in, the lights automatically turned on, revealing a long line of weapons. Some machines hummed while mechanical arms moved vehicle parts, but his attention was drawn elsewhere.
He saw a briefcase with the Atlas logo, but the item inside was on display in front of him: a special exoskeleton armor made for him. It addressed the bulkiness of standard armor, yet its plating was flexible.
This custom armor was ordered by him because, unlike the standard model, it had a 100-day supply of nutrient capsules. It was a 5th-generation model, more advanced than the rest, and the suit was lightweight.
Currently, only five of these exoskeletons exist globally, each kept in a black arms level vault, meaning his own personal weapon vault. It also dug into his nervous system near the brain, somewhat enhancing his senses, but it had many contingencies in case of electrical damage.
"I'm taking you home," Rafael muttered as he pressed a few buttons and flipped some switches. Soon, the suit began folding to the same size as the briefcase. After placing it inside, he called it lightweight, but to the average person, it weighed over 150kg.
A few days later, in the aftermath of the Operation Atlas, a replacement for the previous dean had been chosen. This time, they removed all signs of weakness from the man, so he was currently not related to anyone, had no emotional connections, and was only ordered to work hard in his current assignment.
To cut costs, the new dean and former dean almost shared the exact same name. As for the former dean's family, they were sent off to Antarctica, where they would live out their lives with a small stipend under the watch of the ASIB branch there.
The estate became a gathering of agents from different families who wanted to know what happened, but it was written off as an organized crime shootout. The bullets were replaced with low-caliber rounds, and any signs of heavy weapons were removed. The official story was that it was a conflict of interest that led to a shootout where multiple dead bodies were found. Although Atlas had to take some of the fall, it was able to use the justification of an internal audit, so the media and general public accepted it.
So, Rafael was at school during free time in their classroom when Michael tapped his shoulder to get his attention.
"Rafe, I have some info that might either shock you or frustrate you," Michael said, glancing at Ruby, who was talking to other classmates and luckily wasn't looking at them. They walked out of the classroom and found a secluded room that no one frequented.
"Your father had different plans with those engagement deals, and most of them weren't focused on finding information. The majority were about finding you, but a selected few were mainly about expanding power, influence, economic control, and materials. This was recommended by your mother since records stated that our assets overheard some information through bars and their network.
"Some past conversations with different guards at an event confirmed their engagement to you, and we were able to get some transcripts. As of now, the number of families can't be accurate, but the way they talked, we can estimate around 12 families. However, we can't identify the names or the women's identities, like Miss Zandria. This doesn't include the Hossens, so if it were 15, four of them were mainly focused on the current whereabouts of Rafael Villanueva," Michael explained verbally, as providing a file would be too much.
"Motherfucker," Rafael punched a nearby wall, leaving his fist print with some cracks, his voice filled with frustration.
'They don't know if I'm alive or not, but my brother is an available chip to be given, but he chose me!' Rafael thought internally, since the practice of forced engagements was internationally banned. A unit dedicated by Interpol, funded by Atlas, was in charge of arresting people who were still doing it, even with the ban.
"Who fully supported or who started this proposition of using me?" Rafael said in a measured tone, trying to keep his anger in check.
"Your mother, sir. We were able to get confirmation that it was she who fully supported it, as I stated earlier. She was the one who recommended it, and we were able to extract their conversation where she said, 'Since my son is not yet confirmed alive, then we can extract all of the available benefits. So, till then, we can keep close before he's confirmed dead, and they can't really blame us despite their initial suspicion of him being alive. For our second child, it's better for him to choose someone he loves, although that was my plan for Rafael, but we have no choice now.' That's all we have available, sir. The current location of your mother and brother is in the US under her own company and territory, and we are the ones managing the branch of the Villanueva," Michael said, and Rafael took one last deep breath and calmed down as the pulsating veins around his arms showed his controlled anger.
"Okay, for now, confirm their identities, and I want their names by the end of the year. Also, make sure to remind Canute that the next UN Security Council session will have a proposal for a unilateral ban on forced engagements and planned engagements without the children's agreement. It will be enforced by all police forces across the globe, along with Interpol, and host countries will be assisted by the top intel agencies," Rafael said in a commanding tone, and Michael nodded.
"Sir, I forgot to tell you that the next Overseer Council session is coming Saturday evening," Michael reminded him. The sessions were for decisions that needed to be made by the end of the month, but this kind of meeting happened once every three months.
Ten seats of the council vote on the current agenda, and Rafael's presence is mandated for him to be present since he has the final say. For the year-end session, only the top five seats are the ones who vote on very important decisions, and they function like a senate.
However, the administrative council does that since they need their approval before going for a final vote in the council, and once it's agreed upon, Rafael reviews it and checks if there are needed changes or if it should be rejected, in which case they will have to redo the entire process again.
"Tell them that I will be physically present, and also make sure everyone is present for an announcement that I will make," Rafael said, and Michael nodded and made a mental note of it.
A few minutes later, "Guys, wanna hang out!" Rafael heard Ruby's voice, who was followed by her security detail. Rafael, who was heading down from the secluded room, and Michael joined him five seconds later. He nodded, giving an okay to follow her.
In the car, Rafael requested Michael's car, and when the security detail requested to check the vehicle, Rafael sent a mental order, and Michael knew to bring out the regular car.
Soon, a pearl white Toyota Hilux drove up close to them, driven by Michael. When the security detail inspected the car, they allowed Ruby.
"So, where are we going?" Rafael asked from the front seat, with Michael next to him in the driver's seat, while Ruby was in the back passenger seat. Her security detail followed her using a Toyota Hi-Ace.
"To a local amusement park that just opened up. It has some of the classics, with a nice Ferris wheel similar to those in other countries and classic rigged shooting games that could be a wallet dryer," Michael commented and chuckled a bit.
"Really? I went to one before, but I hope this is better!" she said in a cheerful tone.
"Maybe, since most of the time local thugs try to extort them for cash protection, but this time Atlas Security became involved, so it's safe to say that they won't interfere," Rafael explained. After a few turns and overtakes, they arrived at their destination. The park was located near the border to the City of Palo, which Rafael also ordered Atlas to assist in building up the municipalities near Atlas, so within a 50km radius around Tacloban, all municipalities were grown into city level while making sure not to harm the environment. They decided to use skyscraper designs, and the tallest building was called The Leyte Spire Tower. It's used for housing people and the entire Region 8 administration for different branches of the government since the land and the building are co-funded by the government, so it's a tourist sight to behold, and a few hundred people also go there because underground, it's also a mall.
"So, how much is the entrance fee again?" Rafael asked as he pulled out a new ₱500 bill.
"It's around ₱50 per head if we're still below 18, but for above 18, it's ₱100," Michael replied and looked at the options in front of him. Rafael, looking at Ruby's guards, spoke:
"You will pay for them. I'm not the one paying to guard you," Rafael said, and Ruby pulled out five ₱1,000 bills. She realized that she took half of the entire day's allowance, which was ₱10,000 a day. So, she was looking at Rafael for help since she had to pay for her covert guards, but Rafael turned a blind eye to her plea and paid for his share, waiting for her to pay for her bodyguards.
A minute later, they arrived at the food section, and after they went into the games and rides, and after a few rides, they were heading towards the rollercoaster.
"Well, it's good for now, let's try that rollercoaster," Michael said as he and Rafael walked up to the entrance. Ruby caught up after heading to the washroom, and when they rode it, they were used to it, while those on the ride screamed and barfed some of the contents of their stomach. The exception was Ruby, who was screaming in happiness as the coaster descended again.
"Weeeeeee!" while the others screamed in fright and adrenaline, it was Ruby who was enjoying it while Rafael and Michael only enjoyed the wind hitting their face.
Minutes later, Ruby was vomiting on a nearby bench with the vomit bag that Rafael had prepared a while ago after seeing some unknown contents go into Ruby's wide-open mouth. This was furthered by a few loop-de-loops and a car curve that could make anyone vomit for an entire hour.
"Take your time to spill it all out while me and Rafael over here enjoy our fries," Michael commented while he ate a carton filled to the brim with fries with beef toppings. Ruby was mad at them but vomited again after hearing the screams from the rollercoaster.
A few minutes later, Ruby was eating a stick of cotton candy that Rafael paid for and tried different games, knowing they were rigged. But after playing a game, and winning, the one in charge was in shock.
"What do you want?" the owner asked, not happy.
"You choose, Ruby. I just came here to test it," Rafael commented and took a step back while Ruby was stunned but quickly chose three stuffed animals.
"Thank you!" she said and hugged Rafael.
"Yeah, no worries, let's try other games," Michael said, and for the next few hours, they tried any game they saw. At 5 PM, Ruby parted with her guards and hugged Michael, but Rafael wasn't there as he went to the bathroom.
"You're dodging her scent," Michael said with a straight face while driving Rafael back to the mansion, overtaking a few cars. Michael then dropped some information.
To be continued.