Brandon Norris had been in a very good mood lately. He was a spy, but not just any spy operating in the Bharatiya Empire, but one loyal to a single entity, the Kingdom of England. He didn’t share the intelligence he gathered with anyone else, well, most of the ti. If he ca across information that wasn’t critical to England, he’d still sell it to an intelligence broker for extra money, after all, who doesn’t want to make life a little easier?
That said, Norris wasn’t truly loyal to the English Crown. He only obeyed them because they held his wife. To cope with this reality, he had hypnotised himself into believing she was being protected, and that his loyalty was for the monarch’s support. It made him feel better about the whole arrangent.
"Hello Mate, I’m doing very well, thanks for asking. How are you? Is everything going well?"
Brandon greeted a familiar coworker who had greeted him and went back to work.
In the Bharatiya Empire, he had already gotten his citizenship and he has been working as a dock serviceman across several ports of the empire, mostly on the west coast.
This is how he is able to obtain the intelligence so easily. In a way, he feels like he has an edge over all other intelligence agents who try to be sneaky, create human relations within, and make things too complicated, only to be caught in the end.
For him, life was simple and fulfilling. ’If only Brenda were here with , with all the opportunities of growth I see, we’d already have a child and I would already be a rich man, ’ he sotis thought. But for his own sanity, he shook his head and buried those thoughts deep within.
His daily routine was predictable; he woke up, went to work, gathered as much intelligence as he could, filtered what was useful from what wasn’t, and sent the relevant information back to the English mainland.
As for why Brandon has been so happy recently, well, it has sothing to do with the economic crisis of the Bharatiya Empire, where most of its manufacturing industries are in a slump. When he sent this news back to the mainland, he actually got a big bonus, which is enough for him to obtain a few dozen acres of land in the overseas territories, and more importantly, he actually received a letter from his wife, which made him so happy that he shed a few tears.
Brandon doesn’t have any particular talent in any field, even at his current job as a crane technician. Although he is not the worst-performing worker, he is not the best either. He falls sowhere in the middle, and that was the sa situation in his last job as well. As far as he can tell, he is only good at information collection and that too information from the public, so he feels like he can only make a good living from espionage activities.
So, rembering the bonus he had gotten and the letter from his wife, the thought ca to him about changing jobs to collect more information, and he fell into thinking. ’Joining the post office is the best choice, that way I get to travel across the country, but since I am a newly naturalised citizen, I will not be eligible to apply for governnt posts, maybe I should find a private courier company’
However, his thoughts ca to a screeching halt, and his smile imdiately froze after hearing the words of a few young n boarding a private ship, talking with each other in loud voices and laughing
"Didn’t I tell, didn’t I tell you guys, now look, we have all the money for the trip?"
"Hahaaa, you guys, you guys said that you will beat up if the money is lost, but what now?", "You also said that you will tell about and Sheila to my father, now what?"
The friends imdiately beca a little embarrassed, but they quickly flattered him to high heaven in order to make him forget the threats they had made.
"Don’t do that, big Brother, at that ti our eyes were simply too small to witness your greatness, haha, don’t keep anything in your heart"
"Yes, yes, you are great, greater than all the investors in the empire, so many of them have lost money and many have even died after going bankrupt, but you are a great god of investing, with only a few thousand Varaha, you actually made a profit of nearly 50,000"
"Our admiration for you is like the everflowing Ganga River, and like the heights of Mount Kailash"
Brandon knew that the news about the economic collapse made his Patron very happy; he even received a generous bonus, but now, if he brings the news of recovery, will he be unhappy?
Can he hear from his wife again?
He began to panic
Brandon didn’t want to see this happen. So, after quickly finishing his work, he asked around. As fate would have it, he was working at a small port used by the rich, located very close to the Mungaluru Port, so gathering information wasn’t too difficult.
To his dismay, he confird the truth: the economy was indeed in a state of recovery. Since yesterday, stock prices have been rising without any sign of stopping. Top economists were already predicting that the economy would return to its pre-collapse state in just a few days. So were even claiming it might surpass the highest point recorded in the past.
’Tsk!’
Despite not liking the intelligence that he had gathered, he had no choice but to make a report and send it back to England
"Damn it!!"
He would probably not be hearing from his wife for a while. ’I hope you are alright, ’ he wished, but thinking about the pig-like Baron that was always eyeing her, he could not take it anymore
"Fucking hell"
"Fuck"
"Fuck"
"AHHH"
He threw all his tools away in anger and collapsed crying
’Why did I have to show my ability?’ he couldn’t help but hate himself
---
In fact, Brandon was not the only person who was unhappy with the recent changes in the economic condition of the empire; a lot of foreigners living in the empire, diplomats included, are unhappy with the situation. Even though they are allies of the Bharatiya Empire, they are in a way competitors as well; they have their own pride, and they want their countries to do as well as the Bharatiya Empire is doing, and seeing the Bharatiya Empire tumble is a welco change to them.
"It’s a pity this collapse didn’t last longer", a diplomat comnted
"True, I heard that a few nobles back in my country even threw a banquet to celebrate, but now if they know this news, I don’t know how they will react"
"Sigh!"
However, despite everything, it is not just gloom. There were people who are happy as well, mainly the rchants; they were overjoyed by the economic recovery of the Bharatiya Empire. They were at first worried that their trip was in vain and they would lose a lot of money, but not only did they not lose, but they gained a lot.
"What! Are you sure?" a rchant asked with a gobsmacked expression as he looked at the shopkeeper.
"Yes, sir, we are able to deliver the 20,000 units of the new screw type carriage jack in at most two weeks, and the price will be as ntioned in the catalogue"
The rchant was still in disbelief, but he was still not totally convinced, "Will it have the BSO (Bharatiya standards organisation) mark, and will all the products be like the ones you have showcased to ?"
"Yes, Sir, all the jacks are BSO approved, our company is BSO approved as well." He handed over a brochure and continued, "You can believe in our company, Sir, Brahmi Tools, we provide you with the best quality products at the most reasonable prices"
The rchant, for the first ti, noticed that it was an unfamiliar company. Usually, he does not care which company he buys the products from since everything BSO approved is always reliable, and it is usually just a difference of price between one company and another, but now he could not help but rember the na Brahmi Tools in his mind, not only did they co up with sothing which he had never seen, they were also providing the most reasonable prices and fastest delivery tis.
"In that case, I’ll trust you and place the order. Sir, if you don’t mind, may I ask why these screw jacks aren’t available from other companies? This is the first ti I’ve seen sothing like this that can raise the carriage without flipping it over."
"Oh, that? Haha, it’s actually a proprietary product of our company, Sir. We’re technically a startup, but since we’re based in the Gangapuri Iron Special Economic Zone, we have access to many third-party manufacturers who produce these for us. These manufacturers also make heavy-duty tools for various industries, so you don’t have to worry about the quality."
The rchant soon understood and completed the order. In his itinerary, he was supposed to go to the overseas territory of the Bharatiya Empire to sell all the goods he had in his ship, but since the wait ti was only two weeks, he thought that he would simply wait for the order to be delivered. In that way, he can take the jacks with him. If they are sought after by the people of the overseas territories, then maybe he will order more and take so back to Europe.
---
Vijay was looking at the finalised steam paddle ship design his younger son had co up with. He has already completed his college in his qualification and has completed his university courses in actual education.
’It’s a very reasonable design, ’ Vijay thought to himself as he did so minor corrections here and there and quickly approved for it to be built.
He couldn’t wait for such a ship to be produced because the travel across the inland waters, especially the Great Southern Bharatiya Canal, will be made possible with its existence, since the hassle of raising and lowering water levels in order to travel can be reduced a lot.
After approving the design, he also took up another piece of paper and, as promised, wrote a recomndation letter for his son to join the mobility labs to work under Hey Ram.
However, just as he completed writing the letter and sending it, he suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of crisis loom over his heart.
This feeling was stronger than ever, the strongest he had ever felt; it was so strong that he felt like this threat was not only for him but all the people around him as well.
Sweat began to ooze from his temple, and his back was completely wet. It took a few minutes for him to recover his consciousness, but even after he did, the threat did not go away; it continued to persist, the only thing was that he adapted to the feeling.
"Sothing is wrong!"
Reviews
All reviews (0)