The bathroom was rcifully empty, giving a few precious minutes of solitude to collect my thoughts. I splashed cold water on my face and stared at my reflection in the mirror. The man looking back at appeared calm, composed even, but I could see the calculation in my own eyes. The gears were turning.
I’d survived the first assault on my credibility, but Evelyn was right—this was just the opening move. My opponents would regroup during this recess, coordinate their strategies, and co back with sothing more sophisticated than unsubstantiated accusations about human experintation.
The question was: how do I win a ga where I’m fundantally outmatched?
In terms of pure political warfare, I was facing opponents with decades more experience and abilities specifically designed for manipulation and control. Valeska with her psychological conditioning skills, Volkov with his economic manipulation, Chen with her information networks. It was clear that any one of them could probably outmaneuver in a straight political fight.
But as I dried my hands, I rembered sothing Subject 3830 had told during one of our conversations on that island. "People rely too much on their skills," she’d said. "They beco dependent on their abilities, predictable in their approaches. The System grants power, but it also creates patterns. And patterns can be exploited."
At first, I’d thought she was just being philosophical, but then she proved wrong when she neutralized those governnt agents. Now, I need to use what she told as it might have been the key to victory.
I stepped out of the bathroom and imdiately spotted my targets. Valeska and Volkov were standing near the refreshnt table, engaged in what appeared to be a casual conversation but was undoubtedly strategic coordination. Perfect.
Ti to gather so intelligence.
I activated my Scan skill, focusing first on Valeska.
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Na: Kara Valeska
Job: Diplomatic Strategist (S-Rank)
Skills:
Psychological Assessnt (Lv. 8) – Evaluates ntal and emotional states with precision, identifying motives, fears, and weaknesses for targeted influence.
Persuasive Speaking (Lv. 8) – Delivers compelling argunts and emotionally charged statents that shift opinions and encourage compliance.
Emotional Manipulation (Lv. 7) – Subtly influences emotional responses, steering decisions and behaviors without overt coercion.
Strategic Planning (Lv. 8) – Constructs layered plans accounting for long-term outcos and contingencies, adapting to evolving circumstances.
Threat Analysis (Lv. 7) – Identifies, categorizes, and prioritizes risks in environnts or individuals to prepare effective counterasures.
Social Engineering (Lv. 8) – Exploits social norms and interpersonal dynamics to extract information or gain access without raising suspicion.
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I frowned slightly. The skill levels were impressive, but their levels weren’t the highest they could be. What was more concerning was the combination. She had a complete toolkit for reading, understanding, and manipulating people. But there was sothing missing. If she really had connections to NovaCore’s psychological conditioning research, if she was using experintations, where was the evidence in her skill set? I would have expected her to at least give herself more skills or boost their level.
I know that Scan didn’t show job titles. That alone was frustrating since even knowing the na of her title could provide crucial insight into her capabilities.
I shifted my focus to Volkov.
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Na: Erik Volkov
Job: Economic Manipulator (A-Rank)
Skills:
Market Analysis (Lv. 8) – Identifies trends, demands, and opportunities within markets to guide effective investnt and competitive positioning.
Economic Forecasting (Lv. 8) – Predicts financial and market shifts using data trends and global indicators to inform strategic decisions.
Resource Allocation (Lv. 8) – Distributes assets and manpower efficiently to maximize output and stability across operations.
Financial Psychology (Lv. 7) – Understands behavioral patterns in spending and investnt, leveraging them for negotiation and market influence.
Supply Chain Optimization (Lv. 8) – Streamlines production and distribution networks to reduce waste, lower costs, and increase reliability.
Crisis Managent (Lv. 7) – Maintains operational continuity and stability under economic shocks or disruptions through decisive, adaptive responses.
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Again, impressive but not overwhelming. His skills were highly specialized around economic control, which made sense for soone who’d positioned Germany as Europe’s economic powerhouse.
I studied both sets of skills for several more seconds, my mind racing through possibilities. Then sothing clicked a pattern that Subject 3830’s words had prepared to notice.
Both Valeska and Volkov had skills that were incredibly high but also incredibly focused. They were specialists, masters of their particular domains, but that specialization might also be a weakness. They would approach every problem through the lens of their expertise—Valeska through psychological manipulation, Volkov through economic pressure.
But what if the solution to a problem lay outside their areas of expertise?
"Reynard." Evelyn’s voice ca from beside . I hadn’t heard her approach, but then again, she was skilled at moving unnoticed when necessary. I rember the Hudson Bridge project where she gave a heart attack when she appeared behind .
"Are you alright? You’ve been staring at them for almost five minutes."
"I’m fine," I said, turning to face her. "Just thinking."
"Do you know what you’re going to do when we reconvene?"
I t her blindfolded gaze, feeling a surge of confidence that surprised . "Don’t worry about it."
"That’s not exactly reassuring—"
"Trust ," I interrupted gently. "I have a plan. We’ll celebrate with the rest when this is over."
Before she could respond further, I noticed Samuel Osei looking in my direction. The Ghanaian president wasn’t trying to hide his interest—he was studying with the sa intensity I’d been using on Valeska and Volkov. Our eyes t, and he gave a slight nod before walking over.
"Mr. Vale," he said as he approached, his voice carrying the warm authority that had made him such an effective leader. "I wanted to have a word with you."
"Of course." I stepped slightly away from Evelyn, giving us a asure of privacy. "And Samuel, thank you for having my back in there. Your support ans a great deal."
He waved off my thanks with a casual gesture, but his eyes remained serious. "Don’t ntion it. Though I suspect you know I didn’t do it purely out of the goodness of my heart."
I appreciated his directness. "I assud you had your reasons. Mind sharing what they are?"
Samuel glanced around the room, taking in the various clusters of world leaders engaged in their own strategic conversations. "You’re an interesting man to follow, Reynard. I’ve been watching you for so ti, even before this eting. Your approach to problems is... unconventional."
"Is that a complint?"
"In my experience, conventional approaches lead to conventional results. And conventional results won’t solve the challenges we’re facing." He leaned slightly closer, lowering his voice. "I’ve been preparing for significant changes to the global order. When those changes co, I want to be on the side of soone who thinks differently."
Before I could respond, we were joined by President Dubois of France and Liang i of China. The timing felt too coordinated to be coincidental—they’d clearly been waiting for an opportunity to approach together.
"Reynard," Dubois said, extending his hand. "I wanted to express my support for how you handled that situation earlier. Accusations without evidence have no place in diplomatic discourse."
"I agree," Liang i added, though her expression remained carefully neutral. "The burden of proof should always rest with the accuser."
I shook both their hands, acutely aware that Liang i’s cybersecurity abilities ant she probably knew more about than I was comfortable with. But for now, she was an ally, and I needed all the allies I could get.
"Thank you both," I said. "Your support was crucial in turning the tide."
"What are you planning to do when we return?" Liang i asked, her tone suggesting genuine curiosity rather than suspicion. "Valeska and Volkov won’t make the sa mistake twice. They’ll have coordinated a more sophisticated approach."
I looked at each of them in turn. Samuel with his quiet intensity, Dubois with his diplomatic concern, and Liang i with her calculating intelligence. These were so of the most powerful people in the world, and they were looking to for answers.
"In pure job and skills comparison," I said slowly, "I won’t be able to beat Valeska. Her abilities are specifically designed for the kind of political warfare we’re engaged in."
The reaction was imdiate and not particularly reassuring. Samuel’s eyebrows rose, Dubois frowned with concern, and even Liang i’s carefully controlled expression showed a flicker of disappointnt.
"That’s not exactly confidence-inspiring," Samuel said dryly.
"Perhaps," Dubois added carefully, "you should consider a more... collaborative approach? Work with those of us who support you to present a united front?"
I shook my head. "That would just turn this into a factional battle, and Valeska would love nothing more than to divide us into competing groups. No, this needs to be settled differently."
"Then how?" Liang i asked, her tone sharp with frustration. "If you can’t match her in skills, what exactly do you propose to do?"
I felt the weight of their expectations, the pressure of ti ticking away toward objectives I still needed to complete. But I also felt sothing else, the crystalline certainty that cos when seemingly disparate pieces of information suddenly form a coherent pattern.
"I’m going to prove that jobs, ranks, and skills aren’t everything," I said, surprising myself with the conviction in my voice.
The three world leaders exchanged glances that clearly questioned my sanity.
"Reynard," Samuel said gently, "those things are literally the foundation of how our society functions. The entire System is built around the principle that higher ranks and better skills translate to greater capability."
"Exactly," I replied. "And that’s where it’s flawed. I ca here to prove and show that the System is flawed rember?"
Before any of them could ask what I ant, Dr. Zimrmann’s voice echoed through the room. "Ladies and gentlen, we’ll be reconvening in two minutes. Please return to your seats."
I started walking back toward the main conference room, the three leaders falling into step beside . I could feel their concern, their confusion, their worry that they’d thrown their support behind soone who was about to commit political suicide.
"Keep your eyes open," I said as we approached the doorway. "You’re about to see thousands of years of history get flipped upside down."
"Reynard," Dubois said urgently, "what are you planning?"
But I was already moving through the door, my mind focused on the pattern I’d finally recognized. Valeska and Volkov were masters of their respective domains, but mastery creates rigidity. They would approach every problem through their areas of expertise because that’s what had always worked for them.
Subject 3830 had been right. People rely too much on their skills. They beco predictable in their approaches, dependent on the patterns that have brought them success. And in that dependence lay vulnerability.
I took my seat as the room settled back into its formal configuration. Around , I could feel the tension building as world leaders prepared for the next phase of whatever battle we were fighting. Valeska caught my eye from across the room, giving a smile that was probably ant to be reassuring but ca across as predatory.
She had no idea what was coming.
Neither, if I was being honest, did I have all the details worked out yet. But I had the frawork, the understanding of where their blind spot lay. Now I just needed to execute it properly.
The next few minutes would determine whether Subject 3830’s observation about the limits of skill-based thinking would prove prophetic, or whether I was about to demonstrate the very hubris that had brought down countless others who’d thought they could outsmart the System.
Either way, I felt a sense of excitent that I couldn’t explain and for a mont, I wished Mark were here to see this.
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