Stirrings
Article 1 (Purpose of the Protocol): The primary purpose of this protocol is to protect Zyrec Tech's most critical assets—namely data, intellectual property (IP), and proprietary technology—from all internal and external threats as the highest priority.
Article 2 (Definition of Threat): Any leak, alteration, loss, or the mere possibility of threat to core assets shall be deemed a direct threat to the survival of the corporation.
Article 3 (Status of the CSIA): The CSIA is an organization directly subordinate to the Board of Directors and is the sole authorized body to enforce this protocol.
Article 4 (Invocation of Authority): Upon detecting any threat to core assets, the CSIA may immediately bypass all internal regulations of Zyrec Tech and the chain of command of individual branches to invoke the authority specified in this protocol. This authority is designated as the Integrity Execution Protocol, or IEP.
Elyse recalled the Zyrec Core Asset Protection Protocol engraved in her mind.
Tracing back past incidents one by one, she looked back once more at the consequences of the IEP being invoked.
Every single one of them had been disastrous.
Once the IEP was activated, the systems of the branch in question would be quarantined, everyone's assets frozen, and even human resources placed under strict control.
Furthermore, data ports and all wireless signals would be completely blocked by jammers.
No matter how powerful a branch manager might be, they could not touch a single shred of information under the IEP.
Thus, information could not be altered or forged, and everything they had done up to that point would fall entirely into the hands of the CSIA.
After retrieving all the data, the CSIA had to obtain confirmation from the Integrity Arbitration Board (IAB) to validate the IEP they had already executed.
Once the Integrity Arbitration Board (IAB) granted approval, the CSIA would proceed with the IEP under the supervision and checks of the Ethics and Protocol Senate (EPS).
They were given exactly forty-eight hours.
Within that window, the CSIA had to find all the evidence, report it to the IAB, and await their verdict.
If final approval was granted, the CSIA would officially be handed judicial authority, giving them the power to completely dismantle the branch or 'reprocess' those involved.
It was practically a death sentence.
Conversely, if it was dismissed, the CSIA had to immediately restore all seized data and personnel to their original state.
At the same time, the CSIA director and commander who authorized the IEP would be summoned to an EPS hearing, and in the worst-case scenario, they themselves could be 'reprocessed' for wasting assets and abusing authority.
In short, the IEP was a double-edged sword—a power where one had to set a fire first, then prove within forty-eight hours that the arson was an act of self-defense.
Yet, in all of history, she had never found a single case where an IEP was dismissed.
No matter how loyal a headquarters executive might be, no one was clean enough to withstand that level of scrutiny.
In other words, the IEP was a signal of an impending regime change.
That was why it could not be easily invoked, and even if it were, every move from start to finish had to be calculated with absolute precision.
And yet.
Not a Zyrec executive, nor even an employee.
A mere mercenary girl had spoken of it.
And she had done so while declaring she would place Elyse herself into a director's seat.
While Elyse thought it was an absurd proposition, a flicker of hope—a ‘what if’—crossed her mind.
For Elyse, too, had envisioned the IEP as the only way to ruin Thomson. To be precise, there was no other way to drag him down.
"What... is the price? What do you want?"
Elyse couldn't steady her trembling voice.
She didn't have the luxury. With excitement and fear, anticipation and failure, hope and despair all tangled in her head, she couldn't think straight.
For the past eight years, she had lived in hell. Living like that, she had even begun to think this hell was where she belonged.
But now, a lifeline had been lowered to pull her out of this hell.
No, was it really pulling her out? Or was it dragging her into an even deeper abyss...?
She decided to cast those thoughts aside.
She had sworn to sell her soul to the devil if it meant getting her revenge.
A deeper hell was nothing; she would plunge into it a hundred times over if it meant she could kill Thomson.
"Do you know a man named Eric Linus, the CSIA operations team leader?"
"I haven't met him in person, but I know of him."
"There's a Lui Chen undercover agent near Eric. I don't know who it is, but find that undercover agent and deal with them."
"...Is that really all?"
It was not a difficult task.
Especially since the massive, indiscriminate terror attack that occurred in South Peak recently had put every mega-corp branch on high alert.
Since they were already weeding out undercover agents they had previously turned a blind eye to, finding a low-level Lui Chen mole would be trivial.
"Yep. But you mustn't touch Eric. A little pressure is enough, so just putting some pressure on Eric's superior should do the trick."
"Eric Linus... What is it about that man?"
"Hmm... who knows? I don't know if he'll turn out to be Icarus or just a moth to a flame."
"What does that..."
"I'm counting on you, Elyse. Angela and I will be getting along just fine."
Something, something.
Wasn't there something strange about those words?
Getting along just fine. It was a positive phrase, yet it sounded incredibly ominous to Elyse's ears.
"...How is Angela? Is she doing well?"
"She's doing great. Want me to put her on?"
"No, it's fine for now. Just tell her I'll contact her separately later."
"Yep. Good luck, Elyse. I'll keep you updated on the progress as much as possible, but don't worry if contact cuts off in the middle. You're smart, so you'll be able to figure out what's happening just by watching the South Peak news. And the day we meet... well, I suppose it'll be in two months."
In two months, the Kinetics branch would enter the IEP.
She had no idea why or how it would happen. She couldn't even be sure if the IEP would actually be triggered.
But now that Eric Linus's name had been brought up, she knew something would unfold centering around him.
‘She might have even guided me to this very thought...’
Should she trust her or not?
Did Angela accompany this monster out of trust? Or was she simply using her to achieve her own goals?
The latter...
‘Absolutely not.’
She was not someone Angela could control or manipulate.
The proof was how Elyse herself had been swept along in the conversation without even a moment to collect her thoughts.
The way Swoo spoke—extracting information the more they talked, making deductions, and using those deductions to lead the conversation to a point of absolute certainty.
Angela, who possessed brilliant talent as a netwatcher but lacked eloquence, could never handle a monster like that. Therefore, they had to be bound by genuine trust.
‘One of the two mercenaries involved with Tibalt Baranche.’
Back then, two uninvited guests had intruded upon the commission Angela had taken.
Although Elyse's plans had been ruined because of it, in the end, things had turned out much better.
At that time.
There were two mercenaries who had contacted Tibalt. She couldn't verify their voices due to Tibalt's ICE, but she had been able to make out their silhouettes.
‘Seeing how they thoroughly eliminated even the Kimera in the laboratory's basement, their combat prowess must be outstanding as well.’
Brilliant intellect and overwhelming might.
What would be the first thing someone with both would do?
They would have secured reliable connections, a powerful backing. That monster... Swoo must have already established a foundation capable of handling whatever might happen.
Just like the elements that made up a mega-corporation.
Even so, she still couldn't fathom how Swoo planned to trigger the IEP.
As the clauses of the Integrity Execution Protocol showed, it was not a power that could be easily invoked.
But if it could somehow be triggered, even the CSIA wouldn't be able to stop it. As established, the IEP was a double-edged sword that could destroy the CSIA itself.
So for now, she had nothing to lose by trusting her.
It was already the season for weeding out undercover agents anyway; she would simply be adding one more name to the list.
"...Understood."
Sighing, Elyse checked the time and stood up. It was time to return to her duties as a secretary.
"...The IEP is a protocol known only to high-ranking officials of Zyrec and other mega-corporations."
"Yep."
"Then how on earth do you know about it?"
"Doesn't Angela know about it too?"
"If it's Angela, it makes sense that she could extract that information through netwatching or from the Abyss. But Swoo, you..."
"Actually, I came from another world. In that world, this world was a game, and I saw the ending of that game about ninety-seven times. That's how I know."
"...You're keeping secrets again."
"I'm not keeping secrets, though."
Swoo's tail, which had slipped out at some point, thumped against the floor as if she were sulking.
"Well... fine. It's not the first time you've hidden things, so I understand. But Thomson Arcardo. How do you plan to take him down?"
"There are plenty of ways."
"I'm sure. Thomson is a notorious idiot and a tyrant in Eastheim. But you know who is backing him, don't you?"
"Zyrec Tech HQ Executive Hugo Arcardo."
He was different from the directors she had encountered so far. From the rank of executive director, one could truly be called a corporate officer of a mega-corp.
And Hugo was an executive at the headquarters itself. He was on a completely different level from the executives of local branches—a true power broker of Eden.
The entity standing behind Thomson was a titan of that caliber.
"...And yet, you still plan to target Thomson with the IEP?"
"Yep. No matter how powerful an executive's nephew is, he's powerless in the face of concrete, on-site evidence."
"Concrete evidence... What on earth are you planning to do?"
"This and that?"
There was a lot to do, but since it would all change depending on the situation, she couldn't easily explain it in words.
"I'm about to start in earnest."
Two months later.
"Congratulations on your promotion, Serena."
"Wait, what the fuck?"
Serena had become an executive.