"What?!" Ves looked scandalized! "I am not going to take up your suggestions!"
Before Calabast provided him with her recomndations, she strongly advised him to send out Eliza Mo Ragadan.
He exchanged a look with his subordinate from the Red Collective.
"I am not too sure about this." He said. "I could use a second perspective. While I haven't known her for as long as I have liked, I think I am a good enough judge of character to trust in her discretion. If I want her to represent my interests for years on end, then I have to bring her into my inner circle sooner or later. I might as well do the forr."
Calabast paused for a mont but did not repeat her statent. She simply shrugged as if making it clear that any leaks would be his fault.
"Very well, then. Let give you a pair of proposals. They may sound unpleasant, but they are undeniably effective if you want to gain real power in the Terran Alliance."
Her proposals ended up so extre that Ves could not imagine that he would ever seriously agree to them! They sounded so offensive to him that he found it outrageous that Calabast chose to bring them forth in the first place!
"Outrageous! You are essentially telling that I should pick a side by sabotaging the other side! That goes way too far! I will never sabotage General Axelar Streon's chances of breaking through by tampering with his Ouroboros! Not that I will be able to do that in the first place. It is ridiculous for you to think that I can alter the Ouroboros from an enormous distance. As for your second idea of siding with the Steel Coalition by deliberately weakening or outright sabotaging the Woodsap chs adapted to elven pilots, that is even more heinous! My principles as a ch designer will never allow to undertake such an action! Every ch pilot deserves to make use of the best work that I can reasonably supply. Practicality is a valid reason to lower the performance of a product. Selfish and political motives are not valid reasons!"
Ves could understand the logic behind the spymaster's devious plots, but that did not an he could imagine himself pulling them off! He might not be the most principled leader, but he never compromised on them when it ca to his primary profession!
He would instantly lose much of his pride and sense of duty as a ch designer if he started to taint his own works in order to advance other goals!
He directed a very sharp look at the intelligence director.
Ves suspected that she hadn't been serious about the pair of proposals in the first place. She knew him far too well to know what definitely wouldn't work.
It seed as if Calabast deliberately engineered this situation in order to make him more open-minded towards less extre proposals.
His gaze told her that he was on to her ga and was not amused by it in the slightest.
"The risks are disproportionate to the rewards." Eliza offered her own opinion. "The probability of getting caught is too great. The Terrans are too competent. If they manage to find proof that you are involved with pulling one of them down, then their trust in you will collapse overnight. You will not make enemies out of the coalition that you have scorned, but you will never be able to retain the trust of the coalition that you have sided with. No matter what, both sides consist of Terrans who are loyal to their colonial star empire. They are not truly enemies with each other. If you insist on entering their ga, then it would be wise to play within the boundaries that they have set."
"That is sound advice, Eliza." Ves appreciated her input. "What would you do instead?"
His chief of staff looked pensive for a mont. "It might not be polite, but I would attempt to make use of your current influence within the Red Collective to tilt the balance in the favor of your chosen side. The RC as a whole is divided on this matter, but that does not stop you from changing that. You have nurous friends and allies within our superorganization. If you can rally them and form a united power bloc, thereby acquiring enough power to draw on the resources of the Terran Alliance, but maintain enough distance to avoid getting caught up in its troubles."
Calabast shook her head in disapproval. "That does not go far enough. A web of alliances and influences is decent, but it is based on a shaky foundation. As long as the Larkinson Clan is not considered Terran, we will always be outsiders to them. They will never give us too much real power. They are too intelligent and far-sighted enough to spot the potential traps. No, if you want to take greater advantage of the Terran Alliance, you will need to commit yourself one way or another."
"And how do we do that without giving up our independence?" Ves asked.
The intelligence director smirked. "I think you will like my less extre proposals. My general advice is to hedge your bets. Why invest in a single side when you can invest in both at the sa ti? This way, no matter which coalition has managed to gain the upper hand, you will be able to earn the corresponding benefits."
Ves grimaced when he heard that. "Hedging is little different from staying neutral. The Terrans will definitely figure out what we are doing. I do not think that they will like our clan very much if we are attempting to exploit both sides at once."
"This is why you need to approach this in a certain way, Ves. You are a ch designer, are you not? As a recently promoted first-class ch designer who is on the cusp of completing the massive Arboreal Project, you have beco one of the few ch designers who can compete fairly against the Terrans in their own ch market. This is a privilege that relatively few foreigners possess. You should take advantage of this condition to strategically develop a handful of chs that can encourage the Terrans into a path of your choosing."
That actually sounded a lot more acceptable than her previous proposals. Unlike the last two ones, her current plan actually played into Ves' obligations as a ch designer.
"Tell more. Be specific, Calabast."
"While I cannot call myself a ch designer, I believe it is not difficult for you to imagine new ch models that can help the Terrans fight or counter specific opponents. For example, you can earn a large amount of goodwill from the Steel Coalition by designing a conventional ch that can counter the products of the Arboreal Project."
Ves blinked at that. "Design a counter to my own work? This early? That sounds crazy, do you know that? I cannot deny that my Woodsap chs possess distinctive strengths and weaknesses, but it is up to our adversaries to figure out how to exploit the latter. It is stupid and counterproductive for us to do this work only for the aliens to swoop in and steal the information."
This had happened not once, not twice but many tis throughout human history.
Scientists and ch designers could potentially beco their own worst enemies because of their inability to resist developing a counter of their own protectors!
"Do not be so quick to dismiss my idea." Calabast said as she crossed her arms again. "The demand is there. You can choose to give these custors what they want or allow others to make their own attempts. Unless the Star Designers decide to intervene directly, the works of other ch designers will inevitably be partially effective. You, on the other hand, can use your first-hand knowledge on Woodsap chs to design cost-effective counters."
"Why the hell would I do that?"
"Doing this will fulfill multiple objectives. First, you fulfill the demand of Terrans and foreigners who are desperate to field an efficient counterweight to your Woodsap chs. Second, you will accelerate the developnt of your new subcategory of Carmine chs. I believe that as a ch designer, you do not think a ch that remains unopposed for many years is the best product. Lack of competitive pressure can easily lead to stagnation. If you want to speed up the subsequent growth and evolution of your Woodsap chs, you need to give yourself and the developers of the Green Coalition enough pressure to innovate further."
She had crafted her argunt well. Calabast under his philosophy precisely enough to tailor an argunt that played to his sensibilities.
Ves indeed believed that competitive pressure was necessary to draw out the best in people and products.
He had witnessed far too many instances where lack of threats and competition had led to stagnant growth.
However, that did not an the opposite was necessarily the right answer. Excessive pressure and competition could outright break people and objects.
If Ves followed Calabast's plan, then he would have to be careful about designing a counter. It had to be effective enough to pose a credible threat to Woodsap chs, but also withhold just enough to prevent a situation from spiralling out of control.
He needed to be very clever about this, because it would be far too easy to go too far in one direction or another.
Though Ves still wanted to grant his Woodsap chs a lengthy grace period, he also believed that they needed to face enough pressure to incentivize the Terrans to improve their core technologies.
His understanding of the Terrans suggested to him that they would definitely slack off and rest on their laurels as soon as they handled the imdiate crisis!
If he wanted the subsequent developnt of his Woodsap chs to remain active and dynamic, then it was not entirely a bad idea for him to design a counter instead of letting other colleagues work haphazardly.
"It will be difficult to squeeze enough ti for this project." Ves said in a much more serious voice than before. "However, as long as its sole purpose is to function as a counter, then it shouldn't require as much as the Arboreal Project. I… shall take this proposal under advisent. What about the other side of your hedging strategy? How can I placate the Green Coalition if I hand over an effective counter to the Steel Coalition?"
Calabast smirked wider as the conversation increasingly fell into her rhythm. "That is simple, dear Ves. You have multiple options available to you. Perhaps the option that may delight you the most is to design a new Woodsap ch that is especially configured to synergize with elves. I believe that the elven race may already do well with the chs of the Arboreal Project, but it is clear that you have never started it with this goal in mind. If you take the ti and effort to design a proper bioch optimized for elves from the start, the results will definitely outperform your earlier works. While this new elven Woodsap ch design will not hold any appeal to the human supremacists among the Terrans, your actual target audience will be delighted!"
Ves again found himself impressed by how clever and devious Calabast could be. The forr Hexer pointed out that designing a ch that was specifically ant to be used by elves as opposed to humans would definitely make one of the most powerful and influential groups within the Green Coalition happy!
So long as the elves beca delighted by his targeted work, they would definitely be willing to maintain a closer bond with him even if he cooperated with their opponents!
All in all, Ves did not have much objection to pulling off both proposals at the sa ti. If he did so correctly, then he could minimize the probability that either side would punish him heavily for his double dealing!
User Comments
0 comments from readers