Episode 188

“So… what exactly can I do for ya, anyway? We’re just humble merchants here, see. We don’t do the kind of trade that attracts the wandering eyes of the authorities.”

A hulking man rubbed his hands together, his face twitching in a rhythmic, nervous spasm. Despite the room’s air conditioning being set to a crisp perfection, the man’s face was slick with a layer of sweat so thick it looked like he’d just finished a marathon in a sauna.

“I’m not here to put you in handcuffs or anything,” Taro replied, casually scanning the room. It was decorated with the kind of over-the-top luxury that practically screamed I make my money in ways my mother wouldn’t approve of. “I just had a few questions.”

They were currently in a small station tucked away in a dusty corner of the RS Alliance Territory. This office belonged to a company famous for its ‘vigorous’ business practices—which, according to Phantom and Alan’s intel, was a polite way of saying they were basically pirates who filed taxes.

“Let’s see… Human resources, transport, ‘Heating Equipment’… Wow, you really do list it that way. This ‘Heating Equipment’ of yours—it only warms the heart, right?”

Taro waved the business prospectus in the air. The man’s face twitched so hard it looked like his features were trying to migrate to his neck.

“Well, uh, yeah… technically. But look, we’re in the legal transition period, aren’t we? It’s all perfectly legal until the clock runs out, right?”

The man shot a frantic, sideways glance at the woman standing beside him—some high-priced legal shark, no doubt—waiting for a lifeline.

“Of course, of course. Like I said, I’m not here to bust you. Well, unless the conversation takes a turn for the worse, then all bets are off.”

Taro muttered the threat under his breath while scrolling through the list, then signaled to the figure behind him. “Koume, copy this.”

Koume, now sporting her sleek, humanoid Android Body, gave a stiff, formal bow. She froze, her eyes fluttering shut as she interfaced with the BISHOP system.

“Alright, let’s go for a stroll. Lead the way, Mr. CEO.”

Taro stood up and started for the door without waiting for an invitation.

“Wait! Hey! Just a minute!” the man cried out, scrambling to follow, only to have his arm caught in the iron grip of Phantom.

“Just talking to myself here,” Phantom whispered, leaning in close to the man’s ear. He said it was a monologue, but he spoke loud enough for every soul in the room to hear. “But you really ought to play nice. Our boss has a deal for you that’s actually profitable. Whether you’re smart enough to take it, well… that’s on you.”

Phantom’s voice was dripping with a terrifying, oily friendliness. The man stood paralyzed for a heartbeat, processing the threat.

“This ain’t… a setup, is it? I’m recording this entire interaction, you know!”

The man looked suspicious, but when Taro gave a nonchalant “Be my guest,” he sucked in his gut and started leading the way.

The station’s interior couldn't be called ‘clean’ even by the most generous of liars, but Taro was surprised by how much it was buzzing. The streets were packed with people haggling, shouting, and generally going about the chaotic business of living.

Bella was right on the money, Taro thought. It’s hard to tell what’s actually ‘good’ for the locals.

Before heading into this den of thieves, Taro had sought Bella’s counsel. Currently leading the Rising Sun Main Fleet to keep the peace in RS Territory, she’d warned him not to let a "silly sense of justice" cloud his judgment. “Justice and evil are just different flavors of economic activity,” she’d said. Taro couldn't help but agree.

As long as there was some form of order and the money was flowing, people weren't starving. You could see the miserable alternative in the neighboring White Dingo territory, or the general prosperity of this station. The worst-case scenario wasn’t a crooked businessman; it was total, lawless disorder.

“The stations we stopped at previously were in a truly wretched state,” Koume remarked, walking gracefully at his side.

She was right. Every station they’d hit before this one had been a nightmare of famine and poverty, much like the Old Wyoming Star System. These places had once been the heart of the early Empire, but now they were just rotting husks. They’re basically space-faring Marginal Villages, Taro thought.

Taro nodded at Koume and pointed toward a group of kids. “Bella said a good indicator of a decent place is whether the kids can play out in the open.”

A pack of five or six children were currently engaged in a high-stakes game of war using toy Ray Guns. Phantom looked annoyed at the miniature combatants, but the rest of the thirty-odd Rising Sun employees following them were all grins.

“Over here is… well, it’s the human resources area for folks who are feeling a bit lonely. We’ve been buying a mountain of your company’s tech, by the way,” the man said, gesturing toward a section of the station that smelled suspiciously like cheap perfume and desperation.

Neon lights bathed the wide corridor, and the ceiling was a digital projection of a starry sky. Both sides were lined with countless ‘beauties’ in skimpy outfits. They were mostly holograms, throwing suggestive winks and sultry glances at any bored passerby.

“We appreciate the business,” Taro said with a straight face. “So, since it’s ‘staffing,’ do you mostly do house calls?”

“Pretty much. Nobody around here has the Credits to go hopping between stars just for a good time. So, we bring the fun to them. We run it on a schedule, which makes the escorting easy. We use our own ships for that… but hey, you’re not gonna try to ban prostitution, are you? I heard some Alliance or other passed a law against it.”

“Please. Why would I want to strangle my own economy? You guys are one of our biggest trading sectors. As long as you’re running regular health checks, we’re good.”

“Of course! Trust is our number one product!” The man let out a greasy chuckle. “Heh, glad to hear it. That intel is gonna sell for a pretty penny to my colleagues.”

The man smirked, already calculating how much he could charge for the tip-off.

“Anyway, down that way is the manufacturing zone for the Heating Equipment. Though I guess it’ll all be junk in six months.” He pointed a sarcastic finger at a bulbous structure jutting out from the station’s side.

“Well, we aren’t banning it entirely,” Taro corrected. “We’re just regulating the potency and slapping a tax on it so high it’ll make your eyes bleed.”

“Which is a ban in everything but name! You’re killing my margins!”

“Look, we can’t have drugs that turn people into vegetables. Plus, the Empire is complaining about us exporting criminals.”

“Whoa, hold up! We don’t smuggle to the Empire. We’re not that crazy!”

“I know you don’t. But a lot of people buy your Heating Equipment and sneak it across the border themselves. Don’t tell me you didn’t know.”

Taro leveled a flat stare at the man, who simply snorted.

“What people do with the product after I’ve got their money isn’t my problem.”

“Fair enough… I build weapons for a living, so I guess I don’t have much room to talk.”

“Hmph. At least you’re honest. So, what do you want with the Heating Equipment? I ain't giving you the recipes. The guild would lynch me.”

“Relax, I’m not here for your trade secrets. The Alliance would fall apart if we started seizing IP like that. We’re all corporations here, after all.”

“Then what? You want to buy some?” The man raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Well, here’s the thing,” Taro said, slowing his pace. “For a product that’s going to be illegal in six months, your factory sure is working overtime. Since possession is going to be a crime, I can’t imagine there’s a lot of ‘last-minute demand’ from casual users.”

The man stopped dead in his tracks.

“……You want the customer list?”

“Glad we’re on the same page,” Taro chirped.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” the man roared. “Customer info is the lifeblood of this company! Legal or not, there’s no way I’m handing that over. I’d rather wipe the servers and burn the place down than give you that list!”

It was the expected reaction. Giving up a client list was suicide; your reputation would be trashed, and your rivals would swoop in like vultures. But Taro had already prepared the hook.

“How would you like to join the Alliance?”

The man’s jaw dropped. The jump from a "subject company" to a "governing member" was massive.

“That’s… a hell of an offer. But the other member companies would never allow it. Let’s be real—my business is gray at best and jet-black at worst.”

“They don’t get a vote. It’s just a matter of Rising Sun transferring a portion of our own Alliance Decision-making Power Allocation. Nobody can say a word.”

“The Allocation? You’re selling me a seat? You’ve lost your damn mind. Do you have any idea what that’s worth?”

“At a low-ball estimate? A few hundred million Credits? Maybe ten times that in this market. So yeah, you definitely can’t afford it.”

“Damn right I can’t! If I had that kind of cash, do you think I’d be living in this dump?!”

“Easy, easy… calm down. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but you also dabble in a bit of piracy, right? ‘Protection’ fees, toll booths, overpriced escorts for ships that don’t want them?”

“……I don’t know what you’re talking about. And even if I did, sue me. See if I care.”

“What if we legalized it?”

“……Come again?”

Taro ignored the man’s stunned silence and pulled up a map of the RS Alliance Territory on his terminal.

“Our territory is right on the edge of Outer Space. We’re spread too thin, and we can’t keep an eye on the fringes. So, the plan is to deputize reliable local security forces. Between the Pirates and WIND, things are getting messy, so we’re going to grant certain organizations special privileges.”

“……Keep talking.”

“You’ve got a fleet. And since you’re basically pirates anyway, you know exactly how they operate. Plus, you’re already rooted here. My fleet is built for war, not for chasing tiny pirate ships through asteroid belts. It’s a waste of my resources.”

“…………” The man crossed his arms, his brain clearly whirring at high speed.

“Think of it this way: your fleet would be invincible against anyone of a similar size. Especially if they happened to be ‘bad guys resisting the local security authority.’”

Taro let that sink in, watching the man’s eyes light up with a newfound, villainous understanding.

“I see… You’re consolidating the scattered fringe elements into manageable blocks. And if we join, we get the backing of your main fleet against our competitors… You’re a real piece of work, aren’t you? Our rivals are going to be screaming bloody murder.”

“I’ve learned that you can’t save lives with just justice and pretty words. It’s a dirty reality, but it’s the one we live in. Though, I do plan on being very picky about which companies get the badge.”

“Hmph…… But you can’t just give away a seat for free. That’s a massive bribe. If we don’t have the cash, we’re still just sitting in a system with no Drive Particles. It’s a nice dream, but it’s not—wait.”

The man stopped, his eyes wide as a realization hit him.

“You said ‘organization.’ You’re going to lump all the fringe companies together into one giant guild, aren’t you? And the guild will buy the seat. You aren’t just making us manageable—you’re unifying the entire sector under one banner.”

“Bingo. And I’m going to call this organization ‘The Police.’”

“That is absolutely terrifying… This ‘Police’ thing is going to become a monster. You aren’t worried about it coming for your throat one day?”

The man’s expression was a mix of awe and utter exhaustion. He let out a long, sharp click of his tongue.

“……Fine. You want the list of major Heating Equipment buyers? Will that get the ball rolling?”

Taro flashed him a brilliant, shark-like smile.

You’re quite the wicked one, aren’t you?