Post by YueFei on Oct 26, 2021 16:42:18 GMT
"Looks like you're being re-assigned," An Mei did not like the sound of that. She leaned back in her seat in the little office and tried to keep her eyes on the boss, rather than look out his corner window on the Beijing streets below. EverBlue had a way of re-assigning people and those people had a way of never showing up on company payroll again. She would know, she did a lot of the payroll. Her mind raced over what she could have possibly done to land on the company's 'to be fired quietly' list but came up with nothing.
"Sir, I don't understand."
The old man held up a hand for her silence and slid a folder across the desk to her. It was labelled "Project Green." She raised a thin eyebrow and lifted the folder, scanning through the contents. There wasn't much there, in fact there was nothing there that made sense. It was a sheet with a list of names, at the top of which was hers.
"The Company has recently made certain acquisitions we're not allowed to discuss here. These acquisitions need someone to manage them and your name came up. You have an excellent record at EverBlue and a sharp mind for logistics and order. Logistics and order are precisely what Project Green requires. You may of course turn this down, but you would be turning down a significant promotion and a pay raise in the order of several magnitudes over what you make now." Her eyes widened. Several magnitudes? What did that even mean?
"Ah, without breaching security, could you perhaps, sir, be more specific?" she asked.
He smiled. "Always the analytical mind I see. You would become one of China's top five percent." She dropped the folder onto the desk. Magnitudes wasn't an apt description at all. She tried to think of more fitting words but there weren't many words for going from office pay to billionaire. That kind of pay raise wasn't life changing, it was family changing. She would elevate her entire family by accepting one promotion. One. Her father's disappointment she wasn't a boy would evaporate over night.
"To--to what do I owe the honor?" she managed.
"As I said, we need someone who can turn Project Green around, a sharp mind, an organized mind."
He slid a piece of paper across the desk and offered her a pen. She took it with trembling fingers and signed the document without hesitating.
He took the paper and smiled. "The names I gave you are your employees. You will be briefed on the helicopter ride to your new office tomorrow. Clear out your desk today, tell no one anything. We will move your name to the--other--payroll."
An Mei made a flurry of phone calls to her family and had words of praise heaped on her by her father she'd never dreamed of. She packed her things in her office and in her little apartment, having been informed she would be needing neither. Soon enough she was on a helicopter flying out of Beijing. A man in a black suit sat across from her in the cabin and began her briefing.
"As far as The Company is concerned your name is now Lady Mu Guiying. This is the name you will use on all official documents and in all official interactions within The Company. You are welcome to maintain your given names in your private life and, in fact, are encouraged to do so. You should also get a boyfriend. We have a list of candidates we think fitting," he handed her a folder and she looked through it briefly. There were men, a dozen of them, with pictures, biographical information, and little else.
"Why do I need a boyfriend?" she did not ask why they were choosing candidates for her, or why she'd be picking one out like a new coat.
"Women do not become billionaires over night, you need connections, connections within the Chinese Government should EverBlue ever need to pull strings. These men have those connections."
She frowned. "This one is married."
"Was, if you choose him," the power behind those words, behind all of this, pushed her into her seat.
"Anyway, you will be given command of Project Green, your office and base of operations will be on the newly acquired vessel Ever Taken, it's a super cargo transport that recently had some--unfortunate--legal trouble in Egypt under a different name. Its owners were forced to sell but the ship is in excellent condition. Your operation also consists of six orbital satellites and one decommissioned nuclear submarine for recovery operations. There are also other assets which will be made apparent to you once we land. I also have new apartments for your consideration, a new vehicle you should choose from for your personal use and detailed bios on all of your new employees. You report only to The CEO and no one else. From this point forward, no one else in the company out ranks you, no one."
Her head was still swimming when they landed on the empty deck of the massive cargo hauler. Huge containers were being loaded on board as she disembarked. "I thought this was a former cargo ship?"
Her escort didn't reply until they were on the way to the bridge. She sniffed. There was immense pressure in the air and her ears felt as if she'd changed altitudes, severely. He handed her a box of tissues from one of the escorts walking with them.
"To maintain appearances Ever Taken will continue delivering cargo. You will need these for the nose bleeds."
"Nose bleeds?"
"We think it's part of the residual background pressure created by its presence."
"It's?" He smiled and said no more. He showed took her through the bog standard bridge into the depths of ship where workers were replaced by armed men and open bulkhead doors replaced be security check points. Finally they arrived in the real central control room. He ushered her and guided her to the back, past a raised command chair, to a cylindrical tank of dark liquid. Her eyes widened.
"Meet your asset, the whole reason for this operation. This hideous thing is Yue Fei."
She touched the glass and her heart skipped a beat or two. "Hideous? He's--beautiful." Her briefing officer looked at her like she was mad. Violet eyes opened inside the tank and a voice that wasn't a voice echoed without echoing through the room.
It is a pleasure to meet you.
"The pleasure is all mine," she said softly. The rest of her day was filled with briefings informing her of Project Green's purpose, to produce a Meta-Threat Response Team capable of operating anywhere in the world, with Yue Fei as its actual Threat Response Asset, along with a series of advanced machines he could control telepathically through artificial biological nervous systems. She kept thinking about Yue Fei and finally they spoke about him, though only after a series of security systems were activated to prevent him from 'listening' in.
He detailed in full what they thought Yue Fei was, and how Yue Fei had been 'convinced' through brainwashing to work for them. Yue Fei thought it was Human.
"He," she said.
"We aren't even sure it has reproductive organs. All of our attempts to scan or investigate its body have proven fruitless."
She smiled. "Yue Fei is a male." She didn't know how she knew, but she knew, with certainty, Yue Fei was male, whatever else he was.
Basic Data:
Yue Fei was discovered in an ancient crashed alien ship. He was unconscious and when he recovered had no memories of who or what he was. Discovering his advanced abilities The Company quickly moved to further secure him and brainwashed Yue Fei into believing he was a member of the company with special abilities. He was given a restrain collar "for his own good" to keep his powers from "going out of control" when in fact it keeps his abilities at a level EverBlue believes it can control. This collar is directly powered by a naval class nuclear reactor.
Yue Fei controls (one at a time) six mechs with biological nervous systems. He can operate these from anywhere in the world and they are deployed via orbital satellites using drop pod devices. Yue Fei selects the mech he feels will best suit the threat and is given total control over the operation once deploy, though he is fully monitored and can be given commands by Lady Mu back in the command center. Machine death or severe damage can lead to synaptic feedback and injure Yue Fei himself. With the collar on Yue Fei can only ever control one machine at a time.
Yue Fei has also been granted two "avatars" through which he can interact with the outside world. These avatars are brain dead clones of two former employees (both of whom are deceased, not through actions by EverBlue) and thus biologically alive, but not actually people in their own right. When he chooses Yue Fei will occupy the neural pathways of one of these avatars in much the same way he would one of his machines. This is his way of interacting with the world, as he is never allowed out of his tank (because they have no idea how to get him out of the alien machine).
Yue Fei's bio tank is capable of healing his body and controls his biological processes so that he has no need to leave the tank. What its purpose was is beyond the knowledge of EverBlue at this time.
"Sir, I don't understand."
The old man held up a hand for her silence and slid a folder across the desk to her. It was labelled "Project Green." She raised a thin eyebrow and lifted the folder, scanning through the contents. There wasn't much there, in fact there was nothing there that made sense. It was a sheet with a list of names, at the top of which was hers.
"The Company has recently made certain acquisitions we're not allowed to discuss here. These acquisitions need someone to manage them and your name came up. You have an excellent record at EverBlue and a sharp mind for logistics and order. Logistics and order are precisely what Project Green requires. You may of course turn this down, but you would be turning down a significant promotion and a pay raise in the order of several magnitudes over what you make now." Her eyes widened. Several magnitudes? What did that even mean?
"Ah, without breaching security, could you perhaps, sir, be more specific?" she asked.
He smiled. "Always the analytical mind I see. You would become one of China's top five percent." She dropped the folder onto the desk. Magnitudes wasn't an apt description at all. She tried to think of more fitting words but there weren't many words for going from office pay to billionaire. That kind of pay raise wasn't life changing, it was family changing. She would elevate her entire family by accepting one promotion. One. Her father's disappointment she wasn't a boy would evaporate over night.
"To--to what do I owe the honor?" she managed.
"As I said, we need someone who can turn Project Green around, a sharp mind, an organized mind."
He slid a piece of paper across the desk and offered her a pen. She took it with trembling fingers and signed the document without hesitating.
He took the paper and smiled. "The names I gave you are your employees. You will be briefed on the helicopter ride to your new office tomorrow. Clear out your desk today, tell no one anything. We will move your name to the--other--payroll."
An Mei made a flurry of phone calls to her family and had words of praise heaped on her by her father she'd never dreamed of. She packed her things in her office and in her little apartment, having been informed she would be needing neither. Soon enough she was on a helicopter flying out of Beijing. A man in a black suit sat across from her in the cabin and began her briefing.
"As far as The Company is concerned your name is now Lady Mu Guiying. This is the name you will use on all official documents and in all official interactions within The Company. You are welcome to maintain your given names in your private life and, in fact, are encouraged to do so. You should also get a boyfriend. We have a list of candidates we think fitting," he handed her a folder and she looked through it briefly. There were men, a dozen of them, with pictures, biographical information, and little else.
"Why do I need a boyfriend?" she did not ask why they were choosing candidates for her, or why she'd be picking one out like a new coat.
"Women do not become billionaires over night, you need connections, connections within the Chinese Government should EverBlue ever need to pull strings. These men have those connections."
She frowned. "This one is married."
"Was, if you choose him," the power behind those words, behind all of this, pushed her into her seat.
"Anyway, you will be given command of Project Green, your office and base of operations will be on the newly acquired vessel Ever Taken, it's a super cargo transport that recently had some--unfortunate--legal trouble in Egypt under a different name. Its owners were forced to sell but the ship is in excellent condition. Your operation also consists of six orbital satellites and one decommissioned nuclear submarine for recovery operations. There are also other assets which will be made apparent to you once we land. I also have new apartments for your consideration, a new vehicle you should choose from for your personal use and detailed bios on all of your new employees. You report only to The CEO and no one else. From this point forward, no one else in the company out ranks you, no one."
Her head was still swimming when they landed on the empty deck of the massive cargo hauler. Huge containers were being loaded on board as she disembarked. "I thought this was a former cargo ship?"
Her escort didn't reply until they were on the way to the bridge. She sniffed. There was immense pressure in the air and her ears felt as if she'd changed altitudes, severely. He handed her a box of tissues from one of the escorts walking with them.
"To maintain appearances Ever Taken will continue delivering cargo. You will need these for the nose bleeds."
"Nose bleeds?"
"We think it's part of the residual background pressure created by its presence."
"It's?" He smiled and said no more. He showed took her through the bog standard bridge into the depths of ship where workers were replaced by armed men and open bulkhead doors replaced be security check points. Finally they arrived in the real central control room. He ushered her and guided her to the back, past a raised command chair, to a cylindrical tank of dark liquid. Her eyes widened.
"Meet your asset, the whole reason for this operation. This hideous thing is Yue Fei."
She touched the glass and her heart skipped a beat or two. "Hideous? He's--beautiful." Her briefing officer looked at her like she was mad. Violet eyes opened inside the tank and a voice that wasn't a voice echoed without echoing through the room.
It is a pleasure to meet you.
"The pleasure is all mine," she said softly. The rest of her day was filled with briefings informing her of Project Green's purpose, to produce a Meta-Threat Response Team capable of operating anywhere in the world, with Yue Fei as its actual Threat Response Asset, along with a series of advanced machines he could control telepathically through artificial biological nervous systems. She kept thinking about Yue Fei and finally they spoke about him, though only after a series of security systems were activated to prevent him from 'listening' in.
He detailed in full what they thought Yue Fei was, and how Yue Fei had been 'convinced' through brainwashing to work for them. Yue Fei thought it was Human.
"He," she said.
"We aren't even sure it has reproductive organs. All of our attempts to scan or investigate its body have proven fruitless."
She smiled. "Yue Fei is a male." She didn't know how she knew, but she knew, with certainty, Yue Fei was male, whatever else he was.
Basic Data:
Yue Fei was discovered in an ancient crashed alien ship. He was unconscious and when he recovered had no memories of who or what he was. Discovering his advanced abilities The Company quickly moved to further secure him and brainwashed Yue Fei into believing he was a member of the company with special abilities. He was given a restrain collar "for his own good" to keep his powers from "going out of control" when in fact it keeps his abilities at a level EverBlue believes it can control. This collar is directly powered by a naval class nuclear reactor.
Yue Fei controls (one at a time) six mechs with biological nervous systems. He can operate these from anywhere in the world and they are deployed via orbital satellites using drop pod devices. Yue Fei selects the mech he feels will best suit the threat and is given total control over the operation once deploy, though he is fully monitored and can be given commands by Lady Mu back in the command center. Machine death or severe damage can lead to synaptic feedback and injure Yue Fei himself. With the collar on Yue Fei can only ever control one machine at a time.
Yue Fei has also been granted two "avatars" through which he can interact with the outside world. These avatars are brain dead clones of two former employees (both of whom are deceased, not through actions by EverBlue) and thus biologically alive, but not actually people in their own right. When he chooses Yue Fei will occupy the neural pathways of one of these avatars in much the same way he would one of his machines. This is his way of interacting with the world, as he is never allowed out of his tank (because they have no idea how to get him out of the alien machine).
Yue Fei's bio tank is capable of healing his body and controls his biological processes so that he has no need to leave the tank. What its purpose was is beyond the knowledge of EverBlue at this time.