Family Begins With You

by Jmaster49

Arc XXVIII Episode VI: Cyber Initiative

“But I’ve come here to explain something I found,” Aidon took out the motherboard chip from his pocket and showed it to them. “I found this on a young criminal. A member of a former local yakuza branch that I had to recently put a stop to along with some of my students.”

One of Parabola’s workers approached him and took the motherboard from his hand.

Aidon would continue, “I don’t know how they ended up with such technology in their possession, but you’d be wise to keep tabs on who you’re selling your products to.”

“So it would seem,” Parabola commented as she inspected the piece of technology that had indeed come from the very building she was standing in. This revelation caused her to gasp to herself--which visibly indicated that it was true. “Grrrgh…”

Something that Aidon was quick to pick up on. “Is something wrong, miss? Do you know the exact nature of when such a sale was made?”

Parabola quelled her own anger with a quiet breath through her nose. “...I do not. It’s not something I can confidently say that I was aware of. But I’ll be certain to find those who are responsible and deal with them promptly.”

While sufficient, Aidon wasn’t entirely satisfied with such an answer. “Hang on. If I may: What is the exact nature of the products manufactured here?”

‘Persistent fool, he is. Admirable, but annoying,’ Parabola thought to herself as she hid her annoyance under a passive-aggressive tone. “Such information is on a need-to-know basis, sir.”

“Considering the lives of my students were put into grave danger because of the enhanced power of the cybernetic arm that the mobster used,” Aidon continued with a firm tone, “I believe I have a right to know.”

The woman behind the desk spoke up upon hearing Aidon’s side of the story. “...Hang on a moment. Is that the story I heard about on the news last night? They said one of the boys had multiple fractures in his skull.”

“That was Micro Chips,” Aidon replied to the desk woman, before glaring at Parabola with a frown of contempt--causing the woman to stare back with a surprised set of eyes. “The son of one of your own employees. I don’t think I need to speak any further on why this presents a very damaging situation for your entire company. So I’m only going to ask this one more time: What is the nature of the products that your company makes?”

There was no backing down at this point. Parabola’s eyes darted back and forth until she eventually closed them in defeat. “Argh…I suppose I have no choice but to explain. To make things simple for you, I’ll start off with a short answer: We develop weapons and armor for the military as well as prosthetics in case they ever lose any of their limbs in combat. How someone on the street managed to acquire my work…I have no idea.”

“Interesting. I’d like to see your process if you don’t--”

But Parabola was quick to shut that idea down. “No can do. My work is delicate and only for high-ranking officers to view. I’m sorry, but it would be against the law for me to allow it. Even if I wanted to.”

Well, he couldn’t exactly refute that. For the moment, Aidon would simply shrug his shoulders and cut his losses. “Fair enough, I suppose. I won’t press the issue further. But know that there will be dire consequences if you do not keep better tabs on who is distributing your products. If they aren’t meant for civilian use, they should not be in civilian hands. Period.”

With that, he turned and left the building with a swift pep in his step, eager to get away from the facility as quickly as possible.

‘There’s something suspicious about that place. I know it.’ Aidon thought to himself as he drove off.

Meanwhile, inside the building…

The woman behind the desk looked up at Parabola. “That was a close one, ma’am. Shall we send some of our people after him?”

“No,” Parabola answered, “I’ll deal with him myself.”

---

Later, once Aidon got home…

The shadowman sent Micro Chips an email via their school server--one that nobody else could have access to.

‘Micro. It has come to my attention that your father is working with some rather unsavory individuals who have possibly allowed the technology he works on to fall into the hands of criminals. Please inform him of such information and ask him to get law enforcement involved if necessary.’

Once the email was sent--

Knock-knock!

There was a knock at Aidon’s door. The shadowman’s eyes and ears perked up immediately out of suspicion--an old Equestrian habit.

“Hm? Who…?”

He approached the door gingerly…until he realized Luna was there.

“Ah,” he sighed with relief and opened the door to see the blue woman in her casual attire. “Hello, Luna. How are you?”

“Hi, Aidon! Erm…I was wondering if you were free to…” her face started to flush red as she tried to get her words out--she pushed her index fingers together involuntarily. “...spend some time with me today?”

“Oh, of course!” he replied with a smile, “What would you like to do?”

“...My sister recommended that we ‘watch movies and relax’ to get into the swing of Halloween. Are you up for it?”

“For you? I’m always up, Luna. Come on in.”