Chapter 1031 (2/2)

So they had considered scrapping the delicate components altogether. But without the microscopic components that added the various functions, an exo-suit was just a suit of armor.

Which Donnyton could make so much more cheaply and quickly.

In addition, the series of runic Engraving methods spread by Randidly Ghosthound quickly highlighted another weakness of exo-suits: if the components were destroyed, suddenly they were reduced to suits of armor that required you to practically buy another exosuit in order to replace the broken part.

The energy transference runes revolutionized the industry by making those sturdy shielding metals that usually protected the inner workings also function as a redundant method to code instructions into a machine. Simple Engravings on the surfaces could vastly increase performance and also ensure that each piece of the suit would continue to function even if all the Engravings around it failed.

Senator Heathridge’s people had made several mock-ups of exo-suits that were just armor with Engravings, but he had quickly intervened personally and put a stop to that line of research. If Senator Heathridge had gone that route, he had no doubt that copycats would spring up like lice on a beggar to capitalize on the very cheap turn around of that method.

As it was, it hadn’t yet occurred to anyone other than Donnyton’s elite forges that such a thing could be done. To Senator Heathridge’s relief, Engravings were currently seen as something relatively expensive for drones or high-end armor. So there was still a market for the exosuits into which he had invested so much time and capital.

But it was like building a huge shopping center and only having teenagers come to spend money. Money was money, but no one with any real money bothered to come. They could get higher quality products elsewhere.

Of course, the true killing blow to Senator Heathridge’s influence came from Senator Firefly’s rapid rise to power. Although they had never really stood at odds with one another, the mass rush of people to the Orchard quickly made Senator Firefly’s constituency count for one-tenth of the total population of Zone 1.

When Senator Firefly spoke, people listened.

Worse, Senator Firefly had moved very quickly to the liberal voting block and dragged quite a few of some of Senator Heathridge’s old allies with him. With the votes at his disposal almost halved and the strength of the liberals growing, Senator Heathridge had to choose either throwing his lot in with the conservatives or risk being written off as irrelevant.

He had chosen irrelevancy. After all, he was quite deep in debt at this point and needed to first address the problem of funds before he could return to the zenith of his power.

So Senator Heathridge had spent the last year struggling to maintain his reputation and desperately building up goodwill with some very key Senators in the various blocks. While he truly had no real resources or support to give, he maintained a facade of having his finger in a dozen different pots. He regularly visited and spoke with the higher ranking individuals in Zone 1’s military and industry to maintain an illusion of influence.

For now, it seemed to work. But very soon, the principle on his loans would come due; he could only make interest payments for so long.

So Senator Heathridge had found himself in a strange limbo. It was true, many individuals owed him favors. And Senator Heathridge could utilize those favors at any time to get an edge in business and political dealings. Yet it was a matter of leverage at this point.

Because he had tied up so much of his money in the agricultural and exo-suit projects that had practically turned to ash in his hands, he had basically no money remaining to sink into other ventures to make back what he had lost. Sure, he could learn about buy-outs and deals ahead of time by relying on his network. He could probably even make as much as 50% profit in a few short months by being savvy about it.

Yet what would his allies think when he was only able to spare a few thousand dollars toward projects that they each had sunk millions into? They would undoubtedly wonder what motivation could Senator Heathridge have for offering such token support.

At best, they would assume it was done for political reasons to show outward support, but the small monetary amount had been chosen to send a sharp sort of message to the recipient of how Senator Heathridge really felt about an issue. At worst, his contemporaries would sense something was amiss and might begin to investigate what was going on with him.

And that is exactly what I cannot afford: an investigation.

Senator Heathridge could only stay the course. He cultivated an insightful and circumspect persona to explain why he so rarely acted these days. He became a passive force that traded on information. Although his influence waned, Senator Heathridge was able to maintain the long and intimidating shadow he had cast in the past.

Behind the scenes, Senator Heathridge had sent what little money he could to East Providence. It was from that small amount he could spare that the happy discovery of the Cyclops Initiative originated, but that would never be a source of revenue. It was a weapon on the same scale of a nuclear bomb, built on the System’s principles. But it didn’t help him in the slightest re-establish his credit.

All the while, he had been desperately looking for a cheap way to take control of a venture and develop a legitimate revenue stream that would breath life into the Senator’s financials. That was why he had fixated on Erickson Steel. Even while Randidly Ghosthound was away, the company had a core group of technicians and engineers that produced an extremely high-quality steel.

Despite Senator Heathridge’s initial reluctance to involve himself in the workings of Randidly Ghosthound, he couldn’t deny the draw of the company. Through some very meticulous research, he was confident that he had been able to estimate the amount of revenue the business generated.

The amount was staggering. So much so that Senator Heathridge had checked his estimations several times before he believed it. Sometimes, it was easy to overlook the volume of steel that the company shipped out. If he was able to take a controlling interest, it would solve all of his problems at once. So he had gotten involved with Evan Crane to act as his hands and began making life difficult for Erickson Steel.

His initial nudged hadn’t slowed the company down at all. It had already built up too much momentum to be swayed by individuals. Eventually, Senator Heathridge was forced to reluctantly use some of his political connections to pass a few laws that would have severe repercussions for Erickson Steel while appearing to be about a completely different issue.

At the time, Senator Heathridge had considered it his nuclear option. It was embarrassing to need to rely on law in order to curtail their activities. In a way, he had felt extremely bad for Erickson Steel.

Yet even with those laws restricting them, the company stoically endured. For the first time, the Senator was able to see why Evan Crane was so obsessed with the place. So they went back to the drawing board and created an even more intricate plan to exert pressure on several fronts at once.

And then Randidly Ghosthound had come back to foil every one of Senator Heathridge’s plots.

Shaking his head slightly, Senator Heathridge moved his untouched cup of coffee to the side and began to steadily sort through the papers he had gathered on his desk. Present before him was all the information that could be gathered about Randidly Ghosthound. Interviews, news reports, military briefings about his exploits, signed business documents… it was all there.

Senator Heathridge had been studying it for days, trying to predict how the man would respond when he used his prepared leverage against Randidly Ghosthound. Would he get angry? Would he grin and bear it and get revenge later?

By now, it was clear to Senator Heathridge that Randidly Ghosthound’s goal was to make Erickson Steel the world capital of New Earth. Honestly, that outcome was extremely desirable for Zone 1. If it happened, Senator Heathridge would find a dozen of ways to profit modestly. So it wasn’t as though the Senator wanted to prevent it.

It was just that now that the Senator truly understood what Randidly wanted, he could make the man pay for it. To do any less would just be bad politics. Knowledge was king in this world, and Senator Heathridge finally had the edge of having nothing left to lose.

But for some reason, the Senator’s instincts were warning him of something. So he had studied Randidly’s files again and again. He had made several plans and back up plans to deal with the fallout. He had even provided Evan Crane with an experimental exo-suit that should make him the next best thing to invincible.

Senator Heathridge hadn’t known what he was looking for, but he sure as hell knew what it was when he found it. And honestly, it was staring him in the face: a request by Randidly Ghosthound himself to alter the wording regarding the legality of mineral extraction in their lease contract.

Randidly Ghosthound planned on naming a world capital and then stealing it later.

To what end, Senator Heathridge didn’t know. But it was enough to know that the generous and charitable exterior that was shown to the public was not the true Randidly Ghosthound.

“So underneath what you seem to be… what sort of man are you truly…?” Senator Heathridge grinned at his files. Then he made a call to his exo-suit factory and prepared to make a trip to the Erickson Steel compound personally.