When the doors of the office opened Jonas Lochaeen was somewhat surprised by the man he saw. Rather than the shady and serious no-nonsense man he had been expecting, Richard Houser quelled that assumption from his sheer choice of dress and from the casual way he seemingly waltzed into the office.

His black hair was formed into a buzz cut while his light brown eyes were bright and lively. He had a sort of a smirk on his face as he walked in with a casual swagger, almost knocking over a vase which was set upon a pillar by the door. He stopped and steadied it with his left hand, taking a moment to survey the intricate floral patterns on the vase itself. That vase was worth quite a bit of money apparently, although Jonas had not been the one to buy it and put it on display. Rather the last Director of MNU's South Africa branch had been the one to purchase it, placing it somewhere which would be immediately visible to anyone who walked into the office. The sheer value of the vase would have been enough to make many people come to the conclusion that they were faced with a powerful and wealthy man.

Gripped in Richard Houser's right hand was a black leather-bound briefcase. He was dressed in a set of beige slacks with a matching coloured jacket. Underneath was a red Hawaiian shirt covered with bright floral patterns, something of an odd choice to go with the rest of the business attire. He was wearing a pair of light brown loafers that worked well with blending in with the pants, although the red Hawaiian was what caught Jonas' attention.

If this was the man who was blackmailing him then Jonas didn't know what to think. Richard Houser looked to be no older than forty and had young well-chiselled features that would have undoubtedly made him popular with women. He placed the expensive vase back on its pillar before continuing into the office, walking with an air of confidence and authority.

Jonas knew better than to let some big-headed man with bad fashion sense intimidate him. He had been expecting a sort of "man in black" character, the type of government agent that no ordinary person would have wanted to cross. Instead Jonas was faced with someone who looked like a 1980s Miami Vice reject and probably had the annoying personality to go with it. Jonas had never liked that particular television show…Then again he didn't really like cop shows in general. They were all the same sort of thing, concerning good looking cops fighting general scumbags and lowlifes (often in a set of poorly done action sequences).

Richard's gaze met with Jonas and he simply smiled, revealing a set of startlingly white teeth. He probably took extra care of them, Jonas figured. Richard stopped a short distance before Jonas' mahogany desk and set his briefcase down carefully, as if it contained some fragile materials.

"Nice office," Richard commented as he surveyed the surrounding office and its contents. His accent was the somewhat ordinary American type, implying that he was from California or Florida or some sunny part of the United States. He did have the tan to go with it.

Jonas was frowning, primarily because he hadn't really been expecting such an idiotic looking man to show up. However, the more he looked at Richard the more he began to feel uneasy. There was something about this man, through the aura of confidence and bad fashion sense. There was something in his eyes, something genuinely unnerving…

"You called me yesterday," Jonas said, deciding to get straight to business, "you wanted something we had down in storage and I arranged for it to be taken to the place you wanted it to be sent…"

"And that's why I'm here now, Mr. Lockeen," Richard replied, losing the smile but keeping a rather light-hearted gaze as well as a tone of voice to match.

"It's 'Lochaeen', not 'Lockeen'," Jonas said sternly, narrowing his eyes.

Richard only shrugged in response, obviously not giving a damn abut how to say Jonas' last name.

"Whatever," Richard replied, simply brushing aside what Jonas had said as if he had never actually said it. He paused, taking a moment to look carefully towards Jonas. Jonas was returning the favour by carefully examining Richard from where he stood.

Jonas didn't trust this man. There was something about him that he didn't like. Over the years Jonas had become an excellent judge of people he met (such ability was sort of needed in his job) and he was often capable of telling whether someone was lying to him or not. Richard Houser had contacted him yesterday over the phone and had more or less made him do what he had wanted: to organize the move of something that had been stored in MNU's Johannesburg headquarters basement for the last two decades. Richard hadn't specified any reasons as to why he had wanted this to be done or who he was working for, just that he had some sensitive material on Jonas and a number of other higher-ups in MNU here in South Africa. In order to prevent the disclosure of this information Richard wanted Jonas to do as he was told.

Jonas didn't like being intimidated like that and had been only slightly nervous when it came to meeting the man who had spoken over the phone. Over the phone he had sounded decidedly secretive but here in person he sounded like a typical American with a lot of confidence.

"I'm Richard Houser by the way," Richard said, his tone friendly as he held out his right hand in an obvious gesture to shake with Jonas. Jonas ignored the extended hand, keeping his gaze trained on Richard.

"Yes, I knew that," Jonas said, "what I would like to know is why you're here and what was so special about that item I had to move for you last night…"

Richard retracted his right hand and managed another big smile, one that only annoyed Jonas rather than put him at ease.

"Oh, you corporate types are so damn serious," Richard said, noticing that Jonas was yet to stop scowling at him. He was unfazed by Jonas' coldness, probably having gotten used to this sort of treatment. He seemed the type of person who very few people would have really liked, primarily because of his annoying aura of confidence.

"Get a fucking sense of humour, Jonas!" Richard exclaimed, still keeping on a smile as he cheerfully slapped Jonas on the shoulder in a friendly manner. Richard suddenly frowned before adding: "You don't mind if I call you Jonas, do you?"

Jonas was about to reply when Richard started speaking again, disallowing Jonas a chance to actually answer his question. Jonas was silenced as Richard's cheerful voice broke in and quickly drowned out anything Jonas had been about to say.

"Normally I wouldn't meet in person unless absolutely necessary," Richard said. Both his hands went down to the briefcase he had set upon the desk, his fingers working the latches there as he proceeded to open the briefcase.

"And boy, is now one of those 'absolutely necessary' times!" Richard exclaimed. Already his voice and overly cheerful attitude was getting on Jonas' nerves.

Jonas resisted the urge to simply reach out and throttle the man by the throat only because he wanted to find out about why Richard was here and just who he worked for. Richard was definitely somebody's lackey since it seemed unlikely that such a moron could be in charge of anything.

"You see Jonas, circumstances have changed drastically," Richard continued as he opened up the briefcase. He began to rifle through the papers inside, removing a few stapled documents a few seconds later before setting them on the desk by the case.

Jonas glanced at the documents yet couldn't really gather much from the mostly plain front covers on them. They appeared to be some sort of documents, each file relating to some other topic. The one on the top of the pile was labelled 'ITEM #072'. It occurred to Jonas that 'Item #072' was in fact the name of the item that had been put on the convoy the night before.

"That's why Plan B's being put into action," Richard said, closing the briefcase and returning his gaze towards Jonas. "And Plan B actually includes the full cooperation of you and the MNU lackeys you control."

Jonas heard this and firmed up his scowl.

"Cooperation? From me?" Jonas was incredulous as to the sheer nerve of this man and whoever he was working for. Richard couldn't just walk into his office and start ordering everyone around! Did Richard have any idea about who he was talking to?

Maybe he did and maybe he just didn't care. Richard had a smirk on his face, keeping up that cheerful mood that was currently annoying the hell out of Jonas. Jonas had little to be happy about, especially with all that was going on: there were the Nigerians operating in District 9's remaining areas for one and then there was the rise in insurgency actions from the prawns. And then there was the whole hatred much of the world population had against MNU right now that was only furthering Jonas' uncertainty in the future of his job. Sure, there was little chance that MNU would be closed down but there was a chance that MNU's South Africa branch would be closed down…and thus Jonas would be without a job. He didn't want that to happen.

"I don't even know what's going on!" Jonas was getting angry now. Richard simply remained unfazed, keeping on his smile as Jonas proceeded to slam one clenched fist angrily onto the desk.

"First, you call me in the middle of the night and threaten to blackmail me…Then you start ordering me around as if I'm some goon of yours…And then the convoy you made me set up gets attacked and I still don't know why! Just who are you, Richard Houser? Who do you work for and why are you suddenly so interested in what we're doing here?"

Richard smiled again. Jonas resisted the urge to punch him in the face in order to allow him to reply.

"Jonas buddy, there are a few things you have to understand: for one, you're not a popular man. There are plenty of powerful people who would love to see you and your MNU brought down after what happened back in 2010. Secondly, the organization I represent has always been interested in what's been going on down here in South Africa. I mean, who wouldn't be interested when there are aliens involved?" Richard paused, grinning. "I believe you call them 'prawns' down here, though. I doubt they taste anything like prawns…"

Jonas managed to calm himself a little, thinking that it was just the stress of his job and MNU's current crises that were getting to him. It most definitely was since the more he thought of all the crap he was having to deal with recently he realized just how much he had been weighed down in his work. Dealing with a constant barrage of abuse whenever he walked by a crowd of protestors or even people in the street was probably having some effect on his state of mind as well.

"Thirdly, I have come here with an offer that…well, it's an offer you simply can't refuse." He smiled, realizing he had spouted a cliché and that it amused him. Jonas only rolled his eyes, his perception of Richard Houser as a fool only growing.

"The original scheme was to get what we wanted within a minimal amount of time and with minimal involvement with your corporation," Richard explained, losing his smile as he thought on the previous night's stuff up. He was talking about it as if it deserved to be mourned: their "original scheme" had effectively been figuratively flushed down the toilet thanks to the events of the previous night.

"It was a while in the planning, mind you," Richard continued, sounding proud of his organization's devotion to their schemes, "but we were careful enough to come up with a few other plans. Plan B, as I'm about to discuss with you, is just one of them…and it's possibly the most interesting of our schemes so far. Not only will it provide the most reward but it will also provide an opportunity for you to retire early…"

Jonas lost his scowl and raised an eyebrow instead. Richard was smiling but rather than annoy him this time Jonas was intrigued. Was Richard implying that there would be money involved?

"The reason for the blackmail over the phone was just so you would know that I and the organization I represent mean business. Not me nor anyone in my organization could give two shits if you were having an affair with someone other than your wife or if you were selling weapons to Arab extremist groups. Sure, we have the blackmail material but no one's going to see it, especially after what happened last night." Richard paused, letting his words sink into Jonas before continuing.

"So, the convoy…That's what you're here about?" Jonas frowned again. Despite the good vibes he was beginning to receive he was still more or less in the dark about whatever Richard was proposing and about Item #072.

"Good guess, Jonas!" Richard said this like an annoying game show host. "That's what I'm here about! The convoy!"

He lost the game show host voice then and there as he went on to discuss and make clear a few things that Jonas had been trying to work out.

"The original scheme was to get the item my organization wanted without getting too involved with you or MNU," Richard explained, "My superiors had decided that the last few days had made an excellent window of opportunity to get to recovering the item, a window made even smaller by a tip-off we received from one of our…uh, 'men' at District 10."

Jonas raised an eyebrow. Now just what was Richard implying? Did he actually have prawns working for him?

"What kind of 'men' are you talking about?" Jonas asked, "spies? Informants?"

"Prawns," Richard asked, "you can get them to do anything for you if you give them enough cat food. That stuff is like cocaine to them…and some even end up dying from it. A cat food overdose! Can you believe that?" He laughed before going back on topic immediately afterwards.

If whoever Richard worked for had influence amongst the prawns then that could mean that they knew about the rebellions and the insurgency and may even be in a position to aid MNU. Jonas realized that Richard was here now not because he wanted to get MNU in on whatever his organization was planning but because they were out of options and that MNU was their only ticket to what they wanted…whatever that was. Jonas didn't say anything about this, preferring to let Richard continue with explaining the scheme.

"Apparently somebody's been getting these aliens organized," Richard said, "spreading the seeds of rebellion, getting access to weapons and equipment…And that this tip-off revealed that these rebels knew about Item 072…"

"And just what is Item 072?" Jonas delivered the question abruptly, interrupting Richard mid-sentence. Richard looked at him, taking a moment to reply.

"It's something your corporation had been sitting on ever since the prawns arrived back in the 80's," Richard replied, his tone a little more serious than usual.

He picked up the file lying on top of the pile and handed it to Jonas (it was the one labelled 'ITEM #072'. Jonas flicked through it, being treated to a few large high clarity photographs of just what the item was.

It was cylindrical in its general shape yet it had a sort of dome section on one side. This dome section appeared to be constructed of some high density near transparent glass, coloured an ocean blue. Metal tubes and valves covered the sides while a control panel that was covered with alien symbols was on the base of the front. It certainly looked alien but it was hard to be genuinely sure just by looking at some photos. Anyone could have made it but something told Jonas that this was not a fake. Whatever it was it reminded him of those sorts cryogenic suspension tubes that would often be in science fiction movies or television shows or novels…and maybe that was what it was. Some sort of stasis tube, one that contained something…He didn't know what it could have been.

"What is it?" He asked, shifting his gaze back towards Richard. As much as he distrusted Richard Houser he couldn't help but be intrigued about what he was hearing.

"The thing that was on that convoy," Richard said. He paused again before continuing with the explanation. "You see, at the end of 2010 one of my organization's tech specialists located the information concerning that item kept in the basement levels of this very building while hacking MNU's databases. He made sure to copy all the relevant information before erasing it off your databases…" He smiled when Jonas shot him a mean glare. "Sorry about that…it was just at the time it seemed that MNU would be shutdown."

"We weren't."

"And all the better then!" Richard exclaimed suddenly, "Because now, with things as they are, both my organization and MNU can work together! Not only do we have to locate that item but my superiors have decided to help you do something about the rising insurgency. If we find Item 072 we can find whoever started this rebellion. The prawns, you see, aren't stupid. Far from it, in fact."

Jonas had heard that before. He preferred to regard the prawns as inferior (they most definitely were in his opinion) and no better than mere animals. They weren't civilized, they didn't have human values or ethics…They were just stupid or violent or both. Stupidly violent wasn't a good combination.

"Just what are you saying?" Jonas asked, putting the file down onto the desk. He would read it later, when he wasn't caught up with talking to Richard.

"I'm saying we revive MNU's cancelled illegal genetics research," Richard said, that smile of his reappearing on his face, "Except this time things will be different. You see, the researchers that work for the organization I represent have since discovered a few things your MNU scientists missed."

Revive the research? Jonas went wide-eyed. How could they possibly do that? MNU was being watched by people who were determined to ensure that they did not repeat the research in the prawns that they had been carrying out until the trials. Starting up a whole genetics research program would get noticed by watch dog groups and once more MNU would be in trouble. Jonas didn't want to lose his job, yet reviving the illegal genetics research program would probably make that happen.

"And just what did MNU miss?" Jonas asked, "Because I was in on that research. I even helped plan out the program. It was simple really: capture a few prawns, run some tests, dissect them and find out how their weaponry worked only for them and no one else."

"We all know how successful that was," Richard said mockingly.

Jonas swallowed. It had certainly been a waste of time in the end and to top it off it had almost brought down the whole of MNU. And now this man, Richard Houser, was making it sound as if whatever organization he worked for had actually been successful.

"You've succeeded?" Jonas shook his head. "Bullshit."

Richard only nodded apologetically.

"We did succeed…in one area. The very one your scientists failed to notice."

Richard picked up another of the files and handed it to Jonas. Jonas took it with a frown of doubt on his face although that frown quickly turned to a look of confusion when he saw the label on the front. The file was labelled 'DNA ALTERATION'. What the hell was that supposed to mean? It was fairly vague and could have meant anything so in order to clarify things a little Jonas opened the file and began to skim through its contents. He was met with a picture of a narrow metal cylinder on the first page, followed by a few large paragraphs that were full of scientific jargon that he couldn't really make sense of.

"I'm sure you know Wikus van de Merwe?" Richard asked.

Jonas snapped the file shut upon hearing this name. Not only had that man caused all of the trouble that MNU was in now but he had been responsible for the deaths of many MNU mercenaries. Where he was now was unknown but many considered him the sole cause of MNU's miseries.

"I can tell from the look on your face that you do," Richard said, grinning. "Then I'm sure you're familiar with what happened to him? The whole 'changing into a prawn' thing that had all of your scientists jumping with glee?"

"Yes, I know about that…"

"And how he escaped?"

"Yes…"

"And how he disappeared, taking with him the one hope of working out how to make that army of super soldiers wielding alien weaponry that you've always dreamed of?"

"Yes…"

"Well, just ask yourself this question: How did it happen, Jonas? How did he start to change the way he did?"

Jonas thought about this for a moment or two. He rummaged through the mess of memories he had that had to do with the whole Wikus business. And there was one thing that cropped into his mind, a detail that had at the time been fairly insignificant and soon forgotten…

"That cylinder in that photo, Jonas," Richard said, his voice starting to rise with anticipation on what was to be said, "None of your scientists got a chance to thoroughly check out that cylinder, did they? Because if they had they would have discovered one very important fact…"

"And what would that have been?" Jonas was once more intrigued, regardless of Richard's untrustworthiness.

"The fact that it was full of the fuel that powers the prawn ship," Richard said, "and that it was the stuff that poor old Mr. Van de Merwe was exposed to, thus starting his change. It's what caused it, Jonas. Thus, it's the answer to the research MNU was forced to abandon."

Jonas realized what Richard was getting at and simply smiled, sort of like Richard. This smile quickly disappeared when he remembered one very major snag.

"That cylinder is gone," Jonas said, remembering what had happened rather clearly, "Wikus and some prawn broke in and shot the basement laboratories up…They took it and now it's gone and it's been gone for almost two and a half years, close to three even. I'm pretty sure looking for it is going to be in vain."

Surprisingly enough Richard was completely unfazed by this fact. Rather, he seemed to have been expecting to hear it.

"Jonas, I thought you would know better!" Richard shook his head, chuckling. "I didn't come all the way down to South Africa just to start looking for something that's since left the planet. No, I'm just giving you the necessary background information.

"You see, some of the scientists in the organization I work for have speculated about the prawns and their true nature. It seems like a fairly logical assumption that the ones stuck on Earth are the workers, sort of like worker ants in a colony. That's why most of them are pretty stupid with only rudimentary intelligence.

"But what happened to the leaders, the ones that do the thinking and obviously design the ships and weaponry? Where did they all go? And if the prawns came here for benevolent reasons why did they bring with them a whole load of weaponry and a substance capable of altering human DNA? Ask yourself those questions Jonas and you'll begin to see that some things just don't add up."

Jonas listened and soaked up Richard's words carefully. He was making some good points, especially when it came to the unknown fate of the alien leaders and the true purpose that the prawns had travelled to Earth with. Obviously whatever purpose the prawns leadership might have had had since been forgotten although the legacy (lack of leadership, advanced weaponry) was still around.

"And Item 072 fits into this because the scientists in the organization I work for have spent the last three years studying the prawns and their technology. Some of them had even been in the ship before its departure. We made a few neat little conclusions that you may find interesting," Richard explained, now in full gear.

"Enlighten me," Jonas said, deciding that he would take whatever Richard said from here on in with a grain of salt. There was still something about Richard that he didn't like, something past the man's confident aura and terrible fashion sense that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"The prawn leadership probably consisted of a few smart, thinking prawns that were probably slightly different in physiology to the lower-class workers. They were on the ship, perhaps scouting around or perhaps with the intention of coming to Earth and…I don't know, subjugating the human race, stripping our planet of resources…Who the hell knows for sure? The ship may have even been a mining ship, although the amount of weapons on board seemed to indicate otherwise…"

"Can you just get to the point?" Jonas asked.

"I'm getting there so quit being so impatient," Richard said, slightly annoyed at the interruption. Once he was sure Jonas was listening he continued, his voice picking up in pace as he spoke.

"This ship was perhaps piloted by that prawn, Christopher Johnson," Richard said, "it seems safe to assume that he was one of the smarter ones and had the qualifications to fly it. After all, he did fly it off of Earth so maybe he was the one who flew it here in the first place.

"Anyway, as I was saying the prawns may have come here for some reason, whatever that was. That's not the point, though. The point is to do with the alien leadership: what happened to them? Did the ship have a Captain or a Commander or just a 'boss'? If so, what happened to him? Maybe the prawn leadership on that ship caught a disease and died. It seems safe to assume that something did happen to them, something that was bad enough to force one of them into stasis…"

"Hang on," Jonas said, realizing what Richard was getting at, "Are you saying that Item 072 contains…"

"A dead alien," Richard finished, "Whatever was keeping that lead prawn alive has since failed. Instead, what we have is a big cylinder full of the prawn's eventual by-product: the black fluid or fuel or whatever it is. The reason Item 072 was stored away was because your scientists had no means to find out what was inside since back in the 80s very little was known about the prawns. You could say that Item 072 was simply forgotten about.

"Now that we know the real nature of what it contains we can exploit it. With access to the black fluid we can find out how to transfer the genetic trait that enables the prawns to use their weaponry into humans and…ta-dah!" He reached into the pile of papers and retrieved a picture of a soldier outfitted in futuristic looking armour wielding what was obviously an alien gun. It was computer generated, thus it wasn't quite a "real" photo.

"Instant super soldiers!" Richard exclaimed happily, "With this sort of thing at our disposal we'll make billions from selling it to whoever's willing to pay…and trust me Jonas, there'll be a lot of groups willing to pay up big bucks."

Jonas smiled. Now the confidence he had once had concerning the genetics research had returned. It struck him how Richard's organization was willing to work with MNU only after their original plan had failed. Item 072 was in the hands of the prawn insurgents who had attacked the convoy last night, so how on Earth would they get it back from the prawns?

"It's all about the money, Jonas," Richard said, "All we have to do is get that stasis pod back. It's literally overflowing with that special alien fluid but fortunately for anyone stupid enough to get exposed it only works on certain people. It took some time to isolate the specific genetic trait required to incite a successful transformation but I've already compiled a list of people who may make good candidates…All of them from this very branch of MNU, just to make things easier for ourselves."

He retrieved another paper from the file and handed it to Jonas. The plan was pretty obvious but Jonas read through the dozen or so names on the list, recognizing one or two of them.

"We form a specialist team out of those people," Richard said, his excited tone dying down a little, "They're going to investigate the rising prawn insurgency. And they're going to help restore MNU's once proud public image. Not only that but the team's going to consist of the people on that list…All of them notable in their particular line of work and all of them potential test subjects once we get that stasis pod back. It shouldn't be too difficult to do since you'll have my organization's information to work with. Already one of our informants has gotten back to us with a possible lead and this team will follow up on it."

"A team?" Jonas frowned. "A team that's more or less going to be there for the public image?"

"You bet!" Richard replied bluntly and rather cheerfully before adding, "And it'll make exposing the first lot of test subjects much easier and more convenient."

Jonas could only agree with the logic in the plan. Form a team as a public relations stunt, one dedicated to investigating the prawn insurgency and finding a means of quelling it and allowing the general population to live in safety once again, without fear of being attacked by disgruntled prawns armed with advanced weaponry. The team itself would consist of people who would in turn make good test subjects when Item #072 was eventually found and their disappearances could be attributed to a prawn attack or something. Jonas was fairly certain that the plan was foolproof.

"My organization is willing to work with you and cut you fifty percent of all profits made from the deals made with nations and private organizations when we finally start rolling out the super soldiers…Just as long as there's no double-crossing or backstabbing." Richard sounded rather happy. Jonas could only feel the same.

"As an added condition I'm having one of my own men brought in to lead this team," Richard said, "he's an ex-Colonel and a Green Beret. His name's Francis Keller. He's one of the most reliable mercenaries I have at my disposal."

You're in charge of some mercenaries? Jonas found this thought somewhat amusing when he saw Richard and his seemingly idiot persona. Sure, he had brought forward an excellent scheme but only because the first one had failed. The original scheme to do with the convoy and its special cargo would have left MNU without any rewards from it. It was only because it had stuffed up that Richard and his organization had decided to actually cut MNU in since they couldn't find Item #072 without their help. Jonas could choose to not go along with the plan and yet have enough information to start an investigation into finding Item #072.

"What do you say, Jonas?" Richard asked, awaiting his answer with an expectant gaze. He held out his right hand again with the obvious intention of shaking with Jonas. "Are we going to work together on this?"

"Who do you work for?" Jonas asked, ignoring the gesture to shake hands.

Richard shook his head.

"That's irrelevant," Richard replied.

Typical. Richard had secrets but then again so did everybody else. If he didn't want to reveal who he was working for then that was find with Jonas. He would find out eventually, one war or another.

"I'll set up this specialist group," Jonas said, deciding to get straight to business, "You do whatever it is you have to do."

Richard brought back his open hand and nodded appreciatively. Things were being set into motion now.

"That's excellent to hear, Jonas," Richard said, "I have a feeling that this is the start of a wonderful business relationship."

Jonas could only think of his coming early retirement that the billions of dollars in arms contracts would net him and Richard's organization. Richard would have to share his fifty percent cut of the profits throughout his organization whiles Jonas would only have himself to spend his fifty own fifty percent on…In other words, Jonas was getting the better deal yet Richard didn't seem bothered by this fact. Either he didn't realize it or he was getting paid enough already or he didn't care.

Jonas suddenly felt like a drink and remembered the glass jug of sour orange juice he had left out on the table on the balcony.

"Would you care for some orange juice, Richard?" He asked.