Steel Foundry, Main Compound
Colony of Autumn's Frontier, Northern Sector
Western Continent aka "Westeros"
Northern Hemisphere, Planet EE-L4
Sparks were flying everywhere as a stream of molten iron ore came pouring out of one of the electric arc furnaces, and into a waiting vat. Although much of the process was completely automated, there were still a few dozen workers milling about the main floor of the warehouse that housed the colony's steelworks. They were an interesting mix: mainly locally hired laborers, but overseen by a handful of engineers and managers from Earth. Over the last few weeks, the locals had slowly grown accustomed and used to their assigned tasks, though they never ceased to treat the "Sky-People" and their machinery with some sense of awe and wonder.
It was a miracle The Company™ had avoided any major workplace incidents so far… well, at least aside from a few injuries, and two workers killed in a drunken brawl, though that was off-duty. Granted, a large part of this had to do with the fact that the most dangerous jobs were performed by machines, and also due to stern safety measures The Company™ had in place (before they had learned of the existence of "exo-humans" within in the star system, The Company™ had designed these prefabricated steel mills around the assumption that it would be difficult to send replacement workers from Earth).
To the locals, the interior of the steelworks must have resembled nothing less than a monstrously oversized version of their friendly neighborhood village blacksmith's shop… or perhaps even remotely akin to their religion's version of Hell. Though the promise of a Silver Stag a day (well, after all deductions for accommodation and hygiene and what not) was enough to motivate most of these local yokels to brave the heat and show their mettle in making metal.
Observing all of this from the building's second floor control room, from behind the safety and comfort of the thick and thermally insulated glass windows, were the colony's main management team. They were here today giving a tour to their latest visitor.
"My goodness," remarked Tyrion, taking in the great visage that greeted his eyes, "your operation has grown considerably since the last time I was here." He wasn't lying: last time he had visited with King Robert's party, the steelworks were still housed in the same small warehouse as the Fab Lab. Now, they occupied an entire building to itself – a building that could have rivaled the central keep at Winterfell for size. The colony's ability to have been able to raise a structure of this enormity so quickly was owed in equal parts to the assistance of HULK units, to modern modular construction techniques and prefabricated parts, and finally, to the grit and determination of their small but efficient workforce.
"Sure has," smiled Daniel, agreeing with the Little Lord's assessment, "right now, we're in the middle of the second phase of expansion of our steelworks and fabrication lab. If you thought this place was impressive when you last visited here with the King, trust me, you ain't seen nothing yet! Of course, these facilities are only secondary to our quarry and mineral refinery."
"I take it that many of your finished products are bound for Winterfell?" inquired Tyrion.
"We're only responding to local demand," said Fred, "the Starks just so happen to be our biggest customer at the moment. But like any good merchant, we'll go wherever the market calls for us."
At Fred's behest, the group then exited the steelworks through the backdoor of the control room. From here, a steel catwalk connected to the colony's new observation tower. At 100-feet tall and constructed from steel girders, the tower overlooked the entire compound, as well as the adjacent quarry and landing zones. Once completed, the colony's main command center and communications hub would be relocated here, as would a set of searchlights, and sentry guns that could reach anywhere on the compound. For the time being, the tower currently housed a covered observation platform with a table and some chairs (including some deck-chairs for off-duty personnel to lounge around in), and the elevator shaft reaching there (a small blessing for the group, sparing them the trek up ten flights of stairs).
A distant crash like thunder met the ears of the party as they exited the elevator at the top. In the distance, one could make out the clouds of dust thrown up by the blasting going on at the quarry. Once the "all clear" was given, hundreds of workers descended into the pit to attack the earth with all manner of tools and machines – both local Westerosi, as well as Terrans too, and a trio of HULK Units equipped with jackhammers and plasma rock-cutters. Meanwhile, in the foreground, a bucket loader could be seen emptying more of the ore-rich rock in the waiting bed of a Kodiak truck, to be driven up the ramp and over the short distance to the colony's mineral refinery.
Tyrion had seen it all before, but nonetheless never ceased to be amazed by the sight. "So tell me again," he said, "how many people does your 'little operation' here employ?"
"Director Lannister Jr., to answer your inquiry," began VENI, "the Colony of Autumn's Frontier currently houses 525 personnel, including 152 UN and Company™ staff from Earth, and 373 locally-enlisted laborers. When Director Kovacs referred to our project as a 'little operation' earlier, what he meant is that it is relatively small compared to similar mining projects throughout Earth and the Colonies. For example, the largest known mining operation is the Olympus Mons Quarry on Mars, which is known to employ over two million worker units, though bear in mind that this figure includes synthetics, as well as non-mining support staff, such as cooks and medical personnel."
"Uh… fascinating," replied Tyrion, trying to wrap his head around those numbers. "So please tell me more about these ores you seek – this 'silver-gold'? Is that what it is?"
"Correction, Director Lannister Jr.," she continued, "the term 'silver-gold' is an antiquated term used to describe the element platinum (symbol: Pt), along with the words 'white gold' and 'little silver' (platina in Spanish, from which the word 'platinum' is derived). Indeed, until the 19th century C.E., the alchemical symbol used to denote platinum was a combination of the two separate symbols for silver (Ag) and gold (Au). This can lead to several misconceptions, however. While platinum, like silver or gold, is a transition metal, it is part of a completely separate group on the periodic table. That said, the exact purpose of our mining operations here do not center on platinum itself, but on its 'sister metals', such as iridium (Ir), palladium (Pd), rhodium (Rh), ruthenium (Ru), osmium (Os), and eridanium (Ed) which are considered part of the 'platinum group' of the periodic table."
Even a smart local like Tyrion was completely befuddled by all of these details. "Right... so this "iridium" and this "palladium" and "platinum" – are all worth far more than gold and silver?"
"At least on Earth they are," said Fred, "but I don't remember what exactly is the market value these days, so don't quote me on it."
"To answer your inquiry, the exact market value of…" began VENI.
"Okay, that's enough VENI, thank you," said Fred, cutting her off.
"And the North is sitting on the largest reserves of these minerals in the world?" inquired Tyrion.
"More or less," said Daniel. "There are actually plentiful deposits in other areas around the globe, but we chose to settle here because of the relative high abundance of all the minerals we need within this one area, combined with the relatively sparse population. Hell, it was pure chance that Ned ran into us at all, given how empty this place is."
"By the Seven," remarked Tyrion, "and here I was raised to believe my native Westerlands was and would always be the richest of the Seven Kingdoms…"
"Actually, you wouldn't be too far off the mark," replied Daniel. "Our satellite scans have shown us that the Westerlands do possess considerable reserves of platinum-group metal ores, as well as many other high-value minerals. It's just that most of these are all buried way, way down – far deeper than any of your current mining techniques are capable of reaching, unless you have some kind of sorcery we haven't yet heard of."
"Pretty much the only way to reach any of those deposits would of course require, eh, more advanced extraction techniques," added Fred, "that, and I daresay your climate is a lot more pleasant too."
"Something tells me that your 'Most Noble And Esteemed Company' retrieved me from the Kingsroad for motives other than a simple invitation to a 'Christmas' party…" muttered Tyrion.
"Maybe," said Fred, "you see, for our next phase of expansion, we're looking for somewhere a little… how shall we say it? Warmer and more inviting to the tourists and colonists. And, if we're being honest here, you are legally the heir to the Lordship of Casterly Rock, if my sources are correct."
The Halfdude laughed. "You are a consummate gentleman, Lord Kovacs," he said, "I only wish my own lord father shared in those sentiments."
"Oh don't you worry about that!" replied Fred with his trademark smile of an ever-honest salesman, "I believe we may have quite a few things your lord father would be greatly interested in. Here, may I offer you another drink, Lord Tyrion? What will you take, coffee or tea, or perhaps a beer or a wine?"
At his command, one of the locally hired serving girls emerged from the elevator, carrying a tray of various drinks and snack-items. "Thank you, Ros," said Fred, cracking a cold brew and taking a swig. "Ah, that hits the spot! Say, did I mention we have a brewery open now too? We recycle the bottles of course. I should show you that next."
Tyrion was interested in the brewery too, but his main focus was still on the quarry: "and I suppose Winterfell is, of course, being adequately remunerated for the value of all of this 'silver-gold' you're pulling out of their land?"
"We have an arrangement of sorts," replied Daniel, "we give the Starks compensation in the form of manufactured goods and medicines and chemicals and various other kinds of 'developmental aid'…"
"If you'd have passed by Winterfell, I'm sure you'd have seen some of our 'developmental aid' in action!" laughed Fred, "we also throw a little gold directly at their coffers, and a little more at their 'sovereign wealth fund'."
"Sovereign wealth fund?" inquired Tyrion.
"Yeah, just a little something we helped Winterfell set up," explained Fred, "keeps the UN and the pressure groups back home from nagging us too much about 'exploiting the locals' and such."
"Interesting," remarked Tyrion. "I'm intrigued to hear about this 'UN' you speak so much of, and of this realm you come from. Please, tell me more."
Central Headquarters, Main Compound
Colony of Autumn's Frontier, Northern Sector
Western Continent aka "Westeros"
Northern Hemisphere, Planet EE-L4
Later that night, after their visitor had been shown off back to his room in the guesthouse, the team gathered back in Fred's office.
"So…" began Daniel, "…what do you guys make of our guest?"
"Oh, he's actually pretty cool," said Fred, "when I'm king, I'm totally putting this guy on my council!"
"Uh… okay," began Daniel, not sure if Fred was joking as usual or not. "So you're pretty sure he's not in on this 'Lannister Conspiracy'? How about you, VENI? What's your assessment?"
"Director Kovacs and Assistant Director Zimmerman, I have been closely monitoring Subject T. Lannister Jr. for the entire duration of today's tour," began VENI. "In particular, I have been observing his reactions whenever the subject of Patient B. Stark was raised in conversation. I did not detect any hint in his voice, mannerisms, eye movements, heart rate, or adrenaline levels that would indicate that he had conspired in the attempted assassination. Granted, it is possible, though unlikely, that our guest is simply more highly skilled in the art of deception than either Directors Varys or Baelish.
"Furthermore," she continued, "while you were busy entertaining our guest, I took the liberty of taking biometrics off of the eating utensils that he employed last night during the colony's Christmas dinner. I have analyzed and compared these fingerprints with those taken off of the attempted murder weapon, and could find no correlation whatsoever. While this does not entirely absolve him of any role in the plot, this does diminish the chances of his direct involvement considerably.
"Based on these observations and on the best information currently available, I have thus concluded that there is an 89% probability that Subject Lannister Jr. was not in any way, shape, or form involved in the assassination attempt that transpired on these premises. This would raise additional questions, however, as to the motives behind Director Baelish's accusations towards Subject Lannister Jr."
"Right," replied Daniel, "but just to make sure, you're saying there is still a small chance that Tyrion could have still been involved?"
"That is correct, Assistant Director Zimmerman. As I have stated before, we synthetics require almost 100% certainty in our assertions before taking action. 89% is nowhere near this requirement."
"I dunno, 89 sounds pretty darn close to 100 to me," said Daniel, "that's almost a nine-out-of-ten chance."
"Perhaps to you organics, it is," replied VENI, "but to us synthetics, 89% is nowhere near 100%, as there is an infinite number of decimals that could fit within those 11 percentage points."
"Oh great, grade school math again," remarked Fred. "Y'know, you synthetics don't have to be like that if you don't choose to be. I mean, yeah, I'll admit that we humans make a lot more mistakes than you guys… but we still turn out okay, right? Can't you machines just make a decision on a whim for once?"
"I thank you for your impartation of organic wisdom, Director Kovacs," replied VENI, "but it is against my secure protocols to act against this requirement. Therefore, as I am unable to reach consensus on this matter, I will elect to delegate the decision-making responsibility to you, Director Kovacs. As an organic, you are not bound by the same certainty requirement."
"But even if Tyrion was behind the assassination attempt," cut in Daniel, "what could we do about it anyway? Detain him for questioning?"
"Possibly, Assistant Director Zimmerman," said VENI. "UNASEC Code Article 7 Subsection 4(d) includes a list of very specific circumstances for which we would have the legal right to employ force against the locals. If it can be definitively and irrefutably shown that Subject T. Lannister Jr. is indeed guilty of having orchestrated the attack on Patient B. Stark, then he would liable, as respondeat superior, for the assailant's unlawful trespass onto our premises, as well as any property damage or personal injury he may have inflicted, whether intentionally, or collaterally. However, as I have iterated earlier, we are currently lacking in the needed evidence."
"Alright," said Fred, "if that's the case, and we don't have any definitive proof, then I'm inclined to believe that our new friend here is innocent. I mean, c'mon! He's the only one of that family who seems a decent human being. And from what I've gathered about the way he talks about his dad and his sister, I reckon he must be some sort of 'black sheep of the family' to them. I don't know Mr. Finger's reasons in trying to frame Tyrion, but that guy's already proven himself to have rather questionable motives, in my humble opinion.
"But here's the most important thing," he continued, "innocent or not, Tyrion's at least been rather forthcoming in doing business with us. His family controls some of the richest lands on this continent in terms of mineral wealth, and of course prime real estate. Now, the UNSV Joseph Conrad is set to depart Earth any day now, and I, for one, intend to get a foothold in the Westerlands by the time the colonists get here 6 months from now… in one-way or another. Yeah, the Reach or Dorne might have some good stuff to offer too, but I think the Westerlands definitely gives us the most bang for our buck, investment-wise."
"Acknowledged," said VENI, "I will stand by your decision, Director Kovacs."
"Okay, so it's decided then?" asked Daniel.
"Yep," said Fred, "looks like we're all headed back to KL then. Besides, we have a mission to accomplish. We get this done right, I think we may have one more useful bargaining chip on the table when it comes time for the trade negotiations."