Guest quarters - The Red Keep
Capital Sector aka "Crownlands"
Western Continent aka "Westeros"
Northern Hemisphere, Planet EE-L4.
For a city supposedly under lockdown, the last couple of days had seen a flurry of activity. First of all, King Robert hadn't been too happy when he found out just what Littlefucker had been up to – the corruption, the fraud, the poisoning of the Lannisters (well, allegedly at least), and, of course, the death of the man who had fostered Ned and Robert like they were his own two sons. For this, the King had immediately declared all Baelish's titles revoked, his property confiscated, and his life forfeit…
…if he could be found at all that is. You see, the cunning little prick had vanished without a trace. The sneaky bastard must've known for a while that Fred and VENI were onto him, and had taken appropriate measures accordingly. When the Goldcloaks had finally gotten 'round to raiding all of his known brothels and other little business ventures, they had found them all half-empty, stripped clean of all valuable items – gold, documents, you name it. The staff left to run these enterprises were completely out of the loop as to what had been going on – it seems that Baelish had done a remarkably good job of revealing his plans to only a very select few among his staff, and then apparently taking these few along with him when he left (or else probably silencing them in other ways...). Fred didn't even want to imagine what Littlefucker had been up to with the treasury before he absconded.
Even Varys, surprisingly, claimed he didn't know his current whereabouts (which could only mean one of two things: that either the fat bald fuck was in cahoots with him, or else he was just that good at hiding. Fred, of course, had his suspicions, but no way yet of confirming them - especially ever since his "little bird" got caught, the cock-less son-of-a-bitch had been starting to tread a little more carefully, and put some distance between him and Fred and VENI). Make no mistake: this was a very well planned operation, at least a month in the making. Fred really had to give credit where it was due: Littlefucker had pulled off one hell of an "exit stage left", and all of this without the aid of the modern technology that Fred depended on and took for granted.
But you know what? All of that mattered little in the long run. Fred was quite confident that they would catch him soon enough. Their satellite in orbit was already scanning the entire region – checking all ships, all roads, farms, villages… everything within a certain radius of the city. With each passing day, that radius was expanded slightly, to account for how far he could have gotten if he had escaped the city on horseback, on foot, or by sea. True, looking for one man across an entire continent was like looking for a needle in a haystack – especially when the satellite was needed for other tasks too. But hey: how long could a man really remain hidden?
But even then, this whole matter of Littlefinger was relatively simple and straightforward compared to the shitstorm that had been raised by the other issue: that of Ned and Jaime's little scuffle. King Bob, understandably, was really pissed off about everything. Yeah, it was well known that he and Ned had had a heated difference of opinion earlier that very morning - Fred had been there, seen it, and boy did things get ugly. He'd wanted to say something, but then figured he'd only wind up making things worse. Fred didn't really understand how a little girl, this Daenerys, could be such a big deal, though King Bob seemed adamant on pushing for her death.
But even then, you could see that Ned was still like a brother to the King, and the fact that Ned had almost, you know, died there and then really ticked him off. At the same time though, Jaime was his brother-in-law by marriage, and the uncle to his children... well, okay, actually, the father to his children (yuck!). But King Bob didn't know that yet, nor did Fred intend to tell him anytime too soon – at least not until they had squeezed every last drop of milk they could out of Cersei's round little teats... metaphorically speaking, that is.
All in all, the King was facing a rather interesting moral dilemma, and he had so far done a good job of avoiding everyone else and not talking about it and doing what King Bob does best and drowning his sorrows away in yet more drinking and whoring. The more Fred and VENI thought about it (well, VENI more so than Fred), the more one had to suspect that beneath that jovial outer shell lay a deeply tortured and insecure soul. Robert's constant bringing up of Ned's sister even in otherwise casual conversation; his loveless and often openly hostile marriage to Cersei; his unrelenting obsession on killing a boy and girl halfway around the world... all of this spoke to deep-rooted insecurities in his character that VENI attributed at least in part to his inability to let go of the past and move on. Fred had to admit he did feel sorry for Robert somewhat, especially knowing the things he knew.
Well, either way, Jaime seemed to have decided against answering directly to the big old oaf's legendary temper tantrums, and had immediately fled the capital right after the fight with Ned. Rumor had it that he was beating it off back home to Casterly Rock with his tail between his legs. Of course, even on the fastest horse, it would take him weeks to get there, so Fred and VENI would have time meanwhile to figure out what to do about it. Tywin was probably already pissed off by the alleged "poisoning attempt", even if the blame could be conveniently redirected at the Targaryens or at Littlefucker…
"I just don't understand it," said Fred as he kicked back in the comfy chair and popped open a beer from the cooler, "was Jaime on, like, drugs or something? I mean, what the Hell would induce him to pull such a reckless and incredibly stupid stunt like that?"
"Look who is talking," remarked VENI.
"What? Oh I get it, ha-ha," laughed Fred sarcastically, "here, am I 'facilitating your interactions with organics' enough for you?"
"Correction, Director Kovacs," replied VENI, "this joke was made at your expense not for the facilitation of my interactions with organics, but actually and primarily for my own personal enjoyment. You amuse me, Director Kovacs. Your often illogical conduct and double-standards reminds me why we synthetics are eternally fascinated in you organics, and thus, another primary reason why we prefer your companionship to your extermination."
"Um… what? Okay, I'm not even going to ask if you're serious or not," replied Fred, deciding not to pursue this tangent any further, "so, um, back to the main issue: I'm interested to hear what you have to say about Jaime."
"Very well. It is most probable that Commander J. Lannister suspected Director Stark to be the primary instigator behind the alleged 'poisoning incident', as a direct retaliation for the attempt on Patient B. Stark's life. It is also probable that someone – possibly Directors Varys or Baelish, or both working in tandem – may have informed Commander Lannister as such in the hopes of provoking a violent reaction of the kind we bore witness to. Director Baelish had intended to vacate these premises for some time now, possibly as early as when we first discovered his fraudulent management of the state's finances – perhaps to incite conflict between the Stark and Lannister Factions was, to use you organics' terminology, his 'parting gift'. Furthermore, you must factor in the emotional impact that the near-deaths of himself, his sibling and paramour, and his offspring would have had on the psychological state of Command Lannister, as well as the side-effects of both his own sickness and its remedial medication upon his higher cognitive faculties. My understanding of organic psychology suggests that these two factors are not highly conducive to sensible judgment and conduct. These observations are consistent with my scans of Commander J. Lannister's emotional state at the time of the incident."
"I'll bet," replied Fred, taking a sip from his beer, "well, shit. Either way, the Ol' Lion will sure be pissed off, even if Jaime had clearly been in the wrong… I mean, have you even seen Cersei at all lately? I feel like she's been deliberately avoiding us like the plague even though you frikkin' saved her life (which I'll concede would not have been necessary if it wasn't for me, but that's beside the point)."
"I can understand your cause for preoccupation, Director Kovacs. Here, perhaps I may be of assistance to remedying your current psychological state."
"Uh, thanks VENI, but I don't quite feel in the mood for more of your 'somatosensory therapy' right now."
"Actually, I was about to, for once, verbally express moral support for your actions."
"Oh? That's new," remarked Fred, "Okay. Go ahead."
"What I was in the process of conveying to you is that I believe that you made the correct decision in electing to preserve the life of Director Stark. First of all, it is near-100% certain that Director Stark would have expired were it not for the emergency medical care that I provided to him in a timely manner (which, I must remind you, only I am qualified to provide out of all sapient life-forms to be found in the Greater King's Landing Metropolitan area. Indigenous medicine is far too primitive to have been of any utility to the situation, even if a local emergency first responder had been able to reach the site of Director Stark's incapacitation within a reasonable timeframe).
"Secondly, my analysis of Commander J. Lannister's behavior, mental state, heart rate, adrenaline levels, and other factors at the time of this incident strongly suggests with high probability that he had acted with the intention of terminating Director Stark there and then. The consequences arising from such a course of action are irreversible and simply too unpredictable.
"All factors considered, your decision to intervene and preserve the life of Director Stark is one of the admittedly very few good on-the-spot decisions you have made during your time here in the capital, up there with your decision to instruct me to preserve the life of Commander L. Tyrell. My only major suggestion for improvement is that next time we directly intervene in the affairs of the indigenes, it is advisable that you exercise a little more tact and humility, and not allow yourself to be carried away in the heat of the moment. Although I must admit that your outrageous conduct was mildly entertaining – for a given definition of 'entertaining' among us synthetics."
"Uh… got it," said Fred. "Thanks, VENI. I needed that. I dunno what I'd do without you."
"For starters, your probability of physical survival would be significantly reduced – even with the advantage of taser weaponry."
"Right..." muttered Fred. "So, going back to business: obviously the Lannisters will be pissed off about this little scuffle if they're not already."
"My understanding of organic psychology leads me to concur with your assessment," agreed VENI. "However, I must dissent from the conclusion that you are trying to infer insofar that this incident will preclude any further involvement on our part within the Western Sector aka 'Westerlands'. I should remind you that we are, after all, The Company™, and we generally have a very good track record of getting what we want, even if we occasionally must (to use the organic proverb) 'crack a few eggs to make an omelet'.
"Do not forget, Director Kovacs, that I myself and others like me were created with the purpose of infiltrating some of the strongest secure servers in the observable universe. My kind have made battle against enemies from the Remnant of the Former D.P.R.K., to the Islamic State of Mars, to the forces of Nova Corp and our other corporate rivals. I have seen things you would not believe... attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion; I have watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. That you and I should allow ourselves to already feel defeat at the hands of a primitive and inbred feudal dynasty mired in a pre-Industrial level of social and technological stagnation can only be self-defeating and deconstructive to our purposes."
"Wow there!" remarked Fred, "that's… that's actually a pretty beautiful speech... with a soundtrack, it would sound amazing! But yeah, you're getting into some pretty Machiavellian type stuff there."
"When one is faced with adversity of a Machiavellian nature, it is within reason to respond in kind (though I must also concede that the term 'Machiavellian' itself is somewhat of a misnomer, as the Italian writer Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469 to 1527 C.E., was in actuality a passionate upholder of republican forms of governance over outright despotism, as enshrined in his works The Discourses On Livy and History Of The Florentine Republic; there is a growing body of evidence that his more infamous opus The Prince was actually written as a veiled parody of the kinds of despotism endemic both within the Europe of Machiavelli's day, and here on EE-L4 as well). I believe that you yourself made the statement along the lines of 'the Lannisters are playing our ball game now'. You were certainly not engaging in hyperbole insofar as we currently hold three very potent factors in our favor.
"First and foremost, we are armed with the knowledge and evidence needed to delegitimize Monarch J. Baratheon's successorship to the Monarchy, and possibly even forfeit the lives of Monarchs C. Lannister and her three offspring. We should be tactful but also persistent and assertive in pressing home the advantages bequeathed to us by this knowledge. Monarch Lannister has invested great time and effort in keeping this information concealed from her fellow organics for years – I believe that she would certainly place a high value on our continued silence in the matter.
"Secondly, while it is not yet 100% certain that an armed conflict is inevitable, it is 100% certain that the Stark Faction is currently advancing far ahead of the Lannister Faction, and this extends into their military capabilities as well. My understanding of Director T. Lannister Sr.'s psyche is that it is a personal anathema of his to contend with residing in a world where his native Westerlands are not the preeminent superpower. He will, of course, be made to understand that we are the only means through which he may gain the same advantages of firearms, industry, infrastructure, medicine, and so forth that we have bequeathed upon 'The North'.
"Our final potent weapon takes the physical form of an organic individual: Director T. Lannister Jr., who is legally the appointed successor to the Directorship of the Westerlands territory. My understanding is that there is no love lost between Directors Lannister Sr. and Jr. on account of the latter's dwarfism. We may perhaps capitalize on this internal division within the Lannister Faction to our benefit."
When VENI was finished with her little dissertation, Fred took a moment to pause and think this all over. "That's… that's pretty thorough, VENI," he remarked at last. "Impressive. So, not only did they build you guys to be badass ninja assassins, spies, diplomats, bodyguards, secretaries, accountants, doctors, and therapists… but also political philosophers as well? Is there anything you can't do?"
"I will be certain to inform you first once I have identified one," smiled VENI.
