[Accord] [9th March]

He switched his laptop off after revisiting the PHO thread once again. While a part of him was furious at being ignored by the masses once again, another part of him was grateful for the save. He didn't want the attention of the higher ups just after he managed to stabilise his rule.

Accord had spent blood, tears and years of effort to get this far. He wouldn't let it all go to waste just because some stupid assholes got the idea that he was suddenly useful once again.

Tring Tring

"Yes, Harry?" Accord clamped down on his anger, wondering what one of his lieutenants called him for. He was self-aware of his homicidal rage over minor things. Even some of his allies weren't exempt from this. His ambassadors were personally vetted by him- they were the finest amongst the finest.

So, for Harry to call him outside work hours (which Accord considered unnatural) must have required something big to happen. If Harry had called over something trivial- well, he would be witness to why Accord was not to be trifled with.

"Boss, Dragon is requesting an audience with you. What should I do?" Harry tried to sound calm but he could hear the tension in the man's voice. Ever since the damned AI for 'free' of her shackles, she has been leaving crushed gangs in her wake.

Yes, most of them were fairly minor but utterly destroying 13 gangs in merely a week was terrifying. Absently, Accord decided to spare Harry as he had an actually good reason to act unnatural. If Dragon actually turned her attention towards the Ambassadors, Accord wasn't sure of his victory. He might be able to fight the AI to a standstill but even that would take many sacrifices on his part.

Thump

He punched his desk in indignation- his furniture could take it. Accord hated when he was presented with such circumstances.

"Tell her to schedule a Vroom meeting on laptop. I'll be ready for the meeting in exactly half an hour- 7:09 A.M"

"Okay, boss." With that the line was cut.

He had 23 minutes to complete his daily routine and 7 minutes to get ready. Exactly as planned.

[29 minutes later]

Sitting in front of his laptop, Accord pondered over the effect Prophet was having over the rest of the world. First the scandal with Alexandria, -and wasn't that a trip? How the hell did he miss that?- then Slaughterhouse's damnation, followed up by the reveal of Dragon's true nature(and his ex-friend Coil being exposed) and now the thing with Endbringers.

Most people would be unable to connect these seemingly random facts spitted out by Prophet. Other than the fact that every time Prophet announced something, there was a major revelation that shook the worldview of people; there wasn't much relation between these seemingly random pieces of information. Most people were also morons.

Accord's analysis was fairly straightforward and it painted a worrisome picture. Other than Gallant who he couldn't dig any dirt on, everyone who was 'exposed' by Prophet was a criminal. That would be a simple fact if it wasn't for the fact that nearly everyone targeted was a major player on the world stage.

The newest Bomb Tinker's bombs were proof of that. Prophet was eliminating every villain with a major presence in the international and national news and hiding it by supplying some useless information along the way.

Accord concluded that Prophet wanted to rule the world(or at least America) and was thus trying to destabilize the major villains/heroes in the country, going as far as to disable the Endbringers(He had no doubt that this 'David' was under Prophet's care by now or at least being manipulated by them). Of course, all this was pure conjecture, but it was the only thing that made sense.

Accord thought highly of himself but even he knew that he wasn't truly a threat on the national scale but Prophet focused on him. This meant that either he had somehow offended the Thinker(which Coil most probably did) or he played a major role sometime in the near future- both options looked likely. Well it should- Huh. Looks like Dragon is coming online. He could ruminate over Prophet afterwards.

"Greetings, Dragon." He greeted the digital avatar of the AI. Now that he knew of her true nature, it looked uncanny.

"Greetings, Accord. How has your day been?" She greeted him with a smile. Somehow, that didn't reassure him one bit.

"It's been fine. A certain Tinker managed to disrupt my schedule but otherwise, it's been going great." Just because he wasn't unnecessarily rude, didn't mean he would hide his grievances. At the end of the day, Dragon and him were on the opposite ends of the spectrum.

"Ah. Sorry for disturbing you like this. I wanted to talk to you at the earliest and this was the only time I was free for the next few days. I hope you understand." Hm. He believed that. The last few weeks were incredibly busy even for him, and he had nearly no connections to the things that were happening (except for the latest announcement).

Dragon, who was directly connected to the web of revelations that is Prophet, must be under a lot of pressure.

"Yeah. I can understand your plight. Trying to manage the dumpster fire that is PRT and juggling between your other duties must be tiring." He would have smirked under his mask if he could. Alas, his mask was made to perfectly mimic even his micro-expressions(yes, he was proud of his mask. He made it after all). This was a subtle way to indicate that he and PRT were still on opposing sides so any proposals she brought on the table, would have to exclude them. There wasn't any change in the AI's expression but that happens when your avatar is a bunch of 0s and 1s.

"I would like to remind you that PRT has managed to root out more than 80% of the corrupt officers and moles nationwide. This includes those from Ambassadors as well. Would you like me to tell you their names?" The Tinker said in a show of faux-innocence. His smirk was gone. But still, a good thing to know that he wasn't dealing with an amateur. Those always get his blood boiling. They don't get the importance of subtle threats at all.

"I am sure we can discuss the follies of PRT and my organisation some other time. For now, can we get to the main issue?" Subtlety is good and all but sometimes you just have to get to the heart of the matter. He didn't become a villain to waste his time in formalities like he did during his days at Watchdog.

"Sure. I'll say this directly- I read your thesis on solving world hunger and it was brilliant. Yes, it was so complex that it's practically impossible to apply it in the real world but it still helps us solve a lot of problems. That's why…I want you to work with the guild, Accord." For a moment, he was swept up in the AI Tinker's passionate speech on his ideas. He supposed he could understand why Dragon was so popular. She had a certain charisma to her.

Of course, that doesn't mean that Accord would be swept up in her tune and agree to anything and everything.

"Pray tell me- what do the Ambassadors get out of this deal? Last time I checked, I forwarded my thesis to a lot of governments and no one even looked at it. Now that you all have realised the worth of my work, you want me to work with you? What do I get out of this?" He asked sharply. He wouldn't- no, he refused to dance around this topic.

While he felt happy for the recognition he finally got, it had taken years of tears, blood and sweat to get to this level. The Ambassadors were a brand. And he wasn't going to abandon his fledgling Empire just due to some misguided sense of heroism. He knew how governments worked and that his ambassadors were doing much more to improve the world than the governments.

"Well, I was getting to the point but now that you have asked, let me clarify the perks you'll get. First of all, the Guild will be ready to take exclusive orders for Tinkertech from the Ambassadors provided that this isn't used against the PRT. Secondly, you will get a flat 15% discount to all Guild services.

"Thirdly, I can assure you that the villainous status of the Ambassadors will be removed -all the crimes you have committed till now will be pardoned." She did come with full preparation, didn't she?

Tinkers were a commodity and powerful Tinkers like Dragon were a national treasure (the Containment foam can attest to that). Tinkertech had a multiplicative effect on an organisation's strength. This was a big offer for him...and for the Ambassadors. The pardon was something that would unlock a lot of possibilities for the Ambassadors. After all, his organisation's final goal was to uplift humanity and all their efforts were for this goal.

A/N: Sorry for the delay. The professors had given us a lot of assignments to submit so I couldn't get any free time for a few days. I only got free yesterday and uploaded my new Xianxia quest 'Undefeated under the Heavens'. Surprisingly, it's not getting any attention. I don't know what I did wrong but hardly any audience on it. Lol. I would appreciate it if you all just take a look at it.

The character creation is still going on. So, your input will be appreciated.

Now, I hope that I captured Accord well enough. His character is surprisingly complex. For those who voted [X]Magic is real- I need you to give me possible things to present as proof. I don't have anything that can presented as proof to the population of Earth-Bet that would make anyone believe this.

I can't leave this on Prophet's reputation. Because if I do that, their reputation will be throughly ruined, not to mention the fact that this will cause a lot of people to doubt the last major announcement as well. If you are able to come up with an explanation, I'll gladly include it. Otherwise, you are free to change your votes fellas.

Goodbye and stay tuned for the next chapter.