England, Yorkshire, somewhere near Whitby, 24th of September 2015, 1536 hours:
The clouds were covering the skies that day, wind swirling through the atmosphere, shaking the leaves on the trees and bushes. Somewhere quite remote, away from the town of Whitby, a manor could be seen, bordered by a wall that covered a very large area. The parking area placed right in front of the manor's entrance was packed with cars of various models. Some Rolls Royce or Bentley's, or of other brands.
The manor and the places were guarded by stacks of men or women dressed in black, each of them having earpieces, communicating with each other for updates and status. A few K-9's could also be seen in some places. Sharpshooters with their observer buddies could be seen on watchtowers; their rifles hid right below the tower's walls to keep it concealed. Up in the skies, drones watched over the property, their sensors and cameras rotating around the clock, searching for any abnormalities.
Meanwhile, inside the manor itself, inside a room where there were some decors like statues and paintings of the manor's history, or just some random paintings of scenery scattered across the wall and a TV stand. There was a long wooden Victorian-style oval table, coupled with seats, of which there were multiple people inside, presenting their reports.
"- Now for the new investment we're entering, that is the tankery investment scheme. Our 100 million-dollar investment to British tank-producing companies for tankery. Well, it's barely making much due to low interest from the public, and the only buyers currently is the Fort Nelson Academy and a few schools in the CTF, as the people would prefer buying American-made tanks by Chrysler, General Motors, Detroit Armoury, Mitsubishi, Kawasaki, Samsung, and very cheap Chinese-made tanks, though with questionable quality. I don't know why we're even investing in those companies in England when we could just fund those said companies since it's a lot safer and less risky. We're risking losing millions, which, I think we could've used to instead fund the veterans or fund the security section since they're getting a bit overextended instead of using it to invest in a business that's most likely going to fail-" said one middle-aged man, wearing a grey suit, where there was a nameplate labeled, 'Head of British Homeland Section', as he was cut by another middle-aged man wearing a dark blue suit with a nameplate in front of him, labeled, 'South East Asia Section'.
"I object; we must still do what the Overseer commands and demands. Even if it's nearly impossible, we must somehow revive the image of Her Majesty's Kingdom in this American and eastern-filled hegemony. The dissolution of the Empire was a mistake!" He stated it in a stern and firm tone.
"Johnson." Said the golden-haired elder woman dressed in an office lady-like outfit with a stern voice. "Keep your ranting down and stay civilized, will you? Stevenson, you may continue."
"Well, that's all I have, Madame." Said Stevenson as he placed the paper back on the table.
"Very well then. Thank you, Stevenson." She then switched her attention towards the other middle-aged man dressed in dark grey, with a nameplate in front of him, labeled, 'Head of North American Section'. "Now, John, you're the last one. Security is it?"
"Yes, correct, Madame." John looked down towards the paper that was prepared by the blonde woman sitting right behind him. "For the pre-end of the year security report. Starting with the global one. Evacuation orders to family members from Zimbabwe with the assistance of QRF 4 and 6 have been largely successful. There were several fatalities, but no deaths. Evacuation will be done in the 30th of September, following the withdrawal or destruction of the rest of our assets in the 32nd. Moving on to the minor events that got into the involvement of the security sector, we managed to assassinate 102 people on the blacklist, people who are involved in blackmailing, sabotage, espionage, family assassinations, and assaults. Mostly assaults. The activation of the space security task force to protect our assets and family members who are living in outer space, especially on the Moon and Mars, and those working on the asteroid chain will now only need to wait for approval from the Head of Economic Sector. Aside from the ceremony, of course."
"I'll sign it after the meeting is over." Said Stevenson.
"Right. That is all from me, Madame." John looked towards the elder woman, placing the paper he's holding back to the table.
"Alright then, now that you've all delivered your reports... Out of all the reports delivered by all of you so far, the only thing that is concerning is other families trying to defeat us by investing in companies that rival companies that we're investing in currently since they really want our hegemony to fall to the abyss, and of course the tankery investment plan. Companies like Glasgow Armoury, England Heavy Armoury, and five other companies are going to be facing stiff competition with American, Chinese, and Japanese companies since they've been in the market for several decades now. I have to admit, the companies we're investing in can only produce certain tanks due to the limited licenses they can obtain. Which means they can only produce tanks that are somewhat inferior to the rivals."
"Well, this would be quite a gamble to do. High-risk investment. I don't know what the Overseer were thinking." Stevenson commented.
"Isn't it obvious? To revive Her Majesty's image, for goodness sake. A startup of the rebuild of the mighty empire that was once lost-"
"Johnson.. Can you please shut up? I wonder how you even got picked as head of the Southeast Asia section with that manner of yours." John sighed.
"Well.. Johnny." One feminine voice called him out; it came from a dark-haired woman with a nameplate in front of her, labeled, 'Head of East Asia Section'. "I heard you're still struggling with bonding with your children."
"Oh, Ms. Himari." John turned towards her. "It's... nothing to be concerned about."
"Really? Your first child ran away. Your two other have never talked with you ever since they graduated, and you barely talked with your youngest one." Himari stared towards him, asking him once more. "Are you sure it's nothing to be concerned about?"
"What? How did you-" John stared back towards the blonde woman sitting on the back, barely staring at him.
"You know.. It would be better for me to just raise her. She's always all alone at home, with barely any friends. Back then she actually got friends and a figure that can lead her while you're always absent, and has someone to act like her sister when in need while the rest of her siblings wandered off. Until you moved along with her to Saint Francisco we all know what happened."
"Oh, shut up. You're no better than me; you're always harsh when it comes to teaching her; tell me, does that daughter of yours still pick up your calls?" John scoffed at Himari.
As the two began arguing, the people inside the room stared at them, witnessing the on-going event in front of their eyes.
"Who? Margaret? Well, she does, just not every time because she got into some kind of club activity and has friends to talk with. Unlike your messy family. It would've been better if Alisia stayed with me instead of you leaving her alone at home doing nothing. Not even allowing your wife to take care of her." Himari pressed on.
"W-Why are you bringing this up?" John was lost of words, unable to counterback Himari's words. "Why here?"
There was silence in the room, as tension grew between the two as they stared at each other. The people inside the room looked towards them in anticipation of what Himari was about to say, until she finally did.
"Maria told me about it." Said Himari. "She's been saying the same thing a while ago, long before this meeting starts. She's so worried about the state of affairs between you and your children. She asked- no, begged me to bring this up in this meeting. Isn't it sad for a child to grow up without a father figure by their side? Hm? Even worse, not letting their wife do their duty raising their child?"
John fell silent after Himari's statement, unable to talk back to what she just said. He just got no words to say after it. Then, after the long silence, the elder woman spoke up, breaking the silence.
"Alright, enough with this. I've heard about this issue enough among families where parents don't have the time to raise their children somehow. Now, Johnny, listen to what your cousin just said; she's right. You need to change and stop focusing on work; it's not healthy for you and your child. I've also received a request from your wife to bring this up at the end of the event, but eh, it seems like Himari decided to bring this up first. I'm going to give you an ultimatum."
John looked towards her, waiting for what she was about to say towards him. She eventually said it.
"Since you've failed to raise your children well, if you fail to keep it together and not have time to spend it with them, I'll force you to hand over your youngest child's custody to someone else. Preferably someone who's capable enough to raise your child."
Silence filled John once more, unable to mutter a single thing after elder woman's statement. Cornered and embarrassed by all the people staring at him for his failure that was stated earlier.
"You say I'm bad with how I act, but you're bad at raising children. Pathetic." Johnson scoffed.
"That's enough. Now, the meeting's over. Stevenson, you can sign the paper now." Said the elder woman.
A guard appeared, carrying with him a small suitcase. He approached Steven before placing the case on the table, opening it to reveal a single paper inside, which was then placed right in front of him. Stevenson pulled out out a golden pen from his chest pocket, before then signing on the paper.
"Done." Said Stevenson.
"Alright then, thank you for attending the pre-end of year family report. See you all later in the end of year family meeting report." The elder woman dismissed everyone from the room.
Both John and Maria were back in their car, there was silence between the two as John switched the gears to reverse. Just as he was about to speak, Maria spoke up first.
"That was nessecary to do."
"No its not, you know how busy I've been lately and I need you to pull some of the weight."
"John, we've lost James because of you. William and Lucy don't even talk with us anymore, and Alisia's abandoned back home like as if she's an orphan-"
"Well if she's an orphan, she would've been in an orphanage, is she now?"
"John, for goodness sake please stop acting like this. I'm tired of having so little time to take care of her. While you.. with your free time use it to try reach up to your dead father-"
A hit landed on Maria's right cheek as John slapped her the moment she mentioned his father being dead.
"Don't you dare say he's dead." John was fuming with rage, glaring down at her before he realised of his mistake. Maria on the other hand remained silent, holding the area where he had hit her.
Silence filled the car once more as the two stared away from each other. Unable to face eye-to-eye after the hit. Then, after a long silence, Maria spoke up once more in a low tone.
"... All I want to say is.. please, don't let Alisia distance herself away from us like the others. I-I don't like it when my own children hate me because we don't give them enough attention."
John remained silent after Maria's statement, doing nothing for a while. He then released a heavy sigh, and continued driving the car in reverse, before switching the gears once more and rotate the steering wheel, and hitting on the gas, driving the car out from the manor complex.