Outside Kai's office, two Arasaka personal guards were requesting an audience.
They wore traditional samurai topknots and black Arasaka security uniforms. Mounted around their necks were red cybernetic cervical implants designed to strengthen neural, vascular, and bodily signal transmission between brain and body.
Their appearance drew plenty of attention.
Some employees passing by gave them curious looks, and after scanning their identities, discovered that they were actually Michiko Arasaka's personal guards.
That only made everyone even more curious.
The twenty-millimeter-thick steel security door slowly slid open.
One of the Arasaka guards stepped into the office, while the other remained outside the door.
Kai did not stand up. He stayed seated at his desk, holding a cup of cooled water.
The guard walked up to the desk, bowed slightly to Kai on his own initiative, and got straight to the point.
"Hello, Mr. Kai. Miss Michiko Arasaka requests that you come to the board office to meet with her. Please come with us immediately."
As Michiko Arasaka's personal guard, his status was not low. For him to come in person to invite Kai showed just how seriously Michiko was taking him.
Kai had not expected Michiko to move this quickly.
The board meeting had only just ended, and the decision to promote and favor him had been proposed by Michiko herself.
Even if she wanted a private meeting, a call from her secretary would have been enough. There was no need to make this such a spectacle.
Now she had sent two personal guards to invite him to her office in full view of everyone.
It was hard not to read into that. Her intention to win him over was far too obvious.
He had no connection with Michiko Arasaka, nor was he one of Arasaka's so-called doves.
Once this private meeting happened, whether Kai admitted it or not, he would be tagged as part of the dovish camp.
Getting dragged into the internal struggle of the Arasaka family too early was not the timing he had in mind.
Well done, Arthur.
Kai felt another dull ache in his teeth. There was no way to refuse this.
Still, seeing the Arasaka guard putting on such airs, Kai found it a little amusing.
Not even a proper greeting. He came in and immediately demanded that Kai follow him at once.
Typical corpo culture, rotten to the roots.
Spend too long acting like a dog for Michiko Arasaka, and apparently you really started thinking you were one of the Arasakas.
Kai said calmly, "Wait outside first."
The guard hesitated for a moment. Seeing Kai remain seated with no intention of getting up, still holding his cup of water, he reminded him with some displeasure,
"Mr. Kai, please be quick. Do not keep Miss Michiko Arasaka waiting."
There was a faint note of threat in his tone.
Only after saying that did the guard turn and walk back out, resuming his position by the door.
Using Michiko's name to pressure me?
Kai smiled helplessly. He had no interest in arguing with this kind of servant who borrowed power from above.
The reason he wanted to stay alone in the office for a moment was simple. This invitation had come too suddenly, and he needed time to think.
I can't be the only one roasted over this fire. I need someone under me to soften the fall.
Kai decided to sound Arthur out first and go through him before anything else.
If he bypassed his superior and went straight to meet Michiko alone, the suspicion that he had joined the doves would be far too hard to wash off.
Only by putting Arthur in front, under the spotlight, could Kai stay steady in the audience and watch the play unfold.
Office gossip spread wildly enough as it was. If some ugly rumor got passed around and reached Saburo's ears, that would be troublesome.
The steel security door opened again.
Kai walked straight toward Arthur's office without even acknowledging the two Arasaka guards by the door.
He had already thought it through. Arthur came first.
The two guards quickly followed. When they saw that Kai was not heading toward the public elevators and clearly had no intention of going to see Michiko right away, their expressions turned anxious and their pace quickened.
"Mr. Kai, Miss Michiko is still waiting for you in her office. Please, you must go there immediately."
As they said that, both guards bowed and moved to either side of Kai, each extending one arm in a polite but forceful gesture of invitation.
Seeing the two of them deliberately hemming him in and pressing him to go see Michiko, Kai stopped and looked at them coldly.
"What?"
The two guards stopped as well and continued explaining in bowed postures.
"Miss Michiko Arasaka is already waiting for you in her office. Anything else can wait until later. Meeting Miss Michiko is the most important matter."
Their words and manner were full of polished etiquette, yet everything about them still reeked of Arasaka's overbearing arrogance.
Kai stopped being polite.
In a cold tone, he shot back, "I need to discuss the details of the relevant report with Mr. Jenkins. This is precisely the matter Miss Michiko Arasaka is concerned about."
"If she asks questions later, are the two of you going to explain it to her yourselves?"
The sudden challenge left both guards frozen in place. They looked at each other.
They had only received Michiko's instruction to bring Kai to her office immediately. They knew nothing about the specifics involved.
If what Kai said was true, then yes, he should absolutely prepare with his superior beforehand. Otherwise he might end up in front of Michiko not knowing how to answer a single question.
The two Arasaka guards were now in trouble, standing there unsure what to do.
If Kai was late, they would be the ones getting scolded.
If they forced Kai to go immediately and the report went badly, they would still be the ones getting scolded.
The standoff between Kai and the two personal guards did not escape the notice of the Counterintel staff present.
Everyone was intensely curious, but no one dared speak out.
Though they remained seated at their workstations, their attention and the corners of their eyes were all fixed on Kai's side.
This already involved a higher level of Arasaka authority. One wrong word could bring total disaster.
Still, they had all sharply noticed one thing.
Kai seemed very dissatisfied with the behavior of those two guards.
So the whispering began.
"Those are a board director's personal guards, and our deputy director still dares to…"
"Is this your first day knowing his temper? He openly clashes with directors."
"Still, those two guards really went too far. Throwing around a board member's authority like that, they had to be doing it on purpose."
"So Deputy Director Kai's relationship with that lady probably isn't what people have been saying…"
"Exactly. If he were really her lapdog, he'd probably have run there already."
"Shh, you can't say that out loud!"
At this moment, the two guards were still standing there like wooden statues.
Kai walked right past them and entered Arthur's office.
Arthur was smiling from ear to ear and was in the middle of a call. When he saw Kai come in, he could only brush the other party off.
"Right, right, right, let's leave it there for now. I've got something important on this side. I'll get back to you later."
Arthur hurriedly ended the call, looked at Kai, and asked with a grin, "So, what good news are you bringing me this time?"
Seeing that unstoppable smile on Arthur's face, Kai confirmed that Arthur really was getting a bit carried away.
He had finally stomped hard on his greatest enemy. Feeling an intense sense of conquest was only natural.
Kai did not expose his thoughts and simply said honestly, "Director Michiko Arasaka just sent two of her personal guards to my office to invite me to see her. I came to let you know first and see what this is about."
Arthur rubbed his chin and thought for a moment.
"The board meeting just ended. The appointment order hasn't even been issued yet, and she's already inviting you over…"
"Isn't she a little too impatient?"
Kai: "???"
(End of Chapter)
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