D-DAY

When they arrive at the gates of Libra Justice, the small group sanitise their hands using the sensor sinks located at the entrance. Stephan and Jeremy clock in before Jeremy apologises as he starts walking away towards the locker room:

"Sorry, I'm going to put on my uniform. I'll join you later,"

"Meet us at the front desk, if not at Mr. Vaughen's office," Nina says, turning to Jeremy without stopping walking.

***

The receptionist freezes immediately when she sees Stephan arriving accompanied by a former senator, an MP from the World Parliamentary Assembly, and the president of Togo, surrounded by four bodyguards. She would have received the information weeks in advance if they had been invited.

"Madam Senator, Mr. President, MP Leszczyński, what honour do we have for your visit?" The young woman exclaims, getting up from her seat to greet them with a wide, nervous smile.

"Is Mr. Vaughen in yet?" Nina asks, delighted to see that she doesn't need to waste time with introductions. Clearly, this receptionist is knowledgeable about important people in her world.

"Let me check," the receptionist replies, barely hiding her anxiety in her voice and face.

The young woman sits down to type on her screen. At the same moment, Jeremy comes back running behind the small group. The receptionist doesn't flinch, her eyes glued to her screen. She reads seriously the information displayed on her screen before continuing to type. She reads again, then finally looks up at Nina to tell her:

"Mr. Vaughen is already here, and he'll be delighted to welcome you in his office; I reckon your son and his teammate will be able to guide you," she says with a big smile without glancing at Jeremy.

"Thank you very much," Nina says, turning to Stephan, who takes the lead of the group to direct them to Mr. Vaughen's office.

Since the very moment they have stepped inside the premises, Borys has inspected with his curious gaze all that he was allowed to see at Libra Justice. The detail of the interior décor, the choice of colours, the pragmatism of the uniform of their agents, the way they walk, the way they communicate with people and with each other. Everything seems to have been designed to create a detailed, rigorous and flawless conformity; Beneath the diversity of these young faces, identical attitudes, opinions and preferences are imposed. All those who don't fit in or who diverge even slightly from this rigorous conformity are doomed to slow extermination by subtle exclusion where Mankind becomes invisible to men.

The old man knows subtle exclusion well; invisibility. In his youth, he was so afraid of it that he himself chose to live a lie more than half of his life to avoid it. He allowed the story of his life to be told by people who didn't know him and had no desire to do so. The shame of revealing his own story tied his throat and knotted his stomach until finally, his position in society allowed him to speak up, be heard including by those who, like him, had decision-making power.

Mr. Vaughen's door is wide open; the middle-aged man is standing to welcome his surprise guests. The President's four bodyguards stand at each side of the door outside the office as the rest of the small group enters the room. Stephan and Jeremy immediately go to stand at attention along the wall at the entrance. They stare straight ahead with an expressionless face. In their black metallic uniform, the two young men look like two statues of modern times. They are listening carefully.

"Madam Senator, Mr. President, MP. Leszczyński," Mr. Vaughen says, shaking hands with the woman and the two men one after the other before inviting them to take a seat in the three seats in front of his desk.

"Well, what brings you to Libra Justice?" He asks, sitting at his desk with a calm. but curious expression on his face.

"For my part," the President begins, "I'm waiting for an update on the service my daughter paid you for."

"We're only at the beginning of the mission..." Mr Vaughen replies calmly.

"Except during the mission, you've lost my daughter," Nina cuts in sharply.

She has already explained; there is no time for negotiations or political diplomacy; her daughter is in the hands of people as extremists as the organisation that has sent her on that crazy mission in the first place.

"Everything is fine, why overreacting?" Mr. Vaughen retorts evenly with a smile. "We need time to think about a strategy."

"Perfect!" Nina continues, taking her tablet out of her handbag. "Speaking of a strategy, we have one, fast and very effective, but we would need your collaboration," she continues, placing the tablet on the desk before adding in a firm tone: "Would you like to hear it?"

"Of course, I'm all ears," Mr. Vaughen replies gravely, placing his hands in front of his pursed lips.

"So, to start with and to make sure we're all on the same wavelength," Nina continues, unlocking the screen of her tablet: "You're going to sign this for me as Libra Justice's commitment to his agent Jeremy Ridley as reparation for the murder of his mother to influence his decision about his employment at Libra Justice."

At the same time, Jeremy can't hold back a shiver running through his whole body. He immediately composes himself. Stephan standing by his side, gives him a compassionate gaze through the corner of his eye.

"Those are big accusations you're making here, Senator Xi Huang," Mr. Vaughen retorts, chuckling weakly.

"Ah, but these aren't just accusations, Mr. Vaughen. Libra Justice didn't see fit to do a low-key job. Maybe they found the mother and son too insignificant to hide their criminal act in broad daylight," Nina says, showing him the on-camera photo of a Libra Justice agent.

The woman's gaze doesn't move an inch off the man sitting in front of her.

"And once you've done everything you'll be told, you'll get that thing off that young man's face and compensate him with the full amount you paid to operate on him."

Mr. Vaughen just nods, swallowing his saliva calmly before questioning Nina:

"And what's your strategy for getting your daughter and the President's granddaughter out?"

"The inventors of this thing need to show Jeremy how to control his device to do what he did to get out and make sure the other AI is disabled. This would give your agents free rein to attack, search the place and find Sarah and Gaëlle," Nina replies with conviction.

"How many agents will you need?" Mr Vaughen asks slightly concerned.

"How many agents do you have?" Nina questions, curious.

"In town, a little over five hundred," Mr Vaughen replies confidently.

"That should be fine," Nina replies dryly.

Mr. Vaughen stares at her for a moment, puzzled, and amused, but seeing that Nina's face and eyes don't flinch, his own face turns very serious again.

Woman's anger is no joke.

"Can you sign? Just here," Nina says, handing Mr. Vaughen her tablet before calling her son, still turning her back to him.

The young man neither responds nor moves.

"Here, I'm the one giving them orders," Mr. Vaughen explains, smiling as he takes the tablet from Nina's hands.

"I'm his mother; it's two or three ranks above yours, even here my dear," Nina retorts, turning to her son to say in a soft but firm tone:

"Stephan, please can you upload the file titled Jeremy Ridley once Mr Vaughen has signed it to send a copy to Borys, the President's office, your sister and Jeremy. You should also send Mr. Vaughen your resignation effective as of the end of this assignment. Thank you, sweetheart."

"Yes, Mum," Stephan replies, still standing at attention.

Nina turns to Mr. Vaughen again to give him a big smile, then she declares seriously:

"Alright, I guess we can start now."

Nina, Borys, and the President of Togo all start staring impatiently at Mr Vaughen. Borys in particular is appalled how the so-called reputable benevolent organisation has manipulated and abused a young man to seemingly serve society. When is humanity going to stop self-destroying itself in the name of saving the most vulnerable ones while serving instead the interests of those who have too much and want even more? This is what the old man wonders every single morning at the foot of the stairs of the World Assembly? For the fearful young man that still resides in his ninety-three-year-body, human conformity will always be synonymous with human deformity. Sadly, conformity still remains omnipresent today, weighing heavily on the most vulnerable people in society. Despite the World Assembly and all its beautiful promises, it is still conformity within the World Assembly that is preventing men's dreams from manifesting themselves in the world they are claiming to save.

People may say that it is young people who will bring a better world, but according to Borys, the better world doesn't come from the future, it is now, at every moment, at every choice of every single person. If the world remains the same except for a few details, it is precisely because the youth's voice remains silenced; a powerful, piercing voice like the shrill cry of a new-born baby. Just like the new-born, the fragile small body of the youth isn't yet robust enough to carry their dreams to the height of human ambition. They lack the mental strength and audacity of their elders; those who have the past of men and women written on their face, as well as the strength and quiet assurance that their accumulated material and spiritual wealth give them.