Broken Faith

Observation 20: The most dangerous enemy is one who doesn't think

Your heels clacked down the cold stone passageways, the footsteps of your entourage following not far behind.

"But I... I cannot believe they would be so stupid!" Kaku hissed for the hundredth time. "To side with such... such... incompetence!"

"We know, Kaku." Kalifa readjusted her glasses, face impassive. "I too thought higher of our colleagues. However that does not change what has already been done."

"In all honesty, we got more than I expected." The memory of the blueprints for this place were slowly coming back to you, an added perk of having to sit down and moderate all of Spandam's ridiculous remodelling requests. "That was a gamble if there ever was one. I was partially expecting for all of you to side against me."

"Why?!" He pinched the bridge of his angular nose. "It is... Words cannot describe how outright foolish such a decision would be! This is just... the outright correct decision." A hand shoved his cap further over his face. "What possible explanation could there be for them to make such an obtuse decision?!"

"Safety in numbers for one," droned Blueno from the back.

"And Lucci's immediate choice for another," Jabra shot a terse glare in Kaku's direction. "Like you didn't hesitate the moment you saw that asshole make his choice?! I saw you! I was watching!"

Indeed. Rob Lucci. Your teeth dug into your lip.

You would be lying if you said you hadn't expected his decision. Especially given the way he'd been lurking around you for the past few days. He wanted to kill you... Or rather, he wanted to slaughter you. That curiosity from his very first sniff of you had sparked some morbid instinct to hunt within him. And he couldn't exactly do that if he was on your side, now could he.

That decision had then triggered the others'.

Fukuro was a fairly simple case. Perhaps he had been intimidated by Lucci, or perhaps he realised that he wouldn't be able to get away with his usual loose lipped tendencies if management changed. One of the only benefits of having a fool for a boss was that you could get away with a hell of a lot more than you really should... which was why you'd initially thought more of the other agents would side with Spandam.

It seemed that even the thought of increased restrictions was better than under his management. Which said something.

Kumadori was even easier to understand. He took the samurai code of honour ridiculously seriously, and by extension... was loyal. Out of the two options he'd been given; his long time superior and who he had chosen to 'serve' so to speak, or a near complete stranger who had just shown up and was now trying to usurp said superior's title... Yeah. The answer was pretty obvious.

"What I don't get is why you gave us a choice?" Jabra's tall figure loomed over you as he leant to scrutinise your face. "You're more than powerful enough to order us to do whatever you want, so why not just make us follow your rules."

Here was the anomaly. Jabra. Since he was a renowned trickster (and you'd received so many damage reports resulting from his so-called rivalry with Kaku), you had almost definitely expected him to go to Spandam's side. Again, he was likely to get away with more under Spandam's blind eyes. That or at the very least it would piss off Kaku. But he didn't. He had sided with you. Which, if anything, made you paranoid. Hopefully this was a genuine decision, instead of one where he was just pretending to be your ally while secretly gathering information on you. There were too many children's tales about not trusting wolves...

"Giving you a choice was beneficial for two reasons." At the third doorway on this corridor you turned, moving through the hallways towards where the storage would be. "For one, it would give you a reason to trust me. I expect it has been some time since you have been offered a choice of your own free will, correct? Particularly from a superior."