HUMAN

Chapter 32 - Circle Of Evil

My breathing stuttered, and my hands were clammy. My restlessness grew as their eyes pierced through me as the dimly lit meeting room held under the very facility of SIU headquarters was suffocating in a mental sense. The grim aura of those that sat before me was a bonus to that effect. . .by grace I probably have claustrophobia now because of this.

One hell of a "casual meetup." That The Commander had organized.

I stood by the laptop, preparing the presentation and setting up the projector to be displayed in front of the most influential, and highly valued individuals in this society that ran the major corporal businesses worldwide.

All of them, in one fucking room.

Sins, lies, scandals, and corruption were mixed in a festering concoction of malevolence and rancor. "How long will The Commander take until his arrival, Mr. Jones?" Ms. Claude, the founder of Claude Incorporated, said. Responsible for controlling the fashion industry and the practice of encouraged consumerism keeps the population's money in check.

Her tenacity to control the wealth of lower, middle, and upper-class Anthros is frightening, and she'll grow to great lengths if she even hears a rumor of someone living a good life because of their riches.

"H-he won't be long. He's preparing documents from what I heard." I said, and she scoffed. The leaders involved in this meeting are what follows;

Mr. Morrow, CEO of SB51 or Storm Breach 51. Holds power to an elite military group composing of. . .you guessed, it. 51 members. The name hardly gets tossed around because very few know them, and they've kept it that way for 30 years since it was founded. Their means of extermination are. . .unknown to my knowledge. In fact, I'd rather not know how they do it.

An Anthro of a few words. But likes to get the job done as quickly as possible. Although it was rumored that one or two members had dropped out of the division. . .

Mr. Isanov, CEO and founder of NEXUS technologies. Highly influential in the media and runs an online platform with the hidden purpose of keeping track of the Anthropomorphic population for potential terrorist threats and data gathering to be sold to the black market.

His charisma is unmeasurable and is the backbone of what is keeping these leaders from facing serious backlash or facing criminal charges from the public eye.

Ms. Sinclair, CEO and co-founder of ARRP or Artifact Retrieval and Restoration Program. Underneath public's perception of their 'good intention' of "keeping history preserved, for the future generation!" (their wildly overused, and corny motto), lies for the greed of racking up money and suppressing civilians who discover an artifact of extreme value. Which often leads to missing Anthro cases or bribery to keep their mouth shut and steal the credit of those who discovered the artifact.

Her delusion that she's doing the right thing is an added bonus to the power that she controls.

Which leads to ARRP and ACDE or Advanced Combat Development Enterprise, often collaborating together as they share the same goals and values along with running under the same Anthro. Because of this, Ms. Sinclair is highly respected by everyone in this circle and her drive to rack up green and climb the social ladder is eerily similar to that of Ms. Holmes.

But only far worse as things always seem to go her way, unlike Ms. Holmes.

Then the last leader in this room, who stood out to me the most.

Mr. Becker, founder and CEO of ACA or Agricultural Cultivation Association. Unlike the rest of the leaders within this room, he doesn't hold much power or has the necessary credit to be considered as a one-percenter amongst the group. Which leads to him sitting on the gray area compared to the black and white extremes.