AN: Hm, 800-word one, just noticed.
CURRENT DATE CORRELATION: JULY 1914 AD
LOCATION: NEW YORK SECTOR / NORTH BROTHER ISLAND
STRATEGIC INFILTRATION PROFILE: ACTIVE
The master clock struck its first geopolitical trigger in July of 1914. Across the Atlantic, a single human bullet in Sarajevo shattered the fragile peace of the European continent, sparking a rapid, mathematical chain reaction of mobilizations. Empires collapsed into trench warfare like falling dominoes, entirely oblivious that four miles beneath the East River, David's System was tracking their troop movements, resource allocations, and slaughter metrics on a master spreadsheet.
In the grand executive office of New York's City Hall, Mayor John Purroy Mitchel sat alone in the dark, staring blankly at the morning papers. His hands shook slightly. The headlines detailed the exact declarations of war that a handsome, green-eyed tycoon had laid out to him on a fog-choked dock four years prior. Every date, every political shift, and every geopolitical collapse had clicked into place with mechanical precision. Mitchel finally understood that he was not dealing with a standard human billionaire; he was dealing with an unyielding, prophetic force that owned the future.
But down within the three-level subterranean laboratory of the Brother Islands, David was completely indifferent to the human panic. To him, the global war was not a tragedy; it was a highly efficient material market opening up on schedule.
"System, initialize the legal architecture for the corporate fronts," David commanded, his fingers clicking against the white-and-cyan neon terminal with flawless speed.
CORPORATE FRAMEWORK INITIATED
PARENT COMPANY REGISTERED: BATER LTD
SUB-SECTOR INITIATIONS: BATER LABS / BATER ENGINEERING
Using the massive multi-century gold reserves consolidated by the System during his stasis, David began aggressively purchasing prime industrial real estate, shipping warehouses, and commercial office blocks along the New York harbor and the North Shore. But David didn't just need land to anchor his new commercial fronts; he required a highly specific, calculated class of human capital to run them.
"We are modifying the standard employment metrics for Bater Ltd," David stated, turning his green eyes toward Selene, who was lounging on a sleek leather sofa, tracing her fingers through a floating ribbon of dark, chaos-probability magic. "The surface operations will exclusively hire female personnel."
Selene paused, her dark eyes flashing with a sudden, deeply intrigued sharp amusement. She lowered her hand, letting the magical ribbon dissipate into the clean air. "An all-female corporate workforce in 1914, David? The human suffragettes will think you a saint, while the patricians will think you mad. What is the calculation?"
"Utility," David explained flatly, his voice a cool, level drone. "In this chronological era, human women are structurally undervalued by the capitalist matrix, making them a highly cost-effective and hyper-observant administrative resource. Furthermore, the System has cross-referenced the genealogical and social telemetry of New York's middle and lower-class populations."
He tapped a keystroke, bringing up a glowing database of young female applicants.
"We will selectively screen and hire women who possess a ninety-two percent statistical probability of marrying or intersecting with the future political, financial, and military leaders of this country," David calculated, his green eyes scanning the names. "We will place them in the highest executive and secretarial positions within Bater Labs and Bater Engineering. They will receive pristine training, high wages, and subtle social elevation."
Selene's smile slowly widened into a predatory, utterly delighted curve as she caught the sheer, ruthless genius of his long-term play. "You are planting a field of beautiful, highly intelligent spies directly into the beds and parlors of the future elite. And they won't even know they are working for you."
"They will not be spies," David corrected mildly. "They will simply be exceptionally loyal employees who naturally carry our micro-nanite relays into their future households. When they marry the men who will eventually command the American war departments and banking cartels, our System will possess an unbreakable, multi-generational intelligence network wired directly into the country's skull."
"Brilliant," Selene purred, standing up and smoothing down her silk dress as she walked to his side. "Leave the hiring pools to me, my silent god. A human man can be easily manipulated by a pretty face, but a queen knows exactly which women have the steel to rule those men from the shadows."
"Your assistance is verified as optimal," David replied, allowing a faint, genuine layer of his newfound respect to touch his voice. "Manage the corporate registry. I must finalize the biological production lines."
David descended deeper into the subterranean medical sector, where the clean automated assembly arms were already printing the first massive shipments of the Regeneration Serums. On the wall monitors, the initial telemetry of the European front began streaming in, the mud of the Somme, the blood of the Marne. The horrific trench warfare was generating exactly what David's macro calculations had predicted: thousands of physically shattered, cast-aside human casualties.
The harvest fields were burning in Europe, the corporate nets were being cast in New York, and David's modern vanguard was officially preparing for its first broken harvest.