Chapter 342: How to Spy on a Presider

Due to Lanterk's appearance, an emergency meeting was made.

Cliff led the briefing as per Seeker's orders.

"Eva, Miss Jane and... Prince..." Cliff glanced at his sheet to read the information regarding the unknown soldier. The meeting included three of the most skilled, trained spies that were tasked to spy on Zeraphine.

"You don't remember my name, General?" Prince was curious.

"I never found out what your name was even though we met a lot of times. You're the guy who Meryl thinks is cute, right? Be careful around Danny, won't you?"

Prince felt terror. He has seen Danny's wild style when fighting.

"Anyway... That brat managed to trick me. So you three, be careful. You three are the best we got to be used as spies. But Seeker asked me to brief you to train you on what you can do when you are officially deployed. Especially you, Jane. Prince and Eva have already been deployed around Pioneers and were responsible for capturing eight Pioneers now deployed in the experiment. You don't have any experience due to your other training. So to check if your planning skills are ok, what actions do you need to take?"

"Our jobs as spies is to infiltrate, gather information, and mislead the enemy by redirection of facts. And if we caught, we are to ensure that it does not lead back to Seeker. So our identities are crucial and that we do not succumb to mind control or any possible techs that can see through our thoughts." Jane Moore answered.

"Right. Thought Clearing. A skill necessary to spies. I just can't ever master that..." Cliff sighed.

"General, you're Path is memory. It's expected that you can do that." Eva defended.

As Cliff turned the others, he was sure he could see Eva mouthing 'please think of me always' as she positioned herself to hide her mouth from Jane's powerful wide-ranged sight.

Cliff blinked in surprise.

"Erm... What can you say about this person based on the painting you saw and the pictures we have of him through the cameras in the submarine?"

"Highly arrogant and talented. Considering that he even managed to fool you, he must be someone of great cunning ability. Worst case scenario is that he could be as cunning as Lowengren or have a high intelligence that can assess, manipulate and predict multiple scenarios at once." Jane assessed.

"He's careful, an opportunist, but at the same time, his pride makes him make bold moves. I think he only moves when he is very certain he would win. That should explain how he remained unnoticed from his peers." Prince gave his impression.

"He takes pleasure in success and has a sense of enjoyment when he achieves his purpose or when his plans succeed. The look he had on that painting gave me the impression that he's a narcissist. But a narcissist only certain selective things. Regardless, he has to die for shaming the General." Eva vowed.

"Ri-Right..." Cliff was starting to sweat.

Jane and Prince couldn't help but give Eva a strange look.

"Except for the passionate answer of...erm Eva... You guys are right. In our armies, it is a rule that we will limit our interactions with a Presider only once or twice. And only those who are approved for espionage can make several direct interactions. This kid does it all the time! And we don't know how long he has been doing this. He has probably been deceiving Presiders for a long time. How do you spy on such a person?"

"For a Presider that is cunning and arrogant and has always been able to deceive Presiders, it would be better to allow him to take advantage or deceive us. I think the best way to engage a Presider like this is always to make him think that he is one step ahead of everyone." Eva suggested.

"Same answer. Let prideful enemies maintain their pride." Jane recounted the sentence which Lowengren had written in his memoir, which was now the top Espionage training manual for the spies.

Cliff nodded. Seeker gave this critical point and instructed Cliff to make sure the spies know this.

"We will tackle what plans each of you has. Now, a more pressing issue. For Presiders that make strange moves like this, you as spies, become our lifeline to figure that out before it happens. This is crucial because if we want to cause war in the world, we have to do it that sticks to the bottom line of Presiders. We either get what they want before they have a chance of getting it and make it look like they missed their chance, or we allow them to succeed as long as we've set a countermeasure in place. Our goal is to delay their appearance in the world. To do that, you guys have to deduce what their goal is on the first few steps of their plans. So, for this particular Presider, what do you think he wants? Zeraphine wouldn't have leaked the information Scribbs fed her about Pidgeon and the free frost. Then why is he here?" Cliff asked.

"Lanterk is a Presider that could either surpass Zeraphine in strength or equal her. But right now, he is pretending to be a weak lamb. One possibility... He is using Zeraphine."

"No doubt, he is using his weak facade to gain the trust or indifference of Zeraphine. By being someone at the sidelines, it will allow himself to reveal more about the Progenitor or the Lost Primordial." Jane made her assessment.

"I'm thinking another possibility. Although we've already made evidence that point to the existence of the Lost Primordial or the Progenitor, him coming here personally to meet Zeraphine in this precise moment may be motivated by other means. Is he investigating the death of Crostfree? But I think aside from that. He is using Zeraphine as protection. Zeraphine didn't turn away this Lanterk because she was afraid. The details of what General Seeker did to her must-have shaken Zeraphine to the core that she would rather risk having a Presider at her side than having none at all." Prince also added.

Cliff nodded with approval. But at the back of his mind, he was relieved. He had been trained with many things and could apply strategies using many of Arthur's and Lowengren's tricks. But deduction wasn't his strong suit.

"Thank goodness these three are very smart for spies. I have no idea what I'm doing here. Why did Seeker assign this to me anyway?! Shouldn't he do this himself!" Cliff secretly cursed.

"But why did Zeraphine trust Lanterk? Why didn't she believe that Lanterk could be a spy? Is Lanterk that weak?" Jane frowned.

"Either that or Zeraphine thinks herself to be too strong." Eva guessed.

"No... If she thinks that, she'd have kicked Lanterk out the moment she entered the sub."

"Did Lanterk know that Zeraphine wouldn't turn him away?" Cliff asked.

"Genius, General! Of course, that's it! He knew something about Zeraphine. Lanterk could have chosen anyone to be here on Earth. But he chose her!" Eva exclaimed and gave Cliff a very amazed look.

Cliff, on the other hand, was confused. He was earnestly asking that question and was not applying Aristotelian methods of teaching.

"Yes! The General is right! That's another piece of information that we try to fish out from Lanterk! His means of entry were very childish. He used that method because it fitted his character. But I think he was confident! He must have believed or have known that Zeraphine was in the middle of something." Jane also concluded.

"Thank you, Miss Jane, for su-summarizing my questions. While these guesses are good, and I got a good grasp of how you guys think, I guess... I'll rate this as a pass. Now, what exact action plans are you going to do? We're going to do the Objectives, Goals, and Plans checklist here." Cliff moved on to the next part. 

"The infiltration process should be three separate instances. Since Miss her with that identity. Lara Diamon or Zeraphine knows of my identity as assisting Halley Vagrant as the manager of the Covenant and a classmate of Seeker. I could pretend to be someone who admires Seeker and sees Lara as a rival."

"Great suggestion, Eva."

"But secretly, I'm in love with you, General. And my real plan is to attack and steal your heart by making Charm feel insufficient." Eva gave a seductive smile.

Jane and Prince were shocked at her declaration.

"A little... too into character... I guess? I'll circle back to your suggestion. Prince?"

"Uh... I was just planning to be a soldier with a double identity. I could show some very suspicious behavior that will draw out his response."

"How do you plan to do that?"

"I will make a false report detailing Lara's physique and how she might be a person of interest to a Nairagara Zulus."

"Oh? You plan to use the Zulus, huh? Well, we do need to fish them out. Fine. I approve of the use of that. Someone like Lanterk should be able to notice that that word is the reverse for Aragarian."

"Yes, General. I figured since Nairagara doesn't exist, they will search for the other obvious term, the elusive family, the Zulus. So I'll take a look at Lara and also at Lanterk. He will not take notice of me unless I show some interest in his presence. I can mumble words to describe him or act as if I'm checking with a superior on what to do with the boy next to Lara."

"Alright. Then Jane will establish contact with Lara at the same time when Prince makes his fictional report. He might be able to hack on your phone line, so make a direct call somewhere. I suggest the Australian international bank company that we heard from the reports. Do you understand?" Cliff recalled that Australia's Pioneers used a strange loan hot-line as a means to relay their protocols. If a Pioneer were to be abandoned by a Presider, they would hear that prompt whenever they try to communicate with the Presider. Cliff decided to use that because he thought it was funny.

"You want me to call and apply for a bank loan and pretend to use that as an encrypted call that only I can understand? Right! Why didn't I think of that? The Presider ought to be familiar with that Protocol and will make Lanterk think that a Presider really is involved! Genius!" Prince praised.

Eva's face turned to worship as he gazed provocatively at Cliff.

"General. I think I have to change my approach." Eva suddenly declared.

"I will vocally challenge Charm and claim that I am in love with you."

"What? N-No. You said earlier that you would challenge Lara for your affections of Seeker!"

"I think this is the better route. It may seem suspicious that me and Jane will try to draw Lara's attention directly. Lowengren's book mentioned that we are to approach a Presider like a shy person approaching his or her crush. We have to use different reasons to avoid suspicions. Unless... we are boldly... showing it..." Eva smiled.

"That... isn't a very... persuasive erm... answer." Cliff tried to argue.

"Think about it, General. I am a student whose identity is known to Zeraphine. If I go and challenge Charm, I can use the excuse that she is a Royal and you are a Regular! I can challenge her for her sincerity and use my obsession with you to ask Zeraphine to talk with me! She became friends with Charm, and reports state that she values that friendship. I try to make a friendship with her through that! I am using one of the best ways to gain a connection that has been proven many times in history. Girl talk, General."

"Well... That makes sense." Cliff nodded.

"Then General... I request that you show interest to me when we meet." Eva smiled.

"I think we're good. Goodbye, everyone. Good job." Cliff ended the call immediately.

Cliff couldn't help but sigh in relief.

"That was scary. Why is Eva's skin showing sign of being similar to Meryl!?" Cliff frowned

Lynd was standing nearby Cliff.

"Oh boy... This is interesting... You're an idiot, aren't you? Why did you agree with that?" Lynd looked confused.

"Was it a bad idea?"

"Granting a subordinate the permission to flirt to you in front of you're girlfriend? You seriously don't think that's a bad idea? Still, it'll be a good distraction. I'm curious. Lanterk looks like a teenager. That little drama ought to help me see if he is one."

Lynd then began to access the feeds in a ship connected to the submarine where Zeraphine and Lanterk were and began to access the camera.

"What are you doing?"

"I grade those three a solid C+. They missed out on a lot of tricks to do. I guess we have to take over and help them. Prince didn't think of creating an obvious attempt to spy on Lanterk using some of the techs. Using that would give Lanterk the impression that he is being watched, which will force him to stay quiet. Jane could use his means to warn Zeraphine. Zeraphine is pretty nervous and scared right now. Jane can give Zeraphine a message to warn her of Lanterk. This could end up with the two Presiders fighting at the least at a critical time. Eva could have used her plan and constantly attack or put down Lanterk. This is one great flow of playing possum. People get to bully you. We can use that to force Lanterk to make impatient moves. Combined with the techs watching over him, he will be forced to sit still while Eva bullies that kid. Depending on Zeraphine's reaction to defend Lanterk or allow Eva to bully him, we can also gauge their relationship." Lynd shook his head.

"It's a good thing we are here to improve on what they lack. Hopefully, this will be a good learning experience for them. Against these enemies, we need every information we can get and we have to divide them as much as we can."

Cliff was amazed at the various additions Lynd had.

"What about Seeker? What's his plan?"

"Knowing Seeker, he'll probably follow my suggestion on what Eva can do. So Seeker may end up slicing off Lanterk's hand, or Seeker gets his arm cut off. Either way, it's a win for us." Lynd shrugged.