Two years later...

Ethan cleared his throat. "May we begin?" Nine formally dressed men sat with him around a briefing  table with a holographic globe in the center glowing dimly back at them.

After a swift typing of a combination of letters and numbers onto his tablet he then displayed the pricing on the hologram. The officials took a minute to think. Finally, one spoke. "We have contracts out for a hundred multirole fighters, 70 attack craft, 40 Fighter-Bombers, and about 3,000 infiltration laser guns presently," the director of the Department of Strife and Conflict (DoSC) requested. Ethan checked his costs. "Can do," Ethan said. He was the CEO of Kang ID, a company with an oligopoly on military contracts. Currently, there was an undergoing investigation of his only real competitor, leaving him to freely bend pricing to his will. He grinned inwardly. This year was going to be a profitable one.

    Ethan looked at his apprentice, Seraphina, who was sitting quietly off in a corner. He knew she was listening. She was always listening. Ethan had found Seraphina on the street shortly after surveying the damage of one of his main factories in an impromptu attack by Parinjaier 2 years ago. He had found hope in her skill with technology and decided to take her under his wing as a potential successor, and Ethan had treated her like a daughter ever since. Seraphina nodded at him and he nodded back. This was going to be a long conference for everyone.

******

"Alright, then," Ethan said. It had been hours of negotiation, and Ethan was quite tired. "One last thing... may you please tell me what you are doing with my supplies?" Ethan asked.

"We are simply strengthening the border patrol," A board member said nonchalantly."

"Attack planes? Bombers? All for border patrol?" Ethan asked, suspicious of the director's intentions.

"You never know," the director interrupted, protecting his position

"Much agreed," Ethan replied, knowing it would be criminal to not trust the director, or at least seem not to. They shook hands, but the director, instead of leaving, sat back down. Nobody else got up. "Aren't you leaving too?" Ethan asked, curious as to why he was the only one up.

"We have matters to discuss," the director replied, as a fake smile plastered to his face. Ethan returned the smile, bid his goodbyes, and beckoned for Seraphina to leave with him.

As he headed out, he heard the others talk in hushed voices about a Project White or something like that. Ethan felt suspicious. All of his best planes and weapons immediately required for border patrol? That did not seem right. There had to be something the government was hiding from him. Even if he figured it out, he would be powerless against the board. He had slipped into a terrible deadlock.

********

    "Sera, did you catch what they said after we left? Some sort of 'Project White...' I forgot." Seraphina did not reply, her hands jammed into her pockets as they walked along a dark, spooky, sidewalk. "Sera? You ok?" Ethan asked, beginning to sound worried.

"Yes... I'm alright," she replied.

    "Did you catch what they said?" Ethan asked one more time, this time a bit more firmly.
    "I think it was a Project White Ops or something like that," Seraphina said, sounding uncertain, "but I don't really know, either."

    Ethan inhaled deeply. "Alright, I guess we'll call it a day," he said wearily as he slipped into his Rozland D302i, an immaculately designed hover car of which only three were made, beckoning for Seraphina to join him. She hopped in, and Ethan gunned the throttle, soaring into the night sky.