Nova appeared out of nowhere right next to Felix. If people in the simulation had to deal with biological processes, he would have shat himself in surprise.

[Sir, somethings come up that requires your urgent attention,] she reported to Aron.

Whats up? Aron calmly asked, as if he were a pillar that could hold up the sky if it fell on him.

[We discovered that a large number of Edenian and Esparian citizens have gone missing in a few countries. They all disappeared at roughly the same time over the course of an hour or two.]

How many citizens in total, and which countries did they disappear from? What were they there for? Are the disappearances done, or are people still going missing? Aron asked, this time with a distinct chill in his tone. He had a few ideas of why his people would be going missing, and none of them were pleasant.

[Fifty-seven people disappeared hours after arriving in Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, Brazil, and Guatemala,] Nova said. She brought up a large screen and split it into sections, each displaying information about one of the missing individuals, like their travel itineraries and reasons for visiting those countries.

Aron glanced at the screen, memorizing its contents, then immediately came up with the most likely culprit. Cartels, he spat.

[That is the most likely possibility, sir. As long as the missing people passed through customs, the cartels would have almost instantly learned about their arrival. Most government officials in those countries have been bought and paid for by at least one cartel, perhaps more, and controlling the people coming into and leaving from their countries would be a routine matter for them. The cartels wouldnt even have to provide special bribes.

[I think theyre trying to gather leverage to use against us so they dont end up like the Sinaloa or Medellin cartels. After all, the likelihood of them having realized that their people were killed is high, especially after the public reprisal attack carried out from the former territory of the Sinaloas.]

Whats Athena got planned to resolve the situation?

[Shes tasked Panoptes with tracking them through the Panopticon network and ordered the Beowulf to adjust her patrol route to pass over Central and South America. Reaper teams three, seven, eleven, eighteen, and twenty-two are on standby for rescue and extraction operations once the targets are located.]

Athena appeared next to Nova and saluted Aron. [Sir, requesting permission to use orbital insertion protocols for the reaper deployments upon locating the targets.]

Granted, Aron said. But let the reapers know that I have a use for live captives this time. Corpses if necessary, but prisoners if possible. Either way, I want zero fugitives. Also, zero collateral damage. The high civilian death toll from the recent fighting is already causing enough problems, no need to increase that number even higher. He could always put them on trial once the new world constitution was implemented. Every criminal captured between now and then would likely be enough to fill a courts docket for months, if not years. Especially since they would all still be guaranteed due process.

[Affirmative, sir,] Athena said, then saluted again and disappeared.

Nova smiled and disappeared as well. She enjoyed acting as Arons secretary; it reminded her of how things were in the beginning, when she was just an assistant and limited to the tiny server he had built in his parents basement. Ever since then, those menial jobs had been delegated to lower and lower authority levels in the AI hierarchy she was building, and while she appreciated that Aron valued her so highly, it was sometimes nice to do simple things, like pass messages.

It was like how chefs with dozens of Michelin-starred restaurants under their name would enjoy bologna and processed cheese sandwiches on plain, cheap white bread from time to time as a reminder of their childhoods.

Aron turned to Felix, who was looking at him with a complicated expression on his face, and asked, Where were we? Ah, right... VR.

How can you be so calm right now? Felix blurted out.

Its because this is exactly one of the things we foresaw being a possibility, so weve already got a contingency plan in place to counter it. Since we already expected it and a plan was put in place long before now, its actually more of a relief that its happening than something to worry about. Besides, the best possible people for the job are already on it, so if I worry about the situation, all itll do is show that I lack faith in the people I trained, Aron explained.

Felix took a minute to digest that, and found it plausible. He nodded and his entire body seemed to relax as the discussion picked back up.

Back to what we were discussing before. With space exploration to keep their bodies occupied and separated, and virtual reality games to keep their minds busy, people simply wont have time to plot and carry out rebellions. Nor will they have the angry recruits they need to grow. And even if they choose to go the way of the luddites, theyll just be left behind as the world advances past them.

(Ed note: Luddites were people who, during the industrial revolution of the early 19th century, fought against the advance of technology and would often attack and destroy textile mill machinery in order to keep their jobs. In the modern sense, its anyone that refuses to keep with the times, much like the Amish people of the US.)

Which is why Sarah and you have a few months ahead of you where youll be spending your sleep time in VR so you have enough time to deal with things, Aron finished.

Felix unconsciously hunched his back, remembering the frantic lead-up to the first GAIA product launch and all the work it entailed for him and Sarah.

Aron watched Felixs internal struggle, which had caused his face to twitch and his expression to contort, and could barely keep himself from laughing. Dont worry so much. It may be a painful next few months, but the pain now will decide whether the empire we build will last for centuries, millennia, or millions of years. Thats why we need to focus on every single little detail now, he reassured his old friend.

Felixs eyes sprang open and almost popped out of his face. He finally knew what Aron was planning to do after winning the war: creating an empire and crowning himself emperor. What? he blurted out, not entirely sure that there wasnt a glitch in the simulation or if he was hallucinating.

Aron didnt say a word, just gave his friend an enigmatic smile, then bent down to meet Henry, who was running over to him with childlike glee.

Brother, I want to fight like you do! the boy said once he was in his big brothers embrace.

Just a minute, my minion, Aron said, then turned to Felix and continued, Youll know more later, but for now, leave me something in reserve to surprise you guys with.

He disappeared with his little brother, off to play games that were well-disguised training programs that would prepare Henry for the time when Aron finally learned how to inscribe runic hearts.

Aron had decided that Henry would be the second runemaster of humanity, and would bring that about by his own hand.