Chapter 14 : The Political Dark Horse
Atsuko Kamei is at her residence, confident of the fact that it will take some time before the Renegades can recover and strike a deadly blow.
She knew the Renegades will strike back once they recover.
But that didn't mean that she had no tricks hidden in her sleeve.
Since the Elorian Secret Unit successfully infiltrated and disrupted the Masquerade, she took advantage of the ensuing chaos that happened before the Renegades could recover and do vengeance.
She ordered the remaining High Officials, who escaped to be neutralized while leaving five or seven of them alive to weaken the Renegades.
Atsuko still remembered what took place earlier.
She did everything while bypassing the lawmakers who belonged to the main party list and sat in their meeting with a smile while the lawmakers got disgruntled at seeing her there.
"What are you doing here? You're from the opposition."
One lawmaker even said to her.
The main party-list lawmakers eventually got uncomfortable in her presence and lost their temper.
They hurled crumpled paper at her and motioned for her to get out.
Her bodyguard eventually stood up and escorted her out of Parliament Hall.
"You shouldn't have intruded into their meeting, Atsuko. Do you want to die early? This is suicide. And what's with the smirk on your face?"
Her bodyguard chastised her.
"Now you've got the guts to be lecturing me, Keisuke. That's rich, coming from a former double agent who broke the rules all the time. "
Atsuko retorted back to Keisuke, who rushed to drive her to her residence.
"What's your reason for gatecrashing their meeting, knowing that those lawmakers are still mad at you?"
Keisuke asked Atsuko with his eyes focused on the road and his hands on the steering wheel of the enchanted smart car.
"Don't you know why? It's showing them who's boss, and to show them that if they bend rules all the time, then I can also use their tricks on them."
Atsuko, who's seated beside the driver's seat, replied.
"Aren't you worried you'll face retribution for this, Atsuko?"
"Well, well. A schemer questioning another schemer. Those lawmakers won't like it if I spoiled their sponsorship deals by selling the info of the business people they're linked with to their competitors, won't they? Keep in mind that my siblings' company specializes in cybersecurity and hacking. Lest you forget, I convinced my elder brother to give me the original copy of the Hydra file they entrusted to the Kamei Security Firm. There are only two copies, and I have the original. As long as I have that file, I can keep them under control and do whatever I wish with them."
Atsuko replied, an evil grin forming on her face.
She went to the kitchen and brewed a cup of coffee. She then placed the chocolate spread on some slices of bread and put them on the oven toaster.
She also fried herself some bacon, then placed ketchup on top of the fried bacon.
While Atsuko made her way to her room, carrying a tray with hot coffee and a plate filled with hot food, she noticed Keisuke sprawled on the sofa, watching Netflix on her flatscreen smart ultra-HD tv.
'Hey, Keisuke. I've whipped up some quick food in the kitchen. Since you'll raid my pantry and fridge anyway, go make yourself whatever food you want."
Atsuko called out to Keisuke, then went straight to her bedroom with a grin on her face.
She sure showed those lawmakers what she could do, she thought.
"Dalton, open up the opaque glass door. While you're at it, turn on the flatscreen smart tv in my bedroom, connect it to my large Bluetooth speaker, and play some slow rock music."
She commanded the AI.
The bedroom door opened, and she placed the food tray on the table.
She sat on the chair and started eating, a smirk still plastered on her face.
She wondered if those main party-list lawmakers are aware she has the Hydra file.
She also used whatever means she could to keep watch on her opponents.
The recent turn of events drained her energy so much that she ate with gusto.
While eating and drinking, the memory of her past caught up with her.
She is born privileged to a family of rich and influential, but not so well-known Kamei family.
Her parents ran a cybersecurity and hacking company, as well as a bodyguard service, which caters to rich and influential clients.
She has three siblings who helped her parents run and manage the company, with her being the youngest.
Her parents, who are both experts in self-defense and cybersecurity, took advantage of the political situation.
They quit their high-paying jobs and formed their own business, at first focusing on offering cybersecurity.
They used their contacts to lure in controversial VIP clients from the political and business sector.
The business eventually boomed, and they expanded their services to training and hiring bodyguards for their VIP clients.
They also formed a company called Kamei Security Firm.
They also expanded to selling spy cameras, video recorders, heat sensors, and any other gadget and software related to digital security.
Her parents had already set up a successful company by the time Atsuko was born.
Atsuko studied at the prestigious Akita University from preschool up to her college days.
She finished her college course in coding and hacking at the top of her class.
She often hangs out with the kids of the rich and the famous during her student days up to the present day.
She's a smart and nice student who's always at the top of her class.
She's also fierce, outgoing, friendly, confident, and most of all, popular, both inside and outside the campus.
She has good looks, is tall, athletic, has a sexy figure, and has fair and flawless skin. It made her more popular.
She still maintains her good looks and fit, sexy body up to the present day.
She's an athlete who plays taekwondo, softball, and frisbee.
She practices those sports consistently and gives her opponents a hard time when she's around in the dojo, or on the field.
She also goes to the gym and exercises regularly.
She's good at coding and hacking, which she inherited from both of her parents.
She's also an avid traveler.
She's also a dangerous sharpshooter aside from being a skilled mage, having a lot of high-powered anti-magic guns in her arsenal.
However, she has a dark and ruthless side that she unleashes on those who cross her, her close friends, and her family.
She used whatever means she could to get rid of those who dared to cross the line, and that includes having them killed and sent straight to the graveyard.
She took an active involvement in her family's business when she was still thirteen up to the present day.
She's careful not to let her involvement in the family business get obvious at an early age of thirteen, knowing full well that one mistake can cause the downfall of the family wealth and cause their VIP connections to burn bridges with the Kamei family, which her parents alongside with her siblings worked so hard to build.
By the time she finished college, she got a lot of offers, both from the private sector and the government.
She ended up accepting the offer of the Elorian Secret Service to work for them as a double agent.
She worked hard and became one of the top-performing agents.
A lot of years passed.
Because of her excellent work performance, she always got promoted and became one of the most influential high-rank double agents.
She still wields that power and influence until the present day.
When she hit her mid-thirties, a common friend introduced her to a hotshot male politician named Denki Kaneko at a fundraising charity party.
She still remembered how they met.
It's a charity party for a cause organized and paid for by Denki Kaneko.
He did it for the upcoming elections.
She sat on an empty chair, drinking vintage wine from a half-full wineglass, trying to look natural while listening in on the conversation of a group of men and women who are just 4 tables ahead of her through an earpiece inserted in her ear.
She's also secretly recording their conversation.
The people she tailed are famous figures said to be linked to a major management scandal.
Those people she spied on are backers of Denki. The Hydra file also mentioned them.
She'd already heard of the rumored Hydra file, which eventually ended up in the hands of her elder brother.
She got assigned to chase the Hydra file and make sure it falls into the hands of the Elorian Secret Service.
The people she tailed left and went to the garage, where some smart cars waited for them.
She followed them and got into her car. When she revved the engine, it wouldn't start. How suspicious. She had just refueled it on a full tank earlier.
Just in time, a co-agent came to the garage, accompanied by the hotshot politician she heard about.
"Hey, Atsuko, are you here on an official business? How's chasing the Hydra file going? I know you're not the sort to attend lavish parties like this. "
"Minato? What are you doing accompanying a politician like this? I heard you complain before that politicians are a pain in the ass to talk to and deal with. "
Minato Matsumura brushed off the remark, then introduced Denki and Atsuko to each other.
Denki held out a hand as if to offer a handshake, which Atsuko gladly accepted.
"Do you need a ride, Miss Atsuko? Hop in my car. It so happens that the two of us are also following the group of people who just left. I heard a lot about you and your adventures, by the way."
Denki said while he left the door on the front seat next to the driver's seat open, assisting Atsuko as she got in. The car door automatically shuts.
Denki got inside the driver's seat, and after he made sure that Minato was in the backseat, he revved up the engine and drove off to the place where he knew the others would be waiting.
Atsuko got to know Denki and the rest of the famous public figures who backed Denki better.
They trusted her so much that they even invited her into their homes and at important events.
She got introduced to their contacts, friends, and acquaintances.
It made searching for the Hydra file a lot easier.
She learned to take advantage of the situation, rummaging around in their houses and gadgets for clues that could lead her to the Hydra file, and using whatever means she could.
Five years passed before she heard that her elder brother got hold of the Hydra file.
During those five years, she also got busy attending to her other assigned missions.
She approached her brother and talked to him about the importance of the Hydra file.
In the end, she convinced him to hand over the Hydra file to her.
While Atsuko and the former Director of the Elorian Secret Service talked and ate in a night-time café, the Director pulled out an anti-magic pistol and pointed it straight at her.
"Do you know why I made you hunt the Hydra file? Someone with shady deals must cover up their tracks, correct?"
Rin Fujimoto, the Director back then, grinned in a cold and calculating way with his pistol aimed at Atsuko.
"If you want to live, and you don't want your family business to be ruined, hand over the Hydra file. Right now."
He placed his laptop on the table and started it, with his pistol still pointed at Atsuko.
Atsuko fished out a sleek red flash drive from the side pocket of her jacket and handed it over to Rin.
Before Rin could react when he saw the file is fake, Atsuko already placed a pistol at the back of Rin's head, with her finger ready on the trigger.
"You sided with them all along, Rin Fujimoto. I'm not surprised. I bet you dirtied your hands for unclean money. Have you forgotten what my family specializes in? I alone am enough to ruin you and end you. Do as I say, or you won't live in the next few days."
Atsuko said coldly, then shot Rin's left leg and right arm.
She then fired at the ceiling to intimidate Rin to silence before she left.
It was election season back then.
She quit her job and ran for the Premier position against the main party list's favorite, Denki Kaneko, for Premier as a surprise candidate.
The opposition party list backed her.
Denki and the rest of the disgruntled main party list members who once thought she was a close friend did everything to throw dirt at her and prevent her from winning.
She had an ace up her sleeve, the Hydra file, and filed cases against her opponents.
She also fought back at those who tried to stop her from winning by having their pawns removed from the scene.
She won a close victory over Denki, amidst reports of tampered and malfunctioning vote-counting machines.
However, only a few of the minority party lawmakers won the election.
After she got sworn into the office, she set her plans into action.
She outlawed Denki Kaneko and placed many restrictions on him.
She also outlawed those who backed Denki, and it caused Denki to form The Renegades, which had opposed her ever since.