Chapter 2: The Calculus of Power(Plot)

Akira Ryu had never known warmth. Born into a world where ambition was the only currency that mattered, he learned early on that trust was a liability and emotions were weaknesses . To him the world was not a place of connections or comfort it was a battleground and only the coldest could thrive, most of Akira Ryu's journey to the depths of political ambition started long before he entered the *Lainson Program*. Born into a prestigious family, he had an imperial princess as his mother and a high ranking National Liberal Party(NLP) official as his father. His mother, *Sayaka Ryu* was a mysterious figure who had fled the imperial palace many years before Akira's birth. She'd given up the duties of royalty for freedom, but that came at a certain price she was emotionally set away from her son. Akira grew up under the shadow of her abandonment always thinking of a single question "Why did she hate me"?

His father, *Shiro Ryu* was calculating and ambitious, the kind of man who firmly embraced the vision of the National Liberal Party for a new Japan. This was a power play in his own right, true control can only be effectively derived through manipulations and strategies. Akira was taught since he was a child by the teachings of his father how to survive in a world that is constantly in change, to know how to weave a web of influence, and manipulate all those around for the sake of greater power. Love, loyalty and trust were words unknown in Shiro's world, and the only loyalty he felt was to his ambitions.

But one day, Akira's parents were mysteriously assassinated and the course of his life changed. It was a political strike a warning to those in positions of power and perceived as an obstacle. Akira was just a teenager and found himself utterly abandoned in the crumbling world, without family to turn to for help, guidance or warmth. His father's friend, an influential man within the National Liberal Party, stepped in right away to secure his inheritance and protect the empire his father had built. He was *Kaito Oshima*, a high ranking official and close friend to Shiro Ryu.

Kaito, recognizing the danger of leaving the son of the former rival of the current prime minister as an orphan, decided to take Akira as his adoptive son. Not a father figure in any emotional sense, Kaito provided the cold, calculated guidance as Akira needed to continue his father's legacy. Under his influence, Akira became even more detached from emotional attachments. Akira's true drive was not simply to avenge his parents but to rise above their death and dominate the power vacuum left behind. He would not to be a pawn in a larger game. He'd be the puppet master, while other's would dance around.

Akira has a personality of absolute calculation. He is fiercely independent, seeing every other human being only as pawns that are to do his bidding. He felt early in life that trust was a weakness and love even that of parents was a useless virtue, if one strove for true power. His emotions were numb to the brutal realities of his life, buried deep beneath layers of ambition. He had no friends, only possible allies and rivals, all tools in the much larger game he perpetually played.

His mind was always moving: thinking, calculating and most of all scheming. Every move, every word was some kind of part of his greater plan. He has absolutely no interest in relationships nor in moments of happiness, his vision goes to something so much greater and so much more calculating. A man who considered the world as little more than a chessboard. To Akira, the *Lainson Program* is not an opportunity to prove himself but a first step toward a far greater ambition to take back Japan from the shattered part of a broken system and place himself at the top of its pyramid of power.

Akira's heart is as cold and calculated as the strategies he employs. He does not seek approval and affection from anyone. What drives him is not revenge but the deep , need to control the world around him. His true enemy is not anybody, but just the nature of the system that took everything away from him. He will use whatever tools, whatever people he needs to achieve his ultimate goal: becoming the undisputed master of Japan's future.