Deep Space Epoch

"You can call me Iris, the president's main wife." Iris acted coy as she pulled Ivan's arm into the crook of her elbow.

"Well, Ivan, Iris, it appears the two of you were simply meant for each other. Please, have a seat."

Ivan didn't sit in the indicated seat, instead opting to walk past the desk and look out the window over the top of the crimson and gold tinted clouds along with several other cloudscrapers which had also pierced the cloud layer.

"You have quite the view here, it really must make you feel on top of the world."

"Indeed, with enough money you can do everything, so having a massive amount of it truly makes one stand above the rest. Money is power after all," Everal turned his head and responded matter-of-factly, not offended by Ivan ignoring his previous invitation to sit.

Absentmindedly gazing out the window, Ivan nostalgically commented, "You know, if this was me in the past, I would have immediately agreed with you."

"It is quite unfortunate I know absolutely nothing about your past. Ivan Storme, the man that appeared out of thin air. Would you care to enlighten me? I have been thinking that you were someone Mazur Ral Vendick concocted up in one of his crazy experiments and implanted false memories into."

Iris sat down on one of the chairs Everal previously invited them to sit on, watching the two probe each other with words.

"It is no longer important. What I can say however, is that I used to be like you – ruling the world with money. However, in the end, I was wrong."

Everal sat there silently while Ivan looked at him with a look of madness that was barely veiled by an emotionless expression. Ivan's eyes sent chill directly down his spine, like a predator waiting to pounce upon its prey.

"Money can give you power, but it cannot give you authority. No matter how much money you have, how many connections you have or how much power you wield, as soon as the authority above you chooses to act, there is nothing you can do about it."

"So what do you suggest someone in my position should do?"

"Isn't that a simple solution. Don't just seize money and power, seize authority."

"You make it sound so simple, taking something such as authority isn't so easy. Besides, those who sit up the top also must follow the rules."

Everal could see the expression on Ivan's face twist into pure malice through the faint reflection on the window. This sparked many inspirations of thought, but he kept them all to himself secretly.

Ivan turned around, his expression already returned to a complete poker face. "But enough of that, I heard you wanted to meet with me."

"What about us interests you so?"

"Four-dimensional beings. You stumbled upon a certain item somewhere in the galaxy, or perhaps somewhere outside of it during that incident following Oberon II. I would like to purchase some of that item off of you."

"Oh, you must mean that incident involving your son, I believe? Speaking of him, how has that Captain Argentear doing these days?"

"Very well, these days, he broke military command a few years ago though and was punished under military law."

"That's harsh, did he get sent to prison?"

"Not at all, we kept it all quiet and he is currently under home confinement. He shouldn't be chasing you down like a stray cur again."

"You have such a strange sense of humor, Everal. I was only thinking on shaking hands with him and talking about the good old days."

Iris didn't know whether to laugh or cry as the two were devolving to almost sending blatant insults and threats at one another.

"Well, Sir Everal," Iris cleared her throat and spoke up, revealing a dazzingly smile that even charmed Everal momentarily. "I'm sorry to say that item you are seeking for is all gone since long ago. Even we are searching for more of it. Is there anything else you would like?"

Facing the shameless lie Iris spoke so casually, Everal was unsure how to react.

"I'll be straight up with you two. I want four-dimensional biological matter, enough to assist one person to undergo the evolution into a four-dimensional being. Surely that isn't too much to ask for?"

"And why would I do that?" Ivan bluntly asked, dropping all former pretense.

"My friend, you're not here to just casually chat. The only thing I have that you could want is either money or connections. I'm thinking it is the former rather than the latter."

"How perceptive of you."

"Did you know that the current value of four-dimensional matter is about a mid-grade planet's value per gram?"

"It's something several wealthy and influential people are searching desperately for. Naturally its value is astronomical. Speaking of which, how are your searches for four-dimensional matter going?"

Ivan was only taking an educated guess, but the slight irritated twitch on the corner of Everal's lips told him he had hit the nail on the head. Even Iris couldn't help but chuckle in enlightenment as she realized they were searching for four-dimensional matter but to no avail.

"I'm used to getting what I want, upstart. I'm over 400 years old, some greenhorn like you who has clearly already fallen once stands no chance. Don't think I don't have the means to deal with you," Everal leaned back on his chair and said with a sinister sneer.

"It must be frustrating to be two steps behind some upstart, you're already 400 years old, don't you think it's time to retire? Do your worst."

"You think I won't dare?"

Ivan stood beside Everal and looked down upon him with disdain.

"Do it, watch how futile your efforts are. You want to become a four-dimensional being and achieve a massive multiplication to your lifespan, invincible might amongst three-dimensional beings, the advanced senses of a Celestial? You're genetic coefficient must be pretty low considering your age. Even as a long-lived human specie, you must have scrubbed your genes at least twice. You will be long dead by the time you could even see hope in being transformed."

Everal glared at Ivan maliciously, even turning that gaze toward Iris who smiled back noncommittedly. He pullet a holographic pen tablet out of his pocket and made a short call, simply stating, "Post it."

Everal then leaned back in his chair and looked at Ivan and Iris with a mocking expression.

Ivan moved and sat down at the chair beside Iris before Ivan and Everal simply stared at one another in silence, each sporting an expression of disdain.

After ten minutes of waiting, one of the Celestial security guards walked straight through the door as if it didn't exist after receiving a report from the Kraken.

"President," The guard handed over a SubNet Tablet open on the store of Universal Intelligence.

"This is your threat?" Ivan laughed heartily, his ethereal voice resonating through the walls and eerily spreading throughout the entire top floor of cloudscraper.

"Don't get too excited, not just pirates, but it has also been transmitted to the entire Federation government as well as every news station, no matter how small and inconsequential they are. Soon everyone will know who you are, what you are, where you come from, and your criminal activities."

Everal laughed victoriously, as if he had Ivan trapped in the palm of his hand.

"If you want the government to back off and the masses to no longer view you as a sinister criminal syndicate, you will hand over the four-dimensional matter that we require."

Ivan still had a nonchalant expression as he stood up and wrapped one arm around Iris to pick her up. He then kicked the two chairs which had extremely discreet and sophisticated devices for attracting loose bio matter into subspace before leading everyone to leave. As he did so, his voice echoed back into the office.