News spreads fast when deliberately spread.
And it didn't take long before all of Albion knew about the fact that the Royal Broadcasting Service was planning to take advantage of the hype about the confessions given to Gareth during her meet-and-greet event in Bath, and putting together a dating show.
Instantly, all discussion about missing knights and cover-ups was drowned out as everyone jumped on the news.
"Holy shit, a dating show? With Mordred and Gareth? Trying to find them a guy? That's insane!"
"True, true! Mordred is going to flip out; everyone knows she hates being treated like a girl."
"Should we evacuate the RBS headquarters? I fear they might experience the natural disaster known as a mad Mordred soon."
"LOL"
"Someone really has a death wish; trying to get Mordred to take part in this is gonna be harder than lifting up Mjölnir."
"That's true; this show is never gonna happen. Mordred won't agree."
"But we can still get something with just Gareth, right? I would love to know what kind of man she wants."
"Yeah, someone tell me how many times I need to go to the gym a week to have a chance."
"Get real! Gareth is already so strong; there is no way strength will be able to impress her. I bet you gotta be smart; only intellect will win her over."
"While Gareth is nice, I really want to know what it takes to get with Mordred. Please don't give up on getting Mordred to join!"
"ROFL, first step in getting together with Mordred is being strong enough to survive being with her."
"For real, don't tell me you guys have forgotten about what happened at the big drinking competition when she 'lightly' patted that Asgardian guy on the shoulder to cheer him on?"
"Poor guy was sent flying!"
"Yeah, and just imagine how wild Mordred will be in bed... no way any of us are gonna survive that."
"Worth."
"Worth."
"Worth."
"Worth."
"Death by snu-snu."
"Worth."
"Worth."
"Worth."
Inside the underground headquarters of the Veiled Hand, agents were sitting around at their stations, monitoring online activity, suppressing what threatened the reign of Arthuria while secretly promoting anything they wanted to have more attention.
It wasn't easy, but everyone here had been doing stuff like this for a long time; many of the people here had been taken from the former British Intelligence, so they knew all about how to do this.
The only real problem was that back then, they had easier access to the back end of international social media platforms. Now, many of their old partners didn't play ball.
Still, they managed to get by, and right now, they pretty much didn't have to do anything, as people bit down on the bait given to them and eagerly engaged in the topic they all hoped they would.
"I gotta say, some of these guys are either idiots or brave as hell, talking about Sir Mordred like this. If she saw, she might rip their heads off their shoulders," one of them couldn't help but say to his colleagues.
The guy next to him just snorted. "Please, as long as she used her thighs to do it, I doubt they would mind."
His words caused a light rain of chuckles to spread through the room, while others just rolled their eyes.
"You all should show some respect; if not for Sir Mordred, then for Sir Agravain," a firm, yet not too harsh, voice spoke up.
Lauren Okadigbo had just walked into the room. While Gareth was her main responsibility, she still often came to the main HQ for other work.
While she had her own office, she often preferred the livelier atmosphere in the main monitoring room, as it just felt more alive, more real.
"Of course, Lady Okadigbo," the men who had been making the jokes quickly apologized.
While Gareth might be cute and bubbly, and the public image of Mordred was that of a rebellious tomboy, the people in the room were fully aware that Mordred was more than willing to kill for any insult.
The First Amendment didn't extend to Albion, and even if it had, it wouldn't have stopped someone like Mordred.
People in this age couldn't really stomach the bloodshed, so many of them chose to forget about the many people she had mercilessly killed in the past.
Seeing only what they wanted, which was a rebellious tomboy, but the people joking online were indeed close to the truth.
Mordred might very well smash the head in on whatever unfortunate fool was sent to discuss her joining such a dating program.
"Lady Okadigbo, does the fact that you are here mean that Gareth is going to take part in something like this?" another agent asked, as he too couldn't imagine Gareth doing something like that.
While she was indeed a national treasure, she was more like the cute little sister one wanted to protect, not someone you would set up on a date with strangers on TV.
"That's Sir Gareth, and this was all Sir Agravain's idea, so whatever Sir Gareth takes part in, that is up to him to discuss with her," Lauren said as she sat down at an empty terminal and started her work, bringing up the screen.
While most of the room's work was focused on monitoring the internet, she was more focused on the real world.
As a former member of the Red Room, she still never fully let her guard down. She knew there were still parts of the organization out there, survivors they hadn't yet managed to hunt down.
In particular, they hadn't been able to confirm the death of General Dreykov, and while he was alive, so was the Red Room.
So Lauren would, from time to time, look for clues of activity from him, but with little success so far.
"Still, you are her personal assistant; you must know something. Come on, you have to give us something," the man kept asking.
Lauren didn't even bother to turn to him. "The only thing I will give you is a warning; stop making those kinds of jokes about Sir Mordred. Do you have any idea how many people have had their skulls shattered by her for less? She is the Knight of Treachery for a reason."
That shut them up. They might joke among themselves, but it was one thing to joke about something happening, and another thing to be reminded that it was indeed something that could happen.
Mordred didn't tolerate insults.
While she might seem friendly and easy to get along with, that was only if you treated her as a person, a knight.
But if you treated her like an object or a joke?
Well, you would quickly learn that the rebellious attitude she had wasn't just for show.
She was a killing machine, a weapon of mass destruction. Her pretty face might fool people, but her strength was not to be underestimated.
And her temper was even more terrifying.
"Good," Lauren said, as the silence returned to the room. "Now, back to work."
Lauren nodded in satisfaction as everyone went right back to work; she knew that as soon as she stepped out, they would go right back to slacking off and joking, but for now at least, work was getting done.
As she sat there, looking up sensitive data that might be connected to General Dreykov and the Red Room, she saw something that caught her attention.
Large-scale movements of secret cargo.
And not small things like drugs; no, this was massive shipments of massive objects.
Not merely weapons... not unless they were shipping tanks or other large vehicles around the world.
"Now, what do we have here?" she couldn't help but whisper as she looked deeper into it.
It might not have anything to do with her, or her work, but as a spy, she couldn't help but be interested in something like this regardless of relevance.
And as one of the elites of the Veiled Hand, she could do whatever she wanted without needing to answer to anyone.
So yeah, she quickly started to investigate this little mystery.
And as she kept looking into it, one word, one name kept popping up again and again.
Sentinel.
The name of an American tech giant. A company that specialized in robotics, cybernetics, and advanced weaponry.
A company that, until recently, had been a minor player in the global arms race.
But now, it seemed, they were making a move.
A big one.
And the sheer scale of these shipments, well, it was something else entirely.
The more Lauren dug, the more she realized that something big was happening, something that went far beyond the usual corporate maneuvering and political posturing.
It was a plot.
A conspiracy.
And it was happening right under their noses.
While there was nothing indicating they were shipping them into Albion, nor that Albion was the target itself, it was still something big.
Because these shipments reached every corner of the world.
And given how hidden the shipments were, the care taken to conceal them, well, whatever this conspiracy was, it was clear that the people behind it were up to no good.
The sheer scale of it was staggering: tens of thousands of secret shipments, massive containers filled with unknown goods, spread across the world.
"Now, this seems like it might be something serious," she mused as she dug deeper still, trying to track every shipment, every destination, and where the shipments originated from.
But given the sheer scale of it all, it wasn't easy at all; whoever was behind this had staggering resources available to them, and their actions were secretive.
They were clearly only meant to delay.
Something was happening; something was about to begin, and she was starting to feel that once it did, the entire world might be thrown into chaos, and the timing couldn't be worse.
With Arthuria gone, the vast majority of Albion's forces fighting off an invasion in Hell, if something happened now... Albion wouldn't have the forces to help.
Albion had never planned to be the world's police, but the kingdom had enough power to make most nations think twice before starting another world war.
Albion didn't rule the world; it just made it behave.
A role it couldn't fill right now.
If this chaos exposed that... then it might become slightly dangerous and could even extend the chaos to involve Albion itself...
"I need to inform Sir Agravain of this," she decided as she made copies of the data and quickly rushed out of the room.
As soon as she left, the room once more filled with chatter and jokes, none realizing how serious the situation might be.
They were busy distracting the public, and in turn, distracting themselves from the true threats and dangers.
(End of chapter)
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