Chapter 215 215: Create A Problem First

{Is something wrong?} Athena asked looking at Ethan's expression while he looked at the results of the simulation."Not necessarily," He answered, "but the results are a lot more underwhelming than I expected."

{Hmm,} Athena placed a hand on her chin, looking at the simulation before then.

The nanobots were ground breaking, no doubt, but they seemed to be lacking something, not in their design, but in the fact that it wasn't enticing enough to get the big wigs to risk allowing those things into their bodies.

{Why not give them a reason to?} She suggested, turning back to him and she immediately understood what she meant.

There were two ways to be successful in any venture, either solve a problem, or create a problem to be solved.

Yes, the nanobots solve existing issues and promised a stronger body, there wasn't enough reason for people in actual power to trust a product from a newly established company.

"Let's see how they'll react, shall we?" With that, he started a new simulation.

He brought the panel up again, changed a couple of things and selected specific parts of the world map before him.

They were places with high population, and also places that had lots of movements ensuring whatever he planned will affect most of the world.

Finalizing the parameters, he tapped for it to simulate.

The simulation started accelerating, and within days, a previously unknown cellular degeneration began surfacing in isolated regions.

At first it was dismissed as stress related organ failure, then as a rare autoimmune condition.

But as weeks passed and more patients appeared, so did the panic among people.

The condition didn't kill immediately, that was the key to scaring them even more.

It weakened muscle fibers, degraded neural response times, caused chronic fatigue and sporadic loss of motor control.

It ensured the fear of death properly settle in before it finally claimed you.

{Mortality rate remains low,} Athena noted, scrolling through the projections. {But long term functionality drops below forty percent in ninety days.}

"And conventional treatments?" Ethan asked.

{They're completely ineffective,} She answered, {steroids slow progression by three percent but even that soon becomes useless after a few uses.}

{Gene therapy also fails due to adaptive cellular rejection,} She concluded.

Ethan leaned back slightly.

Fear was far more potent when death wasn't immediate. People could ignore a plague that killed the poor and elderly, since they mostly didn't care about them.

But they couldn't ignore one that targeted all of them and completely stripped them of competence.

He tapped the interface again.

"Now then," he muttered, "let's introduce the solution."

And the results were immediate.

Within hours of simulated release, underground demand spiked. By day three, black market bids exceeded projected GDPs of small nations.

By day five, governments began issuing emergency authorization requests.

{Trust levels jump significantly once desperation exceeds threshold,} Athena said. {Especially among individuals with existing authority.}

Ethan smiled faintly.

"And the success rate?"

{Full cellular repair within forty eight hours. Enhanced baseline performance by twelve percent. Secondary effects include increased stamina, reaction speed and neural clarity.}

But that wasn't the most important part, the most important thing was, "dependency?"

Athena paused for half a second, then answered honestly.

{The nanobots require periodic synchronization to maintain colony cohesion. Without updates, degradation begins after six months.}

Ethan's smile widened, that was exactly what he needed, absolute dependency on his products.

They'd be a lot easier to control that way, since it'll be a lot more like a carrot and stick method.

The nanobots were the carrots and absolute loyalty was the stick.

"And each time they do," Ethan continued, eyes fixed on the projections, "they'll be a little more used to the idea of having controllable tech within them."

{Yes,} Athena said again.

Apart from Ethan, there was no other human she cared about... maybe only those that cared about Ethan in return.

So she didn't care whether or not they were collateral

"The Earth will survive," he said. "Even if it means I have to force everyone to evolve, to achieve it."

There was still the fact that a few still suspected his hand in the sudden appearance of an unknown disease, but had no proof.

Neither did they have any other option. It was either the nanobots or death.

And people in control feared dying.

"Let's get to work then," Ethan said and the buildings around him slowly dispersed, taking him back to the white room.

{Ethan,} before he could exit the Simulation, Athena called out to him and he turned around.

"Hmm?" He asked.

{It's about Irina,} Athena said, {she's about to get married.}

"Huh?"

***

[Russia, Romanova family Mansion]

Irina stood in front of a mirror, her purple eyes lacking every bit of emotion.

She always thought that she held the biggest advantage against her brothers, turns out she was just getting overconfident.

She was assured that for the first time during the family's annual meeting, she would be the one with the actual advantage.

And she had it for quite a while, until the duo came up with a plan to permanently remove her from the inheritance race.

Marriage.

Normally, Irina would easily be able to avoid this, as she had been for quite a while now, but not this time.

As much as her father favored her, this was an offer he couldn't refuse, after all, this was a chance to elevate the Romanova's to a certain height.

The proposal was from the Belozersky family, the closest family to Dmitry Medvedev.

They were pretty influential, influential enough that refusing them would be seen as an insult, not just to the Belozerskys, but to the political faction backing them.

Irina slowly raised a hand, touching the cold glass of the mirror.

"So this is how you intend to win," she muttered softly.

Her brothers had learned. Not how to outmaneuver her in business or strategy, that had proven impossible, but how to cage her.

Remove her from the board entirely under the guise of alliance and prosperity.

Marriage would make her a Romanova no longer, at least not in the way that allowed her to inherit anything.

Her shares would be frozen, her voting rights transferred, her influence diluted behind a husband chosen not for her, but for the family.

With a sigh, she said, "I wonder how Ethan would feel if he heard this?"