Diplomatic Discussions

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, United States

The meeting had already been in session for several hours. Some of the attendees were already tired and wanted to go home, but they couldn't, because the meeting was really important. One of the most important people in the world was in the same room as them, the president of the United States, John Smith. He had met with several of his assistants to follow up on the reconstruction work. The attack that his country had received, though small in scale relative to his territory, had been devastating to its inhabitants. A month had already passed and even so, there was not a single minute that the news did not stop giving the same news, the reporters were going to run out of people to interview. Even Jhon himself was fed up that there was only the same news on national television.

The damage count was enormous, millions of dollars in damage to public infrastructure alone, almost four times the damage to private property, and the enormous number of people who had lost their lives in such a devastating attack had yet to be added. The reconstruction of the city will take between 6 months to 2 years if everything went well, but it would not be strange if that extended for much longer. The only good side of all the bad? The whole country has come together like never before to help others. The signs of solidarity came from everywhere, all the inhabitants were helping each other to try to improve the situation that came without prior notice., people were willing to help to prevent the same situation from happening again, so moments like this were golden opportunities for the rulers. It was the moment of showing that they were made and use almost total freedom to do what they think will be most convenient for their citizens.  The president had total support for him since he was seen as the person who saved the country from the front lines of the battle, just as Adelis had foreseen, re-election was not only possible, it had already been assured. 

But even so, the doubts were many, and with a future still on the horizon, it would not help to make the following years easier. There was no information regarding how the Empire was able to gather the equipment and move it to carry out such a level of attack, in a place so far from Europe, with one of the countries with the best security systems and still escape with the ease that they did. It must be physically and logistically impossible, there was no way they could do that, but New York City itself was not lying, it really had been attacked by an enemy they considered defeated. 

The city of  New York was saved only by a handful of brave men who met in record time and made a heroic defense that was able to stop the objectives of the empire in US territory with legendary efficiency. Each person who participated in the initial resistance was recognized as a war hero, the 400 assembled men of the police, the army, and the national guard who took over the airport received the medal of honor for their brave action beyond the call of duty.  The 82nd Airborne Division also received high praise for actions for its valiant efforts to reinforce and retake control of the city. The guts that its members showed and their wise choice to go with less equipment to be able to mobilize faster and thus save more lives was the right one.  Luck was also on the side of the USS Essex, as the aircraft carrier happened to be returning to New York after spending several years on active duty in the continental war, so its appearance and the battlefield also turned the tables, with troops Experienced veterans, an arsenal tweaked and fine-tuned by combat, along with a group of Arksuits that may have contributed quite a bit to the end result. The Battle of New York only served to further add to the legendary ship's already long and legendary list of achievements, further enhancing her already reputation as the bane of the Empire. All these years the lucky ship had had a front-row seat to the most important battles of the continental war, and it seems that it did not miss what seemed to be the final encounter. There was a saying in the military that the battlefront is where the USS Essex is. 

But there was still one more group missing from that list. A small and reserved group of people that only their individual contributions were comparable to those of all the previous ones put together. But the only name they could say publicly was that of Commander Cedric, the rest of these people had to be kept secret from the public because not even the United States government itself knew who all of them were. The security group that Adelis had brought for her safety was truly fearsome, as they were the ones who made the most important contributions to the battle,  but the scariest thing was that they had managed to keep their identities completely secret, but also without hiding anything from them. 

"What about the girl with the mask?"
"The one that seemed like a technique?" John asked when he saw the only photograph of her.

"Not much I'm afraid"
"Adelis addressed her by the name of Momo"
"As far as we know she never took off all those weird things so her appearance is a complete mystery" commented one of the advisers

"What does the C.I.A have?" asked another person in the room.

"Not much either"
"She left no trace when we arrived"
"Her way of speaking also did not reflect a seat that we could identify, her way of speaking was very neutral and calm, so we cannot make assumptions about her origin either"
"According to our guesses, this girl, Momo is using a fake name as well to hide her identity."
"From what we gathered from the recordings she showed high knowledge in technology that the empire uses, so we assume that she is probably some type of Technician or high-level researcher of the Empire who may have an agreement with Adelis"
"She will surely provide you with information or advice in exchange for hiding her identity and her safety"

"Okay, what about the others?"
"The two robots, what about them?"
"IDOL I think that was what they called themselves" Mr. Smith came back to ask.

"Without a doubt, they are the Android Dolls of the Empire"
"Probably a new model or prototype"
"Maybe Momo herself could have given them as a symbol of collaboration"
"These two robots have shown a high level of complexity and are capable of accessing the information on the network with great ease"
"Due to the crisis of the moment we let it pass, but they were able to establish a connection with our combat network without legitimate authorization"
"It was thanks to their help that we managed to recover the electricity supply"
"Also with this, we assume that it is very likely that with an identical or similar model it was how the Empire managed to circumvent our security and take over our defense system"
"We don't know what level of combat they are capable of, but they could certainly pose a threat to our systems"

"Would you consider them a direct and imminent threat to the country?" asked the president with a deeply serious look.

"We do not know the full capabilities that these Dolls are capable of"
"Maybe they could have access to the wi-fi network from the lobby of the hotel"
"Maybe they could have access to our network of nuclear ballistic missiles"
"We have no way of knowing, but if it were my responsibility I wouldn't take any risks, not in these times" answer the defense adviser.

"I think I phrased the question wrong"
"Would you be willing to go against Adelis to try to reduce a minimum risk?"
"Will you be able to live with a target on your back for the rest of your life?" John replied with an even more serious look than before.

"Sir?"

"The robots are quite a valuable asset in and of themselves"
"Adelis certainly wants to have them by her side".
"...."
"But when I heard them talk on the radio I realized something"
"She doesn't see them as machines, but as humans"
"Do you think she won't retaliate against us for doing something to them?"

"Sir, she's just a diplomat that hardly anyone knows" Said another of the advisers.
"There's not much she can do"

"And the few who know them are the most important people on the planet and they respect her with just that"
"...."
"But she also has the other girls, the ones that look like the combat team" To everyone's surprise, the defense secretary across the table responded. 

"One of them is identified by the callsing of Moon"
"Possibly of Japanese identity"
"She was in charge of helping a lot in the capture of the Empire State"
"We were also able to collect a video where it may be that she also participated in the partial destruction of the brocking bridge, which greatly delayed the forces of the Empire"
"According to reports from some soldiers, they mention that she seemed quite confident in what was happening as if nothing that happened seemed to be important enough to her"
"She fought using a type of spear and according to Captain Shelby Logan of the Arksuit squad, Cyclone Squadron, she alone destroyed about 5 Empire combat Dolls"
"She has also been seen to be quite close to Maria, the daughter of Adelis"
"When it all started, the two of them were in a clothing store together"  The CIA Chief replied again.

"Is there something about the girl in white?" Mr. Smith asked because she was his main curiosity.

"Regarding his identity it is impossible"
"Like the others, it's as if she didn't exist"
"There is no 100% legal document with which we can identify them"
"During combat, she used White as callsing, but according to some soldiers, Moon called her Elise on a couple of occasions"
"Despite her troublesome physical appearance, she proved to be by far the greatest fighting force Adelis seemed to possess"
"Adelis broke the rules and despite the young age she seems to have, she name her captain in the Alliance forces"
"She was in all the fights that day"
"She directed one of the teams to take over the airport"
"Commanded the demolition team of tunnel 478 and also assaulted the port"
"Then she build a makeshift Arksuit with "Momo"
"Participated in the seizure of the Stuyvesant power plant"
"Protagonist of the capture of the Empire State, she alone was able to finish off an entire squad of Dolls and helped retake the defense system"
"She was also the person who carried out the almost suicide mission to rescue the president completely alone in the enemy command post"
"Hell, with this last fact alone she would be recognized as a war hero if it weren't for the fact that we don't know who she really is."

"Damn, that girl is like a demon"
"And she is on the side of Adelis"
"Are you sure you still want to make her mad by getting rid of the robots?"

*gulp*

"The list still goes on"
"We believe that she also had something to do with the rescue of hostages from the Ueno dam, as Maria was among the group of students kidnapped"
"Finally we also have reports of Imperial transmissions about the war that mentioned a white Demon"
"We have no evidence that it is her but I think it is obvious why they are related"
"...."
"She is probably the most dangerous asset that the Adelis security team has"

"Sir, we can classify almost all of these people as a serious threat to the country"
"The risk of having people like them free out there is too high"
"I continue to maintain my position that we must do something about"

"No"
"We can't do something  as stupid as trying to eliminate them"
"First of all, what do you think it would take to perform such an action?"
"An invasion in a country with which we have great relations like Japan?"
"Also, if they wanted to hurt us, they had many opportunities that day."
"Besides, who would have rescued me in those conditions?"
"From what I could see for myself, this girl has more Balls than everyone in this room"
"..."
"The best we can do is try to be nice to them"
"Dangerous people like them, it is better to have them as friends than as enemies"
"For now we will act as if they are part of the Adelis security group and as recognized  as officers of the alliance if necessary"
"Make the documents official"
"Adelis will surely appreciate our gesture in supporting her"
"..."
"What medal can we give her?"

"Her achievements are far enough for the medal of honor "
"But she's not a US citizen so we can't give it to her"
"The next one would be The Legion of Merit, for Allied Foreign Troops"
"But once again, we can not deliver it without an ID"

"Bullshit"
"Just skip the steps but make them receive the medal and the corresponding benefits"
"We can't let ourselves think we're being stingy"
"..."
"Forget it..."
"I myself must deliver that medal"
"I think that would look better"

"Sir, can't you give a medal to a person abroad who we don't even know who he is!?"
"How will we transmit that on television?"

"Very easy!"
"We won't"
"I will visit them secretly and give the medal to that girl right there"
"Yes that is better"

"We cannot let you leave the country just to deliver a medal, a compelling reason is needed for you to leave the country."
"We can deliver the medal by mail"
"Simpler and less conspicuous"
"Please think better what you are doing"

"It is to visit Adelis! it is almost like a summit of nations by itself"
"But I think you're right, I can't go there just for that..."
"...."
"Is there something I can put as an excuse to visit Japan?"  Said the ex-sergeant turning around to look at the window.

"Well, with the recent attack on New York, Japan has further increased its interest in joining the Alliance"
"They ask for the same as all the members, promises of collaboration in case of defense and all the other things"
"We could benefit from more shipments of military equipment by them, we could use it to send it to Europe to the already member countries"
"Surely the Government of Japan would like a visit from you as a sign of interest, you don't have to give an answer right there"
"We can ask Adelis to wait for you at our embassy and take care of the awarding of the medal in a private meeting"

"Yes, that sounds much better!"
"That will also help Adelis in her settlement negotiations."
"I think that and a promise that we'll increase the things she can deal with would make nice thank you gifts"
"That's what we'll do"
"..."
"You, the one who was in favor of killing people"
"Look for the way that our Missile network cannot be accessed"
"If these robots are really possible of such a thing as a hacker our network looks for a way to avoid it, it is our highest priority for now"
"Disconnect the stations if necessary, try that they can be used without the need of the network completely"

"Sir, this is a huge job, it will take time to make all the changes"

"So do it as fast as you can, this change is now a matter of national security"
"One of those same ones that you wanted so much to have earlier"
"See, in the end, who seeks finds"

The meeting still continued for a while longer, but it did not return to the same level of discussion as before. But one thing had given way in the minds of the people who were there that day, and that is that perhaps there were important people in this world who probably were also unknown to everyone. How just one person could shake almost an entire government with just his name. And even so, they were not able to see that the most important person had gone relatively unnoticed because if they believed that Adelis was powerful, it was because they were completely unaware of what the girl in white was capable of.