((Collab between TheUnknowable and Letter Bee))

(meeting between Natsumoto and Mikhail)

Natsumoto's secretary, Sanya Asimov, left a message with the butler of the Augusta E. Feather Estate that Mr. Natsumoto wished to speak with MIkhail Peacemaker at his earliest conveinience.  Anyone who was interested in early sci-fi would relate her name with robotics, though it was a long way from there to knowing that she was, in fact, an android, personally built by Mr. Natsumoto.  After leaving the message she waited for a response.  After all, with a giga-bit neural connection to the local internet, she would be able to speak with him whenever he called.  That, and she didn't need to sleep.

After sending his message to Viv, Mikhail slept for a total of eight hours, before waking up to find something in his inbox. Sitting up in his room, in his pajamas, the boy then opened his smartphone, and started a video link with the android - not that he knew she was one.

"What is it, Natsumoto-[i]sama[/i]?" Mikhail used the proper honorific. "What can I do for you?"

"Mr. Peacemaker," he said, bowing slightly, "I'm calling on behalf of LunaCorp.  It has come to my attention that you recently contacted a competitor of mine, Ganze Corp, a leader in the technology fields.  I also know that you attempted to contract with them for a massive project, likely on behalf of the US government.  I wanted to both see if I could help you in your project and to offer you a oportunity to earn a significant amount of money."

[i]So that's what this is about,[/i] Mikail thought. It seemed that his attempts to start a melee a trois between LunaCorp, Alkaev and Free World Group weren't detected yet. But that just meant he had to keep a straight face.

"If I were interested in money, I would have worked for one of your Corps a long time ago. If you know who I am, then you know my backstory and why I chose to work for the Government. But despite that, I'm still listening to you."

"As for the project...Alto himself has said that it was physically impossible, especially for someone such as me." Already, Mikhail was trying to discover a way to game the situation for his own benefit. "That doesn't mean that we cannot talk about other things, though; you're not as bad as the others, at least not yet, and we may, perhaps be useful to each other." 

"Not as bad as the others?" he asked.  "What, one may ask, have I done that would place me anywhere near their level?"  He caught himself before going any further.  He really didn't like being compared to them, as he had done his best to be what they should be in a perfect world.  His employees were treated well, far better than their's were in his opinion, and those that lived on the moon had freedoms that one couldn't even find on Earth.

He didn't expect to get into a philosophical discussion with the teen, though.  "I wasn't expecting you to betray your loyalties," said Natsumoto, "I was only offering you the opportunity to help them by helping yourself.  As you may know, Natsumoto Industries has recently moved to the forefront in adapting Superhuman abilities through technological means.  I was hoping that you would allow us to study your rather unique ability to see what useful devices can be made with it.  In fact, a year ago we came across a man who could manifest smoke from Fear, similar to the constructs you make from Hope, and created a device which can convert it into electricity.  We use it as a sensor in theators, and for police and psychologists to know when someone feels threatened."

Mikhail was both intrigued, and frightened, frightened because the word 'study' was a trigger for his PTSD. He was visibly shaking now, his face pale and eyes wide, while his fists were clenched.

"Promise me you won't hurt me. Promise me there will only be one or two needles and that I would be in a jumpsuit, not a hospital gown. No electricity, no drugs, no artificially inducing hope and despair." Mikhail found a dryness in lips, not hiding his feelings; that would be counterproductive.

"It means I've agreed; I can get Ms. Feather and Madam President to agree too." Mikhail then looked away. 

"Of course, we won't do anything cruel and you are free to quit at any time.  All that leaving will cost you is the royalties you would have made.  In fact, I don't need a sensor see that I frightened you.  Allow me to make it up to you.  I will send my personal spaceplane to the Lunacorp aerospace port in Seattle, along with my personal assistant.  You and your guests can come and visit the Moon and see that nothing neferious is occuring here, I'll even pay all of your expenses while you're here."

"If at any time you feel threatened or scared, or just wish to leave, we'll return you to Earth.  If you don't feel you can trust me on that, I will give you enough cash to charter a private flight back with a non-LunaCorp owned ship.  I only want to make the situation agreeable for you."

"Thanks," said Mikhail, "I will make the arrangements, and I'll be coming alone." [I]That way, if you discover my still-ongoing plan to spread rumors about you, only I will be affected.[/i] His cold sweat was fading now.

"Very well," said Natsumoto, "How does noon tomorrow sound?  We can launch whenever you want to."  His personal ship could make the trip in just over two hours thanks to its spacial distortion drive, a device that wasn't quite ready for market as a luxury feature in LunaCorp's line of spaceplanes.  That made it effectively a business jet as far as travel time was concerned.

"Tomorrow," Mikhail said with a smile. "And that's that. Thank you, thank you for being, well...kind."

"Then, goodbye Mr. Peacemaker.  I will send the ship to meet you."  After hanging up he called Sanya into his office.  "I need you to take my spaceplane to Seattle to meet Mr. Peacemaker and bring him back here, to Tranquility City.  Give him one of the expense cards we give foreign dignitaries and see to it that he has a good time while he's here.  I would like to study his ability or, failing that, at least get on better terms with him and, by extension, the US Government.  We'll need things to continue to run smoothly with them, at least until the Centauri is ready to launch."

"Yes, sir." She said.  "I love meeting new children."

"And don't refer to him as a child, at least not where he can hear you." Natsumoto responded. "Most 14 year olds don't like that."