142: Betrayal and Opponents

"You ran into Arasaka Security on the way?"

After Militech's agents withdrew, they found President Myles's temporary safehouse based on information provided by the nomads. Upon hearing Reid's report of what had happened, Rosalind Myles could not help furrowing her brow.

It wasn't surprising that Arasaka Security had gotten involved in this.

She tapped her fingers unconsciously against the hastily arranged map, deep in thought.

My plane crash was a major incident. It would be stranger if they did nothing. The crucial question now is—are they working with those traitors in Washington?

The thought made her temples throb faintly. Rosalind Myles continued sorting through the clues: the operational patterns of Arasaka agents, the unusual reactions of Hansen's forces, and those deliberately concealed trails of movement.

She had originally suspected that the meeting itself was an elaborate trap, but the intelligence Reid had brought back ruled out that possibility.

If Arasaka had truly joined forces with Hansen... Her gaze swept over the battle records displayed in the holographic projection. They would never have sent only one squad, much less allowed their operation to be disrupted by a third party.

As a former core executive of Militech, she knew all too well the rules of engagement between the two corporations. Once an assassination attempt of this scale was exposed, it would inevitably trigger all-out war. Given Arasaka's style, they either did not act at all, or ensured a single lethal strike—and prepared contingencies to bear the consequences.

Encrypted-frequency surveillance footage flickered across the holographic display. She noticed that Arasaka's agents had clearly been avoiding Hansen's patrols during the firefight, and that detail eased the tension in her jaw somewhat.

Looks like they really aren't on the same side.

Then it could be confirmed that the traitors were on her side.

*The hardliners?