Stephanie Malik did not know where her master had gone after dinner. He had simply vanished, without any flash, smoke, smell, or even residual warmth, as if he had been nothing more than a phantom from a dream. After a restless night, she could only rise early, wash, and apply makeup to hide her terrible complexion, presenting her best appearance for the morning and lunchtime discussion. The details Gideon Malik had told her about the handling of General Hale did not match what she knew. The documents the Emperor had given her stated that General Hale possessed an Alien Technology device capable of transmitting psionic signals, as well as a machine built according to designs supplied by an alien creature.
She guessed that the document's detailed contents had most likely come from General Hale's daughter Ruby, or another researcher involved in the project. What General Hale had done posed an enormous threat to the Human Race, but the Emperor believed that her actions had not yet caused serious consequences and that she had likely been deceived by the alien creature. Therefore, her fate would be decided according to the results of an interrogation—rather than a discussion, it would be more accurate to call it an interrogation. Stephanie did not think matters would spiral beyond control. After all, General Hale was still one of the Conservative Hydra's footholds in the Pentagon. Her immense value allowed the Emperor to tolerate some of her mistakes.
"He wants to determine whether we can continue controlling Hydra."
Before going to sleep the previous night, Gideon Malik had offered a speculation after carefully reading the documents. He accepted the brandy his daughter handed him and, under the warm light of the desk lamp, slowly ran his fingers across the words on the page. "That monarch trusts