A Stitch in Time Saves Nine Ch. 00

Life or Death, two possible outcomes no matter what we do we either survive or something goes wrong and we die that's how fragile human life is. Someone is writing, the chair snaps, he falls and breaks his neck Death. Someone's eating a lethal germ lands in the food a treatment exists but the germ evolves Death, we are sleeping, cardiac arrest death. This is how fragile a human life can be at its worst, and yet irrespective of the worst we humans persevere, expecting nothing but the best. We keep living; never dwelling on the worst, again this is just daily life, the normal, the usual. Fact of the matter is life is made up of events that happen daily and events that happen once a blue moon. Currently I am facing the second type. The abnormal, the unusual, and the unique the kind where life or death is literally the only two options at each turn throughout the' route made of twists and turns'. Just like any human even I don't know what's going to happen whenever at a turning point. Normal, Right? Wrong unlike any human I can see what's going to happen. At least which of the two options could be the result of my actions? Call it superpowers if you want to, many do, not me though, never me, I'll call it super sharp instincts because it never shows me whether the result is life or death it shows me the exact series of actions I need to perform for life, hell at times I have multiple options of actions to choose from.. Simply put I can play out possible scenarios and their probable outcomes.

Whatever you call it though, it won't change one thing, that being I am about to something no sane person would do if he had this ability. I am about to choose death. 100% sure shot death, hoping that preemptive knowledge of events may for once grant me the ability to survive them. Arrogance can be man's downfall, especially if it makes him stubborn, stubborn enough to ignore logic and common sense. Arguably though more times than not common sense and logic have unbearable consequences so the illogical, the senseless, the crazy is the only option left. And that is where hope comes in, because hope provides meaning to life, it shows us that we are real and not a part of some sort of drama or is we? I don't know the answer to this yet but eventually I'll find out.

You see whenever faced with a do or die situation, metaphorical or otherwise, I always review every major action that has brought me there simply because peering forward drains my courage and glancing backward solidifies it also it highlights the flaws in the plan thereby giving a better chance of improvisation. If I survive what I am about to do I will learn the truth, hopefully? But for hope to work I had to review everything and unless I do that hope may not work because hope is only of any use when we have done all we could. All I have to do, all I can do is move forward and keep at it until there is nothing I can do or until there is nothing left that can be done. Do or die. Because the other options, the safe option, I'd rather die than consider it.

So here I am going over things one final time because if again I would be going over them then that would mean death would follow and a subconscious life review is pointless because all it does is increase the pain so in that moment I decided why rethink just a few actions why not do a life review.

Sounds crazy that I can do that but it really isn't, you see my mother had become what they call a legend chaser, those folks at The Network. Take a man out of military but you can't take the military out of a man. His job was basically chasing legends originating from places with extreme weather conditions find out if it's an amazing truth or a scornful lie. One of those 'legends' turns out to be 'amazing truths' was a sage who could train the brain to do away with the need to see a shrink. The legend foretold that only those who were absolutely determined to uproot their deep rooted psychological blocks ever managed to seek audience with this sage. My mother chased this legendary sage during the early days after leaving the military and so he like many other military men was suffering from PTSD and as a result had hurt mom and me more than once physically and mentally. Thankfully his personality originally was so different that a huge room for corrective measures existed between mistakes and consequences.

Shrinks did not produce satisfactory results and he was about to resort to psychiatric care when an Indian friend he had served with during his time at United Nations Peacekeeping force told him about the legendary sage. He said that it was us that acted as an astral guide pointing towards the sage's hamlet and it was our voices that did not allow him to give up and persevere through all the hurdles he encountered enroute. Funny he never went into details of his journey always speaking about them philosophically, although I must say that the results did the remainder of the talking. He tried to teach me those techniques to help deal with teenage but to no avail. Ever since I got these upgrades though it's been a wholly different story and now I understand why this experience made him decide to take the career path he ended up taking. I guess it's obvious to y'all now how a life review is possible for me.

A beep followed along with the lighting up of a green LED on a panel that read Mission Log Registry indicating that the latest update to the Captain's Mission Log had been registered. The Captain started relaxing his body lowering his breathing, calming his heart rate, loosening his muscles. And if not for the life support system reading normal neuron activity he would surely be presumed dead. Time slowed down for him as his consciousness drained until it became a part of the subconscious. And there IT BEGAN.

Back then we earthlings weren't familiar with the easiness of creating polymerized alloys synthetically therefore the discovery of their natural deposits, deep inside lava tubes of dormant volcanoes had been revered as a milestone discovery , its efficiency in burning meant that it lessened the strain on existing energy resources. Speaking in chemistry they decomposed to metallic salts and carbon dioxide, with carbon dioxide forming a very less portion of the byproduct meaning that it was technically eco-friendly since the amount of carbon dioxide released could wholly be used up to revitalize the regional ecosystem. A decade on from her discovery, almost 3 years after meeting the sage, when she was chasing the legend of the diamond volcano while working as an explorer for its Nature Channel's Extreme Locations Show, my mother stumbled upon huge deposits of polymerized magnesium and sodium alloys on an island that had recently had its volcano's classification changed to Cool Dormant. Following the cave most likely to contain diamonds if the legend was true she stumbled upon the cave of crystalline blue gold, of course it's almost useless in terms of fuel when crystallized but the crystals are but the indicators of the gel lying below them, the harder the crystal, the lesser are the amount of deposits beneath them but these were outright fragile.

And that was it she returned home quietly contacted a high school friend of her who had taken a role in the Terran Venture Foundation Bank. He had risen through the ranks rapidly and by then her role allowed him to sanction a role asking way lesser questions than what would have otherwise been asked. The loan was sanctioned without anyone knowing how she would have paid off such a huge loan, not even I know how she convinced them but she did and as soon as she got the money she bought the island and got a refinery constructed and she launched her firm with a military based clientele ready, all before the construction of refinery finished. As soon as Stark Corporation took birth advanced payments totaled up the sum amount of the loan and mom bought a dying electric utility firm and sold off all its assets to build a power plant at the harbor of the port nearest to the island. After renaming the electric utility firm she sold off 49% stake of the resuscitated firm and embarked on another venture. A military woman an explorer and a corporate success I wished to follow into my mother's footsteps and ended up doing exactly that, only in the reverse order.

When the wisdorians arrived I had completed college with an internship at my parents' firm and had earned a couple of promotions after joining at the level any employee with my qualifications would. Wisdorians arrival and the subsequent changes in human history over the course of next 5 years was a huge opportunity for the mining industry, and since mom followed an open door policy with her employees to listen to new ideas, I was able to secure the head post for a project on mars.

When the announcement that wisdorians came in peace and negotiations had begun for a diplomatic foundation treaty to be signed everyone started to celebrate the new chapter opening in human history. But many of us began preparing for the opportunities that would soon follow. Being one among them meant that I was unquestionably eligible for heading such a huge project.

The wisdorians didn't just bring evolutionary technology but revolutionary knowledge as well. Their understanding of this universe far surpassed us. We had been spotted far too early in the history of humanity, observations were made but contact was forbidden by the enforcement of Intergalactic Federation of Sentient Species (IFSS) King Draco Vritra 10,831,666^th member of Universal Royal Bloodline Lineage the oldest bloodline or a sentient being of same genetic makeup pattern as that of forerunner. Turns out any species not yet united are to be left alone to their own devices & unless they do so they would face the wrath of whole of IFSS. I do not know the extent of technology granted to us but they are the genius universal overlords in time humanity would confirm this to be the truth but for now we had to take their word that no species was scientifically more advanced than them.

It took just 5 years for humanity to step up as a beginner in the list of great and bountiful empires. It took me 5 years but I finally reached the top level of Stark Corporation taking over from my mom. My mother hadn't just founded this company she had also established it as a global force we were an infant in comparison to the global powerhouses, although if anything our quick rise was more than enough to show that we possessed the potential to be one.

Terra Nova Planet

Allagi Corporation Headquarters (Subsidiary of Genesis Corporation)

Warehouse Z

Trailers had been attached to their respective cabs, trucks were ready to depart, and she made a final check and gave the green light for them to depart. Sakura Chang was a smart woman who was the daughter of the CFO of Allagi Corporation, the youngest they ever had. Allagi was going through turbulent times when Genesis acquired a stake in them and one of the changes they brought was promoting her father, and he wasn't even the next in line, such was his talent. He guided them to safety and in no time they were back on a swift upward curve. But he wasn't the man with the plan it was the CEO Karitoru Allagi, her father just added some things that reduced the time it took to escape from bankruptcy and also quickening the rise. She had grown up in such circles; and it was her dream to take over Allagi and reach the peak her father couldn't and it wasn't that she didn't have the makings of a CEO, quite the opposite in fact.

Shinoko Allagi had been trained since childhood for succeeding Karitoru but he was nowhere near good enough in fact he was the kind who just seemed smart because the training had beaten into him everything it could. Therefore it became really easy for Sakura to manipulate him. Both Sakura and Shinoko went to the same college and while there she slyly fed her a business plan she had devised for the sole purpose and using Allagi resources they established Kibishi Sosei an Allagi undertaking she became his secretary there, despite being offered the position of second in command but she refused citing the reason as not being the type of person. She had portrayed to him as if she was the kind of person who would rather not be bound by the cage of professionalism and the visibility that came with such a position. And this image allowed for her refusal to come as no surprise, what surprised him thought was that she was willing to work as his secretary, he presumed she had a thing for him. While working together anytime the undertaking encountered a problem she fed him the solution in a way that made it look as if he had thought of it. They grew close, so close that when the time come for him to take over at Allagi he took her with him. And such was the success of the undertaking that his father's suggestion of appointing him the next CEO went unopposed.

In the public eye we were childhood sweethearts who always had each other despite not being in the same friend circles since our childhood. The story went that in college we realized that our friendship had long ago morphed into something more and we weren't able to see it for what it was. We dated and got married the same day he became the CEO. Months later she was the second in command at Allagi. Everyone thought that she had done way too much to stay a secretary and after years of wearing her down she finally agreed to take a role that did justice to her work. That is when problems began for Shinoko. He was not good enough on his own, without Sakura to provide the answers the questions and having a secretary that was nowhere as competent as his wife had been did not help. Problems started piling up, having inherited the controlling stake from his father and a knack for finding the seemingly incompetent one gave him enough time to take Allagi from force to be reckoned with to the verge of bankruptcy in just over a year.

The stage had been set and the day had finally arrived, the consignment that was regarded as the straw that would save the drowning man had been placed in the container that wasn't supposed to house it. She did not know of course what the consignment was, the scientific research department division of Allagi Technologies having exercised the absolute confidentiality clause of their charter meant that not even the top management would know any details until the consignment had been thoroughly researched and the initial hypothesis had been confirmed, this was the brain child of Karitoru Allagi who during his tenure as CEO had seen an independent director release information about a product for the sake of creating pre marketing hype, the director sold his stake at an excellent price thanks to the skyrocketing of stock prices as a result of the announcement. The theory however did not turn out to be what it was which saved the ex-director because Karitoru being who he was would have otherwise resorted to the rumored methods that had brought him a fame for being ruthless but the circumstances meant that the ex-director was in the public eye so a lawsuit destroying his reputation and draining away his amassed wealth was more than enough consequences. That incident though had given birth to the security safeguard charter of the Allagi Science Foundation Quantum Technology Research Centre.

The charter's confidential safeguard clause created the perfect opportunity for Sakura to add fuel to the fire. She had successfully exchanged tags on the two containers. The truck which was supposed to pass safely through the city with no escort and the truck that would head towards the hills. The truck carrying the consignment would fall into the river passing through the Shi no Tani mountain range destroying the consignment. For all his inefficiencies she had to credit him with the plan he had devised, the consignment was supposed to travel the shortest and the most unsafe route through the city of Kenka Suru across the Tamashi Kyaria Distributary on a freighter boat. Past the port it would head straight through the green lands arriving at the Seikatsu Forest where the cover facility the Allagi Botany Research center lying over the underground research facility miles beneath it, this underground facility would have been the destination of the consignment. This happened to be the most unsafe route. Amongst other options was across the hills of course and through the barren lands situated at one end of the city, the safest route, protected by huge escort. The consignment arrived from the sender with a label corresponding to the label that was on the container that was to travel through the city. He himself had placed the labels on each container, and the workers had to match label numbers with the ones on corresponding secure safe boxes and place them in the containers, each box contained something different but only 1 contained the consignment.

She quickly wrapped up the remainder her work and left, Shinoko had decided to watch the footage being transmitted from each truck to ensure everything was going well. She reached her apartment with weariness in her body. She poured herself a glass of wine and sat on the couch Shinoko would be sleeping at the office, he wanted to ensure that everything went smoothly. Unbeknownst to him that was not going to happen. She tried her best to relax herself but despite her best attempts was not able to, after all she was not doing all of this because she had her eyes on Allagi's CEO position, if that was all she wouldn't have harmed Allagi's reputation. She was motivated by something much more powerful, she was motivated by vengeance.

Her mind began to wander all that would happen following the truck accident. Evidence framing Shinoko for cheating on his wife would come to light. She recalled her statement, that she would say to the media "He threw away the bonds that were build through years of love and affection we shared with each other, just to satisfy his lust". Depression would truly take over, he would succumb to emotions had been battling for months. His reputation, his career, his life would be destroyed. To the public it would be enough but not to her after all his crimes were bigger than that.

A suicide note would be found saying that his father had told him during his childhood that he would get nothing unless he earned it all, unless he deserved it all. Unless he showed him that just being the son of Karitoru Allagi wasn't enough to inherit the Allagi Empire. He earned it all his work was proof that he deserved it. His father had honored the commitment he had given to his son and passed on the empire but his son had forgotten to respect the empire. He had been loved through and through by his childhood crush, college sweetheart and eventual wife. He had forgotten to respect the love he had received, he had dreamed of taking his father's legacy forward. He had forgotten to respect his dreams. He had disrespected everything that mattered. He couldn't stand looking himself, what he had become, in the mirror and so was drinking liquid death since he couldn't destroy everything that could show his reflection.

The note found would appear to all as if written by him in his final moments, only it was not. It was written by his wife who had come with some takeout food and a bottle of wine to try and patch things up forgiving him for a mistake even she could have made considering the live they led. The stress he was under meant she would pour the wine giving her the opportunity to spike her husband's glass. Sakura Chang was undoubtedly a smart woman who had built the life of Shinoko Allagi and then when everything was at the peak of its greatness in his life she had destroyed it all one by one, and if that wasn't enough she had watched life drain out of him slowly and in those dying moments he had recognized her for the girl whose body, mind, soul and dreams he had raped in a drunken lust driven by fury of being humiliated by a scrawny, raggedy guy. Her high school boyfriend had to juggle 2 jobs along with high school just to ensure he had enough money to go to school, his parents had died when he was young, his grandmother was able to afford the school fees but that didn't leave her with enough to run the house so he did two part time jobs. But her boyfriend never let the adversities take away his smile, no one knew how poor he was, even she had discovered by accident, everyone thought the raggedy look was down to his nerdy image, he was one brave bastard, brave enough to stand up to a bully who thought being born to rich parents gave him the right to prey on the weak. They had a fight and her boyfriend managed to outsmart him and therefore beat him. This was more than what he could have handled him and his cronies cornered her boyfriend on an isolated street and beat him to the edge of death, his bravery deserved a salute he fought death long but the injuries were fatal. His death was covered up, the post mortem report showed the cause of death to be an accident.