She smiled ingratiatingly, “But Matsuoka-san, we do not want to make this confrontational. We simply want to take our professional relationship to the next level.”

He waited in silence. This was not how he had expected such a negotiation to go. She carried on, her voice lathered with irony and political grease, “You are a powerful man, Mr. Matsuoka, but soon Matsuoka Industries is going to grow exponentially more powerful, and you are going to become very rich, very fast. This is good, but it is not why we have given you this technology. Now that you have seen what resonance manipulation can do, we are sure you are going to start planning the next step in its deployment. No doubt you are already thinking of the plethora of ways it can be applied to your business to make you more profitable. And you will get the chance to pursue all those avenues, trust me. This machine will make you every bit as rich as you hope it will. In fact, once you know the full extent of its abilities, I think you will agree that even your substantial ambition will be more than satiated by what is to come.”

She paused and he allowed himself a hesitant smile. She was giving him good news, wasn’t she? Then why was he afraid? But the moment he opened his mouth to reply, she spoke again, leaning forward to look at him more intensely.

“But not yet, Shinobu. We need some more time. Not to develop the tool. We had hoped to string that out longer, but the efficiency of your project manager has put pay to that. You see, Matsuoka-san, you cannot have the machine yet.” Ayala saw Shinobu move to speak again and pressed on, making sure she dominated the conversation. It was a delicate art, and though she had done this many times before, coercion was different with every person. She carried on, playing the man as she worked to slowly break him down. Choosing her moments. When to relent, when to hit home.

“Shinobu, we thank you for your support to date. But unfortunately we cannot have you running off half-cocked. In fact, soon you will see why a premature release of this technology can absolutely not be tolerated. Matsuoka-san, we think it is time you knew exactly what it is you have helped us develop.”

Mr. Matsuoka sat motionless, stunned. He felt a wave of heat emanating from his core. A bead of sweat ran down his forehead, and he had an overwhelming desire to open windows that the small room did not have. He was starting to feel like he had signed away his soul to the devil. And apparently she was cashing in on the contract.