That was not the only thing on my mind though. "We will only get them to bring the hammer down on us." I said calmly. They turned to me. "It's not a concern of ours that they think we are hostile. We are hostile to them. I also think it rich that you, the cause of the problems, are criticizing leadership. Where is your solution?" Looking at them, I said "We need to play ball. There is an expression where I am from. 'Sometimes you have to go along to get along.' If we sit down in a neutral area and explain it was Toxic and Water Clans, we'd kill 3 birds with one stone. They get off of our back for now so we can get back to researching. They aim their attention to a rival faction we hate. Water and Toxic Clans are finally punished for fucking with Researcher faction clans. I don't see a big downside here." They scoffed and said "And if they decide to kill first and ask questions later?" 04-002 asked. I stepped forward. "PBJ Clan will undertake that risk. We already have all our memory chips. It's worth a shot." I told them. The AEPs just looked at me. 04-003 said "If that the case, you can try it your way."
I was going to thank them when I was interrupted. "If progress is not made in a decent amount of time, we will be back." 04-001 said with a predatory smile. 04-002 was loving this. He added "At that point, we won't be asking for you to volunteer anymore. You will be assigned the assassinations at random." Paul was at the doorway. I had thought that he was over at the Red Grind. "And why haven't you guys done it yet? You have 3 good PEA units right here." he challenged. The AEP units were upset at the implication. "We obviously could obliterate all these targets, of course." 04-002 said indignantly. "Giving tasks to vassals are what they are there for." 04-001 added with crossed arms. I shrugged in acknowledgement. "While that be the case, I am afraid that Cold Clan is falling behind. Erosion Clan has 3 PEA units with blue memory nanites. They had 6 before fighting a valiant battle against the army." "Are you mocking us!?" 04-003 hissed. I shook head. "Of course not. Give us a month and 6 of your weakest PEA units an we will turn them into warriors like them. Like ours." I said with a grin.
None of them could deny our results. That was one of the reasons they were here in the first place. "You already have your assignment. If you must have more tasks on your docket, we can see of the leader will deign to send some of our less promising PEA units here on loan for a month." 04-001 said. It looked like we were not getting out of this dumb task. Doing it would not be too hard for us. I was getting a really bad vibe from it though. Dealing with it could wait though. "Totally understandable. I will escort you out." I said firmly. They were miffed that I was kicking them out. That was too bad for them. When I got back to the dojo, I was seriously concerned. However, they were very excited. All of them wanted to go the mission. I told them to wait for a moment. They looked at me and asked what was wrong. "Don't you think it was all a bit strange? They were so sure about the assassination plot, but then they changed it on a whim." I said. I then waited for it to sink in for them. They did not see where I was coming from. I facepalmed with a groan. I had the binder they gave me in my hands.
