Doing so would probably kick off our next direct conflict. I had to think about whether it was worth it. To be fair, we had caught all the Conqueror faction clans on the back foot. They could not afford to make risky moves. Literally now. We flooded the Advocates with so much cash, they would be stomped to dust if they tried to conquer any enemy territory. Even the Researchers were well stocked. It was an automatic game over for them. All they could hope to do now was stay hidden and figure out a way to deal with the military and other factions covertly. I honestly had no clue where Toxic Clan's clan building or transmission hub was. I looked over at Paul, Brett and Hunter for a moment. I saw that Hunter was sulking in his seat. Being prevented from seeing Jake was really getting to him. Normally, I would relent. Especially since all of the commandoes from the military were no longer here. That would be the case, but I remembered the gambling. Jake and 08-001 swindled over 33 billion credits out of him in a single night. No secret was safe with Hunter in the face of his family. It was bad.
Even I could not risk this. The consequences for failure were too high. It honestly was for the best this way. Hunter certainly would not see it that way though. Eventually, a relieved mood settled over us in the Main Hall. They had did it. Megan, Courtney and 06-003 were able to make it to Wind Clan. The members were waiting for them outside of their clan building. 06-003 got out of the car. He asked if Megan and Courtney would be able to play with him and the other 2 AEPs of his clan. They asked us for permission. We granted it immediately. It seemed that most of the AEP units enjoyed training and playing with other AEP units. They got out the car as soon as they got the permission from us. I was thinking of them returning to Wind Clan at a later day. I was not expecting them to leave us high and dry. None of the officers did. We could watch over them from here. Courtney and Megan got to meet up with a whole lot of representation of AEPs. Aside from their clanmates, they had only seen 12-001 and Dawg. That was more than their average major clan. Usually, they had 3 of them.
Feeling companionship with other AEP units was something that we wanted. This was the next stage of cyborg evolution after all. There were not many of them around. I knew there were less than 30. Being a new species was not easy. I thought it was a great thing if they could get along. Obviously, the Advocates and Conquerors were all programed to be mutual enemies. We were independent and neutral. Researchers were a third faction that just wanted to pursue science and experimentation on the continent for its own sake. That could be done with humanity in mind, or not. With human partners, or not. It was why I tried to reach out to them right away. Now that it was clear that the Advocates were dominating, they would likely come to the table for negotiations. Conquerors were no longer in that position. To not be attacked here as long as they agreed to play nice with humans was a great deal if you thought about it. Advocates would not tolerate them just oppressing and abusing humans. This is a good thing for us. It could also be a good thing for them. Playing was good all in all.
