"Don't fret about it, boss. I have a plan," Delmar said with confidence.
Though he seemed like this matter didn't matter much to him before, he had only pretended that way to make his newly young boss feel more comfortable. When he knew that the situation if understood truly would be much worse than he had interpreted it as.
For even having slight suspicion of your highest ranking personal was something that was not only dangerous but could be fatal. If Carl wanted to then he could have harmed or even had been able to kill William without much work.
So for appearances and for the sake of his bosses mind, he appeared as calm as he could be.
William regarded him for a moment before asking, "Will this plan involve someone getting killed?"
"Why, boss, are you having second thoughts?"
"No, it's just... I know I've done things that aren't exactly commendable, but I still don't want to kill anyone unless it's absolutely necessary." William though had some experience in it, still didn't want to kill anyone without clear reason.
"What if the person deserves it?" Delmar asks in intuitively.
"And what exactly constitutes a 'Deserving' person, Delmar?" William asked as he felt the question had many answers.
"The answer to that is complex and subjective. There's no absolute good or bad—just those who exploit and those who are exploited. But if I were to frame it in your terms... sure, if you're going to take a life, at least ensure your conscience is as clear as possible." William said while finishing it with Delmar's own judgment.
Delmar paused, considering his words. "Honestly, I'm not sure if anyone is going to get hurt or not. It all depends on how things unfold." Though he said that, Delmar knew that more than one person was about to get hurt in this matter, no matter what the results were.
"Whatever the outcome, keep me informed, and I'll decide if the repercussions are justified." William sighed as he nodded to his words.
"Understood." Delmar said ending this matter for the time being.
William glanced at a photo of Adam as he inquired, "So, what's the plan for my security?"
"I don't know if Adam is innocent or not, but I'm not willing to gamble my life on uncertainties."
"Don't worry, boss. I'm on it. When I find someone trustworthy, I'll make contact."
"Let me know about the guy before you hire him. I want to ensure he's not too good-looking."
"Good-looking, boss? Why would that matter?"
"We can't have the bodyguard stealing all the attention from the ladies, can we?"
Delmar paused momentarily before bursting into laughter. "HAHAHA! Ahh, you've got a point there."
"That's why I chose you as my first guy."
"..."
"..."
"You're joking, right?"
"..."
"...Boss?"
He was about to shout again when the lights, which had been flashing red and yellow, suddenly returned to normal, and the alarms ceased.
With the turbulence subsided, William quickly moved to a sturdier seat and fastened his seatbelt.
Delmar steadied himself, retrieved his tablet, and contacted the pilot. "HEY! What's going on out there? Why are we experiencing so many issues?"
A voice responded, presumably the pilot, "Sir, I'm not sure what happened earlier, but all our shields were temporarily disabled."
"Even the electromagnetic ones?"
"Yes."
"Aren't those systems only operable manually?"
"That's correct, sir. Which makes it even more bizarre that all our defensive measures were disabled at once."
Delmar's expression darkened as he asked, "What's the status now? Is everything functioning properly?"
"Yes, sir. All systems are back online."
"How long until we reach our destination?"
"An hour or two, sir."
"Alright. Let me know if anything else goes wrong."
"Yes, sir."
Delmar ended the call and sat beside William, lost in thought.
"What happened?" William asked.
"Apparently, all the security systems went down for a moment."
"All of them?" William asked, his suspicion growing.
"Yes."
"Right before the lightning struck?"
"...Yes."
"What did they say was the cause?"
"They couldn't specify. Perhaps a malfunction."
"Haaah, a malfunction at such a critical moment."
"Yeah, a great f*cking coincidence," Delmar said, clenching his fists.
"Let's hope the guys on the ground aren't dealing with the same kind of trouble."