The Fathers hadn't been the first hyperlocal ecoengineering cult I had been paid to infiltrate, nor the biggest or the bloodiest one, but my client's private surveillance data said it was extraordinarily effective — more so than standard commercial practices — so they had paid me well to figure out how, dissolve the cult, and laid waste to the valley to prevent anybody else from stealing their method.
My report was purely verbal and in the client's SCIF. The only people present was the VIP who had hired me and their bodyguard standing behind me.
"It was a two-front scam," I said. "The cult hired a very expensive local prediction system and timed the human sacrifices and internal prosecutions so they'd look like effective interventions to their members."
The VIP didn't look very surprised. "Then what were they doing to improve ecosystem performance?"
"Nothing. They hacked your systems so it looked like it did. From personal observation, it's not a disaster but it's not better than you'd expect from the tools they are using."
"I see." If the VIP was upset over the security breach they didn't show it. "You said the local prediction system was expensive. I imagine the hacking must have been as well. Did you find the source of their founding?"
"No," I said, not bothering to hide my annoyance. I had a reputation to preserve. "Whoever was doing it covered their tracks too well. I might have had some luck if they cult had kept running for longer, but you were explicit about the termination window. Now there isn't enough of the cult or the valley for forensics."
"I see," said the VIP again.
Was that pride what they were hiding now? I had a sudden insight. I was still debating with myself whether to say something when I realized I was already doing it. "Was it your personal project or the company's?"
"The company's, of course. Some research paths are frowned upon but nobody complains if you steal the results from somebody bad. You just need to establish unquestioned provenance."
I nodded. "A bunch of dead cultists in a torched valley actually counts as positive evidence."
"Just so. A robbery is suggestive of the value of what was stolen. A violent clean-up even more. Hiring an expensive professional to do both puts the icing on the cake. We won't make your involvement public, of course, but if somebody starts digging into our records we want to control what scandal they find."
I had signed the usual set of NDAs but there was an armed guy at my back. "And hiring a professional guarantees discretion." I did my absolute best to avoid a question mark at the end.
The VIP smiled again.
(Originally posted on my blog.)