Chapter 33: Going Public
### The Cargo and the Crisis
The stealth drone carrying **Carter** and **Colonel Vance** landed softly back at the Fortress Foundation's auxiliary runway. It was 3:00 a.m., but the compound was buzzing with the focused energy of the newly informed staff.
Another drone, much larger and unmodified, sat nearby under floodlights. It was purely a machine—a heavy-duty cargo hauler—and its payload was the neutralized apex predator. The giant bear was held fast within a specialized, massive mechanical claw.
Carter and Vance approached the beast. The immense size was still shocking, but the electrical dark energy was gone. The bear was unconscious, its fur a dull brown.
"She looks like a regular, sleeping brown bear," Vance observed, rubbing his tired eyes.
"She is now," Carter replied, running a scan over the animal. "The Light Affinity flush worked. It seems as though she was just eating these **blackberries**—contaminated by the Dark Element."
A small, holographic globe of the Earth, the size of a volleyball, materialized instantly on the drone's dashboard.
**"Yes, correct,"** **Earth** confirmed, its voice smooth and audible to both men. **"We have an extraction team removing all of these contaminated berries from the forest now. It seems as though it's growing quite naturally in that specific biome. We will have to leave a continuous containment team out there."**
The globe ceased its gentle, holographic spinning as it subtly leaned toward Carter. **"We're going to have to escalate our plan again, Carter."**
"Meaning?" Carter asked, his fatigue vanishing at the thought of a new challenge.
**"We will have to get wealthier,"** Earth stated simply. **"Exponentially so."**
"And how will we do that?" Carter asked. He instinctively knew Earth wasn't talking about robbing banks; the Fortress Foundation needed legitimate, world-scale capital to build the infrastructure required to manage a global mana crisis.
**"Easy,"** Earth replied. **"We will go public."**
### Out of His League
Colonel Vance watched the entire exchange—the seamless back-and-forth between the intelligent-looking man with the **black and white dreadlocks** and the glowing, talking holographic planet. He had secured generals and presidents, but this conversation was the most surreal event of his entire military career.
He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, then gave his head a violent shake. "Wait!" Vance interrupted, holding up a hand. "I know I've had high clearance with the U.S. government, and I've seen some things, but I think I'm way out of my league, fellas."
Carter and Earth simultaneously replied, their voices perfectly synchronized in a moment of unconscious teamwork: **"We know."**
They immediately ignored Vance and continued their conversation, only briefly annoyed by the interruption.
"So what's next?" Carter asked, his eyes focused on the globe.
**"We must fully integrate ourselves into the world of Pandora,"** Earth declared. **"Not physically, but structurally. We need to create a global, non-magical infrastructure that can absorb the shockwave of the Mana Crisis and give us the billions we need for expansion. We will be building a shell corporation that, on paper, is far more technologically advanced and profitable than any on Earth."**
Carter frowned. "But how do we make that shell profitable enough to attract real capital and funding without revealing magic?"
**"We sell them the future, Carter,"** Earth concluded, the small globe spinning again, this time with a focused intensity. **"We sell them technology that leverages tiny, stable applications of magic—things like hyper-efficient batteries, instant data transfer, and advanced bio-remediation. We will become the most valuable corporation on the planet overnight."**
"And the cover?" Carter asked.
**"Aetheric Solutions is about to become Aetheric Global Technologies,"** Earth confirmed. **"We are going public, and we are going to become richer than the Kings of Pandoran history."**