Herald of Steel

Next day, Alexander was scheduled to visit the workshops around his personal estate, which were the future lifeblood of his land in his opinion.

And to protect this precious blood from being stolen by greedy mosquitoes, Alexander had decided to enforce truly draconian security measures, which were almost reminiscent of some of the measures employed around US military bases like Area 51.

"Good morning, Lord Pasha," As Alexander approached the wooden walled boundary with his entourage, the two on-guard soldiers, both of whom were from Alexander's original first phalanx and had not participated in the sacking of Adhan, which was part of the reason they got the job, greeted Alexander with a bow.

"Good morning to you too," Alexander greeted as he then handed over a rectangular piece of iron plate that looked very much like an ID card.

"Thank you," The guard accepted it with another light bow and then quickly read the information.

Engraved on it was Alexander's name,

His designation that read Pasha of Zanzan,

The words P-A3-6, which was coded to read, P- for pasha, A3- for access to all available information, and 6- which was a special security level clearance that allowed one to visit all the workshops.

A 16-digit unique code number, and

Last of all, a thin strip of paper clamped to the iron card, on which was Alexander's fingerprint, next to which was Takfiz's signature with the word, 'Attested'.

"Umm, everything seems okay," These two knew Alexander very well and only glanced at the card, without bothering to verify every little detail, and passed it back to Alexander in a way that he found to be callous.

This flippancy and disregard for the protocols and procedures he had set made Alexander furious and if these men's loyalty were not unquestionable, he would have sacked them on the spot.

But since they were not, he decided to be patient and teach them how to properly do their jobs.

"Galipsos, remind me how to read the 16-digit code?" Alexander asked in a flat, neutral voice, his eyes calm and pointed.

He had designed the numbers to be unique and tamper-proof, or at least tamper-resistant, by using a simple mathematical trick.

The soldier who faced this emotionless stare felt his heart skip at this inquiry, understanding he had messed up by not following the instructions properly.

'Damn, I hope I don't get licked too badly,' He prayed as he endeavored to quickly reply to Alexander.

"My lord, the trick is that the addition of the first 13 digits must match the last 3 digits," He hastily answered, hoping that his fast answer would help stymie a little bit of Alexander's displeasure.

"Mmmn, and do my first 13 numbers match the last 3?" Alexander placidly asked while flooding his arms in front of him, a gesture that further alarmed Galipsos.

At Alexander's question, Galipsos and his partner quickly started to add up the numbers and predictably found that it indeed did not match.

'Damn, this is an inspection,' Both the guards only now woke up to the surprise evaluation, and cursed themselves for having flunked it so miserably.

"We are very sorry Lord Pasha. We have neglected our duty," The two knew that asking for Alexander's forgiveness was their best and quickest way of getting out of this situation, so they quickly kneeled and apologized to their superior.

'Hmmm, at least you are not irredeemable,' Alexander glanced darkly at the two, finding their repentance sincere enough.

And though he had decided from the start he would not fire them, he would not let them off without a stern scolding.

But at first, he decided to show them other errors that they had missed as he said, "Not only have you missed the verification number, but you also failed to check me for my fingerprint."

"And lastly," Alexander pointed to Takfiz's signature and said, "If you were sharp enough, you would have noticed that both Takfiz's signature and handwriting are fake, not matching with the other cards."

"...*Silence*..." The guards remained silent in shame.

Hearing no retort, Alexander then started by saying, "I employed you two as guards here because I trusted you two. Because I have known you two for a long time and believed that you were sincere enough in your jobs. Sincere enough that I could trust you to guard my most precious treasures."

Alexander paused at this point, glancing down, and noticing the heads of the two kneeling men droop even further.

After which he again resumed, "I have always thought you two were sincere enough to follow all my instructions of the tee. And it was my understanding that you two were meticulous individuals. People who would not let any lapses occur in their line of duty."

Alexander started by listing all the presumed good qualities of the men, while in his mind he remarked, 'These mercenaries are unruly by nature. And it will take some time to beat them into loyal, blindly obedient men.'

After which he pointedly asked, "So explain what happened just now?"

"My lord, it was only because it was you that we did not feel the need to go through every one of the procedures." Alexander's question was answered by Galipsos's partner, Jynumin.

And this statement was quickly followed up by Galipsos who promised, "That's right my lord. If it was anyone else we would have certainly gone all nine yards. We swear."

This flimsy excuse did not sit well with Alexander as he lambasted them in a harsh tone while swinging his arm, "Enough of these excuses. From the first day I told you that if the card number does not match, no one gets to enter the premises. I don't care if it's me, if it's Takfiz, if it's the king, or even if it's the gods themselves, no one means no one. Which part of those two words do you not understand?" Alexander asked fuming with rage.

"..." The two men knew it was in their best interest to just keep quiet and take this chastisement.

And Alexander's chastisement had not yet ended, as he continued, "I pay you two-three times the regular amount, six hundred (600) ropals a month. All to just stand there and guard a place that will likely be never attacked. And all while your fellow soldiers are out there in the training grounds working their ass off."

Alexander's tone then changed to a ruminative one, as he posed, "You know, many of them would jump at the opportunity to get your cushy job. Many would love to stand there and just check a few cards each day, and voila, 600 ropals at the end of the month."

As soon as Alexander indicated that he might be considering replacing them, the pair cried in panic at losing this easy job.

"My lord, we are sorry."

"Please give us another chance. We will never do it again."

They begged for Alexander's mercy.

'Well you guys are really not as easy to replace as I made it seem out to be,' As the guards groveled at Alexnader's feet, he lampooned at the fact that the number of men under him that possessed both the traits, educated and loyal, were as rare as phoenix feather right now, and he really could not replace them at will.

The current two guards were relatively well educated for their time, and that was why they demanded such exorbitant wages, not only because Alexander trusted them, for this checkpoint employed some pretty extensive bureaucratic measures.

After the two profusely begged Alexander, he gestured with his palms and simply ordered"Get up."

And after the armored part stood up and glanced at Alexander before quickly lowering their gaze, Alexander gave them an ultimatum, "Galipsos, Jynumin, this was your first error. Mistakes happen and so I will forgive you....this time. But never do it again."

Alexander said the last sentence in a cold, harsh tone, his azure eyes darkened as if it was covered by thunderclouds, sending a shiver through the hearts of both men.

"Thank you, my lord. You are ever magnanimous."

"We promise to never let this repeat itself,"

The pair cried out in fear and relief, vowing to regain the trust Alexander had once in them. "Mmmn, good," Alexander softly nodded, his harsh tone disappearing into the void, as he then instructed, "Now, verify my identity as per protocol."

After saying this, he handed over a new iron plate from his pocket, which was the real ID, and the guards quickly started going over it.

Galipsos quickly verified the card number against a large ledger that he carried, first matching the number in the ID card with the one in the recorded ledger.

This ledger also had a lot of other names of them, arranged alphabetically, and contained the same information as in each of the ID cards.

After confirming the name, number, and clearance level matched, Galipsos wrote Alexander's name and code on a second ledger, the time of day he was entering, and then gestured at Alexander saying, "My lord, please place your fingerprint here,"

Responding to this, Alexander strode over and found a small box covered with a thick cloth coated in black ink next to the ledger, on which he pressed his thumb and then again pressed on the column on the ledger, thus producing his fingerprint.

Galipsos afterward compared this pattern with the one on the ID card, and only then did he say,

"Okay my lord. Everything matches and you can enter."

This was the full protocol and this was only the first perimeter of Alexander's defenses, as more were enacted inside.