The interrogation wasn't as much a disaster as Gavin had feared it would be. Making it out with all his extremities attached and unharmed was always a positive in his book, and he'd somehow managed to deflect away from explaining absolutely everything that Ser had given him. He'd implied that the main gift he'd gotten was the Spiritbind- that was the name of the type of artifact his spear was- and a chunk of their memories and magical potential.

It was possible at least one of his interrogators suspected he'd hadn't been completely honest, but they'd been sufficiently distracted by the other bombs that had been dropped on them to let it go.

Seriously, they spent over an hour going through an exhaustive list of every possible way to ask and verify what he had been told about the Void, information which Fourteen had taken with them to an urgent meeting somewhere else in the building. That left Gavin alone in the room with Adrian who grabbed and spun the chair Fourteen had been using before sitting in it backwards facing Gavin.

"Well goddamn," they chuckled, "when I started working here at the DSA I figured it'd mostly be what you expect. Hunting down rogue magic users, furthering global interests and traveling the world. You know. Action hero stuff. And then here you come with knowledge about ancient threats beyond human comprehension. Anyone ever tell you that you're kind of a buzzkill?"

Gavin shrugged while rolling shoulders and wrists. His wrists were badly chafed and his shoulders were more than a little stiff after hours handcuffed in place. "Sorry, I guess. I didn't ask for any of this, and it was one of your people who got me involved in the first place." Adrian's expression grew a little strained, causing Gavin to wince. "Ah. Did you know him? Maxwell, right?"

"Yeah. He mentored me for a while in my pyromancy studies and helped me adjust to the DSA. Great guy. Reliable. Always stuck to his word," he smiled again, a small quirk of the lips that looked much more real than the roguish smirk he'd put on and off repeatedly in the short time Gavin had known him. The fondness there looked almost out of place on someone Gavin had pegged as a self-absorbed asshole. "His last words were just like him though. 'Rookie Mistake.' He used to say that to me every time I did something dumb during spars."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Ah don't be. You kind of expect it at the DSA. People tend to retire from the field early or not at all. He wouldn't have wanted people to mourn anyways."

"You've said that a few times. The DSA, I mean. What does it stand for?"

"The Department of Supernatural Affairs. It's not like the other 3 letter organizations you hear about though. We're international. More MIB then CIA if you get my meaning."

"So you guys are the ones responsible for making sure the 'mundane' world doesn't find out about the supernatural?"

"I didn't mean MIB that literally, though I maintain that MIB totally stole the suits aesthetic from us. It's the Voiceless who do that. We work with them sometimes, but we're more focused on protecting the world from supernatural threats. Sometimes that means helping maintain the Masquerade, sometimes that means hunting down a rare magical beast for research materials, and sometimes that means assassinating someone who's becoming a problem. But the biggest portion of jobs falls in that second category. Magical and Magitechnological research is a big part of what we do here."

"Not that I want you to stop, but should you really be telling me all this?"

He waved him off. "This is common knowledge." He put his hands behind his head, stretching broadly. "And if my guess is right you'll be getting a briefing on this all soon anyway so I'm just saving time."

Gavin furrowed his brow. "What? Why?"

"You've got a Spiritbind, and now that we know you're not actually corrupted by the void you're no longer an immediate threat. And, if what this 'Ser' fellow says is true murdering you on the off chance we can learn something from your corpse would be stupid."

"Can you stop talking about murdering and or dissecting me? Please?"

"Oh relax. You're fine. Probably. Some of the people in R & D may try to get their hands on you anyways, but at least it won't be officially sanctioned."

The deadpan glare Gavin shot him was drier than the Antarctic desert. Adrian just smiled before putting a finger up and holding a hand to his ear. "Yeah. Adrian copies," he waited for a few seconds, "I can get him there yeah. Do you want me to brief him on the way? Cool. Yeah just authorize us for that area and I'll handle it." he snorted, "Okay but it's polite to pretend I'm not already authorized, alright? Yeah whatever. See ya."

He dropped his hands, reaching into his pocket to pull out a remote, clicking and holding a button. The magic binding me to the chair relaxed and I stood as he gestured at me. "Come on, you've got a meeting with The Board." I raised an eyebrow, jangling the cuffs that still were hooked onto a table ring. Adrian just rolled his eyes. "They're unbound from the table already. Trust me, you don't want to be late."

I walked towards him, shocked when the cuffs seemed to phase right off my arms as I moved. "What was that about authorization?"

He sighed, put upon. "I've got way more security clearance than is normal. My Aunt's an Executive, and my Mom was one too. Combine that with the fact I'm a prodigy on the executive track and I'm basically DSA royalty." He did little jazz hands unenthusiastically. "Yay."

"Based on the way you present yourself I would have guessed you'd like the attention."

"I mean I do, obviously," he winked, running a hand jokingly through his hair as he knocked a door open with his hip. "But other people don't like being reminded of it. A lot of people get touchy about me being a nepo baby. It'd be pretty frustrating if I wasn't better than them."

"Arrogant much?" Gavin asked as he took in the hallway. Now that it wasn't empty and in defense mode the view was much more disorienting. Hundreds of people walked in and out of the space in a dizzying array of ways. As he watched one person turned and invisible corner and disappeared into thin air while other peoples teleported in and out in flashes of color and magic.

"It's a simple observation."

"I literally won our fight."

That got a genuine laugh out of Adrian, and he draped an arm comfortably over Gavin's shoulder, patting his head. Gavin glared up at them, as they looked far too smug that they towered over him by a full six inches. "You're adorable. I was under instructions to bring you in alive, and you had-still have, actually- mundane durability. I was going soft on you, and the only exchange you actually won was when you revealed you had an unknown Spiritbind. I would've had you down in another ten seconds at most while fighting handicapped. I was just being careful in case I was wrong."

"Mmhmm."

"Don't 'mmhmm' me you little shit."

"I guess we'll need to fight again sometime to determine a winner."

"I'd be happy to fight you again, once you awaken and I can beat you properly. My fighting style is basically worthless against you right now, because you're too fragile. But we're off topic. You're going to sit through an Arbitration on your case with The Board, and then I'll probably be taking you to handle your awakening. They like doing that that. Familiar faces and whatnot for new recruits. 'Builds camaraderie,'" he said, making air quotes with a tone that told Gavin exactly what his opinion of the Board and their practices was.

"I feel like an 'Arbitration' is a lot more dangerous than you're making it sound. That word is ominous."

"Well it's not. The Board's been losing power for the last few decades and they're pretty much figureheads at this point." He snorted. "Who would've figured that the people who actually do work don't like being given orders by clueless old men."

They were coming up on a security checkpoint at the end of a hall which was guarded by two massive magical golems. One was a clockwork contraption of brass and bronze and carried a cannon the size of a car while the other was made from a heavy rock. No one other than him seemed to pay them any attention. "They're a bunch of politicians with more ego than sense, but not no sense at all. The Executives are going to be on your side and The Board knows better than to start a fight over something this small."

"I still think you're being way too optimistic about this."

"I'm really not. You weren't stupid, which helped you quite a bit," Adrian lowered his voice slightly, his hand twitching slightly in his pocket causing a small illusion to appear over his lips. "If you told us everything that you actually got from Ser they might try to remove you as a potential threat, but what you told us and we wrote down doesn't quite warrant that yet."

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Gavin schooled his face, drawing on Ser's mental strength (which was far too easy and familiar to be normal) to manage a calm nod and start walking again without giving away exactly how much getting seen through like that had freaked him the fuck out. "Do you have any actual advice for me?"

Adrian was already back to his normal, unserious self giving somewhat helpful advice without a hint of the a hint of the seriousness from a few seconds ago. "Be respectful and don't interrupt. They're old men used to being in power. They can make your life difficult and will if you give them a reason to want to. More ego than sense, remember?" The automatons tracked them with eerie precision as they passed. The clockwork gears and stone should not have been as silent as they were, and Gavin couldn't help but look over his shoulder to watch them move back to a normal ready stance. One more hallway past that brought them to large set of wooden doors.

"You'll be fine. Just sit pretty and let everyone else do the talking," and with that promising statement, Adrian pushed open the doors into the next hall and waved him through.

The massive stone slab Gavin stepped onto shifted beneath him, carrying him to the center of the massive hall. The hall proper had enough space for hundreds to sit in the seating that circled the space his platform slid into, making him feel like he was trapped beneath the center of a massive magnifying glass. Arrayed around him, on the lowest level of seats were two semicircular wooden desks of uneven size, with nine seats on one side of the room and sixteen on the other.

Each of the nine seats had a flag hanging from the desk in front of it that Gavin recognized as most of the worlds most powerful countries. Each of the seats was empty. Across from them was sixteen people sitting calmly, waiting for whatever this was to begin. He recognized Fourteen- still with the gold chain of his pocket watch wrapped repeatedly around his forearm sitting near one end.

He could feel the power radiating off of each of the 16, and it terrified him that Fourteen, who had knocked him out in an instant, felt like one of the weakest in the group. He looked up at the seating and saw Adrian sitting up in the stadium seating behind a woman with a massive bow slung across her shoulders that slightly resembled him. Was that the aunt he had mentioned? Gavin had plenty of space to think in the dead silence of the room as a few minute went by without anyone speaking or making a move to begin the meeting.

The Arbitration began suddenly, as light bent and warped to dispense nine figured into their seats. He could place them as politicians at a glance. Uniformly old men, the youngest of them looked like they were in their forties and most wore their graying hair and wrinkles like it was evidence of their importance.

The American Representative- and Gavin assumed that's what they were, considering they were sitting in the chair behind the stars and stripes- begun the meeting with the tap of a heavy gavel. "This meeting has been called to order. Let the record show all nine members of The Board and sixteen members of the Executive Committee are here for the Arbitration on the case of Gavin Wilder and the handling therein in full accordance with the Updated Magilogical Agency Accords section 4.3 in addition to the other pre-filed agenda items."

The representative from India spoke next. "Before we proceed with the pre-filed agenda, I move that we clarify the urgent report submitted regarding the Void sub-realm and it's updated classification."

"Seconded," said the representative from Australia.

The American Representative nodded like they had been expecting this. "All in favor?"

A chorus of 'Aye's ran around the room from both tables. "The Russian Representative would like to call into question the trustworthiness of the report. Can we truly be certain of the information that has been passed along? It would require an update to a significant portion of DSA regulations and aims beyond what could be expected from a single testimony."

The Chinese Representative spoke in Mandarin instead of English like everyone else, letting a translation spell ensure they were understood. "As would the Chinese Representative. This information is unverifiable under the standard scope of magical knowledge and would require massive changes to our understanding of realm cosmology in addition to what Board Member Aleksey Antonov stated. No matter the interviewer, trusting a single source seems foolhardy."

One of the people near the center of the Executive's table spoke up. "We have already directed research efforts towards verifying these claims-"

The French ambassador quickly interjected, "No such action was approved by The Board, all associated spending-"

"Was shifted from other projects under our jurisdiction, in accordance with the Budgetary Discretion Policy agreement updated in 2017. However, we would also like to request additional budget allotment-"

"For what reason?" scoffed the Russian Representative. "The evidence for these claims is hearsay at best."

The American Representative tapped their gavel. "Order, please. This is not a budgetary meeting and no such allotments will be handed out at this time."

The Chinese representative rolled their eyes. "Representative Harrison this is a derailment from the purpose of this Arbitration. I move that we move the third agenda item forward to become the first."

"Seconded," said the Russian reluctantly. Gavin was starting to get a sense for what was going on here. These people were representatives of their countries, grudges and rivalries included. China and Russia appeared to be one power bloc here, at least, though there was less antagonism than he'd expected. If anything, the rivalry was strongest between the two sides of the room.

"All in favor? The motion is passed. We will now move to discussion regarding the fate of Gavin Wilder."

"I'm for execution," said the Russian Representative, "I've seen what void beasts can do. I do not wish to learn what one can do with a Spiritbind."

One of the Executives rolled their eyes. "Spiritbound are resistant to the void."

"And yet here he is, Void-touched and possessing a Spiritbind. Dangerous. We should take his weapon and give it to someone more deserving. Especially if his story is true, and the Void is as dangerous as he says."

Gavin's eyes flicked up to where Adrian was sitting in fear. Adrian put a finger over his lips, pointed at his eyes, and jabbed them back at the proceedings in a clear command. Listen and watch. "That would be a waste of a potential asset," an Executive wearing a gorgeous silver mask with the number 'nine' on it disagreed, "The knowledge they may gain as 'Ser's' memories assimilate may be invaluable, and their Spiritbind is deeply tied to that assimilated soul. Killing them is more likely to take the Spiritbind with them."

"I move that we take execution off the table," said the Executive sitting at the center of their table. He had sat perfectly still and silent the entire meeting thus far, content to watch the proceedings with a canny gaze. They had their up in a ponytail revealing slightly pointed ears. The woman with the bow seconded their motion slightly late, slow to act as if they'd been too surprised to speak immediately.

"All in favor?" This time Gavin paid attention to who replied to the call to vote, which was involved all of The Board and the four centermost executives. Thirteen people in total. All the executives were in favor, but only the Australian and UK Representatives were also in favor. "Motion failed."

""I'm still willing to make the attempt," repeated the Russian Representative, "Can we really afford to take risks with dangerous potential assets at this juncture? The Ascensionist Movement has been gathering allies to their disparate factions, Void Breaches are becoming increasingly more common, The Spirited Edge is stretching their muscles and the Fieravanti are rapidly approaching a succession war-"

The bow wielder interjected, with the annoyed tone of someone who'd had this argument too many times already, "And we have viable action plans for most of those threats, which you refuse to green light-"

"Because we are cowards, yes, we have heard your complaints. We know what you think of us," snapped the Russian representative, "But that will not influence our prerogative. The safety of the world will not be gambled with."

"Not until it's too late?" All eyes snapped to the executive in the middle. Gavin got the sense that having them talk twice in a meeting like this was a rare thing. Even The Board Members seemed far more willing to listen to them than they had been to any of the others Executives. "Proposal B for handling the Fieravanti Crime Family succession crisis involves using a combat-capable deniable asset to support the third and fifth heirs in their bid for control."

"And you're proposing we use him?" Aleksey gestured to Gavin, "He's not combat-capable."

"He will be. His integration will give him enough combat instincts to suffice. If we release him sometime during the next 14 hours and enact a standard escapee search protocol Marco and Alessia Fieravanti will be able to deny our involvement in recruiting him into their faction."

"And the risks?" asked the American Representative, which got them strong looks from the rest of the assembled board members.

"Minimal."

The woman with the bow sighed, "I move that Gavin Wilder is sworn in as a temporary agent and inserted into the Valencia Crime Family in accordance with Proposal B."

"Seconded," said one of the executives, sitting casually in a tank top and armed with thick metal brass knuckles.

"All in favor?" asked the American Representative.

A chorus of Ayes affirmed the decision and the slab of stone Gavin was on begun to slide away from the center of the room. The Executive in the center nodded at Adrian, who bowed slightly in response before standing and moving to meet Gavin by the exit. He heard the meeting shifting towards whether or not they should make updates to standard procedure in handling Void events as they left.

"Looks like I'm going to be your handler for this mission," Adrian smiled, clapping him on the shoulder, "Lets get moving. We've got just under 14 hours to get you awakened, briefed, and on your way to Italy."

"What about my family and friends? I can't just leave!" Gavin should've had that thought much, much earlier. There was a disturbing amount 'should haves' occurring for him recently that he didn't do, and he didn't like the picture it was painting about his own autonomy. There wasn't much he could do about it now though.

Adrian paused before letting out a sympathetic smile. "Well you're kind of legally dead, Gav. Can I call you that? I'm going to call you that. Gav, you died in a public place with solid records of the event. We can get that reversed eventually, but it's going to take time and effort on a significant cover up that no one's going to bother with without getting anything in return. If you do this mission and succeed you'll get the clout to ask for a cover story to be run and get your legal status changed."

It's the DSA's fault though. You all need to fix this."

"Gav. As you are, you're just someone mildly interesting with nebulous potential. A lot of it, sure, but you have no real power to make anyone listen to you, and that means no one's going to help. This isn't like the mundane world. People here aren't equal. Some people can level buildings, resurrect the recently dead, and fight off an entire army division. Compared to them, you're worthless," a lip quirked up, shining through the seriousness of the moment, "And that's what we're going to fix. We need to get moving if we're going to get you awakened and prepped in time for your mission."