When I got out of the portal I was greeted by a few guards stationed in a building. I was assured that they would inform the boss about my arrival, and that I was to wait around until they called me. They gave me a new phone, some pocket money, and hurried me out of the door. When I made it past the door I was bathed in the same dim glow of perpetual orange street lights. I must have only been with Robert's people for no longer than a weeks, so I really shouldn't be that surprised by revisiting SIDNA, but I felt a pang of nostalgia when I set foot in here again. I felt comfortable, at peace here – not that I didn't feel those things at Robert's place, but it was a different feeling of calm.
Well, thankfully most of the damage has been repaired, or at least the debris was swept out of the streets. Business wasn't exactly booming, but the tension that I felt before leaving wasn't there either. It was like the calm before the storm. Everyone knew that things weren't exactly peachy right now, but nobody wanted to ruin the facade of tranquillity that was present.
I wandered around the familiar sights, finally taking the time to really see what kind of damage the last assault did to the place. The Hungry Boar seemed to have repaired itself pretty nicely, and I decided to grab a bite to eat while I waited for Sarah to call. There weren't as many patrons around, but it certainly wasn't empty. I didn't bother to order the house special this time, I wasn't sure that Eugene could even make one given how things are around here, but I did settle for a sandwich. It wasn't until my meal arrived that I started to wonder if I could actually eat it.
Last time I tried actual, human food, I barely had the stomach to keep the stuff down. I looked at the sandwich, and although it looked pretty good, I had make sure that I could still eat. That I was still human. I took a tentative bite, and was surprised that the thing was serviceable. The flavour was muted, but it was there. I guess that's an improvement.
I ate my sandwich listlessly, just because I could, and started to really think about everything that happened lately. So much has happened in such a short time that I really didn't know what to make of anything anymore. Now I'm apparently heralded as the Lord of the Night, I got a war to stop, and I have these strange, inhuman quarks growing daily. I guess it all really started after I left that compound with Sable the first time, but for the life of me I couldn't remember exactly happened during that time. It was like a piece of my memory was gone, and I knew that I was forgetting something important.
Thankfully I didn't have to dwell on my problems for much longer, since my new phone rang.
I answered, and a stern, but familiar voice answered me, “Morgan, come back to my office. There's a lot that happened since you left, and I'll need your report on things.”
Before I can even answer back, Sarah Fortune hung up. Well, I guess that was just her style, and she didn't even ask me if I knew how to get to her office from where I was. For all she knew, I could have been dropped on the other side of SIDNA HQ. Thankfully I wasn't lost, or else she probably would have crushed my head into paste.
* * *
“You're late.” Was the only greeting I got when Sarah saw me enter her office. The woman looked a little haggard, but otherwise the same.
“Sorry,” I said, “I ran into a bit of trouble on the other side.”
“It doesn't matter. It's good to have you back though, Mr. Morgan. As you might have already seen, a lot has happened since your departure.” Sarah sat down on her chair, and gestured for me to do the same, “Thanks to you, we were able to track down the organization that was responsible for sending us their pet monsters, and although we have yet to fully deal with the root of the problem, we did find some interesting information in one of their compounds. It seems that this this particular organization has extensive records on the vampires, including the hideout of three of their leaders. We've launched an initial response team to test out the vampires resistance, and so far it seems that we have greatly over-estimated their combat potential. The vampires are disorganized, and are in prime position to be wiped out.”
“So you're just going to destroy the whole lot of them?” I asked, really struggling to keep my voice even and calm.
“No,” Sarah answered, “But we are culling their numbers down. If we can take out the heads of the vampires, even one or two, it will greatly lessen the power and influence the vampires will have.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Don't you think that's a little... cruel?” I muttered.
Sarah laughed, “These are blood thirsty monsters, Mr. Morgan. They do not have cause for sympathy, and they have caused my own organization no shortage of losses. So no, Mr. Morgan, I do not think it is cruel.”
Realizing that sympathy wouldn't work on her, I tried for a more logical approach, “You know that there's no way that the vampires will just let you kill them all. They must have some kind of back up plan if shit hits the fan like it has. For all you know they have people in high places, ready to make things hell for everyone.”
The smile on Sarah's face never wavered, “Oh I'm sure they do. In fact, I know they do, and my agents are already out on the field getting rid of the defectors. This is all thanks to you, of course, we wouldn't have known so many vampire defectors if it wasn't for that compound we raided. My company and I have always been weary about starting an all out war with the vampires, since their contingency plan was something that we have yet to crack, but I guess fortune is finally on our side.”
God damn it! I screwed up again! I tried my hardest to keep myself calm, to not show any of the torrent of emotions that I was feeling right now. But it was hard. I tried to think of the bright side of things. After all, I didn't have to worry about a nuclear holocaust any longer. Now I just had to worry about Robert and the rest of them being ground to dust by Fortune and her gang. I had to go back and warn them. I don't think Sarah noticed any change in my expression, and she has no reason to question my loyalty after what I've done.
“Can I go now?” I said, my voice straining to stay calm.
Sarah gave me a hard stare, as if she could see my internal struggle, but after a while, she simply said, “Of course, Mr. Morgan. I'll have someone call you when you're needed again. I apologize for having you go through your first assignment without a partner, but know that your contribution today has been a great help to the entire orginization.”
“Thanks.” I muttered, before making my way out of the compound.
Now then, I guess my next course of action is to get back to Robert, which means I have to sneak back to the portal that Sarah and her researchers made. I was all but ready to port away when a familiar voice stopped me.
“Frank, is that you?” The voice said. I turned around to that familiar, dimpled face, and the second she recognized that I was, indeed, myself, she all but tackled me.
“Oh my god, it is you!” She continued, still gripping me with her death-hug, “You have no idea how worried I was! I checked up on you so many times, but the doctors said that they weren't sure if you would make it. I thought that I was too late in helping you, and, and I was beating myself up for not being there earlier. Oh my god, I've never been so angry about passing out before! Well, maybe that one time I was talked into drinking a bottle of wine, but that's not the same.” She paused a second to catch a breath, “Oh, then I heard you did get better, but Sarah sent you on some stupid mission by yourself. And you just got here as well! I tried calling as well, but no one would pick up. I thought you were dead, Frank! Oh god I thought she sent you on a suicide mission, especially with you being injured and all. You don't know how good it is to see you!”
“Um.” I managed to say, “It's good to see you too, Kelley.”
“Are you hurt anywhere? You sure your ok? I mean, you weren't looking so good when I last saw you, and I don't know what happened after you left for that stupid mission, but there's no way you could be fine. Do you need to sit down somewhere? Here, let me help you to your room, I'll get you some food – did you eat already?”
“No, look, I'm fine. Completely fine, really.”
“There's no way that you are! I saw what those monsters did to you, and it's only been a few weeks. Don't try to play the tough guy, it might work with Sarah, but it won't with me!” She gave me a stern look that really seems out of place on a girl as perky as she is. It doesn't look like I'll be able to talk her out of this one.
“Ok, maybe I could use a drink.”