...Approximately 1 month since Cosmos went online.
Shelley could never quite pin down what to make of Alan. There were moments when he seemed mature, confident, and downright brilliant. Tonight, however, his behavior had puzzled her. She resisted the urge to chew on a loose piece of hair, resting along her cheek, while the trio, Alan, Nick and Adrian, stood before her father and Kara.
Bryan Jakes, her lead manager at Callisto Corporation, reported that Alan had done well meeting with many of her family's business partners earlier in the party, despite his more humble background. What had puzzled her was what could he have done to that Lewis girl to instigate a fight? She’d been quietly observing Alan. Timing her entrance to the party, which he’d nearly ruined, had she not managed to rescue it. Now, she thought irritably, he'd seemed to be fumbling over himself while gawking at the Valkyrie. She wanted to reach out and smack his had to stop him from fiddling with his ring.
“Kara, this should make things easier if you are already acquainted.” Arthur Cordata’s firm tenor voice carried strongly across the room.
Kara, a Valkyrie, an A.I. representative of Cosmos, her father had insisted attend, nodded gracefully. She appeared picturesque, a symbol of both power and beauty, wearing a white and silver gown with weaves of silver lace. It would have made Shelley self-conscious, has she not reassured herself that the A.I. was 100 percent artificial. The Valkyrie's, gown upon, upon closer examination, appeared to resemble fine chainmaille, giving a semblance of armor that likely surpassed any of the armors they'd managed to buy.
“I so happened to be the Valkyrie which Alan met during his entry into Cosmos.” Kara paused before continuing. “We’ve had the opportunity to speak at length regarding our mutual interests and his progress in the game.”
Shelley raised her eyebrows, the same time as her father. Surprised by the casualness of their relationship. She'd only had exchanged a handful of sentences with her Valkyrie, and despite some effort on the companies, had learned nothing about any of them.
“Thank you Kara. It’s good to see you.” Alan greeted hesitantly, continuing to twist his ring. “It’s good to finally meet you Mr. Cordata.”
“Alan, you didn’t give me a choice. You single handedly diverted the assets of my daughter’s company to an unknown planet. I might add without so much of a trade route going through it. Then you somehow trapped her into a war. Finally, I discover you’re likely the only person on Earth who has the capabilities to manufacture VE for our planet on a large scale, giving you a near monopoly and stranglehold on the market.”
Shelley resisted the urge to interrupt her father during his obviously prepared monologue. Despite not appreciating the implication that she was some helpless heiress. She'd seen those eyes in her father before, he had set Alan on an invisible scales only he could see, weighing the man. She inwardly sighed. His ability to read a person was something she both admired and irritated her. He was always testing and prodding prospective business partners. It's what made him so successful. Of course, where it absolutely was a curse, was when he started to do it with her friends, teachers, employees, or dates. She still wasn't convinced that his disapproval of her junior homecoming dance date was more out of over protectiveness, and not because there was an actual problem.
“Mr. Cordata, I do truthfully regret your daughter’s involvement in the military exercise on Kragga.” Alan lowered his head respectfully, before raising it again and meeting her father’s gaze. “Of course, I have the utmost respect for Ms. Cordata, and will do my best to make sure our we're successful. Though, I don't see your daughter, making choices to decrease the kind of danger we'll find ourselves in."
Shelly, tried to hide to hide a smile. At the very least he’s stopped fiddling with his ring, and looked him in the eye.
“Yes, you’re probably right.” Arthur grinned briefly, before browning serious again. “I’ll get to the point then, I’ve asked Kara to be present here, due to concerns that you may be attempting to cheat the system. Your background doesn’t seem to match your current success." He paused dramatically. "Pending that, I’d like to discuss and complete a few contracts with you for access to your current production of Vervetic Energy, and potentially help you negotiate with some of our business partners regarding their interest on Kragga.”
“I would be more than happy to discuss things with you sir.” Alan turned and gestured to Kara.
“Mr. Cordata, it is not unknown to the Valkyrie that Alan’s string of fortuitous and insightful decisions has gone well beyond most statistical projections. However, Alan has already been cleared of cheating at this particular time, and no current behaviors indicate otherwise.”
Shelley exhaled at the same time that both Nick and Adrian did. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one worried about potential cheating.
“It seems Alan, that you’re cleared to go, but before I send away Kara, I’d like to discuss the matter of the contracts we’ve prepared. And if it's all alright with you, we’ll have Kara ratify and bind them through Cosmos. For now I’ll trust both my daughter and Kara’s judgment, but I’d like to have it verified with a contract.”
“I couldn’t agree more sir. But don’t you have a party to get to?”
Arthur only laughed. “I’ve got one of my assistants down there using a piece of virtual holographic tech we were able to pick up. It won’t pass a basic security check, but when it’s your party, the security works for you. Besides the ones who can figure it out won’t mind. They'll feel like they’re in on a little secret. While the others won’t care in the slightest. It’s probably the best party I’ve been to since Shelly was 12 and was too scared of the Horse she’d begged.
"Thank you Father. Why don't get started" Shelly interrupted. He'd had his fun, but now it was time to reign it in.
Unfortunately, she couldn't have been more wrong. Shelley didn’t know if this was one of the worst or best meetings she’d ever been apart of. The contract terms were more generous to Alan than Callisto Corps for the VE, and would strengthen her business partner, and her own standing in the Phoenix Conglomerate. She’d also been pleasantly surprised that Alan had requested that she take the lead for negotiations land, resources and access to Kragga and Alan's baron holdings. She was also impressed that Alan seemed to be genuinely interested in making sure that the Phoenix Conglomerate was interested in making sure resources were intended to help and advance mankind generally. Of course the worst parts of the meeting was her father’s occasionally embarrassing stories. Like the time she’d attempted to be elected as school president, advocating the need for more restrictions on social media usage on school computers. Apparently her peers had preferred the elector who wanted a trading card vending machine, and she'd lost in a last slide And despite her cold glares, The trio of idiots didn't seem to get the hint that laughing would only encourage her father. After an hour after the negotiations she'd had enough
“I think we’ve wrapped things up Dad.” The group had been sitting around some of the dark leather furniture, snacking on an array of horderves and drinks brought up from the party. They'd already excused Kara, with Alan promising to talk to her later. They'd been chatting about a food distributor that her father would put in touch with Alan to help him with his budding restaurant. And also talked about the fight with the bugs on Kragga, a few national sports teams and even touched on the recent terrorist attack. Which no one knew much about, but everyone speculated that it wouldn’t be the last.
“All right gentlemen, I believe my daughter is right. I appreciate you humoring me, but I’d much prefer a small gathering like this.”
"I imagine I guy like you doesn't get the chance to let your hair down to often." Nick laughed, and patted her father on the shoulder. Shelley wanted to smack Nick, her father was bald, and hadn't opted to change his avatar to add hair. Surprising, her father laughed it off. The group got up and her father shook both Adrian and Nick's hands, before shaking Alan’s hands and pulling him into a hug whispering in his ear. When they let go, Shelley noticed that Alan seemed a bit paler, but kept a smile on his face.
As they left the office Shelley couldn’t help but ask, “What did my father say?”
“Oh, nothing really.”
She didn’t believe him for a second, but wasn’t going to press the matter. She had another curiosity. “Nick, I heard you're taking charge of all the newbies on Kragga?”
“You did huh?” Nick glared openly at Alan, “I only found out right before the party. When did you find out?”
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“That's when you decided to tell Nick?” Shelley looked over at Alan.
“Hey, I sent him an email earlier, he just happened to check it while they were waiting for me.”
Thwack!
Alan's body flew into the hallway wall, from NIck’s fist colliding with his shoulder.
A few of the guards flinched, drawing their weapon, acting quickly, Shelley waved them down. Lowering down to exam Alan, she noted that he didn’t seem to have anything permanent. The genetic enhancements seemed to have prevented most of the damage. On the other hand, his tuxedo sleeve had been ripped apart at the seams. Looking up, she saw Nick, with a look of both shock and mirth on his face.
“NICK, what the heck man?” Alan struggled to stand up with her help.
“Well the party was over, and you reminded me of something I wanted to do before the party, but didn't want to ruin your nice tux.” Nick wore a grin, not showing a bit of remorse, except to wave apologetically to the guards and shrug to Shelley.
“So, I guess you said no?” She asked.
“Nah, not a chance. Team captain, guild leader, I don’t mind helping Alan out. Except, that I have to deal with a bunch of middle and high schoolers."
"Than why'd you hit him?"
"He needed to be reminded that just because he's royalty, doesn’t mean he gets to order me around.”
“I didn’t order you.” Alan looked down at his arm at the ripped sleeve, like he'd just lost a puppy.
“Really? Ahem…” Nick cleared his throat and began to read from what appeared to be a virtual document. “Nick, you're going to be in charge of the Kragga Defense Force, it'll be a guild for all the newbies and maybe Kragga locals. You'll be great since they already know you. By the way, will you set up part for them with my sister, ASAP? Let me know what you need. Alan.”
Shelley and Adrian gave Alan hard stares.
“Man, even that's cold. I don't care if we are best friends.” Adrian muttered. Shelley nodded in agreement.
“Hey, in my defense…” Alan began, but the Shelley, Adrian and Nick turned around and walked away ignoring him, and chatting among themselves.
“I wonder what kind of contract I could get knowing how loaded our mighty Baron is now that he’s signed with a huge conglomerate like Phoenix.” Nick mused allowed.
“I was trying to…” Alan tried again
“Honestly, you might think about starting your own Barony, I could lend you the credits since you’ve already got the manpower.” Adrian chimed in.
“Guys, I’m sorry…”
“Nick, don’t sign anything till I’ve taken a look at it. I mean we’ve got to look at payroll, bonuses, not to mention shares of any operations. I’ve got some great lawyers at Callisto who’d be happy to help you get the best deal.” She snickered, when she saw Alan groan and slightly pale. “And I’d do it pro-bono, as a friend.” She added, just for the pleasure of it.
“Thank you Shelly.” Nick exaggerated, “That’s what a good friend is for.”
*****
Alan cringed as he left the virtual market well into early morning, and it wasn’t just because of his message to Nick. He’d followed him back to the party, where they’d continued to give him a hard time, which he deserved. But, he was just a little bitter that Nick and Adrian had intentionally stuck around to keep him from being alone with Shelley afterwards.
What really bothered, however, was that he’d completely forgotten his encounter with Denise, his ex-girlfriend at the party. Now that she knew his identity, it wouldn’t be long before everyone did. He’d tried to set up a few precautions early on to give him some anonymity to protect himself. There was no doubt he wasn't going to stay hidden completely for very long, but now that he was found out it carried potential danger for him and his family.
At the thought of danger, his mind went back to a brief conversation they’d had about the terrorist attack on one of the pod facilities. It seemed to be mostly conventional weapons, guns and a few pipe bombs, attacking the outer structure. But it was clear to Alan that humanity would face the same kind of escalating attacks in the previous timeline. He’d wanted to say more. But having Kara, the Valkyrie in the room squashed any desire for him to reveal events in the future. He still was unsure as to whether the game considered traveling back in time to be cheating. It had only been a month, and things were already beginning to change. This attack seemed to be sooner than in the alternate history. Which meant only one thing. He’d done something to accelerate events.
His mind was too exhausted to think more clearly, so instead he opted to set an alarm before passing out in his room.
***
Alan woke up in his room, his sleeping quarters at the pod center. Noting the time, it read 1 p.m. Not bad for pulling an all-nighter. Reviewing his message, he discovered a peculiar one from his mother.
“Son, I didn’t know you’d lined up sourcing our material and funding so quickly. I’ve already got a contract ready for you to sign with a wonderful representative you sent by. Come over quickly. I’ve got cake too.”
Ending the message with a number of smiley faces and heart emojis.
Ok. That's fast. He’d only talked with Arthur Cordata last night about putting a few good words into a few companies they’d talked about. He knew playing at this level of business things got done fast. But already? Despite Alan’s desire to hop back into Cosmos, and check on how things were going with Kragga, this took priority.
Taking his civic, Alan decided to catch up on the news, hoping to learn more about the terrorist attacks.
14 dead due to the terrorist attack in Algeria. Another 20 are in critical condition. No group has claimed responsibility, but some believe some it may be the work of a radical religious group, or those afraid of possible Alien takeover. World governments scramble to provide security for Pod Centers, as a spokesperson for the alien’s indicated that any damages to their assets, the pods, may result in serious legal and financial repercussions.
In other news, Eris industries has seen a slight drop in share prices, after seeing large increases earlier in the week due to their production of alien weapons adapted for electricity. The drop is being attributed to a small, but steady flow of vervetic energy entering the North American Virtual Market. Speculators are concerned the electric weapon may become obsolete before mass production is underway. President Clark Tenison shares that the increase of vervetic energy is likely to only have a limited quantity, and cites other virtual markets have not seen an influx.
Now to Chris, who will tell us why you should put off that expensive cosmetic surgery you’ve been planning.
It wasn’t long before Alan pulled up to his parent’s and found his Mother sitting at the dining room table, a stack of papers neatly piled on the table.
“Hey Mom. I got your message” Alan was about to approach his mother when she turned around, an unusual smile playing across her face.
“Son, it’s so good to see you!” She stood up slowly, “I met the nicest man today. He mentioned that you’d had a discussion about business plans together. He even brought over a wonderful contract.” She reached over, pulled a sheaf of paper from the table and held it out to him, along with a pen.
“He did huh?” Warily, he reached out and took the papers and pen.
“He seemed awfully disappointed that he couldn’t meet you in person. But I reassured him that I’d have no problem helping you see the important points.”
Alan looked down at the sheaf of paper, only half listening to his mother. His heart started beating quickly as he began to read through the contract. It offered a huge sum of cash from an entity known as ‘Exploratory Holdings LLC’ for the ownership of the VE generator directly. It also seemed to offer ridiculous sums to distribute some of their food products.
“Mom, you know this contract doesn’t even offer credits, just cash right? And, they want my VE generator on top of everything.”
“I know, isn’t that amazing, it will make our transactions so much easier.” Alan looked at his mom, who should have easily guessed that as credits became more valuable, the American dollar was going to become more worthless over time. “Mom you know, this is a terrible offer right? Besides, I'm not selling the VE generator”
She reached out and gripped his hand intently. “Son, this contract is very important to our family. We can be set for the rest of our lives. So please just sign it.”
“Mom we talked about this, the VE energy is our ticket to a good life, for everyone’s future.” For the first time, Alan noticed her eyes, there was no happiness in them, only... emptyness. No that wasn't right, she seemed sad. Really sad.
“Alan, you will sign that contract.” She seemed to plead.
“Mom, who gave you the contract?”
“I already told you Alan. Now sign it.” Her voice grew more stern.
He stepped back, realization beginning to dawn on him. “You didn’t tell me. I’m not going to sign it until you tell me who gave it to you.”
“It doesn’t matter. I already promised him that you would sign it!” She screamed and attempted to place a pen in Alan’s hands and force him to scrawl his name at the bottom of the contract. Alan’s enhanced strength easily resisted her attempts to force him to move. She continued to struggle, lashing out with her legs, “If you don't sigt it, you don’t love me!” She screeched over and over. Simultaneously, to Alan's horror, tears streamed down her face.
Alan wanted to recoil in horror, but grimaced knowing what he needed to do against his flailing mother. He sent a small shock of energy, causing his mother to cry in pain, before sending her into unconsciousness. Though it seemed her thrashing and pain had only lasted moments, the experiences felt as though it would never end.
He laid her on the couch as gently as he could. Wiping away his own tears, while simultaneously trying to think clearly through the torrent of anger he felt threatening to overwhelm his body. His mother had been mentally influenced. Telepathy, forced illusions, hypnotism, pheromones, the list was short but the impact was large. Someone had done this to his mother. Messed with her mind using a sort of alien tech or genetic adaptation.