Euan had moved on from his life as a mechanic to one of an engineer, and then to one of a businessman. It had given him enough money to engage in his little side project and had also given him a large enough excuse to travel, but as he had grown older and gotten a wife, he found himself travelling a lot less. And his research into the unknown climbed to a complete standstill once his son was born. Vance was not… particularly book learned. He struggled with most of his subjects in school and so when the time came for him to try and get a well-paid job, he had struggled. So Euan had pulled some strings. Got him settled into a department that didn’t demand too much experience, or that could be assisted by someone who didn’t have that much experience at the very least. It also helped that they worked in the same place as it allowed Euan to drive Vance so he knew that the boy would be punctual.
They pulled up in front of the building and Vance began to walk to his assigned room, and Euan followed him. This seemed to put Vance in a bit of a skittish mood as he began to fiddle with his hands, and his nervousness only increased as they grew closer to one of the rooms they used to inspect engines. Finally they stopped just outside of the room and Vance turned to Euan.
“Dad… why are you coming into the room?”
“I need to make sure it’s up to standard as we have an inspector coming today. Didn’t I tell you about this last week?”
“…You know, I think you did. Is there any chance you could give us about… five minutes?”
“Open the door, Vance. We don’t have time for this.” Vance sighed and opened the door to take a step in.
The room was incredibly dark and the only sources of light were from the ultraviolet lights in the ceiling. It was how they inspected the engines. They dipped them in large vats of ultraviolet ink and then the ink would dribble off of the engines back into the vats, clinging to any miniscule cracks in the metal which allowed them to find and fix them. However, it seemed like it had given his son a unique idea. He now had large neon purple glasses and a moustache drawn on in vibrant yellow.
“…This won’t affect the review, right?” Euan sighed.
“It is about professionalism Vance and the sooner you learn that, the better off you shall be. Now clean that off of your face before the inspectors come.”
“Oh, I should clean my face?” Vance had said that a little too loudly which confused Euan until another employee rounded the corner. He had a bright orange monobrow and cat whiskers drawn onto his face. He then slowly backed away back out of view.
“Some of the receptionists have nail varnish remover on them, I realise it may be a little unhealthy for you but it should to the job.” With that Vance nodded and headed off, soon followed by a large entourage of employees who had many bizarre drawings on their faces. Euan sighed and decided to start his personal inspection in other areas before looping back around to where his son was working. Aside from the small hiccup at the start, he was satisfied with how everything was running and by the time he got back around to Vance’s section everyone was looking professional and working at the expected level. Just in time too as he got a page to the front of the factory. The inspectors had arrived.
Euan made his way to the front of the factory and when he got there he was greeted by the two inspectors, one of whom he recognised. The man was young, but when one got to the Followers of Xanthopan appearances could be deceiving and from what he knew of Nikolaus, he was very high on the ladder. Instead of commenting on the man’s presence, Euan put on his polite smile and held out his hand in greeting. Nikolaus eyed it for a beat before offering his own in return, then he signalled to the man beside him. The man walked ahead and Euan made to follow, but Nikolaus put his hand on Euan’s shoulder and held him back.
“We shall go and join him shortly, but there is something I want to discuss with you first.”
“Ah. So there is a reason why I have such an honoured guest.” If this remark amused or annoyed Nikolaus, he didn’t show it, instead he withdrew his hand and continued.
“Are you aligned with anyone outside your company at the moment?”
“No one other than myself, sir. I suppose that answer is different from your own however.”
“You are correct there, aside from the fact that I am not a part of the Health and Regulations Committee. I have friends in high places you see, and I am not afraid to make use of them for myself and my subordinates. Most of whom are in upstanding positions in society.” Silence descended for a beat, before Euan finally realised what the man wanted.
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“Despite my distant interest in your world, Nikolaus, I am quite invested in making sure that my interest stays distant. I have no interest in becoming your subordinate.”
“Why not? It gives you many advantages above your peers, not including the wealth of knowledge you would have at your fingertips.”
“If I may be forward with you, it’s because of the questionable business practices you promote and partake in.”
“We care about the preservation of humanity as much as anyone else, Euan. We only take the actions that those in the International Trade and Security Association are unwilling to do in order for balance to be maintained. Sometime people have to die, and others have to be kept in the dark.”
“They do not hesitate to protect people in whatever way they can. What they don’t do is use it as an excuse to get rid of obstacles and stockpile more power. My answer is final; I won’t be another hitman for you.”
“Very well. If you won't join us then I shall move onto the second option for us. We've received some intel saying that you have all of the notes on the supernatural that the late Mr. Gallagher took. We would appreciate it if you traded them to us for something a little more useful to you."
"If they're not useful then why do you want them?" Euan’s voice maintained it’s professional tone, but inside he was putting the pieces together. They had an ulterior motive, as they always do, and it was good to finally hear it.
"Not useful to you. When independent practitioners strike out on their own what they find tends to be snippets that they have to string together into coherence. As you can imagine, it rarely works out for them. With our resources we can not only use those notes in your possession to their full potential but we can trade them for something better suited to your needs."
"You make a convincing argument... However I am not interested in accepting. If what you say is true then I doubt that Mr. Gallagher had known something you haven't, and quite frankly, I'm not interested in assisting you in your goals."
“What of your research into our world? Are you willing to deny your chance of getting some answers to the multitude of questions you may have?” Euan paused at that, giving a sigh before answering Nikolaus fully.
“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in all that. But if I truly wanted the answers to those questions, I would use what I have and trade with the Keeper.”
“The Keeper?” Nikolaus asked with an incredulous scoff. “They wouldn’t know loyalty if it smacked them around the head- or heads… Hrm. My point is clear. Dealing with them is a terrible idea.”
“They keep their word though and are far more forthcoming than the Archivists. Trust me, I’ve tried.”
“Oh? You’ve managed to contact those things? I must say that I’m interested in hearing how you managed to pry information on those out of the Scholars hands. They keep that sort of thing extremely well-guarded for an organisation who believe the best course of action is to expose our world to the general public.”
“Your world, Nikolaus. I’ve put aside the work gloves and taken up a more stable life. As a show of good will, though, I am willing to help you in any way I can.” Nikolaus fell quiet for a moment, contemplative, before he sighed.
"I don’t believe you will be much help by yourself, but it's more the personal experience we're looking for. We know that he was one of the closest confidants of Liselotte and we're looking for someone she knows."
"The book doesn't mention anything like that I'm afraid. You may have just wasted all this time barking up the wrong tree."
"And I'm afraid that your answer is unsatisfactory. I am certain that we'll be able to find what we're looking for in the book. Perhaps you missed it because you weren’t looking for it.”
“Then describe what you were looking for in detail then. I’ve read the book numerous times after all, you could leave here with the knowledge you’re after today.” Nikolaus did not respond, which prompted Euan to carry on with what he was saying. “Unless you don’t know what you’re looking for…”
“We do.” Nikolaus’ voice had an edge to it now. Euan had to remind himself to reign it in, lest he really did end up as a bloody footnote in history.
“I apologise for being presumptuous. If it helps, Mr. Gallagher talked of meeting her through archaeology channels. Specifically, those based around Aria and Duroria.”
“Oh? Did he go into any detail on the expeditions that he undertook?”
“He was not that free with the information.” Euan was beginning to suspect that whatever Nikolaus was looking for, it had something to do with his first brush with the supernatural. He was there, as well as a man named… Florian. Despite the fact that it had been a while ago, Euan had run into their names so often that it was a wonder they kept their secret organisation hidden from the general public. Or have avoided getting arrested. He felt like the biggest reason he remembered that day, though, was the fact that it would be almost impossible to forget something like that. “He only mentioned a single expedition to some barrows in Duroria and that his employer took the most valuable piece.”
“Ah… that sounds like her alright. Nothing else?”
“That’s all the help I can offer.”
“You would be offering more help if you were to stop being stubborn and give me what I want.”
"You're not getting the book, Nikolaus. And I'm not joining your organisation either." The man sighed and shook his head.
"A pity. The offer will stay open anyhow, in case something happens and you are in need of assistance. And even if you don't reach out, this will not be the last time we shall see each other." Nikolaus finished his speech by handing Euan a business card that only had a plain black number imprinted on it.
"You took that well. Here I was expecting to receive a terrible review."
"That would be awfully suspicious considering Roger is unaware of my status. And not to mention incredibly petty considering you have been fairly cooperative." Euan nodded and stood off to one side.
"I do try. Now let's go catch up with him then. Before he gets himself lost." Nikolaus nodded and overtook Euan, walking into the factory ahead. Meanwhile Euan made a mental note to find a better hiding spot for that damned book. He had a strong feeling that Nikolaus was not done with it yet.