Having completed their trip around the world, the Fiends returned home on Quadruneber 31st, six days ahead of their initial estimate. The first change they noticed was the front gate. Gone was the old rusted one that squeaked a bit when it was opened, replaced by a sleek new version with their logo encircled in the middle. There was no need to update the gate’s security since it was inside the forcefield. So, they opted to just go with a snazzy looking one.
The next major and immediately noticeable change was that the old road leading to the center of the compound, which had been worn down from repeated use and years of neglect, had been replaced by a series of panels. These panels could light up to change the markings on it, and in the future would provide directions and instructions for arriving guests. Not that it would be an issue since the barrier could block weather, but the panels could also heat up to melt snow and store solar power in case of emergency. According to Nathym, a few other features were in the works down the line for a few more niche purposes.
They drove down the new road, and Kada stopped the car in front of a large structure covered entirely by a giant tarp. It was at the very center of the compound, with a full parking lot in front of it as well as a drop off point. “Wow, that sure is something,” Xard admired, peering out from the front seat.
“Uhh, why are we stopping here?” Phon asked from the back seat.
“We’re obviously checking out our new digs,” Kada answered.
“What? Oh, no, this isn’t our place,” Drim clarified. “It’s something entirely different for our plans down the line. Our house should be somewhere behind it. I’m sure you should have noticed the road branching off not too far back.”
“I was wondering where that went. I just assumed Nathym’s workshop.” Kada turned around, and followed the other path past the unidentified structure. Drim explained along the way that several more plots of land would be cordoned off for other facilities later, if they hadn’t already.
Near the northern border of the compound was a stunningly fabulous mansion waiting for them. It seemed Mallea and Nathym had gone overboard with the design. The architecture and size would rival some castles, and it really was wasted on a bunch of young adults who had grown up in far more humble environments. Even the Drazahs who had lived in a mansion before would have been entirely content with a modest house.
Mallea was waiting for them at the walkway leading to the front door, bowing as they approached. “Welcome back from your trip everyone,” she greeted them. “I take it everything was successful?”
“Yeah, and then some,” Drim reported and then gave Mallea a hug which she didn’t seem to have expected. He broke off their embrace after a few seconds and asked, “So, are the others around?”
“Uhh, yes… they are,” Mallea stated after regaining her composure. “Nathym only got in just last night and looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks, so I assume he’ll be resting the entire day. He did tell me that he managed to get all three billion made though, and passed them off to the PostMaster Major. As for Ahvra, well she’s Ahvra so who knows what she’s up to. Though I imagine before too long you’ll hear the pitter-patter of her little feet when she notices you’ve returned. Now then—”
Before Mallea could finish what she was saying, there was a commotion at the front door. The pet-door installed at the bottom burst open, and Pox came bolting out of it. He was wearing the cloak Mallea had made for him and it fluttered behind him as he ran. Kada ran over to meet him, bending down with her arms spread wide. Pox then immediately veered around her, ignoring her entirely.
He leapt up at Drim, who caught Pox in his arms. Pox then wrapped his arms around Drim as wide as he could, and nuzzled his nose into Drim’s chest. “Hey buddy, I missed you,” Drim hugged him back. “I like your outfit.” A few seconds later, Pox dashed into the back of Drim’s hood where he’d likely stay for some time.
“Err, as I was saying,” Mallea continued. “Please allow me to give you a tour of the mansion. Don’t worry about your belongings, I’ll unload them later.”
They strolled inside, and Mallea gave them a rundown of the first floor as they walked around. There was the grand foyer, a parlor, a living room, another living room, a sun room, several studies and conference rooms, a ballroom, the kitchen, a formal dining room, a regular dining room, and a breakfast nook. “Oh and my bedroom is underneath the stairs leading to the second floor if you need me.”
Mallea didn’t directly show them the underground, but she told them what it had: the laundry, a fully equipped exercise room, a small movie theater, a game room, a panic room, and a storage room. “Well, I originally designed it as a dungeon and torture room, but Nathym insisted you wouldn’t need it, so it’s currently being used for storage. Let me know if you ever need me to change it back.”
Behind the mansion was a patio with several lounge chairs and a grilling setup. This led into what would become a garden later, but it was entirely empty at present since Drim would fill it with his own plants. A few other key features had already been added such as fountains and gazebos.
Before they could move on, the floor started opening near them and they heard scurrying up the stairs. Ahvra poked her head out and immediately ran over to Drim. “Blood please!” She held out her hands like a small child waiting to receive a gift.
“Geez, not even a hello?” Phon berated her.
“Hello. Blood please!” Ahvra repeated.
“Uhh, it’s still in the car,” Drim told her. “But I do have a list of the ones I was able to get.” Drim rummaged in his pocket for a second and pulled out a note.
Ahvra snatched it out of his hands and skimmed over it, her eyes rapidly darting down the paper. “Oho. You managed to get all the ones I really wanted. Good job being useful, Useful One. I’ll retrieve the blood myself.” Without saying anything else, Ahvra hustled out the front door.
There were only two things on the second floor: the Fiend’s rooms and a large communal bath. Each of their rooms had their own full bathroom, but this bath was special since it pumped in water directly from the hot springs in the mountains and had optional separators that could support up to eight people at once. There was also a third floor, and an elevator that traveled between all of them, but the third floor was currently empty. It had six more rooms if others were to join them in the future.
The Fiends decided to tour each of their individual rooms one at a time, the others insisting for some reason to save Drim’s room for last. As a standard, each room was roughly the size of a small house or full apartment, and they all had a king-sized bed, a desk, a computer, an entertainment center, and a place to lounge. Other than those shared amenities, each room was pretty unique.
Stolen story; please report.
They started with Xard’s room, which looked less like room and more like a small police station. There was a police scanner, shelves with empty evidence boxes, a small forensics setup, several filing cabinets, and a board that conspiracists would usually litter with red string. Similar to Ahvra’s setup, there were several monitors with feeds that watched Bisomote, as well as an active crime feed from several nearby police stations that had been hacked into.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be a cop?” Drim asked somewhat jokingly after seeing the room.
“I guess vigilante is the more appropriate word,” Xard corrected him.
Kada’s room also probably wouldn’t qualify as a proper living space. Her walls, on all four sides, were entirely waterfalls. The water stopped pouring over the door when they opened it, so they could walk inside the room. At the base of one of the walls was a pond with a rock in the middle which could be sat upon, so Kada could do mental training as depicted in several martial arts movies.
“I’m going to have to pee all the time, but it’s so worth it,” Kada admired her new space. There was also a hot tub and a swimming treadmill. In one of the corners was a mountain of art supplies and a place where she could use them to vent her creativity.
Phon’s room had a fully stocked kitchen which Mallea had solely put in because then she wouldn’t have to share the main one. However, this isn’t what got Phon worked up as she walked inside. “Mallea, this is…” Phon covered her mouth in surprise as she wore an extremely rare face. It was full of sentiment and appreciation. Lining shelves were hundreds of yo-yos. Specifically, it was the entire collection Phon had when she was a child, recreated perfectly.
“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Mallea deflected. “When you were a child, the only way I could get you to behave was to buy you a new yo-yo. If I got you a repeat of one you already had, you’d throw an even bigger fit. So, I had to memorize each one. That information was just taking up room in my brain, so I did this to make space. Honestly, it was such a bother tracking them down, and I had to make some of the rarer ones myself.”
Phon stared at Mallea for a while, clearly having an internal struggle as to whether she should hug her or not. It ended in indecision, and Phon just stormed out of the room.
“Ugh, why is it so boring!” Kada exclaimed when they entered Drim’s room. “I was expecting a mountain of monster skulls or something!” His room was mostly open space, with only the basics. The only unique things were a few empty planters to grow plants that wouldn’t survive outside, and a wall completely lined with bookshelves. The shelves were stocked with rare and unique books that Mallea had ordered for him, as well as a few he’d recovered from a certain hermit’s library. There was also a lovely reading nook over by the window that would be any avid reader’s dream.
The other Fiends left to relax in their own rooms to get over the crushing disappointment of Drim’s. “Well then, I’ll go get dinner started,” Mallea proclaimed. “It will be a feast to make up for all the mediocre food you were forced to endure over the past month. I look forward to hearing all about your trip.”
Once she left the room, Drim made sure to lock the door behind her. Sorry for being boring guys, but it’s for the best that you don’t see everything yet. Drim walked over to one of the blank walls, and rested his palm against it. His hand was scanned with a flash of light, and then the wall receded. It was replaced by a large screen which flickered on. ‘Project Fiendless’ was written on a banner at the top.
Beneath it were several tabs, including a full breakdown of the project. There were tabs for recountings, status updates, graphs and projections, as well as a political coverage tab. In that tab there was a map of the entire world. If Drim were to select a specific country, it would give an update of any recent major events as well any policy changes implemented. There was also a tab depicting any and all ordinances from the CP. It was imperative that Drim stayed informed of the political climate.
While the entire project would be potentially damaging if his friends saw it, there was one tab in particular that he believed would be best kept a secret for now. It was one even Phon didn’t know about: the Fiends tab. This provided headlines for anything related to suspected Fiend activity. Mostly, he wanted information on Fiends he had not yet met. There was also a register for all those he had met, as well as any other confirmed ones that were well known.
The last bit of information presented was the most sensitive: the location of every Fiend he had come into contact with. It showed every member of the Fiends For Hire, along with Whill since Drim had bugged his phone and clothes. He would be able to know where all of them were at any time, within a few feet.
While Drim was scanning over each tab, his annoyingly unhinged inner voice spoke up, or rather, it burst out laughing. Ahahahaha, so that’s your plan, is it?! I’m amazed you managed to keep it from me for so long. And to think you saw ME as a monster! They’ll likely see you as evil itself… or maybe a god if you pull it off. Your ambitions make mine look trivial in comparison. Who knew world domination could seem so basic and uninspired.
“I’m so glad you approve,” Drim rhetorted sarcastically. He opened the last tab on the screen: a checklist of only five words. These were the five main steps necessary to completing Project Fiendless. Drim moved his finger over the first word, and crossed it out: Attention. “In two days, no one will be able to ignore us, no matter how hard they try.”
I can see you’re quite serious about this, Eleen acknowledged. Listen Drim, there’s something important I need to tell you… Something that might get in the way of your plans.
“Ughhhhhhhh,” Drim extensively groaned, but he had to stop and think about it for a moment. Sure, she was awful, but she was the only person in the world to even come close to achieving something on the same scale as his goals. It was possible she had insight he couldn’t ignore. “Alright fine, let’s hear it.”
Yes, you see… Eleen started but then paused. I can’t say.
“You can’t say?!” Drim was genuinely shocked and unbelievably annoyed.
Nope, can’t. Eleen insisted
“Then why’d you bring it up?!” Drim spat, but then he remembered their time in Pimitrad. “Wait, is it something you don’t want to say or can’t say?”
Can’t, was all Eleen replied
“Hmm, I see. Then does it have something to do with where you got your power?” Drim inquired.
Can’t, she replied again.
“Well, that alone is pretty telling,” Drim surmised. “Is this the same source that caused Fiends to exist and gave us our powers?”
I’m sorry, I genuinely don’t know, but… Can’t, Eleen said all she could.
“Is there any specifics you can give me?” Drim persisted.
Hmm… Eleen seemed to ponder for a moment. World? Sorry that’s all I can think of at the moment, anything else I tried to say wouldn’t come out. This is frustrating, it seems that even in death I… Can’t.
That statement would give Drim a lot to think about, especially the ‘even in death’ part. “It would seem you have a sort of ‘Curse’ of your own,” Drim declared.
Yes, I suppose you could put it like that, Eleen agreed.
“Well, if you can think of anything else, please let me know,” Drim requested. “I’d appreciate it.”
Uwaa? My son appreciates me? Eleen was shaken. Gosh, my hearts all aflutter now.
“And now I regret everything,” Drim said with clear exasperation.