Saturday, May 4th, 2069
“We’ve purchased Portals, Portal’s, Portalz,” Mr. Varnish said distastefully. “These documents will transfer ownership to Brodie Flacarada, and its assets—including the Ores that were being disputed.”
Mrs. Stovall began reading over the documents, as Mr. Varnish slid them across the table. Mrs. Stovall looked up at the next moment when Mr. Varnish continued. “I’ve also been instructed to release your accounts and stop ‘unduly’ pressuring you during the trial, but otherwise to proceed as previously intended—unless I had done anything that would be deemed underhanded.”
My inhalation became deeper and longer, as I held my breath. Hoping that he was about to admit to making up something that would prove my innocence. He shook his head in absolute disgust as he continued, “I would never, and have never manipulated evidence in a case to get a good result. I can assure you that whatever dealings you’ve made with the Larvae Guild won’t change the facts of this case. Morgan Hallsbrad is a Private Investigator that worked with the Larvae Guild in London. He came over to America to find the killer of another member's daughter—that is the facts of this case, as I see them.”
“What about the missing gloves?” Mrs. Stovall asked.
Mr. Varnish scoffed. “What gloves, Mrs. Stovall? My team happened upon that disparity in the case when reading over the Detectives statements. As far as I can tell, Detective Flair is misremembering—“
“Misremembering two pairs of gloves?” Mrs. Stovall interjected angrily. “This isn’t the man’s first day on the job!”
“That part did strike my team and I as odd, but what other explanation is there?” Mr. Varnish asked, his tone admitting that he too, was slightly suspicious of that fact in the case.
“What about you being hired for this case in the first place?” Mrs. Stovall continued. “Don’t you think it's a little strange that you, of all people, were called in to replace the normal Crown Counsel for a case against a college student with a background of zero issues with the law?”
“The reason that exemption was made has already been explained to you Mrs. Stovall, and exactly how is it odd for a high profile Guild to bring in their own counsel for a case?”
I was glad to see that I wasn’t the only one who stared at Mr. Varnish with narrowed eyes. After a moment Mrs. Stovall sighed and returned to reading the papers. Clearly, Aurome’s reasoning yesterday and Mr. Varnish’s further insistence was enough for her. I was left studying the room.
This meeting wasn’t taking place in Mr. Varnish’s opulent warehouse. Instead, it was happening in the Portals, Portal’s, Portalz Offices—in what I could only assume was Jagger Vance’s office.
I could even see spots on the desk and walls where paintings or degrees once hung—now marked by slightly brighter paint, scuff marks and screws. I would never have called the office plain or cheap before being inside of Mr. Varnish’s ‘Warehouse’, but now it looked like a corner cubicle in comparison.
Jagger’s desk was a large dark black square—made of Aluminum, if I was judging correctly. The chair behind it was certainly pricey but made of false leather. Even Mr. Varnish’s compact frame made the identical chair he was in look small. Aurome and the smaller Seleff beside him, made the things look beyond uncomfortable.
Smegma had stayed to listen in on conversations the previous night, but because Seleff was just regaining consciousness, and put up a bubble again, he hadn’t gotten much before the hundred meter tether to me cut his espionage short. Seleff did supposedly describe the occurrence that caused his blackout as ‘odd’. Like he’d lost the ability to sense a particular ‘space’ inside of his Skil before he’d reformed it. When he’d tried to examine that spot further—he’d caused a… ‘Mana Loop’, which was Smegma’s current assumption.
Supposedly, that was the Earth term used for something Smegma believed was what he’d known of as Backlash. When a Skill essentially went out of control and caused the user to slip in their ability to manage a Skill, spilling the resource being used into their own bodies. From what we could tell, they didn’t draw any conclusions toward Smegma and Demonic Vault, but we also couldn’t stay in the lobby for long without drawing suspicion.
Mrs. Stovall tapped the last page of the document, and then motioned around at the building. “Everything seems to be in order—however, there needs to be one change. We would like ownership transferred to Gary and Clara Flacarada, instead of Brodie.”
Mr. Varnish smirked. “Worried that he’ll lose his assets when sentenced?”
Mrs. Stovall gave him a look with one raised eyebrow. “We’d simply like to have the company in Brodie’s parents name because he’ll soon be attending a Hunter’s Academy, thanks to the Larvae Guild sponsorship.”
Mr. Varnish didn’t roll his eyes, but he did glance at Aurome and Seleff. I smirked, even as my father clapped a hand onto my shoulder proudly. Still, there was one thing I’d promised to ask after. I turned to Aurome and Seleff as well. “Would we also be able to offer my friend Dave an opportunity to attend a Hunter Academy?”
“We do still have one item to negotiate over,” Aurome answered, confusing me, until he added, “The additional uses of the Skill Altar.”
My flinch was somewhat involuntary as I looked pointedly at Mr. Varnish. Aurome began to chuckle. “Mr. Varnish is our exclusive Lawyer. He has signed an NDA, and his team drew up the rough drafts for these contracts. He personally put the finishing touches on them once we shared the secret.”
Mr. Varnish seemed proud of that, even as he smugly pulled out another document and slowly slid it to Mrs. Stovall. “We anticipated that change. This contract should be acceptable.
“As for the additional—” Mr Varnish looked at a notebook beside him, “—thirteen?” He glanced at me to confirm and I nodded, so he continued, “—uses of the Low-Rank-Skill Altar, the Larvae Guild could agree to Dave’s sponsorship to a Hunter Academy, for the remaining uses of course.”
The silence that followed that statement was loud. I hadn’t planned to trade away any of those uses. In fact, with the Mirage Guild off our backs, I’d been planning to buy enough yellow cores to provide my mother and some select others with skills. Still, Mr. Varnish’s tone one Low-Rank and his statement seemed to make it a final offer—but I doubted that.
“Four uses,” I said, and got the pleasure of seeing Mr. Varnish’s smile falter slightly. Aurome and Seleff looked at each other with a small smirk.
“Twelve,” Mr. Varnish countered.
After that Mrs. Stovall took over and a ‘middle ground’ was reached at Nine—meaning I could give four people skills. That number was actually rather perfect, since my mother needed a skill—that and Dave and my father could use a second. So, I’d have one left over.
“Nine and you’ll provide thirty-six D-rank Portal cores,” I quickly added, before Mr. Varnish and Mrs. Stovall could shake on the completed deal. Mr. Varnish rolled his eyes and looked at Aurome.
“Acceptable, do you want any specific element in the Portal Cores?” Aurome asked.
“I’ll let the people pick for themselves, and send you the bill if that’s okay?”
“No point buying them from stores. Send us the choices and we’ll drop off the Cores and Altar immediately,” Aurome answered and I nodded.
With that the documents were signed by all parties. The completed agreements included: P-Cubed Purchase for over a hundred Million dollars and its name change to Abyss: Portal Services and Consumables. Our agreement to keep the secret of the Altars for three months.Larvae Guild’s full protection from Mirage, and Mr. Varnish dropped Echo-five as a client. Four Skill bestowals for us, with all needed Cores paid for by Larvae—and finally, sponsorship for Dave and myself to a Hunter Academy we could get accepted to on our own merits, if I was proven innocent in the case.
Of course, I was going to be allowed to sell the secret again later to the UNMH or other Guilds—after three months.
Just as everything was signed, Mr. Varnish looked at his watch and smiled. “You might want to get going, P-cubed has a Portal Contract with Lynx in the Detroit Field that leaves in forty minutes.”
“What?!” My father exclaimed as he shot to his feet.
“Not to worry. It’s just for a D-rank Portal of one of their sub-teams. Missing today probably won’t cause too many problems.”
I got to my feet and smiled. That might be the best news I’d heard today! With Portals, Portal’s, Portalz acquisition—Abyss didn’t have to worry about hiring. That and I’d purchase some Tools from Smegma on the drive over!
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“We’ll take our leave then,” I responded. “I trust you’ll see yourself out?” I added, only indicating Mr. Varnish in that minor insult. The man took it in stride, with a simple nod of acknowledgement as he did begin packing up his gear.
Aurome offered me a handshake as he stood, and I was slightly surprised but did quickly jump forward to accept. The monstrous mitt that engulfed my hand, forearm and almost elbow was almost fascinating but I couldn’t dwell on it because in his deep baritone Aurome said, “I hope what you’ve claimed is true. It would be wonderful to work with you in the future.”
“Uhh—thanks!” I said, and then motioned over my shoulder awkwardly. “I should get going.”
Aurome nodded and let go of my ‘hand.’ “Yes, yes. Don’t keep your employees waiting on you.”
I smiled. “You mean my father’s employees.” I pulled out a gleaming Pickaxe from the inventory in my Necklace and casually swung it over my shoulder. “I’m just a regular ol’ Miner..”
* * *
We made one call in the car, thanks to everyone waiting at my parents' place. After hanging up, I began purchasing a number of Skinning Knives, Mining Picks and Gardening Kits. The exact number of workers we had wasn't something my mother knew at the moment, but she was on her way into the P-cubed building to find out.
Still, she estimated at least thirty of each. Our Ford Escort pulled into the parking lot with the multitude of ATV’s just like we had in the past, and my father’s eyes narrowed as we drove by an expensive car that was extremely out of place amongst the beaters.
“That’s Jagger’s car!” My dad said while trying to look through its tinted windows. As far as I could tell no one was inside, which probably didn’t bode well.
“What’s that idiot doing?” Smegma asked, and I conveyed the question to my father.
“I’m not sure, but I can’t imagine it’s anything good.”
Smegma flew up ahead, considering we didn’t know what ATV we were assigned. My father and I did try asking a few people for directions but the Demon found Jagger Vance first. My father and I jogged up to discover Jagger openly recruiting a group of Cleaners.
“—Specialists so I could easily take all of you with me to my new, better company,” Jagger said. We were a bit too late to hear the exact number of Specialists that Jagger was claiming to possess but Smegma filled me in, with a simple ‘ten.’
“Ahh, and here’s your new owners—“ Jagger motioned at me and my father. “They’ve got absolutely no experience in running a Portal Goods Company, and even worse, don’t have any connections to keep you working with top tier Guilds. Within a month, anyone who stays will be running with Low-Ranked Guilds.”
A visible shudder went through the crowd. For a split second, I honestly was worried, but then I remembered what we were offering, thanks to Mental Fortitude instantly calming my emotions. Calmly, I met eyes with one of the group members that hadn’t shuddered in revulsion at Jagger’s words.
“Would you care to go grab the Miners and Gardeners? Like Jagger here, we have an offer—that I believe is far better than anything he’s willing to make.”
Jagger scoffed, and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ve already got all the Specialists with me! What could you possibly give these workers?”
“I’d rather not repeat myself, but if you’ll wait just a moment for the others to arrive—you’ll be very happy you stayed.”
“There’s nothing you can offer. I still own all the equipment and Bags of Holdings for the runners!” Jagger guffawed. “This should be good!”
We had three ATV’s that were parked side by side, and so it only took a few minutes for the willing people to arrive. The total was probably just over a hundred and fifty, which made my earlier purchases of forty of each item a little lacking in at least one Professional category. But I would fix that later.
“I haven’t gotten to speak to everyone yet,” Jagger said first, raising his hands above his head to get everyone’s attention. “However, I’ll make the same offer to anyone who wishes it. I have ten Specialists in Gardening, Cleaning and Mining with my new company P-Squared—“
“Oh the originality,” Smegma interjected sarcastically.
“—the new owners of Abyss,” Jagger sneered along with the emphasis on our new company's name. “Don’t have a single Skilled Specialist in any of those three. Come with me, keep your current job, and I’ll have new contracts with the top Windsor Guilds as early as today—go with them and you’ll be working with the Low-Ranked Guilds by next week!”
I waited patiently, even as a few people in the crowd stepped forward to hurry to Jagger’s side. Part of me wanted to interject and cut him off, but I figured it was better to have a smaller group of loyal people than a larger group of flaky ones.
Once the mass exodus was over, I was sad to see only sixty odd faces not standing behind Jagger. Of those sixty, thirty of them were Miners that likely stayed because they personally knew my father.
“Did you tell them about them all becoming Specialists?” Willa said as she jogged over to join the group. Dave and Jarred were unsurprisingly with her, since they’d all been having breakfast at my place.
A few people in the group behind Jagger perked up at that statement but I shook my head. “Thank you for coming to hear what I have to say,” I announced to the group that remained, instead of answering Willa. “Jagger may be offering you the same job you had with P-cubed, over at P-squared, but what I’m offering you is something more.”
A few people behind Jagger who put two-and-two together attempted to cross back to the group, and I held up a hand in their direction. “We’ll be taking applications if you’re interested,” I pointedly said to let the one who’d moved the quickest know that they were certainly not included in my offer. He froze even as a few others slunk back into their place behind Jagger, clearly hoping they weren’t noticed.
“What Abyss: Portal Services and Consumables offers is Enchanted equipment for anyone we employ, making them Specialists. That, along with each of your years of experience—that is something truly valuable. We’ll also be offering bonuses with higher caps and—” I was forced to stress the conjunction as Jagger attempted to cut me off.
“—better benefits!” I shouted the last word, knowing that my father and mother often complained about the coverages they’d had with P-cubed.
“Come on!” Jagger shouted over the murmurs that broke out in both groups of workers. To my surprise, the better benefits were probably discussed more than the offer to purchase Enchanted tools for people. “You’ve all tried your hand at purchasing Enchanted gear and earning more in bonuses than you spent before it breaks. It doesn’t work. Any company offering to supplement those costs will go bankrupt within a year! Don’t be fooled.”
His rant did help explain why the excitement of the crowd had seemed focused on the benefits. I looked to my father who stepped forward. We’d discussed what to say to the workers that waffled in this situation in the car—well what he’d say.
But we clearly hadn’t expected Jagger to oppose us directly…
“Maybe with someone who was keeping over fifty percent of the profit for himself, it would be difficult to keep a company running. What we’re offering is partial ownership to all our employees. The company will still take a percentage, but only to cover the cost of equipment repairs, healing, back of house, insurance and other such expenses. Some of you may not know me, but my name’s Gary, and until recently I was a simple Miner—one of you. I’ve already become a Specialist, through the same process we’re offering you. That rise has gotten me and mine a significant raise in wage and standard of living!”
Jagger scoffed, but did glance over both shoulders, trying to catch people who might be persuaded. Not that I would have allowed them to cross over anyway. The lines had been drawn—for now, and I was okay working with this smaller number of hopefully trustworthy people.
Why?
Because I was going to reveal to them the prepared ‘Equipment Repair Mark’ tale. Not that it mattered much at this point, but I still wasn’t comfortable with that knowledge being ‘public.’ Sure, it would eventually have to come out, but the longer I kept it hidden, the less questions I’d have to answer.
Especially in the courtroom.
“This is your final chance,” Jagger shouted. “I’m going to take these workers with me and go discuss future Portal work with Taz—or maybe—I’ll even get tacked onto this pathetic run.”
Thankfully, Taz couldn’t break the contract with P-cubed, now Abyss: Portal Services and Consumables, without accruing a massive penalty. But admittedly, our skeleton crew of workers might put the man off.
And yet, we now only needed one ATV. And we’d all be Specialists. So, it might be a cost effective trade-off. I wasn’t aware what renting the ATVs cost—or the price of simply running them into the Detroit Field if Lynx owned them.
“Hopefully the latter,” Smegma said. “Otherwise, Lynx already paid rental fees…”
I winced, looking at the three ATVs that had been assigned to P-cubed. Still, it would be best to handle a few other problems that Jagger had highlighted. His group slowly began turning away to follow after the pompous man in his expensive suit.
Some seemed reluctant to go—and a few of the group that had stayed even rushed to my father to plead the cases of those individuals. Unfortunately, we also lost another five to ten leaving our total at about fifty, which admittedly wasn’t great—considering that thirty of them were Miners, fifteen Cleaners and only Five Gardeners.
My father did allow the ones that were pleaded for by current ‘members’ to return which upped our numbers slightly, bringing the total of Cleaners to twenty-two, and Gardeners to eight. It wasn’t ideal, but with everyone working at the level of a Specialist, it might be enough.
Still, there was one other major problem that Jagger highlighted and I needed to solve. Mentally, I sent Smegma, [We need Bags of Holding.]
“Yeah, the good news is that Bags of Holding are far cheaper than your Necklace—this one’s probably best.“
Bag of Medium Holding
Grade: High-D
A Bag that has a space inside it of 300 cubic feet. Items can be summoned into and out of this space by mental command. This Bag is made with Dread Stallion Hide and can hold no further Enchantments.
Cost: 250,000 mC
Cheaper was a bit of a misnomer—considering that it cost half as much as my Necklace but held about two hundred and twenty-five cubic feet more. Still, I didn’t really have an option. I turned to my father, “I’ll head back to the car and get the gear.”
He nodded, even as I asked Smegma, [What’s my current mC total?]
“After the equipment earlier and the sale of the B-rank Crystals for insurance against Mirage which is now Abyss Company Capital? Eight-hundred and ninety-five thousand Mana Coins and change.”
Since I needed a Bag for each group, that meant I’d be down to a hundred and forty-five thousand pretty soon. There was one final consideration—
Would my purchase increase my Contribution to Demonic Vault enough that I’d create a light show?