Elena sat in her office, wearing the stoic look that the world always saw and her loved one’s never saw. She was having an interview. Hovering in the corner of her vision was a display window. Another feature of the phone construct.
The particulars of her current interviewees personal and professional history scrawled across the window. Though actually knowing what was in the window was just a matter of wanting to do so. Slope shouldered, sweaty palmed and slightly pale. The nervous young woman seated in front of Elena, was nearly unrecognizable when compared to the version of the woman that lived in Elena’s head.
On one hand it wasn’t unsurprising to see the girl here, after all, the BTC were currently in charge of her sect. Continuing their ownership of the Twelve Souls Sect even though they’d returned Lloyd’s rule to its royalty and the Ministry.
On the other hand, one would have expected the girl to go freelance or work anywhere else then come for this interview. Especially, knowing who she’d be interviewing with. Perhaps this was what they called being “thick-skinned”.
“Okay, Ms.Mckinney, would you mind explaining some traits you have, that would make you a good fit here at the Bone Tree Company?” said Elena.
“Er...Well, yes. Well, first foremost I’ve trained as a martial student for most of my life. Roughly twenty-one years. I have leadership experience working as the lead for KOG operations and sect missions. I also have an extensive background in alchemy and pharmacology which is supported by my plant generating abilities.” said Esme.
“Hm...Very good.”
Elena found herself a little annoyed, if she wasn’t going to be petty, she was going to be forced to admit that the girl was looking like a good candidate.
The background information that Elena was pulling up even had her as clean for vetting, meaning she wasn’t some outside plant. Her desperation and a very sudden and unexpected change in fortunes pushing her to seek employment anywhere that would take her.
Interviewing with the BTC, even though she herself was aware that it was both a longshot and a danger, as it was apparently her last shot at a respectable job. With the next stop being a choice between a certain bordello out in Gwenael and a certain Mercenary Company in Meallan.
Curiously enough, Elena’s data showed that the girl was leaning towards the Bordello. It seemed that Mercenary Company only did jobs that were step above suicide.
In either case the girl was trustworthy, at least for now. Something that couldn’t be said for the majority of those who’d walked into Elena’s office today.
Elena sighed and saw the young woman grow even paler. Elena paid the girl’s obvious discomfort no mind, and she definitely didn’t try to reassure the girl. Just because Elena had already decided to let bygones be bygones didn’t mean she’d go out of her way to be especially be nice.
Elena could still remember being spat on after the Sect enforcers crippled her cultivation. Driving their hands into her chest and disrupting the flow of her aether. Holding her aloft because by then her legs had already been torn off.
What was most galling, if also far from surprising was that the the group that was most filled with bugs, spies and potential saboteurs were those with the last name Maddoc. Brutus and the family, were doing their best to fill the company with their people. Elena could guess at their reasoning but didn’t feel inclined to dumb herself down in such a fashion.
Elena wasn’t sure why they weren’t just hiring from their staff pool in the Thousand Ghosts, but Edna had insisted, and thus here she was.
“Alright, well it’s been nice meeting you, Ms.Mckinney.” said Elena. Standing.
“Um...Y-yes, ma’am.”
The girl stood too, looking more than a little shaken. They shook hands with Elena mean spiritedly squeezing just a little tighter than she needed to.
By the time she saw the girl to the door, seeing her off with a shade escort that would lead her to an elevator, Elena already decided that she’d likely hire the girl. The prospect of quietly looming over her as an employer trumped the idea simply just tossing her application.
*****
The pulse could be felt all the way on the other side of the planet. It could in fact be felt on other planets, in other dimension, in other universe.
A pulse, that was just slightly to low for the ear to catch, but loud enough that it stirred the blood, and rattled people bones.
Countless people were up in arm, countless others fearfully looked towards the heavens and there were more still who simply shrug. Ignoring the issue all together since they could find no answers and no apparent harm seemed to have been done.
*****
“Oh there you are.” said two voices, speaking in unison. The first speaker was Edna who’d gated in after a meeting Maellan. The second speaker was Ophelia who’d been around all along.
Touring the facility with a few of the Bone Tree Company’s newest employees. A special service for her former employers and the few ministry agents that the BTC had allowed to “infiltrate” their ranks.
“Nh? Um...yeah, here I am?”
Ophelia sighed, a little put out by her young lover, the boy had a troublesome habit of just simply vanishing.
Edna simply smiled, striding into the room and giving the boy a kiss.
“Hi, Billy..” said Edna.
“Hi, Ed.” said Billy.
“Mind making that stop.” said Edna
“What?” said Billy.
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“Apparently quite a few thaumaturgists of the mage’s schools and seers of the temples have been picking up some kind of weird fluctuation in the planet’s aether flow.”
“What?!” said Ophelia wondering why she hadn’t heard any of this, since even without the ministry's psychic network it wasn’t like she was exactly out of the loop.
“Nh? Ah! That...Sure.”
Billy turned leaned forward and then twisted one of the dials on the console in front of him.
“Better…?”
Edna nodded, satisfied as she felt the dull ache that had creeping up from somewhere within her teeth fade.
Ophelia blinked feeling it too.
“Wait! So that was you?” she said.
“Of course it was?”
“I thought it was the gods’ war getting nearer.” said Ophelia.
Any skepticism that she or anyone else might have had over the rumors of the god’s war was lost if one looked up at the sky at night.
Sometimes you could even see it during the daytime, two seas of light and color that crashed into each other in the most spectacular of fashions. Delighting the children of the common folk but giving those who knew better reason to worry.
“Huh? No, that’ll still take a while. Well...honestly I’m hoping it doesn’t reach us before we’ve gotten a chance to fix it so….”
Ophelia just shook her head, moving on to the more important issue.
“So what were you doing to make whatever that was happen?” asked Ophelia.
“Oh, I was just doing some system tests. Making sure everything works.”
Ophelia frowned, aware that, that answered next to nothing and perturbed because she knew it wasn’t on purpose.
She fully intended to keep asking more questions seeking clarification till she got to the bottom of the matter, but she got a look from Edna that made her just shake her head and walk off. A small sheepish grin on her face.
It seemed that her question would have to wait and while Ophelia had never seen herself getting into a permanent relationship period, not to mention one where she was just one amongst a group of partners, she had enough experience observing and mingling with the family of the upper crust to know what was expected.
After all a big part of working in the ministry was knowing how to read the mood of a room.
Ophelia returned to the group she’d been showing around the facility, taking over from the staff member who’d she left in charge.
The tower was roughly three or four thousand floors stacked with electrical equipment and magical sculptures. There were even more floors, with a new floor being built every three hours or so, but those were mainly manned by shades. Filled with deadly and chaotic energies that even practitioners of the tenth realm and above would need to be wary of.
Ophelia found her way to an elevator, she could have used an N-Gate, but somehow gating for short distances always seemed excessive to her. The elevator doors opened.
“Hey….”
“You? I thought you were with Edna?” said Ophelia.
Billy nodded, wearing his usual non-expression.
“I am.”
“Ah, right. How could I forget your considerable skill when it comes to multitasking?” said Ophelia, wearing a wry smile as she entered the elevator.
“Nh…So you wanted to talk about something?” said Billy.
Ophelia startled, she’d put her line of thought from a few seconds ago on backlog, now she had to concentrate to remember what she’d wanted to say to the man.
“You know? Even if you can multitask, one would think that there’s some things a man would prefer to put all his attention to.” she said, joking for the sake of buying time.
Billy blinked and it took him a second to figure out what the silver haired elf was talking about.
“Nh? Oh...we’re not having sex or anything. We’re just talking.”
“Oh?” Ophelia frowned. Not only had she not really expected an answer, the answer she’d gotten wasn’t the answer she’d expected. She wasn’t sure why but now she felt just a tad uncomfortable.
Edna had been nothing but welcoming as Ophelia entered their little family even going as far inviting her out on the girls’ nights out. And Ophelia was mature enough to know that some things were private and it was natural not to want to share everything. Working in espionage for over two centuries had taught her that.
Still she couldn’t help the small nagging lines of thought of that that felt a little left out and the lines of thought that worried if they were talking about her. It was narcissistic she knew, and childish too, but still the thoughts were there.
Billy eyed her, seeming to read her mood, he spoke up.
“It’s not about you or anything. She’s mostly just checking up on me because she thinks I might be about to do something that could be somewhat...dangerous for my health again.”
Ophelia blinked aware that he must have been reacting to some vibe she was putting out. Some combination of tiny cues in her expression, her body language, the bits of her that floated in his brain as part of their psychic connection. She wasn’t quite sure if she liked being read like that. Somehow knowing he hadn’t even been reading her mind, made it all the more discomfiting.
“Mhm?...Er...I wasn’t worried about that….Or rather, you aren’t doing anything dangerous for your health right?” said Ophelia, covering up her fluster, by moving the conversation to other things.
This it was Billy’s turn to look uncomfortable, his eyes sliding off of her as he suddenly grew fascinated with the corner of the elevator.
“Define Dangerous….” said Billy.
“As in likely to cause you injury or harm, and or result in death…” said Ophelia. Her tone playful, do her look was growing increasingly stern. She’d just barely started the relationship and she’d yet to figure out where it was going yet, she’d be dreadfully disappointed if the boy went and ruined things by dying.
“Nh... Well, if we start by saying that the mere prospect of life is in and of itself...a danger, I’m pretty sure that I’m not doing anything especially dangerous. Or at least its nothing likely to get me killed….At least not killed in the traditional sense away.” said Billy. His words parsed and measured in a way that made the ministry taught instincts within Ophelia scream for clarification.
“Hmmm….Right.”
“Nh...Oh.” said Billy. Nodding and then startling, standing bolt upright before settling backing into his slouched position.
“Oh, what?” said Ophelia.
“It seems we’re getting a little bit more intimate now…” said Billy.
Ophelia gave the man a look, a light flush coloring her usual frosty pallor.
“You and me or…”
Billy shook his head.
“No, Edna and I…Apparently we’re having sex after all.” said Billy.
“Ah….right.” said Ophelia. She looked at the man, looking him up and down her scrutiny starting at his face and drifting downwards.
“You don’t look it.”
Billy scratched his cheek, a shy and startlingly delicate blush, creeping into his cheeks.
“I teach small children occasionally, as well as their parent, and there are other iterations of me doing work else in the world. I think we can both agree it’d be a bit of problem if it worked that way.”
Ophelia smirked.
“I suppose.”
“Oh, right…” said Ophelia, remembering what she’d wanted to ask.
“What?” said Billy.
“So all this...this project of your, I don’t suppose you know how long it take till its complete.” said Ophelia.
Billy blinked, having quickly recovered.
“Oh, that? It’s already done.” said Billy.
It took Ophelia a half second to process that. As far as Billy’s project went, while she wasn’t sure what the project’s run time was, it had seemed like the undertaking would take a few more years at the least. At least that was what her experiences with other sorcerers and enchanters had had her thinking.
Spoken plainly, the actual numbers in the plans he’d shown her should have made completion impossible for this century. She couldn’t help worrying that the man was rushing thing.
“It’s already done? Like you mean you’re already finished building your...whatever it is?” said Ophelia.
Billy shoulders tossed in a guest that could have easily been both a nod and a shrug.
“Well, for the most part anyway.” said Billy.
“Then why didn’t you say anything?” asked Ophelia.
“I still needed time to tweak a few things.” said Billy.
“And now….?” said Ophelia.
“I think we should be set, in a week or two.” said Billy.