Chapter 3: Between the Lines
On the highest floor of a cloud piercing tower, there lies a large meeting room. A circular table of glass, three thrones, and three glasses of wine. On one of these thrones sits a woman with fiery red hair and golden eyes wearing a slick white suit.
By her side sits a small bowl of cherries. Impatiently, she pops on in our mouth, savoring its sweetness as she awaits her two… reluctant companions, in this cold, bitter room.
The double doors to the meeting room swing open, revealing a black haired man with slicked back hair, a pale complexion, and emerald green eyes wearing a dark violet suit. He takes one of the thrones silently, looking at his watch in impatience.
“So, not even gonna greet me? Geralt?” the red haired woman asks with a dour expression.
“...I admit, I’m still perturbed about the attack on one of my airbases. And I still think it’s your company that ordered the attack, Elise.” the man, Geralt, accuses.
Elise waves him off, “Cry about it, Geralt. You have no dirt on me, your accusations have no grounds.”
“If that’s the case then why is it that when Lux ruined Plasidax’s plan to loot the old Beilus Compound did somebody order a merc to attack a Lux airbase a week later?” Geralt presses with a scowl.
Elise, again, waves him off, “Coincidences happen, Geralt. Be rational.”
“I know your type, Elise.” Geralt continues, “I know your vengeance is in your blood… Admit that Plasidax attacked my airbase.”
Elise pops another cherry in her mouth, and responds with a smile, “I don’t know what you’re talking about~”
The double doors swing open again, revealing a fair, violet haired woman with blue eyes and a blue dress. Her heels clack against the marble floor rhythmically until she too sits upon her throne. “Will you two quit your bickering and get on with the meeting? I’m very busy.” the woman says coldly.
“We’re all busy, Ryka.” Geralt deadpans.
Elise rolls her eyes, “Fine, let’s just get this show on the road. I’ll start the recording.” the redheaded girl says as she clicks a remote on the table, revealing several cameras embedded around the room, surrounding them.
With her arms and legs crossed and a hand on the remote, Elise announces that the recording will start in: “5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Let us begin”
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“The recording has begun,” Elise announces, “state your names, occupations, and affiliations, please. I will do the same of course.”
“I am Geralt Oswald, CEO of Lux Industries.”
“I am Ryka Ifrit, CEO of the Charmer Foundation.”
“I am Elise Milani, CEO of the Plasidax Corporation. This recording will serve as evidence for all of us that this meeting took place, for the sake of record keeping and to use as an asset against each other in the case that one of us is compromised or if one of us decides to turn our back against the operation.”
Elise takes a sip of wine before continuing, “This meeting will be regarding the Stellar Breaker, the Stellar Firmament, and our common enemy, Overseer.”
Ryka takes a sip of her own glass of wine. “Onto the topic of Overseer, that AI has been exerting a lot more of its power now that our combative operations against each other have intensified, hasn’t it?”
“Indeed,” Geralt nods in agreement, “it's been utilizing its human and nonhuman resources far more often to regulate us to the point that we’re each progressing by mere inches for every investment and risk we take.”
“All we can do is prevent each other from accessing something, because if we attack directly, we’re sure to pay back, sign a contract, and “resolve” things peacefully due to Overseer’s pressure.” Ryka says solemnly.
“No progress has been made on our sides.” Elise states, “Only Overseer’s, for the “benefit of humanity as a whole”.”
"To put it bluntly, Overseer won’t let us do anything extreme.” Geralt affirms, “All it will let us do is bid, secure, and sign contracts that it has created so that we’ll always be under its watchful eye–”
“But they’re rigged.” Elise interjects bluntly. “That thing calculates every single contract to make sure the company it wants to win does so, and every other decision we make in light of that fact will always end up with us balancing each other out. We will always become equalized under its watch.”
“An equalized race where everyone wins…” Geralt mutters under his breath.
“Aside from that,” Ryka asserts, “while it acts like it would, it most likely has no intention of giving us the rights to exit the planet nor access the Stellar Breaker, most likely ordered by the Founders to do so, for the sake of humanity not going too far again.”
Elise nods, “Right, Overseer and the Founders probably don't want humanity advancing too far until they found “the right moment”.”
“And when will that be? Who knows? That’s why we have to deal with this now.” Geralt declares.
Ryka nods, “I’m in agreement. With this being the case, is everyone ready to swear The Oath? For our temporary truce and for our joint cooperation against Overseer?”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
They all nod in unison and raise their right arms with practiced precision.
They all say: “I swear on this Oath of Elysium, that this contract will bind me in spirit and mind. I swear on the dead gods that I will not turn my back on this Oath, lest I become one with stardust. I swear on The Founders, Micheal Plasidax, Lily Lux, and Orchard Charmer, that just as they had committed to constructing the last godslaying weapon of the War, the Stellar Breaker, I too, will shackle myself to this contract, and fulfill my duties at all costs.”
They each lower their hands slowly, first Ryka, then Elise, then Geralt.
“...Remember, this is for the sake of our progress. Once this is over, we’ll go back to what we usually do and tear each other apart.” Ryka says with a dignified expression.
“For profit, for power, and for Polyphena…” Elise sighs before continuing on with the meeting, “Now where were we…”
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The marble halls of the Plasidax Tower are clean to a pristine degree. They are white, shiny, and very reflective. So reflective that Ryka Ifrit can’t help but stare at her own perfect reflection as she walks alongside the CEO of Lux Industries.
“Are you going to keep staring at your reflection, or are you going to actually converse with the live human being by your side?”
Ryka looks up to the considerably taller man by her side, Geralt, who is looking at her with an unreadable expression. “What is it that you want from me, Geralt?”
“To talk with you off-record,” Geralt says plainly.
“With an enemy of your company?” Ryka questions, keeping her eyes on Geralt’s expression.
He seems a bit somber. “Yes.”
Ryka tilts her head, “Is this about the attack on one of your airbases?”
“Well, not in particular. Just about the situation around Polyphena as a whole.”
Ryka hums, “Would that not be brought up in our following meetings.”
“What part of “off the record” do you not understand?” Geralt sighs.
Ryka giggles, “Sorry, Geralt. Please carry on with your questions.”
The green-eyed man coughs into his fist, “Anyways, a question for you: Since Plasidax is calling the shots on the operation, do you think they’ll betray us at some point?”
Ryka hums, “It would be the logical decision to always have the upperhand even in a cooperative environment. But shouldn’t you be the one to know what Plasidax will do? Elise Expert Geralt? Since she’s your–” Ryka’s teasing is shut down with a growl, “Shut your mouth, Ryka.”
Ryka merely giggles in response.
Geralt sighs, “Anyways… How has relations with the public been on your front?
Ryka puts a hand to her lip before responding, “Pretty decently. We managed to convince the public that we don’t directly participate in open warfare, unlike you two.”
Geralt laughs, “Hah! We both know that’s a lie… You’ve just been underground with your operations.”
Ryka shrugs, “Believe what you want to believe, Geralt.”
Geralt sighs, “Mhm. Not doing too hot in my turf. Open warfare can be a hassle to keep funding with how much people are protesting against it. Plus, there are still some oldheads who want the three companies to reunite, just like how it was 20 years ago…”
Ryka shrugs, “Well, you’re still afloat, which means you must be doing something right.”
Geralt doesn’t respond, neither party does, until they reach the elevators.
“Hmm, I think I’ll stay on this floor for a little while longer. You take the elevator, Geralt.”
“Sure. Thanks for the talk, Ryka.” Geralt waves as the elevator doors between them shuts close.
“...We’re still from enemy companies, Geralt.” Ryka waves just as the elevator moves down.
Ryka looks down to her phone to scan the news on Lux Industries, and indeed it is as Geralt says, plenty of protests to stop the “needless violence between humanity’s core forces”, continued investigations from Overseer, talks of suppressing Lux’s military forces, plummeting stocks…
Ryka can’t help it, nor will she ever admit it, but she feels a pang of worry in her heart for the old friend she once had.
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“Kill confirmed. Contract completed,” Navia announces, standing over the corpse of a large, axolotl-esque monster, dead on a ruined highway with orange sunlight shining over its bleeding body as night begins to fall over the old city of Cirsep.
“Great work, Navia!” Aritha cheers by the head of the dead beast.
“Request for transport, Aritha, I have to take a look at my greatsword for repairs,” Navia says plainly, to which Aritha nods.
As Aritha contacts transport, Navia takes some time to reflect, greatsword in hand, tarnished in the blood of a Remnant, its reflective sheen ruined in black and red.
It’s been a week since Ren showed me those files… A plan to hold a meeting between the three biggest companies in Polyphena. A plan to bring down Overseer…
I can’t say I didn’t expect it, it would happen eventually. But…
If the corps win, would Polyphena become their warzone too? Would it be consumed in the open crossfire like how… how–
“Okay! Transport’s coming in 20 minutes!” Aritha announces cheerily, “Come down from there, Navia! Let’s talk while we wait!”
…No time to ruminate, huh?
“Sure thing, Aritha,” Navia says as she jumps down from the limp monster’s corpse.
“So, watcha wanna chat about?” Aritha asks with a hand on her hip.
“You’re the one who called me down, I was expecting you to have a topic,” Navia points out.
With a flat expression, Aritha deadpans, “Oh…”
Putting on a thoughtful expression, Aritha snaps her fingers excitefully, “Oh, I know! What do you think about the plummeting crime rates in Polyphena recently?”
“Plummeting crime rates?” Navia asks.
“Yup! Lately, gang activity and gang fighting in general seems to have been gradually decreasing across the city! Isn’t that interesting?”
“...Yeah, sure is.” Navia says plainly.
“Hey! What’s with that expression? It is interesting isn’t it?!”
She doesn’t know.
“Say, what do you know about the ruined town of Nyx?” Navia queries.
“Nyx? That old town that got overrun by Remnants?” Aritha asks confusedly, with Navia nodding in reply.
Aritha puts a hand to her chin as she recalls what she knows, “From what I know, a large concentration of Absomist had come over the town, resulting in a large horde of monsters that the town couldn’t fend against. Eventually, the photon barrier surrounding the town malfunctioned, letting the mist and monsters overrun the town, though thankfully a massive evacuation operation let everyone escape the calamity. Eventually, the corps bombed the place for being too intensely packed with mist and Remnants.”
Figures she wouldn’t know anything about the truth of Nyx either…
“...Let’s talk about something else…” Navia says.
“What?! Then why did you bring up the topic then?!” Aritha cries in a mixture of confusion and frustration.
“...Just something to distract me from the prices of repairs…”
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From atop a nearby building is a man donning a pitch black SoA, accented with deep silver in both lights and design. Like a dreadful raven in the dark, he watches over the two conversing mercenaries with a hand to the side of his head. “Are these the two you’ve scouted, ma’am?” he asks his client, his voice deep and gravelly.
“Strong, versatile, idealistic, brimming with potential. It’s them.” a mature female voice coming from the receiver says, “If we can become affiliated with them, then they’ll do nicely against those corporations.”
The black armored man nods, “Right, thank you for the confirmation, ma’am. I will continue tailing them.”
“Good, Asher. I’m busy, so you’ll be on your own for a while. Remember: From Scorched Branches We Bloom Anew.”
“...From Scorched Branches We Bloom Anew…” Asher repeats as he continues stalking the unsuspecting duo.
For the tragedy of Nyx…
For the decimation of Alba…
For the future of Polyphena…