Chapter 86

Jennifer sat at her desk, back held upright despite the uncomfortableness of her simple chair in the middle of the spartan room she worked from. This was just a temporary accommodation, she told herself to stave off the discomfort, until the actual offices were completed. She had looked at the plans for the Security Division buildings, and she had to admit she couldn’t wait for all the structures to be completed.

She thought back to the first interaction she had with Michael, back when she still had no idea who the actual boss was, and frowned.

“I made such a fool of myself back then,” she thought. She’d change things if she could. She had been an asshole to him, thinking he was there just because he knew the right people, not for a single moment willing to believe that perhaps he was the right people.

To be fair, Michael’s appearance and age were quite unusual for the status he had, and they didn’t fit what she knew about the company she was working for back then. Time had taught her to let go of her assumptions, of course. She now knew that magic was real, that monsters were real, and that superhuman people walked among us.

Looking up, she saw the vast expanse of upturned earth, dirty gravel, heavy machinery and hired muscle milling about. The later summer setting sun bathed everything orange, in a strange way that made the scene look like a reverse apocalypse movie, a wasteland slowly being turned into something orderly and neat, trees sprouting here and there almost as fast as the building themselves were materializing, both of which happened with the help of magic other than just human effort.

It was remarkable. Site 00 was going to be huge, most of the large plot of land taken up by tall towering buildings, underground laboratories, training facilities and more green spaces than she thought would ever fit on it. And this, she had been told, was just to accommodate the Candle Light, Security, and a small part of the Science and Research divisions.

She heard that Mr. Chestermill, the CEO, was currently trying to get ownership of the nearby land as well, both the forest and the fields that made up this side of the Appalachian Trail, with no regard of whether they were flat land, impassable rock outcroppings, hills, or dusty fields. Unity Corp was hungry for land, and they had the means to take it for themselves. Money was not a problem now that PetroLink was under their umbrella, and even without it she knew that the other avenues they were pursuing were bound to become very lucrative in the long run. Some of them even involved her, although the details were still vague.

What surprised her of all of this was their plan to develop a good chunk of the land for civilian habitation. Because of course Michael had thought not only about the Operators and employees of his company, but also about their families. Apparently, he had been a slave to a long commute himself, and he didn’t wish to inflict such harsh fate on anyone else.

She shook her head. Only someone like him could go as far as offer free habitation to their employees just to reduce their commute. From what she heard, it wasn’t going to be simple habitation either. The houses looked like they came out of a sci-fi movie, complete with all sorts of amenities provided by either top of the line technology or disguised magic.

It was good enough that even she was considering taking up residence there once the houses were finally built. It would take a while, of course, but she was patient. They were free, after all. Were they a strategy to win hearts and minds of all the people who worked for Michael? Sure it was. But she had a hunch that perhaps the plan had not been with such a goal in mind when Michael thought of it. Of course, neither Mr Chestermill nor Mr Tyrell would ever let such a good idea go to waste, and they spun the plan around until they made sure everyone knew who to thank for the free housing.

Herself included. As a high-level figure in the company, Mr. Chestermill had hinted at the fact that she could choose her accommodation from a rather rich selection. A small villa for her whole family, complete with garden, pool and guest houses. An apartment at the 50th floor of one of the towers they were going to build. An underground secure structure that could literally survive the end of the world…

She had asked about the last option. She didn’t like the answer she received. It seemed that some of the scientists that were beginning to work for the Research Division were not very confident in the fate of the planet now that magic was about to spread out from the dungeons. Some of them specifically asked to be given bunkers to spend their lives in, and they only agreed to work in secure labs deep underground, with assurance that their family was in an equally safe accommodation.

Paranoids. Weird that there were so many of them, though.

The sound of drilling brought her back to the present. With a gesture, a magical stone lit up and the sound disappeared completely. One of the many hidden benefits of living within an Area Of Influence, as Mr. Tyrell called it.

While useful, however, such trinkets made her all too aware of the fact that the place she lived in was constantly bathed in magical radiation. Now, she wasn’t one to believe strange theories about magnetic fields coming from your phone and giving you cancer, but how could she deny the existence of mana when she felt her mana pool interact with it all the time?

Johanne had ensured her that it would have no ill effects on her body. But research was still ongoing last time Jennifer checked, and she did check several times thanks to her high security clearance. It was not quite enough to keep her up at night, but enough that she had yet to tell her family and relatives about the possibility of moving to a free apartment in the middle of nowhere.

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Well, by the time the houses would be done, it wouldn’t be in the middle of nowhere anymore, would it?

She shook her head. It was almost time to turn in for the night. Already she had worked past dinnertime, but her work ethic wouldn’t allow her to leave her office until everything was in order. For such a small company, compared to other places she worked, Unity had an awful lot on its plate. They were planning a lot of things, and Mr. Tyrell was a damn machine about it.

“Easy when he abuses the dungeon’s time dilation mechanic,” she muttered.

She wondered how the man did it. In fact, she wondered how Michael did it. It was one thing to go to the Valley and work from there, and another thing to spend days upon days fighting monsters. Johanne, she could understand. The woman was crazy. She came from the dungeon, weird as it sounds, and it was weird enough that Jennifer refused to let her thoughts bore too deep into the topic whenever her mind decided to brush upon it.

But the other two? She remembered her week in the Valley. Somewhat. It felt like a half-forgotten dream by now, but the one thing that was crystal clear in her mind was the feeling of dread that had gripped her while she was in the dungeon. A feeling that had never left her until she herself had left its influence. The feeling of being watched. The feeling of being underwater, unable to breathe unless someone else allowed her to. The feeling of being an ant before a mountain.

No thanks. “I have no idea how he’s still sane…”

“He has a monstrous Resilience stat,” a voice startled her. She felt her magic stir, and the possible implications of that were pure horror. She whirled around fast enough to make her chair fall to the ground, and only then did she recognize who had entered the room.

Her mind supplied a bit of information that explained why she had not heard Mr. Tyrell enter.

Stupid sound dampening stones, she wanted to curse Johanne for even installing such a faulty piece of tech into her room. But she had been warned that they were still in testing, and at the time her desire to get rid of the sound of construction was stronger than reason. Besides, she was actually grateful for them, it was just that thinking about the dungeon had her on edge. She recognized her own altered mental state and let it go.

“Mr. Tyrell.” She acknowledged, although her voice was still shaking.

“Hi Jennifer. Sorry I startled you.”

Her relationship with the man was complicated. He had the sort of position within Unity that made him the jack of all trades, with as much power as the CEO and perhaps even of Michael himself, although in an unofficial capacity.

“It’s no problem, uh, sir. You were saying?”

The man looked around, as if studying her and her office before speaking. That’s what unsettled her. She knew the power he had as head of Candle Light. She knew what he could do to people, even though he had never done anything to anyone.

What if he scrutinized her, and found her lacking? She could appeal to Michael, sure, but it would be her word against Mr. Tyrell’s… who would Michael believe of the two?

Suddenly Jennifer’s Tome of the Unmaking Flame felt heavy in her possession. The book was strapped to her back, always touching her, always ready to be used.

“Michael has a status, with stats like a video game,” the head of Candle Light said. “Didn’t you read the file I sent you? Should be called CL-OWNER-012 “Skill: Unity”. It’s one of the files about Michael’s abilities.”

Jennifer nodded mechanically. She remembered it well. “Is that what his Resilience does?”

The man shrugged. “It’s abnormally high. Coupled with all other changes brought by the other stats and his other skills, it’s hard to say for sure.”

“I see.” Jennifer said weakly.

“But to answer your question. No. it’s not what allows him to spend so much time in there. Why do you think I manage, although in a lesser capacity? I would never last as long if I were fighting or training all the time, but at least I can last some days in the Valley. Unlike everyone else, it seems.”

Jennifer swallowed. It was a rhetorical question, one that required her to say something. Mr. Tyrell’s presence stifled her, but she managed to find her words.

“Why is that?” she asked.

“Because we are insane,” the man said. There was a mad glint to his eyes, and the way his impossibly white teeth shone, and his bulging muscles seemed to writhe and move on their own, in unnatural ways…

“Insane?” she croaked.

“Ask Michael what he did back when he first started delving. Might put things in perspective.”

She felt like she didn’t need to. She recalled the week of hellish training—although with difficulty. She recalled very well how she felt at the end of it.

“You did well, hiding your discomfort from him,” said the man as if he had read her mind. “He has no idea how different he really is from us all. Even me. It’s better if it remains this way. I’m going to go see his sister now, I need to brief her and give her the all-pass badge. Have a good night!”

He left.

Jennifer had barely recovered when Trevor walked in.

“What happened?” the second head of security asked, “you look like you’ve seen a ghost. Wait, are ghosts real now? I think those things that are supposed to be in the mana in the air are ghosts.”

Jennifer shook her head. “It’s nothing. How are things?”

“It’s… good, I guess? Shit’s about to happen, that much I can tell. Did you read the brief about the Occult Affairs? That’s some nightmare fuel.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I did. We will be as prepared as we can, of course.”

“Of course,” said Trevor with a grin. “I saw Travis on the way in.”

Jennifer nodded, “he said he’s going to Michael’s sister. He’s giving her an all-pass.”

Trevor whistled. “Not even we have those. Envious?”

“Nah,” said Jennifer, “I fear it’s going to be just another headache.”

“Come on,” said the man, “can’t blame the administration here for all the headaches. It’s not like there’s protocol to deal with magic.”

Jennifer shrugged. “I was talking about other forms of headaches. Mr. Tyrell gives me the chills. The dungeon gives me the chills.”

“Yeah, well.” Trevor paused, “I know we have to go back there, eventually. But I can’t say I am looking forward to it.”

“Me neither. I think I might have nightmares about it.”

“But that’s what we are here to protect, isn’t it?”

“Not protect it,” said Jennifer, “but protect the world from it.”

“That’s right,” Trevor said. “I’m night shift today. Come on, get some sleep. You look like you need it.”

“Thanks man,” she said. “Gonna go as soon as I’m done here.”

“No problems. I’ll be here a while before going on patrol. Travis dropped a bomb on my lap earlier.”

“What sort?” she asked, already dreading the answer.

“Nothing much,” said the man chipperly, “he wants me to assess the danger and asset value of Area 51.”