“My lady, are you sure this man can be trusted!? He’s a dog of the nobility! Should we throw our lot in with him, we could just be captured and jailed!”

“Not to mention no one knows where his allegiance lies! Even worse, we could end up being subject to slave-like labor and have any rights stripped away from us!”

Two dark-skinned men stood in a room in front of Winter Strafe. Winter was sitting at a desk inside Leray’s bar, and was currently going over the paperwork necessary to transfer the Strafe family, all ten members, into a living space chosen by Paladin Cole.

Unfortunately, not everyone was on board with the plan. The first opposer, to her left, was large in size, towering over her inside the room. He wore a black trench coat, grey slacks, and a pair of shades on his bald head which hid his mechanical eyes from view.

The second, to Winter’s right, was a woman almost as tall as the man. She wore a black spandex bodysuit with a laser proof chest piece, and a set of gray shorts over the skin-tight suit. She twirled the end of an extremely long orange ponytail in her fingers as her red eyes stared at Winter.

“Tanner, how many times do I have to tell you? I have the Strafe’s best interests at heart.” Tanner’s eyes lit up with a crimson light as he looked down on her.

“With all due respect, Winter, you’ve only ever had your best interests at heart.” Winter snorted and rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair and placing her feet on the desk, giving a rude gesture to her audience.

“I won’t deny that, but so have you, and Fall as well.” She pointed to the woman with her foot before placing it back down on its rest.

“Yes, but ours align with those of the other clan members! You always had differing visions of what the clan should become after the founder passed.” Fall raised her voice at her sister, who rolled her eyes.

Winter always thought that her sisters, Spring, Summer, and Fall hated her. The emotions were exacerbated by the fact that the founder chose her as his vessel after death, and none of the other three. Jealous bitches, the lot of them.

Although Summer never really cared about the Strafe family so long as she could be happy, Fall was the polar opposite. This woman would cut out her ovaries if it was what the family decided on.

Fortunately, Winter was now the chief, and the sole person in charge of decisions. At least, that’s how it should have been. “Fall, Tanner, please explain to me the downsides of joining forces with the Paladin and his companions?”

The two across from her fell silent, and turned to each other in whispers. “Ah, Fall and Tanner. The last bastions of those who are not alright with your rule.”

Winter would have jumped out of her seat had Joshua not sent warning that The Founder himself was coming to oversee the negotiations. Instead, she settled for an increased heart rate and a quick exhale.

Damn it, Founder. Why can’t you ever give me a warning in my messages before you appear out of nowhere?

The AI tilted his head. “What are you talking about? Joshua did send a message warning you of my impending arrival, didn’t he?”

Of course he did, but that doesn’t tell me the exact time, place, angle, and general volume of your voice, now does it? How would you explain it to the Paladin if I appeared weaker in this negotiation because I was startled by your presence!? A presence that only I can see, I might add!

The Founder merely laughed at her and took a seat on her desk. He winked at her, before turning to face the two other Strafes in the room, who looked as though they were finishing up their talk.

“We have discussed, and come to the conclusion that this deal with the Paladin would negatively impact our rights as free people.”

Winter sighed and replied, “What rights? Or were you unaware that since the Founder’s inception of the ‘Strafe Family,’ we’ve been hunted down by the government because the founder started a military organization that was unrecognized by Judgment.”

Tanner didn’t respond, so Fall saw that as an opportunity to butt in. “How do we know that he wouldn’t just use this as an opportunity to capture us, and turn us over to the crown for brownie points?”

At that, Winter just let loose and laughed. She could see Fall visibly deflate, and Tanner looked at her with a questioning gaze, but she didn’t care. “Ah, that was great. If you two knew anything about his relationship with them, you wouldn’t even bring that up as a possibility. Besides, he got express permission from King Claude to keep us as soldiers.”

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“So the rumor that he had a falling out with Cindy Metron is true, then?” Tanner whispered, as though afraid some member of the nobility would overhear it, even while they were inside the Overclocked Bar.

“My lady.” The Founder interrupted, rotating so that he was facing Winter. “As much as I would like to let you speak how you would like, there are certain things that shouldn’t be outright said, even if a rumor has already begun circulating.”

Winter wanted to pull her hair out from its roots at the sheer absurdity of it all. Why the hell did Joshua care if there were even more rumors circulating, but alas, she could not go against his wishes.

“Hm.” Winter hummed to fill in the silence, now that she actually had to think of a response instead of giving one truthfully. “Well, let’s just say that you aren’t too far off the mark. However, I can’t get into any further specifics than that.”

Tanner nodded, and seemed to have settled down, but Fall was too far gone into her own fantasies. “No, you can, and you will. If you can’t tell your clansmen about the things you know, then maybe we should have a new leader.”

Tanner gave her a pitiful look, but Winter had one of fury on. She was fed up with the power-hungry Strafe, and needed an outlet to explode.

“Listen, you bitch!” Winter roared, standing up and causing both Tanner and Fall to flinch. “I’ve had it up to here with your shit! If you were destined to lead us, don’t you think the Founder would have chosen you!?”

“W-wait a second, I-” Fall tried to cut in, but her voice was like a paper bag in a hurricane, and completely lost inside Winter’s anger.

“Of course he would have. But he didn’t.” Winter’s voice gradually calmed down, into a controlled force, which continued to jab at Fall even after she went silent.

“He chose me. Do you know why that is?” She waited for an answer, and waited, and waited. When she realized that both Tanner and Fall had averted their gazes, she felt anger well up inside her again.

“It’s because I’m the only one in this god damned family who isn’t afraid of the future, and doesn’t have their head up their own ass!” The two in front of her flinched again as she raised her voice.

“You know what, fuck you, Fall. If you don’t agree with how I run things, go then. I won’t fucking miss you.” Fall looked up in shock, and Winter continued, “Oh, and you can take your little dissenting buddy Tanner with you as well. Good riddance to the both of you useless shits.”

“W-wait, Winter! Reconsider, please!” Tanner said, and shot a nasty glare at Fall. “I just had my own concerns, like any person going into an uncertain change will. Don’t throw me out with her, please!”

Fall returned the glare, and turned to bow in Winter’s direction. “Of course I don’t have a problem, I was just wondering if doing so much for our family, on top of your other duties was too much for you to handle, health wise. I’m just concerned about your well being is all!”

Winter tried her best to hide a smirk. Of course things were going according to plan. She tried her best at that act to get the two of them to turn on each other. After all, a triple threat was a lot easier to win than a handicapped match.

With a wave of her hand, the two of them knelt, and she sat back in her seat once more. “Just see to it that you don’t openly question my leadership again. Believe me, I know when you talk. I don’t know what compels the two of you to tell the other clan members.”

The two of them looked up at Winter in shock, and then back at each other. “If I ever find out the two of you are trying to stage another coup, I will turn you into the Palace for human experimentation. Do I make myself clear?”

Fall spoke, a noticeable tremble in her voice, “Y-you don’t have the authority. If you tried to turn us in-”

“You really are stupid, aren’t you?” Winter sighed, and rested her head in her hand. "That’s what this entire meeting was meant to show you assholes. I do have the authority.” She made a few movements on her AR console, and showed the two people in front of her a badge that she had been granted after entering into Joshua’s service.

The emblem itself was a golden shield, with a bullet in the middle, and several blue circuits stretching out from the bullet while encompassing the entire shield. Tanner got closer to read it. “That says… provisional authority!?”

Winter nodded, and read the flavor text of the badge word for word. “A symbol of authority used to show your allegiance. This one shows yourself to be a high ranking member of the Paladin’s inner circle. Using this item will allow you to draft local law enforcement in the Metronian Kingdom to your cause, based solely on your benefactor’s name alone. No harm shall befall you from authorities while in possession of this. Judgment weapons wielded by law enforcement will not fire at your person.”

Fall’s jaw opened, and she couldn’t recover from her shock in time as Winter got up from her desk, walked over to the woman, and slapped her with all her might.

Tanner went wide-eyed as Fall crumpled to the floor in a heap, unconscious. “Fuck, that must’ve rattled her brain good. Even with the nanites, it’ll take her a few minutes to recover.” Winter muttered as she shook her hand out to lessen the stinging on her palm.

“Take her and leave.” Tanner didn’t even respond with his voice. He merely nodded and picked the woman off the floor before bowing to Winter and making a hasty retreat.

Winter sighed as she sat down at her desk once more, and looked the Founder in his eyes. “I told you, didn’t I?” He said with a smug grin. “Entering into the Paladin’s service was a beneficial thing.”

Winter twirled a throwing knife around in her fingers, thought back to her memories with Joshua, and smiled slightly. “I suppose it hasn’t been the worst.”