“Help me understand why our quality parameters were not met.”
Cassius had been engrossed in a deep discussion with his lawyers on different possible solutions to appeal for deferment on the payment of their loans, when the door of the boardroom slammed open and Flavia stormed in.
A flabbergasted receptionist came running behind, looking visibly squeamish. He only squirmed further when he saw the enraged expression on Cassius’s face. He had strictly instructed the guards and receptionists to turn away any representatives From Ortimus, but Flavia was a force of nature.
The lawyers noticed the tension in the room, and stood up. "Perhaps you have more important matters to attend to, Mr. Cassius, we’d be happy to reschedule this to a later date," the senior advocate politely offered, picking up his device and disconnecting it from the mesh. Flavia's temper was widely known, and nobody had any intention to get in the way of the Ortimus guild.
"This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes." Cassius attempted to put up a bold facade, not bothering to get up from his seat.
"Oh really?" Flavia shot back, "You will manage to replace all the substandard shipments and compensate for our losses in a matter of minutes? How beautiful, here I was wondering if this long trip would be another epic waste of time."
“Please, Ms. Ortimus, this matter has already been brought to my attention by one of the subordinates. We are investigating this internally, and we will get back to you shortly. It is likely to be a one-off manufacturing issue. We will address the root-cause and get the production on track as soon as we can.”
"Damn it, Cassius, that is what your subordinates have been saying for the last two weeks. And we still haven’t received the shipments we were promised," Flavia seethed. The lawyers had all left by now. The large boardroom, where his father had presided over numerous important deals over the decades, now was empty except for the two of them.
Cassius wondered if it was his imagination or the room was getting darker. The expanse of polished glass that overlooked the corridor outside now looked foggier and darker than usual, even for a late evening.
"I promise you, Flavia, we will do a thorough investigation of our processes. We just ask that you give us some time." Cassius fidgeted, his twitching fingers betraying his emotions. The ceiling lights reflected on the dark wooden table strangely flickered. Cassius felt an explicable trepidation taking root.
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"With every passing day, we are taking losses in the order of millions." Flavia approached him slowly, and Cassius felt his throat tighten. "I will personally make sure I recover every sol from you, even if it means taking apart this whole tower brick by brick until nothing remains." A subtle fetid stench wound its way into his nose, and Cassius suddenly realized that he could not breathe.
"Do I have your assurance that you will make it the mission of your life to sort out my shipments, Cassius?" Flavia leaned forward, resting her hand on the large mahogany table.
"Y-Yes." He managed to force the words out, but it took every ounce of effort he could muster.
"I hope you mean those words, Cassius. Because if not, our next meeting may very well be your last." A barely visible spiderweb of cracks grew on the polished old wood around her palm resting on the surface.
"I-I do." Cassius choked, mustering the courage to stare at Flavia's gleaming golden eyes. For the next few seconds, she just stared at him silently, not uttering another word. He had met her before, and even then, she had come across as formidable. But now, Cassius felt like he was dealing with a dangerous criminal with no regard for any law.
The room blurred around him, and Cassius felt that he saw Flavia glide towards the exit.
It was only after she had left, that Cassius found himself able to breathe easily again. He pushed himself up on the table, but no sooner had he applied his weight onto the wooden surface, the entire table crumbled into infinitesimal pieces and shattered. Losing balance, he staggered down onto the floor, wood dust washing over him.
Brushing off the dust, Cassius pushed himself up once again, staring at the mess in front of him. Somehow, Flavia had transformed - into what, he could not begin to fathom.
Later, after he had splashed his face repeatedly with water, after he had given his heart the chance to slow down and after he had taken the pills he was increasingly reliant on for sleep, his mind would slowly, methodically come up with justifications for what he saw and what he felt in those moments. He would attribute his present state to a combination of stress, lack of sleep and guilt. But at that moment, for the first time in his life, the new Guildmaster of Emerald Crust experienced true terror.
Five stories below, staring at the transcript he received, Eli was in equal parts baffled and surprised. How the hell had this woman managed to make the infamous guild master tremble in his own office?
The student who went by Nazaar had mentioned that Flavia could have uncovered Kiri’s identity. But if this person was powerful enough to face down Cassius, Eli would have to proceed with caution.
The probe on his left notified them of Flavia taking the elevator up to the SVoyLPad on the roof, and Eli knew they had to act now. They were treading on a dangerous path here, but they needed to find out for themselves what happened to Kiri - their childhood friend they had one day hoped to propose to. If there was a chance she still lived, Eli would make sure she was found.
They quickly activated the malware they had planted earlier in the day, and six stories above, the elevator screeched to a halt.