“This is the room. Boss is inside. Mind yourself.” Alamir eyed Shen Ai for a moment before rapping on the door with his knuckles twice, then he paused, and knocked three more times. The door opened, and Alamir gestured for Shen Ai to enter.
As she entered, her Aware card clued her into the scent of blood and countless minor details about Bron Del, sitting across his desk, and how displeased the man seemed. The narrow sharpness of his brows, his slight sneer, the way his eyes pierced her, analyzing her like prey.
A feeling she knew all too well and shrugged off. She wouldn’t let his sour disposition derail her plans of learning about the tower, what was valuable, and using the Expansionist faction to the extent of her ability.
“You and your friends are slippery little bastards.” Bron Del’s right hand gripped his sidearm resting on his table and rose, gesturing at a comfortable looking chair with the weapon. “Sit. I implore you.”
Despite knowing his words were not a suggestion and more a command, she crossed the room and stood behind it, her hands calmly behind her back. “I will remain standing. I wish to conclude this business sooner rather than later, and getting comfortable may incentivize me to stick around longer than I’d like.”
With his free hand, Bron Del tapped the edge of the desk, letting out a grunt. “Is that so? Then stand.” He circled the desk until he was at the edge closest to her, then sat back on it, crossing his arms and tapping the weapon against his bicep. “What had you all in such a hurry yesterday?”
“Did it seem like we were in a hurry?” She paused, letting his frustration fester. As he opened his mouth to retort, she held up a hand to cut him off. “Let us focus on the matter at hand. If your terms are satisfying, I’m willing to enter into a partnership with your faction as a temporary member for the foreseeable future. Whether this is a week, a month, of the next twenty-seven years, I reserve the right to depart without discretion.”
“Hold it right there—”
Shen Ai moved before Bron Del could react, closing the distance and calmly pinning the weapon against his arm as she met his gaze. “Remain silent until I finish. You are not the one in a position to demand anything from me, so do keep that in mind as we go forward with our negotiations. Do we have an understanding?”
His nostrils flared as he tried to struggle uselessly against her overwhelming strength. The realization he was powerless against her pacified him, and he gritted his teeth as he nodded. “Understood.”
When she released him, he shrugged her arm off and rounded his desk to return to his high-backed chair on the other side. Maybe the physical barrier gave him comfort. Maybe he thought it would give him more time to try to shoot her if he so pleased. Whatever the reason, Shen Ai paid no more mind to it.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t have you removed from my office this instant.” Face flushed, Bron Del glared at Shen Ai as he floundered to regain the upper hand.
“It is you who have requested my presence for a potential partnership so we may both use each other. This is the basis of your operation, whatever the end goal may be. If you no longer wish to seek an opportunity to work with me, then I will gladly find someone who will and act as if we never had this meeting.” The entire time she talked, her voice remained neutral and her gaze emotionless. She would give the man little satisfaction in any disillusion that he was the one in control here.
“God, you’re more annoying than they said,” he grunted, waving his weapon at her. “Just state the rest of your conditions, then we will consider moving forward with this partnership.”
“If and when you give me a mission, I will operate independently. The specifics of how I achieve the goals you set are mine to know alone,” she started, internally enjoying the way he grimaced at her with each additional condition. “If you require my assistance, you will request it. If I so choose to decline, there will be no disciplinary action for insubordination. My loyalty does not lie with you but with what you can offer me. That does not mean I won’t uphold my end of the deal. If I accept a request, I will see that it is complete, by whatever means I deem necessary.”
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“Oh, is that all?” Bron Del scoffed.
“That is another thing. You will show me respect and, from here on forward, address me as Light Goddess—or simply Goddess if that’s more your thing.” His eye twitched, and she finally let a hint of emotion show in the form of a slight smirk. “Payment will be delivered upon completion of any request I complete and in the form of whatever I specify.”
“Cut the crap.”
Shen Ai turned and walked toward the door, opened it, and was halfway out when Aware caught the minute movement of displaced air and an angry trigger squeeze. The sound of his sidearm firing was nearly deafening in the enclosed space.
With the slightest movement, Shen Ai dodged.
Red in the face, Bron Del shouted, “You do not get to just walk away from me after walking in here and making ludicrous demands of me!”
“Will you cease your irrational behavior and acknowledge I am far more valuable than you can reason to part with? If you can do that, I will consider returning to continue our discussion, despite your transgressions against me.” She had half a mind to kill the man there and then, raid the storage, and wash her hands of the faction as a whole, but they likely didn’t have what she needed yet. Only by working with them could she get ahold of specific resources that would help her cultivate—no, upgrade her deck.
“Isolent—Wait!”
She was halfway down the hall, nearing the flight of stairs that would take her down to the first level and the exit.
If it weren’t for her Aware card, she wasn’t sure she’d have been able to hear his muttered, “Goddess, please return. I-I must admit, you are very, very valuable.”
“Good enough.”
She returned to the office, shut the door behind her, and they completed the contract. At the end of it all, she had no respect for the man but was officially a temporary Expansionist.
“Now that we have come to a suitable working understanding…” She ignored his muttered comment of “suitable, my ass” and continued on. “Supply your method of contact, then I will see myself out.”
He held up the familiar block used to interface with the tower’s mystical interface. “I don’t imagine you have one of these, Goddess?” When Shen Ai shook her head, he sighed and threw her the one he held. “It already has my contact information loaded. I’ll be in contact.”
Then she left, a subdued grin on her face.
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Something changed overnight.
First there was this ‘Shen Ai’ person who no one had ever heard of, coming out of literally nowhere to take over the 43rd slot. For most of the day, that had been all anyone thought was worth talking about, but now there was another.
Rank 2: James Winstein
Out of all climbers not aligned with one of the factions, across all floors and instances of the tower, only a single person could surpass this newcomer.
Whispers and speculation quickly grew to a fever pitch. Was this a sign of the long-rumored fourth faction finally being born? With two new powerhouses on the board, was this a sign of change?
To many, it was one tiny ray of hope.
To others, it was a challenge. A race they couldn’t afford to lose.
Yesterday, the newcomers had been big news. A legendary card, a full epic deck, these were worth sitting up and paying attention to.
Today, they were the only news.
James Winstein was poised to single-handedly change the balance of power. Whichever faction got their hands on him first, they’d have their work cut out for them keeping him there. He’d just gone from a potential future danger to an existential threat for anyone who opposed him.
This was no longer a lower-floor issue. This was a job for the best.
Specter Zero watched with an unseen smile as the brother-sister duo traipsed in through the front door as though they hadn’t a care in the world.
A standard newcomer adventurer and her top-floor escort. Not an uncommon sight, recruiters often hired escorts for promising new climbers. But the sheer wealth on display in his outfit alone would have been enough to make him a tempting target even before he jumped to being the eighth most powerful person in the system.
Specter Zero had the sneaking suspicion that, as exciting as yesterday’s show had been, today’s would be even better.
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