After Riley and Telvin joined them in eating Pizza and Jack ordering something else for Falean to eat, Jack asked "How are you doing Telvin?"

"Okay for the moment. I'm going to be looking over the book I got from my Uncle looking for clues to Tellus Maters Temple."

Jack nodded and said "That is a good idea. Your father might have travelled with other people on his explorations, perhaps you can find a name in that book that would give you another lead?"

"That could be possible. Thanks for the advice."

"No problem." Jack said, then asked "Will you be going to that Auction house tomorrow?"

Telvin looked at Riley and then said "Yeah, I think it's a good idea to get those Emotionaca Jewels as soon as possible. When we were ambushed this evening, the hold I had on my rage slipped a bit. I didn't notice till after the battle, so until I have a way of stopping my rage in its tracks, it's best to avoid fights."

"Speaking of the attack you faced today, I got a contract with Nyx a goddess. As part of the contract, she wants me to hunt down some assassins in this city. I suspect it's highly likely to be the same assassins that assaulted you."

"I'm still not quite sure why they would even want to target me? My Uncle is a likely suspect, but I can't imagine he was able to arrange someone to kill me so fast."

Jack said "I tried to track them, but there is some interference over this city. I suspect it's part of the defense of the capital. I could attempt to brute force my way through, but I don't feel like that would be wise not knowing more about what's behind the interference."

"There is a lead we can look into." Riley replied. "As far as I know Errais oil is extremely temperamental, with a very short lifespan. When I used some once on a mission, it only lasted two days once it was made."

"That means they are likely to make it in the city?" Telvin said. "I thought you said it's made from Errais blood and that they live in swamps."

"I did." Riley said. "Errais blood is actually stable and can be used anytime. But several of the ingredients in the oil are finicky and need to be picked the day of making the oil. Unless they have their own magical garden, they likely bought the ingredients."

Jack frowned and said "Seems like a lot of work for little effect. I understand it absorbs light and makes them hard to see in darkness, but honestly that seems not very useful."

"That's the most noticeable effect the average person will see. The real advantage is its ability to block all ways of magical tracking. Any form of magical scrying fails when you attempt to target something concealed in the oil. It also blocks magical smells emerging from the body, which is the reason we used it on our mission to hunt down a beast that could sense magical energies in people."

Princess Falean said "That is incredibly useful, how has the empire not heard of this before?"

"This technique was taken from the swamps of the Kingdom of Lestonia to the south. An old Elven mage from whom I got the recipe, acquired it from some hunters who were retired."

"Who would sell the ingredients?"

"As far as I know you could get them at an apothecary, or more likely a magical potions maker. It wouldn't come cheap, and these herbs have few other uses."

"Alright, after we go to the auction, I would like the four of you to go and find out more information on these assassins. I will give you a quest for it tomorrow. All I ask is that you be careful."

"As you command My Lord." Veronica said, "While we are doing that what will you be doing?"

"I will be meeting with some gods." Jack said. He stood and said "I will be going to bed for the night."

"My Lord, now that the situation with Princess Falean soul has been resolved, would you like me to accompany you?"

"No. Thank you for your offer, but I am still figuring some things out. Please stay with Princess Falean tonight."

"Guess you are bunking with me." Falean said and walked into her room.

He placed his hand onto Veronica's shoulder and said "Please keep an eye on her. I am concerned about what my inner soul might be doing to her." 

"You don't trust it, My Lord?"

"I trust it thinks it's doing what it believes is best for me. Whether it's right or not I don't know, but I fear it is willing to go farther then I would be willing to go. If it is part of my soul of the old me, the dreams I have had of him, have not exactly inspired confidence."

"I will do so My Lord."

Saying goodnight, Jack walked into his room and was quite surprised just how risque the artwork in the room was. There was a statue of a man having sex with a woman against a wall, and above the bed hung a painting of a nude woman spreading her legs apart. The wall to the bathroom was made out of clear glass, allowing him to see inside to the shower and toilet.

Going to the bed, he saw it was attached to a box on the end. Taking a look at it, he saw it was a machine for something called Magic Love Vibrations. In order to use it, you needed to insert a coin. Not needing it, he pulled out the crystal ball he had gotten from Madam Lian. He contemplated it for several seconds, before deciding he wasn't in the right mood to actually meditate.

Putting the ball away, he laid down on the bed and found it was quite comfortable and had a strange floral scent that he thought was nice. Reaching over to a light switch he turned it off and closed his eyes. Thoughts of the day slowed and then he found himself falling into darkness.

When he dropped into sleep, he found himself sitting in a plush chair. The chair was in front of a large black desk, on which there was a screen to the side. The room was actually fairly spartan, other than a bookshelf, the only other decoration was a pair of photos, one of which was Maya, and the other was of Him and Alexia.

Jack was currently reviewing over a set of documents. To Jack's surprise he was able to read them, thought the words still felt odd to his mind. The basics of the documents seemed to be statements of repairs and damages. A loud beep drew his attention to the desk, where he found a red blinking light.

He reached over and pressed a button and said "Yes?"

A rich feminine voice came over the device and said "Sir, Mr. Richard Daniels, is here for your appointment."

"Send him in." Jack pushed the button again and put aside the papers as a rather tall black man walked in carrying a case. 

He was wearing a grey suit, and Jack could tell he was quite robust. He said, "Mr. Powers." and reached out his hand.

Standing Jack reached over the desk and grasped the man's hand and shook it. "Call me Jack please."

"You can call me Richard." Richard said and took a seat and opened the case and withdrew a folder. "My team has gone over all the data and information you have sent us. The only place we have not checked was the actual site of the incident."

"My engineers say they are still finding structural instabilities." Jack said. "It will still be some time before we can let anyone get inside safely. Tell me, were you able to find out who sabotaged the equipment?"

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Richard shook his head, "Not yet. We did determine that they were professionals. They wiped their steps completely from the digital space of your network."

Jack frowned and said in a serious tone. "I'm paying your firm a great deal to find out who was responsible for my sister losing her life."

"We believe whoever sabotaged the experiment had help from the inside." Richard handed him the folder "We currently have three suspects, and one person of interest."

Reaching for the folder he took and opened revealing a photo of a man and some documents. The man Jack didn't recognize, but his past self must have because he said "You suspect Corvus? As far as I know he wasn't working that day."

"According to his schedule, yes, but we found he was in the building three hours before it went critical. It doesn't appear he went down to the tunnels, so we can't be sure he was the sabotager. He also has a suspicious account in the Cayman Islands."

Flipping to the second page, Jack saw yet another man. Jack could feel an incredulous thought flow through him and said "You suspect Danny the Janitor? I find that hard to imagine. He's a nice kid, but he's as dumb as a pile of bricks."

"He was the only one who accessed the server rooms on the days your mainframe was hacked. That could be a coincidence, as he has also been in there when it wasn't hacked. He also was cleaning the tunnels when it went critical."

Moving on to the next page, he saw a woman and said "Theresa? For god sakes, she is my sister's wife. Not only that, she was caught in the blast. She is still in the hospital, It's a miracle she even survived given the extent of her injuries."

Richard nodded and said "We put her on the list, because of the fourth person of interest. The sabotage and the thefts could actually be two separate incidents. The sabotage might actually be a case of Murder Suicide. Theresa was in the control room when the incident took place."

"Are you saying you think Theresa meant to kill my sister and herself? Why?" Jack said and turned the page and instantly recognized the woman in the photo as Megan.

"It appears that for several months your sister was having an affair with this Megan. We believe Theresa managed to discover the affair as there was a reported altercation she had with Alexia after she got drunk at a bar two days before, the incident."

"My sister cheated?" Jack said, confused. "I was unaware her marriage had become like this." He closed the folder and placed it on the desk. "Thank you Richard. You have given me some things to think about. Please keep looking. I want whoever did this brought to justice."

Richard hesitated and said "There is one more thing. While we were investigating Megan, we found she used to work for CQE a month before she met your sister. It could be possible this Megan approached your sister in a scheme for industrial spying."

Anger flashed through him and Jack felt a bile rise in his mouth and he said  "Is that man Involved?"

"Unsure. No evidence comes even close to CQE."

"No evidence is his trademark. He killed my fiance, the love of my life and he got away with it."

"My team will keep looking."

Jack stood and went to the set of windows. "Much appreciated Richard."

Richard said "No problem Jack. I will contact you if we get anything else." The man left Jack alone and exited the room.

Staring out into the city below, it was a few minutes later when Jack heard another beep, going to the desk he pressed the button and said "Miss Montague if it's not important please tell them to come back another time, I need some time alone."

"I'm afraid Sir, this is important. A FBI Agent Read is here to see you regarding the incident."

Frowning Jack said "Send them in."

As the door opened, he blinked and found himself standing in a different place and time in his memories. He was currently on a beach staring out into the ocean. Taking a look down he saw he was wearing a colorful shirt that was open and showed his chest along with some shorts.

He was walking along a beach seemingly lost in his thoughts when he noticed a woman walking down some stairs to the beach and towards him. She was wearing a pink top that cradled her breasts and a pair of blue shorts. Jack frowned and said "Miss, the after party is held on the other side of the island. This is my private beach."

"Mr. Powers, I'm actually looking for you. I work for Magnate Magazine. I would like to interview you if that would be possible."

Looking down at her in surprise, he said "You are a reporter? How exactly did you get on my island?"

"I got an invite to your sister's wedding. When your sister heard I was a reporter, she suggested I try to interview you."

Jack frowned and said "I see. I usually don't do interviews, but if it's the request of my sister, who am I to refuse her on her wedding day? I won't answer any questions that cross the line, however." Jack said and invited her to a small beach hut nearby. 

Going to the beach hut, he asked "I didn't get your name."

"I'm Hiromi Nakatama."

Opening a red box outside the beach hut, he asked "Well Hiromi would you like something to drink?"

"Water if you have it."

Reaching into the box filled with ice and drinks he pulled out two water bottles and handed one to Hiromi. "So how do you know my sister?"

"I went to college with her wife and am close friends with her." Hiromi took out a small black device and placed it on the table and asked "Is it okay if I record our conversation?"

"Yes, as long as I get a copy of the recording."

"I can do that."

Jack sat down and waited for her to begin asking him questions. "It was recently reported that you likely passed Ten Trillion dollars in Net Worth. How does that make you feel?"

"Humbled in a way. I am honored that so many people have taken to using my products and services."

"What would you say to people that think that you have more money then you could reasonably use in a lifetime."

"I have two thoughts on that matter. My initial thought is I'm not accepting the money without providing something of equal or greater value to my customer. It's a trade, if people don't desire what I offer then I wouldn't receive any money. My other thought is this comes from seeing what others have and wanting it for themselves. Too often in today's society we place too much value on being rich and famous, that it makes those who are not, feel inadequate."

"So your saying there is no income inequality?"

"That is not what I am stating at all. I just think rather than focusing on what others are doing, people should focus on what they themselves are doing."

"Critics say more of your wealth should go to your workers who in fact manufacture the products."

"The manufacturing is handled completely by robots. Every other employee is paid nearly double the average pay for similar jobs. I also donate nearly a billion dollars every year to charities across the world."

"Which has netted you several humanitarian awards."

"It has, though I don't do it for recognition."

"Some believe your company is gaining power at an alarming rate. Several countries now totally rely on power plants that your company runs."

"I have never forced anybody to take my products or services."

"Which is another critique of your company, as your products so far have not been able to be replicated by other companies despite you not patenting them. There have been calls for you to allow others access to the technology used to create your products."

"They are free to examine every product I make and even open it if they wish. If they can replicate it, I won't stop them." Jack said confidently.

"It is notable that several governments, including the US government have approached you for contracts involving their military but you have turned them all down."

"Yes, I wish to remain independent. I found the deals they offered to be restrictive. That being said, I do produce products for other companies who do business for the military. Thus the reason you are now seeing Kpacks in the soldiers gear."

"How do you come up with the ideas for your products? You have introduced nearly four hundred products every year since you started your company six years ago."

"I look for what people need, and see if I can't make something fit what they need better." Jack said simply.

"Moving on from your business, you have been seen in the presence of supermodels, actresses and others at many events you have gone to. Do you have a significant woman in your life?"

"I do. She is the love of my life. As for those women I have been seen with, I have come to an agreement with her in regards to enjoying an open relationship."

"Were you the one to breach that subject?"

"To tell the truth it was her. I was against it at first, until I saw how much she liked the thought of me with other women."

"Is she able to see other men?"

"She told me she had no interest in other men."

Hiromi nodded and said "Thank you for allowing me to Interview you. Do you have any other things you would like to say to Magnate Magazine readers?"

"Never give up, even if you have to take a divergent path."

She turned off the recorder and said "Thank you for the interview."

"No problem." Jack said and stood "Do you need me to escort you back to the party?"

"Actually," Hiromi said "I was wondering if you would like to show me the interior of your hut." Jack was a bit confused then he saw her undue the back of her top allowing it drop down and showing her breasts. She winked at Jack and walked into the hut. Jack smiled and walked in after her.. 

As he stepped through the door, he found himself not in the hut but somewhere else, but what engaged his eye was not the room, but the woman standing staring at him. She was in a simple shirt and a skirt, but the most noticeable part was the metallic legs and arm. The face was scared, but he recognized her as the woman he had seen in the hospital bed, Theresa.