Xalla decided to also go with the others since she was the one most knowledgeable about the state of affairs in Site 1102 ever since Q’s departure, which just left me with Molly.
Molly chuckled to herself once she was sure Bob was completely out of earshot before returning her attention to me. “That man’s endearing, brilliant as well, but endearing. You have a good friend, Walter.”
I chuckled, “That’s one way of putting it. But you and Bob…”
She smiled a genuine one this time. “I know what you’re thinking, Walter, and no, I am not just using Bob to help out with the hospital.”
“Hey, that’s not what I mean!”
Another smile, this time more light-hearted, “It’s also fun messing with you sometimes. But to truly address your concerns, I am not looking for a fling with your friend, I genuinely do enjoy his company, and he is a brilliant inventor and biologist in his own right.”
“His knowledge of biology can use a bit of work though..."
"That is true, but I intend to teach him, very thoroughly," she answered with a wink.
"That’s good to know,” I said with a little trepidation but relaxed again once I saw that Molly was messing with me again. “Bob’s never really taken any interest in someone else for as long as I’ve known him, and apparently, I’ve known him for a damned long time. The guy deserves some company after all that.”
Molly chuckled. “I understand that feeling all too well, I haven’t exactly been active since Alice’s birth, but I have you to thank for clearing up my schedule, don’t I?”
“Couldn’t you just do what Abigail does and work multiple bodies?”
The woman shook her head. “I guess you weren’t around to see some of Alice’s more… extreme tantrums. I couldn’t split my attention because I needed all of my abilities to subdue the girl whenever she went into one of her phases.”
I remembered the sheer power Molly exerted in our short journey together and couldn’t imagine how she would need all of her energy just to calm down a tiny child.
“Trust me,” Molly continued with a knowing grin, “There’s a very good reason why the Madam’s so grateful for your help. Alice is special in a way I’ve never seen before and there was a reason why we hedged our hopes on her against the Invaders.”
I thought about it, and while I could understand what she was saying, I just couldn’t imagine the energetic little girl being anything other than the nice kid that she was. Maybe it was a good thing that I’d only seen her happy and carefree.
“Which means that this is the first time in a long time that I can enjoy myself a little,” Molly continued with a soft sigh, “And your friend is someone I would be glad to spend time with as I rediscover all the things I’ve missed. He’s a wonderful man.”
“So does that mean you won’t have to devote all your attention on Alice going forth?”
She nodded. “I was hesitant at first, but seeing her with Toby has convinced me that that’s the case. I’ll never stop being her doll for as long as she needs me, but I think I can afford a little private time to myself now. Once again, Walter, I have you to thank for that, and you will continue to have my unconditional support.”
I blushed at her honest praise, I wasn’t used to being the good guy in a situation, and it felt strange being thanked so honestly. It was nice.
“So what are your plans going forward?” I asked, “I mean, now that you have some freedom.”
She shrugged. “Hope’s Memorial still needs a lot of work, and I wasn’t joking about taking Bob up on his offer to overhaul our aging tech. Aside from my personal interest in the man, he genuinely has a lot to offer for our hospital, so I’ll set up a meeting with him and the Director first.” She smirked. “After that? I’ve always been a researcher and doctor first and foremost, and what better way to get back into the swing of things than with the greatest inverter in the Multiverse? I’ve been neglecting the mechanical side of the craft, and your friend desperately needs a refresher course on biology.”
I laughed. “I think Bob will like that quite a bit, just a warning though, make sure you don’t talk about trains with him, or he’ll never shut up about it.”
“Don’t worry, Walter,” Molly said with a playful grin, “That won’t be a problem. I have my ways of keeping his mouth occupied.”
Strange images threatened to surface in my mind and I quickly shuddered. No offense to either of my two friends, but between Bob’s chubby physique and Molly's unique anatomy, I didn’t want to see any of their private moments together.
The woman gave a hearty laugh when she saw me squirm. “Like I said, it’s fun teasing you. But I’ll keep your advice in mind.”
The two of us enjoyed the moments of peace and quiet for a spell longer, just rocking with the movement of the train and sipping our drinks. It didn’t take long before my other friends came out of the office space one by one, having finished giving Stanton the rundown of Q’s situation.
“So that piece of shit W’s back, huh,” the old man muttered when he sat down, “Never did like that man - no offense, Babylon, I know you were close to him - but if he’s back and working then I can imagine why Central’s high command is in disarray. That man’s sheer ability to fuck things up is legendary… Shit, I missed way more than I thought while I was away.”
I gave a nervous chuckle. “Surely this W guy isn’t all that bad, right?”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Stanton rolled his eyes. “Let me guess, you’re one of his fans, aye? I suppose if you only know of his exploits and accolades then he’d seem like a goddamn hero, but I swear to all that is good if you met that infuriating idiot face to face…”
I winced. “Uh… just out of curiosity, but what did he do to make you so angry?”
He pointed at his bald head. “See this? Fucker invented a prototype potion and decided to test that shit on me. It don’t grow back, by the way, even if I regrow a new damned body it doesn’t grow back. That shit's linked to my fucking soul! And that’s just one of his little ‘pranks’.”
“Ah…”
“Um, I’m sure there was a reason for his actions,” Xalla, my ever-trustful partner, said, “I mean, I can’t imagine him doing something like that out of spite, er, even if I’ve never met him of course.”
“Aye, it wasn’t out of spite” he conceded with a sigh, “His heart’s in the right place, and that’s the only reason I haven’t killed the fucker in his sleep, but it don’t mean I have to like the man!” He shook his head and frowned. “He was inventing something to help with a nasty skin rash I had, too bad the blundering idiot never bothered to test it on anyone else before trying that crap on me. Got rid of the rash all right, along with anything else on the skin!”
Wait a second… I think I remembered that incident! Dunno why awake Walter chose to leave that tidbit of information in my skull, but if my memories were right, I did conduct extensive tests before administering it to Stanton, but trying to get a formula to work with all of the various species across the Multiverse was tricky, and as far as I knew, Staton’s biology was one of a kind. The fact that it did get rid of that horrible skin condition without injuring him should have been celebrated, and it was his damned fault for infiltrating that horrible plague planet by himself! Too bad I couldn’t defend myself right now!
Big Bob chuckled. “That does sound like W alright. Great mind on his shoulders, but no common sense, unfortunately.”
I rolled my eyes; like Big Bob was one to talk.
“I’d use less flattering words,” Stanton added, “But that’s the jist of it.”
Xalla looked at me dubiously. “I’ll make sure to keep that in mind if I ever meet him. No experiments without proper testing.”
Stanton laughed. “I hope you never have the misfortune of meeting him, although if he’s involved in your Site, then it’s only an inevitability. I don’t envy you, Miss Xalla. Imagine working as security with that menace around!”
I wanted to argue with that, but after thinking about all the shit that’s happened since my arrival, between corrupt trials, changes in management, and the absolute chaos I caused with the Restus and Jordan… Stanton was kind of right. I gave Xalla an apologetic droop of the frills, but she only smiled at me and held me closer. Damn, I didn’t deserve her!
“Um, it hasn’t been that bad…”
“If you say so, Miss Xalla, if you say so. But anyway,” Stanton continued, looking back at me, “Sorry for boring you with Central baggage. I know the Xollons try to keep out of crap like this; your girlfriend here’s still the only one working in any capacity for Central unless that’s changed as well since I was gone.”
“It’s fine,” I said, although there were technically two working for Central now if you included myself, “It’s fun hearing about her workplace.”
The old man nodded. “But it seems like I’m the last signature you guys need, and you’ll have it. I’ll go with Q to meet up with the rest of them and get this bureaucratic crap out of the way.”
“Do you need me to drop you off anywhere in particular?” Bob asked.
“Nah, your headquarters are fine,” Stanton said with a shake of his impressively bald head, “I’ll leave after getting this body checked out. I think Q here needs to get some stuff at his office in any case.”
Q had been oddly quiet so far, but it was obvious that he was deep in thought about something. I couldn’t blame him, we were on the brink of getting his job back, or at least starting the process of doing so. Anyone would be a little nervous given what was at stake.
He only jolted out of his revere when he heard his name, “Ah, yes, I do need to pack up. Thank you, Master Stanton.”
Stanton looked over to Q and frowned. “Hey, Babylon.”
“Hm?”
“Do you mind if I borrow your office again? I wish to speak with Q in private.”
Bob glanced at Q, who was still deep in thought, and nodded. “Please, go right ahead.”
“Thank you,” he replied, “Q, if you would follow me please.”
I waited until they were both away before speaking. “Is he going to be okay?”
“I’m not privy to his private life, and I’m not sure what the Overseer’s done,” Xalla said after a moment of consideration, “But I do know that his departure’s affected him a lot. He’s a strong man, but there’s no way that he wouldn’t be worried about the appeal.”
I nodded slowly. “Do you guys think it’ll go well?”
“It will,” Xalla replied without hesitation, “Look, as corrupt as Central has become, they still have to at least pretend to be fair and impartial. With so many high-ranking members of its own council arguing for Q to be reinstated, not to mention the threat of losing Sponsorship money, they’d be insane not to let him back.”
“Xalla’s right, Walter,” Bob added, “Maybe if the situation involved more important people higher up on the food chain it might have been different, but Central’s not going to offend so many people over one regional Manager of a small Site. It’s not worth it, and as petty as the Overseer is, he still has to follow the rules and regulations.”
“But that doesn’t mean that he’ll make life easy for Q after he wins the appeal.” I added, “I can’t see the Overseer just gracefully accepting a loss.”
The both of them frowned, but couldn’t find anything to refute that.
Xalla sighed. “No, you’re right, but it’s the first step to making things right. Plus, you and I will be there with him, and I can’t see anyone winning with us as a team.”
“I’m in as well,” Bob said with a grin, “No one’s taking advantage of my ex-employees!”
Now the smile returned in Xalla as well. “So just leave it to us, the appeal process will take a while, but we have the best lawyers around, and like Bob said, they won’t make such a huge fuss over a Manager. We’ll get Q’s side of things sorted out while you work on your end.”
I frowned. “My end?”
“Did you forget why you joined the Aspirants in the first place?” Xalla chuckled, “You need the help of the Ascension process to speed up your recovery, remember?”
Ah, I almost forgot that, what with so much happening outside of the trials.
“Take it easy on the poor sleeping man,” Big Bob smirked, “Most of his brain’s still unconscious!”
“Haha, Bob,” I rolled my eyes.
“And don’t forget that you always have my assistance as well, Walter,” Molly stated, “Bob and Xalla might be limited in what they can do without being noticed, but there are no such limitations on my end.”
I smiled. “Thanks, everyone, I mean it.”
Bob shrugged. “It’s what friends are for, now how about another round of drinks? There’s still a long way to go before we’re back!”