Deliberation
“Well, Assistant. What’s your take on our new partners?”
“Deceptive. I think you might have noticed that I’m friendly with one of their Mages.”
“Indeed. So you like blondes, Akun?”
“Don’t really have any preference. But I think my judgment is altered because of her presence alone.”
“Admitting you’re dazzled by presence, eh?”
“She’s… a very good friend of mine. So yeah, I might have some bias when it comes to her. So you can freely ignore it if I praise her and her corpo-masters too much.”
“Noted.”
She’s trying hard not to laugh at it. But the amusement on Kei’s face says she finds it funny. I do appreciate Cindy’s recent company, but business is business. If you mix it in with pleasure all the time, then it'll turn into a disaster. I would know since I’ve seen it happen a lot of times in my previous workplaces. A boss gets too balls deep into his mistresses and ends up being scammed or bankrupt out of his money.
“Then what do you think of the cooperation? I saw it. Read through your reports and then your personal opinion regarding. We’re getting more clicks from the spinal creatures than the red wisp, but internally there are a lot more offices and companies, especially car-companies who are looking to where they might invest in this technology.”
“I think we need to renegotiate our terms. Let Sato redo some clauses so we’ll get firsthand information from them.
“Explain.”
I showed her the report I kept personally. Kei read through it silently. At first she’s visibly surprised, but a second later her face went dull as expected.
“Guess that confirms it. They do know and we are being used. Hell, I’d be more surprised if they didn’t know anything at all. But their interest seems to tilt more isn’t it?”
After the shitshow in Vultan. I doubt they’d take it less seriously now. Reality warping monsters is a problem and when monsters like that are walking around. Humanity as a whole will suffer and have to be dragged down. The Bureau learned a lot from the Shanghai Risk Event. And what they learn from that disaster has been the reason why there are so many guidelines and PSA’s for the past years.
Anomalies are clearly a threat. They do know they are a threat, but letting the world know means we’ll be feeding the egregore effect, and thus will make it so Anomalies are a ‘common’ thing now. It has two effects.
One. It will make people understand that anomalies are real and they must live with it.
Two. It means accepting them to the communal reality that mankind knows.
A long time ago someone told me that a human has a personal reality. And a community has communal reality to which they agree on. And the world sees them as facts. It is a fact that we live with animals.
So once the world sees anomalies as a fact.
They will become common, controllable, and the egregore effect, the collective mind of humanity makes it seem so they are just as natural as typhoons and hurricanes.
This will lessen the anomalies, but it also means the OB will have to make sure that any rumors regarding anomalies making gods are quieted down. Because it’ll become a shared reality if they start thinking these things will grant them powers.
The sheer implications are huge.
“I can see it being a problem.” Kei raises a finger. “But I doubt they’ll keep it. If anything they’d want to make people believe it, but anyone with proper access will know what happened in Vultan and a means to advance.”
“It will become a problem. But that is not an issue to us. What we can do, financial wise, to get money from this new surge of interest is what we should be concerned about.”
“Exactly, my Assistant. We are information brokers and detectives who learn what we can from your misery to profit from it.”
It was a rather self-deprecating comment. Kei raises a smile.
“But nonetheless someone has to do it. So… seeing that you think we need to renegotiate. What should we do?”
“Let them agree to cooperation. And if they think we’re talking too much, then show them what we’ve experienced in the recent cases.”
“Well, I doubt they’ll agree to it. But having people who witnessed a God and an Elder Vampire will double our prices. The problem with that, Akun, is we’ll be shooting for the stars instead of just the skies.”
“Is the sky our limit?”
“No. But we should know when and where to fly. The Mages are thorough and most of their members are obsessives who have developed a keen mind and attention to detail. Corpo-Mages are employed because they have a business sense that makes them perfect for the job. We need a better contract and Sato’s greedy enough to bite more than he can chew. However, Akun, you also need to realize we are a two-man office.”
I crossed my arms and smiled.
“I heard from Sato that we’ll have a partnership with Mr. Aidan Riva.”
Kei smiles back.
“We got him to agree after what happened in Vultan. He thought it was becoming too dangerous for his cubs so he decided to clung on to what he thinks might lift them from their life of struggle.
Aidan Riva, the Euro-Africa death march veteran who served two full combat tours in the Siberian Outbreak and campaigned in the province of Anhui, Fujian, and participated in the Hebei to Hunan Marches. I met the guy in the Abyssal Abodes and have been on my contact list. He and his men have been working under us and have been rather pleased with the arrangements.
“So a personal advisor or a combat leader?”
“Security Consultant and Advisor. They are still a Freelancing Business, but they agreed on this simply because of how much they can get from this arrangement. Personally, I’m fine with this arrangement, but with our recent successes and failures. Sato deems it important to have someone with absurd experience to be guarding us and our interest.”
“Must have paid a lot, Kei. Are we sure we have the funds?”
Kei crosses her arms and places her legs on her desk table. “We’ve the funding, but we aren’t exactly rich enough either. Aidan and his people are doing what Sato’s team is doing now.”
“Must have been busy.”
“Hey, I don’t just wait here for you to talk to me and progress.”
“Didn’t imply that at all.”
Kei links me to information she got while dealing with Sato and the people who got interested in our business. It’s mostly transcripts of what had happened. I was technically her assistant, her right hand man now so I had to know her previous dealings so I don’t make a fool of myself.
It was… impressive how much info she can handle. I did suspect she has the talent for it, but how she handles the pressure really is impressive.
“Good work, Boss.”
“That sounds sincere.”
“It is.”
Being part of this office has given me time and freedom I doubt any company would have given. Offices and Companies who are strictly business suffer from hierarchy and rankings. It makes profit their main priority and relationships a secondary thing. You’re likely to get crushed by a team member more than the opposition.
I still don’t understand why Sato hired me here. I have some guesses to why, but that’s not my concern as long as I get paid.
“Your previous relationship with Miss Victoria seems more than what it seems.”
“We’re good friends. I will answer no more than that.”
“Hmm… for a good friend you aren’t singing her praises.”
Victoria’s a good friend. I think we understand each other and truly think we are close. But make no mistake. I’m not so dumb to believe she has a single interest and will compromise some of her goals for me. Hell, one of the reasons we only met again is because I think she’s been pursuing her own goals. Back then, it was simply us dreaming, but once we had the ample opportunity to claim that dream, we didn’t hesitate to part ways. I turned myself into a debt-slave to gain work advantages and she became a corpo-mage using her talents as a gearhead and mage.
Everyone has their own paths and I can respect her hustle. I can trust Cindy, the woman I met in cyberspace since we did a lot of gigs together. But Victoria Florence, the Corporate Mage working for the Redmonds is a different story. Sure, I know her best as Cindy, but when she’s acting like Victoria Florence. She’s nothing more than a stranger, a business partner we colluded with. I don’t trust the Corpo-Mage Victoria.
I know it’s a strange thought. But no one approaches you that lightly without any self-interest in mind. If I was Cindy, I bet she’d used our previous relations to her advantage. But she also saw that I wasn’t going to let that influence my choices.
“It’s good that you aren’t easily seduced. But even if you start talking like she’s a saint or talk to her like she’s the city’s exclusive bicycle that everyone uses. I’d passed my own judgment, still, good to know you are not susceptible. Because if she manages to get in your pants. I was wondering if she'll get into your ears and head too.”
I raised my head and asked seriously. “Did I look that easy?”
“No. I have firsthand experience on how much you can resist temptation. I’m not particularly happy, but I know that you aren’t easily tempted.”
Well, I’d be lying if I wasn’t beating myself up for that missed chance. Besides, I’d rather not be part of a video in one of those ad-filled sites. Sure there is tech that can replicate the face, but there’s also tech that reveals if it’s altered. Genuine products are premium and I’d rather not have someone else profit from my temporary loss of reason. Not that I don’t have dreams of it.
“Well, I’ll have to contact Sato about it. More work, but we’ll have interns and minimum wage employees who’ll handle the tasks.”
“What about security?”
She grins evilly. “We’ll have them oathed. We’re friends with Mages now and there are a lot of them who are willing to do it for cheap… and for practice.”
“Never worked with a brand before.”
She raises a brow. “Really? You were debt-slaving and they didn’t put an oath on you?”
“Mostly paper contracts and stamps. The state owned me so it was much worse.”
Kei shakes her head. “Really, what’s the story with the debt-slavery? And don’t lie to me about parental debt or for weapons because I’ve seen your records from Sato and even weapon loans aren’t that harsh.”
“It was for the resume,” I said honestly. “Sure, some might have done it because of their management, but nonetheless I needed the learning experience and they provided it no matter how hard the workplace was.”
“What’s the hardest?”
“Definitely the flesh pits. That was gruesome and I had to stop eating meat.”
“Guess you aren’t telling me the whole thing.” Kei sits up properly and starts typing. “That reminds me, Akun. I was looking for my found footage and I didn’t see my pale magus tapes. Any idea where they are?”
“Haven’t been in the office for a while. Sure it’s not around?”
“No. A shame since apparently there are no tapes around and all shops selling them have been Censored by the OB.”
I raised a brow. “Really, why?”
“Showed too much and didn’t want them to know.”
“Oh shit. Did you get asked?”
“No. Got no inquiries. And even if they did, the one who bought the footage for me is dead. OD’d on shabu in the lanes.”
“Is that lucky or bad?”
Kei shrugs. “Anyway, I’ll have to have a meeting with Sato. Talk to Aidan. He moved to Nyota with his Freelancers now.”
“Guess they earned well.”
“They are worth their money. Honestly, it’s Aidan who is the valuable one, and with him around. Even Sato will have to think twice before trying to pull the rug under us.”
I wonder if Sato saw this coming, and even if he did. I doubt the bastard would have been angry. He treats Kei more like his successor, someone who'd take his role.
Deliberation
“Well, Assistant. What’s your take on our new partners?”
“Deceptive. I think you might have noticed that I’m friendly with one of their Mages.”
“Indeed. So you like blondes, Akun?”
“Don’t really have any preference. But I think my judgment is altered because of her presence alone.”
“Admitting you’re dazzled by presence, eh?”
“She’s… a very good friend of mine. So yeah, I might have some bias when it comes to her. So you can freely ignore it if I praise her and her corpo-masters too much.”
“Noted.”
She’s trying hard not to laugh at it. But the amusement on Kei’s face says she finds it funny. I do appreciate Cindy’s recent company, but business is business. If you mix it in with pleasure all the time, then it'll turn into a disaster. I would know since I’ve seen it happen a lot of times in my previous workplaces. A boss gets too balls deep into his mistresses and ends up being scammed or bankrupt out of his money.
“Then what do you think of the cooperation? I saw it. Read through your reports and then your personal opinion regarding. We’re getting more clicks from the spinal creatures than the red wisp, but internally there are a lot more offices and companies, especially car-companies who are looking to where they might invest in this technology.”
“I think we need to renegotiate our terms. Let Sato redo some clauses so we’ll get firsthand information from them.
“Explain.”
I showed her the report I kept personally. Kei read through it silently. At first she’s visibly surprised, but a second later her face went dull as expected.
“Guess that confirms it. They do know and we are being used. Hell, I’d be more surprised if they didn’t know anything at all. But their interest seems to tilt more isn’t it?”
After the shitshow in Vultan. I doubt they’d take it less seriously now. Reality warping monsters is a problem and when monsters like that are walking around. Humanity as a whole will suffer and have to be dragged down. The Bureau learned a lot from the Shanghai Risk Event. And what they learn from that disaster has been the reason why there are so many guidelines and PSA’s for the past years.
Anomalies are clearly a threat. They do know they are a threat, but letting the world know means we’ll be feeding the egregore effect, and thus will make it so Anomalies are a ‘common’ thing now. It has two effects.
One. It will make people understand that anomalies are real and they must live with it.
Two. It means accepting them to the communal reality that mankind knows.
A long time ago someone told me that a human has a personal reality. And a community has communal reality to which they agree on. And the world sees them as facts. It is a fact that we live with animals.
So once the world sees anomalies as a fact.
They will become common, controllable, and the egregore effect, the collective mind of humanity makes it seem so they are just as natural as typhoons and hurricanes.
This will lessen the anomalies, but it also means the OB will have to make sure that any rumors regarding anomalies making gods are quieted down. Because it’ll become a shared reality if they start thinking these things will grant them powers.
The sheer implications are huge.
“I can see it being a problem.” Kei raises a finger. “But I doubt they’ll keep it. If anything they’d want to make people believe it, but anyone with proper access will know what happened in Vultan and a means to advance.”
“It will become a problem. But that is not an issue to us. What we can do, financial wise, to get money from this new surge of interest is what we should be concerned about.”
“Exactly, my Assistant. We are information brokers and detectives who learn what we can from your misery to profit from it.”
It was a rather self-deprecating comment. Kei raises a smile.
“But nonetheless someone has to do it. So… seeing that you think we need to renegotiate. What should we do?”
“Let them agree to cooperation. And if they think we’re talking too much, then show them what we’ve experienced in the recent cases.”
“Well, I doubt they’ll agree to it. But having people who witnessed a God and an Elder Vampire will double our prices. The problem with that, Akun, is we’ll be shooting for the stars instead of just the skies.”
“Is the sky our limit?”
“No. But we should know when and where to fly. The Mages are thorough and most of their members are obsessives who have developed a keen mind and attention to detail. Corpo-Mages are employed because they have a business sense that makes them perfect for the job. We need a better contract and Sato’s greedy enough to bite more than he can chew. However, Akun, you also need to realize we are a two-man office.”
I crossed my arms and smiled.
“I heard from Sato that we’ll have a partnership with Mr. Aidan Riva.”
Kei smiles back.
“We got him to agree after what happened in Vultan. He thought it was becoming too dangerous for his cubs so he decided to clung on to what he thinks might lift them from their life of struggle.
Aidan Riva, the Euro-Africa death march veteran who served two full combat tours in the Siberian Outbreak and campaigned in the province of Anhui, Fujian, and participated in the Hebei to Hunan Marches. I met the guy in the Abyssal Abodes and have been on my contact list. He and his men have been working under us and have been rather pleased with the arrangements.
“So a personal advisor or a combat leader?”
“Security Consultant and Advisor. They are still a Freelancing Business, but they agreed on this simply because of how much they can get from this arrangement. Personally, I’m fine with this arrangement, but with our recent successes and failures. Sato deems it important to have someone with absurd experience to be guarding us and our interest.”
“Must have paid a lot, Kei. Are we sure we have the funds?”
Kei crosses her arms and places her legs on her desk table. “We’ve the funding, but we aren’t exactly rich enough either. Aidan and his people are doing what Sato’s team is doing now.”
“Must have been busy.”
“Hey, I don’t just wait here for you to talk to me and progress.”
“Didn’t imply that at all.”
Kei links me to information she got while dealing with Sato and the people who got interested in our business. It’s mostly transcripts of what had happened. I was technically her assistant, her right hand man now so I had to know her previous dealings so I don’t make a fool of myself.
It was… impressive how much info she can handle. I did suspect she has the talent for it, but how she handles the pressure really is impressive.
“Good work, Boss.”
“That sounds sincere.”
“It is.”
Being part of this office has given me time and freedom I doubt any company would have given. Offices and Companies who are strictly business suffer from hierarchy and rankings. It makes profit their main priority and relationships a secondary thing. You’re likely to get crushed by a team member more than the opposition.
I still don’t understand why Sato hired me here. I have some guesses to why, but that’s not my concern as long as I get paid.
“Your previous relationship with Miss Victoria seems more than what it seems.”
“We’re good friends. I will answer no more than that.”
“Hmm… for a good friend you aren’t singing her praises.”
Victoria’s a good friend. I think we understand each other and truly think we are close. But make no mistake. I’m not so dumb to believe she has a single interest and will compromise some of her goals for me. Hell, one of the reasons we only met again is because I think she’s been pursuing her own goals. Back then, it was simply us dreaming, but once we had the ample opportunity to claim that dream, we didn’t hesitate to part ways. I turned myself into a debt-slave to gain work advantages and she became a corpo-mage using her talents as a gearhead and mage.
Everyone has their own paths and I can respect her hustle. I can trust Cindy, the woman I met in cyberspace since we did a lot of gigs together. But Victoria Florence, the Corporate Mage working for the Redmonds is a different story. Sure, I know her best as Cindy, but when she’s acting like Victoria Florence. She’s nothing more than a stranger, a business partner we colluded with. I don’t trust the Corpo-Mage Victoria.
I know it’s a strange thought. But no one approaches you that lightly without any self-interest in mind. If I was Cindy, I bet she’d used our previous relations to her advantage. But she also saw that I wasn’t going to let that influence my choices.
“It’s good that you aren’t easily seduced. But even if you start talking like she’s a saint or talk to her like she’s the city’s exclusive bicycle that everyone uses. I’d passed my own judgment, still, good to know you are not susceptible. Because if she manages to get in your pants. I was wondering if she'll get into your ears and head too.”
I raised my head and asked seriously. “Did I look that easy?”
“No. I have firsthand experience on how much you can resist temptation. I’m not particularly happy, but I know that you aren’t easily tempted.”
Well, I’d be lying if I wasn’t beating myself up for that missed chance. Besides, I’d rather not be part of a video in one of those ad-filled sites. Sure there is tech that can replicate the face, but there’s also tech that reveals if it’s altered. Genuine products are premium and I’d rather not have someone else profit from my temporary loss of reason. Not that I don’t have dreams of it.
“Well, I’ll have to contact Sato about it. More work, but we’ll have interns and minimum wage employees who’ll handle the tasks.”
“What about security?”
She grins evilly. “We’ll have them oathed. We’re friends with Mages now and there are a lot of them who are willing to do it for cheap… and for practice.”
“Never worked with a brand before.”
She raises a brow. “Really? You were debt-slaving and they didn’t put an oath on you?”
“Mostly paper contracts and stamps. The state owned me so it was much worse.”
Kei shakes her head. “Really, what’s the story with the debt-slavery? And don’t lie to me about parental debt or for weapons because I’ve seen your records from Sato and even weapon loans aren’t that harsh.”
“It was for the resume,” I said honestly. “Sure, some might have done it because of their management, but nonetheless I needed the learning experience and they provided it no matter how hard the workplace was.”
“What’s the hardest?”
“Definitely the flesh pits. That was gruesome and I had to stop eating meat.”
“Guess you aren’t telling me the whole thing.” Kei sits up properly and starts typing. “That reminds me, Akun. I was looking for my found footage and I didn’t see my pale magus tapes. Any idea where they are?”
“Haven’t been in the office for a while. Sure it’s not around?”
“No. A shame since apparently there are no tapes around and all shops selling them have been Censored by the OB.”
I raised a brow. “Really, why?”
“Showed too much and didn’t want them to know.”
“Oh shit. Did you get asked?”
“No. Got no inquiries. And even if they did, the one who bought the footage for me is dead. OD’d on shabu in the lanes.”
“Is that lucky or bad?”
Kei shrugs. “Anyway, I’ll have to have a meeting with Sato. Talk to Aidan. He moved to Nyota with his Freelancers now.”
“Guess they earned well.”
“They are worth their money. Honestly, it’s Aidan who is the valuable one, and with him around. Even Sato will have to think twice before trying to pull the rug under us.”
I wonder if Sato saw this coming, and even if he did. I doubt the bastard would have been angry. He treats Kei more like his successor, someone who'd take his role.
