Broker

Chapter 123

Sonya slurped at her drink, leaning against the rail of the patio outside of her beach house. She watched the aspirants enjoy themselves as the sun continued to move further and further down. She wished she could have joined them in the water herself but a single thought back to the last time she attempted to jump into the water made her pause and frown. She sipped irritably at her drink as the slightly taller woman next to her glanced over and gave her a teasing look.

“Thinking back to the cannonball?” Carla asked quietly, holding her hand over her mouth to hide her grin.

Sonya slurped a bit louder while Carla snickered, narrowing her eyes as a bit of red rose to her ears. It turned out that adding so much density to her muscles, brain, bones, everything, with a new total of twenty-two sub abilities in Deus Ex Machina made her weigh quite a bit more than the average young lady of her height and build. The obvious result of still moving normally despite this, leaping into the air, and coming down at speed, meant that the splash had been rather dramatic. Her eyebrow twitched as the memory of the blank stares of her close friends watching her from the beach came back. They’d been soaked by the fallout.

She huffed and cracked a grin, Okay it was pretty funny, she thought with a snicker and leaned forward against the railing. “It's about what… five now, right?” She murmured thoughtfully. Of course she had the time on her HUD, but she couldn’t just know the time perfectly off the top of her head,” She set her cup down and brushed her hair back, checking her wrist watch, “Mhm, five on the dot,” She said, “Look at that,” She glanced over at Carla, “Do you think they’ve had enough time to think about their actions?”

Carla inclined her head, “Miss Chernovna, I think you’re being most lenient.”

Sonya turned to face her, “Aw, you flatter me,” She said and reached up to play with Carla’s hair, “Would you like to make them wait a little longer…?” She trailed off as her lip twitched. Carla’s did the same and they both trembled from repressed laughter. She cleared her throat, “H-how about until nightfall?” She grabbed her sides, “W-we could–” She burst into laughter, “Oh I can’t do it,” She laughed and waved her hands, “Enough, enough!”

She and Carla turned around to rest their backs on the railing, Sonya snatching up her cup. The two of them looked at the group lined up against the exterior of her beach house in narrow black restraints. Eight aspirants who had gotten it into their heads that they wanted one more childish hurrah before becoming full heroes. They just so happened to all be people she was signing on with ASTA as well. Not a coincidence, she thought. She couldn’t blame them, she honestly would have done the same thing. Which was why a three hour time-out was the extent of their punishment. She grinned at them and tilted her head, “Was it worth it?” She asked playfully as she held out her hand to Carla who dutifully handed her the remote for the restraints Amos had designed. She hit the button and they came loose.

Black ropes of pseudo-plastic fell down around the feet around the eight young adults. She scanned their faces. John was as placid as always. Greg looked world weary. Alex couldn’t stop grinning. Ollie looked ashamed. Val smirked and shrugged. Lily and Snow were still flushed from the compromising way they’d been caught. Then there was Cassiopeia, her little Taurus. She was smiling. She’d had fun despite the punishment that had come afterward. Sonya met her eyes and gave her a warm smile of her own before looking over the others, she stopped at John, “Good to see you went and had some fun, John. Next time try not to get into trouble while doing it, okay?” She suggested.

“Mm,” John nodded before blinking and correcting himself, “Was worthwhile, it was a beautiful kitchen.”

“You liked it?” Sonya asked, “Good! Then you can work in the kitchen tonight with the rest of the staff to help prepare for dinner.”

John nodded, “Yes ma’am.”

Sonya cupped her chin, “What about the rest of you, did you enjoy exploring Dr. Carter’s little playground?” She asked with a grin. “Speaking of which, who’s idea was this?”

“Mine,” Val said holding up his hand, “I got the others in on it and we dragged Greg in,” He said and rubbed his neck.

Sonya nodded, “Thank you for that, Val. I appreciate it,” She said with a smile, “Please join John in the kitchen tonight.”

Val grinned awkwardly, “That’s fair, yes ma’am.”

She tilted her head and looked over at Cass, “You joined them?” She asked with amusement.

Cass brightened a little, “I overheard them talking about it and well,” She squeezed her hands together, “It sounded like fun, and a challenge, and I wanted to see so I just went for it,” She flushed and looked down at her hands. “It was fun, I like them.”

The others looked at Cass with surprise, Lily and Ollie the only two that gave her a more normal smile. Sonya felt a little relief wash over her, “Good,” Sonya said, “Very good. You still have to work in the kitchen tonight though.”

Cass stuck her tongue out a little and scratched her head, “Got it.”

She glanced at Ollie and raised her eyebrow, “You join those three, Ollie. I hope it satisfied your curiosity.”

Ollie looked a bit despondent, “I got so swept up… it- I just-” He stammered, “It was so exciting.”

She had a feeling it was like that, curiosity was his single driving force and he was prone to getting excited and getting carried away. It was in his nature, so she didn’t begrudge him, but she did think he needed to learn a little restraint. She let out a breath and moved on to Alex and Greg, “Now for Alex, I assume you were the first to hop on the bandwagon with Val? You’re one hell of a hype man.”

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Alex grinned, “What can I say? It was worth it, damn that place is so freakin’ cool!” He barked out a laugh and leaned back a bit, “I’m mad jealous. I’d love to see it again when everythings done.”

“It’s a prototype for my new house,” Sonya said, “I’ll invite you if you get your license,” Sonya added with a smirk before tilting her head, “You’re still in trouble though. Beach cleaning.”

He saluted quickly, “You got it!”

“Good,” She laughed and looked over at Greg, “Stand up for yourself more,” She said flatly, “You want to be a logistics specialist and a leader, don’t you?” She asked, “Sometimes that requires being firm.”

He let out a breath and squared his shoulders, looking up at her and meeting her eyes, “Yes ma’am. I will.”

“Beach Cleaning,” Sonya said and he nodded. She turned finally to the red-faced Snow and Lily. Neither of them could meet her eyes for a moment so she waited until they squirreled up their nerves and looked back at her. She smirked and held her hand up over her mouth to restrain a bit of laughter, “Girls I-” She snorted, “I want to say you’ve been punished enough,” She started and snickered again getting a few odd looks from the others, “B-but, I’m gonna need you two to do some beach cleaning. Understood?”

They both lowered their heads, “Yes ma’am…” They said in unison. It sounded like Snow was getting a little better with her voice timing, at least.

Sonya put her hands on her hips. “Alright, you little sneaks are dismissed. You’ve got an hour to breathe before I put you to work,” She said and waved them off before glancing at Greg, “Your lady friend was looking for you. I suggest you track her down and explain where you’ve been.”

His eyes bulged and he darted off, “Thank you Miss Chernovna!” He called back as he hustled out towards the beach. His action seemed to open the flood gates and they all split up, going their separate ways to get a little more fun out of the afternoon before they had to work off their earlier mischief. Sonya watched them go before glancing at Cassiopeia who stayed behind. 

“They’re good people,” Sonya said.

“They are,” Cass nodded and frowned, “I’m sad.”

“That you missed out on a month with them?” Sonya asked.

Cass’ shoulders fell, “Yeah,” She said quietly before looking back at Sonya, “I saw my sister on the screen in your office, I froze. I can’t even think when I see her, if it wasn’t for Ollie pulling me away I don’t know what I would have done. I practically blacked out.”

“It’s not time for you to face her,” Sonya said flatly, checking her surroundings with her senses to make sure no one was listening in, “It’s only been a month. You can’t be expected to make that kind of break-through in so little time. You need to find your own strength and courage, your own reason to fight that can give you the will to stand on your own two feet,” Sonya said and looked towards the retreating distant figures, “People you can trust to have your back, for example.”

“I’d feel better with-” Cass started but Sonya held up a hand to forestall her, “-I’m sorry.”

Sonya shook her head, “It’s ready for you, but you aren’t ready for it,” Sonya said, “You’ll know when you’re ready.”

Cass nodded, “I’ll be patient,” She said with a breath before looking up at the beach, “I’m worried about Ollie, I barely know him, but I saw him talking with that man, they’ve been talking a lot recently,” She rubbed her arms, “He helped me.”

Sonya’s lip twitched and rose into a bit of a smile. She glanced towards the beach herself, “I’ll keep an eye on it as well. You just focus on being a good friend to him, he’s a smart guy, I have a feeling you don’t need to worry about him too much,” Sonya said and tilted her head, “Believe it or not, out of all the aspirants at the camp, that young man is one I have a particularly good feeling about.”

Cass rubbed her arms, “If you say so, I just-” She mumbled. Sonya smiled at the poor thing, she developed attachments so quickly. It was a strength and a curse. 

Sonya rest her hand on her hip to give off a stronger air of confidence, smirking a little. She flipped her hair and winked, “Call it instinct.”

–

Ollie deviated from the path, his mind a swirl of thoughts. There was so much hidden beneath the surface back in the beach house. He twisted his fingers together, There was so much there but I still feel guilty, I bent Miss Chernovna’s trust. That was wrong of me, but it was so exciting! He thought breathlessly before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his notepad to check his notes. He ran his fingers over the notes and flipped it open, reading carefully. Some of it was so small, little details, little considerations. Lines that didn’t connect. He felt like he was looking at a massive puzzle and was only holding a tenth of the whole thing.

He glanced over his shoulder, She didn’t say a thing, he thought. Miss Mint was right there and she didn’t say a thing either. I’m on probation. One slip up. I got carried away. That should have been it for me. One infraction and I would have gone back to prison. He bit his lip, Neither of them said a word. He cleared his throat and closed his notes as he heard footsteps coming through the trees. He stopped and looked towards the source, spotting a pair of glowing blue eyes gleaming from within the trees. That was when he stepped out.

Ollie reactivated his power. He’d told no-one, only Madame Rouge knew, but his ability could remember those it touched. It wasn’t something that had come to him right away, but a month of practice and studying his power had brought the function out. He looked at the man before him and saw hundreds of blood-red threads. Murders. He controlled his face, maintaining as timid an exterior as he could. His eyes shifted only microscopically to look down at the man's feet and saw the thick black thread going down into the earth. Enmity, with the whole world. There was another thick black thread as well, pointing back at the beach house. Miss Chernovna. It’s strange, how does he seem so obsessed with earning her favor when their karmic thread is black? He met the man’s eyes.

Marc swept back his blonde hair and smiled, “Ollie! How was your little adventure?”

Ollie brightened, “It was very informative, Mister Mallory!” He said and cleared his throat, “I-I mean, Marc,” He changed the phrasing when he caught a bit of a stare from Marc. Marc seemed pleased with his shift to submission.

“Do tell,” Marc said with an eager grin.

Ollie pulled out his notes, all misleadingly useful information. All the good stuff was in his head where it belonged. He handed the notepad over. Marc flipped it open and started to read, his smile widening even more. “I really think we’re going to make a good team, Ollie.”

“Call me Riot, sir,” Ollie said. I’ll get close to him. I want to be an investigator after all. Once I get my license I’ll be off probation, after that, I’ll do whatever it takes to figure this guy out. His gut twisted a little, I just hope I don’t do something I can’t take back in the process.

Marc raised an eyebrow, “And you can call me Otis.”

–

Sonya stood in her office beneath the beach house, glancing thoughtfully at the map of the world that had the carter radar readings on it. The clouds of mana moving over the world were thinning out in places while thickening in others. It was starting to look more and more like an all-over coverage of the planet. There were still places that were nearly devoid of the ambient energy. Will it simply form an even coat one day? She thought, I don’t think that happened by the time things ended last time around, maybe it was because of all the dungeon breaks. She huffed and dismissed the morbid thought. She shifted her eyes and looked at the dot in the northwest United States. Chunhua will be going to Seattle after the aspirants graduate, she pursed her lips, we need to talk before then. Her expression eased into a smile, Though I suppose I can say a little tonight, might be fun to embarrass her a little.

She huffed out a breath and walked over to the desk, running her fingers over the domed crystal. She felt it pull a bit of mana out of her body and the air and a vague sense of connection to it washed over her. She moved to her seat and relaxed as the dense network of fractals within the crystal flashed and flickered, lights traveling through them so fast an ordinary eye couldn’t see it. A moment later, the air was filled with even more screens. It was a new kind of computer, synchronized with her mana signature and mind. Denser than any type before it and the foundation for a whole new field of technology. Amos’ greatest creation to date and the culmination of his study of pandora-based materials and mana. Unfortunately the prototype was next to impossible for a normal human mind to utilize. 

She smiled smugly, Good thing I’m not normal.

She waved her hand and everything was organized in front of her; detailed notes on the aspirants at every camp, their abilities, dreams, experience, skills and what companies were signing them. She’d snatched up quite a few for herself. New abilities for the warehouse, she thought and leaned back in her seat, resting her chin on her knuckles with a small smile.

“So many heroes born in just ten weeks, even with a low graduation rate,” She murmured, The population of heroes at this time in the previous timeline was barely a tenth of this. More heroes means more dungeons and monsters dealt with in less time. More importantly it leaves some to engage with villains to maintain a rivalry between the groups. She hummed, Though I might have to pump up the number of villains soon. The results have exceeded my expectations. Things are going well. She narrowed her eyes, I should expect problems soon. Can never be too careful. 

She steepled her fingers and mentally dismissed the images before pulling up a single projection floating in front of her like a screen. Liberty and all her notes on the woman, What are you planning, Liberty? What’s your next move? Another projection appeared of Otis, And you, you were so incompetent when you were young, weren’t you? What changed? When? How? You aren’t the man I remember, not yet. Her gut twisted a little, You will be, though. I can feel it. I’m running out of excuses not to sign him. I’ll need to do it soon otherwise it will look suspicious. Right now you’re in the palm of my hand, grow up well, you bastard. She thought with a small grin before dismissing the images.

She stretched, scratched her neck and gestured casually with her hand, a portal appearing to her left. Two presences stepped out and she glanced over to see Marta and Barry standing there in vacationing clothes. She smiled at them brightly and turned, slipping off her chair and hopping to her feet with a chuckle, “How’s South China?” She asked, pulling Festival of Dionysus out of her warehouse.

“It’s been lovely, Sonya, thank you,” Marta said with a chuckle, reaching up to put a hand on Barry’s arm.

“Damn good day, had a nice dinner on the ocean, looking forward to the rest,” Barry said with a chuckle, “But we got business, don’t we, boss?”

Sonya grinned, “That we do, you’ve worked hard Barry, and now it’s time for your reward,” She said holding out her hand, “I have a feeling it’ll be a doozy, so let's talk sanctions so you can ease into it.”

He took her hand, “Alright, lay it on me boss.”

–

Sonya stepped out of the beach house into the dimming light. The aspirants and other instructors were already gathering around a fire pit they’d been working together to make. She brushed her hair back over her ear and relaxed, “Marshmallows sound great right now.”