“Ok… so… what did you want to ask me? I’m guessing you wanted to talk about souls, given the conversation.”
“I did. But I’m not sure it matters anymore. I kinda answered it myself. There’s not much I can do. Until such a time as they decide to collect a favor, at least.”
“That’s true,” Lily said. “How about a subject change. I’ve read the reports that Andrea sent back. I read through the basic outline you put together for department heads. But you always hold back and keep your thoughts out of those. As if you’re worried they might go further than you want.”
Felix snorted at that and started walking off to one side of the area his people were working in. He wanted to keep moving.
Standing still didn’t feel right anymore.
Victoria noticed him moving immediately. She made a gesture he didn’t recognize to Andrea, and began to move parallel to him.
She kept her distance as he’d requested though.
“Honestly, my plan was to turn this world into a recruitment drive. As far as we can tell from what the scouts sent back, it’s a world inhabited by humans and beasts. There aren’t any other humanoid races. At all. Not one. Just humans,” Felix said. He gestured to the west. “The closest settlement is several rather large tribes over that way. Large enough that you could probably consider them the local powers. With any luck, we’ll be able to start working with them.”
“You want to… work with the locals?” Lily’s skepticism was palpable.
“Yes. I do. And not in the conquering explorer kind of way either. I want to offer them things in exchange for service, materials, and other things. I don’t plan on giving them any technology, or letting them into our encampment without being in Legion. But I’m not against giving them food. Leather, hide. Basic cloth, even. I wanted to turn this world into Legion’s world. Now though…” Felix trailed off, staring westward.
“Now you worry that you might piss off a god who doesn’t take kindly to you mucking around on different planets,” Lily finished the statement.
“Yeah. I mean… in the ancient history of our world, it’s said many times that originally it was just humans. Medieval humans.
“Then the humanoid races came. From where they’re not sure, but they were just there one day. In cities, villages, and homes as if they had always been there. Everywhere, not just in localized places.
“I have to wonder if that wasn’t an intervention. And if I’d be provoking another one.”
“I’d say let the god tell you that when they decide to talk to you again. If they didn’t want you to, would they even have let you come here?” Lily asked. “Assume the answer is permission granted, until shown otherwise. In fact, I would argue just by having this conversation aloud, you force the god into an unstated acceptance until otherwise said.”
Leave it to the lawyer.
Felix smiled and shook his head. “I suppose that’s about right. At least, that’s all I can do until otherwise stated. And the day after tomorrow, the Death Others will be returning with the three leaders of those tribes.”
“Death Others? How do you know?” Lily asked.
“They all volunteered for security, guard, or interrogation work. Apparently being on your own for that long gave them a different outlook on life. I can’t imagine their personalities would have merged very well with Andrea after that. It’s the very reason she cut them out to begin with. The memories will be gone, but does that change the personality?”
“Hmph. That’d explain why the Security Others are separate from the Corporate Others now,” Lily said.
Stopping in his tracks, Felix glanced over to Lily. “What?”
“Huh? Oh. Probably not my place. You should talk to Andie about that. I’m going to head back to the site. I have a few jobs of my own to do, you know. My boss gave me a list of things he wanted done, and I’m clearly not working on them,” Lily said, giving him a grin.
“Uh huh. Maybe I should order you more often.”
“It’s a wonder you don’t. Talk to Andie.”
And with that, Lily left him there, heading back towards the setup area.
As if knowing that they’d been talking about her, Andrea Prime came over.
“Felix? Are you better now?” she asked, moving in close to him.
I must have really worried them all. I’ll let Kit inside my head when we get back so she can pick through my thoughts. Once that’s done, everyone else will end up being better off as well.
“Yep. Doing much better. But I wanted to ask you a question or two if you don’t mind,” Felix said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“Nn?”
“Did you separate Myriad out from yourself?” he asked directly.
Andrea went rigid in his arms, her shoulders as stiff as a board.
“What?” she asked, as if she hadn’t heard him.
“Did you separate Myriad out?”
“I… that is…”
“You did.”
“Nn…”
“Why?”
“Because, Myriad isn’t me. And I’m not Myriad. You were right. We’re all the same person, but we’re also not. We talked it over. A lot. We weren’t going to tell you, because we want you to treat us all the same as you always do. But… but the Security and Combat Others are all going to be in a different… Prime… of sorts. And everyone else is coming to me.”
“So… there’s an Andrea Prime, and another Prime, now,” Felix said, trying to clarify the situation.
Andrea hesitated for a moment before nodding her head. “Yes. We… we’ve successfully split and everything is working. In fact. I played her part the other day, and they were me, and no one noticed. We can still perform each other’s functions, memories remain after all because we split them, but… the Others…”
“Were swapped around. Ok, I think I get it. And you want me to treat you two as if there was no difference?”
“Nn…” Andrea said, pressing her face to his shoulder.
“I can definitely try to do that. I think you might find that as time goes on you’ll become further and further separated. Though regardless of that, I think the new Prime needs a regular name if only to designate who I’m trying to talk to. If you’re Andrea, and she’s your twin sister, how about… Adriana?”
“Adriana?” Andrea repeated. “Adriana.”
“Adriana and Andrea Elex,” Felix said.
“Twin sister. Can… can you try something for me?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Could you try to pull up Adriana’s window? As if she were her own self?”
“I can do that,” Felix said, smiling down at the Beastkin.
Taking a step back from Andrea, since it was just easier if the window didn’t go through people or things, Felix focused his mind.
He conceptualized the idea that Adriana Elex, formerly Andrea, was a separate entity. Equal in every way to Andrea, but not Andrea.
That he wanted to modify her, and not Andrea.
Nothing came up at first, and Felix was afraid that it wouldn’t work. That Andrea and Adriana weren’t able to be separated in the way that Andrea wanted, and would always and forever be Others.
A window popped up suddenly.
Status Correction: Joined Personality -> Separated, yet able to Join, Personality
Correct Status? (20,000 points. I would have chosen Alexa instead.)
Felix took a slow breath, reading the window again.
The panic that had threatened him previously fell away in a rush.
Lily had been right.
This… thing… whatever it was, would intervene or interfere if and when it decided it wanted to.
For now, it seemed content to watch.
Felix hit the button to accept the change.
“Andrea, you’re officially twins, though I suspect you could still reform into one person if you wanted,” Felix said, looking up at the now smiling Beastkin.
Chapter 22 - Trump Card -
The ex-marine snorted and stared out across the field.
“Any particular reason you chose me?” he asked. “Don’t get me wrong. Nice view and all, but you’re asking me to be the ugly end of the stick for an entire… world.”
“Because you’re qualified, can function independently, and were given a Fixer rank. According to HR, Michael Haglund does very well when put into the worst situation and given little in the way of support,” Felix said “I’d say manning a fort in the middle of a hostile planet counts for that. Your heavy weapons specialist title doesn’t hurt either. I figure you’ll have this place tighter than a shoelace budget at the end of a fiscal year.”
“And you brought me here to show me the site and offer me the job,” Michael said, scratching at a beard far too long for a man so young. Blue eyes that’d seen a bit too much during deployment held a dull glow to them as they stared into Felix.
He looked very much the part of ex-military trying to make it back in the real world.
Maybe being at a fort on the edge of a wild world will be just what you need.
“That, and you and your wife both listed relocation as an option,” Felix said, nodding his head. “This would be relocation.”
At the mention of his wife, Michael’s eyes flicked over to the small, dark-haired Beastkin frolicking around the tall grass.
Felix wasn’t one to judge, given his relationship with Andrea, but they seemed an odd pair.
“Veronica does seem rather happy,” Michael said gruffly.
Felix took a moment to watch the cat-eared Beastkin dive into a dense growth. “I’ve noticed they tend to do better in wilder environs, yes. Can I assume that’s a yes?”
“Can I pick my own security assets?” Michael asked, looking back at Felix.
And there we go. That’s all done, just a matter of him formally agreeing.
“You do, but you’ll lose your HR status and be forced into a leadership role. A separate HR Fixer will be assigned and report up through Kit. A representative of Legal will, of course, be on hand as well. Everything else is a material or personnel requisition form,” Felix said, holding out his hand.
Michael had a sour look on his face, but shook Felix’s hand.
“Oh, planet’s named Legion. I’ve claimed it by territory rights. I plan on listing the ownership of said planet locally here, and at the HQs back home. I figure ten years is long enough for a legal claim against it,” Felix said with a grin.
“Figures,” Michael said, grinning back. “Legion first.”
“Legion first,” Felix repeated.
Michael let go of Felix’s hand and turned back to the field. Leaving him there to contemplate his new home, Felix went to join Kit.
“He’s happier than he lets on,” Kit said when he got within earshot. “He has a hard time showing it.”
“Good. You done reading through my brain yet? Can I turn it off?” Felix asked.
“Yes. I’m done. I did take a minute to really go through your thoughts about the dunk tank though. It was surprisingly—”
“Going to drown you in horrible thoughts if you finish that sentence,” Felix threatened. “If you really wanna know what I can drudge up than we can go right on down to hard-on hotel and I’ll make you wish you could bleach your own thoughts.”
“Ah… yes. I’m done. I’d agree with Lily and her assumption, based on what I saw from your mind. And yes, we are getting along, and for the reasons you suspect,” Kit said.
“Hm. Good,” Felix said. He didn’t want to talk about it. His suspicions were rather simple. Kit was sharing his thoughts with Lily, and acting as a filter for her.
He disabled her ability to read his mind with a thought.
“You ready for our guests? They should be arriving soon enough,” Felix asked.
“I believe that’d be them over yonder, actually,” Kit said, indicating a group of people off to one side. “Victoria and a Fixer cornered them as soon as they got here. I’m afraid there’s some problems that we’ll have to discuss before you even go over there.”
“Oh. There’s always a problem. That much is certain. The question is… what is it this time?” Felix asked, looking to the group of people.
“Security brought in three people. Supposedly they’re the representative leaders for each group. One is, the other two aren’t,” Kit said. She pointed to the two older gentlemen of the three. “They’re maybe third in line, and come from a dictatorship form of government. They’re here because their leader didn’t want to risk themselves.”
“Alright, not exactly a bad idea when meeting with someone you have no idea about. I can’t deny that if I had someone show up wearing things that didn’t belong, with tech that I didn’t understand, I might be reserved as well. Is that the problem though? That doesn’t seem—”
“One of them has knowledge that their tribe is attacking the other even as we speak. They were hoping they’d send their leader and were going to use this as an opportunity,” Kit clarified.
“Huh. Not a bad plan. I mean, we did something very similar if you remember. Who exactly are they attacking?”
“The other dictatorship. They don’t view the council-run one as much of a threat.”
“I imagine not. Especially if they aren’t a warrior based community. Taking a guess here, this third one has only survived this long because the other two would attack the other the moment they went to take over the third?”
“Something like that,” Kit said, nodding her head.
“Right. Well, the only one who acted in good faith was our dear little community run tribe. That’s fine. They’re probably preferable to work with anyways. With a larger pool of essentials in their community, I imagine that they have far more to gain through a deal. The other two would have just wanted wealth so they could distribute to their backers. Politics is always so fun,” Felix said in a flat voice.
“Put a thought in Victoria’s head to send the other two away,” he continued. “Bring the democratic one. I’ll need Michael sooner than I thought. Give him a brief rundown of the situation and have him meet up with me.
“At the same time, I’m going to need you to mobilize say… an entire battalion of Legion Security. Armed for full combat. Engage their mech attachment as well,” Felix said, running down the plan in his head.
“That’s… quite a firm response. Did you want the Powered element activated as well?”
“No. Let’s keep that under wraps for now, but do ask for the appropriate number of Fixers and Telemedics. After that, get yourself back to HQ. I need you making sure the ship stays on course. I’ll be over that way,” Felix said, pointing at a boundary marker.
“Oh, and get me Miu,” Felix called over his shoulder. “Let her know in advance she’ll be off her leash.”
Flipping over his wrist he did a quick check for any new messages or email, and then tapped the alert indicator for Andrea.
A second later and her face popped up in the display. She was clearly in the ANet and working on something.
“Felix?” she asked. “What’s going on? I just saw a number of things light up and go active at the same time. I thought you said you didn’t need me because this was going to be simple.”
“Yeah. Looking like we’re going to have a bit of a fight out here on Legion world. Is uh… is Adriana available? I think I’m going to need her,” Felix said. He wasn’t quite sure how to refer to the two of them yet. It’d only been a day after all.
“Nn! She is. Want me to send her your way? Full combat rigging?” she asked.
“Yeah. And an Andrea of course. Not you though, not Prime. Or Adriana’s Prime. If I don’t have to spend points I’d rather not,” Felix said.
“Got it!” chirped the Beastkin, and promptly shut down the channel.
Almost at the same time, Victoria brought over a middle-aged man, and Michael came up from the other side.
“Great, everyone’s here. First up, did the Fixer finish up with English?” Fe
lix asked, looking to Victoria.
“Yes. Your servant gave me your language,” said the man.
Felix gave him a second look and found that he was fairly ordinary. Brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a face weathered by work and toil.
His age may not have been what he’d originally thought. In fact, now that Felix really looked at him, he might be in his thirties and simply suffering a hard life lived rough.
“Good. And your name?” Felix prompted.
“Hern.”
“Any surname attached to that or just—”
“Hern.”
“I’m going to assume you meant that your name is simply Hern, and not Hern Hern. Anyways. My name is Felix. These are indeed my people, and this is going to become my camp. I originally asked all three of your tribal leaders to come speak with me to discuss things. Though I’ve just found that apparently your two neighbors are already engaged in what sounds an all-out attack on each other. Best guess is they’ll turn on you when they’re done,” Felix said, keeping it simple.
Hern blinked once and then started to turn to the side, as if he wanted to run straight home.
“I’d like to make you an offer,” Felix said, trying to head the man off before he ran off with his emotions. “One that would be equitable for both of us. I want to—”
Felix paused as he realized he was probably talking past the man, if not far above him.
“I want to work out a deal that’s good for both of us. I want your people to join me, if they’re willing, and I want to trade you in… stuff,” Felix said. He wasn’t sure how else to call it other than stuff. They hadn’t even figured out what they’d need yet.
Other than the basics, that is.
“I’m afraid that won’t work,” Hern said. “Because as soon as one of those two kills off the other, they’ll turn on my people. We’re not… we’re not a warrior tribe.” Hern shook his head, looking at the ground. “I should have listened. We should have moved long ago.”
“About that. I think the starting point for an agreement might be as simple as say, an alliance?” Felix said.
The dark brown eyes of Hern jumped up to Felix’s own and stayed there.
Super Sales on Super Heroes: Book 2 Page 24