I’m interfaced with the ship.
And the task was done, faster than either of the previous ones.
It’s not just an interface, the ship is acting to support my mind.
Rather than let his mind read the reports as he had been up to this point, he read them in conjunction with his program, his link.
Pushing on the link as he started to work through the individual reports, he found his mind expanding to take everything in.
Moving to analyze the files as a whole and separate at the same time, he guided his mind and dragged the link along with him.
Several minutes later he shook his head, deactivating the link.
“It’s several groups with multiple cells in each. Not one group with a large amount of cells,” Runner muttered.
Standing up, he began sorting the files into each group.
Looking at it laid out that way, it made sense.
There were three groups of covert operations and several freelance bounty hunters. Two groups had divine intervention in a few situations, which meant they were sponsored by gods. The third one did not and proved to be the most indirect as well.
They had tried to target crafters, resource providers, and the priesthood.
Which meant the one he’d dealt with tonight fell in one of the first two groups.
A polite cough broke him out of his thoughts, and Runner looked up to the door.
One of the keep messengers bowed his head to him.
“Lord Norwood, we have two individuals demanding to see you.”
“Oh? What affiliation?”
“Ah, none, Lord Norwood.”
“Huh. Alright. I’ll be in the receiving room shortly. Please have it set up quickly.” Runner leaned to one side, stretching his hips as he cleared the current file layout.
“Yes, Lord Norwood.”
Dismissed, the messenger hurried off.
He could resume this later. Truth of the matter was that he could use a break. That and he wanted to think a bit more on his link and the fact that he was a bit of a cyborg now.
Waiting five minutes, Runner idly played with his link, cycling it up and down with random requests. Depending on the need he actually felt for an item, it would increase or decrease the amount of resources it would pull from the ship.
It was an interesting new toy to say the least.
Wish I could talk to Sunshine about it.
Runner gestured to his guards to take point and fell into the middle of them as they moved.
Flanked and defended by ten of Norwood’s Own, Runner entered the reception room and took a seat in his personal chair. His guards spread out in the room to cover everything.
Once they looked like they were in position, Runner motioned to the door guard for the room to admit the two requesting an audience.
Runner’s eyebrows threatened to leap off his forehead when Yulia and Bullard walked in.
They were exactly as he remembered them. Yulia hit an easy six feet and had an athlete’s body. No one would ever call her pretty, though it was easy to call her handsome.
Bullard looked what every Prince Charming character aspired to be. Blond, blue eyed, nearly as tall as Yulia and vomit-inducing handsome.
Yulia was level forty-seven and Bullard forty-six. Runner was thankful for Sophia’s endless regiments that trained up his people.
Good lord. My guard as a whole is right around forty-five, but I’m not even forty.
Yulia growled and began walking towards Runner quickly.
“Runner, you bastard—” Yulia started.
She slumped to one side as a spell pinged off her, then was blown back into a wall and pinned there by two other spells.
His crowd control casters had subdued her without even a word from him.
Multiple guards with shields placed themselves between Runner and his visitors, and lightning crackled as the damage casters began preparing themselves.
The sound of spells being channeled was the only sound in the room.
Yulia looked enraged at being rendered completely helpless. Bullard looked like he would draw his blade at any moment despite the odds.
“Right, then. Thank you, everyone,” Runner said, nodding his head to the on-duty lieutenant in his guard. They had done their jobs perfectly. “Please release our guests and let’s start this over again. Yulia, you’ll need to forgive them. I’ve already had one assassination attempt and there was an attempt on someone else this morning. My people are a bit on edge.”
Yulia’s feet hit the floor when she was released. His shield-bearing protectors moved back to their positions, though they kept their shields and weapons at the ready.
Yulia looked like she would explode at him, probably getting a second dose of the same treatment.
Bullard released the hilt of his sword and looked to Yulia plaintively.
Her eyes jumped to Bullard, then to Runner.
“Lord Norwood—” Yulia began.
“Runner, please.”
“Runner. We would seek asylum.”
Runner blinked and leaned back in his chair. Mentally he reached out for his connection with Satomi and gently knocked on her mind.
She immediately flung herself open and dragged him inside. As was the case with her, her thoughts were like a machine’s, churning at the problems and tasks she had.
To one side there was a dark corner that he never asked her about and politely pretended didn’t exist. Whatever she kept there, she didn’t seem keen on sharing.
There was no talking in this connection, but more of a series of impressions or desires.
In only a handful of seconds he had conveyed the entire situation to her and she had agreed to join him.
Leaving the connection open, he returned to his own mind, pulling Satomi with him. Though she wasn’t here as of yet, she could see and hear things through his senses.
“Asylum you say. You’ll forgive me if I’m a little confused. The last time we met, you tried to kill my party members. I believe you addressed them as ‘filth’ that needed to be cleansed, Bullard.” Runner said it quietly, his eyes fixing on the man.
There was a tightening of shoulders, people readying themselves. He hadn’t spread the stories of his adventures previous to being captured by Vasilios, but they’d spread nonetheless.
They all knew who Bullard was.
A few of his people started to move as they heard the name.
Bullard noticed the change in the atmosphere. He managed to hold his ground and met Runner’s gaze directly.
“I was wrong. I did do those things. I said those things. I was—”
A side door popped open, and every head in the room turned to see the newest entrant.
Satomi took two steps in the room before the door closed behind her. She gave the room a small grin, showing off her canines, and moved over to Runner’s side.
Nonchalantly she set her hand on Runner’s shoulder and looked to Bullard.
“Please, continue,” Runner said, gesturing with one hand.
Bullard watched the Kitsune, then looked back to Runner.
“I was wrong, and misled. I can’t change my actions previously, but I can repent.”
There was no response from Satomi, which meant she found no lie in his words.
Runner spread his hands before him.
“Personally, I think you’re a scumbag and would happily lop off your head and leave you to rot. Though I find myself torn.” Runner tapped his thumb on the desk twice. “Brighteyes? Can you close this room off for me?”
There was no response to his request. Instead he felt her power brush lightly over his own.
“Thank you, Brighteyes. Well, I’d like to know who you were serving, in what capacity, and what happened. No one can hear you, not even Rike, Rannulf, Lambart, or anyone else.”
Bullard licked his lips and let out a short breath. Giving his head a tiny shake, he closed his eyes.
“I served Rike. I was a lieutenant in her armies dur
ing the early campaign. I was transferred to the invasion forces and came across in the landings at Dover. The things she did on the mainland were… atrocities. There was no call for what she did. Once we landed, Yulia and I fled. All three rulers of Tirtius would not see us. In the end we followed them here.”
“Why? You have things to offer, your levels aren’t subpar. That seems strange to me. The intel alone you could offer would be worth something. Especially to Basile.” Runner leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands.
Bullard turned his head to the side, breaking eye contact with Runner.
Yulia grunted and then sighed angrily.
“They said they didn’t wish to anger you.”
“Me?” Runner felt nothing from Satomi, which meant this entire conversation was honest and without a lie from their point of view.
“Do you know what they say of you in the mainland, Runner? You bastard.”
Runner shook his head.
“That you’ve single-handedly taken over Vix. That the royalty of Tirtius rules by your pleasure. That you have vaults of unused resources at your disposal to destroy the very economy of the world. That the very divines of those nations barter for your favor. That they serve as your divine harem just as you have a mortal harem of princesses, generals, and races unseen.” Yulia looked like she wanted to attack him.
“Uh,” Runner said expansively and intelligently.
Spies and rumor mongers abound. Some of that is secret information.
Runner’s brain went straight to the heart of that information. Someone close to him was giving information out. Which was a very serious problem of confidentiality and trust.
We could have a mole.
“Is it true?” Yulia demanded of him.
“Which part?”
“Which part? Idiot! All of it.”
“Difficult to answer. I’ll simply not answer the question at all. You’ll forgive me for not giving up my secrets, of course.”
Yulia growled and her hand touched her hilt.
In response, every caster in the room began channeling spells into life.
“Would you expect me to tell you my nation’s secrets, Yulia? To give you all the ways to hurt me because you asked? Be real. Now, as to asylum,” Runner said, trying to redirect the conversation.
Around him his people let spells slowly fizzle out, taking their cues from their lord.
“What are you offering, and what are you requesting?” Runner asked, direct and to the point.
“I can provide Rike’s entire battle plan and her goal. All I ask for is a stipend and a place to lay my head.”
Runner tilted his head to the side, first regarding Bullard and then Yulia.
Satomi said and did nothing, which meant everything was again aboveboard.
“Done. You’ll each be paid the equivalent to a sergeant and given a single-family dwelling. I’ll expect all the details of Rike’s movements by tomorrow morning. Any questions?”
Both of them shook their head.
“Good, welcome to Norwood.”
The guard at the door pulled the handle and gave the two refugees their exit.
Yulia looked Runner over one more time and then left, Bullard falling in close behind her.
When the door shut Runner sighed and made eye contact with his big lieutenant.
She immediately understood and had everyone exit the room, taking positions on the other side of the entry doors.
“That was fun. It also means our job got harder. Their information was good. Too good. Someone’s been talking,” Runner said, resting his head in his heads with his elbows on the desk.
“Yes, bonded. Though to an extent everything they knew is relatively available information. It is a concern, but a minor one.”
“Mm. I’m not sure who will kill me first. Hanners, Lady Death, or Kitten.”
“Why? Over your ex-mate?”
“Huh? How can you even tell? And no, more about Bullard.”
“Smell. Her speech. Inflections. Voice. She is conflicted but loves Bullard deeply. As to killing you, they will not have undue stress over the situation. They may hold a grudge against the man but his information is of more importance.”
“Goodie. Next. I found the common thread for your assassin problem,” Runner said, lifting his head and then pulling up the windows he had been working on.
“You did?” Satomi sounded mildly suspicious.
“Yes, me. Why? Is it so hard to believe? Look here,” Runner said, pointing at the screens. He had taken a moment to ensure they were visible to Satomi in his window settings. “You two have done a spectacular job. To the point where your success out paces the expected results.”
“Yes. We know. We believe there to be multiple cells that are constantly being rebuilt. From the interrogations we were able to deduce that it is Lambart.”
“Not quite. It’s three different groups with multiple cells each. When you arrange them like so”—Runner pointed at a separate screen he called up—“you can see how it lines up. There’s three distinct groups that correlate and mix back. None of those ever cross one another. It’s not multiple cells.”
“It is multiple organizations. Yes. I see it now. It also explains the difference in tactics and beliefs. Lambart is one.”
“Yeah, I’d bet on the other being Rike or Rannulf. The third I have no idea. They’re a bit odd. They seemed more bent on destabilization of Norwood than my demise. Also some bounty hunters running around trying to collect on key people.” Runner leaned back in his chair and looked to the stones above him.
“Brighteyes? Angel? Minxy? Anything to add? I know you’re bound by your rules and you’re not omniscient and more along the lines of omnipotent, but any info you have would help.”
Amelia popped into existence sitting on the table directly in front of him. Her feet dangled on each side of him and she was leaning forward, watching him.
Brunhild and Ernsta joined her, though they stood at each end of the table in a far more dignified pose.
“We’re blocked from viewing Dover. Anything ongoing there is beyond our reach,” Brunhild said, one hand held up in defeat.
“Many deaths. Our people were under attack, there is a lull now,” Ernsta added, folding her hands into each other.
“No assassins, strange killings, or the like,” Amelia said, her left hand coming out to lightly tug at Runner’s tunic. “I’ve got nothing on what’s going on here either. What happened earlier with Basile didn’t even show up on my radar.”
Satomi frowned, her eyebrows drawing down a touch.
“Strange. From all the knowledge we have, then, I suggest we rush this conclave and assist Dover. Lady Ernsta, have there been any notable deaths?” Satomi asked, trying to ask the question in a delicate way.
“No.”
Satomi nodded at that and then bowed her head to the collected group.
“I must depart. Hannah will be pleased to hear what you have discovered, bonded.” Satomi didn’t quite make eye contact with him, and he pulled gently on the connection between them.
He felt it immediately. She felt tiny. Small. Of no importance in this assembly.
“Of course, Vixen. One second though. Brunhild, Ernsta, Amelia. This is Satomi. My familiar. As you all know, that means she’s with me. Forever. And since you’re all stuck to me as well, you’re all stuck with her. Forever.” Runner didn’t say it, but it was clear he expected everyone to play nice.
Brunhild and Ernsta both greeted her with a smile and head bob.
Amelia scooted sideways on the table. She pressed one foot to Runner’s chest and leaned over to grab Satomi. She wrapped her arms around Satomi’s torso, drawing her straight into a hug.
“Such a cute little fox girl. If you make him happy, I’ll make you happy. Hey, hey, listen, my goal is…” Amelia leaned in and whispered directly into Satomi’s ear.
Satomi’s eyes widened for a moment and the connection between her and Runner slammed shut like a vault d
oor.
He ears twitched a few times as Amelia continued. Then the goddess drew back and regarded Satomi.
“Yeah?” she asked the Kitsune.
Satomi nodded once, a wide-mouthed grin taking over her face. Not waiting to be dismissed again, she exited the room.
Satomi gently reopened the connection with him and gave him an apologetic feeling.
Runner sent acceptance back to her along with warm feelings and left it open. There was no pressure or sentiment sent back and forth, merely the presence of the other’s mind.
It felt a lot like holding hands.
“Do I even want to know, Minxy?” Runner asked. The pixie-haired goddess scooted back in his direction, immediately sinking her hands into his clothes again.
“Nope. Promise it was only good things. I like her. Now, what’s the plan?”
“Prepare for war. I get the distinct feeling we’ll be sending the army east to Dover. Figure out who the troublemakers are and clean up Norwood. They must be spending a fortune on spies and intelligence agents. Make plans for when things get worse because we know they always do. Discover if I have a mole or not—that information was pretty close.”
Runner leaned back into his chair as Amelia crept closer to him. Her fingers had curled inwards. She clearly felt emboldened since he hadn’t immediately stopped her or pushed her away.
“Oh! I can help with that. Take your clothes off and I’ll start searching for the mole immediately. No hints, I’m sure I’ll find it. Now… start with your pants,” Amelia said smoothly.
Brunhild watched over the exchange with a small smile as if it were according to her expectations. Ernsta didn’t even try to hide her interest in what Amelia was doing and had started to lean in as well.
There was always something about to go wrong.
You know, the usual.
Chapter 13 - Limits -
8:01 pm Sovereign Earth time
5/15/44
Runner shifted a token to the fields in the southwest. It made no change to the time required to finish the keep. It’d still be completed tomorrow.
Runner slid another token from the keep. Once more there was no change. Finally, after sliding a third one out, it updated.
Otherlife Awakening: The Selfless Hero Trilogy Page 22