Interrupting the heated conversation before it could blow out of proportion, Chris said, “This is perfect thanks, I’d like to sign the lease now and start using it today if that is possible?”
The conversation stopped abruptly. Abby and the agent both had completely different reactions. The agent showed a barely disguised look of pure relief, while Abby’s was one of horror. She turned on Chris, almost angry. “Are you nuts?! This is way too small to run a business out of! This man is just trying to sell us a cleaning closet. All he’s done is take out the brushes!”
Chris smiled and raised his hands in an open palm to placate Abby. “No, it’s the perfect size and the price isn’t bad at all. Let's get on with the deal.”
Abby sighed, exasperated. “It's your money and you are the boss, but I want it on record that I advise against it!”
The agent was now smiling like he was a cat that just got some cream and quickly worked with Chris to change over the inscriptions on the wall of the small office. This granted Chris the property’s right to the small office. He set up the payment schedule with his mark in the farseeing account and the man quickly left before any second thoughts could be had.
Abby was still fuming silently about the purchase, but Chris held up his hand again before she could say one word. He said, in a calm tone. “It’s probably best if you come by first thing tomorrow and we’ll work through the documentation for starting the business. Don’t worry about it just now. I’m perfectly satisfied with the office you’ve found.” He smiled doing his best to look reassuring.
It was obvious that Abby was biting her tongue, as she did not want to say anything she would regret. She walked out after nodding to Chris. When he was sure she was gone, Chris closed the door the office.
Out of the bag on his waist, Chris pulled out his inscription equipment. He had finally gotten some good quality equipment, but still far inferior to the best he would eventually like to buy. Chris had been working on this scroll for the last few weeks. Instead of having to manually inscribe on the wall for the magical effect, all of the information was contained in detail within a scroll that could be imprinted onto a wall. The scroll contained a great deal of inscriptions across a longer than usual length. He was hoping that he would be able to sell this as a product to the corporate world. It would hopefully let anyone use any space as an office or warehouse package. In the centre of the room Chris activated the scroll, and as it activated, a bright light emanated from it flooding the room.
When Chris finally got his vision back after frantically rubbing his eyes for the better part of a minute, he was standing the centre of a large hallway entrance. With the use of the Ether barriers and a mixture of the other element pillars, he had been able to get different type of surface and colour on the walls, so it wasn’t just like the white walls in the lockup. The hallway entrance was grand in scale with a vaulted ceiling. The wall textures looked like they were made out of wood and stone from a distance. Light inscriptions were placed periodically, giving a grand and dramatic light effect. At the end of the hall was a massive set of translucent crystal looking doors. Chris opened one of the doors and walk into an arboretum. This was an experiment he had decided to try to see just how far he could push the limits. The arboretum was about one-hundred-meters high and had a cylindrical circular shape of fifty meters in diameter. It had places for plants to be placed and a winding path, differentiated in colour, from the door toward the other end. At the opposite end was a large reception area with a desk and some chairs for people to sit on. By the side of the reception area was another crystal-like door leading into the offices. Chris spent the next hour checking out all the various offices and warehouses he had created with the inscriptions on the scroll. He even had created an apartment for him to live in, that was apart from the offices. This was accessed through a special field that would only let him through to go up a levitation shaft. Finally, in a restricted access room, he went in and activated another scroll, by placing it on one of the walls. The scroll and then wall flared blue and the dark black. As the black faded, Chris could see a doorway into one of the rooms in the lockup, he and Ben worked in the entertainment district. Chris was pleased with his success and walked through to the lockup room.
Chris was rather proud of his development into teleportation. The teleportation system worked by folding the space in-between the two points. It took magical energy to develop the link in space, but once it existed, no energy was required to maintain it. The magical pillar Chris had discovered gave the basis for the modification of space and time itself.
He found Ben in one of the workshops, working on some bags. He managed to convince Ben to take a tour with him over the new property he owned. Ben was amazed at the scale, and grandeur of the offices space, but still insisted that he would be more happy working in the lockup for now.
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The next day, he met Abby outside the office door. She had a lot of scroll work inside a large bag. Chris took the bag off of her, he allowed her to open the door. When Abby saw the large entrance hallway and vaulted ceilings her jaw dropped, and her hands fell by her side in a state of shock. Abby stared at all the rooms around her and tried to take in everything.
Finally coming back to reality after taking a good look, Abby turned to Chris and said in a whisper, “If this is what you can do with magic, you’ll be the richest man on the planet.”
Chris just shrugged his shoulders. “We’ll see what happens. Let me show you to your office.”
As they moved through the crystal doors into the arboretum, Abby’s face got paler and she kept glancing at Chris. Through the last set of crystal door, into the first-floor office spaces, Chris lead her to the end of the corridor. Opening a door was an inner reception area with door beyond it going to Abby’s office. Her office had a large vaulted ceiling, with wooden-like surfaces everywhere. On one end was a large desk with a chair beside it and a couple of chairs in front.
Chris chuckled at the shocked woman. “This is your office, you are going to need to get it fitted out with what everything you want, but we will have to start small. As we bring in some more money, you will be able to expand and get some more staff. For all the rest of the business aspects, I’ll leave up to you. The only thing you should note is that you will need to clear major expensive costs with me first, as I will be in control of all the major money transfers. I’ll set up funds you can withdraw from. Also, I’m sure I don’t have to say it, but don’t cheat me please. I will be doing spot checks on any purchases.”
Abby nodded, still looking a bit shocked of the scale of work she had to do. She gathered back up her nerve as turned to Chris a bit more confidently, “Don’t worry that won’t be a problem. So, where is your office?”
Chris said, “I haven’t planned to have an office actually. Most of my time I’ll be spending in a workshop developing items. I’m thinking that I’ll only see clients for one hour a day and only if you aren’t able to sort it out yourself. As time goes on that should hopefully be less and less. You know about the deal we have in the lockup, about renting out stamps. We’ll be doing the same deals here as well. I’ve developed a new method, so we’ll also be selling scrolls in addition to stamps. Remember we take payment immediately on purchase of a stamp or scroll.” Chris’ voice became hard and serious. “There are no exceptions to that rule. We aren’t going to enter into contracts with businesses that are just selling and renting the items out to companies. If they don’t return the stamps or other items, the cost is double on the next transaction of equivalent value. The rest is up to you. I am sure that the product we are selling is good and am confident it will succeed. “
With that little pep talk, Chris and Abby marked the document to start the business. The name of the company was Ether.
Chapter 8 Negotiation
It had been a couple of weeks since the ‘Ether’ business had been setup. Abby had been working in customer relations with new clients, traveling around the other businesses
in the commercial district of the city. She had been giving out samples of the product they offered and initial catalogues they had printed, detailing all the information companies needed to make a purchase. They weren’t flashy, but Abby had managed to find an artist who would illustrate and print the catalogues quickly. The initial sales had been small, as it took time for any of the larger corporations to respond to new ideas and new ways of doing business. Abby had arranged a meeting tomorrow morning when Chris would be available, with some interested clients she was having difficulty with.
That evening, Chris came out of the workshop for the first time in days. He had been doing some intensive research trying to perfect his idea for scrolls, when he found a note from Ben to meet him in a bar later in the evening. This was unusual, as Ben normal avoided bars, because of his drinking problem. He’d had been having a good run of things recently and was trying to kick the drinking habit. The note worried Chris, as he thought that Ben might be back in trouble with alcohol.
On the way to the bar, Chris decided to check out the book store again for any more magical reference books. A little while ago, Ben had made a bag for the exchange with the bookshop owner, so he could keep his end of the agreement. As he walked through the district, the shop owners tried to entice him into their stores. Now that, he was dressed in his smart casual clothing, he couldn’t pass by without be called. Chris chuckled and thought “It’s not all a positive experience looking like you have money.” As he entered the second-hand book store, he went over to Jill who was behind the counter.
Chris glanced around the shop with a smile, “Hi, remember me?”
Jill smiled back and said, “Of course I do. You’re the one who was interested in magical academic books. We have some more at the back if you want to take a look.”
Chris nodded, “Also, I promised you a bag in exchange for some of the books.” He pulled the bag off his shoulder where he had been carrying it. “Here is the bag, I hope you like it?”
Chris handed over the bag that was especially made by Ben and inscripted by Chris. Jill took hold of the bag, and looked at the high quality, in addition to the massive space inside. Chris said, “It also reduces the mass of any objects you put into it. Or it reduces the mass you carry anyway.”
Jill seemed touched by the unexpected quality of the bag and gave a small grin up at him. “It's really amazing, thank you so much for this. If you want to select some books in exchange, go right on ahead.”
Chris nodded and went to the back of the store, in search of academic magical books. After browsing a bit, he found a few that he thought would be useful. Gathering them in his arms, he took them to the front. Jill approved the exchange and then Chris left to travel to the bar for his meeting with Ben. The bar was one of the many in the plaza. It looked like it would be lively later, in the evening but at the moment, it was still quite early in the evening. Being well dressed proved an advantage, as the bouncer at the door of the bar let Chris pass without any protest. At the distant end of the bar, past the open space and tables Chris saw Ben in an alcove table. He was by himself with a large bottle in front of him. Chris walked across the dance floor to Ben, worried about what state he would be in.
As Chris sat down next to his friend, he saw that Ben was looking at the bottle of alcohol in front of him, with a confused look. Ben whispered in a quiet voice, “I have a problem, Chris.”
Chris looked at his friend with concern, reaching over and putting his hand on his shoulder. “I know about your drinking problem. If you want some help, I’m always here for you. We actually have some money now. We could get you the best professional help available.”
Ben just smiled sadly and said, “That not the problem that I’m talking about. That seems to have solved itself. The shield you put around me; it seems to be working too well. Today, I had a bit of a relapse and started drinking in the morning. By about lunch time I should’ve been blind drunk with all the alcohol I had consumed, but I didn’t feel a thing. I kept on drinking all afternoon, but still nothing. The only thing that can explain it is that the magical enhancement is somehow removing the alcohol from my system.”
The thought of that happening rattled Chris, “That wasn’t part of the design, but it is designed to ensure that the person is healthy and alive. I added those markings to make sure we didn’t suddenly suffocate. Maybe it does more than I thought.” Chris glanced towards the bottle on the table. ‘You know that I’m not a heavy drinker, so let me experiment with the alcohol and see if the same thing happens with me.”
An amused smile grew on Ben’s face. “Here, be my guest.”
He pushed over the bottle of alcohol to Chris with a small shot glass. Chris took a drink from the bottle. As he drank the liquid, he nearly gagged, but he managed to get it down. “What is this stuff Ben?” Ben continued to look amused and waved him on. For the next half an hour the two sat there in silence, while Chris took drink after drink, his face becoming more and more disgusted. As Ben had said, there was no drunkenness, as the amount of alcohol Chris had consumed would normally have put him under the table.
When he had finished the whole bottle Chris could only shake his head in amazement with a wry look puckering his face. “I see what you mean. What do you want to do about it?”
Ben sighed and scratched his head looking just as amazed. “Don’t get me wrong, this is probably the best thing that has ever happened to me, but I will need some professional help to get through the psychological issues.”
Chris readily agreed, “You can have whatever money you need, just take out of the money from the lockup sales.”
Ben nodded and said, “I’ll start looking tomorrow, why don’t we have a good meal here and maybe something more to drink?”
Ben got up and went to the bar and started to order food and drinks. As Ben and Chris were ordering, they decide to go through all of Ben’s favour drinks from the bar, so Chris could see what they tasted like. The food was really good as it arrived at the table, but Chris thought all the drinks tasted horrible. Ben admitted, that it was not the taste he had been interested in. “You know, without the kick, these aren’t half as good.”
As the table server kept bringing them drinks, one after another, she was surprised how sober they were as the time passed. While the two had been eating, the bar had filled up with clients and people were dancing now, in the centre of the club.
Chris had noticed a group of larger men, harassing some of the more beautiful women on the dance floor. Chris got up to intervene when they pushed over one young woman for not wanting to dance with them and held her down. As the woman was trying to get up Chris managed to step in front of her and confront one of the men. The man was covered in inscriptions of enhanced strength.
Chris barked at him and the rest of the group, “Why not head off and leave this woman alone!”
The man, not much for words, immediately threw a punch at Chris’ head. Chris had been doing martial arts for a while now, but this man was far too fast for him to react. The punch landed squarely on his jaw, but he had only felt the blow slightly. The large man rubbed his hand in pain, a bit shocked, but he still jumped back towards Chris. The next thing Chris knew, he was on the floor of the bar, with the group of large men kicking him. All he could feel was a slight pressure on his body, as the blows rained down on him. At some point, the shield weakened, and it started to tickle, and Chris was busting at the seams trying not to laugh. Eventually, the bouncer in the bar broke up the men beating Chris up. After clearing out the group unceremoniously, the bouncers decided it was best for Chris and Ben to be ejected from the bar as well. Since they hadn’t seen the fight begin, they assumed everyone was equally responsible. Both Chris and Ben laughed about the experience as they walked home.
The next morning Ben made an appointment with a psychologist and was off early after he had done the hour of sales in the lockup, while Chris had to go into the office. It was then time for Chris’ meeting in the corporate business offices,
with the difficult customer. Walking through the magical doorway between the offices Chris was soon was knocking on Abby’s office door, to prepare for the meeting. She indicated for Chris to come inside. The office was now furnished with some of the latest farseeing devices for her work. Abby was wearing a smart business suit with some inscriptions lightly glowing on the surface.
Abby looked up from her paperwork, “Good to see you Chris. I’ll give you a short briefing before we start. The client you are about to meet with is bit more than difficult. They want to order a lot of stamps and scrolls, but they are insistent that we go through their procurement procedure. As part of the procedure, they want to lock us into a contact that fixes the prices and additionally benefits them over us. I have told them, what you said was the deal, but they will not agree. They are insistent on talking to the owner of the business.”
Chris said in an even tone, “I think we can deal with this, but I am not changing anything about the deal.”
Abby just smiled, “You’ll have to be careful as the woman that we’re dealing with is very sharp. She really knows her stuff and it seems she has been running circles around me, but I’ve just stubbornly stuck to the plan you put in place.”
Chris nodded as the two left Abby’s office to one of the conference rooms. Inside the room was a tall blond woman, dressed in amazingly expensive business attire. The clothing she had on had inscriptions all over it, mostly for glamor and protection. As Abby introduced her to Chris as Mary Jenkins, Chris idly thought that she looked like a goddess. But then he remembered the affect that glamor inscription could have on a person. Detecting a problem, his protective shield activated, reducing the effect of incoming magic. He now saw that she still looked good and was quite professionally dressed but didn’t seem quite as alluring as she had a few moments earlier.
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