Next to her was Sam’s tablet, with a list he had discussed with her only a few minutes ago.
Honestly, she was happy that he was seriously considering taking the job, but some of these demands were crazy…like, really outrageous.
She wasn’t thrilled about the anticipated response she would get from her boss, especially to a couple of conditions she had never even heard of. Would she laugh at her? Would Sam be angry to find out they were rejected?
She didn’t have a problem with being the middleman, but not when it involved someone she knew. Granted, she knew that ultimately he would be the one negotiating in person at a later date, but still…
Taking one last deep breath, and letting it out slowly, she connected the call.
Her boss wasn’t at the office on Sundays, but Lexi had no doubt she would answer her work cellphone. And sure enough, after the second ring, her boss picked up.
“Lexi,” she greeted. “Good morning. What can I help you with?”
“Hi Jackie,” Lexi replied nervously. “Umm, so you know Sampson Archer?”
“Yes?” she said, anticipation in her tone.
“He wants to talk about his contract in person, but first he wanted to give the CDS time to prepare to meet his conditions for signing.”
There was a pause. “How much does he want?” Jackie asked, sounding reserved.
“Oh,” Lexi said in surprise. “Actually, it’s not more money. In fact, he said he will accept the original offer of ten million as long as his other demands are met.”
Another pause. “Okay, and what are those demands?” she asked, her tone less reserved.
Lexi took a deep breath.
‘Here we go…’ she thought
She cleared her throat. “Umm, well, first he would like access to the CIA’s resources for personal investigations as desired…”
Another pause. “Okay, please continue.”
‘Okay?’ Lexi repeated in her head, silently wondering what that meant – whether it was acceptance of the condition, or just acknowledgement.
She cleared her throat again. “He also wants the ability to reject missions, though he wanted me to tell you he wouldn’t do so unless it was a personal emergency.”
“What else?” Jackie prompted immediately.
Lexi’s eyes widened. “Complete media censorship, as well as a lockdown on his information in general, including not being listed in the governments classified superhero directory.”
Another pause. “We can make his information the highest level of classification, but that’s about the best we can do. What else?”
Lexi hesitated this time, feeling like an idiot for what she was about to say. “Umm, well, he mentioned ‘sovereignty,’ and explained it like being recognized as his own nation?” she said hesitantly.
“Anything else?” Jackie wondered immediately – no pause this time.
Lexi’s eyes almost bugged out of her head. She couldn’t believe her boss responded without even hesitation.
“Absolute immunity?” she continued uncertainly.
“That would automatically come with sovereignty. What else?”
Lexi was silent for a few long seconds, still unable to believe what Sam had mentioned to her was even a thing. After a moment she cleared her throat, glancing down at the list. “Well, he does want me to be his mentor, like I suggested…” She paused. “Oh, and he also wants access to the evaluation of his superpower.”
There was a lengthy pause this time. “They won’t approve that.”
Lexi was shocked. “Wait, are you saying they will approve everything else, but not access to his own evaluation?” she clarified in surprised.
“Everything else is up for negotiation except for that, yes.”
Lexi was dumbfounded. “But why?”
Jackie sighed heavily. “Lexi, obviously I can’t tell you ‘why’ if we won’t let him see his own evaluation. You don’t have a high enough security clearance, and your association with him would invalidate your authorization even if you did.”
Lexi shook her head in disbelief.
Invalidate her authorization even if she did have access? What in the hell? She had never heard of such a thing. If you had access, then you had access, no matter who the information involved. “But surely he already knows his own capabilities? What’s the harm?”
Her boss was silent for a long few seconds again. “Lexi, I can’t discuss this with you. You’ll just have to let him know that it’s off the table completely. Under no circumstances will he be allowed to see his evaluation, even if he rejects our offer completely because of it. We will work to meet all the demands you listed, but that is one that will not be met under any condition.”
Lexi just stared at the wall in disbelief, unable to even comprehend why they would deny someone access to their own evaluation. After all, she wouldn’t have even known she could create an Electromagnetic Specter were it not for her own evaluation revealing it was possible. And even then, it hadn’t come easily.
She had spent a lot of time practicing to ‘see’ with her electricity, but she would have never even known it was a skill she could develop without their help.
When Lexi didn’t respond, Jackie spoke again. “I’ve written down the things you mentioned. Is that everything?” she wondered.
“Umm, I believe so. He may have additional demands, but those are the most important ones. He said that when he sits down to discuss the contract, he doesn’t want to waste time with a bunch of ‘maybe’s’ and ‘we’ll see.’ He wants the CDS to come to the table ready to meet his conditions, or at least provide workable solutions that might substitute a rejected request.”
“How flexible is he willing to be?” Jackie wondered.
Lexi wasn’t a fool. She knew her boss’s job was to use the CDS’s resources as shrewdly as possible, never mind government resources as a whole. Her boss wouldn’t hesitate to be a hard-ass on points she felt were negotiable. And yet, Lexi felt confident Sam didn’t want to be toyed with, so she wasn’t about to give her boss the impression that any of these demands could be dropped completely.
Lexi answered without hesitation. “Truthfully, not very. Like, to be honest Jackie, he doesn’t need the CDS’s money. And he doesn’t want fame either. Like, to be completely candid, the CDS really has nothing this man wants or needs, beyond the extra conditions I listed. And even those things are benefits I feel he could walk away from without blinking an eye.” She paused. “I know we’re calling this ‘negotiations,’ but I’m confident he’ll walk away from the table if you can’t give him a compelling enough perk to sign on.”
Jackie was silent. “That’s what we feared,” she finally replied quietly.
“Then may I make a suggestion?” Lexi continued.
“Of course.”
“Don’t try to lowball him. He didn’t even blink an eye at a twenty-two million salary. If you can meet all these demands, then I suggest the CDS present him with its best offer up front. Because if he walks away, I don’t know if I can convince him to come back to the table.”
Jackie sighed heavily. “Very well. I’ll see what I can do. You have a good day, Lexi.”
“You too,” she replied, proud of herself for doing the opposite of what she was supposed to do – representing Sam and his interests, instead of the CDS’s.
Granted, it wasn’t like what she said wasn’t true, which meant she was ultimately doing what was best for the CDS by making sure they did what was best for Sam – otherwise, the Central Department of Superheroes would be the ones with the bigger loss.
❖ ❖ ❖
Sam Archer
March 17, 2735 – Current Day – Late Morning
Assuming that Lexi wouldn’t take long to list off my demands, I stayed upstairs in the loft while she called her boss from her bedroom, which had truly become her own room away from home considering so much of her stuff was in it. Everyone else was downstairs ready to leave for the mall, with Heidi and Rose already ou
t front while Rose played in what little snow was left after a couple days of above-freezing temperatures.
However, in the end, I couldn’t help myself. Within a couple seconds of waiting, I had my ear pressed close to the crack by the doorknob, trying to listen in on her half of the conversation.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear most of it until towards the end when she began speaking more firmly in a louder voice.
Damn, after that short speech, it might not be so hard to get my demands met after all. I figured I’d have to stroll in like a hard-ass who wasn’t willing to budge on these conditions. But winning the negotiation game might go smoother than I was anticipating thanks to Lexi.
I didn’t hear her say goodbye though, which meant suddenly the door was opening up while I still had my face right up against it.
Lexi froze in shock, finding herself closer to me than she anticipated, her cheeks turning bright red.
“Sorry!” I exclaimed, taking a step back. “I just really wanted to hear how it was going.”
“It’s…fine…” she managed, her entire face growing red now, instead of just her cheeks.
“Umm, so how was it?” I prompted.
She swallowed loudly. “I think it went well. It’s pretty clear you have a lot more leverage than most supers. However…” Her voice trailed off.
“What’s wrong?”
She took a deep breath. “There is one condition they said they wouldn’t meet no matter what, even if it means you won’t sign.”
My eyes widened. What in the world did they flat out reject? The sovereignty thing? Or maybe enlisting the CIA’s resources? Or possibly even being able to decline missions?
I felt uneasy as I replied. “Which one?”
She took another deep breath, her amethyst gaze hesitant. “They won’t let you see your evaluation.”
My brow furrowed. “Wait, are you serious? Why?”
She shrugged. “Honestly, I’ve never heard of such a thing. Basically everyone gets to see their evaluation, so I have no idea. I assumed that would be an easy thing to check off the list.”
“Me too,” I agreed, staring past Lexi at her bedroom wall. What could it mean? I initially assumed the evaluation wouldn’t reveal anything I didn’t already know, but maybe I was wrong – that, and whatever they discovered must be really serious, to the point they would risk me refusing to sign. Otherwise, I couldn’t imagine why. But then, that also made me wonder what the results were even more.
My thoughts immediately flashed back to the sight of their female super, with the creepy galaxy eyes, literally pissing herself when she ‘saw’ me. Surely that wasn’t normal.
There was definitely something about myself they didn’t want me to know.
Something they would do anything to prevent me from learning.
Shit, now I just had to know.
Maybe one day I could blackmail someone into giving me the information or something. But for now, I knew I’d have to just deal with not knowing.
I finally took a deep breath. “Well, if they’re going to withhold something like that, then they better meet my other demands.”
Lexi nodded. “While I can’t be sure, I think they will.”
I mimicked the gesture, before glancing over my shoulder when I caught sight of Lily coming up the stairs in my unique vision. At the same time, Lexi gave me an unexpected longing glance, examining the side of my face as if she had forgotten I could still see her with my head turned away.
Lily stopped just at the top. “Are we ready?” she asked, her citrine irises churning a little faster than normal. She hadn’t really voiced an opinion on my decision to become a superhero, seeing that I was set on it now, though I suspected she was at least a little worried. That, and I assumed she probably wasn’t thrilled knowing I might be spending a lot more time with Lexi, but it wasn’t like we would be working alone. Whether it be at the local office or on a mission, we should always be surrounded by other people.
“Yep,” I agreed, crossing the loft and wrapping my arm around her shoulders reassuringly to escort her back down the stairs.
Lexi followed suit a few steps behind us, only to backtrack to grab her red leather jacket.
Once we were all outside, rather than squeezing all of us into my Mustang, Lexi and Heidi followed us to the mall in the Ferrari.
Rose usually enjoyed sitting next to Lily in the backseat, but for the first time she wanted to ride with Heidi instead, which I was fine with. I wasn’t worried about their safety, knowing I could reach them with my astral limbs as long as they were within a few hundred feet of me.
Nevertheless, we were all a little surprised given how much time Rose already spent with Heidi, but it wasn’t like we couldn’t use the opportunity to talk about more adult things, like this superhero business. At least, I had assumed that neither of them would let this time go to waste.
However, much to my surprise, both of them were quiet on the way to the mall.
I jokingly commented about needing a bigger vehicle, and Freya sincerely suggested a Mercedes, with Lily chiming in, ‘Or a Cadillac,’ but then they were both silent again. It wasn’t until I put it in autopilot and turned to look back at Lily that she finally blurted out what had her so quiet.
She was well aware that I was virtually unkillable, but she still worried about me. She then explained that her father used to be a cop when she was younger, and she got to an age where she began to always wonder if when she said ‘goodbye,’ it would be for the last time.
Freya then admitted that she too wasn’t thrilled about me having a dangerous job, even though I could recover from almost anything. She also made a good point – even as strong as she and I both were, there always seemed to be someone stronger, or at least someone capable of defending themselves, like that girl with her massive invisible shield.
But they both understood my reasons for deciding on it, which is why neither tried to change my mind. It was also partially the reason why they hadn’t voiced any opposition to the idea previously, because they wanted me to do what I felt was best. However, that didn’t make it any easier for them, knowing I’d end up finding myself in dangerous situations.
I suspected that the situation felt a lot more real to them now that I had made the decision, whereas before it was just an idea – a possibility.
By the time we got to the mall, both Lily and Freya seemed a little less reserved after having shared their thoughts. When I asked why they hadn’t said anything sooner, Lily tried comparing it to us being tight on money and me being unable to find a job, asking how I’d feel about her being a model again knowing she might get hit on by a lot of guys like she used to.
I scratched my head as I considered it, sort of understanding what she meant. At this point in our relationship, I wasn’t crazy about the idea of her getting into modeling again, even if she only appeared in fashion magazines. But if it were true that we were tight on money and I couldn’t find a job, then I might be hesitant to voice my concerns when it was our only viable option.
Certainly, we weren’t hurting for money.
But this superhero route might lead to a lot of benefits, including more physical protection if needed, legal protection, and now even the possibility of having the resources to stop this dastardly organization responsible for making my life a hell basically since I was born, starting with the death of my parents.
But most importantly, what Lily was especially focused on, was it could mean revenge.
They took something from me that I could never get back, and this was an opportunity to repay them for it by destroying them all. Or, at the very least, stopping them so they could never do it again.
Since we had already arrived at the mall, I tried to lighten up the conversation by joking that it might have been fun for her to be my sugar-momma, supporting us with her modeling while I was her boy-toy at home.
She laughed at that, a sincere unreserved belly chuckle.
I supposed part of the humor
came from the drastic shift in the tone of the conversation. It certainly put a smile on Freya’s face too, who added that my scenario could be fun to roleplay. Of course, I was all for that, having no problem pretending to be in those kinds of situations. I was already used to Freya calling me her cub on occasion, so pretending that Lily was older than me could be fun too.
Or, as Freya commented in passing, even if Lily wanted to pretend to be meeting me for the first time all over again, and try to seduce me like we didn’t know each other, I was fine with that too. I was pretty much game for any kind of roleplaying, doubting that either of them had tastes that were too far out there.
But either way, if it was just fantasy, then it didn’t matter in my opinion.
Once Lily had collected herself from laughing, followed by embarrassment over Freya’s revealing comment, we joined up with the other half of our group and headed inside the mall.
From that point, I just kind of stepped back and let them have their fun. I wasn’t sure what it was with women and shopping, but all four of them could browse all day without buying anything and be perfectly content.
Browsing just to browse, I supposed.
And it seemed that Rose wasn’t much different, examining everything with her sharp crimson eyes like she was seeing a world of details a normal person couldn’t even imagine.
It reminded me of her examining the cute cartoon pictures on the boardgame Heidi got her at the end of January. I mean, in my experience, it was common for kids to become fascinated with stuff that we just overlooked, but Rose took it to a whole different level. Her eyes would nearly sparkle sometimes, her expression one of pure joy and contentment.
It wasn’t until we were about an hour into our trip that Freya developed a serious problem.
She got a whiff of a food stand in the middle of the hall, and became ravenously hungry…for normal food. She barely managed to hide her reaction in time before anyone noticed, though keeping the drool in her mouth was about all she could handle.
Knowing what she needed, I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and suggested to Lily that we had to do some last-minute planning for her birthday. Lily probably would have been fine with us taking off no matter what excuse we gave, since she had the other three keeping her company, but that extra bit ensured she didn’t ask any probing questions.
The Sacrificial Love of an Immortal Page 23