Unwilling Eldritch Horror of Fortune

“Well,” I answered the woman with a grin, “It’s always good to have more allies in the future, and perhaps we can discuss how we can mutually assist each other in the future, but there is something that you can help us out with right now.”

Margret nodded, “If it’s within my power, I will be glad to assist.”

“Can I assume that you are thoroughly prepared for the consequences of your earlier actions?” I began. It was mostly a rhetorical question given what I’d seen from the woman so far, but it was always better to double-check.

“Of course,” she replied, “Everything that occurred thus far has been officially sanctioned and ordered by the Site Admin. As the Head of Security of Site 1100, I have ensured that we have every official order documented and signed in triplicate. You will find that this is further supported by surveillance evidence and detailed data logs.”

Yeah… this Ed guy’s absolutely screwed. The Overseer was already a petty individual famous for his cruelty, and that was before he started to lose his tenuous grip on power. I didn’t even want to know what he’d do to Ed once he realized his precious Restus was entirely destroyed. I’d feel bad for the Admin if it wasn’t for the fact that he really was as incompetent as Margret made him out to be.

I might not hold much love for the Overseer and his Central Collective, but I knew from experience that the individual Training Sites were usually run by everyday workers far removed from the bureaucracy that Central HQ was famous for. It wasn’t so much as Margret plotting her boss’s downfall so much as the woman just highlighting his existing faults and displaying them prominently for the Overseer to see.

I grinned, “That’s very thorough of you, I’m impressed.”

“I’m glad someone who cares about their work still exists,” Xalla added, “I don’t know what I’d do if everyone was like your Site Administrator…”

“I take my job very seriously,” she answered without pause. I could already tell it was going to be hard to tell if she was being completely serious or not. She’d make for a great poker player.

“Okay, good,” I continued, “What I need you to do is to annoy and delay the Overseer’s agents for as long as possible.”

The woman frowned, “Explain.”

“You understand the gist of what’s going on between me and the Overseer, right?”

She nodded, “He wishes to send my Aspirants to destroy yours, thus forcing you to abandon your duties so he can have you back at his side. An idiot’s plan; forcing people to work for you will lead to nothing but inefficient workers and inevitable betrayal down the line.”

I shrugged, “Well, the Overseer is an idiot, but yes, that is about the core of the issue right now. The only problem is that if he finds out about the destruction of his peons too quickly, then he will just replace the destroyed batch of Restus with a new bunch.”

“So I delay that spread of information,” she replied, “That’s doable given how many problems are present in this Site. I’m sure that it will take a lot of time just categorizing all of them here.” She paused for a moment, lost in thought, “How long do you need them occupied?”

Hm, the planned Clan war was scheduled to take place three weeks from now, and given the absolute disaster that was Site 1100, I doubt he could move a new group of Restus too quickly without breaking half a dozen different safety regulations, and that’s not including the paperwork needed. The Overseer could move fast, but Central’s inane bureaucratic hell was anything but.

“Two weeks,” I answered, “More if you can manage, but if you can delay him for even that long, then he’s all but guaranteed to fail. It'll take time to prepare a new batch of Aspirants, what with how slowly things move in Central. In fact, I want him to panic and try something desperate when he realizes what’s wrong, if that man wants to use his stupid regulations against me, then I’d be more than glad to return the favor.”

Margret nodded again before taking a small notebook out from a pocket and scribbling something down on it, “I’ll get it done. But what would your plan have been if I didn’t choose to help you delay the Overseer?”

I shrugged, “We’d have had to delay him and his crew ourselves. Just make a ruckus somewhere close by, things like that.”

“Then I am glad that I had agreed to help,” she muttered, “This Site’s taken enough punishment as is without two Xollons and a god running around destroying things.”

Xalla laughed, “Yeah, I can’t imagine that being fun to deal with if I were in your situation. And, um, as someone who has the same job as you, I’d like to just say that you’ve done an amazing job keeping things together if that was who you had to report to.”

Margret smiled back, “Thank you, it’s nice to see someone outside this Site appreciate my work. It… hasn’t been easy.”

She sighed one last time before speaking, “Is there anything else that you need? There are a lot of things that I must do before making my reports to Central; I can’t delay things much longer without things looking suspicious.”

I shook my head, “Right, it’s best to leave you to things. Do you have a way to contact us without alerting everyone else?”

Margret frowned and was about to say something before being interrupted by Big Bob. The chubby individual walked towards us with a little gadget in hand; I guess he wasn’t just sitting around doing nothing while the rest of us looked into that horrible room.

“I can help with that,” he said, handing over the palm-sized device to Margret. It kind of looked like one of Earth’s smartphones. The woman took it, turning it over her scaled hands before nodding in satisfaction.

“This is… a communicator?” she questioned, still scrutinizing its design, “Are these not standard-issued Central gear?”

“They are, and it controls the same way as one as well,” Bob said, “But I made my own unique adjustments to it. Central and the Origin Matrix won’t be able to peek into that device, don’t you worry, why, I even took out all the bloatware and other junk slowing it down! Thought you might deserve something better after working with that thing as a boss.”

Margret, finally satisfied with whatever test she was conducting on the device on her own, put the thing away in her pocket and thanked Big Bob.

“I appreciate it,” she said, “It’s oddly comforting to have people I can rely on, much less individuals that are as famed as you three.”

Xalla blushed, “I can hardly be put into the same category as those two.”

“I beg to differ,” Margret said, “You’re the only Xollon to work in Central, as far as I can tell, and you’re the sole heir to Rogue’s legacy. I wouldn’t say that’s nothing.”

“Wait, heir?” I asked, “I thought you were just his disciple.”

Big Bob laughed, “You didn’t tell him?”

Xalla’s blush turned a few shades brighter and her frills even started to vibrate in embarrassment, “Well… I didn’t want him to date me just because of my status…”

“He’s Arbiter W!” Bob continued with a chuckle, “I think he should be worried that you’d take advantage of his status and not the other way around! And it’s not like that old pile of dirt’s going anywhere anytime soon.”

Xalla sighed, “Yes, I realize how stupid that was. It’s a bad habit I developed from before I started working outside Xolloid.”

I nodded, “Is that why you chose to work so far away from home?”

“Party,” she sighed, “But it’s still mainly because I want to better our image. We can’t all be seen as savages and mercenaries.”

I agreed. People tended to fear Xollons – for good reason most of the time – and couldn’t look past their abilities. I guess that also explained why someone of Xalla’s caliber was still single after all this time. I can understand how she might feel about people using her for what she could offer instead of the woman herself. I knew from personal experience how annoying that could be when I was still acting as W.

“I mean,” I said to the still flustered Xollon; I gave the girl a friendly side hug, “If it’s any consolation, I’m not dating you because of Rogue, although I do have to thank him for that VIP ticket.”

Xalla returned the gesture and gave me a shy smile, “I know, Walter, and I’ll let Rogue know. It’s just… I just never had a good time to tell you. Plus, I still don’t think it’s very important, no matter what the others say. It’s a title in name only; I’d much rather take over my family’s farm in any case.”

I nodded. I could understand that there was a lot of responsibilities that came with any kind of title, much less one associated with one of the four men and women that led the Xollon of all people. Plus, I couldn’t imagine a girl like Xalla being all that obsessed with things like power or status.

“Now as lovely as this couple’s talk is,” Margret interrupted, “I really must get on with my official duties. Now if you three will please leave me to my work?”

“Right,” Xalla said quickly, “Sorry.”

We quickly said our goodbyes and made ourselves scarce. Taking up any more of our new ally’s time would be counterproductive, to say the least, and I didn’t want her to think that the three of us were just going around different Sites and having fun… even if that was mostly the case. Once we were sufficiently far enough away from any neighboring Central controlled area, Big Bob, Xalla and I finally relaxed a little and we took a few moments of peace to just enjoy the approach of dawn.

“It’s nice being out of the office,” Xalla whispered by my side, “I hadn’t had a chance to enjoy things since Q’s departure.”

“And I haven’t had a chance to do the same since he joined my team,” Bob added with a sigh, “That man sure knows how to make his friends worry.”

I shook my head and gazed at the bright orange glow that was starting to crest the horizon. The first rays of sunlight were already upon us by the time the three of us began to move. I think all of us needed those few moments of peace and tranquility to just enjoy the small moments in life.

“I think it’s about time we check up on the man,” I said quietly, “I’ve done enough here for the time being, and I think it’s about time I reintroduced myself to the multiverse at large. I’m not going to be fully awake for much longer, but I’m damned well not sleeping before I fix up the mistakes I made. Q deserves better.”

Big Bob got up to his feet and nodded, “Damned right! The three of us will slap some sense into that moron. You up for the task, Xalla?”

She chuckled, “As if I’d stay behind, I owe him too much not to go. Are you sure Central won’t notice our disappearance?”

I smiled, “Like I said, the Origin Matrix will be preoccupied for at least the next little while, and given the state of the Overseer’s pet project over at Site 1100, I think it’s safe to assume that our absences will be an afterthought. Well, the absences for the two of you in any case, I’m still technically working right now.”

I turned to Xalla, “Best if you changed out of that uniform, though. I know I said that no one should notice your absence, but wearing standard Central gear probably won’t help.”

She looked down and quickly agreed, “Right, good idea, Walter, and I should get a few things from my room as well. Just give me a few minutes.”

“Same here. I need to check in with my company as well,” Bob added, “I’ll make sure that someone’s ready to cover for Q when we get there. We’re dragging his ass out of that lab one way or another.”

“Alright,” I said, “I’ll get things set up on my end as well. Let’s meet back here in half an hour?”

“That’s more than enough time for me,” Bob said.

“Same here,” Xalla added.

The two of them left quickly after that, leaving me alone for the time being. I best check in with the Director and get her caught up with the situation, and what she should expect in the coming days. With our recent activities with the Restus, she – or rather, I – would be the first person to be a suspect of foul play, and I’m betting she’d be placed under intense security once the Overseer’s informed about the news. Finding a time to talk with her again might be challenging.

I changed back into Dr. Walter and took out the charm that Molly gave me. Let’s make my final preparations before leaving the relative safety of the training halls and heading out into the real Main Stage.

 

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