Magnetic Attraction 29 (Patreon)

Commissioned by Kejmur

Character mix up has been fixed! Thank you for pointing it out, Kej! 

Magnetic Attraction
Chapter 29

-VB-

“Mr. Anders… I can’t say that it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

‘Wow, Renick. Have you gotten so rusty at negotiations that that's how you open up?’ I thought mildly. Instead of frowning, I gave him my best professional smile.

“Exactly that. You’re no different than Calvert.”

“And what have I done to make you so uncomfortable?” I asked him without changing the smile.

My words got a twitch out of him. “You created your own corporate team in a city desperately in need of real heroes.”

“Oh? Real heroes?” I hummed while looking around. “I don’t see any.”

Fact, because we were in a meeting room with only him, one of his assistants, and myself. As this was nothing more than a drab business meeting between two “managers” of parahuman cape teams, there was no need for hired employees other than those necessary for the negotiations to be here.

“Are you talking about the building? Aside from the PRT agents, I don’t really see heroes.”

“You know what I mean, Mr. Anders,” he snapped at me.

“Call it an idealistic difference. Or political, whichever is closer to the truth. I don’t see Protectorate heroes as ‘heroes,’ no matter how the PRT dresses them up,” I replied back with a dry chuckle. “They are nothing but federal employees with more personal power than not, and allowed themselves to be used not just for propaganda but violence. They carry not the training of soldiers or even intelligence offic-”

“You seem to like demeaning them,” he interrupted. “At the very least, respect their decision to put their lives on the line for American public good.”

“That’s their job,” I shot back at him. “I respect them for doing their job, but I’m not going to respect them personally for declaring that they do public good behind masks.”

“It is the law.”

“A horrible law.”

He grunted, which said quite a bit about his opinion. Even decades after the law had been passed, the allowance on masking federal agents - because that’s what Protectorate capes were - remained hotly debated on all walks of life (at least by those invested in debating the topic). Proponents continued to push for its existence, pointing out the practical need to keep heroes’ families and relations safe and the disgusting entertainment industry they help prop up. Opponents were more idealists than politically acute, but they also weren’t wrong when they continued to point out the ridiculous level of consequence waving masks gave to capes. These people were the politicians and leaders who thought properly.

Without a mask to hide behind, the vast majority of the capes in America would be subjected to greater scrutiny.

But that’s not what the PRT was made for, was it? I knew it because of my outside context knowledge, but Renick didn’t.

This entire debate was pointless, I knew that, but he started it by being rude.

… Well, that made me sound like a child. I guessed that egos really do blind people.

“We are agreed on that, I suppose,” I muttered as I calmed down and my smile dropped. “I will call Protectorate capes ‘heroes’ in public, but do not expect me to do so away from the prying eyes of journalists and public space.”

He merely grunted again.

“I’m surprised how cooperative you are,” Renick spoke after a moment. “Especially with your view.”

I smiled again, softer this time and more genuine. “I like to think that as great as the business transactions and profits are for me, a bit of community service without expecting anything back is not bad either. It’s called service for a reason.”

He snorted. Was he just naturally abrasive? Could be. Or maybe the situation was getting to him after having been only the second in command for so long.

“From what I know, you’re paying your capes a lot.”

Considering that everyone but the Undersiders was in my family and they were busy spending that money on the house and what they wanted…? I wasn’t exactly losing a lot of money, but that’s my secret and I intended to tell no one.

“And benefits,” I added cheekily. “While I can’t add things like tax cuts that the fed likes to do for the soldiers and capes, I sure can assign my accountants to my capes for their benefit.”

The assistant actually looked jealous about that.

“I assume you already have a patrol route in mind?” he asked with a sigh. “Businessmen like you do not come to a meeting unprepared.”

“I do, though it’s less a route and more of sections.”

“Sections?”

“Yes. I am willing to take over the patrolling of the Docks, Trainyard, and the Downtown coasts.”

He looked surprised by my suggestion. “I wasn’t aware that Anders Solutions had more than two capes.”

“Oh. You must not have gotten our latest roster,” I crooned as I slid over a paper. “Our team is currently five members large, and one of them is Eisenfeld.”

His head snapped up from the paper.

I grinned.

The assistant looked like she was going to have a panic attack between our stare down.

Finally, Renick growled with proper emotion instead of passive aggressive attitude. “How?”

“I am … contractually bound to reveal any inner details of the company that does not break the law.”

Technically, I broke the spirit of the law by employing myself in another identity but this was not the letter of the law.

I grinned cheekily at his exasperated face.

Ah, this was a wonderful day to be alive: getting all that I want little by little, metaphorically blowing raspberries at federal directors, and making fun of stupid laws.

Truly, this was a peak performance for a businessman like myself.