Save State Hero -CH13- (Patreon)

“I’m going to go talk to Alina before she starts getting all feisty,” Dorothy said and waved the fingers of one hand at him. “Though she’s been listening a lot more than I expected.

“Mind pulling the car through all this as you can? Maybe use the flash-y lights. We still have to get where we were going, don’t we? Jobs not done yet as far as I know.”

Dorothy casually summoned up Spark Friend with a hand gesture. She began picking her way through between the cars toward Alina, carefully turning herself sideways to get past two rather close cars.

At that moment she looked back to him, shot him a warm smile, then looked away quickly. Her eyes darting back to where she was heading off toward.

Spark Friend appeared atop a car and stayed there, looking quite a bit larger this time. As big as a bicycle in fact.

Wordlessly, Edmund got back into the car and then closed the door shut.

“Oz?” he asked and flicked the light-bar on as well as the siren.

“Yes, Edmund?” asked Oz.

“You’re here,” Edmund muttered under his breath and put the car into drive. He began to move forward and diagonally. There was a very small gap opening up there that he could probably wriggle into.

“Yes. I am now present with Edmund,” agreed Oz.

“Why?”

“Because Edmund is here.”

“I mean… is there a reason to be here with me?” he asked experimentally. He didn’t want to ask the question but he couldn’t obviously avoid it any longer.

Given his power, Oz being interested in him, the clear and obvious important Ryker and Runner had all attached to him, Edmund was feeling far too “main character” right now.

“Edmund is more interesting to observe than what I was inspecting previously,” Oz answered matter-of-factly.

“Oh,” Edmund replied, feeling equally disappointed and yet relieved at the same time. “What were you inspecting previously?”

“The life cycle of a new arthropod.”

Errr, is that a crab?

I guess I can see why I’d be more interesting.

Edmund reached up and pushed on the button to alter the siren noise. Often people could tune one out if they weren’t paying attention, but the alternating of it would get their attention.

The blue wanna-be truck sluggishly started to pull closer to the curb, slowly opening a pass-through. It was just barely enough for Edmund to slink through, though he was fairly certain he heard his side-view mirror scrape along something.

“Ohhh nooo,” offered up his phone along with his dashboard flickering to the incoming-call screen.

Pushing down on the button on his steering wheel with his thumb he glanced at it.

“Faith, I’m still en-route,” Edmund reported.

“That’s fine. Doesn’t matter. Pack up whatever you’re doing,” stated the Dryad. “You’re going overseas to start doing prep work. It’s going to be boring and stupid, but we’re going to need facilities we can work out of.”

Edmund winced, he really didn’t like doing base of operations set-up.

He found that it was often overly complex, far too involved, and left him with little time for anything. Day in and day out drudgery that never ended with anything short of him collapsing in his bed.

“Given what’s happened, you’ll see more of it later I’m sure, we need to start moving to a global presence,” continued Faith. “That means getting people on the ground and moving things. Doing things.

“People I trust to do whatever needs to get done to make it happen. People I know trust me to do what’s best as well.”

In other words… I’m her go-to once again for a task she can’t assign to anyone else. Even while she can’t leave Felix’s side.

Goodie.

“Right. Got it. Am I taking the consultants with me?” asked Edmund as he pushed the pedal a bit to get the car up and over a curb. He angled the car to the side and started driving down the sidewalk. It was just barely big enough for him to manage it, but he could get to the end of the road like this.

“No. I’m going to use them to handle clean-up for some things. Please encourage them to listen to me,” Faith asked.

In other words… no one’s seen Ryker in a minute.

That works out for me though.

I could use time alone.

Being around Dorothy and Alina is distracting to say the least.

Maybe I could get a chance to see if Romina is up for hanging out.

Edmund was nodding his head as he thought on that.

“I’ll send you with a Dryad I trust who just came in the other week. She’s young and a bit odd but I think she’ll be useful for this. She speaks many different languages and you… you don’t speak anything, really,” Faith accused.

Wincing at the idea of being stuck with a Dryad Edmund couldn’t help but agree with her logic though. If he had to work with other countries and peoples he’d need a translator.

“Yeah, okay. I get that. While I’m gone, can you try to figure out what the fuck is going on with my sister?” Edmund asked. Faith already knew about his situation so there wasn’t a reason to not utilize the resources available. “Get someone to poke into her head a bit? She suddenly said she never wanted to see me again but wouldn’t say why.”

“I can do that and—”

There was a sudden boom that drowned everything else out.

As the sound cleared he heard Faith clearly sigh.

“I can do that. I’ll call you later with details. Pack your bags for now,” she commanded then hung up.

“Faith wishes to set Edmund up with a Dryad. Faith believes Edmund is at a similar level to Runner and Ryker,” Oz reported. “Faith has brokered a deal with Gaia to provide power to several Dryads so they can travel freely away from their trees.”

Letting out a slow breath, Edmund drove off the curb and to where Alina was holding down the super they captured. Dorothy was knelt down near the super and asking questions.

“I just want Romina. I don’t want anyone else,” complained Edmund.

“The laws of the world ensure that free-will is always the main driver in all choices,” Oz reported.

“Yeah, yeah… I know. She’s not a vending machine that dispenses prizes,” Edmund agreed as he eased the car right up to Alina and Dorothy. “She’s free to date who she wants and do what she wants. I have no right on her anymore than Dorothy does on me.

“Doesn’t mean I’m wrong for wanting to date Romina. I’m not trying to force her or anything. That’s not wrong, is it?”

“No. It isn’t.”

“Well… good.”

“Its just naive,” Oz finished.

Edmund wanted to argue that, but then he realized he actually agreed with Oz. It really was naive to be going through this the way he was.

“At least I can puts Dorothy and Alina to some work that doesn’t involve me. Kinda missing being alone now,” Edmund stated, clearly jinxing himself outright.

***

“Ohhh nooo.”

Sighing, Edmund looked down to his shoes.

He’d finally gotten a moment to himself

Between the Dryad Faith sent with him named Ellie, Dorothy who’d laughed herself silly when Faith tried to get her to leave Edmund, and setting up an entire Legion HQ in the middle of France, Edmund hadn’t gotten any time for his own use.

To simply think about nothing and let his mind wander.

He enjoyed being by himself with his thoughts. Far more than he thought he did until he no longer had any to spare.

Ellie was using the restroom and Dorothy was checking in with Ryker. She’d be catching up with them tomorrow.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he looked to the front.

Surprisingly, it was Faith.

Tapping the green icon he held it to his ear.

“Hey hey,” he said. “Just waiting at the terminal. Flying off to Germany for the next setup.”

“Oh? Good! I’m glad I caught you. You’re in New York, right?” Faith asked. “Just finished up handing over all the official paperwork, had a little time off, back to work?”

“Uh, yeah. Why?” Edmund asked suspiciously.

“Ellie has self actuated on her desire in the bathroom. Curious. I wonder if Ellie realizes that doing such things only increases her libido given her race. Good footnote,” Oz reported somewhere above Edmund. “That is the fifth time today. The Dryad starting point is extremely outside of the expected. Interference has gone beyond the expectation, though the results are still near to the original end result.

“Another good footnote. Very good data.”

Yeah… great data… fuck.

Fuck you, Oz!

“Ellie is once again self actuating. I wonder if Ellie will be faster this time,” Oz mused.

Rolling his eyes, Edmund wanted to just go home at this point. To his stupid apartment with his annoying cat.

“— heading out on a mission. We’re going to be going to do a registration forcefully. One that’s going to most definitely cause casualties,” Faith warned. “I wanted to talk to you about your attendance for it.”

Blinking, Edmund put his focus back to the Dryad on the phone rather than the Dryad in the bathroom. This suddenly felt a lot more serious.

He had a Save-state from this morning per his normal routine that he could use to re-run this conversation multiple different ways to get as much information as he could.

Except he really didn’t want to go through the morning again. He’d already been forced to reload it several times to dodge Ellie and her attempts to get him alone.

I have three Save-states and then… the… weird one… from the tunnel.

Edmund had been surprised to find the Save-state he’d made in the tunnel had turned gold. He couldn’t over-write it at all.

He’d gone back down to three, unfortunately.

Not hesitating any further, he put down a Save-state right here.

“Alright,” Edmund said then cleared his throat. “What’s there to talk about?”

“Whether you’re going or not. Felix wants to include you, but I honestly could use your help while I’m out. I know I’m not technically your boss but… well, really you’ve been reporting to me more than Felix for quite a while,” Faith said with a sheepish laugh. “I guess I kind of stole you away from him.

“Not to mention I haven’t even seen you in person in months. It’s all been on the phone.”

“I mean, yeah, but that’s this day and age, ya know? Work at home and remote work are a thing of today,” Edmund offered.

“Ellie has finished her self actuation. Curiously this was Ellie’s fastest time yet. This is far outside of the ordinary time-frame and is clearly an outlier. I’ll note this accordingly,” Oz said to himself. “It would be interesting to determine what was the cause of the expediency.”

“—that said, what do you think? Stay or go?” asked Faith.

Edmund sat there, staring at himself in the semi-reflective glass of the window in front of him. He was looking out into a darkening evening heading towards nightfall.

“What would you have me do if I stayed?” he asked.

“Manage the Association building and Legion HQ. Though the latter would be remotely. That’s all,” Faith admitted. “Babysit Andrea. Make sure nothing goes off the rails.”

Edmund contemplated that.

He really wanted to stay and go back to his apartment. To pet Dog, check in with his sister, and be alone.

Selfishly alone.

“I think I’d like to stay behind this time. I’m a bit rundown,” Edmund admitted and then sighed. “I could use a break.”

“I’d say babysitting Andie isn’t a break but I get it. I get it. Alright. I’ll set it all up and we’ll go from there,” Faith said and paused. He could feel like she wanted to say more even though he couldn’t see her.

Though he actually knew what she wanted to ask.

“No, I didn’t sleep with Ellie,” Edmund offered before she could phrase the question.

“What? Why not? She’s a beautiful Dryad even by our own standards,” Faith said with some annoyance in her voice. “She’s young, unbonded, and is far too conservative by Dryad standards. I’m sure she went full caretaker on you and made sure everything was taken care of.

“You can’t tell me she isn’t the perfect package for you. Someone to help you with anything and everything. That she isn’t exactly what you need in your life.”

Sighing, Edmund put his right hand to his temple while holding his phone with the left. He let his gaze fall down to the carpet in front of him.

“You’re not still stuck on Romina, are you?” Faith asked suddenly, her voice sounding somewhat odd.

“Wouldn’t matter if I was or wasn’t, would it?”

“I mean, it’d explain a lot.”

“Well… thank you for caring about my love life. I promise it’s fine. I don’t need any help with it,” Edmund growled. “As to Ellie… yes. She’s… very beautiful. She really is the perfect package. I can’t argue with that at all.

“It’s exactly like you said. She’s a wonderful woman and damn near perfect in every way.

“Unfortunately, I just don’t feel like dating anyone at the moment. On top of that… on top of that, while casual sex can be fun, I’m not looking for that. I wouldn’t want to do something like that to Ellie knowing I wasn’t looking to date,” lied Edmund.

What he was actually afraid of was that Romina would get scared off if he started seeing someone else. Even if it was only sexual gratification.

While he hadn’t managed to close the distance with her since she rejected him, he’d managed to keep the gap from widening.

Strangely enough, he felt like there’d been something there in the few times they’d seen each other.

Awkwardly so. Which honestly felt like a positive thing to him. It meant that she wasn’t seeing him as only a friend.

“Ellie wouldn’t mind,” argued Faith.

“I would.”

“Fine, fine. Just… keep her in mind. Alright? Also, she’s staying with you while you’re playing babysitter. We’ve been training her in whatever free time she has. She’s… she’s not very good but better than nothing. A very strange Dryad to be sure,” Faith murmured. “Alright, I’m going to go get ready.

“You should head to gate forty-two, B. Your new flight is there and it’s taking you back home in two hours. I’ll text you the info, too.

“If I don’t see you before we go, thanks for playing house-sitter.”

The line popped and then went quiet.

Letting out a short and sharp breath, Edmund put his phone into his pocket.

Sitting there, he looked back to the glass in front of him.

Ellie was moving in his direction and looked to be somewhat flushed. Clearly her “self actuation” had gotten her heart rate up.

The Dryad plopped down in the seat in front of him and then met his eyes with a grin.

She was covered up in clothes that mostly hid away the improbable figure that Dryads had. A body-shape that’d catch attention even if she wasn’t trying to flaunt it.

Her Dryad green eyes were so pale in color that they more often than not looked to be an incredibly pale turquoise.

What was an already finely featured and delicate appearance was highly accentuated by make-up that was neither too heavy, nor light. As far as he could tell, where Faith felt more of a “natural” kind of girl, Ellie was far more in line with Edmund and his peers.

“What?” she asked, her smile growing wider. “You’re lookin’ real sus right now. You do something stupid and you’re afraid to tell me?”

Reaching up with her left hand she ran her fingers through her black hair. It had waves that ran through it in an almost curled fashion.

The inside of her hair had a sheen that almost made it look blue-black in certain conditions. He couldn’t tell if she died it, or if it was naturally like that.

“Faith called,” he answered with a frown. “We’re being sent to the Association instead. Shit to do there. Primarily playing baby-sitter and stuff.”

“What? That’s disappointing,” complained Ellie, her mouth turning into a pout. She leaned back in her seat and stuck her legs out in front of herself. Stretching in the chair. Then she grunted and kicked at his shoe gently with one of her own. “I brushed up on my German and everything. Scheiße.”

Despite her apparent misgivings to the situation, Ellie seemed incredibly cheerful. Far more than she’d been this morning.

While she hadn’t been down or appearing outwardly negative this morning, she’d felt disappointed to Edmund. As if someone had told her she hadn’t won a prize, but had gotten a smaller award instead.

Now it seemed more like she’d won the prize, been told it came with a gift card, and would you like several tubs of ice-cream to go with it.

“Dorothy will be happy,” Ellie remarked, her head tilting to one side as she stared at him. The collar of her jacket coming up and covering most of her neck and jaw.

“Oh, yeah. I’ll have to let her know that we’re not flying out. Almost forgot about that,” Edmund remarked and then pulled his phone back out of his pocket.

Faith wasn’t entirely comfortable with Alina or Dorothy. Doubly so after the duo had told her they respected her, but wouldn’t be able to do anything she asked.

Even if Edmund asked them to leave, they’d been assigned to remain with him, not to take orders from him.

Opening Dorothy’s contact he quickly sent her the relevant information. He was sure she’d be at the association before he and Ellie made it, in fact.

She and Alina seemed to be able to move in ways that he couldn’t really figure out. As if they had personal jets that they had access to that could get them wherever they needed to be in world record times.

“Of course. As your Dryad that’s what I’m here for. To make sure everything goes according to plan,” offered Ellie. Then she cleared her throat. “Would you mind sending me the same info? I’d like to go check our tickets, make sure our luggage gets changed over, and then check our seats. Make sure everything is good to go and they’re not yeeting our luggage off to Europe without us. I really don’t wanna lose my clothes. There’s a lot of cute stuff I can’t replace.”

Shit.

I… yeah… damn. I would’ve forgotten Dorothy, the luggage, and probably a bunch of other crap I haven’t even thought about yet.

“How the hell does Felix keep up with all this?” growled Edmund as he started texting the same info to Ellie that he’d sent to Dorothy. “I’m a project manager and yet I can’t even keep up with any of this let alone my own tasks.

“He doesn’t,” Ellie said and nudged his shoe with her own again. “He has assistants galore that help him keep on track. Assistants that each handle specialty things. No one person can do what you think he’s capable of. That’s just too much to handle for one person.”

Edmund grunted at that.

“Ellie has cheered up considerably,” stated Oz. “Neither of Ellie’s self actuations had as much effect as eavesdropping on what Edmund said to Faith in regards to Ellie.

“It would be good to note Edmund’s ability to alter Ellie’s mood with positive words. The romantic option for Ellie has been extremely reinforced.”

Freezing while staring at his phone, Edmund was suddenly feeling a bit sick.

If Ellie overheard him than it really would only reinforce her goal of getting him into a relationship.

Tapping into the camera of his phone he looked into the viewer. He didn’t want to direct a gaze at Ellie at the moment because he was somewhat afraid of what he might see there.

As the camera focused in on the beautiful Dryad who was hunched down, her collar covering her face partly, he could see her eyes were very clearly glowing from within. A tell-tale sign that a Dryad was incredibly interested in something.

All while staring at Edmund with a wide-eyed gaze.