Chapter 48 (Patreon)

Sonya glanced out the window as the clouds drifted beneath the jet. Her hand rested on her helmet, running her fingers across its surface. She watched the world speed by, far away from her up in the sky. It seemed so peaceful at this distance, even though she knew it was very much the opposite. She glanced at the date in her HUD and frowned, time was running out for the next dungeon break. Even so, she had more to do before she could orchestrate its prevention. She’d allowed one to happen because it was unavoidable, but now she had more or less what she needed. 

Just a few more lines to cross off my list, she mused, glancing towards the effeminate man across from her.

Colin had looks that would render most people a little bewildered. That’s to say, he’d look amazing in a dress. Or a skirt, I wonder how Mikayla is doing, Sonya thought as she eyed him before dismissing the thought with a wry smile. He had a pretty face, ear length hair and bright expressive eyes. His facial structure was delicate too. Right now though his expression was a mix between terror and curious delight. He was glancing from his hands to Sonya’s face, flexing his fingers thoughtfully.

“You have questions?” She asked him finally.

He jumped and looked her in the eyes, “Tons of them,” He said hesitantly. “I have no idea what your aim is in all this.”

“Let’s just say I’m trying to save the world,” Sonya said flatly, tapping her nails against the helmet on the seat next to her. 

He glanced at it and swallowed, “How do I know you’re not lying to me?” He asked.

She frowned at him but shrugged, there wasn’t any point in hiding anything from him. He’d taken the usual non-disclosure deal back at the office. “I can’t lie, it’s a side effect of my ability. When I try, I choke,” Sonya said evenly, “I can use half-truths and misdirections, I can even make truthful statements deceptively, but I cannot state a direct falsehood,” She explained and let out a dramatic sigh, “It’s incredibly inconvenient.”

He snorted, “You need more than a lawyer, then, you need a spokesperson or someone who can pretend to be you when necessary,” He said and looked down at the small folding desk that had been set out between them and the document on top of it. Sonya glanced knowingly at Marta who snorted and got up to grab herself a drink. She’d explain that to him later. First he needed to prove that he was useful to her at all. 

I didn’t promise him that he would survive this flight, after all. She thought darkly as Marta brought a can of soda over for her. She took it graciously, “Thank you, Marta.”

Marta nodded and stepped away as Sonya took a sip and Colin reviewed the document. He frowned a little and pulled a pen out from his coat, making a few notations here and there before grabbing his suitcase with a grunt and pulling out a notepad. He started to write furiously, glancing back and forth between the document and making a few surprised noises when he got to one article or another. He glanced up at her, “You’re the one doling out youth to people?” He asked.

“I am,” Sonya said, “It’s a profitable business.”

He chuckled and shook his head, “No kidding, based on the offer you made me.”

“You’re happy with the salary?” She asked.

“Very,” He grunted and kept writing.

“And you don’t care about my actions?” She pressed.

He set the notepad down and rubbed his jaw, “I’m not exactly one to judge someone about morals,” He said after a few moments of thought, “I’m a defense attorney first and foremost, and I’ve defended some pretty horrible people. Based on what you said, you’re cracking a few eggs to save the hen house. Some people would have a problem with that, but frankly I’d rather the world still be around than otherwise,” He said with a shrug, “Besides that, do I really have any other options?” He added and looked her in the eyes.

Sonya smiled at him, “Not any pleasant ones, no.”

He laughed, “Yeah, you definitely can’t lie,” He glanced down at the document, “I’m guessing that the circumstances of a deal you strike have to be forthcoming as well?”

“Usually, yes, though I have been able to make deals without explaining that the deal will be binding,” Sonya said with a nod, “They also don’t have to understand the consequences of the deal being struck. Though the price has to be clear and both parties have to agree.”

He rubbed his chin, “That would make it difficult based on your wording here,” He said and looked down at the document again, rubbing his temple with the back of his pen, he glanced up at her again, “Does your ability erm…” He searched for the words, “...come up with a price for the exchange when nothing is immediately available?”

Sonya raised her eyebrows, “It does, yes.”

He nodded, “I wonder if…” He murmured and began to write again, occasionally he would simply draw a line on the notepad. He kept at it for a few minutes before setting the notepad down and flipping through it a few times, nodding to himself before turning it over to her. She reached out and took it and felt a charge run up her arm.

<Notarized contract detected, Party: Sonya Chernovna will grant the signator ten years of youth through the use of Ability: The Gift of Youth, in exchange for a price equivalent to ten million US Dollars. If sufficient assets are not available, an equivalent price in the form of services or personal sacrifice will be commanded. The assets seized will be liquidated and transferred to a private account.>

<Endorsing this contract will serve as a handshake. Signing this contract will render the document inert after the payment has been rendered.>

<Endorse contract?>

Sonya stared at the words in her HUD for a few moments, her heart hammering in her chest. This was it, this was what she had been looking for! A way to make deals without even being present! She wondered if she could sneak in wording that would allow her to analyze the person signing the contract. No, that would be too easy. My instincts are telling me I still need to make physical contact in order to analyze someone, she thought. It was regrettable, but fair.

She set the document down, feeling his and Marta’s eyes fixed on him. “Success,” She said, letting out a breath, “You, sir, just became very valuable to me. I suggest you write up a contract for yourself concerning your new employment,” She took a sheet of paper from the notepad and scribbled a few things down in a bullet point list before passing it back to him. “Include these as part of your retainer.”

He took the paper and looked it over, tilting his head quizzically, “Uh… what is ‘Ogre Strength’? Awakening? I don’t understand…” He trailed off as he caught her eyes.

“It’s an uncommon-tier ability I picked up the other day, along with the others, they should be sufficient to increase your survivability significantly,” She explained as she reached back into her warehouse. The ability she plucked from it was the one she’d discovered yesterday when she’d taken his hand for the first time. Word of Power. She felt the instinctive knowledge of how to use it flood into her subconscious. Very nice… she mused, Right now it can do very little but over time it’ll become quite powerful. Too bad for Otis that he never had a way to awaken Colin, he missed out.

“I’m going to tell you a secret, Colin,” She said, “One that only a very select group of people know about.”

He looked up at her, his eyes wide, “...does it have to do with awakening being part of my retainer, and you mentioning ‘picking up’ an ability?”

Her smile turned a little cold, “Every person on this planet has an ability, but only a small percentage of them can use it,” Sonya said, “The rest are unawakened. I can use my ability to forcibly awaken someone. Like you, for example.”

He looked down at the paper in his hands, “You can manufacture light-touched?” He asked, a bit of trepidation in his voice.

“Yes, and you, my new friend, are going to help me streamline the process,” She said and took a sip of her drink. “Oh, and by the way,” She said brightly, patting her helmet, “ Make sure you put me in the contract as Ishtar.”

–

Colin licked his lips as he looked down at the stacks of papers on his desk. There were three in total. Two were sizable, a lot of paper and toner had gone into them. The third was just about four pages long. He reached for it and reviewed it one last time, running his hand over his head and rubbing his neck. Everything looked good. He didn’t dare sneak anything in, but he wasn’t about to leave himself open to danger either. He chuckled, “It feels like I’m selling my soul to the devil, and he made me write the contract myself, either way, he gets my soul.”

He sniffed and set the document back down before glancing over at the other two. Each contract was only a page long, kept as simple and legible as possible. Even an idiot could understand what went into it as long as they had the capacity to read. There were hundreds of each. One pile offered youth in exchange for a sum, he’d left the amount of time and the price blank as instructed. The other offered awakening to the unawakened in exchange for a contracted period of service.

“Can she really get their contact information just by them signing this paper?” He asked, picking one up and looking it over, “Scary.”

The door opened and he set the contract down, swallowing hard as Sonya swept into the room. It was still hard to believe that this woman was playing the entire world for a fool. She’d basically created both the heroes and villains. He had no idea what the extent of her plan was, but he was starting to get an idea. He wasn’t stupid. The villains were acting as a rallying point, the news was filled with heroes defeating monsters and then declaring their intention to track down and capture villains during their down time.

She gave them something to agree on, was she worried the heroes would turn on eachother or something?

He shoved the question aside as she picked up one of the awakening contracts, running her thumb across the paper as she read it. Her mechanical eyes twisted and clicked, a faint ticking sound coming from somewhere inside of her head. I feel like captain hook, he thought grimly, watching her expression, Any moment and she could just strike. At least until she signs the contract anyway.

She set the document down and then picked up the youth contract, reading it as well before finally turning to the last, his contract. She read it slowly, glancing up at him once or twice before a small smirk blossomed on her face, “Mutual protection, hmm? You’re a shrewd man.”

“I’d rather not end up dead as soon as my usefulness has been fulfilled,” He said flatly, glancing around his new office. It was far more stately than the borderline cubicle he’d worked out of in Orlando. Neat wooden shelves had already been filled with his books and possessions and a computer had been affixed to the wide mahogany desk that had been brought in just for him. Starhaus Furniture, this must have cost a fortune… “I like the new office, I’d hate to lose it.”

Sonya laughed, “Well don’t get too used to it, I’m hoping to build a new headquarters for ASTA in the future,” She said, reading the last of the document, “This looks good, the spirit of our initial agreement is there as well, I’m glad you decided to handle this correctly, Colin.”

He cleared his throat, “Based on what you told me, just touching the thing gives you a summary, I wouldn’t be able to trick you even if I wanted to.”

Her smile widened, “I knew you were smart.”

“I made sure to reinforce the non-disclosure, you told me a lot about your powers, it would be bad if I mentioned any relevant details on accident or while under coercion,” He explained, gesturing to the paper.

“Oh I saw that,” She said and looked down at the two other stacks of contracts, “You really know how to endear yourself. I’ll remember that,” She said and pulled a pen from her jacket. She set the document down on the table and it began to glow faintly for a moment. As the light faded, she flipped to the end and signed it. She turned that page around and pushed it towards him, “Your turn, as soon as you sign that, you’ll be a new man.”

In more ways than one, I suspect, he thought and looked down at the paper. At the blank line that sat between him and a changed life. Just twenty-four hours ago he had been languishing in his tiny office barely skating by with a salary that would make any other self-respecting lawyer feel sorry for him. He gripped the pen in his hand and took a deep breath before signing his name on the sheet, directly beneath where the name ‘Ishtar’ had been written in a looping signature.

The paper glowed, flashing brightly for a moment and he heard a gasp and a small thud. When the light faded he saw Sonya gripping the desk between them, holding on for a moment before catching her breath. “Oh… what a rush!” She gasped, chuckling a little as a faint tingling began to work its way up Colin’s fingers. He glanced down at them as she straightened herself, “Oh, I forgot to mention,” She said casually, “This will probably hurt a little.”

Colin shot awake a half hour later on the couch in his new office. There was a light blanket over him and an ice pack on his head. He reached up groggily and pulled it off, daintily touching the egg-sized lump that had formed after he must have banged his head on his desk when he passed out. He coughed and rolled onto his side, his body ached, but he felt something else. It was like an instinct that hadn’t been there before. Innate understanding hardwired into his body. He sat up and looked himself over. He didn’t feel much different otherwise, just, stronger, more resilient, healthier. 

He glanced at a baseball he’d set on one of his shelves and cleared his throat, “Come,” He commanded and felt a tiny bit of something drain from him. As it did, the ball launched itself from the shelf before landing in his hand. His breath caught in his throat, his eyes wide in awe, he clutched the small object as Sonya spoke up, sitting on his desk.

“I’ve thought of a name for you,” She said and he looked her way, her lips were wide with a smile that sent a bit of chill through him despite his excitement, “From now on, you’ll be Mephisto.”