Felix tuned Kit’s voice out and ran over to Erica’s prone form.
She was breathing hard, her hands pressed to her stomach. Her large eyes darted to him.
They were large, dilated. Full of fear.
“I’ve been shot,” she said, as he came to her side. “I’m shot.”
“Yes. You have. You’re also in shock,” Felix said. Looking over his shoulder he saw the security guard. “Hey! Tell the Telemedic to bring a number three contract with them. And to hurry, that’s an order.”
The guard immediately began talking into her mic, moving to exit the alcove quickly.
Grumbling, Felix knelt over Erica and pressed his hands to hers.
“Hey there. A little bit more truth for you than most people get before they sign a contract with me. I have a super power. I can modify or change anything I own,” Felix said, trying to hold her eyes with his own.
The sheer amount of blood seeping into the ground beneath her was unnerving. He couldn’t imagine she had much blood left in her at this point.
“You’re a powered,” she said. “That explains so much.”
“Yeah. So, with that said, I have a modified contract system that gives me temporary ownership of you, as my employee. Which lets me modify or edit you as a person,” Felix said slowly. He was trying to keep her with him. An explanation of why she needed to sign her contract immediately seemed like a great place to start.
“I? I need to sign?” Erica asked, her voice getting softer. “What do I sign?”
“A contract. I need you to sign a contract,” Felix repeated. She wasn’t anything to him, but he didn’t want to see her die. She’d only been trying to get a story on him.
A victim by being in his vicinity, only.
“Oh. I already signed a contract. I got a job! I didn’t think I’d… I’d get one so quickly. Beastkin have to try harder,” Erica said.
“Yes, but you have to sign another. As soon as it gets here.” Felix looked around as soon as he finished talking.
If they don’t get here soon it won’t matter a damn bit. I thought we pla—
A young male Telemedic popped into being a few feet away from Felix. In a heartbeat, the man had crouched down beside Erica and handed the contract to Felix.
“Erica, I need you to sign this, ok?” Felix said, pulling the contract open.
It was the right one.
Thank goodness for small miracles.
“I don’t have my pen,” Erica muttered. “It’s with my… my notes. In the car. It’s cold here. Can I have a blanket?”
Felix looked to the Telemedic, who stared back at Felix.
There’s no pen.
“That’s ok,” Felix said, taking Erica’s right hand away from her stomach. “Pretend your finger is a pen, and sign right here, ok? Sign your agreement. I can’t do it for you.”
Erica’s hand lifted up and pressed into the page. She grabbed it with her thumb and forefinger and lifted her left hand instead.
“Left han…ded,” Erica whispered, then her hands dropped down to the ground at her sides.
Her eyes fluttered, and she let out a slow rattling breath.
And died.
Felix blinked, staring at the bloody contract in his hand.
Her bloody fingers had left a smeared trail along the signature line.
Blood counts, right? People used to sign with blood. That’s right.
People signed in blood back in the day. Before the populace could sign, right
“That’s fine, Erica. Signing in blood is fine. That’s fine,” Felix said to the corpse. “This’ll work. I’m sure.”
Felix looked at the contract and then tried to call up her character window.
“Get back to HQ and get the appropriate resources for however many people we need to raise, plus one,” Felix said to the Telemedic.
He didn’t want to see him right now. The lack of a pen was an oversight on both their parts. Felix didn’t ask for one, and the Telemedic didn’t think to bring one.
Resurrect Erica. Bring her back to life because she signed her contract. She’s an employee. Bring her back.
The Telemedic got up and immediately vanished, flitting away through the space between places that they zipped through.
No screen popped up.
Felix wasn’t looking for a hypothetical, he was looking for an actual screen. Which meant it’d only come up if it was a binding contract.
“Come on, Erica. You signed in blood. You even used a fingerprint. That’s a valid signature, right?” Felix said, trying to pull up the screen again.
Nothing.
“Oh, come on!” Felix shouted at Erica’s cooling body. “Look, I know… I know my power isn’t normal and it changes by my wishes at times. The only way that’s possible is if someone is watching up there.”
Felix waited for a few seconds and tried to pull up the window again.
Nothing.
“Come on… she was willing to sign. She wanted to sign. She put her bloody thumb on it. That’s a signature,” Felix muttered, sinking down into a sitting position.
“Consider it a favor owed,” Felix said.
Erica wasn’t anyone to him other than a resource. But she died because of him, and had done him no wrong.
For the first time in a long time, Felix felt some guilt.
Regret.
“I’d owe you two favors?” Felix asked, a bitter smile crossing his face as he realized no one was listening.
Name:
Erica Newberg
Power: --
Alias:
Secondary Power: --
Physical Status:
Decaying
Mental Status:
Dead
Positive Statuses:
None
Negative Statuses:
Dead
Strength:
35
Upgrade?(350)
Dexterity:
41
Upgrade?(410)
Agility:
42
Upgrade?(420)
Stamina:
45
Upgrade?(450)
Wisdom:
58
Upgrade?(580)
Intelligence:
55
Upgrade?(550)
Luck:
31
Upgrade?(310)
Primary Power:
--
Upgrade?(--)
Secondary Power:
--
Upgrade?(--)
Status Correction: Dead -> Living
Correct Status? (15,000 points. Two Favors Owed.)
Felix stared at the last message for several seconds. His breathing was strained and it felt like his chest was being crushed.
Two Favors Owed.
Someone or something was listening.
And I struck a deal with it.
Chapter 21 - Separation -
Felix stared at the machine dully. He’d had a hard time functioning since the picnic ended. Somehow he’d managed to keep it all together during the event, but only just barely.
Legion’s morale was riding high. Especially when Felix had resurrected everyone who died at no cost.
With every attack on them, every assault, every insult, Legion proved to be the stronger.
They came out on top.
Stomped their foe to the ground and tore its head off.
Confidence could be a dangerous thing, but as long as there was a reset button that could be hit, his people would always learn from mistakes.
Especially fatal ones.
But that’s the problem.
Felix shook his head, his thoughts going back to the debt he now owed whoever controlled his powers. Or influenced his powers.
Or made me.
Shuddering from head to toe, he could actually feel the anxiety and panic washing over him.
There was nothing comforting in knowing there existed a higher power for Felix.
Lily had once told hi
m that she didn’t sign the form because she’d feared what would happen to her in an afterlife. At the time Felix had dismissed it.
There’d been no reason for him to believe. Sure, Lily was eating souls, or what people believed were souls, but there had been no proof of that.
Now Felix believed it.
Believed in souls.
That something was watching him. That modified his powers so that he could bring a young Beastkin back to life.
To put her soul back into the husk of her body, and allow Felix to put her body back to rights.
That wasn’t something casual.
Someone else held a power that controlled how his own interacted with the world.
“Felix!” Felicia shouted in his ear, causing him to start.
“What?!” he shouted back, staring down at her. His annoyance was plain and his ear was ringing.
“You’re not listening to me! You arse-faced idiot. I’ve been talking to you for at least a minute. Did you hear anything?” Felicia asked in a raised voice.
Freezing up, Felix couldn’t answer that. He actually hadn’t heard a word she’d said. The existential panic he’d been floundering around in had consumed him.
“No,” Felix said, his shoulders dropping. “I didn’t.”
Felicia’s eyebrows came down and she put her fists on her hips. She opened her mouth and closed it again. Her face went through a series of emotions he couldn’t identify, but it settled on something surprising to him.
Concern.
“I’m no good at figuring out people,” she said finally. “Give me a toolbox and a machine and I’m good. But… I’ll help how I can. Ioana would say the same. Just tell us what we can do.”
Felix felt his lips flicker to a smile and he huffed.
“Thanks. It’s not something anyone can fix, though. I just had someone upend my plans is all. I have to do some revisions, just kinda stuck in a negative loop. I’ll be fine,” Felix said. “Now, I’m sorry for not listening. How about you tell me again what you were saying.”
Felicia considered that, glaring at him for a moment more. “Fine. It’s what you asked for. A security function and an override.”
Nodding his head, Felix looked to the portal machine once more. It looked like a tunnel entrance that led nowhere. Directly behind it was a wall.
“The security function is that it’ll only process people with Legion rings. Anything within a foot around them will go with them. Including air by the way, that was fun to find out. Makes a boom with each person. It’s why we had to move it down here to its own level. Shook the goddamn teeth out of your head. We’ve minimized it as best as we can.”
“Great. That’s definitely a good way to handle a security lockout. What happens if someone goes through without a ring?”
“They get dropped into a holding cell deep under SC:HQ. I figured it might be a good idea to simply not tell anyone about the security function. Everyone in Legion has a personalized ring after all. It only works for them. There’s no reason for them to ever take it off. This becomes a passive feature, and we never have to worry about it,” Felicia explained, patting the control panel.
Felix couldn’t deny he saw the appeal in that. It’d be an unspoken security feature that anyone of Legion would always pass without ever knowing.
“And the override?” he asked.
“Three different lockouts. First is a retinal scan. Go ahead and cozy up to this here,” Felicia said, pointing to what Felix couldn’t see as anything other than a submarine periscope viewer.
“Uh huh…” Felix muttered. Stepping forward he pressed his face to it and was instantly blinded by a red flash. “Holy fucking shit.”
Felix jerked away, rubbing at his eyes.
“Oh, yeah. It’s a bit bright. You’ll be fine. Next is—”
“Voice confirmed. ‘Holy fucking shit’ registered as the passcode for Felix Campbell,” said a robotic voice.
“Next is voice registration. Good. The last is a simple typed mechanical password. Use the boxed in keyboard there.”
Felix opened his eyes and could barely see beyond the white spots in his vision. What she’d been talking about was a keyboard with raised walls so one couldn’t see what was being typed from other angles.
“And what do I type?” Felix asked, putting his hands into the keyboard.
“Whatever your network password is,” Felicia said from the other side of the panel.
Grumbling, Felix typed in the code.
Immediately the portal machine activated and a giant blue wall sprang to life in front of him. A second after that, it flashed brightly, and all Felix could see was an endless sea of green grass.
“This is the world we ended up going with. It matches everything you listed. I have it set and locked it for now as the destination. I have other things that are more important than babysitting you,” Felicia said, stomping off towards the door to the elevator.
Staring through the portal, Felix wasn’t sure of himself anymore.
This was something he’d arranged the day before the picnic started. In fact, Felix had forgotten about it, right up until Felicia booked the slot on his calendar for a six hour meeting.
Exactly as he’d requested.
“Well, shall we go?” Lily asked from behind him, causing him to look over his shoulder.
He hadn’t heard her enter. With her was Victoria, a squad of Legion security, three squads of Legion employees in work clothes, a Fixer, a Telemedic, an Other and Andrea. They were all dressed for combat, wearing the equipment and gear they’d put together specifically for combat engagements.
Felix himself was in combat armor, and wearing all the various charms and things his people had prepped for him. They’d decided it wouldn’t be good to make the trip in his usual armor.
From Andrea’s scouting reports, the world was inhabited by tribal humans who were barely starting to enter large farming communities.
Though their system of government seemed barely to scratch the surface of feudalism.
It was likely that his usual armor would cause more of a problem than relying on other defenses.
“Yeah… let’s head in. Everyone, follow your orders. Lily, hang back with me, I want to ask you a few questions,” Felix said. Making a sharp turn, Felix walked into the portal, and onto another world.
It was more or less another Earth, as far as they could tell.
Everyone went through the portal and spread out, going about their tasks.
“Something’s been on your mind for a bit,” Lily said casually, standing beside him.
You don’t fool me. You’ve all known something’s up. Kit has been the most persistent, asking twice to get the ability to read my thoughts turned on.
“Don’t make that face. I’m trying to be nice. Kit said I’m still coming across too strong at times,” she said. Apparently he hadn’t been as neutral as he’d thought reacting to her statement. “I’m still getting used to this whole, everyone isn’t trying to scam me, kill me, or rape me thing. Corporate life is certainly more fun than being a villain.”
“You and her have certainly been getting along,” Felix said. “I almost wonder if that friction I imagined ever so long ago even existed.”
Lily blew out a breath. “Don’t change the subject.”
“I think you were right,” Felix said, watching his people working. They were putting out stake markers, measuring off distances, and general prepping what would be their base camp. “There is a higher power. Or at least, one that has control over my own powerset.”
“I… don’t understand. What do you mean?” She sounded concerned to Felix. He could only imagine her dilemma, as having taken the souls of a number of people certainly wouldn’t endear you to the heavens.
“Erica didn’t sign her contract. She tried to, but died before she could.”
“But if that were true, you wouldn’t have been able to bring her back. And I know you did. We watched her report yesterday evening.
She’s on Legion payroll.”
“And that’s all true, and correct. Except the part where she signed her contract. She managed to press a bloody thumb to it. That was it. She died. And I wasn’t able to bring her back.”
One of the Legion employees leaned to one side and spoke into a microphone.
They must be getting the materials ready.
“Then I started talking aloud. Arguing that she signed the contract. With her blood and thumbprint,” Felix said.
Behind him he could hear carts being rolled out of the freight elevator as everyone began getting ready for the second phase.
Watching them go by, Felix took in a slow breath. “I said something about knowing someone was there. That my power was too… directed, for there not to be. I offered up a favor, if they’d agree that Erica had meant to sign.”
A breeze came through the plain and ruffled Felix’s hair.
It was strange to have the interior of a building behind him, and an open field in front of him.
“Then I offered two favors. I don’t know why I did, but I did. Then a window popped up after that. It had a point cost, and said that I owed two favors, and Erica would come back to life,” Felix said. “The point cost was rather low. Far too low. Which means that the favors had some type of value attached to them. That’d mean that it was a choice. Planned, calculated, and thought out.”
Large wheeled carts skirted around him and Lily, moving to the designated area markers. Stacks of bricks, paving stones, steel, bags of cement, and all sorts of construction materials were being hauled over.
“That… that definitely sounds like you’ve come into contact with a higher being. A god? I don’t know how to take that, really,” Lily said after the last cart trundled by.
“Yeah, pretty much where I’m at myself. It throws a number of things out of perspective for me. I was never one for religion… not really. It all sounded so strange growing up. Now I find that not only was it not so strange, but real. Where does that leave me? And why did it, they, him, her, whatever, decide to answer me. That seems really… the whole thing feels weird.”
Super Sales on Super Heroes: Book 2 Page 23
