“Uh…” Felix started.
“She can’t leave her post. Don’t worry, my Others can handle it.”
“What are you planning?” Lily asked, leaning towards him. Her moist lips were parted in a predatory grin. “You’ve got something in mind.”
Felix shrugged, eyeing her. “How would you feel about hiring Miss Aston to work in your department? I’m betting she’s unemployed right now and looking.
“Knowing you, you’ve researched her top to bottom and even know her address. Your praise is never given freely, either. For you to compliment her, that means you actually think she’s worthwhile in some way.
“Telemedic taxis you to her, brings you and her back, we have a lovely meeting with her old team as she debriefs you on the way.
“Cash for whatever you need up front, gold bar to replenish the money you spend.”
Lily’s eyes scrunched up in delight and she leaned forward towards him. She reached out with her right hand to pat him on the chest. “I love it. And yes, I’d hire her in a heartbeat. I’ll draw up a standard Indentured contract for her.”
Thirty minutes later and Felix welcomed the team from Reznik, Blacketer, and Troy to have a seat at the conference table.
Victoria, Lily, Andrea, and now Lauren Aston were present, the latter three sitting with him on his side of the table.
Every person from the opposing team noticed Lauren sitting on Lily’s right hand side.
Apparently, Lauren had been blackballed by the community. So, when Lily had shown up with a cash in hand offer, a contract, and a new home to work out of, she had only had a few questions.
Her belongings would be arriving later.
As an Indentured, she would be offered a place to live on site, with the understanding that she could move out whenever she liked.
So far, no one had turned down the offer to live on site.
And when we buy up this street, we’ll see about expanding our subterranean kingdom. We’ll just use the buildings for defenses and other things.
From what Lily had told him after hiring her, Lauren had been dismissed for what they’d surmised. She’d sent a complaint to the ethics board about what her bosses had forced her to do.
What she’d attempted to do to Felix, that is. It wasn’t personal, it was business, and her job.
She hadn’t agreed with it, had sent a formal complaint, but had been nonetheless forced to go along with it if she wanted to keep her position.
Since she’d gotten fired shortly after the whole thing had gone down, it sounded like someone in ethics had sold her out.
All in all, she was a great acquisition even if she couldn’t offer any insight into what this meeting was about.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” Lily said. “What can we do for you today? Please keep in mind, you’ve once again filed for an emergency meeting outside of protocol. Our bill will be in the mail.”
“This’ll be quick,” said a man Felix had seen several times but never bothered to learn the name of. Dropping a paper in front of Lily, they turned and left without another word.
Felix was confused. All that fuss, and for what?
Lily had already picked up the paper and was reading through it.
“If we ever wanted proof they’re in league with our enemies, this would be it. They didn’t bother to cash our check. When they finally did try, it was when our assets we’re frozen, which means the check bounced. We’re now in breach.
“I’m sorry, Felix. I didn’t even think to check to see if they’d cashed the check.”
Felix waved it off. “Doesn’t matter. We don’t need the money from the landlord job anyways.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, this sucks. And it puts a lot more weight on the points bank, but it isn’t anything we can’t get through.”
Lily sighed and set the paper down in front of Lauren. “Please get to work on this immediately; we’ll reconvene tomorrow for a department meeting. I’ll introduce you formally to the rest of the team. Until then, get settled, get a tour, get some food.”
Lauren picked up the paper, her messenger bag, and nodded. A few seconds later and she was out the door and on her way to start her first day.
“She’s eager. I think she’ll be a great long-term employee. I didn’t tell her much, as she wasn’t under contract, but the little I did tell her seemed to make her happy.”
Felix shrugged and then sighed, slumping into his chair. “I think we were supposed to talk about something next, weren’t we?”
“Yes, my first favor,” Lily said, folding her hands in front of her on the desk. Apprehensive would have been a good description of her.
“Okay, sure. That’ll at least be fun. Probably even solvable. Whatcha got for me?” Felix scratched at his head.
“I want you to fix my little brother. He’s… not well. I’ve got him in a full care facility right now. Technically, I’m his guardian. I’ve been working on getting everything together to have him transferred here.”
Rather surprised at the request, Felix didn’t know what to say.
“As of course, being your property, my property is yours. As his guardian, I’ve written him up an Indentured contract.”
Lily slowly set a paper down in front of him. It was indeed a contract and had been completely filled out.
“My favor is… please, sign the contract and then help him?” Lily finally turned her head towards him, her hands gripped together in front of her.
Her eyes were wet, and it looked like she was fighting to keep herself from crying.
“He’s one of the reasons I got into magic. I wanted to find a way to help him.”
“What exactly is wrong with him?” Felix picked up the paper and looked over it.
There was a momentary flicker of annoyance, a whisper of indifference to the situation.
Both vanished and were replaced by the simple fact that he wanted to take care of Lily. That he didn’t want her to suffer if he didn’t have to.
Pulling the pen from Eva out of his front pocket, he ran his thumb along the words.
Guardian indeed.
“We’re not sure. He just… fell asleep one day and never woke up. His brain is active, he’s not… he’s not braindead. He just won’t wake up.” Lily sniffed, her voice breaking. Her fingers were locked into one another, intertwined.
Felix nodded his head and signed the contract. “Let’s go get him, then. If we can get him put to rights today, we’ll do it.”
Lily let out a sudden sobbing breath, a smile breaking free. Then she launched forward and wrapped him up in a tight hug, her arms firm around his shoulders. “Thank you, thank you, Felix. Thank you.”
Awkwardly, he patted her on the back. Lily shuddered and Felix realized she was crying.
Catching Victoria’s and Andrea’s eyes, he motioned them towards the door, hoping they’d get the hint. Both women left without a word.
Felix held on to Lily, not saying a word.
The sobbing sorceress of death, the incredibly strong lawyer, the ravishing temptress, broke down.
All that was left was a woman who was carrying the burdens of an older sister who only wanted her brother to be well.
“It’s okay, Lily. We’ll get this taken care of. How old is he right now?”
“Sixteen. If he wakes up—” Lily took in a shuddering breath. “He’ll be so far behind. What kind of—” Another shoulder-shaking sob. “—life will he even be able to have?”
“Well, I’m sure I can cheat and use points to get him up to speed. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I mean, come on. I can practically bring people back from the dead. There’s not too mu—”
Felix blinked at a thought that tore through his head.
I own their corpses, don’t I? Why can’t I just… bring them back?
Lily didn’t realize he’d stopped mid-sentence, but had buried her face in his neck instead, holding tightly to him as she cried.
Felix followed his thoughts as he co
mforted Lily.
Standing at the foot of the bed, Felix was surprised. The young man looked wasted away. Years of immobility, of not moving his muscles on his own, had caused them to atrophy.
He looked as well cared for as one could be in a coma, though. The facility was very high end, and Lily had paid for its treatment of her brother for another hundred years in advance.
She’d been concerned what would happen to him if she was killed or captured.
Smart sister.
The boy had a faint resemblance to Lily, but Felix had a hard time seeing more than only a hint of it. The sunken cheeks, waxen and pale skin, took too much of the life out of the kid.
“No time like the present,” Felix said. Calling up screen for the teenager, Felix looked to the character sheet.
Name:
Lucian Lux
Power: Astral Projection
Alias: Luke
Secondary Power: Eidetic Memory
Physical Status:
None
Mental Status:
Lost, terrified
Positive Statuses:
None
Negative Statuses:
Lost, atrophy, intellectual disability
Strength:
17
Upgrade?(170)
Dexterity:
23
Upgrade?(230)
Agility:
15
Upgrade?(150)
Stamina:
11
Upgrade?(110)
Wisdom:
31
Upgrade?(310)
Intelligence:
91
Upgrade?(910)
Luck:
47
Upgrade?(470)
Primary Power:
91
Upgrade?(9,100)
Secondary Power:
95
Upgrade?(9,500)
“Huh. He fell asleep because his power woke up. He’s an astral projector.
“He’s just lost,” Felix said. Turning his head to Lily, he gave her a smile. Only she, Victoria, and Andrea had accompanied him here. They’d arrived by Telemedic and would be leaving the same way.
“Really?” Lily asked hopefully, her voice threatening to break again.
“Yup. Here, go stand next to him. Don’t touch him immediately, he might be groggy and a little out of it. Let him wake up.
“I’ll do a little bit of power tweaking and we’ll see about him waking up.”
Felix didn’t mention the intellectual disability. It wouldn’t help, and he could just remove it. The atrophy he’d leave alone, though, because it’d help get Lucian to have a goal.
First, the disability.
Focusing on removing that, he waited.
Status Correction: Mental disability -> Healed
Correct Status? (5,000 points)
A tap of the accept button and Felix moved on.
Next, the upgrade.
He wanted Lucian to have the ability to return to his body no matter what, at any time, regardless of how far he traveled. That it would cost him nothing to do so, and be as simple as opening his eyes.
Power Upgrade: Astral Projection-(Instant Recall)
Required Primary Power: 80 (Met)
Upgrade?(20,000 points)
Felix grunted and hit the accept button again.
Closing the windows, he looked up to the sleeping boy.
“Wake up, Lucian. Your sister is waiting for you, and we have a lot to do today. First of which is hiring you some tutors, getting you some clothes, and getting you into a physical therapy program,” Felix said, intoning it all as a command. The Indentured contracts were more or less a timed enslavement. He owned Lucian, and Lucian would have to obey. “Open your eyes and recall already.”
Just like that, Lucian’s eyes flipped open. Lily let out a soft crying noise, her hands clenching into her clothes.
He blinked several times. His eyes slowly focused on the ceiling.
It really is like watching someone wake up.
Languidly, those eyes began to move, looking at each person in the room, as if cataloging them.
After each person was examined, the boy’s head turned towards Lily, his eyes fastening on her.
“Lily?” he asked in a croaking whisper.
“Hey, bud,” Lily said, tears rolling down her cheeks. Picking up a pitcher of water at the bedside table, she poured a small amount into a glass and then leaned over him. “Here, take a sip for big sis.”
Lucian nodded his head, and took a drink from the glass. Then several more.
“Thanks,” he said. His voice didn’t sound as raspy now. “I was lost. I couldn’t find home, or you, or… me.
“I was wandering around in a forest just now. I was following some hunters and… and then it felt like someone knocked a hole through my brain. Like… shutters and curtains that had blocked out the light were ripped free and thrown aside.
“It felt like I’d been carrying weights around in my head. Then they vanished.
“And then I suddenly knew where my body was. I was told to open my eyes and… I’m here.”
Lily let out a chuckle that sounded like a sob. “Yeah. That’d be Felix here. His power is… unique. He made it so you could come back, and it seems like he fixed you, too.”
Whoops. Apparently the mental problem was something that existed before he went to sleep.
“And I’ll be talking to him about that later. For now, though, he’s right. We need to get you home. I already have a room set up for you.”
“Home?” Lucian asked, his head having slowly turned towards Felix.
“Felix’s home. I live with him now. He said you could live with us, so… we’re going home.”
“That sounds nice. When we get home, then can we eat? I’m hungry.”
“Sure we can,” Felix said with a grin. “I know someone who is always itching to feed people pancakes.”
Andrea nodded her head happily from beside him, her hands immediately coming together in front of her.
“Thank you, brother,” Lucian said, a smile on his face.
“Brother?” Lily asked. She had moved over to the intercom to call the nurse to prepare discharge papers.
“You’re married to him, aren’t you? The way you said everything, it sounds like you’re married. Mom and Dad must be so happy.
“You were always so intimidating. Dad always said that you scared off all the boys. Mom and Dad worried you’d never get married. I’d heard them sometimes talk about it. So I’m glad you married Felix.”
Lily made a squawking noise, her cheeks turning a deep red as she hurried back to Lucian’s side and began whispering to him.
Felix chuckled at that, turning his head to Andrea.
“Call the Telemedic back, we’ll be leaving shortly. Then you can make everyone pancakes.”
“Pancakes!” Andrea shouted.
“Pancakes!” Victoria agreed.
Chapter 28 - Mostly Dead -
A medical attendant pulled open the door. Felix waited as the man grabbed the slab and drew it towards them. On that slab were the remains of one Jordan Taylor.
He wasn’t a super, or someone remarkable. He was average, really. Talented enough to make the cut for the internal security team, but that was it.
He was also agnostic, and had no living family. Thus, he became a perfect test subject.
“You’re welcome to remain, but I order you not to speak of anything that occurs in this room with anyone else in any way, shape, or form. Not until I tell people myself.
“Do you understand?”
The masked medical attendant hesitated, then left the morgue quickly.
Turning back to the dead man, he felt his skin prickle. Half of his face was gone, including a sizable portion of his skull.
You wanted a test, Felix. This is it.
First, he focused on putting Jordan’s body back together. Exactly as it had been before his death. A week in the morgue had pro
bably slowed down the decay of everything.
Hadn’t stopped it, though.
Status Correction: Expand for List (Over 5,000 items) -> Healed
Correct Status? (35,000 points)
Felix accepted the change. It was costly, but if it was a successful test, then that’d be worth it.
Jordan’s body rapidly regenerated all the missing bits and pieces. His body reformed itself as if he’d never been touched.
Though he drew no breath, and his chest remained still.
Pushing his awareness into the man’s character sheet, Felix looked to see if there was anything that could give him a clue on how to proceed.
Name:
Jordan Taylor
Power: --
Alias:
Secondary Power: --
Physical Status:
Decaying
Mental Status:
Dead
Positive Statuses:
None
Negative Statuses:
Dead
Strength:
53
Upgrade?(530)
Dexterity:
57
Upgrade?(570)
Agility:
48
Upgrade?(480)
Stamina:
67
Upgrade?(670)
Wisdom:
41
Upgrade?(410)
Intelligence:
52
Upgrade?(520)
Luck:
36
Upgrade?(360)
Primary Power:
--
Upgrade?(--)
Secondary Power:
--
Upgrade?(--)
Super Sales on Super Heroes Page 31
