Chapter 163: Chapter 134

Sonya stood on top of the small platform overlooking the blasted and ruined field. It was about a hundred meters in length going down the side of the mountain that the camp had been built on. The treeline framed it on three sides, making it seem like an open bowl. She reached up and adjusted her sunglasses as a small group made their way up towards the top. Faint flashes of purple light indicated Greg's movements. A pair of bangs followed and Val burst through a wall, Alex immediately behind him with three combat dolls on his back. They'd been modified, of course, to track any ‘injuries’ or ‘stresses’ from the rescue.

“They're doing better,” She said absently.

Next to her, Axel crossed his arms and frowned a little, “Marginally,” He said, “But it’s a stark improvement from the first time. They’’ll pass on this round, mostly thanks to their support,” He pointed out, “Greg and Jessica make a good team.”

As soon as he said it, a trio of light blue darts hurtled out of the opening that had been made by Val, digging into the three dolls that had risen up out of the soil to confront them. Val moved quickly to dispatch while Jessica soared overhead, she landed and shifted forward a bit, almost stumbling on her landing but turned it quickly into a run as she made headway for the others. Sonya tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, An injury? Nothing obvious. She thought as she pulled up the girls dossier.

Most of the details weren’t exactly impressive. Girl from southern mississippi, bit of an outcast at school, most of her background checked out. Frankly, she’d overlooked it a little, only giving a brief once over once she heard that the girl was interested in Greg. While Jessica was impressive in some ways, Greg was the real star. His mind was excellent for logistics and his abilities had room to grow. She’d even put him on a very short list of investment candidates if the opportunity arose to do so. She very much wanted to send him to the United Kingdom to get direct instruction under Euclidia.

Now that she looked harder, though, the background was more than just a little bland. It was vanilla. It was like the backstory of every single bog-standard young-adult romance protagonist. Moderately happy home with standoffish father, good grades, popular physically but with a social rapport that set her on the outskirts. Humble, low-key, a few scattered achievements in her background from school. Swim team captain? Sonya narrowed her eyes and glanced at the girls movements. She moved like someone who’d done rotc like herself, drills training, and not for a couple of weeks either.

Sonya’s lips thinned a little as the group crossed the finish line.

“You guys finally made it to the end, no red signals from the dolls. You pass!” Axel barked down at them. The four threw their fists up in the air and cheered.

Sonya leaned against the railing and forced a smile, “Congratulations!” She called before glancing towards Jessica, “Miss Wayne, have you decided on who you’re going to be signing with yet?” She asked.

Jessica glanced up from where she was clasping hands with the others, smiling, “No ma’am! Still feeling it out! Want me to come for an interview?”

Sonya raised an eyebrow, “Sure! I’ll reach out,” She said. I can use it as an opportunity to interrogate her, after my visit with the Spice King of course. She thought idly before glancing towards Axel, “She seems to have an injury,” Sonya said under her breath, “Make sure she gets to the clinic,” He nodded at her and she brightened beaming at them all, “I’m proud of you guys, keep it up! And don’t forget to support your teammates that joined the scouting team when they get back. They’ve got it rough!”

They all nodded as she waved and turned, hands crossed behind her back as she made a quick call,

Martas voice came through a moment later,

She clicked her tongue, She said quickly.

She was about to elaborate when Marta cut her off,

Sonya let out a breath and smirked to herself, she knew she was probably worrying for nothing but her gut told her to be cautious regardless. She huffed out a breath, She asked, changing the subject,

There was a pause, She said and Sonya let out a small laugh,

Sonya laughed, She said and cut the call before Marta could protest.

It didn’t take her overly long to get back to the common building and when she arrived she made sure to check in on a few of the others. Sonya stopped behind the circle of couches where Lily and her little group liked to congregate and found her and Snow sitting together while John dealt a few cards over lunch. Cass was sitting there as well, cross legged and holding some cards in her hands. She looked nervous. Sonya smiled impishly and leaned forward next to Lily’s head before delivering her usual greeting; “Hi! Whatcha doin?”

Lily nearly threw her cards into the air while Snow burst into laughter. John looked up at her in confusion for a moment while Cass gave her a world weary smile, “Playing cards, ma’am, Poker, I’ve never played.”

Lily looked up at her, wide eyed, “Miss Chernovna! Will you please stop doing that?” She begged.

“Stop making it so funny!” Sonya shot back with a laugh before standing up straight, “You lot better not be betting on those cards!”

Cass blinked, startled, “You can do that?”

Sonya went deadpan and stared at the other three, “You didn’t explain that part to her?”

“Easing her in,” John grunted, “We aren’t betting money,” He paused and met her eyes. She gave him a wry smirk and he went just a little wide eyed for a moment, showing a rare instance of self reflection. He plucked one of the bags of chips that he had piled up next to him and held it up, “Chips.”

Sonya sputtered out a laugh, “Chips for chips! Oh that’s adorable! Carry on then!” She laughed and started walking before glancing over her shoulder, “Make sure to congratulate your friends, they passed the rescue test just a few minutes ago,” She said before making her way out of the room, waving off their shouts for clarification.

A few minutes later she was outside of her residence at the camp. She glanced to the right and saw Chunhua heading out of her own space, adjusting her outfit a little. They met one another's eyes for a moment. Chunhua searched her face before firming her expression and nodding, “Be safe,” She said.

“I will,” Sonya said with a smile and pushed into the room.

Inside, she glanced back at the door and let out a breath. She almost regretted using up Duplicate at that moment, but decided it was for the best. Marta would make a good enough double for her and creating an illusory copy didn’t do her much good even if she could observe with Astral Eye and act through it. Her combined abilities couldn’t create a perfect double that would stand up to absolute scrutiny. She exhaled, more importantly it was better for her health if she didn’t make any more copies.

She glanced in the mirror and her reflection smiled a little in approval. She turned away and ran her fingers through her hair, walking to the bedroom. She pushed the door open and spotted Carla sitting on the bed. She smiled up at Sonya, “Sneaking out?” She asked.

“I figured you’d be waiting,” Sonya teased back.

“Don’t do anything crazy,” Carla said simply before getting to her feet and pulling Sonya into a hug.

Sonya returned the gesture, resting her head on Carla’s shoulder for a moment. She let out a breath before pulling back and smirking, “Who do you think you’re talking to? I’m me,” She chuckled as she tapped the diamond on Carla’s collar, a panel of light appeared behind her and distorted, “I’ll be back,,” She said, and took a step backwards.

–

Sonya stepped back into the elegant room, immediately feeling the difference in the atmosphere from the tepid Appalachian mountain air to the dry heat of the desert night. She glanced quietly towards the window the beautiful curtains drawn over crystal clear glass. No light shone through. She huffed out a breath and examined her surroundings. A single large bed sat in the rear of the room plush with cushions and silk sheets. The walls were painted an adobe color to give it a more ‘exotic’ feel. She didn’t need it, but it was appreciated. She ran her fingers over the expensive wood furniture as her senses picked up someone approaching the sole door leading out of the room. She glanced towards it and smiled, speaking before they knocked, “Come on in, Mephisto.”

The door opened quickly and shut, the pretty dealmaker slipping inside. He was wearing his usual black suit and skirt, his red eyes gleaming behind his perfect brown hair. He grinned, “Glad to have you, boss.”

She rest her hands on her hips, “This better be worth my time, he was pretty vague in the initial conversation.”

He nodded, “Yeah, he’s got a full scheme prepared for you now and wants to talk as soon as you’re ready,” He said, flipping his hair, “We’ve written up a base contract but I’m happy to make adjustments if you like.”

She raised an eyebrow, “It must be big to demand my personal involvement. Do you know why he needs me personally to intervene?” She asked.

“Broker,” He said flatly. “He doesn’t know the name, of course, but he needs your more direct deal making ability. He seems to be under the impression that my paper contracts don’t carry as much weight as the person themselves being involved.”

She chuckled, “He’s wrong,” She said before closing her eyes and taking a deep, deep breath. She exhaled through her nostrils and centered herself. She pulled up her hud and her aptly named ‘things’ folder. She smirked to herself at the ‘.thing’ files, Amos hated that she’d started using that for the items she digitized. She pulled her helmet out as she put her normal outfit in. Her head glowed blue for a moment before she stood before Mephisto, her armor forming on her body. She felt her arms go slack as the sensation of being in the helmet overcame her. Her mind relaxed, her soul eased, and everything felt… right.

She tilted her head down and met his gaze, “But I suppose I can extract payment for my direct intervention anyway, Lead the way,” Ishtar said, the voice modulator kicking in.

He gave a prompt bow, “Yes, mistress.”

A few moments later they stepped out of the elevator and into the grandiose hall of the Spice King. The columns in a line and twenty one young men standing between them. They all had stoic expressions on their faces, doing everything they could to keep their temper. At the end another pair stood at either side of the throne. Both of them looked wary. They eyed Ishtar with caution as she strode down the hall, her head tilted up to look at the youthful man relaxing on his throne. She threw her arms out in greeting, “Erebus!” She tittered out, “Youth suits you!”

The big man got to his feet and marched down the stairs, “Ishtar!” He bellowed and broke into laughter, “Regal as always!”

They embraced briefly before she stepped back and spun around to look over his sons, “You’re one short! Last I heard it was twenty-four!” She said thoughtfully, tapping the side of her helmet. The young men all went very still under her attention and she huffed out a cruel laugh, floating into the air and drifting past them, checking one face at a time, “Was someone naughty?” She teased, “Was it you?” She asked, “Or was it you?” She stopped at the youngest of them. Mephisto had informed her that the youngest son had talent and a strong ability.

The young man stiffened but didn’t speak, keeping his eyes forward.

She turned in the air and drifted towards the Spice King, lounging on her back, “Tight lipped! Good sons,” She said with an approving nod.

He gave her a curious look, “Your powers continue to grow.”

“I like to spoil myself every now and then,” She said as she pretended to check her fingernails. She turned her head to look into his eyes, “You should see the scary ones I picked up,” She quipped.

He raised an eyebrow, “I’m looking forward to seeing them in action very soon.”

“Yes, about that,” Ishtar rasped and tilted her body, landing on her feet. The next moment a pressure washed over the room, a few of the young men simply staggered while one just fell face first to the ground, “You called me all the way out here and I would like a better explanation as to why. I’m a busy woman, Erebus, and I prefer clarity. The only reason I bothered was because I like you. So give me the details.”

He stood strong, unlike his sons, and he made a point to notice which ones faltered most under her oppressive aura. He grinned wildly at her, “I’d expect nothing less,” He said with a low growl, “I have taken pains to make sure the quarry is already here in the area. We just need to lure her into a trap and take what I need. That’s where I need you.”

She tilted her head, “Who?” She demanded.

“Queen August,” He said with distaste, “She squanders her power,” He clenched his fist in front of his face and met her eyes, “I want to employ the Queen of Villains to strip August of her powers and give them to me. I’ll put them to much better use.”