Chapter 215: Chapter 182

Announcement

"C'mon! Do it! It's fiiiine," Sonya hisses.

Lillian pokes her head out of the door, "A-are you sure? I've never done this kind of thing before."

"Do it! Dooo iiiit!"

Lillian steps out into the room and brushes her hair over her ear before clearing her throat, "H-hey heroes and villains! Lillian aka Crusader here! Uh... nice to meet you! Thank you for reading Broker!" she bows quickly before planting her hands on her hips and straightening her shoulders, "Right! So uh... oh! Thanks so much for the questions! You guys have plenty of time to ask more before the deadline! We'll keep doing this until then and let you know when it's the last day!"

She scratches her neck and glances over her shoulder, "Sonya do I have to-"

"Doooo iiiiiiiit!"

Lillian lets out a weary sigh before striking a pose, clapping one arm on her bicep and flexing, "So keep 'em coming! I'm looking forward to reading them when I help co-host!" she turns and darts back into the door, "Sonya! That was so awkward! Stop laughing! Did you make me do that to- ugh!"

Sonya watched out the window of her office as Lillian and Annabelle left to go have dinner and talk more. The woman had immediately seen a bit of her brother in the young hero which wasn’t a surprise. Sonya wondered if a little bit of Nick had actually passed on through the ability that was given to Lillian as part of the merger into Fenghuang. It was an absurd notion, but one that had cropped up a few times in her musings about the nature of instincts. She shook her head and dismissed the more complex thoughts, they weren’t necessary right now and would be more of a distraction than anything else.

It seems like you’re recovering well, Ishtar said, You seem more grounded.

“Cass’ little impromptu breakfast party helped,” Sonya said absently, reaching up to touch the glass of the window. She saw two reflections in it, one her own and the other a woman that looked like her but was distinct in her own way. She was leaner, tougher, with scars on her face and a hard look in her eyes. “It seems like you’re becoming more you.”

The reflection frowned, That is not something to be happy about.

“I don’t know, I kind of like having you around,” Sonya said with a small smile, “You give me perspective.”

A perspective you should have on your own, Ishtar insisted, crossing her arms in the reflection, What happens the next time I push your limits while at the helm? Will you drift off into a coma?

“I just dozed a little,” Sonya said dismissively, “It wasn’t that big a deal.”

You didn’t feel it on my end, Ishtar said, the reflection suddenly looking forlorn, a sadness in her eyes that Sonya had never imagined could be on the cold woman’s face, even if she’d only seen it once before. She knew Ishtar. Regret was antithetical to who she was, it was the point, how she’d come to be. I am like a parasite to you, Sonya. I’m hurting you. If what we were existed in a normal human body I doubt it would be so problematic, but something about our combined abilities is not healthy for you. I promised I would never hurt you and here I am breaking that promise by existing.

Sonya frowned and reached up to touch her reflection, “Don’t say that. If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t have made it this far. Ever since that day when you started to take shape you’ve been taking the weight off. I’m not blind to it. I know. I appreciate it.”

Ishtar looked away with shame, It was the least I could do. The reflection glanced up and Sonya felt it as well. I think we’ll have to table this talk for now. You are a busy woman after all.

“You don’t want to take this?” Sonya asked.

I… Ishtar trailed off, I would prefer to act in an advisory role for now.

“Ishtar,” Sonya said softly, “You don’t have to-”

A knock came to the door and Ishtar’s reflection faded from the glass. Sonya closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned and gracefully sat down in her seat, leaning back and crossing her legs. “Enter,” she said cooly and the door opened. A young man in a black and white suit entered. He was of asian descent, Korean, with steely gray-blue eyes and short black hair. His face was a bit unfamiliar, changed just enough to hide his true identity. He closed the door behind him and strode up to her desk, inclining his head.

“I am here, mistress,” Blackrazor said.

Sonya graced him with an easy smile and gestured to the chair across from her, “It’s good to see you, dear. It’s been a while.”

“My role keeps me busy,” he said, slipping into the chair, “I have made a point to take time off as you have instructed. This has been positive for my understanding of my partners wants and needs as exhausting as they are. This is not without its positives, of course.”

She snorted and raised an eyebrow, “You can get tired?”

He made a face, “You might be surprised.”

She laughed and shook her head, tapping her finger on the desk, “I’ll take that as things have been going well for you too, I’m happy for you,” she said with a smile before going serious, “Let’s talk elsewhere. I have some other things I need to check up on and having you with me would be advantageous.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Are we taking one of your portals?” he asked.

“Yes,” Sonya said.

“Then I will enter your shadow. I have found that traversing your portals in physical form is disorienting for me for some reason. An incompatibility between our powers, I suspect,” he said thoughtfully, “While in the realm of shadows I feel no such problems.”

Sonya nodded and reached out to tap the intercom for the secretary desk, “Marta hold my calls and turn away any visitors,” she said as the windows around her tinted into opaqueness. A moment later, Blackrazor melted before her, turning into a puddle of inky blackness and sliding across the ground to meld with her shadow.

“Yes ma’am,” Marta’s voice came back through the speaker, “I’ll clear your appointments as well.”

“Thank you,” Sonya said before frowning a little, “I-”

“It’s fine,” Marta said with a chuckle, “Don’t worry about it.”

Sonya smiled and got to her feet, gesturing at an open space in her office. A sheet of light took form before becoming solid like a glass pane, the interior distended before warping into an unsettling reflection of the world around it that bottomed out into an apparently endless void. She strode through it and out the other end. Unlike Blackrazor who apparently didn’t enjoy the feeling of going through a portal, Sonya found the process exhilarating. She smiled to herself as she took in the artificially fresh air of her destination.

Sonya was standing in a spacious room with white walls and intense lights hanging over her head. She could feel the mana in the air being pulled and moved cyclically, excess energy being drawn away from places where it was condensing and down to a point far beneath her feet. There was a wide desk in the room with a number of screens behind it all in a state of inactivity. She crossed her arms behind her back as Blackrazor slipped out of her shadow, rising from the ground like something out of a nightmare. He took shape before glancing at the single door in the room with a frown.

The door opened with a hiss and a young man walked in, whistling to himself as he wheeled a cleaning tray into the space. He paused, blinking at the sight of Sonya and Blackrazor standing there. Sonya gave him a sweet smile, “Adam, right?” she said politely, reading his name with her ocular ability, “Go get your boss for me, if you wouldn’t mind?”

–

The benefit of having Colin as one of her inner circle was being able to produce documents that could be used in place of her broker ability. That allowed her to make deals with others without being physically present. There were dramatic uses for it, certainly, but the more compelling function to her was the practical application. Every member of Kingshark’s crew had signed a non-disclosure about the identities of the Inner Circle in case they accidentally happened upon one of them who kept their identities hidden. For the portion of the crew that manned the base in the Marianas trench, her appearance didn’t really surprise anyone. Sonya enjoyed being able to walk around the place with impunity.

“It’s one hell of an evil lair,” Sonya said with a laugh as she, Blackrazor, and Kingshark walked down the halls, “You guys did a good job finishing things up.”

“Still got more work to do but the structure itself is finished,” Kingshark said.

“I’m surprised you didn’t try to build it in the shape of your head, mistress,” Blackrazor commented, getting a look from both Kingshark and Sonya. Blackrazor frowned, “What?”

Sonya laughed, “I suppose that would be a very supervillain thing to do.”

“You’re not a comic book character,” Kingshark pointed out, barely hiding his grin, “You don’t even have a weather machine.”

Sonya clapped her hands together, “Oh! I do need one of those don’t I? That or a shrink ray.”

“Does that digitizing ability of yours not defeat the purpose of a shrink ray?” Blackrazor asked.

Sonya rounded on him and waggled a finger, “Don’t disregard the classics! Besides, if I digitize something big how am I supposed to put it on display? Have a pretty picture of it on a screen? That’s not impressive. It’s gotta go into a trophy room that the heroes stumble into and are aghast at the extent of my crimes.”

Kingshark barked out a laugh, “I like the sound of that! You should go around stealing monuments or something. Get them real wound up.”

“I’ll get to that,” Sonya said, “I want to deal with the idiots actively trying to throw the world into chaos before I do it myself. In a controlled manner of course, I’m not planning on running around trying to set off dungeons.”

Kingshark blinked and looked at her, “Woah, you’re serious?”

Sonya smirked at him, “I’ve been thinking about what to do after we deal with Liberty. Most of the other heralds are out in the open besides Majordomo. They’ve taken up roles as heroes and can be monitored and managed to a degree. Craftsman seems more like the type to join a bandwagon rather than strike out on his own. Once Liberty is dealt with Ishtar can properly make her mark on the public consciousness.”

“I would argue you’ve done that already,” Blackrazor pointed out.

“Oh I’m far from done,” Sonya said as they descended a stairway, she glanced at Blackrazor, “Have you got anything more about Halloway?”

“Little more than I have already provided, unfortunately. He went by Rift after awakening and used his spatial abilities for assassination. It seems that Liberty’s ability to amplify other light-touched powers has given him the capacity to shut down teleportation as well as create portals. She’s been sending him on operations that require a low profile,” Blackrazor said, “That is what I wanted to discuss with you. Liberty is on the move.”

Sonya frowned, “Already? She just started turtling up.”

“The woman is powerful but lacks a considerable amount of patience,” Blackrazor said flatly.

“No kidding,” Sonya said and shook her head, “That’ll be her downfall, though not without heavy casualties. What do we know about what she’s planning?”

“She’s been sending people into dungeons within her territory equipped with unusual hardware, I believe this may be equipment developed by this ‘Craftsman’ you mentioned. I have nothing on him, I’m afraid,” Blackrazor said.

“Try following up on Graham Taylor, that’s his real name apparently.”

Blackrazor nodded, “I will do that.”

“Do we know anything else?” Sonya pressed, exchanging a look with Kingshark as they arrived at a large pair of doors. He put his hand against a panel and it flashed green

“I’m afraid not, though whatever it is involves the research she is doing in the other dungeons. She’s being exceedingly cautious and my people have not been able to insert themselves into the teams conducting these dungeon runs. It’s shameful,” Blackrazor said with a shake of his head.

“I’m beginning to suspect that her ability allows her followers to recognize one another, it’s the only explanation I can come up with for how easily they’re noticing spies,” Sonya said.

Blackrazor rubbed his chin, “Something worth considering. I have some angles I can approach if that is the case,” he opened his mouth to continue speaking but trailed off as the doors in front of them slid open. His eyes went wide as they all took in the massive chamber that waited for them. Thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of large oval shaped objects sat in rows within the space. Each oval contained a faint glow that sent an itch into the back of one's mind if they stared too long at it. Blackrazor strode forward in silence and rested his hands on the rail overlooking the room. He turned back to look between Sonya and Kingshark with awe in his eyes.

“You’ve been busy,” Sonya commented as she walked up to stand next to Blackrazor.

“Ayep!” Kingshark guffawed, leaning against the rails, “It’s taken a while to get so many of them here. They’re all volunteers of course who wanted to go through the process. Many of them have a vested interest in what I’ve got planned.”

Blackrazor turned to him, “What you have planned?”

Kingshark held a finger up to his lips, “That’s a surprise, brother, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the show when it comes up. Trust me.”

“As long as it achieves the aim,” Sonya said with a chuckle and slapped Kingshark on the arm, “You be as cryptic as you want. You’re certainly a king now, though, aren’t you?”

“You think that’s impressive?” Kingshark said and gestured for them to follow him. They looked at one another as he made his way down the catwalk overlooking the eerie scene before stopping at one end. Sonya froze, her eyes going wide as she took in an absolutely massive glowing pod, a small figure was floating inside it. She blinked a few times and squinted at the person within before looking up at him, “Is that-”

“The kraken dude, yeah,” Kingshark said.

“Is this why this base was built?” Blackrazor asked.

“It’s one of the reasons, sure,” Sonya said, “Building an army with the help of Kingshark’s improved ability. We were going to do it anyway with his original ability but apparently this new version has some interesting functions,” she added and glanced at Kingshark who nodded.

“Of course the main reason this place exists is the safehouse for us and a place where our boy Amos can follow his less than legal research interests,” Kingshark chuckled, “Speakin’ of which,” he turned to Sonya, “I think we might need to set up a dummy base somewhere, boss. This place is getting some attention and the chatter we’re picking up suggests they think it’s yours. Any ideas?”

Sonya pursed her lips for a moment before brightening, “Actually, I have a marvelous idea!” she said with a laugh and gestured to her left where a portal appeared. For a brief moment the trio felt a gust of cold wind roll out of the portal from the other side. Blackrazor and Kingshark exchanged a look before looking at Sonya who was practically bubbling with excitement. She noted their concerned expressions, “Oh don’t be like that, it’s not going to be in the shape of my head or anything,” she paused, “...maybe. I’ll think about it,” she said and squinted at the portal, “Could I do that?”

She shook her head, “Nevermind,” she said with a grin and skipped forward to stand next to the portal, “Shall we, gentlemen?”

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