Unwilling Eldritch Horror of Fortune

Big Bob and Xalla rejoined me soon after, followed by the trio of clean Aspirants. It was time to wrap up everything I needed here and move on to all the other pressing matters. My schedule would be busy for the next while, but at least I had some pleasant company.

“I don’t think the smell’s ever coming off my frills…” Xalla muttered as she rejoined us, “I’ll have to get a proper cleansing when I’m back home.”

“Sorry,” I grimaced, “I’ll treat you to something nice the next time we visit Xolloid, I promise.”

Xalla brightened up, “I’ll take you up on that, it’s been too long since I’ve had a proper spa day; heard they opened up a new place near the Plains of Torment as well.”

“Hey, what about me?” Big Bob grumbled, “I think I deserve something nice as well.”

“You want to go on a spa date with me as well?” I said with an eyebrow raised, “I’m sure I can make some time.”

“Ha ha, Walter.”

“I know you’ve been dying to see the new trains that the Carmen Corp. engineers have been cooking up,” I continued, “I think one of their head developers still owe me a favor, I’ll see if I can’t get you some back stage access to their new stuff. How’s that?”

Big Bob’s smile returned immediately, “Now you’re talking! I knew there was a reason to be friends with you!”

I laughed, “All right, enough of that, I think we need to finish things up here, the stench is killing me. You two plan to stick around after?”

Bob nodded, “As if I’m skipping out on this one! And better yet, I’m being paid to do it; how can I complain?”

“And I’m going where Master Babylon’s going,” Xalla added with a grin, “The new Admin team’s been trying to keep me away from the Lord Arbiter and the rest of the Site’s headquarters, so they’ll be more than happy to see me out of their hair.”

She came up closer to me and placed a gentle feeler on my shoulder, careful not to pierce my skin, “And you know me, I can’t say no to my bosses, so I’ll take their advice and do just that!”

“Thank you,” I said, “Both of you.”

“Eh, it’s what friends are for,” Bob replied, “Now please let us finish things here, the smell…”

“Right,” I said quickly before turning to the three Aspirants, “I got all the information I needed from you three, but you should know who you’re working for now, right?”

“Yes, sir!” they answered together, “We work for you!”

“Good,” I nodded, “You know how to contact me, and you have your instructions for now. Remember to act as normal as you can, and inform me as soon as possible when anything changes on your side.”

Well, they had a few other assignments as well, but it mostly came to making regular reports about Ryan’s guild and their operations. They were to also slowly convert others into my side, subtly of course, so that the guild would slowly erode from the inside out. Some slight changes to their biology, thanks mainly to Big Bob’s tinkering, gave these three all the tools that they needed to do just that.

“Yes, sir!”

“Alright, you’re all dismissed.”

Without waiting for the Aspirants to do as we said, Xalla already opened a portal out of there and Big Bob and I all but rushed in there. The fresh air that greeted us never felt better after being in that damned room for so long.

“Alright,” Bob said between heaving breaths, “What’s our next plan?”

“Well, there’s not much I can do here when most of the Aspirants are still stuck in the training stage,” I answered, “So I plan to visit the Restus and see how they’re doing.”

I filled the two in on what I had originally planned to do there, not leaving out any of the details. I also stressed how more needed to be done because Pandora’s humans were a lot weaker than I had originally thought, and I was hoping that Xalla and Bob could help me think of a better way of accomplishing my tasks than just brainwashing a few Restus and hoping for the best.

“Ah yes,” Big Bob chuckled, “My devices captured some of your activities at Site 1100 - well, they would have if all the files didn’t go missing in any case. I was wondering what on earth you were doing there.”

“I saw them as well, er, if they existed that is,” Xalla added, “And there’s something that’s been killing me; what did you feed that Restus to make him act out like that?”

Oh right, the cookie. I took one out and gave it to Xalla.

“I got it from the last Trial,” I explained, “The god of that plane made ‘em.”

“Huh,” she said as she inspected the snack before taking a nibble with her proboscis, “It’s pretty good, there’s a lot of different species mixed in here; and there’s no mistaking that unique aftertaste of human, but it’s not unpleasant here.”

She took another bite and chewed slowly, “It actually adds to the flavor, and there’s something not quite physical in there as well, but I can’t place my feelers on what that is… My compliments to the baker for making something so complex, I’ve honestly never experienced something quite like this before.”

Big Bob’s eyes also widened at the sight of the cookie, and I handed him one as well.

“Oh, this really is nice… nutritious as well if I’m not mistaken,” he said between bites, “Now if this god can mass produce this stuff… let her know that my company’s interested in marketing this cookie or its recipe if she’s ever interested in branching out!”

“I’ll tell the Director your inputs,” I chuckled, “I know she puts in a lot of work in making that. It’s her daughter’s favorite snack after all.”

“Then I got to meet her then!” Xalla exclaimed before finishing the cookie, “I’ve been dying to talk to someone with a knack for cooking. We can share recipes!”

Right, Xalla did tell me that she was quite the cook when I first met her, although I wasn’t able to fully understand what that meant back then. The Xollon pickling process was… distinctly unique to their species, although I think that the Director might be able to appreciate the craft. Something tells me that Abigail’s cookies and Xalla’s meals shared a lot of similarities.

“I’m still in touch with her,” I said, “In fact, she’s the one piloting the Lord Arbiter right now, so feel free to say hi when you’re free and not being watched by Origin. I’m sure she’ll be glad to see a friendly face around here.”

Xalla was giddy with the prospect of meeting a fellow connoisseur, and agreed to make time for proper introductions when we were all free. Speaking of the Director and Xalla as well, I think it would be a good idea to tell them my situation, at least in part, soon; it wouldn’t be a good idea to keep my allies in the dark for much longer. Not only do they deserve to know the truth, but they could help my sleeping form better in the future with a bigger picture of the risks involved.

Since we did have some spare time to waste, as it was still daytime and most of the Restus would be asleep at the moment, Big Bob, Xalla and I decided to take the scenic route to Site 1100. It was good to just chat with some friendly company in my full capacity after so long. I was also curious about what they have been doing in my two month long absence.

“Well,” Xalla answered when I asked her how the site was managing under the new management, “I can safely say that I’m the new office Pariah since Jordan and her people came in.”

We had stopped by to get some food on the trek to Site 1100 and I was happily eating my fifth hotdog since our venture out.

“Wait, are they picking on you or something?” I asked, “Surely your association with me wouldn’t mean they’d make your life miserable, right?”

She shook her frills quickly, “No, it’s not that extreme, it’s more like the new Admin team’s doing everything they can to just avoid me. I’ve been tasked to guard empty sectors and a lot of bodyguard gigs, like this one.”

“And not everyone’s as great to guard as I am!” Bob added in between mouthfuls of cheeseburger, “Now say what you will about Carmen’s senior engineers, brilliant as they are, but they’re not exactly stellar conversationalists.”

“I mean, it’s not all that bad though,” Xalla continued, “I got a pay raise when they transferred over, probably to incentivize me to stay with Central despite the changes, and I get a lot more time to relax now. That’s nice, I suppose.”

“But you didn’t sign up to watch over empty space and walk around with dignitaries, did you?”

Xalla sighed, “No. It’s not the kind of life I imagined working as head of security.”

“It’s not the kind of life suited for a Xollon,” I corrected, “Just try to hang in there for a while longer, I’ll figure something out about the Overseer and his damned plans.”

“I know you will, Walter,” she added softly, “And you bet your bottom feelers that I’ll be helping out this time! No more sitting on the backlines for me; what’s the worst thing that can happen now? I was already mainly here for Q;s sake, so what can they do now, fire me?”

I chuckled, yeah, as if Central could risk sacking their only tie to the Xollon species as a whole. I can imagine the warpath Rogue would go on if his precious disciple was let go, and that’d spell a really quick end to the Overseer’s tenuous grasp of power. I’d even encourage that if I didn’t know what kinds of collateral damage such a confrontation would cause. It was in everyone’s interest for the Xollon to remain relatively peaceful.

“Speaking of Q,” I added, “How is he getting along in your company, Bob?”

The big man frowned and shook his head, “He’s… well, he’s adjusting.”

“So not good,” I corrected.

Big Bob sighed, “No, not good. He hasn’t left his lab ever since moving all of his things over, and I haven’t seen him outside of official operations since. He still needs some time, and although getting lost in a new project’s fine, the way he’s doing it is concerning.”

“He misses this place,” Xalla muttered, “And most of the old staff here miss him just as much. I even tried to visit him shortly after you were trapped in that Trial, Walter, but he hardly even notice me there. Just said a few words of greeting before going back into his research. I’ve never seen him like that, even at the lowest points of Site 1104’s history. It’s like he’s lost in his own world.”

Now I felt even worse. No one deserved to have their passion taken away like that, especially not a hardworking individual like Q.

“I’ll have to take some time and see him after this, the problem with the Restus should take a day or two to resolve, max, and I got some time to spare after,” I said, “I owe him that much at least. I know he said he’s not interested in getting his old job back, but I don’t think he really means that.”

“We’ll go with you,” Xalla added, “I’ll get Rogue to join us as well. I’m sure the five of us can come up with something proactive to do. With the Site in so much chaos right now, it’s the perfect time to do something drastic.”

I turned to my old friend, “Can you arrange that, Bob?”

“Not a problem,” he replied, “I’ll make sure that his schedule’s free for the next little while, although I’m sure that he’ll just be in his lab like he always is.”

I sighed, “Thanks, for everything. I promise I’ll fix things in the site before…”

Now was the crux of the situation, do I tell them about my condition? No, I already knew that I should; they’ve helped me out too many times to be left in the dark. I might not give them the whole picture, but they should know enough about me to make their own decisions about helping me out further. Lying’s a part of my nature, but not to my friends.

“Before what, Walter?” Xalla asked.

“Before I go back to sleep.”

 

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