The door to Diaboli Theatrum’s boardroom opened smoothly as Arthur pulled on the handle.
It was empty, as Leo promised it would be, though still furnished the way he remembered it. Expensive chairs lined a long table, bare of any documents or trinkets. When he moved in, he could see the dent Rab’s armored fist had left in the tabletop.
Unsure how much time he had before his guests arrived, he moved to his seat at the head of the table. Last time, he paid little attention to the piece of furniture, but now he studied the seat more carefully. When he leaned in closer, he could see specks of purple smoke that exploded from the demons on the seat.
He reached out to brush it away, only to find his fingers tracing a familiar pattern on the seat. The faded markings flaked away at his touch, but he knew what it was—a summoning circle. Arthur grimaced as he remembered the column of smoke that had appeared on the chair, hiding the dragon’s true form from him.
Though that gave him an idea.
"If the cultists could summon Rathnil like this, why shouldn’t I? It would save me from having to delve into The Pit to find him. Plus, if I could trap him, he’d no longer be a threat. Someone here must know how to do it. I just need to find out who."
His shoulder blades itched at the thought of having Rathnil stuck, trapped as some kind of display piece. An enemy turned into a statue for his hoard. Greed filled him at the idea of taking everything the dragon had and adding it to his own collection.
A dark laugh escaped him, and he tried to wave it away when both Augustus and Theobold turned to give him a strange look.
"Don’t worry about it," he blurted out as he brushed off the rest of the circle and sat down.
They both shared a look, but neither questioned him as they moved to stand behind him. He remembered the way Richard Greenwire had positioned his two demons, and he wanted to create a similar effect.
Once they were in position, he turned his attention to setting up. First, he placed his briefcase on the table in such a way to force anyone walking in to read Richard Greenwine’s name printed upon it. It was petty, but he didn’t want them to forget what he’d done to the last board member who had tried to take advantage of him. Not that he intended to get violent today.
The second was to open his briefcase and pull out a coin, a non-counterfeit version. He wanted something to play with as he waited, and the feel of the metal’s weight smacking repeatedly into his palm was comforting.
The coin was mid-flip when the door opened, and Sandy bustled into the room. She didn’t look at Arthur as she placed a pitcher of water in the center of the table, alongside several glasses. The latter she separated out until one sat before every seat.
From the way she moved, it was apparent this was a job she’d done a dozen times or more.
As he watched her, he selected her as a target for his Customer Empathy ability. The sheer amount of rage she was feeling hit him like a truck, and he forced himself not to wince. His heart raced, an ember forming in his gut in response to the overwhelming emotion. Arthur wrestled with it, shoving it down.
That rage wasn’t his, and he didn’t need to internalize it. With a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down. He needed answers for what he was feeling. Someone that angry was more than capable of devising a plan that would harm his bottom line. Especially when they were in a position such as hers.
"Sandy, please take a seat. I’d like to speak with you for a moment."
The coin in his hand flicked up into the air again before she stopped and nodded, still facing the table. With one last adjustment of a nearby cup, she pulled out a chair and sat down. Her back was straight, and her expression was serene. It made him wonder how much practice she had at hiding her emotions.
Even her voice was perfectly calm as she responded. "Sir? How may I be of assistance?"
He caught the coin between two of his fingers and used it to tap twice on the table before he responded. She still didn’t so much as glance over at the noise.
"You worked directly for Richard Greenwine, correct?"
If she thought the question was strange, she didn’t show it. Her tone and posture remained the same. Another use of Customer Empathy hit him with the rage again. Once more, he forced the ember down.
"Yes, sir."
"For how long?" He leaned back, letting the coin flick through his fingers as he enjoyed the feeling of the cold metal.
"Three years, sir."
"And did you like working for him?"
This time her answer wasn’t immediate, and he watched as her eyes finally moved to the briefcase long enough to read the name. It was quick, and then she was back to staring at the tabletop.
"Yes, sir. He looked after me."
With a mental flick, he targeted her with Customer Empathy once again. The rage had lessened, now mixing with sadness and a small amount of glee.
"So she’s upset, but probably not as much as she shows people. I wonder what their working relationship was like?" He thought as he nodded across the table.
"And how do you feel about his replacement?"
The rage returned, and then some. He saw her hands ball up into fists before she relaxed them. Sandy’s words held traces of anger now.
"She has no plan!"
Arthur blinked, the words shocking him. He’d expected her to complain about the way Carina treated her, not about workplace goals. Sandy’s eyes met his for the first time since she entered the room, her expression imploring as she continued to speak.
"Arthur. Sir. I know you didn’t like Mr. Greenwine. But you need to understand that he had a goal! We were going to be rich! Her? She’s simply keeping things churning along. No mind for the future."
"That was it? His goal was simply to make you all rich." Arthur asked, unable to push aside his curiosity.
Sandy paused and then reached out to squeeze the empty glass in front of her. "He wanted to return us to the lives of the pre-apocalypse CEOs. To bring us all the riches and privileges they had. We were so close."
She didn’t need to say it for Arthur to hear the unspoken words—before you came along.
"Everyone, or just the people who already started wealthy?" As he said those last words, he made a show of looking around the room.
"I. Well. Everyone is important, of course." Sandy said, her tone sounding unsure. "My mother, for instance, made a near fortune as one of the best personal assistants in the city."
"But everyone else can fend for themselves?" He didn’t bother trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.
"We would have helped them. Once we had our wealth, we could spare some to help everyone else. Start our own economy back up again."
She nodded as she spoke, sounding more confident now. Arthur resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He’d heard that kind of talk before.
"And where would you have been when this came to fruition?" His coin flipped in the air before he caught it once again.
"Up top and far better off than I am now!"
The shout surprised him, and he could see the tears in the woman’s eyes as she continued.
"For three years, I worked for Greenwine as his trusted assistant. Now I’m fetching drinks for a woman who thinks of this place as a gang. It’s... It’s humiliating!"
She took a breath and wiped away her tears. Without being asked, Arthur poured her a drink.
"And it’s all your fault. You and your stubbornness: If you’d just left, we wouldn’t be here. I’d be well on my way to a promotion! Not working for this career-ender."
He nodded. "So that’s it then? You don’t actually care who is in charge, as long as you end up better off?"
"Yes," she snapped. "What of it?"
Arthur grinned, and he wondered if The Goddess would have taken Sandy if she’d died. She had the right mindset.
"Well then. If I could make that happen, would you be willing to help me on a project?"
"Depends," Sandy said as she slumped back in her chair, clearly exhausted after her tirade. Any trace of her professional demeanor had long since vanished. "What do you need done?"
"A few things. Theobold? Please wait outside. If Leo comes, tell him I’m in a meeting and to fetch our incoming guests some refreshments."
Once he’d left, Arthur turned back to Sandy, his grin still in place, as he clutched his coin tight enough in his hand that the edge bit into his skin.
"First off, let’s talk about what you know about the people who have stolen from me. Then? I’m going to need you to take a transfer to a new initiative."
"So I don’t have to work for her anymore?" Sandy asked.
"No."
"In that case, sir. When do I start?"
***
Sandy, it turned out, was a font of information. So much so, he now kept his guests waiting as he mulled it all over.
As someone who had spent time around Carina serving an almost constant stream of coffee and had helped in most of Richard’s meetings, she knew most of the goings on. With the possibility of no longer working under Carina, she appeared almost eager to help him.
He, of course, didn’t fully trust her. Her motivation for power made sense. However, that didn’t mean she wasn’t the one pulling the strings. Thankfully, he had Carina on staff, who could get the truth out of her.
When he brought that up, he’d gotten an interesting tidbit of information.
"Rathnil gave us mental shields against that kind of thing," Sandy had said. "With all the different creatures at The Mall, he couldn’t risk one of us getting mind controlled or worse."
"Did Bobby have one of these?"
She had shaken her head before she answered. "I doubt it. Only those who interacted with him directly would have his protections."
"Which includes you?"
"Yes, but if you want her to check me, I’ll deactivate it. Besides, I’m almost always under watch. She doesn’t trust me either."
After that, he asked more about the ex-board members. Armed with all the information he could get, he motioned for Augustus to open the door. Theobold had popped in earlier to announce his guests’ arrival. Arthur had thanked him and gone back to his discussion with Sandy.
He sat back as he watched the group filter into the room. They all found seats, leaving a single one empty. That one he knew belonged to Dr. Lisa. Arthur barely spared it a glance as he fought the rage at the sight of them.
"Someone here is culpable of stealing from me and trying to make my employees quit."
The ember burned, and he forced it down. Arthur knew he couldn’t let the rage take him. He needed to remain clear-headed and stick to the plan.
"Ok, first I ask them what they know. They’ll deny it, of course. That’s fine. Then I hit them with the plan to summon Rathnil. That will keep them occupied long enough for them not to mess with me, plus give Sandy a chance to mingle with them and find my target."
His shoulder blades itched again, and he studied each member carefully to distract himself. Most of the men were nothing impressive. Relatives of major pre-apocalyptic CEOs who spent their time playing cards or drinking in their rooms.
Some, like a man named Jim Pikeman, spent a lot of time digging through Richard’s old public files. What he needed them for, Sandy couldn’t say. But he was one of the few of the old board members that she would consider driven.
He sat to Arthur’s left and was a man with hair going slightly gray and a fairly bland face. His suit was a dark navy blue with no particular decorations.
Clarissa sat on Arthur’s right, her plain black dress looking more suitable for a funeral than a boardroom. She glared at the briefcase, hatred plain on her face. Her entire demeanor was her making a statement; he knew. Though he couldn't say what she hoped to accomplish.
With a deep breath, he forced himself to calm, and push the ember out of his system. He couldn’t allow himself to get mad and tip his hand that he suspected them. His inside roiled, and he knew this would be a fight even as he forced his best customer service smile onto his face to start the meeting.
“Thank you all for coming. I do hope you can help me solve a few of my problems.” 197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvxIDECM3Rp
