Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Amos stared into space, his eyes unfocused as he parsed through file after file, information feeding into his brain as fast as it could process. Every synapse fired with jubilation at the exercise, it was exhilarating and daunting, to be connected directly to the internet like this. He could feel the way information seemed to work its way through the network. An ebb and flow like the tides. A symphony of data both useless and useful filtering out in microseconds. He reveled in it, darting from one place to another before he found his destination.

“There we are...” He murmured as he connected to the cellular network in Vietnam, bouncing from tower to tower. His orders had been pretty clear, dig up anything possible on the favored son of Chairman Phan. Most of the records had been pretty easy to find, permits, pre-hires, building plans, purchase orders, it all pointed towards him opening up a new business in his hometown. More interesting was the type of people he was hiring, physicists, chemists, technicians, engineers, biologists, he was assembling a lab.

“Looks like papa wants to spoil the young master,” Amos chuckled and redirected his attention through the network as he made his way to the private residence of Phan Duong. He checked the call records, “This guy has his own network antenna! Spoiled bastard!” Amos scoffed, focusing on that particular portion of the network, “Let’s see... call logs, call logs, only got a couple in the last twenty-four hours. Most of ‘em from his personal number. Ew...” His nose wrinkled, “Fricking gross, man. Nothing here but call girls and ordering takeout.”

He paused, “Oh, there’s another number that has access to the antenna,” He turned his attention to that phone number’s logs, “This is disgustingly easy, I should really work up some protections against this kind of thing for the boss,” He muttered, making a mental note, “If I can do it, who else can?” He continued muttering to himself before finally opening the data packet. He froze, reading the contents of the phonecall, “...well shit.”

He took a deep breath and pulled himself back to reality. His eyes focusing on his surroundings. He was in his personal office, a cluttered room filled with prototypes of all sorts of things. A crystal ball lay on its side, connected to a small platform by wires. A pair of monster cores, gemstones about the size of acorns, lay neatly on non-conductive cloth. A few guns in various states of completion lay on a table to one side while boxes full of odds and ends filled the remaining space. He hopped to his feet and brushed himself off. “Welp, better go tell Sonya in person,” He said cheerily and reached under his desk for his mini-fridge, pulling out a soda and cracking it open.

He took a lazy sip as he sauntered to the door, the security recognizing him immediately. It hissed open and revealed a much larger workspace filled with desks where numerous people worked on various projects. All of them wore VR headsets and were huddled in small clustered groups. This had been Amos’ idea, one he was incredibly proud of. Instead of creating a bunch of expensive separate laboratories, he designed simulated laboratories for them to use. What would have taken decades of programming had taken him only a couple of weeks with the combination of his enhanced intellect and technopathy.

Still have to thoroughly study anything we don’t have data on, though, like monster cores. We still don’t fully understand them, but that’s where experimentation comes in, he thought happily as he walked past the station where Doctor Choi sat. He liked the guy, he’d gotten straight to work after being oriented with the layout of the lab. “Yo doc, heading upstairs to talk to Sonya, need anything?”

Da-Som looked up at him with confusion, “Will it take long? You have guests coming soon.”

Amos blinked, “Hah?”

Da-Som frowned at him, “Mister Carter, did you forget that the interns would be coming today?”

Amos let out a groan, “Oh man, can’t you handle it?”

Da-Som raised an eyebrow, “I’ve worked here less than a day, Mister Carter.”

“Alright! Alright! Fair point, I’ll meet with them,” Amos sighed, holding up his hands in surrender, “How are things?”

The doctor brightened and put his hand on the headset, “Incredible, your work is a century ahead of its time it seems like. I have a full medical lab on my desk, it’s unreal,” He said with delight, “Did you know that the blood of those monsters have extremely unusual properties? And the energy that the cores give off, if you apply it the right way it’s... magical. What are we even calling that energy by the way?”

Amos picked at his ear and looked away, “Sonya keeps calling it Mana but that’s really nerdy.”

The doctor laughed, “Honestly, it fits in a rather unfortunate way.”

“I know, right?” Amos groaned, “I keep wanting to call it something more... you know...”

“Palatable for a Nobel Committee?” The doctor said with a wry smile.

Amos grinned back at him, “I think we’re going to get along great!”

A little while after that he found himself in the lobby, eyeing the doors impatiently. He’d sent an encrypted email to Sonya concerning the call but she hadn’t gotten back to him. She was probably busy, Or hitting up some model or something, is she even here? I forgot to check, he groused, How does she have more game than I do? I’m like... his thoughts trailed off as the doors opened and a small crowd of young people made their way inside. They gaped at the security guards for a moment before quickly following their orders.

Amos shifted on his feet as they were processed through, unsurprisingly a few of them turned out to be light-touched and the detector got quite the excited reaction out of them rather than hard feelings. That was a good sign. He glanced back at the man sitting at the front desk and gave him a thumbs up before turning back to the slowly accumulating gaggle of young people. They were from all walks of life and all of them held tablets tightly in their hands, their eyes fixed on him rather than taking in the ultra-modern decor that Sonya had insisted on.

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his labcoat and strode towards them, “Welcome to ASTA Corporation Labs!” He said aloud and focused on their tablets, they all flashed and his face appeared on each and every one of them. “Recording devices are prohibited within the premises, don’t worry, I’m not checking out your search history. Just shutting off your cameras and microphones,” He said, his voice coming out of all the tablets. They gasped and a few of them laughed.

“The old main office will be the initial testing room to check the veracity of the claim of possessing abilities,” Rupert began, “That power-check device is fascinating, it can even read the overall quality of an ability based on the color feedback. How did yours come up?”

Marta cut in, saving Sonya from the direct question, “Miss Chernovna’s came up white, an uncommon-tier as we’ve come to refer to it, she's asked me to keep my own tier secret until the official licensing event.”

The man pursed his lips and nodded, “I see, you must be very capable, Miss Daphne.”

“She’s punched her way through rebar reinforced concrete before,” Sonya said, shooting Marta a grin.

Rupert swallowed, “I... see.”

“At any rate,” Sonya said, changing the topic, “It’s really coming along. Where are they going to undertake the physical test?” She asked.

“The gymnasium, follow me and I’ll show you,” He said and began walking ahead.

Marta fell into step with Sonya and glanced her way, “I got a text from Amos for you to check your email,” She said in a low voice.

“I noticed it come in, give me a moment,” She said and Marta took her arm. She still wasn’t used to walking and using her technopathy at the same time without stumbling about, her hud often got in the way. She opened the message from Amos and read through the details, her expression shifting a few times before she reached the end. “Well now, how interesting.”

“What is it?” Marta asked, releasing Sonya’s arm.

Sonya crossed her arms behind her back and kept a straight face as she followed Rupert from a distance, “It looks like Chairman Phan wanted the research for his son, he was fully prepared to set up a lab within months of getting his hands on our intellectual property. Phan Duong, why does that name ring a bell...?” She said thoughtfully, tapping her elbow.

“I see,” Marta said, frowning. “What’s the plan, then?”

“A minefield of a person,” Sonya said, I can't deal with him as Ishtar, that would raise unnecessary suspicions. “More importantly, he ordered a hit on me.”

“He what?” Marta gasped, turning to look at her. Rupert glanced back and Sonya gave him an innocent wave before glaring at Marta. Marta looked away sheepishly, “Should we be out and about?”

“Oh they won’t be here for at least another day or two, we have time,” Sonya said with a shrug, “I’m very interested in the group they come from, the Night Society, sounds spooky,” She laughed.

“I’ll increase your security,” Marta said.

“And scare them off?” Sonya asked incredulously, “Heavens no, we’re business as usual. Amos and I will keep an eye out and see if we can’t spot this ‘Razor’ gentleman. I want to know more about this group of his and it’ll be an easy way to deal with his employer later.”

Marta frowned and looked away, her eyes intense. Sonya smiled at her gently and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. “Marta,” She said soothingly, “This isn’t another Florence. This time we’ll be ready, and more importantly, I’ve been waiting for a chance to try out this body of mine.”

Marta let out a sigh, “Fine,” She said uncomfortably.

Sonya looked at her friend and felt a momentary pang of guilt, she hadn’t paid enough attention to Marta recently and the woman had been working hard. Perhaps it was time for a reward, more than one in fact, “You know what, I have a better idea, how about we make a deal after the tour, mm?”

Marta returned her gaze and her expression relaxed, “A deal sounds lovely.”