Chapter 211: Interlude 47 – Meeting Adjourned

=::= Director Arlene Sinclair's PoV =::=

It was about half past one in the afternoon as I settled into my comfortable leather chair in the boardroom. Most of my fellow directors were doing the same thing, taking their places around the large rectangular mahogany table. All but one that is. Carlos Nahuel's chair near the end of the table remained empty, and his absence would likely be the only topic on the agenda for this afternoon's meeting.

I could almost feel a nervous tension in the air as the last few stragglers came in and took their seats. Ten days had passed since Nahuel and his hand-picked team left for Canada, now it seemed likely they'd met the same fate as Vargas and his operatives did back in July. Except Carlos wasn't a field agent, he was a director. And as far as I knew, the Council had never before lost a director due to the actions of an ongoing supernatural investigation.

There were a few hushed conversations going on around the room as the other board members speculated on Nahuel's fate, but all that came to an end when Olivia Reyes finally called the meeting to order.

Reyes was our current chairwoman, but the position would be up for grabs in a few months. To prevent any one person from seizing control of the Council the leadership role was limited to two-year terms, and consecutive terms were not permitted.

As the rest of the board fell silent Olivia tapped some keys on her laptop, and the large screen on the opposite wall came to life. It displayed the images of four young subjects that were at the centre of one of our biggest open investigations. And they were currently the source of our largest collective headache.

Surveillance photos of Cassandra Underwood, Nina Underwood, Kaylee Holt, and Sasha Blakeley dominated the room, while Chairwoman Reyes began to speak.

"It has now been more than forty-eight hours since we last heard from Director Nahuel, or any member of his team," Olivia stated. "Despite repeated attempts on our part to reach out to them, Carlos and the agents who accompanied him have all failed to report."

Reyes was an older woman, short and slightly-built, but she definitely had a presence about her. She was an older woman, somewhere around seventy perhaps, but her mind was sharp. It wasn't hard to picture her running some Fortune-500 company instead of this Council.

She paused as her eyes swept around the room, and I could tell she felt the same anxious unease the rest of us were experiencing. It was in her voice too as she asked, "What other assets do we have in that area? What agents are closest to Nahuel's last known location? And how quickly can we get them on site to do an appraisal of the situation?"

Another of Nahuel's friends and supporters was first to respond. Barbara Behrend sat across from me, and she apparently already had that information on her laptop's screen.

"Nicholas Murdoch is less than thirty-five kilometres south of Director Nahuel's last reported location," Behrend announced. "Murdoch has five years experience as a field agent, and he's currently assigned to case number 22151CA. That was the incident involving a woman named Theresa Fuller? She's a cleric for an obscure goddess named Amethyst, who performed a miracle in a psychotherapy office."

Reyes responded immediately, "I want Agent Murdoch at Nahuel's location within the hour."

Barbara nodded as she started typing, "Yes ma'am. I'm sending him emergency orders right now."

By that point more than a few of us were shifting uncomfortably in our seats, or just plain frowning in obvious disapproval. I couldn't hold back any further, and I finally voiced what I knew some of the others were thinking.

"Odds are you're just going to get another agent killed. Or worse," I stated. "I honestly don't understand why this board is so reluctant to face the obvious truth?"

Reyes gave me a hard look but I ignored her and carried on, "Three and a half months ago Vargas and his team attacked those girls, then disappeared without a trace. Two days ago the exact same thing happened to Nahuel and his team. Send Murdoch, send whoever you want, but the bottom line is we already know what we're dealing with. Agent Sutton warned us three months ago, and Agent Sinclair confirmed it last month."

I gestured at the pictures on the big screen, "Cassandra Underwood is a goddess. Our mandate, our bylaws, demand that we leave gods and goddesses alone. Carlos Nahuel was wrong when he insisted on pursuing this investigation further, and two days ago he paid the ultimate price. If we keep antagonizing that girl, we're all going to suffer for it."

The chairwoman's voice was so cold I'd swear frost formed on the glass of water in front of me as she stated, "Your opinion Director Sinclair has been noted. I'm sure I need not remind you that this board has already had that discussion, and the vote did not favour your point of view."

Rather than let her intimidate me I met her gaze and stared right back at her as I responded, "You can't outvote the facts, Chairwoman Reyes. And the truth doesn't care whether or not you like it."

"I think Director Sinclair makes a good point," the woman to my left commented.

Nora Bousquet was one of the younger Directors, and fairly open-minded. She'd voted with me last month when I tabled the motion to close the case, after my sibling confirmed Cassandra's ascension.

On the other hand Michael Williams was among the opposition, he'd been a staunch Nahuel supporter for some time. So when he spoke up next I was ready for an argument.

Director Williams stared at me for a moment before addressing Reyes, "A month ago I let Carlos convince me he was right and Agent Sinclair's report was wrong. Just like we believed Agent Sutton was mistaken back in July. The fact that Director Nahuel appears to have vanished off the face of the Earth, just like Agent Vargas and his team did before, has forced me to reassess the situation."

Michael glanced at me again then stated, "I think Director Sinclair is correct, Madam Chairwoman. While I'm not prepared to close the case, perhaps we should take a step back from it? I suggest we downgrade it to off-site observation only. Let's not risk any more lives on case 11072CA."

"I second the motion to downgrade the case to off-site observation," Director Larsen spoke up.

Ida was another director who'd backed me last month when I tried to close the case. Unlike Nora, Ida Larsen was an older woman. She was pragmatic though, and had a good head on her shoulders.

Unfortunately that's as far as it got. Olivia snapped, "There was no motion! The chair is not accepting motions at this time!"

"Excuse me Madam Chairwoman?" a quiet voice spoke up from off to the side.

Reyes spun around and demanded, "What is it?!"

The young woman who'd interrupted our meeting cringed slightly. She was one of our assistants, Sofia Moreno. A good woman, dutiful, and she really didn't deserve to be yelled at by people like Olivia Reyes.

"There's a security incident at the front doors," Sofia reported. "I just got the message from our security director. He instructed me to repeat the following phrase: security protocol zulu, this is not a drill."

That sent a shock of alarm through me, and probably everyone else in the room. Our security chief was basically telling the board of directors to run for it, and avoid the main entrances and exits. Which was a lot easier said than done.

The Council headquarters was based in a lavish renaissance mansion. It was a gorgeous old building in a picturesque location on the outskirts of Madrid. We were east of the city, and just south of a place called Alcalá de Henares. And while it was a beautiful place to work, the mansion didn't actually have a lot of options when it came to trying to make a hasty escape. The estate was heavily wooded, with a very steep cliff-like rise to the south, and the Henares river to the north.

However our chairwoman was having none of it. Rather than order the evacuation she glared at Sofia and stated, "Bullshit!"

Reyes turned her attention back to her laptop, and a moment later the big screen on the wall was connected to the building's security system. The image was dominated by a camera feed of the mansion's front hall, while a half dozen smaller pictures on either side of the screen displayed the views from other nearby cameras.

Standing in the middle of that big central image was none other than Cassandra Underwood herself. And next to her was the tiny kitsune Kaylee Holt. The security camera had good enough resolution that we could even make out the expressions on the two girls' faces. Cassandra looked to be somewhere between disappointed and unhappy, while Kaylee was actually grinning. Her ears were folded back, but her three tails were swishing around in excitement.

A moment later we heard three muffled pop noises through the display's speakers. I recognized them as gunshots, but neither of the two teens even flinched.

"I told you not to do that," Cassandra sighed, as she made a dismissive gesture with her right hand. Then she added, "Honestly, I don't want to hurt you people, ok? Stand down and stay out of my way, and you'll all get to go home to your families tonight."

Olivia switched the main display to a different camera, this one was behind the two teenagers so we got a view of their backs, along with the dozen security guards who stood between them and the rest of the facility.

Our security personnel had their weapons raised, and there were a few more muffled pops as some of them tried to fire on the two teen girls. Cassandra made another dismissive gesture, and this time we saw what was happening to our people.

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The four guards who'd opened fire were all engulfed in swirling light, which faded a moment later to reveal four small harmless bunnies. And just like that, the mood in the boardroom shifted from nervous tension to outright fear.

I was positive that's when the holdouts among my fellow directors finally believed our agents' reports. Cassandra Underwood really was a Goddess, and now we were going to get a first-hand demonstration of why our bylaws and mandates said not to interfere with beings like Her.

"Seriously," Cassandra spoke up again. "I can bunnify every last one of you if that's what you want? Or if you prefer to remain human then just stop trying to hurt us and stay out of our way."

There was a long pause, then one of the men gave the order to stand down. I recognized him as our security chief Marcos Gallardo. And while the men with him slowly lowered their weapons, Gallardo pulled out his portable radio and repeated the order to the rest of his staff.

"All security stand down," he stated into the device. "Holster your weapons. If you see the intruders to not approach and do not intervene. I repeat, do not approach and do not intervene."

The young Goddess nodded, "Good call. My girlfriend and I have a few stops to make, then we're going to visit with your board of directors."

Then the brunette teen turned around and looked directly into the camera we were viewing her from, as if she could somehow see us through the lens. She addressed us directly, "I know you haven't fled the building yet, do us both a favour and sit tight. If you all go running off I'll have to chase you, and while my girlfriend might enjoy the sport I'd rather just have a little chat then be on my way. See you folks in a bit."

The sense of fear that permeated the boardroom shifted slightly, into more like a sense of doom and despair. Nobody said anything, it felt like there wasn't much point. Most of us continued to watch the security feed on the big screen, but a few focused on their laptops instead. Even Chairwoman Reyes was silent, as if all the fight and anger had been drained from her.

I had a feeling we were all thinking the same thing. After five centuries, the Council was coming to an end. All because a few influential members refused to believe that a quiet shy teenage girl in some rural Canadian backwaters was actually a Goddess.

Then a couple of my fellow directors began typing up messages on their laptops, or tapping them out on their personal phones. I assumed they were sending goodbye emails or texts to their spouses or other loved ones, but there was no-one close enough for me to reach out to.

I was confident the niece I'd never met was safe, and I hoped my sibling and her partner would survive too. Instead I kept my eyes on the screen and watched as Cassandra Underwood and Kaylee Holt wandered around our supposedly secure and secret facility.

Security chief Gallardo followed the two girls, and as best I could tell he wasn't assisting them in any way. He was mostly there to warn other staff to stay clear of the two girls, and to ensure nobody attempted to interfere them.

I and my fellow directors watched helplessly as they visited our Human Resources department first. There Cassandra accessed the computers and downloaded records for every agent, researcher, staff member, and director onto an external backup drive she'd brought with her.

From there the girls made their way to our Accounting department, and once again they had full access to the computers. The brunette teen spent some time at one of the workstations, and while we couldn't see exactly what she was doing it wasn't hard to guess.

Cassandra also seemed to know the combination for the large bank-style vault, and from a security camera in the adjoining room we watched as the young Goddess entered the vault then systematically emptied it. The entire contents vanished one shelf at a time. Cash, bullion, rare antiques, priceless artefacts, and the council's entire collection of magical tomes and enchanted objects. Within minutes the vault was completely barren.

Finally the two teens made their way down into the basement, where our IT staff and the secure servers were located. The girls spent a while down there, copying the Council's active cases database, followed by the extensive archives.

Then at long last they made their way up to the top floor. We watched on the security feed as they walked down the hall towards the boardroom, and the sense of doom that permeated the air grew heavier with every step they took. A moment later the doors opened and they stood before us.

Cassandra was a petite girl, less than a hundred and sixty centimetres tall. She looked young too, like a high school student. She had shoulder length messy brown hair and hazel eyes. She was dressed in an old pair of sneakers, some simple leggings, and a new oversized navy-blue hoodie.

Kaylee was even smaller, the kitsune was barely a hundred and ten centimetres tall. Despite her small size she appeared a few years older than the teenage Goddess. Her hair was an orange-red colour, matching the fur on her ears and her tails. And her eyes were amber, with vertical pupils. She wore tights and a little orange and black dress, and had some sandals on her feet.

The Goddess walked right up to our table and sat herself down in Carlos Nahuel's chair, then her friend hopped up and sat sideways across her lap.

"Hey folks," Cassandra greeted us. She seemed calm, relaxed, and very self-assured.

"I know you've been watching on the security cameras," she stated, "But just to clarify incase there's any questions? I didn't erase your computers or delete any of your records. I have copied it all though, including your personnel files. So I have access to all your information, your history, and I know who you all are, where you all live, and everyone who works for you."

She reached up to the front of her hoodie, and suddenly I could see a body-camera I hadn't noticed before.

The teen unclipped the camera from her clothes then slowly panned it around at all of us as she continued, "Both Kaylee and I have been recording everything here, so we've got footage of your mansion and the altercation with your security people. You know, where a bunch of grown men carrying illegal firearms attempted to murder a couple teenage girls?"

"What is it you want from us?" Olivia finally asked.

From her tone it was clear the chairwoman wasn't ready to give up yet. She was angry and scared, but doing her best to hold her emotions in check. In fact I got the feeling she was hoping for the chance to bargain her way out of this.

Cassandra shrugged, "I don't want much. Just for the council to shut down and go away forever. I'm not here to hurt you people, but I won't hesitate to bunnify anyone who asks for it."

"You can't shut us down!" Reyes glared. "The council has stood for over five centuries! We will not -"

The young Goddess interrupted her, "The council's bankrupt. You saw me empty your vault right? I also closed all your investment accounts, and drained all your bank accounts. I'm not finished yet either, I'll be going after your real estate holdings later on. And why do you think I copied your databases instead of just purging them? Why do you think Kaylee and I have been videoing our visit here?"

"We're going public!" the small kitsune announced while her tails swished around in excitement.

The teenage deity smiled as she elaborated, "Your worst nightmare. The world is going to find out who you are and what you do. Or, what you used to do. I'd suggest you all consider retirement, but I have a feeling I'm going to find plenty of evidence of criminal activity in those records. Needless to say any such information will be shared with the appropriate law enforcement agencies."

"To paraphrase something my mother taught me," the Goddess added, "Human problems are best taken care of with human solutions."

A very uncomfortable silence settled in the boardroom as the girl's words sank in. We all knew the council had done a lot of unpleasant things over the years, and some of our methods could be very heavy-handed. And as the people who authorized or ordered the use of those methods, all of us seated at the table would be held accountable should that information get out.

Then another of the old hardliner directors spoke up. Raphael Silva was about the same age as Olivia, and he was another staunch supporter of Nahuel. He demanded, "Why are you telling us this? Did you come here to gloat?"

"Nah," Cassandra shook her head. "I wanted to meet you all in person, but I'm also here to offer you a chance. Confess for me, on camera, and assuming you haven't personally done anything too heinous I'll offer you leniency. I'll even help you start over if you like? New identity and all that. I'm confident I already have enough material to sink the Council for good, but nothing beats a couple high-placed confessions."

Director Silva scoffed, "Forget it child, none of us would betray the Council. You think you've beaten us, but this is just a setback. We'll start over if we have to, we'll rebuild. We have power, we have personal wealth. We're not -"

This time there was no swirl of light, and no warning either. One moment an angry old man was disrespecting a Goddess, the next moment a small fluffy white bunny sat in the middle of a large luxurious leather chair.

"This can't be the end," Reyes mumbled as she shook her head. "There must be something we can do."

Cassandra stared at her for a moment then used the chairwoman's earlier words against her, "I'm sure I need not remind you that the board has already had this discussion? This is the outcome you voted for, Olivia. You could have just left us alone."

Then Kaylee added with a grin, "I think this board meeting is adjourned."