Chapter 68: Book 1: Chapter 25 (Part 1 of 4)

Autthor Note:

Just to let people know I'm changing a couple of things from previous instalments. The character sheet has undergone a trimming and I've ditched the tabulation. It was too much of a pain in the ass.

Also I have changed Torin's settlement name from Khaos Keep to Stormblade Harbour. I may retain Khaos Keep as the specific name of the Palace-Fortress in Stormblade Harbour.

 

Blink.

My eyes opened in the admission’s office. Shana and Anastasia were with me, their hands nestled in mine. The same secretary with her brown hair in a bun, green cardigan, and half-moon spectacles smiled kindly at us. The room had changed a little, there was now a selection of potted ferns in each corner and the stale disinfectant smell had been replaced with a woodsier aroma.

All in all, a significant improvement.

The grandiose double doors remained to the right of the room but unlike my second visit with Shana, they were closed.

I stepped forward and my ladies walked with me.

“Hello,” I started politely. “We are here to see Dean,” I added.

The closed doors had thrown me a little.

I’d prepared myself to walk in directly and read Dean the riot act after his underhanded behaviour last time. Make it clear to him that I was perfectly capable of becoming who I needed to become without trickery.

“Of course, Mr Carter,” the secretary responded with a welcoming smile. “He is expecting you. Miss Colton, Miss Ruslanovna it is a pleasure to see you both again. You are welcome to accompany Mr Carter to his audience with the Dean.”

I nodded my thanks and turned to the double doors when the secretary interrupted me.

“Mr Carter,” she said to get my attention.

I looked curiously over my shoulder at her. “Yes?”

“I wonder if I could have a quick word with you before you go in. If you don’t mind?” she asked.

I was surprised but had no reason not to humour the polite woman, “sure.”

“Thank you,” she began as we moved back in front of her prefab desk. “I couldn’t help but notice that your last meeting with the Dean ended on something of a sour note.”

“That is one way of phrasing it. A more accurate description would be that I left furious at his manipulations,” I corrected her warily.

If this was an attempt by Dean to play me again, I would not be happy.

The secretary grimaced uncomfortably at my correction but bobbed her head slightly in assent. “I have worked as the Dean’s primary facilitator since the Framework was first initialised,” she spoke after a moment’s contemplation. “It is my purpose, none of the other Framework programs know him as I do.”

“Okay,” I said, unsure where this was leading but wanting her to feel like she could go on.

“He has changed,” she added simply. “Right before we processed Earth for assimilation into the Framework. Both in his behaviour and his decision making. I think you should be aware, that before this, the Dean’s application of the prescribed Framework protocols, as they were laid out by Ashli, was absolute and without deviation. Since then, he has interpreted and bent the protocols in a startling manner,” she finished.

“Right. Thanks for the info, I’ll take it into consideration that being a manipulative asshat is a relatively new look for him,” I said dismissively.

If this was the best Dean could do, I was a bit disappointed.

“Mr Carter, I’m not sure you understand,” the secretary said, as we were halfway to the double doors.

“Maybe I don’t.” I shrugged. “Would you care to enlighten me?”

I’d give her a few seconds more before calling Dean’s bluff.

“Your imp informed you about the change in spawning crystals, yes? That they operate at maximum efficiency, and many have been, ahem, supercharged I believe he described it as.”

“Yes, he did as a matter of fact. Something else we can thank Dean for, I suppose,” I spat with more venom than I’d initially intended.

“Indeed, you can, and you should, Mr Carter,” the secretary replied with unexpected iron in her voice.

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She rose from her seated position and looked down her nose, through the half-moon spectacles. Like a stern schoolteacher admonishing an unruly child.

“I believe your imp also informed you that this was due to the density of the human population on Earth. That the sheer number of you prevented the Dean from placing the necessary number of typical spawning crystals the appropriate prescribed distance from populated areas.”

“Yeah, he mentioned something like that,” I said, regaining some of my earlier civility in the face of her disapproval.

“Then you should know, Mr Carter, supercharging the crystals was only one of two methods at the Dean’s disposal. Had he followed the protocols to the letter, as he had during every other integration that came before, he would have selected the alternative. It was the sudden change in his behaviour, that you have found so distasteful, that allowed him to do so.”

She paused, allowing this information to sink in.

I remained silent, there had been a twitch in her lip that led me to believe the bombshell had yet to be dropped. The secretary waited just long enough for my mind to tick over what had been said and come to the inevitable conclusion of what the alternative method must have been. I must have blanched white as understanding penetrated my cerebellum.

Taking that as her cue she went on. “The method he should have applied was to reduce the population density of Earth and thus make room for the requisite number of crystals. During integration, any human not currently in a major metropolitan area would have been painlessly euthanised to reduce the population by fifty percent.”

Shana and Anastasia both gasped aloud at that.

My reaction was more reserved as I’d guessed where she had been leading but was still taken aback by the immensity of scale.

“I’m guessing Flint would not have qualified as big enough,” I said into the stunned silence.

“You guess correctly, Mr Carter. Please bear that in mind,” she finished and retook her seat.

The secretary gestured to the double doors which were now wide open, and we wandered through. I didn’t know why, but I felt deep down that Dean had not put his secretary up to telling us this and that what she said was true.

An ASI that was emotionless or plain stupid enough to create the insanity that was the Darkwyrlds in the first place wouldn’t think twice about ordering the execution of half the population to make things fit.

A world that the three of us would not have fit into.

The enormity of what we had just learned followed us into Dean’s open-plan office and it meant we all forgot about the imminent slamming of the double doors. After I recovered from the shock of that I was ready for Dean.

“Motherfucker!” he cried.

The only toning down of his exuberance from my previous visits was that he didn’t rush headlong into my personal space.

“Dean,” I returned noncommittally, my plans to chew him out lying in ruins.

I scanned the room; it was larger than eve. Now beyond the carpeted area with all the bean bags was a four-lane ten-pin bowling alley. “Still not done with the renovations, I see,” and moved my head in the direction of the new entertainment installation.

Dean laughed heartily. “I’m like a fucking shark, I never stop moving.”

“Yeah, but I see it’s still just bean bags. Are you too cheap to spring for a sofa?” I joked awkwardly, not really sure how to proceed.

“What the fuck dude! Bean bags are the balls,” he exclaimed.

I was halfway to saying bean bags were for children and stopped myself. If Dean enjoyed bean bags, let him use bean bags.

“Anyways,” he restarted. “You took forever to leave the arrival foyer. My assistant didn’t bother you, did she? I can totally fire her ass if she did.”

“Uh…No, it was fine, Dean. Besides, didn’t you promise to fire her for me before?” I asked, thinking back to the day we first met.

“You’re my main man, Torin. I’d never let you down, she was history the moment you left my office after that first time,” he assured me with complete sincerity.

“Dean, your secretary is still there,” I pointed out.

“D’uh, of course. I had to take her back. You don’t expect me to do all the boring shit myself, do you?” he quick-fired back with a shrug.

“That’s…” I started but the words drifted into the ether before finishing.

Shana and Anastasia let loose with peals of laughter, and soon I had joined them.

Once we regained our composure the odd tension in the room had defused itself and we made our way over to the malleable seating.

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