Everyone Needs Purpose

The only thing I've ever liked about the Royal Military is their absolute loyalty to doing the worst things. - Chronicles of Lorentino

"The first thing you should know rank means shit here Lorentino, Commander, Sergeant, fucking private, I don't care what you are, I just care that you get things done." Rolando felt honored General Lorzine had come to get him personally, the man was approachable in a way that Rolando had never felt from top brass before.

"Fair, I didn't really earn the rank so it means little to me." The complex for Lorzine's outfit was a former school, taken over by the government after some undisclosed event that Lorzine didn't get into.

"You'll fit well here Lorentino, though I am going to warn you, you're my problem now, if you screw up its on me, if you do anything wrong its on me, so its on me to keep you in line and if you pull the same shit you pulled in espionage you're done and I'm not talking about being fired." Lorzine assured Rolando despite being a general he wasn't above killing a man just because his rank said he shouldn't.

"And if you pull the same shit espionage pulled on me..."

"Which I will not, witness the no shackles, I feel if you can be trusted to kill a man, you can be trusted to not kill everyone else."

"I think I'll like it here."

"I imagine you'll find a purpose here. Liking killing men is not something I want to hear, but I hope to give you a purpose, something to do for the greater good Commander Lorentino. Welcome to elimination. Were not the front line, but we're damn sure the end one."

Prisoner of my own Choosing

My favorite scheme is pretending to be someone else's prisoner, it works so reliably you'd think someone would warn people about the nature of false prisoners! - Chronicles of Lorentino

"I'm here with my prisoner Trezlan Lorentino." Gingrey didn't think he sounded believable, but the men under his charge let him get by without so much as a second thought. I smiled as we got on to the shuttle up.

"Told you it would work."

"It shouldn't work, this is insane, how would I capture you?"

"Guile, you've got plenty of guile."

"Well my guile is about to run down my leg Trezlan." That caused me to laugh, though I wasn't laughing when I saw the fleet up above. Apparently Morley wasn't screwing around seeing the kind of escort he brought. Which should have been obvious in the glassing to begin with, but I guess I thought maybe killing me once was good enough? Now the bigger problem for us was getting by the initial ground party was nothing to getting by everyone on a fleet ship. Especially once it was obvious I wasn't an actual prisoner. I hadn't exactly brought this up with Phil because I guess I just assumed something would work out for us. Which is pretty much exactly what happened.

We were half way to the fleet ship when a new fleet showed up and attacked. The new fleet didn't have traditional marking at all. Or any markings really. I at first was worried this was another group of assholes I'd managed to upset (hundreds of years, lots of time to make people unhappy), but I did see on Phil's screen SiC putting up a command to stand down or be destroyed. I instructed Phil to do as the robot said.

"You have a fleet of ships?"

"Apparently yes, yes I do." I recall instructing SiC to rebuild in what felt like a lifetime ago. I didn't recall him saying to build a gods damned fleet, but you know you leave vague instructions. Phil tried to order the rest of his fleet to stand down, but Morley's people fled rather than be captured, which probably not the smartest thing to do when dealing with Morley? But I couldn't blame them when they got assaulted out of no where.

"Morlatech vessel prepare to be boarded." The voice was not one I had heard before, but figured in my time away the AI probably had done a lot I wasn't aware of.

"Please be gentle its my first time." I admit I'm not the best person to respond to commands.

"Trezlan? Oh thank the gods we thought you were dead."

"It's a long story, one I could tell you as soon me and Phil are off this ship."

"Phil?"

"Longer story, just hurry up, and we have to rescue someone else I almost forgot about." Poor Luke was it better to be almost forgotten? Considering what almost happened to him, no, not it was not. But that is as they say the next entry.

Phil, I missed you man

Sometimes I set plans in motion I completely forget about until they come knocking, I like to think of it as a gift I gave myself years ago; of course not all of the gifts I actually want. - Chronicles of Lorentino

"Administrator Gingrey we're in." Phil liked the subordinate calling him Administrator. To most of his peers he was just Phil, and never said politely. The work to get into the caves had been time consuming, and even when they got in strange creatures had been waiting for them, many men had been killed, several of the bots too. Gingrey was worried it had been a trap set by Lorentino, but upon the creatures being killed they discovered the chambers were some kind of alien facility, most likely a breeding ground for the creatures.

"No more of the creatures?"

"Nothing yet, though we are of course still sweeping sections, we have found indications of human life forms, mainly excrement?"

"What?"

"Shit sir, lots of shit."

"Fair enough, do we know if Lorentino is down there?" The subordinate reported that they didn't know, but someone was down there. Phil didn't like it, felt like a trap, the creatures, the shit, something itched at the back of his mind to go down there. "I'm coming down, have a group of bots at the ready."

"Yes sir." Phil didn't know why he felt compelled to find Lorentino personally, but he did. He figured it was to prove he made the right call, but something else was there, something else was driving him. The whole journey to the planet and into the caves he kept thinking about that. Upon reaching the facility he saw the remains of the creatures and the people who had been killed by them, the survivors didn't feel it necessary to clean up just yet. He walked at the head of his robot guards, which seemed weird to him, he'd normally never been so forward. He followed some foot steps for a ways and then ran smack dab into Trezlan Lorentino.

"Been waiting for you guys, nice to see my rescue is here." Phil couldn't order his bots to fire, he couldn't find words, he just sat there dumb struck. The bots didn't need clearence, they had shoot on sight orders for Lorentino, but he made quick work of them with a fire wave that seemingly didn't hurt Phil. He worried what Lorentino had in store for him.

"Don't hurt me." It was all he could think of saying.

"Phil? Phil Gingrey? Oh my gods how long has it been." Trezlan hugged the man and he was startled to find himself hugging him in return. He had never met Trezlan before.

"Get away from me." Trezlan pulled back and smiled.

"Right you don't remember, sorry Phil I completely forgot, Darblaz three." In a moment a lifetime returned to Phil, he was a deep cover operative for Trezlan, had been for decades and just didn't know it. It made his life make more sense and caused him to laugh. He wasn't just a brow beaten Morlatech employee, he was also Trezlans brow beaten employee.

"Oh gods why did you forget me?"

"Phil lets be real I thought you were dead long ago, but you're here now buddy! We can get out of here, just have to uhh figure out a way to do that past all those morlatech guys who will totally kill you if they suspect you're working for me. So you know minor problems." Phil sensed dread, like instead of being saved, he was instead screwed.

Shaking Is New

You guys do realize I'm making these quotes up right I don't even have the right title for my memoirs listed. But the sentiment is totally true wait don't just cut off the quo - Chronicles of Lorentino

I had started to get used to the food. I figured it was the old live next to garbage, don't even smell it anymore thing. It was still awful, I just didn't think it was awful and my bowels mercifully agreed. The boredom though was impossible to get used to. I basically survived to survive. It was purely living for living sake. I wondered how Luke was dealing with it, but since we weren't talking I'm sure he was getting along better than I did. That's how I do things, I assume everyone else is better off than I am. Its a weird feeling of inferiority for someone in my position I admit, but it helps drive me into being the horrible thing I am today!

The pounding started in the morning. It was loud and shook the entire facility. I worried at first it was the planet giving way after the orbital bombardment. But it was too measured for a planets destruction (don't ask how I know that particular bit of information). And so it had to be a rescue effort. Of course the excessive hammering did seem to awaken a bunch of things I didn't know actually existed in the facility. And these faceless monstrosities immediately made their way toward my rescue.

Now you're probably thinking. "How did you slay all those monsters by yourself Trezlan?" And if you're thinking that clearly you haven't been reading this journal. I just bunkered down and hoped that whoever was coming to save me would totally know that horrible creatures were waiting for them. Yep, didn't even try and get a message through or anything. I am kind of a bad person right?

Sundae's Made of Poo

Morley is a detached psychopath, every interaction with him is like trying to understand why a monster would do something, while forgetting the most important part, he's a gods damned Monster - Chronicles of Lorentino

"Aldis always was an idiot." They had waited a week to tell Morley. Fearful of what he'd say or do, but he was calm about the whole thing. Just wanted what limited video feed they had and what explanation could be given.

"He said his name was..."

"Lorentino, the son, he's a shifter, clearly more dangerous that previously thought of, though he's at least the last one correct?" Morley looked at the four men in front of him and they all looked away. It puzzled him. He had received reports the planet glassing was complete, Trezlan should have been dead, why did they all look away?

"On further scan of the planet sir, it appears that there is an extensive cave system..." Morley felt his anger rising.

"Extensive cave system? EXTENSIVE CAVE SYSTEM?"

"Sir its highly improbable he would have been in it prior to the bomb..."

"HIGH PRIORITY EVERYONE INTO THOSE CAVES AND FIND ME LORENTINO!" Morley waved a hand and the men knew they had been dismissed. Out in the hallway the three who hadn't said anything turned to the man who had.

"Just had to say something Phil, couldn't let that shit slide just for once." Phil felt his face go flush.

"If he found out he'd kill u..."

"I'll kill you Phil you horrible asshole, you know what, you told him, you do this shit on your own. I don't even care." The other three agreed and Phil sighed, knowing now he had to lead the fleet to dig into the caves to make sure Trezlan was dead. It also confirmed the other three men didn't like Phil which was just the shit cherry on the sundae.

"Admiral this is Phil Gingry from accounting? Yeah same guy who had to do that last one, I know, can we just skip all the laughing and you just agree to what I need, thanks." Phil sighed, it was going to be a long week.

No Restrictions

I figure when everyone elses books are done and over I'll keep writing, thus having the longest book of all time. A shame I'm the only one who has ever read it. - Chronicles of Lorentino

"I hope you've learned your lesson." The two generals had been arguing for what felt like days. Commander Lorentino's debrief had gone about as well as it could with the body count he had racked up. General Lorzine was smiling, it was the other General Risir who felt like he got caught holding the bag.

"Yes Lorzine, I should have let the dangerous shifter join your black ops group to start instead of hoping he'd be useful in intelligence. There are you happy? Are you happy you won?"

"Extremely Risir, extremely."

"I'll be happy when he goes nuts and murders all of your people, that will be a happy day for me." Lorzine frowned.

"So salty Risir, you got what you were after, a Morley off the board."

"He was supposed to be on the board, for us! The damned ass was supposed to defect until Lorentino went and screwed that all up." Lorzine was laughing again and Risir had had enough. He left the mess hall the two had been arguing in and Lorzine was happy to be alone. A feeling that was immediately ruined by a communication from his staff.

"Sir?"

"I'm eating, can it wait?"

"No sir, command wants to know what restrictions you are putting on the commander?" Lorzine scoffed at the question.

"None."

"I'm sorry sir your signal didn't come through clearly it sounds like you said none." The tech was one of the junior ones in his unit, a political appointment rather than a military one, Lorzine tired of him every time he talked to him.

"I said none, whoever is asking can answer directly to me. The commander will have no restrictions, if he makes a mistake it will be on me, dismissed." He disconnected before he could hear anything in return.

Bone To Pick

If you have read this far, you are either being punished or you hope to find a secret, you will be disappointed. - Imperial Field Guard Manual

I don't like endings, they feel so final, I prefer leaving things in the air, that way you don't know if you are truly done or not. -Chronicles of Lorentino

Impossible. That's what kept occurring to Aldis as his computer consoles kept winking out. His men were reporting whoever it was that was carving up his facility, but the reports were insane. They claimed it was Delorey who was dead, and that he was simultaneously all over the entire building or no where. He had been sending troops everywhere he could, but could only watch in horror as the men themselves were killed or stopped reporting. Aldis already had tried to send a distress signal, but no one was receiving that either.

Whoever this was, it wasn't Delorey. Aldis knew that much. Delorey the real one was a shit worker who barely was passable at all work. Morlatech had used his services twice and found him wanting. It was the one thing that flagged him applying for regular work as clearly not the real one. But whoever this was, he was vicious and uncompromising, Aldis had sensed he worked with Trezlan, now he was beginning to suspect he was Trezlan.

"Aldis Morley." And then he was inside the room, he was covered in blood, clothing was tattered, and he had a look in his eye that was beyond madness right into borderline corruption. Aldis for the first time in hundreds of years felt his blood go cold.

"Delorey, or whatever you call yourself." He tried to feign not caring, but he did care, he cared very much.

"Lorentino."

"I figured as much, only you could be this stupid." Aldis pressed a button and an energy shield emerged around him. Lorentino fired shots at it, but they just bounced harmlessly off. "Only something organic could get through this shield, so unless you want to piss on me to death, you're defeated Trezlan, even your magic and necromancy can not get through, eventually my father will send assistance, and you'll be dead." Rolando laughed slightly at Aldis, trapping himself in his tiny office, sweat dripping down his face.

"Its funny you think I'm Trezlan, and he would probably be defeated by your little shield." Rolando took up his bone knife and threw it as hard as his hate would allow. Aldis watched in terror as the weapon slipped through his shield and drove itself into his neck, before he could react Rolando was gripping the knife and plunging in deeper into his neck. "Rolando Lorentino, the shifter." Aldis tried to come up with a necromantic spell, his life force spilling on to his desk, but Rolando and the weapon were gone by the time he was halfway there. The wound so severe he couldn't even call for help.

****

Dispatch from Royal Imperial Military command

Commander Rolando Lorentino reactivated

Mission Succcessful

Hate to Be Late For Work

Never return to the site of a blown operation - Imperial Field Guard Manual

Revenge is best served smugly, if you're going to kill someone, you should totally look like a dick doing it - Chronicles of Lorentino

"What do you mean he's at work today?" Straber was confused, the clerical worker on the phone reported one of his killed in action people was actually at work and that was impossible.

"Vincent Delorey, he requested his access be restored saying it was a clerical error, are you saying it wasn't a clerical error?"

"HE WAS FUCKING DEAD!" Straber couldn't believe how incompetent the clerical person was. Like why would they reactivate a dead man's access? It was insane.

"Proper paperwork wasn't filed, Mr. Delorey claimed it was a mistake and it looked like one, so I corrected it, seeing as he is alive Captain Straber I feel I'm just..." Straber cut the feed and spit in disgust. He hated the corporate culture more than anything else. He needed to neutralize the Delorey problem, whoever Aldis had gotten to do it before obviously didn't do it right.

"You three come with me, gods damn it we need to kill Delorey." Straber suited up in body armor and made sure the other men did too. Whatever Delorey was, it wasn't a normal person. The tracker showed his last position was the showers which seemed strange to Straber, but he hoped maybe he could catch that asshole mid shave and just kill him before it became a thing. They arrived at the showers and it looked like no one was there. Straber ordered two men to watch the door and brought the biggest guy with him. Inside was full of steam, Straber made a note to talk with maintenance about all the steam, clearly something was broken in there and he couldn't see anything. It didn't occur to him until he heard the death rattle of the man next to him that Delorey had purposefully made it that steamy.

"Is that you Delorey?" Straber was worried, he was in the middle of the showers, and he knew that Delorey was out there and had killed at least one of the people he had brought. Probably all three for all Straber knew.

"I'm not Delorey." There was a shadow in the mist and Straber opened up on it, hoping it wasn't some fellow employee who got caught in the cross fire. He wondered if he had killed Delorey when he felt something slide into his lower back and his entire world became pain. Standing over him was Delorey, he had a wild man beard and his clothing looked equally as bad.

"Why did you come back you bastard?"

"I ran out of sick days." Delorey had taken Straber's rifle and with one shot put the captain out of his misery. Alarms sounded all over the facility with his death, but that was all fine with Rolando, they didn't know what they had upset, and he was going to show them.

And Over Here Someone Rabidly Insane

Remember approaching strangers in the wilderness is dangerous, you don't know what they are there for and they could be the enemy. - Imperial Field Guard Manual

When I'm lost I'll go up to anyone, even obviously bad people to get help. I mean what do I have to lose other than my life, freedom, or money? Chronicles of Lorentino

Three weeks in Rolando was fully insane. Or it felt that way to him. Not talking to himself crazy, but fearing he'll never have a conversation with a real person or thing ever again crazy. His animal fort had gotten larger, and he's fashioned crude bone weaponry from the creatures he'd been killing, so he was at least comfortable in his madness. He'd taken to writing a journal on the hides of one of the creatures he'd killed. It wasn't legible, nor were his thoughts, but having the task to do kept him moderately occupied from the crushing madness. He was in the middle of one of these entries when he heard them.

At first the thought it was a new level to the madness. What sounded like some kind of local youth wilderness group wandering through his territory. As he listened though he knew they were real, there was a whole group of people there. And if people were there, that meant they had a way off planet, and Rolando needed that. Needed that more than he needed to finish his thoughts on the different tastes of tree. The first impression he made on the camping troop was not a good one. Seeing a bearded man in ripped bloodied clothing carrying various bone weaponry didn't inspire confidence he wasn't some crazy person.

"DON'T KILL THE CHILDREN!" There were four adults and twelve children, the uniform was not one Rolando knew, but he wasn't versed in normal kid activities. When he was a teenager he was running illicit arms with Trezlan, not out taking wilderness hikes.

"Why would I kill? Why would you think I would even do that?" Rolando's voice hurt at first for not using it, and then it took him a bit to find his words.

"Who are you sir?" Dave read the man's name tag, the other three adults were huddled with the children. Rolando almost said his real name, before he recalled Delorey and his cover.

"Vincent Delorey, you have to help me there was a training accident..."

Fear of the Lorentino

When an operative is killed, the handler should do all they can to discover the source of the leak and silence it - Imperial Field Guard Manual

I've lost more friends than most people will ever have in their life time. And yet I still make more, the truest form of insanity I engage in. Chronicles of Lorentino.

Nihls was waiting outside the generals office. He had been waiting for five hours. When he had been summoned he figured it would be a fast meeting, but the waiting was unexpected, the length of it was almost a joke to him. He would have laughed if not for the crushing boredom of waiting in a generals office for five hours. He had exhausted every thing he could think of when it came to trying to take ones mind off the time. So he was left just staring at the young lieutenant as she told other people to wait.

"Nihls? The general will see you now." Nihls wanted to rebuff her for not using his rank, but he also didn't want to have to wait longer so he just hurried into the generals office. The office was small, most of the Imperial military heirarchy didn't have large offices. Nihls did find it funny considering the opulence of the Emperor, that everyone else in the empire lived fairly spartan existences.

"Lieutenant sit down." Nihls knew he was in trouble immediately, on top of the weight the general did not call him a Lieutenant Commander, just the Lieutenant.

"Sir I just want to..." The general held a hand up to cut him off.

"Save your own ass, yes I'm aware you're completely in the dark as to why Commander Lorentino was killed, or even how he was killed. What I'm trying to ascertain is does the old man know?"

"The old man?" The general who was easily triple Nihls age and Nihls was not a young man, got a perturbed look on his wrinkled face.

"Trezlan Lorentino."

"I wasn't aware we had any kind of intelligence on the elder Lorentino."

"But surely his son must have had a way of contacting his father, and does Trezlan know his son is dead now because he's not in contact?"

"I'm not aware of any method of contact between son and father, Rolando's apartment was empty when I got there, but I assume it was empty when he got there, he brought little with him that indicated who he was." Nihls was surprised by the the general worried about a fugitive the empire was hunting, but he gave up long ago trying to understand upper management.

"Then we're safe for now, though we have reports Trezlan was glassed, I do not believe them. Still were I you Lieutenant I'd consider changing my name."

"My name sir?"

"Dismissed Nihls." It was a confusing summons, that ended even more confusing. Nihls was happy that he at least was not formally demoted yet, though the Generals worry about Trezlan did cause him to pause. The reports on the Elder Lorentino were nothing if not full of flights of fancy, but if half of them were true he was a terrifying person. Nihls at least took solace in that if anyone killed Rolando, it was Rolando, and therefore not his fault. He was sure Trezlan would understand that much.

You'll Forgive Me For Being Me

Shelter should be the first thing you secure when you're in the cold, food and water can wait. -Imperial Field Guard Manual

First thing I do when I'm lost is just burn some stuff, it doesn't actually do anything, but seeing something familiar is calming. - The Chronicles of Lorentino

"I have to wonder how exactly long have you been out here?" Rolando was surprised to see someone in the wilderness, but not surprised it was Hanlon the death god. It seemed he had more interest in the Lorentino's than anyone else in the entire galaxy.

"Three days, I think." Rolando had fashioned a shack of animal bones it was, even to the death god, fairly alarming.

"And you managed to cobble together a shack of bones from things you killed? If I ever had doubt you were the son of Trezlan this would erase it."

"So you're here to save me yes? Tired, and hungry, so hungry the animals here are not good food." Rolando was also wearing the skin of something, Hanlon wanted to ask how he'd killed creatures without a weapon, but he didn't want to ask because some things were best left to not knowing, even for a god.

"No not originally, I was more concerned with where you were and what you were doing here, omnipotence apparently has its limits." Limits Hanlon felt maddening, he didn't even know he had them until recently, which was worrying in so many ways.

"Well now that you're her..." And then he was gone. Rolando suddenly understood why Trezlan always lamented Hanlon was good for something until he wasn't. Still it was nice to know he wasn't crazy yet, though he did worry if Hanlon was just a hallucination, and if 3 days had actually been 3 months. But mostly he worried that winter was coming and his shelter was not ready. The shelter helped keep the sanity mostly in check. Mostly.

To Have Revenge You Must Survive

Do not Panic, when you find yourself in a harsh environment with no supplies, panicking will only lead to bad decisions. - Imperial Field Guard Manual

Panic is a good thing, it lets you know how screwed you are and how you'll die alone there. -Chronicles of Lorentino

The cold was the first thing about the planet Rolando didn't like. Everywhere he went it was cold. Forest, rivers, snow capped mountains, all too gods damned cold. He shifted as far as his eyes could see and it was always too cold. He had to stop himself, fear of the corruption destroying him. Still where he was near a mountain and a lake was impossibly cold. He figured that's why there wasn't a colony on planet, no one wanted to put up with the cold.

Rolando took stock of what he had with him and it was maddingly little. He had his clothes, his wallet with useless cards, and that was it. No weapon, no food, not even a damned stick of gum. He tried to remember how his father had talked him into shifting into another dimension, but because of all the drinking he couldn't remember at all. Rolando had screwed himself pretty badly he had to admit. But the hate was still there.

It was the one thing keeping him alive and telling him he had to survive. Because he had to kill Aldis, had to see the fat sack of shit gutted in front of him and know it was a Lorentino that did it. He knew this was his fathers voice. But he didn't care, a Morley had wrong him, and now he wanted to set it right by killing that Morley.

***

At this point I'm pretty sure I'm just surviving out of hate. I hate the food, I hate this complex, I hate that Morley glassed the planet to kill me. It's what I'm doing right now, just hating. And yet I feel like somewhere the galaxy was put at right. Like wherever my drunk son is, he just did something that would make me proud. It's a fleeting feeling before the hate and bowel cramps take over, but it was nice while it lasted.

Only Thing Stopping Me is the Ground

When your blown the operation is over, if you haven't given up operational intelligence you may be allowed home, if not, enjoy your new life as being an ex military operative try not to get killed. - Imperial Field Guard Manual

I've always been surprised at Rolando's ability to stay alive, its almost rivals my own, almost. - Chronicles of Lorentino

"Say hello to the ground asshole." Rolando heard it as he was being ejected from the spacecraft. He didn't really register it as he was groggily shaking off the tranquilizer. The air was way too cold as he plummeted. It woke him up, but only made him panic as he could see the ground coming way too fast and he had no way of stopping. Of course he was a shifter and the panic faded when he took that into account, but for a brief moment he was afraid.

It took a bit of work to shift to the ground. Rolando understood shifting ignored pretty much all physics because it was magic, but he wasn't entirely sure of that belief and didn't want to find out it wasn't true by slamming into the ground at deadly velocity. Once on the ground Rolando had the difficult task of determining where he was. It was definitely wilderness, and while he hadn't explored all of the planet Morlatech was on, he didn't recall there being any area of large wilderness. Without knowing how long he'd been under the sedative he could have been anywhere.

That's when the terror set in.

****

Operative Rolando Lorentino

Status: Deceased

Nihls stared at the screen for a moment before hitting send. He didn't know where Lorentino had gone, but he knew he was dead. Morlatech listed it as a training accident, but Nihls knew they had discovered him. He only hoped Lorentino hadn't exposed the operation, not that Nihls was staying around to figure that out. He was already out the door when he filed the report.

Months of training lost to poor planning, he knew Rolando would not work, but kept his objections in check over his superiors. His only real worry was the elder Lorentino blaming him, though there were reports he too had been killed by Morlatech. Oh well on to the next was all Nihls could think of.

When You Say Plan, Do You mean Actual Plan?

Never under any circumstance work against the Imperial Military's interests even if you do so with a greater goal in mind. - Imperial Field Guard Manual

Alliances are best one sided, as in my side is the only one I care about. - Chronicles of Lorentino

Rolando didn't have a plan, he didn't even haven an inkling of a plan. He felt this is the kind of thing his father would have gotten caught up in. Espionage and all, only a Lorentino could screw up so badly. Anyone else would have probably just owned up to being a spy, but Rolando had to go and make it worse.

"Well I didn't have a plan really." Aldis had a smug look on his face, it spoke of the position he was in.

"So you want to kill one of the strongest beings in the universe with no plan whatsoever?"

"Figured I'd wing it." Like Rolando was winging the conversation about killing Aldis's father.

"You're either braver than I expected or stupider, I don't know which, how does a man with no real ability other than some necromantic runes on his bones assume he can kill a man that is basically a god."

"Its gotten me to this point." Aldis just shook his head in disbelief. He assumed Delorey was a spy for a rival or maybe even the RIGs, but he was appearing to be a suicidal crazy person with a grudge.

"You are pretty damned foolish, I'll give you that, shockingly incompetent with a side of recklessness."

"So that means you'll help?"

"I think not." Aldis waved his hand and men that Rolando had not seen quickly injected him with something that made him super groggy. "Drop him from a distance we'll claim it was a training incident that went wrong, don't tell my father." Was the last thing Rolando heard as they were picking up his body.

A Puzzle Wrapped In Danger

You have no allies, you are alone even among friends, as an operative you must remember the only thing that matters is the mission. - Imperial Guard Field Manual

A word on Morley, never trust him or his progeny, they are all fruit from the same poisoned tree. I'd say don't trust me, but who else can you trust if not your guide to this foreign land. - Chronicles of Lorentino

"Leave us gentleman." Aldis Morley was a fat man with a sheen of sweat on his face. Rolando felt revulsion upon seeing him. His office was dimly lit, and it felt all too small. Rolando was like a feed creature being tossed in with a predator, he wanted so badly to shift out of the room. The mission demanded he stay, and so he did.

"If you wanted to see me sir you could have just asked when I was at work."

"You can lie to everyone else Mr. Whoeveryouare, but lying to me is insulting. I know you aren't Delorey, whoever did you up is good, but they missed something you probably don't disclose that often, you have an intricate set of runes on your bones. Must have been agonizing to acquire, but they let me know you have a connection I so want to know more about." Rolando cursed himself for forgetting his fathers handy work, the necromancy runes that helped keep him alive, may have doomed him.

"A connection?"

"I had to ask my father, I hate doing that, we don't get along under the best of circumstances and asking for his help is pure awful. But he told me that the runes are of a necromancy he hadn't ever seen practiced and knew of only one other person who even knew of it let along would be crazy enough to use it." Rolando cursed again, his father had definitely doomed him now.

"And that person is?"

"Do you really want me to draw this out? Why don't you just tell me why Trezlan is finally getting around to coming after us."

"He's not, he doesn't even know I'm here." Rolando had to come up with something fast. He didn't want to admit he was the son of Trezlan, on top of being the Morley's enemy he was a shifter, which has always been something the corporations love to study. The first parts of space travel were discovered by analyzing shifters or so the rumors went.

"And if not him than who do you work for?"

"Myself, I used a competitor to get in here because I have a grudge, there I want to kill your father." It was a desperation plea, the worst kind of lie that could be disastrous.

"You do? Well well well, that is intriguing." Aldis punched some buttons on a console and the Rolando heard locks rack home in the room. "And how do you propose doing that?"

More Interesting Lives

Always cooperate with the authorities. - Imperial Guard Field Manual

There is not a group of law enforcement I haven't been at odds with. They invent new ones and I invent new ways to be on their radar. -Chronicles of Lorentino

"Delorey I'm beginning to suspect you just can't get through your day without killing someone." Corporate police were always a bit more by the book than governmental authorities. It was because of the balancing act between corporations and the general populace. The corporations didn't want there to be rules, but realized it was better for competition if the other corporations had rules, so the rules that were there were strictly enforced.

"To be fair Agent Lonis I only shot the other people, I assumed they lived, these ones not so much." Nihls would be upset, he was always upset with Rolando, even more now because his cover if not blown was very much in trouble.

"Well you are a mercenary, and your paperwork is in order, but please respect normal process next time and don't kill people on the gods damned street. You're paid to fight wars and I get that, but don't do it in town." Lonis closed his file and the door opened.

"Free to go?"

"For now, but please be boring for a bit Mr. Delorey, take in a play or something, don't kill anyone see how it feels."

"I'll try that Agent Lonis, for you."

"Thank you Mr. Delorey." Rolando left and he almost didn't want to hear Nihls despite knowing the man would be screaming at him. He wondered if he killed Nihls and claimed someone else did it, would he really get in trouble or would everyone be thankful Nihls was gone? Rolando wasn't very far from the corporate authority area before he was stopped by Morlatech security, an entire van of them.

"Get in Delorey, we have to talk." It was an order not a question, Rolando for the first time wondered just how far over his head he actually was in the world of corporate espionage.

And Now A Respite

Some things you can eat you shouldn't eat. This is one of those life lessons you learn squatting down over a hole you hope something isn't going to emerge from emptying your bowels for what feels like the tenth time that day. It had been eight months since I and Luke had parted ways, it felt like years. He and I didn't talk, we had picked halves of the complex to explore and I swear I got the expired food half. I had been surviving the time spent down there, but I wouldn't say I'd been living. I couldn't' even take much joy in being able to read all the how's and whys.

Apparently the corruption wasn't a disease, or a world destroying event. No it was a change over of one government to another, and the new government didn't do things particularly well. My sight and learning was also nothing amazing, I had apparently stumbled into some kind of sensory experiment, quite amazing, but ultimately not like universe shattering. The sight was even fading, which made exploring a lot more of a pain in the ass in the under lit hallways. But really the hardest part was the food and the digesting. I was in the middle of evacuating my bowels when Hanlon arrived, or I thought it was Hanlon, again not in the best of minds.

"This is an interesting predicament."

"Are you the real Hanlon or have I hit that level of crazy so early."

"Now if I told you I was the real one you'd immediately doubt me, if I confirmed I was your madness you'd also think that was me playing a joke, you are at best impossible to deal with Trezlan and for that you'll just have to believe what you will." It was the most Hanlon answer ever.

"So what do you want?"

"I was looking for you, but I never imagined you'd get lost underground, I mean again, again, how many times is this for you?"

"Kind of busy right now, can you come back when I'm feeling better?"

"Oh sure, sorry to have bothered." He disappeared, and I wasn't quite sure if he was madness or the real one, and I had another four months of being lost before I could confirm either way. And I'm still not sure I made it out of being down there, even now I worry madness took over and I'm eating and shitting as I slowly lose what little is left of my mind down there in the dark.

Oh happy holidays if you celebrate any!

Who Believes in Labels? Certainly Not Me

Do not trust terrorists, their goals and yours might line up, their methods never will. - Imperial Field Guard Manual

One mans terrorist is definitely my next customer. - Chronicles of Lorentino

"Don't move." The man with the gun was named Aubry, Rolando felt that was an unfortunate name for such a big looking guy, but he didn't ask if that was the first or last name. There were four of them, dressed like sanitation workers, their overalls all had names on them, though he would learn those weren't their real names.

"Hadn't planned on it, nice weapons though a bit out of date." The pistols were definitely older models, and not even the expensive coveted type, the kind that told you they were the best this group could come by. Which told Rolando they weren't professionals at all.

"Shut up get against the wall." One of the men approached and got way too close for someone who was properly trained. Rolando could have disarmed him and killed the other two, but he wanted to see where this was going before taking an action against them. It was the Operative code, observe and report, but not intervene.

"Is it something I said?"

"Shut up corper." He'd heard the term before, he hadn't heard it directed at someone who pretty rank and file like himself, but maybe he looked higher up than he was? It was kind of funny that terrorists like he assumed these men were, had happened to find someone who was a spy for another organization.

"Fine fine I'll be quiet while rifle through my pockets." Rolando wasn't armed, the police had taken his pistol, but he knew if he needed to the four men wouldn't be difficult at all to kill.

"Vincent Delorey, you're listed as a mercenary."

"I prefer to think of myself as a free thinker." Rolando's back was still turned and he felt the blow hit him behind his left ear.

"Shut the fuck up corper." He marked it down in his brain, whoever struck him would regret it later.

"What my associate means, is that speak when spoken to." That was Aubrey again, he was clearly the leader. "So Delorey what do you do at Morlatech."

"Merc stuff." He waited half a second for the blow to hit and then shifted. The man who went to strike him hit the wall hard. He was behind Aubry who was not expecting it. Rolando grabbed his pistol and shot the other three before putting the barrel to Aubry's head.

"Wait wait what the fuck man we aren't who you think we are."

"Talk."

"They'll kill me."

"Spoken to the man with a gun behind your head."

"Aldis hired us, he wanted to know who you are."

"Aldis Morley?" Rolando half remembered it from a briefing he got on Morlatech, he was Morley's oldest son.

"Yes." Rolando fired the final gunshot, he could hear the police coming and didn't want the remaining person to suggest he was some magic user. Though Rolando was a bit miffed, this time he'd have to explain killing four people to the police which is slightly worse than shooting two.

I Wasn't Thinking I was Reacting

The danger is not being exposed, the danger is having the entire operation exposed. - Imperial Guard Field Manual

I never liked sneaking around, I figure problems are best hit head on with fire and necromancy, if I was going to have to kill someone better to have them know it well in advance, takes the guessing out of it. - Chronicles of Lorentino

"It was damned foolish." Nihls had made the rare personal appearance to chastise Rolando for shooting the mercs. Rolando didn't see the big deal, he figured an asshole like Delorey would have shot people who came to hurt him, but Nihls did not.

"I'm sorry next time men break into my apartment I'll just shift to beat them up, that's much easier to explain." Nihls shook his head and drank his beverage. They were in a small cafe, sitting near each other, but trying hard not to look like they were actually anything more than two men who happened to be having a conversation. Rolando had just gotten released by the authorities after they had certified his sequence of events was the most likely one based on evidence and testimony.

"You need to be more careful, you don't want to rock the boat."

"I'm not taking a beating to keep my cover."

"You might have to."

"Then you'll have to find a new gods damned gopher." Rolando got up to leave and Nihls didn't follow even if he wanted to as it would endanger Rolando's cover. Rolando was just tired of having to blend in for blending in sake, He didn't even know what the RIGS wanted him to do. He was a spy without a mission and he was getting tired of the lack of direction. He was also not really paying attention to where he was going and ended up in a dead end alley, when he turned around he was greeted by several people armed with pistols.

"Whoa hey whoa hey." It was the only thing he could think of saying, he was certain somewhere out there Trezlan smiled.

****

"Not exactly the best tasting food, but you know I've eaten worse." I had found what was kind of food, it was like a sludgey paste that was probably long expired, but since I needed to exist and other more flavorful sources had been exhausted it was either eat the paste or ask Luke what he was doing to keep living and I would be damned if I was going to do that. Midway through digesting I suddenly felt proud of Rolando, and I can't really explain why.

Not Hired Based On Intelligence

It's best to not think about your assignments as enemies, its best to think of them as gathering intelligence on friends. -Imperial Guard Field Manual

Everyone is my enemy, even when they are my friend, eventually things will turn south because they always do. - Chronicles of Lorentino

"Mr. Staber." The mister was the most derisive thing Aldis Morley said. Aldis was the oldest of the Morley children, not yet afflicted with his father's malady he was known to be centuries old and crueler with every year. Straber had made the mistake of wondering why he continued to employ Delorey, especially after Delorey had shot two of their own employees. Aldis had summoned Straber to his dark office and Straber knew his mistake by the cold way he'd been greeted.

"Sir I want to..."

"Piss me off by trying explain your behavior? Yes Mr. Straber I'm aware." Aldis was rather large, everyone though by his voice he'd be thin, but he was very much overweight and had a glisten of sweat on him. Straber thought in a different circumstance he'd feel pity and not fear for Aldis.

"I just don't understand why you want to keep Delorey, he shot two people, he's clearly not who he said he was."

"Precisely because he's not who he says he is, he's an operative for some group and I want to find out why and who and I can't do that if we kill him or cut him loose. If we expose this operative they might send someone more competent next time."

"So you want me to continue employing a spy?" Aldis looked more perturbed than when he started.

"I want you to follow orders, and I want you to stop fucking with my plan." Straber felt his face go flush he wanted to shout this fat idiot down, but he knew that would go poorly for him. However Aldis looked physically, magically he was dangerous Straber recalled the cleaning crews description of the man he replaced.

"Yes Sir."

"Now get out of here Straber, I'm tired of looking at you." Straber felt red in his face again, but he did as he was ordered. He couldn't get rid of Delorey, but that didn't mean he couldn't make things worse for him, Aldis be damned.

Bad People Come Calling

Never instigate a fight. These will either show you too competent to be who you are, or not competent enough. -Imperial Guard field manual.

I've never been in a fight I didn't intend on winning, which is not to say I won every fight, just saying I intended on winning prior to the conflict happening. - Chronicles of Lorentino

When they came for Rolando it was in the morning. He had known they would, he couldn't have pissed off that many people and expected to get away with it. He just was upset it ruined his morning. In all there were five of them, three of the people from the baby sitting, and two other guys he just rubbed the wrong way. They brute forced their way into his small apartment, not even bothering with an electronic lock pick. He was waiting, Rolando much like his father didn't sleep much, so he heard the commotion long before they got in.

"You'll be paying for that door right?" Not the best line he could come up with, but he thought it sounded dismissive enough to persuade them not to carry through on the rest of what they planned. If the line failed the pistol he was pointing at them was his next resort.

"Delorey why can't you just take this beating like a man." They were wearing masks, but he knew from body type generally who they were. Tral was the man who spoke first, he had a way of talking that spoke too many cigarettes.

"Because I'm not a man, now leave my apartment before I call the authorities to report a shooting." Tral came forward and Rolando put a bullet through his shoulder that also hit the man behind him in the upper abdomen. The gun shot was loud, Rolando couldn't really hear very well from the ringing, but the body language of the attackers showed they were surprised he'd fired on them. The authorities would be on the way they knew, so they beat a hasty retreat taking their wounded with them. Rolando waited for the police and tried to think of something to tell Nihls that would result in his nasally whining.

New Assignment More Anxiety

New assignments are a key sign you have been accepted, you should welcome new work as a way to build your cover - Imperial Guard Field Manual

There is never a job worth doing that I haven't already quit on. - Chronicles of Lorentino

It was glorified baby sitting. Rolando wasn't at ease, but he at least felt that while he was watching over the daughter of some executive they wouldn't have him killed. The assignment seemed a step down from checking peoples security clearances, but Straber impressed upon him the nature of the assignment and the need for a quality person to do it. He did so with swearing and complaining Rolando didn't do enough, but that was just Straber being Straber.

At least he wasn't watching the exec's daughter by himself. He was part of a larger team of four people. His job was to be overwatch, basically make sure everyone else was doing their job. In theory he was also supposed to kill threats that no one else saw, but mostly it meant he watched from an elevated position while everyone else had to do shopping and make sure no one bothered the exec's daughter. He was bored to tears by the work, but he knew he had to do the job well to continue infiltrating Morlatech whatever good that was doing the Imperial Military. Rolando didn't want to directly question orders, but he was confused by his purpose in working for the enemy as it were. He hadn't filed any reports, and wasn't ordered to do any kind of espionage. He was just working for Morlatech and reporting on the dumb things they did. It didn't seem very subversive at all. Trezlan no doubt would have some how blown up the building at the very least.

"Where is she?" Rolando was snapped from his revelry by comms chatter from the other guards. They had lost the girl, or at least had broken visual contact, he could still see her she was walking away from her chaperones with an older man, but it looked friendly to him.

"Down the hallway from you guys a bit, older man grey beard."

"Why didn't you say something Delorey?"

"I did just now."

"Asshole." He didn't know who was talking, the other 3 men sounded alike and looked pretty much like clones. He watched as they swarmed the older man and then attacked him. It was weird, he didn't know exactly why they were watching the daughter, but apparently the old guy had done something wrong and was getting a beating for doing it.

"Next time Delorey if there is a gods damned next time, let us know in advance if the target wandered off."

"Right because that's my job and not yours."

"Come down and say that to my face asshole!" Rolando admitted he enjoyed being Delorey, if only because he could be an asshole and get away with it for the most part.

"If I were you I'd watch your target and not worry about me doing my job." That shut whoever it was up. There would be consequences eventually, but Rolando knew he could probably deal with them. And again it would help build his cover to get into it with others, if only because Mercs weren't known for holding their tempers. Still Rolando was a little worried how easily he would be an asshole, he worried he was becoming more like his father than he wanted to admit to.

Everything's Fine, Which Means Its Not

Never at any point do anything to compromise and operation, if things are good keep them good. - Imperial Guard field manual.

The more comfortable I am someplace, the more dangerous it has to be. - Chronicles of Lorentino

Rolando was on edge. He'd been working for morlatech a week, and he knew something was wrong. Sensed it in his blood. He never really put much belief in the Lorentino awareness his father advocated for, but he just knew things were up. The work just felt off, like too safe and out of the way to be a real mercenary posting, especially for someone low in the organization like he was. Especially an asshole like Delorey. Rolando should have been metaphorically shoveling shit (or even literally) and yet he was basically on lab duty, checking Id's and making sure technicians weren't doing anything against company code. Nihls was through the roof on the assignment, it was the kind of thing they wanted him to work towards and here he was off the jump with access to the labs.

"Morning Mr. Delorey." It was Simpson the administrator, he always said good morning in the most cheerful way, Rolando suspected he was a horrific monster if only because no one should be that happy all the time.

"Adminstrator Simpson." Rolando didn't have to be a gruff asshole, but he figured it best to keep everyone at a distance, lest anyone suspect he's not the real Delorey because he had cream in his coffee or something.

"Have a pleasant weekend?" Simpson was around too long, Rolando subtly looked around, he suspected something was up.

"No, my girlfriend wouldn't return my calls." Rolando had no girlfriend, but he figured it best to have had love trouble, no one wants to talk to a dude who's bitching about a spouse.

"That's a shame, hope things get better." Simpson left and Rolando was now wondering what that meant.

"Delorey what are you doing?" Straber had proven to be a micromanaging asshole, which meant Rolando didn't have to feign hating dealing with him.

"Checking people through?" Straber would constantly call in for status check ups and it confused Rolando since not only was he on video, he was personally wearing an id tracker that let Straber know at all times where he was.

"Get up here, I got work for you." Now Rolando really was afraid. First Simpson, and now Straber, shit was about to go down and he only hoped he could get in front of it.

Everything Looks To Be Fine

"When you are discovered do your best to escape, any time trying to reestablish your cover is time wasted in getting away."-Imperial Guard field manual.

"There has never been a situation that I talked myself into I couldn't talk myself out of, except for all the times I couldn't."-Chronicles of Lorentino

Facing down men with rifles it took everything in Rolando's will to not shift out of there. Nihls was practically screaming for him to do it. He knew differently though, it wasn't possible they had seen through his disguise, this was a test, it had to be. Everything in his Lorentino blood told him to just stand his ground and play his hand.

"What is this shit?" Indignant was the best tack he could take. The men with rifles didn't flinch, but Straber seemed to falter a little bit, either doubt or something else getting into him.

"We need to know who you are, because you aren't Vincent Delorey."

"And how did you come to that conclusion?" Straber seemed confused as to why Rolando was fighting it. Like he'd just accept he wasn't Delorey and come clean immediately. Rolando almost wanted to smile, he even quieted the screeching Nihls was doing in his ear. The men with rifles relaxed, Straber himself seemed to listen to another voice and then waved them off.

"Sorry about that Delorey we had to be sure."

"Sure of what? That I'm me? What kind of weird bullshit is this?" Rolando knew he had to sell the outrage, when people were testing you, being all too willing to let bygones be bygones means you're not who you say you are.

"No need to be affronted no damage was done."

"You almost had me executed in an office and I'm the one who's being too hung up on it?"

"You want the job or not."

"Its not a question of want, but need, but if you pull this shit on me again Straber we're going to throw down you understand that." Straber nodded, he was cowed by Rolando, it was the power position for him and he felt confident in exercising it. Rolando felt a lot better about the infiltration now.

****

"And Mr. Straber, let the fool think he's won, we need to find out who he's working for." The voice in Straber's ear was one he'd never heard before, but instantly regretted hearing.

Nihls To Meet You

"Trust is important, an operator must trust their handler implicitly and follow their instructions to the letter the operators life might depend on it."- Imperial Guard Field Manual

"The only person I trust is myself, and even then only half way, I've been known to screw myself for short term gains at the expense of long term thinking." Chronicles of Lorentino

"Just remember why we're here." Nihls was in Rolando's head, the sub dermal communication set up was top notch, but it still felt weird to Rolando. Rolando was currently sitting in front of a corporate representative who was viewing his application for corporate security. Rolando was wearing a cheap suit and was clean shaven, trying to sell the illusion of the fake corporate mercenary he was selling himself as.

"So Mr. Delorey what do you think you can bring to Morlatech?"It was to laugh for Rolando to be assigned to infiltrate the company of his fathers enemy, but in a way hurting Morley seemed like a very Lorentino think to do.

"I need work, you guys pay well." Vincent Delorey had been killed to set up this cover, he was a piece of shit according to Nihls, but Rolando felt a slight pang of guilt that a man had to die for him even if he didn't kill him himself. The executive snorted at his answer, the kind of response that didn't appreciate the bluntness to it.

"Do you even know what we do here?"

"Make money?" Rolando wanted to be a little more tactful, Nihls had assured him that nothing about Delorey was tactful. The interviewer did not like any of his answers and Rolando felt Nihls had for whatever reason purposefully lead him astray.

"Wait here." The interviewer got up and Rolando wanted to shift out of there, he didn't feel safe in the tiny office, and now that the only person in it was leaving, he felt even less safe.

"Swear to gods Nihls if you screwed me you better hope they kill me."

"A little faith, they are checking your background right now, and the genetic modification we did on you makes you indistinguishable from the real Delorey, his parents couldn't even tell the difference." Rolando didn't like the gene modding, his skin itched in a way that could never be satisfied among other issues. The interviewer returned and he had another man with him, bigger than he was and dressed in a uniform that denoted rank.

"Captain Straber, this is Delorey." Straber held out his hand and Rolando shook it. Firm and strong, Straber was doing the usual dick waving contest of trying to out muscle the other person in a hand shake. Rolando did his best to respond in kind to sell the Delorey cover.

"Welcome aboard Delorey." The man had a smile Rolando didn't like, something in it made him alarmed.

"See I told you you were freaking out about nothing." Rolando got up to follow Straber out of the room and was met by five men with rifles.

"Now Delorey tell us who you really are before we blast you into the next world."

"Fucking Nihls." It was the only thing he could think of.

Motihater

Hate is a strong motivator. Rolando hated training. He hated everyone he trained with. There were four other operatives at the course and they all were hateable. Their handlers were nicer looking than Nihls, they didn't have a stupid name, and they all signed up and weren't press ganged into it like Rolando. He spent the moments not buried in mud or doing a physical task that seemed the opposite of espionage just sitting on his cot hating everyone. He also found hating himself was the easiest hate of all. That he had let things get this bad, let Trezlan and his life get him to the point that he can't enjoy alcohol anymore or make his own decisions. He could have left, could have just shifted out of the area and continued on enjoying being a useless person, but the hate wanted to be slaked, it thirsted to show everyone else he wasn't the screw up they all knew he was. So he stayed, and persevered, and took the beatings and the physical punishment. He didn't know what it had to do with espionage but his tormenters certainly seemed to think it did.

Two other operatives didn't make it. They tapped out unable to keep up, he didn't know what happened to them. He assumed they resumed service they were already apart of. Rolando didn't want to admit it, but he had no where else to go. So the hate and fear of what would happen without it kept him there. Eventually the physical abuse abated and the training began. Weapons training, lock picking, and electronic warfare were all covered. Rolando was crap at the lock picking, but figured shifting could save him there, he was surprisingly adapt at the electronic stuff much to the chagrin of Nihls who did not appreciate the not so subtle message he kept leaving on his work station.

It took six months, but eventually Rolando was finished with his orientation. He and two other operatives were officially recommissioned in a secret ceremony. The royal guard wouldn't acknowledge who they were or what they were to do should they be caught. Death before dishonor was stressed. He was given some money, changes of clothing, small arms and a mission. It was the most purpose he'd had in about a year, years if he was being honest with himself. And still behind it all like a puppet master orchestrating a grand show, his hate festered and waited.

Why Don't You Handle Me Over a Drink

"Your information is out of date. I'm not in the military, I don't have handlers." Rolando tried to move against the restraints and found it difficult. He didn't exactly like his second enlistment so far.

"Its up to date, Commander Rolando Lorentino, espionage division." That was a surprise, his former job had been retrieval, and now he was to be a spy? He also noticed he'd been promoted in his absence, apparently failing up was still a thing.

"Commander?"

"I'm shocked you weren't more concerned with espionage." Nihls had a smug look that Rolando couldn't stand, but he didn't want to give the man the satisfaction to know he was right that being a spy was the more surprising revelation.

"Well I'd tell you why I'm not surprised, but then I'd have to kill you."

"At least you have your humor." Nihls pressed something and Rolando was brought to a standing position still strapped down.

"I'm still confused why a wash out like myself is back in the military, if you are doing this to get something from my father, I can't tell you where he is, I helped him kill a god, that's all I know." Nihls reacted like a bad fart had hit the room.

"No this is not about Trezlan Lorentino, this is about the opportunity you yourself provide the Royal military. As you say you're a wash out, someone known for being poor at both military and mercenary service, quite a mark of distinction for someone as young as yourself, usually it takes someone a lifetime to be listed as big of a fuck up as you are Commander."

"I try my best."

"Which makes you perfect for espionage, the corporate sector has gotten bold, but per our pact we can't openly move against them, and so we will not openly move against them. The plan is to send in agents like yourself to gather intelligence and if necessary terminate operations that risk the Empire."

"And if I say no?"

"Then we'll kill you, and before you think about saying yes and returning to your drinking ways, while you were out we injected you with a virus, it doesn't do much only makes the taste of alcohol unpleasant enough you'll retch immediately." Nihls smiled at that and Rolando really didn't like him.

"Well when you put it like that, why don't you sign me up for this espionage work, I mean the benefits sound amazing." Rolando just wanted to be free, he'd figure out what to do about the alcohol virus afterwards, but he knew just knew he had to get out of the restraints.

"Glad to know you're on board and not just saying something to be taken out of the restraints. Sadly my superiors don't feel that way so you'll still have to go through Orientation."

"I don't like the way you phrased that."

"You'll like the orientation even less." Nihls snapped his fingers and the tray was returned to the laying down position and unseen people were moving Rolando to his next destination. Presumably "orientation" though he could tell just from the rough way he was being tranported he probably would not like it.

The Worst Hang Over Cure Ever

The world was spinning. Rolando couldn't remember what he drank, but he definitely didn't like the feeling he was in right now. It had been an eventful evening, he had gotten fired/quit from the shit squad. It was a mutual decision based on his drinking and not giving a shit, but he felt it necessitated drinking pretty heavily as an act of celebration separating himself from the mercenary life. But now looking up at a skylight in a building he didn't remember entering Rolando was regretting the decision immensely.

"Awake now Mr. Lorentino?" The name tag on his uniform read Nihls, pronounced Nyles he would later tell Rolando at length. Rolando didn't like him, and not just because of the smug tone in his voice. It was the little pointy white facial hair, it always seemed so manicured and polite, completely at odds with how Nihls himself was.

"Nihls? who what?"

"Nyles actually, but that's not important, what is important is that you are here." Rolando looked down now and noticed he was strapped in on a kind of gourney. The skylight overhead was part of a facility. He couldn't shift, but he didn't know if that was the drunk or some actual thing preventing him from doing it. Ever since he'd been on the benders his shifting ability had been severely limited.

"Where is here? And who are you?"

"Sanctuary, and I'm your new Handler commander, its nice to meet you." Rolando sighed, he was barely awake and already wanted to be drunk again.

Odds of Survival Great

"You know we can probably live down here for years if I find some kind of food paste." We were exploring again, hadn't necessarily found anymore creatures, but hadn't found a way out either. Though to be honest considering how a glassing effects a planet, even if we could go top side, I didn't know if I wanted to be up there.

"That is a terrible thing to say Trezlan."

"What you find my company so offensive."

"Yes, you're a terrible companion, when you aren't lost in your own thoughts, you tell these horrible stories that you apparently find hilarious, but I find horrifying." I was hurt by Luke, but he wasn't exactly wrong, I've known for years I'm the worst to hang around for any extended period of time. It's why I'm not shocked Rolando treats me like he does, and that my wife died of exposure (ok it wasn't exposure, but when I'm feeling plenty sad for myself this is what I imagine it was).

"Well maybe I don't need you either Luke, why don't you go explore for a way out that way and I'll explore this way and if we never see each other again this has been horrible and all your fault." I walked off in a huff and Luke did as well. It was probably stupid for him since I understood the language and he did not, but rational thinking had fled hours before and so irrational thinking was the method for the day.

Thinking back on it, if only Luke and I knew at the time we were going to be under the ground for a year, we might have had been a little nicer to each other. Probably not, but you know these are the things you think of in hind sight.

Don't Say Doomed, Say Not Particularly Safe

"So we're screwed." Luke took the cynical side to things, I mean I know I had as well, but he was more cynical, his cynical was worse you see for reasons I don't have to tell you because there. But I was not going to go out like that. I always find a way out of things, even if that way out is over a two headed potentially immortal insect creature. First I had to had to have a shitty plan that should never work. That would be a start as it was always a start for me.

"You need to calm down Luke I have a plan just wait." I didn't have a plan, but I figured given enough time I would come up with one, probably. I just had to run through the motions first, because that's what guys like me do, we take a minute to think of all the good plans, throw those out and just go with whatever sounds like it would be least terrible. First I needed a trap, since we wanted to kill the creature I knew necromancy would be my go to (because necromancy against an unknown foe works better when you've got time to apply it most of the time... Look I didn't use it earlier because I panic'd when fire failed, ok there you got me ARE YOU HAPPY!?)

I drew my ritual circle large, infused it with plenty of my own blood as well because I knew I needed to do those things so that it would be powerful. Luke didn't want to know what I was doing because he could guess it was bad (and he wasn't wrong, I was using some top tier awful necromancy, like spells I don't normally use if only because if they go bad they go real bad). It took me the better part of an hour to make sure it was ready, and then I went to the door to open it. Right before the two headed monster came crashing through. I guess in all the time it had spent before blocked by the door it had figured out it could get through it (I noticed ever so briefly some slimey fluid on the door, perhaps it barfed up stomach acid to weaken the door? In which case very clever monster!)

I ran for my rune trap, the monster was fast, but I was faster (all that size slowed it down). It hit the spell dead on and kept on trucking which scared me pretty badly, until upon reaching the end of the circle its flesh was ripped clean from its body. It died over the course of an hour. Me and Luke were gone before it's final breaths but we could hear its wails from well far away.

"You're sick Trezlan."

"I had no idea it would do that, I must have crossed some runes up, but you know successful right?" Callous I admit, but when you win, you win! You don't take that back! So a horrible monster took an hour to die in agony, better it then us right?

Two Mouths, Because One isn't Scary Enough

It was at least twenty feet tall, and it had two mouths next to each other (I'm guessing one throat? Why two mouths? I swear people who design creatures are insane). The body was mostly insectoid which is probably how it stayed alive all these years, it had some kind of hibernation cycle or something? All I know is that when it came stalking our way Luke ran and I decided to burn it. I mean what was the worst that could happen? Oh I set it on fire and it kept coming.

Yes the worst that could happen was that I didn't kill the creature and it was now on fire coming after us. Fire normally doesn't fail me, but today it did, it failed me badly. I ran after Luke as the creepy on fire double mouthed bug creature chased after us. It was a shame really because we passed by a lot of interesting things as we ran, I wish I could have stopped to look at them, but no the creature wanted to eat us and so we had to flee (why not use necromancy Trezlan? Because it was on fire you fool!) We ran past a hallway and into a larger room I worked the door console to shut the door right before the two headed monster got there. The door was a heavy one, probably a security door for the previous occupants and kept the creature at bay, it slammed futilely into it before stomping off somewhere else.

"Well that was horrifying."

"Right? Why even make something like that?" At least fear seemingly made Luke temporarily forget all the dread.

The new room we'd entered appeared to be a lab of some kind, probably where they made the two faced creature of doom. I didn't see anything else in the room thank the gods. But there were plenty of horrifying things in the room. All kinds of tanks with body parts in them, and medical tools I didn't want to know how they got used. We didn't see any bodies in here, or any indication of combat like other parts of the facility. Whatever had happened out there had apparently not gotten to this part of the area. There was a smell though.

It was hard to say what it was. Like decaying flesh that had been left to linger for far too long. The room was so big we couldn't necessarily see what was causing the smell, but the further we went the more prevalent it became. Eventually we came to the end of the room and found the source of the smell. Bodies, so many bodies, all of the people who had obviously fled in the lab and gotten trapped had gone out in some kind of orgy of violence and horribleness. I guess it was better than getting eaten? But it didn't inspire confidence in Luke and mine's ability to get out of the lab/complex alive.

Not like there would have been a lot of confidence in that anyway! What can I say I'm a cynic at heart when I'm stuck in underground alien facilities.

Something Terrible, Like Any Other Day

The facility we had entered had been overrun. I couldn't tell how long since the overruning, but there were ancient dead bodies, signs of combat and the flashing screens warning people of containment breach were everywhere. Of course Luke could only see the bodies, he didn't read the screens, but I'm pretty sure the language of be afraid is obvious even if you don't speak the language. We didn't really say anything, there wasn't anything to say, we had left one awful situation and entered potentially another. I was trying my best to look over things, figure out exactly what kind of containment got breached. Luke seemed just too frightened/sorrowful to be of much use to me so I mostly forgot he was there.

"What happened here?" I was actually startled, I had forgotten Luke for so long, him speaking shook me out of my revelry. I was reading a report on the corruption when he spoke, apparently the facility we were at was some kind of biological research facility. The containment breach was the creatures had gotten free. I couldn't tell if this was because of that corruption or not.

"It was some kind of bio lab, creatures here broke free, killed most of the whatever these bodies are." I hadn't gotten a name on the remaining creatures. Or why they were so deep in the ground and had some kind of empowering room above me. Like I was just rolling with the changes to me, I hadn't even stopped to think about what that all meant.

"Are the creatures still around?"

"I wouldn't think so, I mean hundreds perhaps thousands of years have passed here. No one in the galaxy remembers these people, that should tell you everything you need to know about if anything is still alive here." Of course I didn't tell him that some of experiments they were working on was extending life and how the creatures might have like entered stasis following killing their creators. I left that unsaid, why ruin a potential surprise?

"At least we still have air."

"Yeah oxygen production is still on going which is nice, though slightly alarming, why would this species also breathe the same stuff as what we do?" There were a lot of things like that that had me slightly alarmed, like most of the consoles and such were the same height as a regular person. This species whoever they were looked to be mostly humanoid from the corpses we found. Like bones and skin that looked just like us. I started to wonder if they died out or were we somehow their descendants. I didn't have much time to puzzle that out though, Luke was insistent we find our way out of the facility, and I didn't want to be wrong about the creatures that could still be there so I didn't exactly disagree with him. We were turning down a hallway when I stopped dead in my tracks, I could see something ahead Luke couldn't and figured it best to just go a different route.

"Why aren't we going this way?"

"No reason, no reason, lets just, yeah lets just keep going this way." Luke was halfway turned when the creature appeared from down the hallway and let out a shriek from its double mouths.

"You said...."

"I said they were probably dead... probably..." No one understands a proper probably!

Not All Exits Are Marked Properly

As interesting as it would be to die alone underground for a few days (alone you say? Yeah I'd kill Luke to stay alive I thought that was a given) I knew I had to find a way out. Clearly the way in was a bust, but that didn't mean we were trapped. I mean we were trapped, but we didn't have to stay that way. My hope was the most obvious one. The spiders had not found the proper entrance to the chamber we were in, which meant there had to be a proper entrance in, I just had to find it (you'd think with the sight I had that would be easy, but alas when you're in a panic everything looks like panic).

It's like when you're looking for your keys, you get so dialed into finding your keys you miss that they've been in your pocket the whole time. I was so wrapped up in finding the exit I didn't notice it was underneath us the entire time (also I didn't think to go down to get out, because geometrically that makes zero sense, as if I know anything about geometrics). So despite having air and in theory food (again sorry Luke you're just a meal if I need it). I just read a bunch of stuff in my increasingly panic'd mind and then finally looked down and noticed we were standing in an elevator chamber as such. I was basically panicking in the lobby of whatever the underground complex was. I actually hit the down button by accident. One moment I was reading about going down, and then the next we were actually descending. It caught Luke by surprise as well.

"It feels like we're going down."

"Because we are."

"So you found a way out?"

"Well a way out or a way to our damnation, remember this race was wiped out by corruption, this could be a like a holding facility for that corruption, so we might be descending into a worse place." Luke looked at me with a slight bit of anger.

"You just have to ruin everything."

"My son says the same thing."

Oblivion Wouldn't Be So Bad

The light in the chamber at least kept us aware we were alive. Being in total darkness makes you think you died and you just don't know it yet. I mean I could see things, see through things, but Luke couldn't, so the light was at least reassuring for him. I mean if he would have stopped crying it would have been reassuring, but I guess being told your whole family just blown up probably not that reassuring. I admit at this point I think the chamber was messing with my morality, but I've always been a callous dick. That whole millions are a statistic, but cutting my finger is a tragedy.

"Well you brought food, so at least we can last a few days, though oxygen deprivation will kill us long before starvation, so you know that's good." I tried to reassure Luke, it sadly did not work very well.

"So this is that corruption you were talking about?" It had been a couple hours since he had spoken, I had gone back to trying to read all the language.

"Oh no, this is an asshole who was trying to kill me, possibly did kill me? I can't be sure, but I'm pretty these tablets are not talking about Morley trying to kill me."

"So this is all your fault?" I could hear the anger, maybe I shouldn't have casually mentioned that it was indeed my fault. I mean I didn't want to have to kill Luke and spend my last days alone, but I would do what I needed to should I need to. Which is the nice way of saying I'd kill him if I even thought he'd try and do something marginally bad to me.

"You don't blame the victim when someone tries to kill them, you blame the people who did the attempted killing." It was weird to see this calmed Luke (I had now tapped into some kind of spiritual vision? I dunno that chamber was weird and I could see and do things I have since lost the ability to), but I at least was assured he didn't want to kill me.

"Can we survive?"

"Probably not, but I've been wrong before, right now I can do things I've never been able to do before, given enough time, maybe the right words, I can get us out of here and then..."

"And then what?"

"And then I find Morley and rip his wretched heart out of his chest and stomp on it while he watches." Enlightenment for me is like honing a blade of hate. I feel best when I have a direct source for my vitriol. I'd have felt bad the chamber makers had gifted such a broken creature with their gifts, but I don't feel bad about just about anything, so why start now?

Probably We're Doomed, Probably

"What? What did you do?" Luke dropped the food he'd been carrying, I turned to look at him, but my eyes were so sore from searching text and tablets I could barely make him out from all the language around me. It was like being drunk except my drink was knowledge and I was now swimming in it. Like most of my experience with excess I'm not good at it. So of course I had given myself almost wholely to the knowledge I was lost in.

"I'm reading, so much knowledge, an entire society destroyed by corruption, or The Corruption, its hard to really understand what's specifically the problem, I'm getting there though, maybe." Luke could just look at the room and then back at me with my half crazed look and I think assume I had actually become corrupted and that I was now spouting nonesense. Totally wrong, but I'm sure I looked more than a little crazed.

"I think I made a mistake Mr. Lorentino."

"Yeah I don't like my coffee without creamer in it, black is terrible why would you even bring it."

"How did you even?" I was about to tell him because I could see the liquid, but I could also see through his body. And I knew that maybe just maybe Luke had made a mistake and that whatever else the chamber was it was altering me as a person at least temporarily. I looked up and could see beyond the chamber, I could see to the buildings and people above, and the stars beyond them, and then I saw ships. A lot of ships, and they were opening fire.

"Get down." I dropped to my knees and Luke just stood there looking at me confused until the first impact shook the chamber. There were more, I could see them as they killed everyone above us. The entire world was getting "glassed" a lovely term for Orbital bombardment. Personally I was sad the antiques I had brought were destroyed, such a waste of old world relics I was going to over charge for. The actual glassing was over in a minute or so, but for me it felt like forever, watching everyone die without really knowing what was happening was heart wrenching. Equally as bad was seeing that the blasts had sealed me and Luke into the chamber, we were now trapped.

"What happened?"

"Someone just killed us, the just made sure it would take longer than usual."

It's Ok That's How You Read Language

I had my translation programs working overtime, they weren't coming up with much, but seeing the little lights flashing made me think I was doing something. I also had my tome of ancient interpretations out. The book didn't really help me, since none of the language it had in it corresponded with anything on the stone, but I was hoping something similar would spark something in my head. I dunno really I was just hoping if I stared at a bunch of different languages something would work out. I was about to just throw my work down in a huff when a word came through in my head.

"Day" I don't know how I read it, or even spotted it. But day was there on the stone, all over the stone, I could see day I could see the word. I put that into my translation program and soon enough more words were showing up. I couldn't be sure if it was the program or some connection to the light stone, but I could read like I'd never been able to read before.

From what I could understand the stone was a warning. Some kind of evil or corruption. The people who wrote the stone explained how they tried to work with it. Hoped to understand it and have it cooperate with them, only for whatever it was to turn on them. Slowly bending and twisting them to it's ways. I was still working on translations, because some of it didn't make any sense. Like I struggled with the concepts of how this species talked of itself. I couldn't be sure if the thing that destroyed their society was internal or an external source. Also I wasn't entirely sure why the Object was buried in the ground and who the warning was meant for.

I had the fever then, I needed to know everything about the object. I needed to know everything about the people who made it. I didn't even notice I'd opened it up and it was no longer and obelisk and was instead a very large tablet. The room had also gotten lighter, and writing was all over the walls. I didn't notice these things, but Luke who had come down to see if I needed food did, and he screamed in terror.

Which was an odd way to react to enlightenment, but people who aren't me tend to react negatively to new things...

Well I'm not Omniscient Probably

"Come again?" Luke seemed incredulous, I just shrugged.

"No clue, this isn't something I know, or can even process. It's not a language I know, or even one related to it. This is terrifying really." I didn't understate that, it was legit scary that I could not read something, because that's never happened in a long time.

"Is it dangerous?" Luke was hanging back by the entrance, his previous confidence as shaken as my own.

"Probably not? Maybe? I don't know, I don't see bodies in here, but I don't see any kind of work done by the spiders either, someone found this chamber and then didn't do anything."

"Not inspiring confidence."

"I apologize Detective Therod, you showed me a chamber of light written in a language I can't understand, this is a new thing for me." I was trying though, like really wracking my brain to figure out what the language was. I knew I had some stuff that could help, but I almost felt compelled to stay.

"What do you want to do?"

"I have some things in my shop, a couple tablets and a book with a circular sigil with a lightning bolt in it, bring them to me."

"Can't you go get them?"

"No, I need to stay here, I'm compelled to stay here." I couldn't see his face, but I could tell it wasn't a happy one when he said he'd get my things. I had to worry of course that he'd find something he shouldn't have, but my mind was on the object. And it was starting to speak to me, which was something I should have been worried about, but you know I make some mistakes from time to time. I mean I'm not a god... probably, and they screw up all the time so what chance do I have?

I Feel Like I've Done This Before, Several Hundred Times

"We found it mopping up the spiders, at first we thought it was just another weird spider temple, but this is something else." The Detective was actually a Therod, which made sense, but damn it why do they all have to be involved in awful things. Like Therod's entire descendants seem wrapped up in various forms of law enforcement, and a lot of them have died tragically over the years. The detective was Luke Therod, mostly an orphan his family killed years ago during some kind of mob war. He didn't really go over it much other than to explain my name got passed around the old family tree as someone to come to if everything falls to shit and I'm your last resort. It was kind of sweet really that I made such an impact on at least one branch of her family.

"Just burn everything, its probably the lair of one of those death god things, entirely susceptible to fire." We were descending now, the air didn't smell foul like I assumed it would, which made my previous assumption probably incorrect.

"We found the remains of one those, but no that wasn't this. This is something entirely unique." I was amazed at how quickly they set up lights and such, until I realized the excavation wasn't done by them. They only found it, the spiders had been digging up the site well before Luke and crew stumbled upon it. We came out of a narrow passage into a bigger room that was bathed in light. The walls radiated it, it was hard to see from the darkened corridor leading up to it. In the center of the chamber was a stone made of a metal I'd never seen before covered in a language I couldn't discern.

"So Mr. Lorentino with your experience what do we have here." I stood there in the chamber of light running my hand over the language just taking it all in.

"I have literally no idea."

I Don't Feel This Is Important

The police station was mostly in disarray. The spiders had hit it pretty hard and I could see that cleaning up wasn't so much a priority as just getting back to functional. I was directed to an interview room that had blood in it, dried blood, but blood all the same. I assumed it was from the war, but you never can be sure with rural police on sub planets. Upon entering the room they took my wrist restraints off and told me to wait. I did, because I'm always for law and order up until the point I get jailed, that's where I try and get the balls out of there, not doing another long prison stint if I can avoid it.

"Sorry for the wait Mr. Lorzo? Did I say that right?" The man was in a crisp suit, it stood in stark relief to the rest of everything else in the department.

"Yes you said it right." I of course never use my real name anymore, its a shame really, I made up an awesome one and have to use lesser not as awesome varieties.

"Mr. Lorzo, you were found over the body of Bob Links, is this correct?"

"Should I have my lawyer present." Ignoring of course I am my own lawyer, ignore that I have spent long tracks in prison please.

"Should you? Mr. Links was clearly dead by your hand, and dying of some kind of wasting disease. Officers also noted your clothing had what appeared to be a bullet hole with blood, but no actual injury appeared on your actual shoulder."

"Are you implying something untoward happened to Mr. Links and that I somehow benefited?" The detective who I noticed did not give his name and I saw no badge smiled.

"Cut the shit Lorentino, I know who and what you are." Pretenses dropped I smiled in kind.

"And yet I sit here without shackles, so either you think I'm useful or you realize your limited ability to contain me would not help you in the long run."

"Courtesy, you see what I have to work with, you see how this place is. I see you are moving in to set up shop, which means you are most likely going to be arranging illegal arm sales, and before you complain do not insult my intelligence. I don't care really, we're a small planet and the additional traffic will help everyone, but what I do care about is shit like this. Outward necromancy is bad for public perception, and I can't have people knowing I'm letting you operate without getting something in return."

"You want a financial kick back?" He laughed.

"Gods no, what I need is much more important, I need your help with a problem that is only getting worse by the minute." I sighed.

"Sure what's the worst that can happen, I mean its not like I can cause a second spider war."

"Or a second Red one." The detective smiled again and lead me out of the interview room. I hate smart people, they always get me to do dumb things.

I Feel Like We Got Off To A Wrong Murder

"Did you hear what I said?" The man with the gun and bad ink reiterated his demand for money despite the fact most people pay with things electronically. I mean robbers know that, they know this, and yet like the setting sun, they still act like gods damned idiots. It's almost like someone who holds people up for money isn't very smart.

"I heard it and you're very scary, but I just opened, how would I have money on hand as if people would pay me in hard currency to begin with." To me it seemed a logical 'go rob someone else' stance. He pulled the hammer back on his pistol and I lost my patience immediately.

"Give me money or you'll..."

"Die? How would you kill me? With your gun? With your tiny little gun? Do you think it can kill me? Do you think you can kill me? ME?!" I shouldn't have been surprised he shot me, I mean I was, but I shouldn't have been. The bullet hit me in the shoulder, it destroyed my clavicle which if you've never been shot in the clavicle it hurts like you would not believe. He was shouting more at me, I couldn't make out what he was really saying because of the pain and the loud gunshot, but he was really insistent I pay attention to him.

"DON'T FEEL SO TOUGH NOW DO YOU!?" The shouting felt really rude, but I believe he probably deafened himself, so he probably couldn't hear well either. I've never been one to taunt someone I was going to kill (ok that's a lie I totally do) but I'd really be cautious about taunting someone like me who is a vengeful dick with the powers of necromancy and the subtlety of a hundred pound sledge hammer. I spit on his foot and he went to shoot again, but the magic was already working on him. Traveling up his arm I heard his own shoulder snap just as mine repaired itself (which still hurt, good lord necromantic magic is like the shitty aunt of medicine). He fell to his knees and the gun hit the floor.

"Actually I'm feeling better." The look of agony on his face helped the pain I was in (and see how I lie I didn't even make it to the next line before I insulted someone dying...)

"What are y..." The gunshot ended his suffering, which was nicer than I thought I had to be. I was about to wonder what I was going to do with the body when the local authority came bursting through my door to see me standing over a dead body that was withering before their very eyes. 

"Ok so this looks bad."

A Lorentino's Work Is Never Done

"Are you sure this is wise?" SiC didn't like my new store front. He didn't like the idea of me having just being open for business, but SiC didn't have the desire to sell things in his soul like I did, he was also a robot and not even a he. I digress. The store was my first priority. I picked an out of the way planet recovering from the spider attacks and managed to get cheap real estate (because the previous owner died, no I didn't kill him god you people and your assertions).

"I need you guys to build a new ship, that takes time and resources, time I got, resources I don't."

"You understand the kind of economics we need will not be supplied by one small storefront correct?"

"I have forgotten more about economics than your processing units can run. Trust me this shop will make the funds I need." Robots don't have derision in their voices, but I could hear it in SiC's its ok he didn't need to know that my store front was mainly a front for my illegal arms sales. I mean I'm sure he'd clue in eventually with the kind of money I normally make, but I figured post spider war everyone would want illicit arms, and I was generally never wrong. And Hanlon would need to expand his gun selling once again, for whatever good it does him, he always seemed to gain power from it somehow.

"Yes sir, we'll begin construction as you instructed, I'll update you on what we need. And sir, good luck seriously."

"Thank you SiC, I'll not need luck though." I was encouraged the AI believed I needed superstition to come to a victory. It meant they still cared. The shop was still in the process of being set up. I had the bots just roughly deposit a bunch of my saved antiques and other stuff from storage. So I was sorting stuff out when the young man with a gun walked in. I smiled at him wondering if he somehow had gotten lost from a spider hunting party.

"We're all good here no spiders." I tried to be friendly, it was the least I could do.

"Give me all your money." I smiled again.

"Oh son this is the worst decision of your entire life." And judging from his scars and tattoos that was saying something.