5 - Preparations

Posted on Mon Oct 9th, 2023 @ 10:33pm by Dungeon Master Sue Donym
Edited on on Tue Oct 10th, 2023 @ 1:16am

1,844 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Chapter 2 - Crimson Cartel
Location: Crimson Cartel HQ
Timeline: 2090

Not even twenty minutes after her meeting upstairs with the Ember King, Elena was in the basement of the Crimson Cartel headquarters in her most elegant scarlet dress, her makeup refreshed and looking far more like a diplomat than a mob boss. She had two things on her mind as she pulled the slim mobile device out of her clutch purse and hit the speed dial for her assistant. Contacting her replacement and securing what she needed for the upcoming meeting.

"Shia Feng? Congrats, you're getting a promotion. You're going to be my replacement on a probationary basis. I've received a new assignment. Take care of things there." She paused for a moment as she waited for her assistant to get some platitudes and questions out. "Back? With what just landed... No, the position is yours pending your first review. Hey, just be a chill gato and don't floof things up and you'll be nova, ok? You've got this. No, I'll be busy this weekend, but we'll celebrate next weekend, ok? Just you, me, and the other girls. Promise."

The call ended, Elena sighed heavily and messaged another number. One that she thought that she'd never need - TerraMach Tech Incorporated's corporate rentals and sales line. within moments she'd put in the order for one of their higher end limos with synth-wine and sequenced protein hors d'oeuvres. She wanted to make real meat and wine available, but she wasn't even sure they would give it to her if she requested it. On the bright side, having just spent more than she made in a year on one ride, she now knew the card was real.

"Ok, now to do a little kowtowing and get on our new friend's good side," she muttered as she looked for one of the nicer cars meant for general use and again, used the special card she had been given to unlock it. Shaking her head in amazement, she slipped behind the wheel and pressed the ignition button on what she assumed was a supercar as instead of the electric engine she expected, she heard the low thrum of a quantum fusion drive.

As she stared at the unfamiliar ghost and shield logo on the controls, she realized she might have made a slight mistake, but only for a moment. She'd made her decision and there was no backing out now. If she did, the logs would show her hesitation and that would be a fatal mistake for her. She'd just have to figure out how to navigate the controls in something like this. Specifically, something with actual controls rather than just the city's auto-drive system and the backup joystick on the center column.

"Computer? Engage auto-drive," she said with mock confidence. There was a moment of hesitation from the car's computer before it responded and the in-dash display reconfigured itself with a confirmation tone and she breathed a sigh of relief. She then punched in the address and leaned back as the soothing tones of soft e-jazz came over the car's speakers., the outside world passing by more smoothly than she had ever felt in any other car she had ever been in.

About twenty minutes later she was able to make her way through New New York to the apartment building in which Aurelia resided and the car parked in an open spot in the parking complex across the street. It wasn't an ideal spot, but at least it was close by and she could remember where she was - a small price to pay since the car wasn't registered to her personally.

She ran into her next obstacle on her way into the apartment building - the same blue uniformed guard she and her goons had beat up last time was at the reception desk and he did not look too pleased to see her as he stood up from behind his desk with his arms crossed.

"Now listen here, Miss. We don't want any trouble, ok? Why don't you go back to where you came from and leave Miss Luna alone." Ryder was definitely a bit more bold since the lady in red didn't seem to have any backup this time.

She held her hands up in surrender. "I'm not here for a fight. I'm here for diplomatic negotiations and unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to leave without seeing her. If that means I have to wait to see her, you have to escort me, or whatever conditions she sets, so be it."

Ryder was definitely frowning as hard as he could to show his displeasure, but he also knew that Aurelia expected this and trusted him to make a judgement call on whether to let her up or not. For a few more seconds he stood there and stared at her before nodding his consent. "Ok, but only when she's ready for you."

The lady in red bowed politely to show her gratitude. "Thank you. You are too kind. Especially after our... disagreement... last time we met."

Ryder just grunted and sat back down before firing off a few messages to the red headed woman up stairs in question. It was then a waiting game as Aurelia prepared herself upstairs to receive her guest.

Upstairs, Aurelia was in a bit of a rush - she had been experimenting with magic to see just what she could do with it in this world. After all, very little of what she had tried had actually succeeded. In the end, she came to the conclusion that she was mostly limited to what she formerly knew as transmutation and enchantment forms of magic, but if she skipped any part of the internal circles involved or leaked any of the magic necessary, it ended in failure. She also had to be directly and solidly touching her target and it took a lot of concentration.

Thankfully, after thousands of years of practice from her former life, that didn't limit her as much as it could have, so she had a fair number of options for surviving and even thriving in this world. And with the call that just came in from Ryder about the woman in red being here wanting to talk? She had a lot of prep work left to do for the expected negotiations and she was nowhere near done with them. However, there was no time like the present. Nodding to herself, she scooped the practice baubles she had created off of the small table and into a box. She'd have to sort through them later - perhaps some rich people will buy them as curiosities and odd conversation trinkets later, but for now they needed to be hidden.

After one more quick glance around the apartment, and a glare at the blanket covering the broken door, she sighed heavily and pressed the comm, calling downstairs to Ryder. "Ok, I'm ready. Send her up."

As Ryder muttered something unintelligible on the other end about trust, she realized something - this was the first time she was going to play hostess in her new life. There was little she could do about the apartment as it was, but she remembered seeing a pitcher and some glasses in the tiny kitchenette. If she could find some water, she could turn it into something at least refreshing to drink.

Quickly, she retrieved them and filled the pitcher with tap water before setting them on the small table. She then concentrated on the first conversion spell that came to mind. One that she knew inside and out and could probably cast in her sleep. It was a chilled brewed bean extract with cream that was both refreshing and energizing that she had drank most days. She had no idea if this world had an analog to it, but she hoped that the creamy yet bitter flavor went over well.

Mere moments after she finished, there came a knock at the blanket covering her doorway and Elena was peeking around it hopefully. "Please, come in. I've been expecting you. I just finished making refreshments, if you'd like some?"

"Yes, please," Elena replied, slightly relieved as she entered cautiously, carefully watching the other woman pour the mocha colored drink. "I have to admit, I didn't expect things to go weird like they have. I fully expected you... or... ummm... Aurelia... To be dead, and to spend the rest of my life as a minor Cartel boss until someone killed me as well. But now we both have a golden goose sitting here in front of us."

"And I assume that that's why you're here." Aurelia motioned to one of the chairs at the table, indicating they should sit down while they talked. "Look, I'll be honest, I know you're here to negotiate for my services or whatever and if you fail, your boss will likely kill you. Am I right?" Receiving a slight nod as confirmation, she continued. "I don't want that. I don't hold a grudge against you for killing my host. I'm actually thankful you did it in a way I could revive her easily enough. I also don't want to get stuck working for some kingdom I'm not morally attached to."

"Hence I'd like to make an opening proposal. You be my handler, we hire Ryder as security, we get a place somewhere a bit quieter, and I do contract work." As Elena started to object, Aurelia held up one hand to stop her. "And I do exclusive deals with the Crimson Cartel with a discretionary clause for anything I feel morally obligated to do. How does that sound?"

It took Elena a moment to process what she'd just been presented with, but eventually she just had to laugh. "I'm actually just here to get you to meet with the head of the Cartel. I'm supposed to offer you anything and everything we have to get you to agree to it. But hey, if it's that easy..." Now a bit more relaxed, she took a sip of the drink she'd been offered. "Wow. That's a great latte. I don't taste any chemicals or anything artificial at all. Is this real cream?"

"So that's what it's called in this world. I know it as capulus. Latte it is then," Aurelia declared as she raised her own glass in a toast. "And to our future endeavors together. I'll go to meet with your boss, but you already have my terms. Any counter offer will have to be equally beneficial to my side of the agreement."

The lady in red finished her drink with a smile. "Honestly, I have no real idea what's going through his head, and I'm sure he'll add some sort of stipulations or terms of his own, but I'm sure we'll get through it. And do you know what the first step for that is?" Elena grinned mischievously as Aurelia gave her a curious look. "Getting you a new wardrobe because you are one threadbare gato, sister. Come on, let's go get you something nice to wear."

 

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