[b][u][center]No-Alt Insurance Part 5 For Taiko By Draconicon[/center][/u][/b] Just as Lil had assured him, those seemed to be the magic words. The combination of the keycard and the words had unlocked access to the man that had been working behind the scenes in Novus Ager for some time, but even this was just one more step towards the end-goal that he’d been sent to achieve. He just hoped that this guy was less unpleasant than he feared. [i]Then again, when you set up something like this…[/i] ‘Denith’ glanced around, looking at the frozen clocks, the frozen Kayne, the frozen everything around him, trying not to feel a little intimidated. He reminded himself that he still had Lil’s safeguards built into him, a way for him to stay on top of things, a way for him to avoid getting caught in these strange currents of time control. If he could just keep that in his head and not get intimidated, he should be alright. Of course, not getting intimidated by someone that had even a vague way of controlling time was difficult. He’d already been rattled by the way that Kayne had been handling his employees, and whoever this Holt Ferry was, he doubted that they were going to be that much nicer. [i]Damn it…damn it, damn it, damn it…the things I do for you, Lil…[/i] Nor followed the androgynous sheep to a nearby wall. Now that everything was frozen, something that he hadn’t noticed before had become apparent. Doors, many of them, stood out against the wall, all but one of them less than half-formed. It made little sense to him, considering the wall had been completely blank before he said the phrase, but he could only assume that there was some sort of time dilation, or something where the doors started appearing in the tiniest increments of time, flickering in and out of existence by turns, not allowing anyone in unless they knew the precise moment in which to freeze time to make it happen. The sheep led him to the only fully-formed door, opening it and gesturing for him to follow. Without a word, ‘Denith’ did just that. They walked through less of a hallway and more of a swirling tunnel. While it was still framed as an office, there was a feeling of push and pull, tug and shove. The walls turned and twisted, rippling forward and back, gaining wallpaper and losing pieces here and there. He could just about make out a purple sheen through the holes when they appeared, only to come near to forgetting it as soon as it was patched. Only Lil’s backups to his hardware were keeping him informed of the things that he saw. It was not comfortable to feel himself being pushed forward and backward through time, protected only by a narrow tunnel that didn’t seem to be able to protect itself. “[b]You’re unexpected…Mr. Ferry isn’t going to be keen on that.[/b]” That soft drawl was exactly like the robots that had gangbanged him not that long ago, and if it wasn’t quite as pronounced, then it was still the same sort, somewhat educated rather than so redneck. He didn’t say anything, not wanting to ruin what little bit of cover that he still had. Equinox Bell shook her – or his, it was hard to tell – head as they continued to walk, holding a folder under her arm as she looked straight ahead. “[b]Mr. Ferry doesn’t like the unexpected. I would encourage you to tell him the exact truth of why you are here, if you want to leave without being molested.[/b]” There was no way that he was getting out of here without being molested if he did tell the truth, but she was right about one thing. Someone that set up an operation like this wasn’t someone that liked surprises. He could imagine Lil doing something like this and being completely paranoid about everything. One of the few things that he didn’t particularly like about his boyfriend back home, but then again, one could never have someone that was completely perfect. As they approached the far end of the hallway, a great white door appeared, one that shimmered with a strange field around it. Nor cocked his head to the side as he glanced at it, his eyes flicking over the energy that covered the wood. [i]Some sort of distortion dissipator?[/i] he wondered. [i]Or…no, this is a chrono-repulsor…[/i] He barely understood the physics of what he was working with, but Lil had managed to give him a bit of information. This was a field that pushed back the various particles that pushed time forward or pulled it back. It allowed it to rest in a single place in time, a fixed point of time and space that could be allowed up and down along the timeline. It was a difficult thing to quite comprehend, considering that it was supposed to keep the inside static, but allow it to move fluidly, but… Well, that was what this felt like. Equinox Bell tapped the door twice, and a soft, languid voice muttered for them to come in. ‘Denith’ took a deep breath, then followed the sheep inside. What he found was not what he expected. Rather than an office that held a little man, he had stepped into something that felt like it came off of a classical painting of ancient Greece. Mr. Ferry – or at least, who he assumed was Mr. Ferry – laid back on a lounge chair of the old sort, his arm over the single support of the piece of furniture, his legs dangling off the other side. A servant of sorts, another android, was feeding him grapes, while he sipped at a cup of wine that laid near his free arm. The man himself was hardly someone to match the lazy voice that he’d heard. Rather than a small person or a sickly one, the human was a broad-shouldered man with dark, almost olive-colored skin, and his eyes were half-closed like a cat looking around a house that he had long-since tamed. He wore a white robe of sorts, almost like a Roman toga, and it covered him asymmetrically from one shoulder down to his knees. Bare feet and a big arm stuck out from the other parts, giving off a strange sort of confidence that Nor wasn’t quite sure how to accept or deal with. Yet, there was something else, another detail that the mule almost missed. As the human sipped at his wine and nibbled at his snacks, he could see that they restored themselves as soon as they were drunk, as soon as they were eaten. Nor was it repair, he realized, but rather, replacement. [i]With the door open…or maybe there’s some channels…[/i] Glancing around, he saw them. Tiny vents in the room, places that could be open or closed by little twitches of the human’s hands, or through the use of androids touching different places. It would allow the chrono-particles in again, changing things, or… No, there was something else. Something that Mr. Ferry was doing to influence it, and that made it all the more terrifying. Finally, the human turned to look at him. Half-lidded eyes looked at him, glancing up and down, followed by a dismissive gesture with one hand. “Take him to the training computer,” the human said. “I don’t have the time for someone like this…” “I’m sure you have more than enough time. Taste is another matter.” The human, halfway towards being fed another mouthful of grapes, paused and looked back at the mule. He arched an eyebrow, asking in one expression what Nor was saying, and the mule continued. “To drink a single wine for hours on end cannot be that appetizing. You could at least vary the flavor.” “…Well, now…” And just like that, the feeling in the room changed. The human sat up, and the android that had been feeding him went to attention, one arm behind its back and the other against its chest. There was a flicker, revealing that the human-esque figure had only been a hologram around a steel frame. The rest of the room shifted, too, revealing something far more utilitarian, something that was far more in keeping with the rest of the office building. [i]So, less out of time, and more in love with the classics,[/i] Nor thought. [i]That’s good to know…[/i] Holt Ferry got to his feet, and his toga was replaced. Not merely changed out, but replaced, almost like he had never been wearing anything else. Even Nor’s upgrades hadn’t been able to catch the shift, and that worried him. As the suit-wearing human walked up to him, carrying with him a hint of portliness amidst his muscles, the mule stood as still as possible. He could tell that he was being measured, assessed, sorted out by someone that had a great deal of experience with dangerous people. That stare wasn’t the same as the ones that he had gotten from the villains and strangers here in the city; this was not the stare of lust, but of cautious interest. “And what are you, that you can tell what I’ve been doing?” “Just someone that has an interest in what you’re looking for.” “Hmm. And how do you know what I’m looking for?” “There are various ways to find out information in a city like this, I’m sure you know. There’s plenty of ways for a hero to find people that are willing to talk about the weird things that they see, even in a city like Novus Ager. Some people remember, regardless of how you mess with time.” “…Fascinating. You know about the anomalies, and aren’t affected by them…now, what might I be able to do with you…” “You realize I can hear you, right?” Holt blinked, looking at him again. There was a feeling of being pushed, of being pulled, of being tugged through [i]something,[/i] but when it faded, nothing seemed to have changed. Nor hazarded a guess as to what had just happened. “Did you just try and pull my brain back in time?” Holt blinked again, and this time, a smile slowly grew on his face afterward. Oh, Nor had definitely opened a door there. “Now, this [i]is[/i] an opportunity. Sit down, sit down. Ms. Bell, you can wait outside until we’re finished.” The sheep nodded, leaving the spartan office. As Nor took a seat, the room changed again, this time becoming something more plush, more…vibrant, he supposed. He glanced around out of the corners of his eyes, realizing that it had become something akin to a gentlemen's club, and in the background, several males were dancing. Mostly tigers. A lot of well-endowed tigers. He shook his head, keeping his eyes on the human. Mr. Ferry sat on the other side of the desk that had become a table, the endless wine being poured for him, as well. Nor thought of dismissing the offer, thought better of it, and took the glass. “Now, you know who I am. Perhaps you will do me the courtesy of telling me who [i]you[/i] are.” “I’m sure you’d like to know.” “It’s less that I would like that, and more that I require it. I [i]will[/i] know the name of anyone that would like to talk business with me, particularly on a matter as sensitive as this.” “I don’t suppose that anonymity will suffice?” The human fixed him with a stare, and Nor felt a little shiver run down his spine. There was more than just determination there; beneath that gentility and curiosity, there was a relentless, powerful hunger, one that demanded that a purpose be achieved, that anyone in his way get out of it or be steamrollered. He knew that sort of look. He’d seen it in the eyes of many villains in his past. He sighed under his breath. There was no point in fighting that now. Better to at least attempt to be genteel, to show that he was willing to bargain in good faith, and then go from there. At least this way, he would have a chance of getting what he wanted, and what Lil wanted, without turning this into a fight that he was probably not going to win. Allowing the Denith disguise to fall away, the purple mule revealed himself. He gained some height in the process, filling out the chair more, and he crossed his leg over his knee, taking a moment to savor being barefoot again; so much better to be out of clothes in every way. Massaging his foot gently, he looked at the wider-eyed – not quite wide-eyed, but wider-eyed – human, and gestured at himself. “I’m Nor. And I believe that’s enough.” “Enough for me to get on with, yes…” The human’s eyes flicked down, looking at the mule’s shaft, and Nor took some small pleasure in enjoying being able to show off again. It had been too long since he had been forced into clothing, and he enjoyed having the chance to allow his body to breathe again. He stretched out, allowing his muscular form to be properly on display, and he flexed just a little bit. However, that wasn’t what he was here for. He wasn’t one of the tigers behind them – real or not – and he wasn’t going to be putting on a show just because they were in a club that was designed for that sort of thing. He cleared his throat, and Holt looked back at his face. “Now that you know my name, let’s talk business.” “…Yes. Business.” The human leaned back in his chair, folding his hands in his lap. “Tell me. What do you know about this operation of mine?” “Enough to know that you’re risking things. A lot of things. This whole city, in fact.” “And you’re not here to stop me?” “I’m here…to streamline the operation. And make sure that it doesn’t blow the whole city to kingdom come.” “You’re here to make sure it happens quickly, then.” “And perhaps get something out of it,” Nor admitted. “If there are sufficient prizes down in the deeps for both of us.” “That is quite the offer, and one that I should have seen coming…if I knew that there was someone in the city that could withstand the temporal fields and distortions that have been the bane of this city for who knows how long…” Nor was surprised how much he agreed with Holt on that. The constant disturbances up and down the city of Novus Ager were driving him up the wall, and the only reason that the city seemed to maintain any semblance of sanity was because nobody else seemed to be aware of it happening. They were moved, they were jostled, they were put in different places and different buildings at the drop of a hat and nobody actually seemed to realize what had happened. They went on with their day as if nothing had ever actually occurred. If they were to ever become aware of it, if they had to consciously deal with it in the way that he did, or in the way that any stranger seemed to, then they would be risking themselves with each passing moment. They would lose their ability to function. It needed to be handled… But not by him. That was not why he was here…and it wasn’t what Holt was doing, either. “Let’s not get too carried away with morals in this matter,” Nor said. “I might be willing to work with you, but let’s not pretend that you’re actually in this for the good of the city.” “And what makes you think that I’m working against it?” “The secrecy, the minions, the fact that you were willing to blank my mind until you realized that I’d be willing to help you…no, that I was someone that would be useful to you, let’s be more accurate there. I think that’s more the sign of an anti-hero, at best. Perhaps even a villain.” “I appreciate your candor,” the human admitted, shaking his head. “I will not pretend that the best interests of the city matter, then, though I’d appreciate a little less chaos. The temporal locks that a certain architect helped design – the one that helped make that keycard, by the way – have been integral towards allowing us to continue working on the temporal rifts through the city, but that is only the start.” Fixed points in the city, who knew how many areas where the buildings were not getting jostled around, moved here and there and everywhere. It was akin to the ‘healing’ that the former mayor back home had done, but on a very different scale and style. Nor could not imagine that Novus Ager was working well with that, though he wondered too how he had missed anyplace that just wasn't moving around. Nevertheless, he continued listening intently. “I’ve investigated the source of these emanations, these disruptions for some time. There is a reason that they’re bleeding off all this chrono-energy, all these particles. There’s a vault down there, something that’s sealed up, waiting for someone to unlock it. All the initial probes sent down haven’t found anything particularly dangerous inside, but –” “But you’re still dealing with chrono-energy, temporal distortions, instability. Living people aren’t safe to send down there.” “Thus, the androids. However, even they have…limitations,” Holt said, shaking his head. “However, someone else that’s able to stand up to that…that would make things a great deal easier for me…a great deal easier indeed.” Nor nodded. “However.” Holt leaned forward. “While I might be willing to give an explanation of my operations, I’m not sure if I’m willing to open it to another partner just yet. You have been…cagey, so far, regarding what you’re willing to tell me. Why should I allow someone else in on the operation, let alone part with the prizes behind the door?” “You want me to put something on the table besides my skills?” “Something that’s worth making a deal over. An ante into the operation, so to speak.” “…I am exactly what you need, and you’d be willing to let me walk out those doors?” “I want to see just what you’re willing to offer in order to be part of this. Call me paranoid, if you like, but I don’t particularly like purple offerings on silver platters.” Nor glanced down at his seat. He swore that it had been a completely normal chair only moments ago, but now it was made of silver. The mule blinked, looking back up at the human. “Did you –” “Yes.” “Just for a line?” “I’m not above a little pettiness.” He shook his head, leaning back in his chair as he tried to think of something good that he could put on the table. Most of his assets came from Lil, and he knew that would be harder to back up. That said, he needed to make sure that he sounded worthwhile…and he knew that a businessman needed guarantees. The mule smiled. “I’ve dealt with enough criminals to know that you’ll need somewhere to move – or at least store – whatever you find down there. Time manipulation is…finicky, at best. You can get rid of something, or you can fetch something like it, but once it’s out of your hands, the guarantee of getting the exact thing you want back again drops dramatically, doesn’t it?” “…You aren’t wrong,” Holt admitted. “Though you underestimate me.” “Tell me. How hard will it be to pull something out that’s also chronologically and temporally unstable?” “…” Holt didn’t answer, and Nor knew that he’d gotten his way in. He smiled, leaning back in his chair. “I can offer a place to keep it where nobody in this city can find it. Even if there’s someone that can dig their way out of the vault and come chasing after [i]you,[/i] they can’t find where I can stash the things that we dig out of the vault.” “And where is that?” “What you don’t know, you can’t give away.” “You expect me to allow you entrance to my organization based on a what-if that I can’t verify?” “I don’t know. Do you want to have knowledge in your head that a super-powerful being might be able to rip out?” “Say that you tell me, and I run myself backwards in time, after I establish whether or not it’s good enough?” That was a snag, Nor had to admit. He hadn’t thought about Holt using his powers on himself like that, but if the human legitimately couldn’t remember just what he said… It was a gamble, and one that he didn’t particularly like doing, particularly as it came nearer to exposing Lil than he wanted. The Dane might have been a particularly well-connected, powerful canine, but that didn’t make him invincible, as certain recent events had demonstrated. And Holt might not be as geographically limited as he looked… He had to do it. If he didn’t have a way in, then there was no way for him to get what Lil had sent him for in the first place. “I can take it to another universe, and then bring it back.” “…Impossible.” “Quite possible.” “There’s no heroes here that have that ability. No villains, either, as far as I’ve been able to find.” “Then you must be new. Approximately…two, three months?” “…” “…” “I see I’m not the only one that does research on his partners,” Holt said, shaking his head. “But if you can truly do this –” “I can.” “Then there might be a deal to be made here. A deal that will enrich the both of us very, very much.” “I’d like that.” Holt smiled. Pulling something from his pocket, he wrote out a few words on it, and then the room filled with a strange sense of pressure. More of the particles, he imagined, something washing over them and carrying away the past to – Then Holt looked down at the paper, then at Nor. “I see that we came to an agreement.” “You mean…you just rewound time for yourself?” “I said that I would, didn’t I?” “…I didn’t expect you to keep your word.” “A businessman can’t afford to burn too many bridges.” The mule nodded, looking down at the table. He didn’t know what Holt had written on that little slip of paper, but it seemed to be enough to convince him that he had been given the right sort of incentive. Whether it was something that broke their rule or not, he didn’t know, but he hoped that it was going to keep Lil safe. They stood up, and Holt offered his hand. “I’d like to take a day to think your offer over. I want to make sure that you’re giving me everything I need. No surprises, you understand?” “Of course.” “Come back tomorrow, and until then, Ms. Bell can show you some of the equipment that you’ll be working with.” “I assume that it’s something different to what I’m used to?” “Very. You are dealing with something much more powerful than the average distortion in reality here, after all.” “Fair enough. Then tomorrow, we make this official?” “Most likely. If not…Well, I imagine things will be fine.” They shook on it, and as they did, Nor felt something…horrifying. It wasn’t the feeling of immediate danger, something that he’d learned how to recognize and acknowledge with all the fights that he’d been in, nor was it a power that had been used on him that would make him feel fear. It didn’t even come from Holt, for that matter. Instead, it just rolled over him, as if the room itself had been invaded by some terrifying presence that took over everything it touched. It took everything that Nor had to keep from looking around and trying to see what had changed, particularly as Holt wasn’t reacting at all. Suppressing that urge and panic, Nor just squeezed the human’s hand a bit tighter, trying to keep his shock from showing on his face and not entirely sure that he had been successful. The feeling built on itself, getting stronger by the second, almost like there was something that was trying to stop his heart from the outside. For the first time, it wasn’t his entire body being pulled forward or back, but like someone had grabbed his heart in a stasis field, held it there while the rest of his body moved on. If he hadn’t been artificial, he felt like he might have actually lost something. Like his life. Then the feeling passed, and it was like it hadn’t happened. Nor didn’t gasp, but only because his more artificial side had taken over, keeping things moving at a baseline rather than at the level the adrenaline pumping through him wanted it at. “Then we are agreed,” Holt said. “Yeah…yeah, we are.” “Ms. Bell.” The club faded, and in its place was the office once more. The door opened and the sheep walked in, bobbing her head towards the human. “Please take Mr. Nor here to our equipment labs. I want him brought up to speed on everything.” “Yes, Mr. Ferry.” “And make sure that we treat him very well. He is our guest…for the moment.” Nor nodded, falling in step behind the sheep as he allowed himself to be led out of the office. He didn’t know what had just happened, but he didn’t like the feeling that he had from it. Someone, or something, had noticed that he was there, and it really, really, [i]really[/i] didn’t like him. He paused at the door, looking over his shoulder. For a split second, he swore that there was one more tiger than there had been before, but then it was gone. He blinked, half-sure that he had seen – Then he blinked again, and wondered why. [i]…What the…[/i] Something was weird. Something was very, very, very weird. # Nor groaned when he finally left Solstice Stocks, and he had good reason to. He had been dragged through four different labs, and each one had implications that he did [i]not[/i] like. It was bad enough that the building of Solstice Stocks seemed caught in a perpetual time tide, where things moved back and forth at semi-regular intervals. That made things chaotic as hell, and it made it hard for him to hold his place in time, even with his upgrades. The awareness actually made it more difficult rather than less, because he had to juggle what had happened and what had changed as much as he had to work with what he was doing. But from what he had been able to get out of Ms. Bell, and from what he had recognized in the machinery, the dangers of the time vortexes that Holt Ferry was delving through were even greater the further below the building one went. Mortals had aged out of existence, or youthened to the point where they hadn’t been born yet. Paradoxes were building by the day as different people were warped right out of the timeline, yet the city continued as if they had been there from day one anyway. Machinery had a better shelf life down there, but even they were at risk. The androids could be treated with a spray that kept them from being rotted by the time dilations, kept them from youthening, but then they had to be controlled from the upper parts of the facility to keep them from losing bits of their programming, bits and pieces of what allowed them to function. That, in turn, meant that most of the androids still had a limited time before they were broken down by the distortions of the signal running from them to the control towers. Nor knew that his unique ability, being a Plicant as he was, would mean that he could rejuvenate, return to a base state, much better and much more easily than any other super out there. He wasn’t indestructible, but the save state system in his core meant that time didn’t affect him quite the same way. As long as he had some energy left, some power to run those systems, then the time dilations wouldn’t age him too old or too young. But he’d still be stuck with the other problems, and that worried him. [i]And so does how close Holt is getting…[/i] He walked down the street with his hands in his pockets, the annoying ‘Denith’ body around him once more. Nobody looked at him as he left the building, but he knew that this wasn’t over. Holt wasn’t stupid. He doubted that there was anything that would out him as a liar in terms of what they had agreed so far, but he doubted that the human was going to just hire him on the spot. Like any employer, that man was going to do more than just consider the interview. He was going to check the references. Nor was pretty sure that Lil’s work would hold up, but he’d have to wait and see. As he walked down the sidewalk, he tried to figure out what the terror-feeling he felt in the office could have been. It could have been Holt, something that had been done to see if there were limits to what Nor’s upgrades could handle, but he doubted that. The human didn’t seem the sort to push that sort of vengeance on someone else that fast, particularly without a valid reason. But the alternative… Someone had put that vault where it was, and someone had been around to install the various temporal vortexes around them as a security measure. If that person was long-dead, then that would be fine, but if they were somehow still alive… A shiver ran down his spine. He didn’t want to think about dealing with someone with that sort of power level. That was past anything else that he had fought in the past, more powerful than Nemean could ever be, and far more powerful than any of the villains that he had tussled with. That was someone that went past the abilities of mortals, and transcended that to a sort of god-hood. And considering the one thing that mythologies could agree on was that gods were nearly impossible to kill, let alone defeat… [i]We’ll deal with that when we come to it,[/i] Nor thought, clenching his fists in his pockets. [i]Until we know for sure, we’re going to keep acting as if everything is fine. No point in making it worse.[/i] He really wanted to get back home to Lil, but for now, getting back to that security guard’s apartment and enjoying his muzzle would have to do. Nor turned off from the main road, heading to the bus stop. And in the air behind him, drones, agents, and a single feline stared down at him, all for different reasons, all with intentions ranging from the curious to the malevolent. [b][u][center]The End[/center][/u][/b]