Mythran's Master Of All

Gloria had put her cell phone on speaker mode and stared at it as Stella told her everything that had happened to Ren over the last three days. Her heart hurt as Stella talked, and she discovered that she hadn't just messed up like she thought she did. She had missed two major events in Ren's life, two events she should have been there for, if she hadn't been so self-centered.

“That's everything on the emotional side.” Stella's voice said from the speaker, almost angrily. “Here's Elise to give you the legal side of things.”

Gloria's pipe dreams began to crumble as Elise told her about all of the regular lawsuits that were going to be landslide victories, then she talked about all of the new lawsuits that were going to be filed against both persons of interest and their related companies. The gravity of the situation finally hit home for Gloria, and she sighed. She remembered what Ren had said in the game about destroying the company that had offered her the job, and she had to reluctantly agree.

“There's no way they can survive the public backlash, even if they somehow find a way to defend themselves in the civil suit.” Elise's voice said confidently. “The court of public option is going to crucify them.”

“But... but...” Gloria tried to speak.

“I know this looks like a golden opportunity, and normally it would be.” Elise said “Instead, it's a ship that's about to be blown out of the water, Gloria. You do not want to be on it.”

“What if I take the job and work on gathering intelligence?” Gloria asked in a stroke of inspiration and tried to hide her excitement. “The only thing better than having information on a subject is having inside information on that subject.”

“You can't justify...” Elise sighed from the phone. “You know what? Ren had the right idea. I'm done talking.”

There was silence on the phone until Stella spoke a few moments later.

“Unlike Elise, I'm not done talking.” Stella said. “I'll also finish her thought. You can't justify working for a company that directly benefited from experiments performed on Ren on the pretext of gathering information.” She said. “It's been years since it happened, and anything you think you might uncover has long since been swept under the carpet.”

Gloria didn't say anything in response.

“I doubt any of the original employees work there anymore.” Stella said. “We've got people at the law firm hunting down everyone Ren mentioned, and also all of their associates. We don't have a complete breakdown yet, but...”

“But what?” Gloria asked automatically, even though she didn't want to.

“The fallout from this is going to spread far and wide, Gloria.” Stella warned her. “I'm sorry to say this; but, any high tech job you get scouted for has to be viewed as suspect until everything is out in the open.”

“Goddammit!” Gloria said in frustration.

“Believe me, I know.” Stella said. “Unlike what Ren said, I don't think you should turn the job down right away. You want them to think you're seriously considering taking it.”

I am seriously considering taking it. Gloria thought.

“If you drag it out a little, they may believe they don't have you hooked.” Stella said. “They could offer you something else, something no fresh-out-of-college student would be offered. If they do...”

“...then it's a blatant lure to reel me in.” Gloria admitted reluctantly.

“Exactly.” Stella said. “Look, don't beat yourself up over this... or hold Ren responsible.” She said. “It's not his fault that they did those things to him.”

“No, of course it isn't his fault.” Gloria said. “It's just...”

“If you didn't know him, you'd be all over this job offer without a second thought, wouldn't you?”

Gloria stayed silent, and Stella sighed.

“Gloria, we're not your conscience. You're a grown woman and you can do whatever you want with your life.” Stella said. “You just have to ask yourself something.” She waited for a moment, then continued. “Would you have been offered this job, or been anywhere close to being considered for this job, if you didn't know Ren?”

*

Lisa had left the room during Stella's phone conversation, because she didn't care much for how Gloria was dithering about Ren. How can she even think about doing something to hurt Ren? She asked herself. That defies all logic. She picked up her VR headset and laid down on her bed, then logged into the game.

“Flow Login Start.”

********

Lara, the Sage of Ages stepped out of her closet into the Library in Ren's county and went to her desk and picked up one of the newest books that had become available for the new World Event. She propped her feet up on her desk and started to read. It wasn't long before someone came into the back room of the Library to find her.

“Ms. Sage?” Rosie said as she approached the desk. “Are you busy?”

“Yes and no.” Lara said and put a bookmark in the book and closed it. “What can I do for you?”

Rosie had been a little taken aback with the Sage of Ages' recent attitude change, but she didn't want to question it in case that reverted her back to her normally arrogant and dismissive personality.

“There's someone in the Library to see you.”

“Do I know this person?” Lara asked.

“You're the Sage of Ages, Ms. Sage.” Rosie said. “You would be the only judge for that.”

Lara was tempted to accuse her of being smart with her, but she knew Rosie hadn't been like that the last little while. She wasn't sure what brought about the change in her demeanor, but she wasn't going to question it in case Rosie decided to change back to her normally standoffish personality.

“Then lead the way.” Lara said and stood up. Rosie smiled at her and walked away, and Lara equipped the special bodysuit Ren had given her, then covered it in her normal clothing which was also armor but didn't count as armor. Just for fun she equipped the mage robes he had given her. She always wore the large necklace of Pearls of Wisdom, both bracelets of magic boosting, the amulet with various enchantments like Unnatural Armor and Spider Walking, and the two diamond rings to boost her stats.

When they left the side hallway, Lara caught a glimpse of the person waiting for her. He was decked out with the best enchanted armor and equipment that anyone anywhere could get, without access to what Ren could make. She easily identified everything the man wore, and was surprised when she used Identify Person on him and an empty popup appeared.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to NovelFire for the genuine story.

Lara didn't let that show on her face as she quickly invoked a hidden magic spell that only a high level Sage of Ages had access to, and another popup appeared to replace the blank one.