Broker
patreon
Chapter 170
🕑 Added 2024-10-21 16:00:10 +0000 UTCCity air was the first thing that greeted Sonya as she stepped through the portal, her eyes fluttering against the change in light. She’d figured it would be brighter in Green Bank but the reflections off the buildings in New York added another level of intensity. The growing chill in the air didn’t help, as far north as they were. Still, she took a deep breath and savored the urban atmosphere as the sounds of cars driving by assailed her hyper acute senses. She smiled to herself before looking up at the building before her. The East Coast ASTA Guild Headquarters.
The building was tall, a fairly standard office-building all things considered. There was a small retaining wall around the perimeter of the building with a gate that restricted curious passers by from poking their heads in. The paved ‘courtyard’ had a few trees to decorate it but otherwise bore a very stark urban feel as one made their way to the glass double-doors. She traced her eyes up the building, six stories above ground with a few beneath for other matters. It took up about a quarter of a block and had been ludicrously expensive given its location. Then again, the Pandora Committee did subsidize half of it, she thought with a smirk.
She returned her attention to the doors and the lobby inside where the others were waiting for her. A few voices rang out behind her and she turned to see some pedestrians having stopped to stare. One shouted her name and waved, she beamed at him and waved back before making her way into the building and reveling in the climate controlled environment.
“No autographs this time?” A snarky voice called out.
She turned and raised an eyebrow, grinning at the youthful face marred with dark bags under his eyes and a mess of brown hair on his head, he was standing next to Cass and the two looked like they’d been talking by the smile on the girl’s face. “Amos! You came out of hiding?”
He shrugged, “Figured I’d greet you guys at least,” he said and put his hand on his hip, “I gotta take a flight to Minneapolis in a few hours, most of what we recovered from the old building has already been moved over.”
She met his gaze, what he meant to say was that they’d finally finished sorting through the rubbled and dug out anything incriminating. Now, he was satisfied with leaving the rest to the demolition crew. She nodded, “Good to hear,” she said, “Anything proprietary missing?” She asked, glancing towards Otis and nodding to him with a pleasant smile, her stomach churned a little at it but appearances are important. Jessica stood a few paces away from him, marveling at the lobby before glancing her way and offering a sweet smile that didn’t sit quite right with Sonya before walking over to the front desk and leaning on it.
“Nah,” he said, drawing her attention back, “We had security get there pretty quickly,” he shoved his hands into the pockets of his lab coat before glancing at the new heroes standing off to the side, watching their conversation. Sonya walked over and put a hand on Lillian's shoulder and gave it a squeeze when he spoke, “Well, now that you guys are here I can start working on improvements for your hardware more regularly,” he said with a grin before shooting a look at Snow, “Considering my offer?”
The petite girl crossed her arms, “I’m thinking about it,” she said, “I don’t want to lose out on opportunities for field work,” she added and glanced towards Lily.
He glanced between the two of them and shrugged, “Sure, no problem. Just let me know. Door’s open,” he said before walking past them and glancing at Marta with a sleepy grin, “See you at the new place?”
She inclined her head, “Looking forward to it, Doctor.”
He snorted and meandered away, “Later newbies! Enjoy my old room Cass! Later Blue! Say hi to Bandit for me!” he called and walked out the door.
<Got some updates for you when you’re free.> His words appeared in Sonya’s hud.
<Talk to you soon then.> She replied before turning to Bluestar and the new recruits. “Well! Take it away, Guildmaster!”
–
Lillian glanced at Snow who gave her a relaxed smile as the new heroes looked around the lobby for a few moments. It was spacious with a post-modern design that hinted strongly at Sonya’s personal aesthetics. Sleek with lots of emphasis on the grayscale. The walls were a stark white while the furniture had black accents and cushions. She spotted Marc turning in a full circle, admiring the place while Bluestar looked them over thoughtfully. A bubble of excitement welled up in her chest, Here we go!
“Welcome to our Guild!” Bluestar began, brushing her brown hair back and crossing her hands at her waist, “This is the lobby where you will see the occasional pandora or local representative coming in either to speak with me or to represent a freelance hero looking to be recruited. We’re closed to business at the moment as I want to give you guys my full attention,” she began before gesturing to a set of elevators to the rear of the room, just past the front desk where a bright eyed young man sat, cropped black hair hidden beneath a black cap with the ASTA logo on it. He was speaking with Jessica when he straightened and turned to everyone, waving at them. Lillian waved back awkwardly and glanced at Jessica, restraining a frown. I don’t know how to feel about her. She’s a good hero but… Greg.
“That’s Grant, the head of security in the building, his ability allows him to be an unparalleled security guard and desk operator,” she said quickly.
“Hi guys! Welcome to the family!” He said brightly and scanned their faces with his gaze, “Alright! Got you memorized! Go on through!”
“Thank you Grant,” Bluestar said politely before turning to Sonya and Marta, “Are you staying?”
Lillian turned to Sonya who blinked and glanced at the others, “I can hang around for a bit, sure. Marta? Can you get everything to the apartment please?” She asked.
Marta bowed at the waist, “Yes ma’am, of course. I will see you at home. Takeout?”
“Please!” Sonya groaned.
“Very well,” Marta said and turned on her heel, grabbing the bags and walking to the door. She stopped for a moment and glanced over her shoulder before smiling at Lillian and the others, offering a small wink before pushing through.
Lillian smiled, These are some good people here, she thought.
Bluestar cleared her throat, “Alright! Follow me!” She began and led them to the elevator that opened, revealing a rather spacious interior, large enough to fit all of them. The doors closed and Bluestar pointed at the control panel. “From top to bottom, basement three is for maintenance crew only. There’s two layers of security between us and it as well as a reinforced floor on basement two where you’ll find the training rooms. The rooms are spacious and have sound and mana isolating walls,” she continued, “You can go all out without worrying about triggering monster formations outside the building.”
“Really?” Marc asked, his eyes wide. He turned to Lillian with a grin as Jessica walked over to stand at his side, equally interested judging by the tension in her fingers, “We should put it through its paces later!”
She clenched her fists and returned his grin, “You’re on!”
“Cool the bravado,” Bluestar warned, smirking at them despite her words. Lillian saw the eagerness on Alex and Val’s faces as well. Cass popped her knuckles and shifted her head left and right, shooting a look at Lillian and smirking. She grinned back. They were ready to really test themselves. “Basement one is the barracks, you can stay there during your grace period. You have a month to get your affairs in order after your first paycheck. If you’d like to continue staying in the barracks we can have that discussion at that time. I’m fine with it but there’s limited space and we usually reserve it for new recruits.”
Lillian nodded with the others, it made sense, and apparently they’d be making more than enough to get a decent apartment in the area. Especially if a few of us decide to stay together. She thought, giving Snow a brief glance before clearing her throat and focusing on the Guildmaster.
“First floor is general offices and security. It’s the only space in the building primarily managed by ASTA Corporation. Sonya has a office in there that she works out of when she’s in the area,” Bluestar continued.
Sonya nodded, “I have several hero representatives here in the building. It’s a big part of what ASTA does after all,” she said brightly.
“Representatives?” Alex asked, “Wait, besides making us stuff what does ASTA do?”
Sonya blinked at him and shook her head, “Did the rest of you pay attention at the beginning of the interview?” She asked with a sigh.
Everyone else nodded and Alex’s face fell, he scratched the back of his head, “Sorry. I’ve gotten better about that kind of thing since then but…”
She gave him a pitying look, “It’s fine, well-” she paused and pulled her phone out of her pocket as music started to play. “-her cherry chapsti-” Sonya grinned sheepishly at the others and answered it, “Speak of the devil!” she laughed and turned slightly, “How are you dear? Yes! Just got back to town!”
Bluestar frowned at her with a raised eyebrow and Sonya held up a finger apologetically, “Hmm? I can ask!” she turned to Lillian with raised eyebrows after tapping the mute button on her phone, “Lillian and Marc,” she started, turning his way as well, “Do you like Cola Cola? Any problems with the company that you know of? I’ve looked them over myself and they’re clean and above board.”
Lillian blinked, what the? “Uh, yeah. I drink it.”
A few paces away, Marc shrugged and glanced at Jessica with a grin, “I’m open to it.”
“Great!” Sonya beamed at her and hit the button again, “Send a contract over and I’ll look it over with her, hun,” she said brightly, “Yes! I’d love dinner. Toodles!” she hung up and turned to Lillian, “We’re doing dinner tonight, hope you two don’t mind. I know you must be tired.”
The others all looked at one another. “Huh?” Alex blurted.
Sonya put her hands on her hips, “Like I was going to explain a moment ago, ASTA acts as an intermediary for you guys. Funding heroes isn’t cheap and making sure you’re taking care of and have the hardware you need is just part of the process. Private companies like Cola Cola seek to sponsor popular heroes just like one would sponsor an athlete,” she continued, “Most freelance heroes have a hard time getting in touch with or negotiating with those companies, that’s where we come in. We handle the contracts and make sure you get the most out of it.”
Lillian stared, “So… what? Do I need to wear the company logo on my uniform?” she asked hesitantly. Alex snorted out a laugh and Cass shook her head. What? She squinted at them.
John actually chimed in with his usual monotone, “No, commercials and product placement during public events, they can also publicly claim to sponsor you, there are laws about branding on hero uniforms,” he reminded her.
She blinked and thought back to the Pandora regulations course and nodded, “Right, there was that,” she flushed a little, “I had a hard time with that test,” she muttered and Snow pat her on the shoulder.
“I did too,” Val sighed.
“I offered to help you study,” Jessica said offhandedly and got a glare from Val. She held up her hands in an appeasing gesture and rolled her eyes, stepping behind Marc. She’s really changed since hanging around Marc more often. I wonder if there’s more to the break-up than just Greg leaving. Lillan let out a sigh, Best not think about it, drama isn’t my thing.
“Where does the money go?” Marc asked pointedly.
Sonya turned his way, “Fifty percent goes towards ASTA which basically goes right back to you guys, hardware, equipment, transportation, this building, and all that,” Sonya said, “The rest is yours. For comparison, Marion and Wizney take about seventy-five percent,” she said as the elevator chimed and she gasped, holding her hand to her mouth, “Oh! Sorry Bluestar,” she apologized as Lillian reeled from the information. Wait, wait! Isn’t that a lot of money?
Bluestar shrugged, “It’s something they need to familiarize themselves with,” she said and stepped out into a large lounge with several screens hanging from the ceiling. There were a few men and women inside talking to one another. They glanced over but got a look from Bluestar and nodded to her, making themselves scarce. Lillian frowned but Bluestar placated her with a smile, “You’ll get to meet the others later,” she said quickly, “Now, brief overview of the other floors.”
She cleared her throat, “Second floor is for the rest of the management team. The agents who support you on your assignments. It’s also where the miners meet ahead of joining you at a dungeon site,” she said, “Third floor is the Armory, it has a few layers of security as well and it’s where you can store your gear between assignments. It’s also where items from dungeons are stored that are considered to be too dangerous to be on display.”
She gestured around herself, “This is the fourth floor, dispatch. Your daily schedule, patrol routes, the carter radar report, and other information can all be found here,” she pointed at a door to the left, “There’s a cafeteria over there,” she said before pointing to another to the right, “That’s the briefing room,” she pointed up, “Above us is the fifth floor where there is space for a portal from the Pandora Committee and where the Pandora Committee liaison is stationed. Her name is Tina, make sure to say hello when you get a chance,” she let out a breath, “Finally, the sixth floor is administration, including my office and the offices of the investigative team.”
She put her hands on her hips, “And that’s the general layout, feel free to explore,” she said, “Once you’re ready we’ll meet in the briefing room and talk about specifics. You all learned about patrol patterns and assignments at the camp so I don’t need to go over that,” she said before turning to John, “John? With me please?”
He nodded, “Ma’am,” he said and moved to follow her as she made her way to the briefing room.
Lillian tilted her head and Snow leaned towards her, whispering directly into her ears with her ability, “John’s her understudy, he wants to join the guildmaster’s team directly and work with administration.”
She nodded slowly, surprised. Maybe she’d just been so focused on her own stuff that she hadn’t picked up on it. He had been talking to Sonya a lot, now that she thought about it. This must be why.
“Ollie?” Sonya cut into her thoughts, “You’re free to go upstairs if you’re still interested. They’ll be happy to show you around,” she said and Lillian glanced at Ollie who brightened visibly. It was weird, unless he was the center of attention it felt like it was hard to notice him.
He adjusted his glasses, “Oh most certainly!” He said eagerly, “I wanted to join the investigative side of hero work ever since I heard about it,” he added and shot a glance towards Marc and Jessica, “I’m not exactly built for the more intensive field work, but I can handle myself if necessary.”
Marc shrugged, “Suit yourself,” he said and Ollie made his way to the elevator, he turned and waved at everyone before sending a sheepish look towards Cass who gave him a smile and a nod, “Later!” He said and dipped inside.
“Bye!” Lillian called after him, her lips turning down a little. She hadn’t thought about the fact that several of their group would not want to do the more standard fare of hero work, but she was glad that someone as talented as Ollie would be helping learn about the bad guys out there. She brightened a little at the thought and turned towards the screens hanging around them, putting her hands on her hips. Snow, Val, Marc, Cass, Alex, Jessica, and Lillian herself all looked around the room. Behind her, Sonya cleared her throat and checked her watch.
“Alright, I’ve stayed as long as I can, I’ll be back in a few hours to pick you up, Cass. The rest of you,” She squared her shoulders as the others turned to face her and she brought her hand to her heart, “Thank you, for beginning your service, and welcome to the life of a Hero. We’ll all speak again soon. I’m looking for sponsorships for all of you,” she said scanning their faces, “Today, your story begins,” she said and walked to the elevator.
Lillian felt her chest swell and she clenched her fists, looking back to the monitors. A few paces away she heard Marc murmur beneath his breath, “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”
Comments
Wintermelody
Thanks for the Chapter
Gemiae
Thanks for the chapter! “I’ll be back in a few hours to pick you up, Cass.” 1000% her Mom
