Seven couldn’t get his intrusive thoughts to go away no matter how hard he tried. He’d shut himself in his hotel room and began doing research that only made him that much more convinced that he was right.

  He paced between two wall screens. One displayed images of Arson set side by side with Carter Gestalt. While the second screen held various news articles about the success of his new girlfriend and her potential ties to criminal organizations.

  Seven hated what his mind was doing, as he felt that his issues with his intrusive thoughts were all connected. He didn’t know why he felt the way that he did, but knew that when he normally got the overwhelming sensation of wrongness that he currently felt, that he was only one missing piece away from making a grand realization.

  What the sparks am I missing…

  Seven scanned the open articles on both Carter and Arson, feeling that anything regarding the younger of the two almost nearly ceased over night, only for the stoic Carter Gestalt to arise like the suns in the sky above shortly there after. Seven would see this as coincidence, as many new scions often disappeared for countless season cycles as their parents took them to train in secret, often hiding them away In far away dangerous locations.

  Who’s to say that didn’t happen?

  Seven remembered his father’s words, wondering what would become possible with the use of matter manipulation. He’d felt that even that ability should have been nothing more than a myth, so what was stopping time travel or rapid aging elixirs from being possible.

  I must be losing my mind, thought Seven, forcing himself to look away from a less trivial matter, and toward the screens holding Vivid.

  If what he had uncovered so far was true, then he would have no choice but to become an absolute believer of coincidences.

  What are the odds that my father knows that I’m dating a girl potentially tied to the Swords?

  He wanted to call his father and ask. Yet wondered if that was the best decision.

  If his father did know, then him finding out would only make him feel even more like a pawn in his father’s plans than he already did. However if his father was unaware, then he worried how his father would react, potentially forcing him to use his new connection to Vivid in a way that would make him uncomfortable.

  Son of embers and sparks, what should I do?

  Seven was supposed to be on vacation. A brief outing with his father to relax and finish business for a contract between Alister Industries and RaidCorp, but now Seven felt as if his father may be up to far more than he’d originally let on.

  Why do I feel like I suddenly can’t trust anyone around me…

  A knock came at his door, and Seven knew that it was time for him to leave.

  “I’m coming,” said Seven, putting on his gloves, as he headed toward the door, turning off his wall screens with a wave of his hand as he exited, unable to pull his thoughts away from the woman that filled both his every waking thought and even his dreams.

  “I hope you’re having a better day than me Viv…”

  …

  Sprinter sat across from the Head of Alister industries in her opulent office. She wasn’t the type to try and exude wealth and lifestyles of luxury, but her office was absurdly affluent in a way that showed exactly how much power the secretary of Carter Omni truly held.

  The entire floor of the building they were on was her own. There were no walls, only translucent diamond windows. All of which could also serve as screens for her viewing pleasure.

  Her office door was in fact a portal that lead to the rest of the building the large room was currently attached to, as the floor itself also seconded as a vessel that could silently lift off and land elsewhere to become the top of any of the other skyscrapers owned by RaidCorp.

  She could be needed in numerous other places with only a moments notice, and had originally thought the office’s design was ridiculous, serving her more like a mansion sized apartment, rather than a work space, until she recognized how much time she spent awake and working for her boss.

  What would that psychotic old man do without me…

  She sighed, forcing herself to refocus on Alister Kim, as the man’s very detailed plan was being displayed on the station table in front of her. The series of holograms, falling just short of perfection.

  Sparks, I’m hungry, I wonder if I can get more from that new place my assistant keeps ordering from, thought Sprinter, wondering not for the first time if Alister was able to tell how distracted she was.

  She’d originally wanted Alister to work for RaidCorp above all else, feeling that the shady business man was offering the best deal for waste management, until recently, everything changing after the appearance of Carter Gestalt and his team of resourceful youths.

  The unknown scions were able to achieve feats that Sprinter would have once considered impossible. The groups potential was seemingly limitless. Not only because of how quickly they worked, but because of how skillful their every action seemed to be.

  I hope Alister doesn’t take this too hard, I mean at least I wasted my time letting him make this presentation…

  Alister wasn’t the type of Cultivator to wait for anything. Yet he felt he’d waited an eternity for the plans he’d set forth to come to fruition as he sat across from Sprinter, feeling as if this opportunity was an untapped diamond mine.

  “This seems very well thought out, Alister,” said Sprinter, scanning through his plans for his company to take over the trash, recycling and cleaning for all of RaidCorp. Not just the resort, but all of the vast companies operating locations across the realms.

  If he could pull off this deal, it would make him one of the richest Cultivator’s in all of Maelstrom. The hospitality and housekeeping industry was seen as beneath the concern of Cultivators from high to low, but this ignorant sentiment was what helped Alister become unfathomably wealthy.

  As rich as I am, I am still seen as a peasant to most of the HonorBorn, but with this final measure… that may change forever.

  “However, you aren’t the only service provider interested in this contract and where we would normally want to go with you due to your long standing operations in the business marketplace, your competitor has a level of efficiency that your plans don’t…”

  The woman trailed off, and Alister knew what she would say before the words even left her lips. He hadn’t been sidelined in what felt like centuries, but he was familiar with how individuals in power spoke when they were meeting with him for nothing more than to remain respectful, even as they were actively telling him that he wasn’t good enough to work with them.

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  “match,” finished sprinter. Alister wanted to stand and leave immediately, but knew how unprofessional it would be, actively deciding to find out who this competitor was instead, and consume them wholly, before once more extending an offer to RaidCorp.

  My services won’t be as cheap the next time I step into these offices…

  “May I ask who this competitor is, I’d love to know who could provide a better level of quality than myself and those I work with?”

  “I’m sure you know how unprofessional that would be on my part,” said Sprinter with a laugh. Alister smiled, nodding as he set his handheld flatscreen on the station table that served as her desk.

  The woman’s information was trivial to be hacked by Alister, not because of a lack of infrastructure and development on RaidCorp’s end, but because of Alister’s inside man within the company. RaidCorp’s mainframe was in fact the most impenetrable security system in the realm, which was why Alister had paid an exorbitant amount to bribe the very technician who created their runic coding language.

  “I completely understand. May I at least know what it is about this service that has pushed them further into your prestigious consideration?”

  A soft chime rang on his flatscreen that was similar to the basic incoming message tone for his brand of phone, and he smiled as he lifted his flatscreen from Sprinter’s desk, knowing that his hack was successful as he glanced at the screen.

  “Well,” started Sprinter, continuing to give him an answer that made his hack completely unnecessary.

  “They have offered us a unique portal system that will allow their workers to relieve us of any and all trash immediately, the runic system that will be installed will make our need to store trash completely non existent, and though our current system does this already to a certain degree, that is with the use of a rather large landfill underneath each of our many facilities, which they are planning to also empty for us, allowing us to expand and even hire more staff.”

  Alister’s mouth fell open, and without a doubt he knew who the other contractor was immediately.

  “Blackhole Conglomerate,” muttered Alister, gritting his teeth the moment Sprinter nodded in his direction, now wearing the faintest of smiles.

  “Well then, I guess there is nothing I can do for now, as it seems your decision is made.”

  Alister rose, shaking the woman’s hand before exiting the lavish office, hearing an even more agitating set of words from Sprinter as he approached the exit portal. His footsteps across the plush carpet the only sound until Sprinter spoke.

  “Angelina, will you order from that place, Jade’s something, yeah, that one, the one with the star drink, yes, thank you, oh, I don’t know, just order one of everything and we all can just share, yeah, sounds good, thank you, darling, love.”

  The woman lifted her finger from the button on her desk she used to communicate with her staff as Alister glanced at her, surprise passing her face as she waved at him, giving him the impression that she thought he’d left already.

  He waved back, forcing a smirk onto his face before he turned around and roared internally.

  This isn’t the last you will hear from me… I promise you…

  …

  Arson looked down at his watch as his mother’s image floated into the air above the devices screen. He nearly didn’t answer, but decided to, knowing that his vacation had lasted far longer than he said it would.

  “Yes, mom, what can I do for you?”

  Jade’s gaze narrowed in his direction, but Arson acted as if he couldn’t tell that he was being stared down, looking at his surroundings as if he couldn’t be bothered with the call.

  “Fix your face, and don’t use my name like a curse word, act like you love me a little bit when I call you, how about starting there, young man,” said Jade, causing Arson to smirk as he nodded back at her, still not looking toward his mother.

  How about you act like you care about me first, thought Arson. His conclusions about how he’d gotten sent to Endless in the first place still haunting every aspect of his waking mind since he’d returned from Endless.

  “I’m working, don’t mind my tone, I’m just distracted, try not to take it personally…”

  “Who the bloody embers do you think you are, hold up, let me not lose my cool, you must have just lost your sparking mind, that’s all, I’m sure that I can fix that when you get back here…”

  Arson simply nodded, securing his parachute to his back as the runic plane’s hanger door opened; a green light turning on as the vessel met the required jumping elevation.

  “Anything else, mom, I have a lot to do?”

  Members of the PocketApartmentGang beginning to jump free of the plane; the wretches knowing what needed to be done regardless of receiving further instructions from Arson.

  “Boy, don’t act like you didn’t just hire a bunch of new employees and send them to my house to stay here without talking to me first!”

  The camera angle displayed on Arson’s watch shifted to show almost a thousand orphans gathered behind Jade. Arson laughed, waving as the group turned to see his face and all began to yell various thanks in his direction.

  “Thanks, big Bro!”

  “Yo, Carter. Appreciate the job!”

  “We love you!”

  “Sorry about that mom, forgot to tell you, they only will need a place to stay until the contract starts with RaidCorp,” said Arson walking toward the edge of the hanger door. He looked out over the city as his mother yelled for the many orphans behind her to calm down, as Arson got another call.

  “Gotta go, mom, love you.”

  He hung up and jumped from the plane, answering Seneschal; the hooded figure the only thing displayed above his watch.

  “Hello, young master, we have a few issues,” said Seneschal.

  “Lay it on me,” said Arson; the wind whipping his hair into a frenzy as he dove toward his target.

  “I’ve had to increase the amount of patrols throughout the bronze district as it seems a community of gangs connected to Alister Kim have began targeting your delivery service employees, nothing has occurred as of yet, but it is only a matter of time before something slips through the cracks.”

  “Hmm, I see, what would you suggest that I do in this situation?”

  Arson glanced toward the hologram of Seneschal; the demon suddenly silent, seeming to truly be deep in thought.

  “Something wrong,” asked Arson yelling to be heard over the wind. Seneschal shook his head.

  “No young master, I just don’t remember the last time I was truly asked for advice in such a manner.”

  “Don’t be weird Seneschal, your countless season cycles older than me, and with that comes much knowledge that I would be glad to learn from you, and if maybe I would have been more open to listening,” started Arson, trailing off the moment he realized he was about to insinuate that his mother sent him to Endless. Luckily for Arson, Seneschal’s own thoughts took the ancient demon in another direction.

  “With how long you were away, you could have become a monster, Arson, but instead you have returned and put your mind and newly obtained skills to good use. You have nothing to be ashamed of, and even more to be proud of my boy, as for what I think you should do on the other hand, I must know something first.”

  “What is that?” asked Arson wondering what the demon could not already know the answer to in regards to Arson, while also understanding with how long he’d been gone, that much could have changed with time.

  You are no longer the boy that left them Arson, they need time to grow to know you as you now know yourself.

  “Why are you so bothered by this Alister, your mother doesn’t even care to pay him any attention, so why do you feel the need to?”

  Arson opened his mouth to speak, but nothing emerged. His mind left him feeling he had dozens of answers, but none felt good enough to state with determination or a foundation of validity. Arson rubbed his face, trying to hide the smirk that crept onto his face before he shrugged.

  “Before I left I would have said it was the disrespect he showed my mother, maybe even how little respect he showed me, but now…”

  “But now,” prompted Seneschal.

  Arson shrugged again.

  “I don’t know, honestly feels like dealing with Kim is unfinished business, and if anything I learned while away, is that unfinished business always comes back to try and kill you,” yelled Arson with a laugh; the wind around him stealing the volume of his words.

  “Well then,” started Seneschal, nodding as he lifted his head enough for his smile to be seen underneath the powerful darkness of his hood.

  “Finish what you have started, young master…”

  …

  “Why people always gotta be late,” murmured Sickly, rubbing his nose.

  “You would think making money would make people arrive on time, sparks, maybe even early!”

  Sickly roamed the roof in a pacing zigzag pattern without rhyme or reason waiting for the drop off, wondering what could be taking so long.

  “First they miss a drop, now they late, I got half a mind to tell big bro to stop using these Sword clowns,” said Sickly looking up, hoping to see the parachute that signaled his incoming fix. He squinted and cursed, finally seeing something lowering slowly toward him in the distance.

  “About bloody time!”

  “I’m sorry my guy, I’m new and ain’t ever done no bloody bull like this before, they got my behind jumping out of planes and we are all behind because of that new team busting folks all over the resort,” said the new delivery boy. Sickly didn’t care about the young man’s excuse, pulling the flash drive with the payment credits on them from his pockets as the young man struggled to reign in his parachute.

  “Yeah yeah yeah, heard it all before, I’ll be right there, I’m around the corner, my bad had to make a stop before I head to you, blah blah blah,” said Sickly in a deep voice mockery of a drug dealer. The young man shrugged, a package appearing in his hands from thin air.

  “It is what it is, you got my money?”

  Sickly handed over the flash drive, and received the package as soon as the smiling drug dealer checked the balance on the drive.

  “Here you go, and just make sure to ask for me next time and I’ll get you a better deal,” said the drug dealer as Sickly turned his back to him and took a few steps.

  “Whatever, what’s yo name again newbie,” asked Sickly with a glance over his shoulder.

  “Carter, Carter Gestalt…”

  “See you round Carter, don’t be late next time or we gonna grab elsewhere, you got me?”

  “Yes sir!”

  Sickly walked through the rooftop entrance and froze, feeling like he’d heard that dealer’s name before. He looked back as the door started to swing closed, but didn’t see anyone on the roof top.

  Hmm, must have left already, he did say they were behind on orders…

  Sickly pushed his mind’s need to pin point where he’d heard the name before, and made his way downstairs toward his bosses room.

  He walked passed a series of naked people all cutting drugs for distribution in rooms to either side of him as he made his way to his boss, trying to hurry up, knowing that he could be blamed for how late this current delivery had taken.

  “Big bro better not be mad at me for the Swords doing whatever they want… I been told him to shop somewhere else,” murmured Sickly as he knocked on the last door at the end of the long hall.

  “Yo bra, I got yo pack, they took forever but I told you how the Swords get down, they don’t care bout nutting,” said Sickly. The door opened and Sickly stepped passed the guards at the door to see his boss covering himself; the two beautiful woman at his sides continuing to pleasure the man, kissing his neck and face as he stared down Sickly.

  “What you staring at lil bro, don’t you see I’m in bed, put the pack down and get out of here,” said Sickly’s boss, throwing a small baggie at him from across the bedroom.

  “My bad boss,” said Sickly, smirking to himself as he threw the package on the nearby coffee table; before he quickly scrambled to pick up the baggie that bounced off his chest and hit the ground.

  Sickly managed to grab the baggie and make his way out of the door, shutting it behind himself. He didn’t move a muscle before he checked the contents of the baggie, smiling to himself, before a loud explosion was heard behind him.

  He heard the screams from within the room and nearly dropped his product, before smoke began to funnel out from the gap beneath the door.

  “What in the bloody embers…”