Chapter 2 Family Lost and Found

Chapter 2 Family Lost and Found

"Blood relatives often have nothing to do with family, and similarly, family is about who you choose to make your life with."

Oliver Hudson 

The long trip from the techplant back to CCC headquarters was uneventful, except for the occasional turbulence and some of the larger pieces of ash that hit us now and then. The damn little kid seems to have gone another way. That's good for me because I don't think I can take any more of him, on what is now, morning. That child was his power speed based? We are going over the Camp Central City now, with its vast array of buildings both wide as well as tall. Like A maze of stone and glass set in a large circle centered on the largest of these billings, which, is like a giant double edged knife stabbing the ground, is the CCC main office. It houses the executives and most of the ranks eight through ten. What of the dim sun that struggled through the clouds refracted off of the main office like an unpolished gem and was at least pleasant to look at. As we land on the heliport that is at about two-thirds of the way up, one on either side of the building. I get a bad felling in my gut about giving my oral report, the lump of regret siting all to well in my chest. Last night was not the best mission ever and I would rather not go through that whole thing with 'him'. He wasn't known for forgiveness...

The sound of the engine dying down finally gives me a chance to hear just how fast I've been breathing. Whoa, I've gotta calm down...steady my breathing. Can't let anyone else see me like this. Come on, can't let last nights....incident get to me. Suddenly the dead women's face flashes through my mind. D****t, not here! Do not brake down here~* "....to go." The voice broke my rather lengthy train of thought.

 "What!?", I say almost yelling. 

"I said that it is ok to get off now. The engine stopped, sir." 

Crap, I'm losing it. "Oh, rite. Thank you". As I step off the plane the early morning wind chills my skin and my bones. I need to get inside quickly before I freeze. Inside the heater was working at a pleasing maximum capacity, that is to say just fine, and I started to feel warm for the first time in a long while, but I better keep my coat on till the chill stops clinging to my bones. The elevator down the hall would take me up to his office on the one hundred and fifty-second floor. But I need to go to the ninety-eighth floor, one down, to see my sister first and tell her about last night. Yea, just to talk, not to warm up or delay. Nope, not at all. Cattiy Orillis, she should be there sharpening her throwing knives in the armory, or making more. They had a habit of getting used or worn down. She never did trust others to make them for her, probability because of her power. On the way down to the elevator I pass some of the cleaning staff as they chat on about something called Eten, I think, nothing I care about anyway. The hall is four persons wide and had always had this wooden old world look to them with red carpet and wall fixtures, yet the elevator had a sleek metal look with rounded corners and sixteen holes placed in four squares in the back of the elevator. It always looked weird to me, but a home's a home so I try not to think about it too much. However....

The elevator starts playing this melody I can't shake. I hate it, a lot. In fact this elevator music will probably play in my personal hell, it's always the same song. Luckily it's just one floor, for now. It's the only thing I hate about my new home. The rest of it I just can't complain. Like my 'sis', Cattiy... While I'm adopted, Cattiy is the biological sibling, our father is a traditionalist in the way he does business, and all though she is older, I'm the male. Personally I think she is far ,far more qualified than me but I've never asked her opinion on the subject. She's never said anything either, but I doubt she feels good about it. Her power is Summa Observationibus. Anything she sees, hears, smells, feels, and tastes she remembers in all it's glorious detail like photographic memory to the extreme. and not just that it also allows her to analyze someone in the blink of an eye. *bing-dong* As I step off the elevator, I can already hear the sounds of blades being sharped from the ajar door to the armory, just down the hall. She is hard at work with her back to the door, already, this early. She always was a astute person and a little taller than me. "Morning Harlow." 

Damn, she's too good, "Morning, sis". 

She stops sharpening the blade on the "iron", which is just a goosed up metal plate, and turns her head slightly toward me, "You know father hates it when you call me that". 

This subject again, "And you know that I can't help it, you're my family now. I can't be formal with you all the time". 

"Yes, I do. Still, do not let father catch you, ok little bro?", she says as she turns back toward her work, "Anyway, why is your voice shaking? Did something happen related to the marks on your face?" 

Crap, I can't hide anything lately, "Well, last night I....killed someone," my voice is shaky and getting worse. 

This time she puts down her tools and does an about face, "Explain it to me," in such a demanding tone. 

"But, I can't d-" 

"Now!", she cuts in, "you need to talk about this and I'm willing to listen to it. Now, talk to me." So I do. I tell her it all.

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Mad With Power

Lost Horizons

Chapter 2 Family Lost and Found

By the time i'm done I'm crying again, in front of sis of all people. "....and then I came to see you Cat." 

She waits for me to stop, "Yea." She looks down, "Yea, my first time killing was...hard on me too." 

I end up feeling a little worse than I did, "How did you deal with it?" 

What was her solution to it all? "Well, dad was here to help me...," What?! Dad helped someone? I've never known him to. "...and now I'm here for you." Oh, she thinks of me as family. It wasn't to long ago that I didn't even know them (father and sis) even though father still has reservations about calling me family. "Thanks sis, don't...please don't you leave me too" 

She gives me a look of worry and concern, "Hehe. Stupid, I'm not planing to go anywhere." 

She says it with such, reverence that it instantly calms me down, "Thanks again, sis. Now I've got to turn in my oral report to the president". He's not easy to talk to. 

"Well, good luck with that. That's not an easy feat, even for me. Well, get going and good luck." She turns around and goes back to her work. 

"Right." I turn around and go back to the elevator and push the call elevator button, and then later get reminded of why I hate this song all over again. It reminds me of 'then'. The time alone in vast wastes. Only the sound of your own foot steps and only your shadow to keep you company. I remember what someone told me back then. It was to be careful who you let get too close. The elevator doors open and the first step out feels like a hundred steps. Calm down, he won't like it but you must report your findings. 

The door to his office was made out of real wood, a rare find since the wood is hard to come by after The Crash. Cattiy was missing from her normal post at the desk outside the door. She acts as the CEO's secretary, but that's just a front for her real job as his bodyguard. I knock on the heavy wooden door, the sound it makes is as large and imposing as the door itself, a muffled gruff male voice responds to the deep rumbling of the door, "Enter." I take a breath, and open the door. He has his back to me, as is his custom, looking out at the city. He turns around slowly as I enter, the door closing behind me with the deep thud of ill omens, he looks me once over with his bristled graying eyes but shows no emotion but...maybe...anger? "I had heard that you had arrived, welcome back." The man at the head of CCC was sitting at his onyx lined metal desk, surrounded by woodwork and red wallpaper. The CEO and president, as well as...,"Thank you, father,"...my father, Garfinador Orillis. 

"I will NOT tell you again, if you chose to be a part of this company you will refer to me as 'sir', got it boy!?" I can't believe I said that. That was a mistake I can't afford at the moment. 

"Yes, sir!", I say as I salute. 

He glares at me for what seems like hours, "Good! Now on to more pressing business. You reported that there were twenty-three of the assailants, is that correct?" 

It was a test, he was trying to fool me, "No sir, there was only twenty-two of them, sir." He shifts in his char and I notice that I'm unconsciously standing at attention. 

"...And Ando?" 

I think for a minute, "He is, by my evaluation...rude, callous, quick on his feet, and quick with tactical thinking. He is an expert sharp shooter and can follow instructions, but has a tendency to bend the rules for others. He is however not lacking in compassion. He can be underprepared at times, but has the ability to improvise when he needs to. It is my opinion...he should not be moved up to nine stars. biased on the fact that he has a bad attitude. Also he has a, what seems to be, a deep love of this company so biased on that I real that Ando Kravich should remain a eight stars."

 

After listening to the whole thing father shifts in his seat again while he thinks, "Thank you for checking on him for me. Your six star rank is now restored to you and you will get a bonus in your pay." Good, I was useful to father. He continues to speak, "As for you, I read that you killed for your first time, and I read that you didn't take that well. Along with the injuries, I will have to deny your request for seven stars." 

Damn it! Denied again. "Yes...sir."

"Now on to the mission, and your failure to properly potent the client!" Hear it comes, "As you are well aware, if we in anyway allow harm to come to them or their property it comes out of our pocket!" What does he want from me the reports said nothing about two power users, "Do you have any idea how much that door is going to cost? DO YOU!" He sits there and glares at me half expecting an ensure, "If it was not for the fact that you were on another mission I would have you bumped back to one star this minute!" 

"Ses-s s-sir!" 

He turns back to the window, "That is all, go to your quarters and await further instructions. Dismissed!" The monolithic doors behind me open and I leave a little dejected. I stop just out side the doors as they close to gather my thoughts. As the wooden doors shut with a deep well of a drum I hear typing to my left, "You know, he's only that hard on you because he cares." Cat was back at her post sitting at the desk. 

"I don't know sis, he always seems to be angry with me." 

She continues to type at the computer, "That's not true, in fact, he was up all night worried about you." 

The intercom cracks to life like an old radio, "Cattiy, get in here, now!" Maybe she was right, he seems angry with everybody. 

"Yes father", She gets up and begins walking to the tall door, "Well duty calls. Later Harllow" I nod and walk back to the elevator.

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Mad With Power

Lost Horizons

Chapter 2 Family Lost and Found

In the morning I awake to the sound of the alarm next to my bed, it was like glass in my ear, the reverberations of the alarm shattering any hope of sleep. Like all mornings these days it was dark, the shadows rising with me. From my window on the hundred and twenty-forth floor I saw that the clouds hung over the world like a thick blanket, they didn't always seem that way. At one time they looked like a wall, a large wall that wouldn't let anything through. That heavy wall of clouds that let no light in, is not as scary as it once was but, on some deep level, they still scared me, as they did back then. Back then, after The Crash, it was hard just to live. No one had time to think of the future, of what life would become. Despair griped the land and its people, all hope seemed lost. The rulers at the time tried to keep order by giving aid, trying desperately to save them. That is until the people showed signs of powers. Then the revolution began, the despair driven mad people of the earth lashed out against each other. They formed communities of like minds, but still killing each other like animals.

When father appeared on the scene at the head of CCC, whether for greed or to bring order to the world. He, along with everyone under the CCC banner, took control of the world. Sis tells me it was hard for them and he had to build this tower just to get by. This tower...was...what am I doing thinking about that now? I need to get ready for the day, so stop starting out of the window. You've been doing that for two days now. Get up, get a wash, get dressed, and get your gun. My place is just two rooms, being the presidents son has no real perks. As father put it, 'If you want to be a part of this company. You'll have to make your own way up in this company.' ...Well, if I want to continue to live here I better go down to the post-bored on the first floor and see if there is a new job to-*knock**knock**knock* Someones at my door? As I open it the most monotone voice hits my ears, "Young master, the master wishes to speak to you."

 It was my old teacher, "Hay, Gafriy. What have you been up to?" Gafriy Jalitosky the man who taught me all he knew about the world, and is my fathers other bodyguard. "Young master, I was given explicit intrusions, that I was to bring you to the master." 

He's been this way as long as I have known him, "All right, you'll drag me away if I refuse I take it?" I have no idea what his power is. 

"Yes, I was given instructions to that letter, young master. Now if you would be so kind as to accompany me to, the master's office." He uses no weapons at all choosing instead to fight with his bare hands, yet I've never seen him in anything other than a suit. 

"Tell him that I'll be up soon, I need to check on something." 

As I turn to close and lock the door labeled 247 behind me he grabs my shoulder like a vice, "I insist that you come now, young master, as the matter is urging you come and this matter requires your immediate attention." I turn to see him glaring at me over his rimed glasses, "Now, young master." His grip tightens further on my shoulder to the point that it cuts of my circulation. 

"Ok, ok! There is no need for force Gafriy, if he needs me now, I'll go now. Lead the way." He looses his black lether gloved hand and steps back, "Of course, young master." He kept his voice steady the whole time, but that grip said urgency. Father wants to keep it private or he would have just paged me. What's going on?

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Mad With Power

Lost Horizons

Chapter 2 Family Lost and Found

As we step on to the elevator the music from my personal hell starts up...damnit. Damn it all....ummm, need a distraction, "So Gafriy, what have you been up to? I haven't seen you around lately." He rely hasn't, and this might drown out that damned music. 

"I have languid in the service of, the master and have used my skills in his service, young master." Never one to share, Gefriy not only serves as fathers bodyguard, and on occasion, disappears without reason. 

"Did you go anywhere sunny this time?" This conversation is so bland, but at least I can ignore that song. 

"Young master, you know I am forbidden to speak of such things. The master instructed me, himself, that any and all information that I observe will never leave his office." 

There he goes again, "Yea I know the president trusts you, I just wish father trusted me more...." Father never lets me in on anything that goes on around here. 

"Young master, while I can understand your need to be close with, the master. You were given instructions to refer to, the master as mister, president, or sir." I'm slipping can't even maintain in front of Gefriy. "And another thing, young master, the master, did not trust me at first as well, but you are being given a chance to earn some of that trust today." What!? 

*bing-dong* The elevator doors open. "Now go, young master and make me proud to call you my student." He pushes me out of the elevator. That is the first time I have seen him compliment anyone. I turn around and see him smile as the doors close. 

I hear sis clear her throat, "As funny as it is to watch you and Gefriy be all buddy buddy, time is short." I can't say I'm not embarrassed. 

"Of coirs..." I turn to see that the monolithic wooden doors to fathers office are opening, "...si- Ms. Vice President." 

Father is glaring at me again. "Harllow! Get in here, now!" I nod to sis and practically jog inside the office. As he waits till the doors are closed, my eyes rest on the new edition to the room two chairs in front of the desk. "Sit!" I sit. "Harllow, what I'm about to say must reman between us alone." 

This is what Gefriy meant, "Yes, sir." It must be serious. 

"The Emperor of Vicatiney, Lokanta Hasial's illegitimate son has been kidnaped. They have threatened to kill him if he refuses to hand control of the country to the Folkrium Parliament. If the kid is killed it will reveal the kids existence, and because of the law there that states that the Emperor can have only one son or be dethroned, Mr. Hasial needs to keep this under the table. Hear is the file on that," he hands one of the many files on his desk to me, "look at that later. Now, since CCC or Vicatiney can't be connected to this you will need to have a contact in the city. Their file is, here." A second file is thrust into my hands. 

"Any questions?" I think that this is the most that father has spoken to me, ever. 

"Do we have information on who did this?" I have no idea what to expect from anything he says anymore. 

"We have only heard rumors that the suspect has the power of Umbra Serpo, the power of shadows, which makes you the perfect tracker. Now this little Q&A is over. The helicopter is fueled and ready on the helipad." 

He wants me to go now? "N-now sir?" Oh s**t! The look he's giving now would, if not for the distance between us, freeze my blood. 

"Yes, now!" 

I get out of the chair, "Sir!" Don't forget to salute. I run/walk out of the office, The titanic door slamming behind me. Before I can recover my composure sis pipes in, "Better hurry." I step on to the elevator. This is my first mission alone and by the sound of it I can't fail or Vicatiney will join Folkrim. Wait, what is Folkrim? Going by what dad said, they are not good for CCC. So for my new family, I'll do it.

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