September 11, 2005 – 16:45
"What are you talking about? Firstly, I will not take requests from you. I may now be working for the CMMA, but I am not under you. We are now… colleagues, nothing more, nothing less. Second, I am just walking out of another meeting, and I'm on my way to a third one, I do not have the time to be recruiting anyone," said Coralis before remembering Panjik's call after her previous meeting. "I do not force anyone to join."
Coralis ended the call before he could reply. Realizing she forgot to check her cell phone for missed calls after her last meeting, she grabbed it after sliding her hologram back into her pocket. She hated flying without her cloak.
Seeing Frank's message telling her he was home and would be home to watch the announcement, she called him on their fixed hologram.
"How is it going so far?" said Frank.
"I hate it already. I'm on my way to Quebec City to meet with some mayors, I'm not sure when I'll be home."
"Congratulations! You deserve this so much," said Molly.
"I'm not sure about that, but Frank thinks it's a good idea, so we'll see."
"Guess who called me when we were at the restaurant?" said Sebastian.
"Are you telling me the elders called to appoint you too, but you got to skip meetings?"
"Hell no! Tobly called to recruit me."
"Ooh, did he? So you'll be working for him?"
"Yes, he did, and no, I will not work for him. I dodged him by telling him I will be working for you."
"Really? Well, that's good, you'll be my second-in-command then. That explains his mad call earlier. He tried to request me to stop taking his potential recruits. I thought he was just annoyed that Panjik joined me, but it makes more sense if he also tried to get you."
"PANJIK?? You're serious?" said Sebastian.
"Oh wow! I would have thought he'd be working with the Core Elders," said Frank.
"Dead serious, and I thought the same. He called me right after I walked out of my first meeting in St-Johns, he's also dodging having to work for Tobly. He offered, and I wasn't going to turn him down. Besides second-in-command, I don't know what role I'll need to fill and I don't know if it's me paying my crew, or if comes from a department attached to the Core Elders, but I will probably need an advisor and can't get a better one than him. I'd be a fool to refuse him."
"That's for sure! I don't know anything either, maybe my dad knows. Panjik is one I'd be willing to pay out of pocket, to be honest," said Sebastian.
Coralis heard their bell through the hologram.
"That's probably Mark," said Frank.
Soon after ending her call with Frank, Sonylla mind-linked her.
"GIRL! I was told the news today before our training started. Chiwa and I want to join you. Please say yes, pretty please! We kind of told Tobly that we intended on joining you earlier before training, and I don't want him to call us back if he finds out it's not the case."
"You and Chiwa?" said Coralis, chuckling through the mind-link. "You're also dodging Tobly?"
"Also? Who else is dodging Tobly? See how much I dislike him? I am not even bothering to use his title when talking to you about him!"
"I get it, don't worry and of course, you and Chiwa can join me, but like I said to Panjik, who is also refusing to work for Tobly, I have no idea yet of what type of structure I need to set exactly."
"PANJIK IS JOINING?"
"Yes, Panjik is joining me! He called me right after my first meeting… probably around the time you spoke with Tobly, now that I think of it. Anyway, all I know, is that I'll need a second-in-command, which I got Sebastian for."
"Sebastian too? Well, of course, he is in, that one I'm honestly not surprised, but Panjik? Look, we don't care what position you'll have for us, we want in."
"Sebastian is also dodging Tobly, he called him earlier. Holy gods from above, Tobly called me earlier, thinking I was stealing his recruit. I thought he was talking about Panjik, but now I realize he probably also meant you, Sebastian and Chiwa."
"Yeah, well, he can be mad all he wants, I don't care."
"I also don't know about salaries, I'll probably find out tomorrow morning, I'll let you know. What are you two doing tonight? Want to come to my place for drinks and watch the announcement? I can get Sebastian to open you a portal in the park across the street."
"If you can portal our asses, that's a lovely idea, yes! Derek will want to come too. We'll see you tonight!"
Meanwhile, in Montreal, Victoria arrives at Frank's with another case of beer.
"Just in time, we were out!" said Frank as he let her in.
"I'm definitively glad that I was still an apprentice with the CMMA, I don't need to attend any sort of meeting today," said Sebastian as he grabbed a beer from the new box.
"Blue sets you second-in-command, you won't escape them no more," said Stephanie.
"Precisely! Must enjoy skipping them while I still can," said Sebastian as he heard his hologram and grabbed it.
"Hey Dad!" said Sebastian as he answered it.
"Once again, I don't know why I'm surprised to see you all together," said Ralphonse, shaking his head.
"We're only missing Blue," said Frank.
"She's probably still in a meeting somewhere. I've heard they scheduled her for three today," said Ralphonse.
"Dad, when you told us about the elders forbidding Tobly to recruit Blue, was it because they were planning to recruit her as an elder?"
"I don't know what they had in mind for her when I told you this, but hearing them talk this week, I figured they must have had something major to propose to her and that was why they didn't want Tobly interfering."
"They didn't exactly propose it to her, it was more like she had to take the role," said Frank.
"I'm not surprised to hear that, not at all. Blue has made a lot of powerful enemies over the years, but she also has a lot of supporters in just about every faction. I don't know what was discussed, but I've heard the six elders were unanimous about appointing her for District VIII."
"The wolves. If they want the wolves to trust them again, they need Blue, it's probably why," said Sebastian.
"Yes, among other things. I was calling you so you could warn Blue about Tobly. He is currently barking a lot and stirring up a storm against her, but she needs to ignore him."