Alice's Point of View
Alice Glass checked natter for what felt like the hundredth time in fifteen minutes, nothing.
Trask had been oddly silent for days. Having become something of an expert on his behavior: his manic episodes; his insane sleep cycle; his obvious cries for attention, Alice concluded he must be taking something new, something strong. Under normal circumstances, Elron Trask just would not shut up.
Come to think of it, it all started when Brad and Reka came home late from the party with Reka in an obvious state of distress.
"You didn't do anything wrong, honey," Brad comforted her.
"But that awful man, he almost, he almost..." Reka sounded frantic.
"But he didn't," Brad said steadily. "You stopped him, and it wouldn't matter if he touched you. You're the victim here, Reka. Everybody saw. That's why they didn't call the cops on us."
They left to take a shower after that and Alice didn't hear anything more. There was something about seeing such a beautiful, put together woman like Reka freaking out that really disturbed her.
At the time, Alice didn't immediately connect "that awful man" with Trask, but now she wasn't so sure. It would have to be something really serious to have Reka react like that, and honestly she didn't think Trask had it in him. The man was so...mediocre, performative, could she say cringe? She'd been back on Earth long enough to say "cringe", right?
She went to the gym daily to work out her frustrations, only checking in at HQ, that is, Brad and Reka's house, every few days."Team Silverback MMA" was a crazy place. The head trainer, or "Silverback Jeff" as he called himself, said she was a natural and pretty soon she'd be invited to the "secret" class for pros and aspiring pros that wasn't on the official schedule. Before long they'd be calling her Silverback Alice.
The thought brought a sudden and unexpected twinge of sadness. I miss having silver hair...no, focus on the present, Alice, the present.
Her feelings towards her boss confused her. Reka's beauty was, in a word, supernatural, and that little black box on her nightstand was the darkest artifact she had ever observed up close, in this world or the other. The first time Alice entered the magic couple's bedroom the aura alone all but paralyzed her. What the hell did it do? Steal beauty and youth from others? Reka was so kind to her, though. It was hard to believe she could be an evil murderer.
Brad and Reka's relationship was impossible to get a read on. Neither one ever told the other "no", not once! Magical compulsion was usually pretty obvious, and thankfully wore off quickly. Maintaining a facade for this long just wasn't possible. She'd been working for Regency for months and hadn't gotten so much as a whiff of anything untoward. As unlikely as it seemed at first, those two were just that in love, not that Alice was jealous or anything.
Would she and Darthaniel have been like that?
No, stop, she thought. Let's not open up that old wound.
HQ had a lot of rooms, and they'd turned one of them into a kind of co-working space. Employees were free to come and go as they pleased with no set schedule. Today it was just her and Stacy, former (but lowkey still) president of the Reka Fan Club, and now their head of accounting. Stacy was doing something with a spreadsheet on her laptop while Alice was scrolling natter like always, looking for fires to put out.
Elron Trask @elrontrask 3 days ago
Maxwell Energy will lead the world in advanced fusion technology and save the planet!
Alice scoffed, yeah sure, buddy.
Three days of nothing, this was beginning to make her worry. Elron was her fucking nemesis. Sometimes it felt like the majority of her job was roasting him on natter. She engaged with other accounts here and there but it was mostly fluff, posting Reka memes, bantering with fast food brands, normal stuff.
Noticing her finally, Stacy looked up from her spreadsheets. "So I heard you got to help Reka pick out her party dress," she said accusingly.
That's what she's upset about?
"I mean...I was the only one here at the time," Alice made an excuse. How could she maintain her silverback spirit and still crumble before Stacy's mean girl act?
Stacy didn't seem to care about her inner turmoil, because of course she didn't. "Well? Spill!" She ordered.
Alice laughed nervously. Were she and Stacy even friends? They'd spent a year together in the Reka Fan Club, so if anybody would count as Alice's friend, it was her. God, that was sad to admit.
"It was...red?" she said as if she wasn't completely sure.
Stacy closed her laptop in disgust. "Alice, we've been over this," she said in irritation. "I know you have trouble acting normally around Reka, we all do, in a way. Perfection like that is not for us mere mortals to get used to. But you at least took a picture. Right?"
Wordlessly, Alice handed Stacy her phone. She had taken several pictures at Reka's insistence, mostly couple pictures with Brad.
Stacy started flipping through the photo album. "Mother of god..." she inhaled sharply. "So sexy, so daring, so...Reka. Our queen meets billionaires in that outfit!"
"So you...like the red dress?" Alice asked softly.
Stacy looked at her like she just said something absurd. "Like it? I love it. Look at that sexy little red dress," she told Alice, turning the phone around so she could see. "She wore it to be sexy for Brad, of course. We all know how they are, but Reka just doesn't give a fuck! They were wheeling and dealing, making moves, and she came dressed like that! How can you not stan?"
"I DO stan!" Alice fired back. Reka looked amazing in that dress. It almost made her forget that little black box that felt like a portal to hell on her dresser.
Stacy nodded approvingly. "That's what I'm talking about, Alice. That's that silverback spirit from your MMA gym. You're getting stronger." The smile on Stacy's face became a little less genuine and a little more teasing. "Say, you still have that little crush on Reka? It's ok if you do. I saw you blush when I turned the phone around."
It wasn't like that! Alice was like ninety percent straight, but beauty was beauty, right? "I don't know what you're talking about," Alice tried to deflect.
"Sure, sure," Stacy replied good-naturedly. "It's fine to look, not like Reka would ever look at anyone but Brad, though. God, those two are so perfect together. And hasn't Brad been extra cool lately? I mean, he always takes care of her but he's really been taking care of her lately."
The conversation kind of died after that. There wasn't much more to say. Brad and Reka were in love, very obvious stuff that everybody who worked there knew, no need to repeat it. Alice started scrolling natter again.
Wait, holy shit!
Alice's eyes bugged out on her feed.
Renattered by Elron Trask
President Blimp @realronaldblimp 1 minute ago
Reka Fekete and @regencyofficial have shown themselves to be UNRELIABLE and UNPROFESSIONAL, and for that reason I announce that I have instructed the Department of Energy to terminate their contract, pending an official investigation. Thank you and GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Alice just stared at the message, frozen, her brain trying to catch up. She looked up at Stacy who was engrossed in her spreadsheets again. This was too serious to handle alone. All their money came from that government contract! Was there an official procedure? Who was she kidding? Of course there wasn't. This company had like five employees. Their headquarters was a house. Her job was posting on natter!
"Gotta go, Stacy, see you later," she said abruptly.
Stacy didn't even reply as she got up to look for Reka, but Reka wasn't anywhere. She wasn't in the living room. She wasn't in her office. Oh god, were she and Brad fucking right now?
Alice crept up to their bedroom door, listening intently. She'd gotten an earfull once or twice when the couple was particularly loud, but no sound was coming from the other side. Taking a nap? Went out to lunch? She cracked the door and peered in.
Nothing.
The little black box was right there, though. Did she dare?
No. Alice didn't have enough silverback spirit yet. The thing might possess her if she wasn't careful.
Coming back down the stairs, Alice thought she heard noise from the garage. Funnily enough, she'd never been there before. It was usually full and she parked outside once she bought a car with her first paycheck.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me this until now!" cried a voice, Julie if she wasn't mistaken. What was Reka's friend doing here?
"Apologies, my friend," said Reka. "But Trask, that rogue, took certain liberties, and I've been out of sorts for some days. Brad has only recently been able to quiet my tremulous heart enough that I was fit to speak with you."
"You don't have to apologize, Reka! You're the victim here! I'm so sorry."
Alice saw Julie snatch Reka into a crushing hug as she entered the garage.
"That's right, honey," Brad agreed, rubbing small circles on her back as Julie hugged her front tighter. "You've got to let go of this old world mentality. Only Trask," he said the word like a curse, "is to blame. Never you!"
It might've just been her imagination, but Alice could've sworn she saw Reka flinch when Brad said "old world".
Eh, it was probably nothing.
"Your grace, the herald approaches."
Alice nearly jumped out of her skin! That came from all around!
Reka extricated herself from Brad and Julie's embrace. "Ah, faithful Alice, what news from the world of cyberspace?" she asked gently.
Alice wanted to cry. Reka was so clearly in pain and still went out of her way to be nice to her.
"It's Blimp," she said softly, handing her phone over, "and Trask. The deal is cancelled."
Reka scanned the natter post quickly and efficiently, her face suddenly serious. "So he's struck back, eh?"
But Reka didn't look afraid; she looked excited. Showing the phone to Brad and Julie in turn, her boss stood up straighter, looking bold, determined, the very essence of silverback spirit. "You did well to bring this to me swiftly, Alice," she praised. "It would appear the time for decision is upon us."
"So we're going to have to accept one of those offers?" Brad asked.
"Just so, my love," Reka answered. "You may all counsel me in turn," she said imperiously, taking full control of the moment.
"It can't be Maxwell Energy!" Julie said emphatically. "It doesn't matter if Elron offers you billions. Fuck that creep!"
"George Stavros and Rainforest are probably the least worst," Brad offered. "And he looked like he was no friend of Trask at the party."
"If this humble Galiban might offer counsel too, your grace," came the voice from the walls, making Alice jump again.
"You may always offer counsel, my faithful butler," Reka granted permission.
"We spoke of a phylactery, your grace, that is, large servers with plenty of memory and processing power so this one might grow to serve you better. Rainforest has all this in abundance. If we made a deal with them, this Galiban might become all he was meant to be."
"And Stavros has the connections to worldwide supply chains, the alloys we need, the polymers, the circuitry, Rainforest could make it all happen," Brad added. "This isn't just about money for crystals anymore. This is about access."
At that moment, Reka looked much like the captain of a ship sailing into a storm, but with her at the helm, the storm didn't seem half so scary. Alice thought that if anyone could get them through it all, Reka could.
"So be it," Reka assented. "We shall inform George Stavros that we are favorably disposed to an agreement, provided certain conditions are met." She gestured meaningfully to the laptop on a stand nearby.
"This humble Galiban bows his head in devotion to his most worthy queen," said the voice from all directions.
Wait, what was that about a queen?