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Chapter 22 - The Meeting

The conference room was long with a table in the middle that dominated the space. One side of the room held a window that stretched from floor to ceiling, allowing light to flood in. On the far end of the table sat three men, scrutinising Seth as he walked in. The smiles on the three men only lingered where the light could reach.

Seth walked up to the closest end of the oblong table shining in the sun. It looked like a silver metal had been melted to fit the space he stopped. There was no seat for him so he stood at the far end. The room was cold, from the metal to the men, there was no warmth to be found.

Looking at the three men, in the middle was a man who had a full mustache and a bald head that shone in the light. This man spoke first.

"What can we do for you Scout 12?" "You can call me Seth sir" replied Seth without thinking. He knew it meant nothing to people like this but he needed to say it.

"Fine. Seth then, what can we do for you?" said the bald man after pausing and rubbing his brows, annoyed by the request. "I am here to offer my services in exchange for Maria"

"She made the deal with us, not you" said the man to the right who had a full head of hair, dark, luxurious and mutton chops.

"I know that sir's, that she had made a deal with you but the deal involved me" replied Seth.

"Do you know of the details of this deal Maria made?" asked the man on the left with no hair at all on his face or head, so much so he looked alien with no eyebrows.

"I was not a privy to the finer details sir's, but I know you wish for her to work for you"

"I think you are stabbing in the dark" said the man in the middle while he fiddled with his ring, not making eye contact with Seth.

The tension in the room increased as the man in the middle looked up and held Seth's gaze. He was looking down on him; he was not hiding contempt for this whole meeting. Seth and the man were both waiting for the other to show a crack in their facade.

The man in the middle took a large sip of the water in front of him, slowly savoring the clear liquid before placing the empty cup down on the table.

"Your assumption is correct, Scout 12 .... Seth however we made the deal considering Maria's talents, her excellent leadership, and medical knowledge. To do this deal with you instead you will need to convince all the parties involved" said the man in the middle.

"What do you need done? Whatever it is I can do it" replied Seth, a little too eagerly. He had found a way out and wanted to use it before it vanished.

"Replace my kidney" replied the man in the middle with a smirk and dark look in his eyes. He had seen how eager Seth was and wanted him to know his place.

"I am unsure how" replied Seth, looking down at the floor.

"Do not get too cocky scout, we were going to use Maria's medical knowledge to our advantage, something we cannot do with you .... but I can think of a few missions that have been far to dangerous for anyone to take on"

"I can do it" Seth said with resolve as he faced the man again.

"And if you die?"

"That would be my choice"

"I am unsure if that will work. Maria made a deal with us for your sake. How would she feel if you died?" "Then I won't die"

"You do not know the missions you will participate in and yet you are so sure you will not die. How do we know that you will not die on the first mission and we lose our new warrior?" asked the man on the left as he sized up Seth.

"You can look at my missions. No fails and the last mission is sure to impress" he replied looking as his gauntlet showed a holographic image of all his mission debriefs and the last mission with the outrageous number of Druin.

"Let us confer for a time and then we will call you back in, Seth" said the man on the right.

"Of course, please take your time" replied Seth, anticipating this kind of reaction. He always had to wait so long for anything not an emergency in the military.

Sitting outside the conference room, the clock ticking slowly as each second stretched on and on. Seth was worried about many a thing, but more so he was worried for Maria.

'I just hope I can stop her from being used. Why am I so worried about her? She made this deal knowing what it would be, but she did do it for me. Damn' he thought as he ruffled his hair.

Inside the conference room hushed voices conferred information and their ideas and doubts to one another.

"Can we use his more effectively than Maria?"

"Maybe, but will the Harenae agree to this different deal?" "Maybe if we send him on those missions" said the man in the middle

"But he would surely die. No one can return from that mission" "Does that matter?" said the man on the left "If he completes on of the missions we need it would be a huge step forward for us"

"I will call the Harenae's. They will want to meet him and see if he is up for the tasks, but with his record he maybe the only one right now who can do what we want"

Across the city sat Mongrel drowning his sorrows. The bar was sticky and smelled of fresh beer drying. He sat on an old stool, the wood worn and cracking, the glass in front of him empty.

"Another one" he said to the bartender.

"Same as before?" asked the female bartender as she picked up the empty glass.

"Yes"

"Why you here sir? Isn't it too early to start drinking this much"

"Ya are open aren't ya"

"Yes ... we are open or you wouldn't be in here" she said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes

"Then i would say it is a perfect time to drink"

"What you drinking away?" said the bartender, intrigued and bored with nothing else to do. "Non of ya business" replied Mongrel as he looked into his fresh glass. "If you say so, but sometimes an ear to hear you out can be useful"

"Ya know anything about the Harenae faction" Mongrel asked.

"Harenae Faction. Cannot say I do"

"Then ya are too wet around the ears. Have you heard of the human faction?"

"Is that not the council inside the empire"

"If ya think that every human is interested in the same goals then ya are wet behind the ears and stupid"

"Why don't you tell me Sir" her smile faltering.

"It would be a waste of breath. All ya need to know is stay clear of both of them, they are nothing but trouble"

"Will do sir, but to be honest I don't think I would be of any use to any faction. I am a bartender, military in name only"

"Everyone has a use, some more some less. Ya less but ya look like a woman who can blend in in any scenario. That would be useful to someone"

"Thank you?" Said the woman as she paused trying to ascertain what that meant.

"It isn't an insult"

"So what is digging your soul out?" asked the bartender as she wiped the sticky bar down.

"My friend is going to a faction today"

"Didn't you say to steer clear"

"Yea I did but I know he won't listen to me"

"Well you must have gotten into a massive fight about it"

"na"

"Did you talk to him about it all"

"Well no"

"Then you offered your assistance"

"..." Mongrel said nothing, just looked at his glass half empty already.

"So if these factions are so dangerous, why are you not there to help your so-called friend? You cannot be a very good friend"

"Hey, we have gone through thick and thin together. He is my best friend" replied Mongrel, staring at the bartender.

The bartender moved her black hair out of her eyes, putting it behind her ear.

"Sure man, that is why your ass is here drinking not helping him"

"I am here as he won't listen to me"

"Sounds like you didn't try"

"..."

"Go. Maybe you cannot get him to stop, but maybe you can support him so he doesn't have to go through this alone".

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