Museum Core Chapter 118: Negotiations … of a Sort

In many ways, the real world was like quicksand. No matter what she did to escape the messiness of reality, she’d always wind up right back here, walking into this building, with the weight of the world on her shoulders. And while she didn’t always feel it there, right now, after spending the last two days with her daughter, it seemed as though it had all come crashing down like a goddamn anvil.

“How was your weekend?” Frye asked.

“Don’t ask …” Jaclyn sighed.

She’d taken Eve to the pool on Sunday, and it had been fun, at first. Her daughter had tried to push her into the water, failed to so much as budge her for the first couple of seconds until Jaclyn had stopped resisting and pulled what she considered to be a theater-worthy performance of surrender as she plunged beneath the chlorinated waves … and only then realized that with her senses, she could tell just how many people had peed in the pool. Or were currently in the process of doing so.

Of course, the idea that the children’s pool was, well, a cesspool, was hardly new, and for the longest time, Jaclyn had wished she hadn’t known that the chlorine smell of the place was actually a byproduct of the pool’s chemical additives cleaning the water, meaning that its presence was actually proof of the fact that the pool was already dirty … but her recent experience had been incomparably worse.

If she’d been alone, this would have been the point where she left to take several long, long, loooong showers and never so much as think of the whole affair again. But Eve had been there, and she’d been having fun, so Jaclyn had found herself forced to suffer through the whole affair for several hours while silently coming up and discarding several dictionaries’ worth of excuses.

“Do think you’ll have time to do something with your daughter next weekend?” he asked, holding out a couple of garish red slips of paper that were obviously tickets. She took them out of his hand and looked them over.

VIP tickets to the Bristol Zoo. The new one.

The BPA had a whole lot of permanent summoning tokens from the dungeon that they hadn’t wanted to use, since getting a pet that would likely get itself killed in short order just … it felt wrong, which was why they’d convinced Daedalus to create the temporary variant instead.

But that had left them with a whole lot of ways to summon rather weak creatures, by the standards of what they’d have to fight, which they wouldn’t use anyway, so they’d put them to better use. They’d grabbed the more exotic ones, whether they were big cats or actual dinosaurs, and donated them to the “prestige project” of transforming the local zoo into a one-of-a-kind collection of magical and/or extinct creatures, a demonstration of the fact that the United Kingdom might have been battered, but was oh so far from broken. And, the best part was that it had been made almost entirely with resources that would otherwise have been entirely superfluous.

“VIP?” Jaclyn asked.

“Enter any time, skip any queues, pet any creature that has its summoner nearby, so things are safe. Even off-hours, if you call ahead. Just avoid the big inauguration, I don’t think your kid would enjoy that.”

“I won’t enjoy that,” Jaclyn rolled her eyes. The speeches, the glad-handing, the whole affair would be two hours of people saying five words where one would have sufficed, but unlike Frye, she at least had a chance of getting out of it for something less than an all-hands-on-deck emergency.

He sighed. “Could you tell your guys that I’ve got enough tickets for everyone, I’ll put them by the reception. Just make sure they grab the correct ticket, I’m pretty sure they’ll be weird sticklers about ‘adults need adult tickets’ and so on, and the ones they gave me are counted.”

Jaclyn rolled her eyes. That sounded about right. Give freebies to the people who’d made the whole thing possible, but do so in a way guaranteed to cause issues if this wasn’t done perfectly.

“Sure,” she said. “Thank you.”

These should make for a nice day out.

… assuming Eve didn’t put two and two together and figure out that at least some of those tokens had been earned by her very own mother, and that therefore she herself could have had one of the creatures in the zoo as a pet.

But that was a problem for later, and one that might not even come to pass.

Jaclyn moved on to her office.

She didn’t have to spend much time in here, thankfully, but what time she did fritter away there was an absolute necessity.

To be specific, she had to look over the training regimens, look further into various interesting power combinations and/or skills that nicely combined with certain fighting styles …

Lots and lots of interesting stuff, and plenty to share with/teach others, but little that worked for her, unfortunately.

Her strategy of stacking every physical skill possible onto each other and then leveling those as high as possible worked quite well, but there was also little room for improvement there.

Raw power applied with extreme precision only had so many variations, and most of those occurred on the technique level, rather than the basic chosen superpowers.

Frye marched past her office door, looking mildly annoyed … except that, for him, that was the equivalent of marching around surrounded by his own personal thunderstorm, glowering at anything that moved with such vehemence that people fled and smaller animals just plain dropped dead.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, rising to her feet and tapping into her superhuman stats enough to move as quickly as possible without creating a wake that would turn her office into a disaster area.

He sighed, lowered his voice, and whispered, “Some cheeky bastard at the embassy decided that since Deadalus shut down negotiations, they were going to shut down all deals that might lead to him getting his hands on the Winter Queen’s body.

“Some who doesn’t have their head up their arse is going to shut that down, eventually, but until then …”

He shrugged and gave her a knowing look. They both knew their time was limited, and the wheels of bureaucracy turned slowly. Assuming Daedalus hadn’t lied to her when he’d shared the reason as to why he was collecting anchor beast bodies, the stubbornness was going to be a huge bloody problem.

Although a distant part of her mind reminded her as to just how stupid she’d look for having shared the information with Frye if nothing wound up happening in the end.

Then Frye switched to a more conversational tone.

“Anyway, could you come to the conference room in an hour?” he asked, then swept into his office and slammed the door shut after she nodded.

Softly slammed, but by the standards of the director, a door closing loudly enough for a normal person to hear at a distance was a slam.

And Jaclyn returned to her office, setting a timer on her phone for an hour before going back to dealing with paperwork.

Once that hour was up, however, she immediately headed towards the conference room, only to stop before she’d moved more than a few meters to sniff at the air.

Was that … it couldn’t be, right? Who else even liked that stuff? And why was it coming from the conference room?

But it certainly wasn’t a mystery she’d solve standing in the middle of the corridor, that was for certain.

She proceeded to the conference room, subtly sniffed at the air once again, and nodded to herself.

Someone had cooked snake in there, or at least transported a freshly prepared dish in there, along with quite a bit of other food.

Rather than dithering outside until she’d figured it out, Jaclyn opened the door and walked into a vision of hell. Piles and piles of paperwork, and not just the nice and simple and friendly kind that she’d been dealing with up until now. That looked, well, it looked like Frye’s workload.

“I know I can be food motivated, but not that food motivated,” she said, with mock sarcasm as she looked around the conference room, realizing she was alone inside, with the food, the mountains of paperwork, and a note.

“Jaclyn,

“I’ve headed off to deal with the current issue. I’ll be out of communication for a bit, but the paperwork can’t be left to accumulate for that long.

“I hope the food is apology enough for the surprise.

“I should be properly available again in thirty-six hours at the very latest. Coordinate with Nicole if you need help, but she’s bound to be busy.”

So he’d run off to deal with the issue in some cloak-and-dagger way, and dumped all the work on her?

“Cheeky bastard,” she muttered as she put it back down on the table, then started looking through everything.

It wasn’t anything overly onerous, but also required too high authority to be easily delegated. And perhaps leaving it to grow while Frye did … whatever he’d left to do wasn’t the best idea.

Jaclyn groaned. Yep, that was going to be a pain to deal with. But she supposed she had to earn her “Deputy Director” title at some point.

***

Going out into the field after nearly a year of office work felt strange, but in a good way.

There was little doubt in Rowan Frye’s mind that being the Director of the Bureau of Preternatural Affairs was the place he could do the greatest good, that he would have simply been a blip on the radar of history if he’d remained as a field operative, not to mention that it was entirely in question if he’d even gained any magic if that had been the case … but damn if being able to do what he’d done for most of his adult life with magic didn’t put a grin on his face.

What he was currently doing would not have been possible before, not quickly and sure as fate, not quietly.

And getting caught here, let alone going in all guns blazing, would not have been acceptable.

But magic made this so damn easy.

A variant of the regular cleaning spell let him literally scrub himself from the feed of any security cameras that happened to spot him, telekinesis was fantastic for distracting guards, and as for repair spells … he could literally reduce walls to dust, then walk through the hole and reform it behind him, without leaving so much as a crack behind.

Adding enchantments would have made these walls more durable, and the damage more obvious, while using ranked metals would have made the mana cost skyrocket beyond what he could pay.

All adjustments made to the walls protecting vital infrastructure back in Bristol … adjustments these folks didn’t have.

And soon enough, Frye walked right back out, his prize safely tucked away in the spatial storage device clipped to his belt.

Now he just had to get to Britain, and then come back here again, before anyone noticed he’d ever been here.

***

Twelve hours later, Natural History Museum

“Wait, you got it?” Thomas asked, as Frye marched into the arena, telekinetically carrying a large box along behind him. Granted, it was a little weird that he’d gone there, into the currently empty area, rather than entering through the main entrance, but to be honest, there was likely a fairly innocent explanation for all this.

Frye sighed. “No, we weren’t able to buy it …”

The pause dragged on long enough that Thomas felt compelled to interject.

“Then what’s in the box?”

“… so we nicked it,” Frye continued. “But there are a few things you’re going to have to promise before I give it to you.”

If it had been anyone else who said that, Thomas probably would have bristled at that statement, assuming he was about to get blackmailed. Frye, however … he liked to play the long game. And just because he wasn’t immortal the way Thomas was didn’t mean he could afford to ruin their relationship for short-term gain, and they both knew it.

Which was likely the same reason why the former intel officer wasn’t the least bit worried Thomas would use this information to blackmail him into getting this for free. This kind of relationship was worth far more than any single “advantage” he could possibly gain.

“Shoot,” he offered.

“One, you’re going to make a copy as quickly as you can, because we need to get that thing back to the US before anyone realizes it’s gone.”

“Done,” Thomas stated.

“Two, you’re going to not use anything you get from this until you’ve publicly gotten your hands on it.”

“Sure,” Thomas answered, pretty sure he knew what the next request was going to be.

“And three, you’re going to buy the body for a reasonable price once the chaos across the pond dies down. Nothing unreasonable, nothing crazy, but whatever you were planning on spending, the Yanks are going to get even though you already have the ‘prize.’”

“Okay,” Thomas replied. “And let me guess, number four, don’t ever mention this to anyone? I won’t.”

Frye nodded and kicked at the crate to send it sliding deeper in while he turned and walked outside to let Thomas absorb and replicate the torso of the Winter Queen.

Recreating it in the exact same damaged state he’d gotten it in, rather than as a whole, might have been tricky a couple of ranks ago, but now, Thomas’ manifestation abilities had grown to the point where he could fabricate a replica identical down to the very last molecule.

But once he’d sent it back out, he immediately proceeded to examining his new pattern.

… after he’d left a note in his core room to come with something for Frye as a thank you. Other than, you know, making sure the second merge that wasn’t a complete disaster.

Just like any other C-Rank creature, the Winter Queen had four powers.

Her first was called Ice Heart, a pretty simple, straightforward, and overwhelmingly powerful AOE attack that was perpetually active, freezing her surroundings solid unless actively suppressed. It also functioned as a hyper-specific Physique power, which allowed her to exist as an elemental, though that secondary function would not be gained by any other creature given this power.

Cool, but considering that Thomas had had cryokinesis as a power since those Russians had tried to kill him, this was an ability that he could have easily created himself.

And speaking of, that was the Winter Queen’s second power: moving and shaping ice/cold, though the power somewhat extended to her own body, allowing her to somewhat repair herself.

Meanwhile, the third power was actual weather control. Well, highly specific weather control, in that it created a blizzard around the user, which could then be roughly controlled to bury specific areas in snow in a matter of seconds, or just turn an entire state into a winter wonderland over the course of a few hours and keep it that way.

Awesome and ludicrously powerful, but also very much a strategic weapon, while Thomas generally preferred to use tactical ones.

… unless he had a good reason to use/hand out one. And he’d already created a weapon like that already, without even needing this anchor beast.

And then, finally, there was the fourth power of Legions of Frost, which allowed her to endlessly summon minions, or at least as long as her mana held out.

Potent, useful and also …

“Summoning token rules apply,” Elias said. “If it’s summoned in the dungeon, it counts against your command limit. Doesn’t matter if you or one of your creatures summoned it.”

… also there were rules about this sort of thing. Thomas wasn’t entirely sure what would be worse: having every idea immediately shot down, or thinking he’d come up with a good one only to run headlong into a wall at the last possible moment.

All in all, the Winter Queen’s body wasn’t the best source of new powers, but it did fit perfectly well into the vortex controller.

Thomas looked at it, the shard of ice hanging there in its crystal cylinder. It felt weirdly unearned. Like he hadn’t put a single iota of effort towards gaining it. Neither by empowering the anchor beast’s slayers, nor by paying for it.

But there was one thing he could do: reward the thief who’d brought it to him.

Spook’s Rainment (C-Rank, legendary, growth)

A three-piece suit made from supernatural spider silk, enchanted by a grateful dungeon core.

It can change to take the shape of almost any other clothing of similar mass, or collapsed into a mobile, transportable, form that can look like either a carpet, folded suit, or plushie.

This suit is temperature regulating, self-cleaning, capable of keeping out all environmental toxins, and granting oxygen even underwater or hard vacuum.

Furthermore, it has a reactive shield that will automatically intercept attacks until its internal mana supply (requires charging by wearer) is depleted.

As a soulbound item, this set of clothing can be repaired using mana and teleported back to the user when lost.

As a growth item, the user may pay additional mana (can be spaced out over multiple instances) to uplift it to match their new rank.

Energy draw: capacitive, low to large depending on number of active functions, massive to repair and teleport into place, titanic to upgrade

Restrictions: Soulbound to first user

That should be useful, right?

***

A couple of hours after Frye had left, Thomas got a second visitor.

Ambassador Park.

“Good evening,” the man called out, raising his right hand in greeting as he entered through the back entrance, his left lugging along a large briefcase.

“Good evening, Ambassador Park,” Thomas called back. “What brings you here?”

“I was hoping to purchase an E-Rank water-breathing bracelet or two, depending on how much this is worth,” he said, hefting the briefcase. “Would you happen to have a table at hand?”

Of course there was, and a couple of minutes later, Thomas had been presented a series of monster samples. Weird fish that were oddly similar to prehistoric critters, crocodile-like things that could actually breathe underwater, and so on.

But the greatest prize of the lot was something called a Razorspine Archelon, a turtle covered in blades. One of its powers allowed it to endlessly regrow its blades, useful but niche, the other … well, that one was really cool.

Basically, it sent a shockwave into the surounding water that did something, well, funky with it, blasting it outwards while also suspending the general property of water to not be compressible, generating a temporary vacuum that would then get slammed shut by the pressure of the surrounding ocean, while the water then slowly returned to its original “state.”

Not to mention that the power protected its user from the effect. Really cool, and that someone had killed that thing just off of the bracelet he’d given out was seriously impressive.

“Yes, Sergeant Kim surprised us all,” Park replied, when Thomas voiced that sentiment out loud. “Like I said, I’d like to buy a regular water breathing bracelet for an E-Rank individual, and if possible, several more at F-Rank.”

Bracelet of Waterbreathing (E-Rank, rare)

A bracelet of cowskin, reinforced with magical steel, forged to allow the exploration of the ocean, and the Divine Hunting Grounds in particular.

It grants the wearer the ability to breathe underwater, and ignore the water pressure up to fifteen hundred meters.

This item has enough power to function for eight hours before requiring recharge.

Energy draw: capacitive, low

“Something like this?” Thomas offered, using another hidden hologram enchantment to display the description

“It’ll let Sergeant Kim continue his efforts,” Park said, sounding pleased.

“Wait, this is the same Sergeant Kim who hunted those creatures?” Thomas asked.

“The very same,” Park replied.

“In that case, for him specifically, I’d be willing to hand over something better. To show my appreciation. Would you give me a quarter of an hour or so?”

“Of course,” Park agreed.

So Thomas withdrew his attention from his Dungeon’s back entrance and began to instead play around with his magical artifact creation abilities. It wasn’t like this would be very complicated, not compared to the first iteration Kim had gotten.

Ambition’s Due (E-Rank, legendary, growth)

A bracelet formed from the skin of a mythical shark, reinforced with magical steel, forged for one who went further than all others.

This bracelet grants the power of breathing underwater, as well as ignoring the effects of water pressure up to three thousand meters.

Furthermore, water resistance is reduced when needed, and reduced even further when attacking or retreating.

This item has enough power to function for sixteen hours before requiring recharge, assuming only the breathing and pressure protection functions are used.

As a soulbound item, this bracelet can be repaired using mana and teleported back to the user when lost.

As a growth item, the user may pay additional mana (can be spaced out over multiple instances) to uplift it to match their new rank.

Energy draw: capacitive, low to large depending on number of active functions, massive to repair and teleport into place, titanic to upgrade

Restrictions: Soulbound to first user, only equipable by someone who has killed a Razorspine Archelon prior to item creation (this restriction will vanish upon first equip)

“These restrictions …”

Thomas could hear the question that had just been forcefully swallowed.

“Do you actively distrust me?”

Well, it was more of an accusation, to be honest, but unspoken as it was, he wanted to answer it.

“All of the people who will handle this item before it reaches Sergeant Kim, all of their superiors, and all the people who have some measure of influence on them … would you say there is no chance that item will just … go missing?”

There was no reply. There didn’t need to be. Regardless of how free of corruption a given government was, it was never completely incorruptible. And with an item this valuable involved, the chance of something happening was higher than under nearly all other circumstances.

With the limitations to tank its value, things should go well. But even if they didn’t, the thieves would not be able to enjoy their prize.

Thomas handed over the item, as well as a couple of F-Rank bracelets, pleasantries were exchanged, and Park went on his way.