Chapter 31- Plans

~Julia Addams~

“What do you mean he didn't take the job? I thought you said the damn kid worked for you!”

Her superior was screaming at her through the phone.

“Sir, with all due respect I did-”

Julia was once again cut off from explaining herself, for perhaps the tenth time in half as many minutes.

“If you had any fucking respect for me then you wouldn't have fucked up so badly.”

Her manager continued to swear at her and Julia just sighed wearily as she waited for his rant to come to an end. The man took a deep breath, audible through the line as a loud crackling sound that only served to irritate her further. Fucking obese cunt. Go on a diet.

“Do you know what your failure has cost us, Miss Addams?” He asked in a quiet voice.

Julia had been tired of this conversation sixty seconds into it and it had been going on for far longer than that.

“Yes, Lieutenant Graves, I know exactly what this failure cost us. After all, I was the one who helped set up all the paperwork for your deal with the Zaibatsu corporation in the first place.”

Julia couldn’t quite keep her frustration from leaking into her voice. Lieutenant Graves was silent for a moment- probably eating a fucking doughnut- before he replied, his voice deadly quiet.

“Not ‘this’ failure, Julia. Your failure. This all happened because you couldn't put a leash on your kid. He fucking works for you. Couldn't you have just told him you’d fire him if he didn't listen to orders?”

Julia felt her heart rate increase as her rage almost exploded outwards. Perhaps it was the idiot's insistence that this was somehow all her fault despite her following HIS orders or the fact that he had addressed her by her first name, but she was just about done with his shit.

“Sir, I'm sure I already told you many times that-”

Her barely controlled veneer of politeness was once again interrupted by her superior; but this time he wasn't even talking to her, just muttering under his breath. It was still loud and clear to Julia, and she clenched her fists when she heard what was being said.

“Four percent. A four percent share of the companies’ stocks all gone down the drain just because one bitch couldn't do her job properly.”

Julia couldn't control herself anymore. Her rage exploded outwards like a tsunami and she couldn’t hold back the torrent of words spewing from her mouth. perhaps it was the frustration finally boiling over. Or maybe it was the lingering sense of fear haunting her from Arthur's aura. She didn't care right now.

“Listen, you dick. I've told you so many times that I had no control over the kid. And you’d fucking know that if you didn't have your head so far stuck up your arse all the time. He doesn't even fucking work here anymore, which was the first thing I told you when you called.”

She heard Lieutenant Graves' sharp intake of breath and felt a brief moment of satisfaction that she’d gotten the annoying fool to shut up, which was quickly followed by dread as she realised what she’d just done.

I’ve just fucked up my entire career. Years of hard work had just gone down the drain because she couldn’t keep her bloody gob shut. When her boss finally spoke, Julia was surprised that it was in a controlled manner, completely unlike the ramblings of before. He didn't even comment on her obvious disrespect, instead asking a question.

“What do you mean he doesn't work for you anymore? No, forget that. I need you to quickly get him to agree to Zaibatsu’s offer. Use any means necessary. We should be able to patch everything over if we get him there fast enough.”

Julia was stunned into silence at the sheer stupidity of the man she was speaking to. He seemed to still think they could get Arthur to work for them despite the way they had treated him. It was almost as if he thought the world revolved around him.

Julia was suddenly very wary, as she realised that she was working for a bumbling buffoon.

“Sir, I'm afraid to say that I don't think that will be possible. That bridge has been burned too far to repair.”

Julia sighed before continuing.

“Arthur Ward never needed us in the first place. Honestly, the boy probably decided to work here on a whim in the first place and we fucked up by treating him like a naive kid. He doesn't need our help. Not now, and probably never."

"But we needed him on our side.”

“We fucking needed him bad.”

Julia hung up, too tired to continue the conversation and put her head in her hands.

~Selena Williams~

“Yes sir, that is how it went,” Selena said to the imposing man sitting behind the mahogany desk.

Instead of the rage she had expected from the CEO of the Zaibatsu corporation, the man instead smiled, revealing a row of teeth that were somewhat sharper than normal humans were supposed to be. It unnerved her now as much as it had the first time she’d seen them, but she kept her discomfort off her face. Tatsumi spoke, his voice deep and commanding.

“The kid seems interesting, do you think he has what it takes to help my son?”

The man's question surprised Selena for a second but she didn't let it throw her off.

“It doesn't matter. I already told you that he refused our offer. We’ll need to find-”

Her boss waved his hand to cut off her speech.

“That doesn't matter. What I'm curious about is whether he’s good enough to help us fulfil our goals. We'll find him. Everyone has a price. No man says no to Toshiro Tatsumi twice.”

His casual indifference to the boys' refusal to work for them astounded her for a moment until she remembered who it was she was talking to. What an arrogant bastard, she thought to herself in disgust. But then she smirked. She knew something that Tatsumi and probably no one else on Earth had realised yet.

Arthur Ward was a wolf in sheep's clothing and they were all playing with fire trying to use him.

Selena smiled before answering, “Yes. Yes, he would be perfect for what you have planned. He's certainly strong enough for it.”

I hope you get burnt.

~Arthur Ward~

It had been two hours since Arthur had decided to take his spontaneous vacation off, and he was currently sitting in a recently repaired cafe drinking a cup of coffee. It tasted sweeter than normal, or maybe that was just the memories of his recent victory. Don't get too ahead of yourself, Arthur, he told himself. He knew his actions would have consequences, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care right now.

Arthur had told Frank to meet him in the cafe, and he was starting to get worried about the fact that the man was already ten minutes late. Had something happened to him? Just as he was preparing to get up and search, the man in question arrived.

But not alone. With him were his other two group members, Rachel and Mira. The former he was happy to see, the latter not so much.

“I hope you don't mind that I bought some extra company,” Frank said, as he took a seat at the table.

“No, not at all,” Arthur replied, though his real feelings were very much the opposite.

“In fact, what I’m about to say, is probably something I should have told you all to be honest.”

The others leaned in closer to listen better, even Mira, who Arthur could tell was curious, though she still hid it behind her fake smiles of naivety and femme fatale act. Would she just drop it already.

Deciding to drop the bombshell quickly and not hold them in suspense any longer, he quickly said, “I’ve stopped working at the hospital. I’m sorry. I really should’ve warned you all in advance, considering how much it will affect our group, but it was a spontaneous decision that I had to make due to certain circumstances.”

The biggest reaction Arthur was surprised to see came from Mira whose fake smile was instantly replaced by a genuine look of sadness. She looked forlorn, like a child who had just lost their parents at the mall or more aptly, one who had just broken her toy. Rachel and Frank on the other hand surprisingly looked... normal, as if they had expected something of the sort to happen for a long time coming, and so they simply nodded their heads in unison.

“Well, I knew that place was too small for someone like you. It was just a matter of time,” Rachel said, “But still, what did you do about the fine for breaching the contract.”

Arthur just waved away her concern.

“Don't worry, everything's been dealt with already. I may not look it, but you're talking to one rich motherfucker darling.”

Mira finally spoke, her voice oddly subdued compared to her usual bubbly self and Arthur felt that she was showing her true colours for once.

“Well, what happens to our group of four now?” She asked sombrely.

Everyone sat in silence for a while as they pondered her question. It was Frank in the end that answered.

“The same as it has been for the past week, I guess. It's not like we did much as a group anyway, to begin with.”

Rachel and Arthur nodded their heads in agreement and it seemed like it was only Mira that was unsatisfied with what Frank had said. “Actually Frank,” Arthur began. “I actually called you here to talk about that deal we’d made. If it's okay with you, would you be ready to pull it ahead of schedule and do it tomorrow?”

Frank looked surprised. He had expected Arthur’s departure from work to make their entire contract void. A smile quickly bloomed on his face when he realised that wasn't the case.

“Yes, yes of course that would be alright,” he replied, excitement leaking into his voice.

“Wait, what deal is this?” Mira asked the familiar manipulative glint back in her eyes.

So I guess she was only normal for a minute then. Arthur considered not answering her at first, but eventually relented when he saw how curious Rachel was. Looking at Frank, he saw that the redhead had no problem with disclosing the specifics of their deal in the form of a nearly imperceptible nod of his head.

Reluctantly, Arthur began to explain how he was planning to help Frank level in return for having him teach his skill to Arthur. He saw Rachel look envious for a moment before she quickly schooled her face into a more neutral expression. After all, whilst the hospital had promised a similar service, they hadn’t paid up yet. With the knowledge that pre-system firearms reduced experience gain by ninety percent quickly becoming mainstream, it looked like it would be a long wait before she'd start levelling.

Mira was once again the one that surprised him. She seemed to be doing that a lot today.

“Aww, that's not fair. Why don't you take us along too to help us level? I can teach you my skill as well.” She said with a cute pout on her face. 'Mines evolved too,' her raised eyebrow seemed to suggest.

So bitch mode is back again, Arthur noted when he saw how Mira was acting like an entitled idiot once again. She was no doubt up to something, but Arthur remembered exactly how useful her skill was. It was something he really wanted for himself and the fact that it was actually her own and not just system-supported increased his chances of learning it drastically.

Still, he wondered at the gall she had to ask for his help levelling when she was at a higher level than him in the first place. That's something else that doesn't make sense. Did she poison her entire tutorial to grow so quickly? Still, all he had to do was say yes, and he’d have the chance to learn a skill that he’d all but given up on ever acquiring a few days ago.

And really, he didn't want to leave Rachel weak and reliant on the handouts that the government gave her when he left this group. He’d learnt exactly how they treated their best ‘agents,’ and he didn't wish a life like that on his former classmate.

Especially when he could do something to help her out easily enough. That's why after an inquisitive look at Frank, he made his decision. Sure, he’d probably have to look out for any poisonous traps and double-check everything they ate, but he had a feeling everything would be alright. Hopefully, his constitution would keep him alive.

“Why not, the more the merrier,” he said to the group.

The predatory smile Mira gave him made sure he’d quickly come to regret that decision.