Chapter 13 - Quid Pro Quo -
Felix was staring down at the after action report on his desk. They’d finished up their operations in Tilen this morning. The national guard had shown up and taken control over the situation.
Luckily for them, the situation was already under control. All that was left to do was maintain the peace.
Legion had lost thirty-some odd security officers, two Fixers, and a single Warden.
Of those lost, everyone had signed the resurrection request to be brought back.
Felix sighed and tapped the report with a thumb.
Which means I’ll be converting gold bricks for points later.
Part of the contract for resurrection was putting aside enough pay to purchase five pounds of gold. The gold was purchased in advance for the person signing the contract, and the pay was deducted on the back-end over time.
In the case of death, Felix would convert the gold to something worthless, like dirt, and use the points to resurrect people.
He planned to never be put in the same position that he was in previously, where he simply didn’t have enough points to bring people back.
Setting the report to one side, Felix pulled over a tablet. He put in a meeting for himself to go into the vault, then the morgue.
“And that’s that. Everyone should be up and running by tomorrow,” Felix said. “Might take a bit longer for that Warden though.”
Victoria looked up from the corner she was lurking in at the sound of his voice. Realizing he was talking to himself she went back to whatever it was she was doing on her phone.
Andrea made a humming noise at his side but said nothing either. She wasn’t quite pleased with her role the other day. She’d been asked to split into hundreds of herself and to secure and hold both T:HQ and SC:HQ.
“I promise that next time you can have a few Others around me. I mean it. I just couldn’t trust the HQs to anyone else, Andrea,” Felix said, looking at her.
“Yeah?” she asked, not meeting his eyes.
“Yeah. Promise.”
“Nn. Kay. I just wanted to be there for you.”
“You were right where I needed you, protecting our home-front,” Felix said. He meant it too.
Andrea smiled and ducked her head, nodding. “Okay.”
Felix didn’t want to read anything more in the action report. He’d already read it through twice.
Something like a hundred people had been turned over to the Sausage Machine. There was no looting, pillaging, or crime on Legion’s part, other than taking no prisoners of those who attacked their security forces. All in all, it was a successful OP. Many of his people gained real world experience, they gained a massive amount of positive PR, gave the Heroes Guild a black eye in the media, and even managed to steal everything on their private network completely.
His office door opened, Andrea, two Others, and Victoria all coming to attention.
Only to relax when they saw it was Kit and Lily coming through the doors. No one but his inner-circle would be coming in the door in the manner they did, but it still set his guards on edge.
“Felix. I think it’s time to talk about your plans to run for governor,” Lily said without preamble or even so much as a greeting. She slumped down into a couch and seemed to ooze into the cushions. Kit took the seat next to her and crossed one leg over the other, looking the part of the ever present cool collected head of HR that she was.
“Alright. You ok by the way?” Felix asked.
“Tired. Very tired. I’ve done nothing but interviews and press conferences with interested parties,” Lily said, laying a hand over her eyes.
“Oh? How’d that all end up by the way? Seems like everything went well according to the reports,” Felix said, setting that very report back down on his desk.
“It did. It did go well. Even the National Guard was quite happy with us. They didn’t have to do much and weren’t the bad guys. I made sure that whenever we talked about them, it was always neutral or positive. They don’t control their own deployment, of course, so it’s not their fault.”
Felix nodded at that. She really had been careful about the wording for them. He imagined it might make some people happier about it. Especially military veterans.
“The new governor is furious of course. He won’t do anything directly since he took our bribe, it’d implicate us both, but he’s definitely no longer a friend,” Lily said. She didn’t sound concerned about that. “The Heroes are in a tizzy. This isn’t just a black eye for them, but an embarrassment. As for the people themselves… they’re beyond grateful. In the end, our rapid response, recovery, and peacekeeping kept damage and looting quite low. Far lower than the expectation.”
“Great. Good work, Lily. You’ll have to tell me how to reward you for this one,” Felix said. He earnestly meant it to.
“Tell me that again after I get you elected. Half of my team is already running up everything we need to get you legally ready for office,” Lily said. “The other half is starting to go through the paperwork on donations and who’s sending what to where. The election itself and how to run it is all Kit’s.”
Kit smiled and rearranged her hair with one hand. She’d cut it short late last night, and had a hairstyle very similar to what she looked like when he first met her.
“We’re also digging through who the players are on the governor’s spot. Pay, donations, business deals, all the like. As for running the campaign, I think that’ll be rather easy. We just flood the radio, TV, and Internet with ads,” Kit said. “We just do it exactly as you told Lily. Focus on the essential items that the voters want.”
“Good. At the same time, I want you to talk to all local elected officials below the governor, as well as the police chief, fire chief, and local federal agent liaison. See if we can get them on board. I’m open to promises of support to them, either for public funds, private donations, or equipment,” Felix said.
“Do you need their help though?” Andrea asked. “It’s a voting thing. You just need to get everyone to vote for you.”
“Somewhat. Votes are only half of it. I need to expand the number of people who are supporting us, and decrease the number supporting the governor. The fewer he has in his coalition, the harder it is for him to maintain power. And if we can take away the replacement backer pool he’d draw from, it makes it ever harder for him. Those people are who others turn to for direction and support. The more of them we get in line, the better. Actually, in addition to all of those people, contact their opponents, and subordinates who would be considered if their boss lost their job.”
Kit frowned at that and rubbed a finger against the back of her hand.
“The people I use to take power, may not be the same people I use to keep power,” Felix said. “I have to consolidate my power base almost as soon as I take office and the people who put me there will more than likely cost more to keep in my pocket than who can replace them.
“We’ll also have to get an idea on the city treasury within a day or two of taking office. So let’s get some new accountants ready and set to dig through a lot of shady bookkeeping. I imagine we’ll end up using Legion funds at some point, but I’d rather do that as a last resort. Making the books balance for both the city and Legion after that would be annoying. And costly.”
Andrea lifted her head and stared at him with a glum look. “I don’t like this. Do you have to be a governor?”
“I don’t have to be, but it’s the easiest way to get approvals all the way around for Legion. This is a golden opportunity, and I’ll leverage it for all it’s worth,” Felix said.
Andrea sighed and then leaned forward, resting her forehead on his shoulder. “Ok. I understand.”
Felix grinned and patted her lightly on the head, taking a moment to rub her ears.
“It’ll be ok. Besides, this’ll be good for us. You’ll probably get to be on TV at some point. You’re my personal secretary after all, right?”
“Yeah?” she asked, her voice muffled in his clothes.
“Yeah.”
“Felix,” Kit said, getting his attention. “That all makes sense. None of it should be an issue. The real problem is going to be conflicts of interest. They’re going to have a field day with us. We’re opening a college after all.”
“That’s why we have our lovely and talented Lily over there,” Felix said, indicating the lawyer. She pulled her hand from her eyes and met his gaze. “Use Miu, hire more people, do whatever you need to do. Just make sure we don’t have a problem.”
Lily paused for a second to reflect on that, then nodded. “Alright. I’ll take care of it.”
Turning her head to the side she addressed Kit. “I might need a Fixer. I’d be willing to pay the head-count to your department to have one on loan for a few months.”
“Alright. I think we can manage that. Send me a meeting invite when you’re ready, and we’ll go through the candidate pool,” Kit said agreeably.
“Oh, and Felix?” Kit asked. Felix had let his eyes fall back to the report. “You have a meeting scheduled in an hour. It wasn’t originally on the books, but they wanted an interview with you. You just so happened to be listed as touring the campus since construction and refit is complete. So now you have an inspection, and an interview to give at the same time.”
“Ah. Well, that’s to be expected I suppose. Might be a good opportunity to announce my candidacy for the gubernatorial race,” Felix said, thinking on it. “Probably. It’d set the precedent that interviewing reporters have a chance to get information that isn’t released yet. Is it a female reporter they’re sending?”
“They are indeed sending a girl. I think she’s barely old enough to drink. Quite pretty, too,” Kit said. She couldn’t quite hide the annoyance in her voice.
Felix wasn’t sure why she’d be annoyed, except maybe that she took issue that the news team thought Legion could be so easily manipulated.
Then again, if I actually release the information about my run for governor, that’d only feed into that belief.
“Well, I hate to encourage their assumptions, but this’ll work out in our benefit. If they think sending reporters our way is to their benefit, all the better. We can scour their minds for information and find out what stories they’re working on and which way they’ll go with it,” Felix said.
Kit snorted and then sighed. “Alright. I’ll make sure one of my people is with you whenever I can.”
“I could always take Eva with me,” Felix said.
“She’s technically not old enough to work and doesn’t fall under any department. She’s still in Legion school,” Lily said.
Oh yeah. Still need to have that talk with her.
“Got it. Schedule a meeting with her for me later tonight as well. Probably should start talking to her about what she wants to do in the future. School won’t last forever. How’s her brother doing?” Felix asked suddenly. He hadn’t checked on Evan in a while.
He and Eva had bonded through their shared experiences. Evan and he really didn’t have much contact at all.
“Fine. He’ll never be a master magician, but he’s certainly above average. He doesn’t have the killing nature that one needs. To gain power, one must make sacrifices,” Lily said dryly. “He’ll be good for Legion and you. He’s lucky you can increase his power whenever you want, rather than being tempted down the road I went.”
Felix shrugged at that and then opened up his terminal.
“The road you walked led you straight to me. Forgive me if I don’t share your regret,” Felix said. He opened up the most recent sales report from the used car dealerships that Legion owned.
Between the pawnshop and the car lots, they were making money hand over fist. The number of super powers Felix had given out to simply fix or repair things was higher than both Telemedics and Fixers combined.
The business of fixing and selling was great.
We should start buying junkyards and clearing them out. I bet we could make a killing on it.
Looking across the school grounds, Felix had a sense of déjà vu. He’d actually visited the Legion school previously, the day after the Andreas had finished construction.
The Tilen campus was a near mirror of the Legion campus. There was more visible security here on the Tilen campus, especially since it wasn’t behind the same defenses the Legion campus was.
It was a sprawling complex. There were a number of multiple-story buildings littered throughout. The huge stadium in the far corner was gigantic.
“We can compare with any state college, at any level,” came a voice.
Felix glanced over to find an older man in his late forties walking up to him. He’d walked past Felix’s bodyguards as if he belonged, which meant this person wasn’t a threat. Even the Fixer who’d been assigned to Felix’s security unit only gave him a single cursory look
“My name is Sean. Dr. Sean Rithe. I’m the president of the Tilen university. I was hired by Kit,” said the man, holding out his hand to Felix.
“Ah. Good to meet you. I’m F—”
“I think everyone employed by Legion knows who you are, sir,” said Sean with a smile.
Felix snickered at that, shaking the man’s hand. “So I continue to find out.”
“I’m glad you were able to accept my invitation for a tour,” said Sean, releasing Felix’s hand.
“Of course. Though I must confess, we’re expecting a news reporter any minute. I’m afraid that, as limited as my time is, I have to combine meetings whenever I can,” Felix apologized.
“Not a problem, not a problem. I understand completely. Honestly though, I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be a chance to advertise the school. I have a fully staffed faculty, empty classrooms, and a budget one could only wish for. I’ll take any opportunity to bring in more students,” said Sean.
Felix could definitely understand that sentiment. The rule of thumb in Legion was to put everything at maximum capacity, and then fill it. If you needed more after that, you doubled the whole thing, and repeated the process.
“Ah, and here she comes. I can’t help but notice she looks young enough to be a student,” Sean said, looking over Felix’s shoulder.
Taking a steadying breath, Felix turned his head with a smile.
It was a young woman, a young man, and a cameraman.
Surprisingly to Felix, she was a Beastkin. A Fox breed. Or so he judged based on the brown coloring, the bushy tail, and the triangular ears. She was on the taller side of the scale for a small breed Beastkin, hitting right around five foot eight if he had to judge.
“Ah,” Felix said.
They’re trying to match Andrea? I didn’t realize it was public knowledge.
The reporter’s ears twitched at Felix’s voice, her sharp hazel colored eyes locking onto him.
And apparently her hearing is phenomenal.
She was pretty, with certainly more than a handful for chest and a waistline that gave her an hourglass frame.
He’d peg her at somewhere in her twenties.
Kit hadn’t been kidding. They really had picked something they thought would hit him in the strike zone.
She was dressed in the same type of women’s jacket and dress that you saw on most news reporters, which gave her a mature look as well.
Good thing Felix already had two women he was handling. That was already more than he wanted. Only a fool tried to take on more than one woman.
Even if she was amazing looking.
Truth be told, he still wasn’t sure what Andrea and Lily saw in him. He couldn’t even identify if it was infatuation simply due to the fact that he saved them.
“—ame’s Jessica! Jessica Perreira,” said the Beastkin. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you.”
Felix kept the smile on his face as he shook her hand. He’d missed whatever she’d said at the start but he didn’t think it mattered.
“Felix, Felix Campbell. The dignified presence next to me is Dr. Sean Rithe, president of the Tilen Legion college,” Felix said, releasing the reporter’s hand and then gesturing to Mr. Rithe.
“Dr. Rithe,” said Jessica, shaking his head. “I’ll be honest, the station wasn’t expecting you to agree to the interview. Let alone to give us a tour of the Legion campus at the same time. How did you gentlemen wish to proceed?”
“Yes, yes. I thought perhaps I could give you the tour as if you were a prospective student. It would give you a good amount of footage, I imagine,” Dr. Rithe said. “Unless you have a different idea, sir?”
“No. No, I’m only here to provide an interview while getting my own tour. You’re the man with the plan, Doc,” Felix said, clasping his hands behind his back.
Sean smiled at that and then turned and held a hand out to gesture to the campus. “Then let me show you our campus,” he said.
The cameraman, who Felix had failed to catch the introduction for, fell in next to Sean and immediately began asking questions.
Jessica slid up next to Felix and looked at him. “That leaves you with me. I don’t even see any of your minders nearby,” she said, looking around at the bodyguards. “Only your security.”
They’d discussed previously that it’d probably be better if none of his inner circle were here. It’d create a better opportunity for the reporter to think she got information out of Felix directly.
“Ah, yes. They had other duties they couldn’t get out of. That’s the problem with an ever-expanding corporation. Always more work, never enough hands,” Felix said with a grin for the Beastkin.
She smiled back, revealing her canines. They were a bit longer than average, he thought, but then again, Beastkin weren’t humans.
Thankfully he didn’t have to deal with the problems behind the issue of race in Legion. Legion was a complete meritocracy. Species didn’t matter.
“I’ll take that as me getting lucky with you. So, Felix—can I call you Felix?” she asked.
Sean, the cameraman, and the other reporter were moving forward now on the tour.
“You can at that. Honestly, I’d prefer it, Jessica,” Felix said, deciding to help perpetuate whatever false assumptions she and her station would make from all of this.
“With the campus complete, and the approvals now in your favor, what’s your next step?” Jessica asked. She moved her hand to hover beneath his chin, a hand-held recorder in her grasp and recording.
“Our next step? With the college? We’ll be working to increase our student body size. We’ve already hired an entire faculty. From president to groundskeepers,” Felix said. Sean was leading them across an open area. It had a number of tables, benches, and seating areas.
“Yes, we’ve heard about that. There’s been a lot of complaining lately from other colleges,” Jessica said.
Felix chuckled at that. “I imagine. We went around and offered some of their best professors a job. So long as their demands were within reason, they were met. This institution will strive to have the best of the best in all departments,” Felix admitted.
“That isn’t limited to just education though, is it?”
“No. No it isn’t. We made sure to hire leading collegiate coaches.”
“My understanding is that you hired a number of them.”
“Football, soccer, baseball, basketball. We did hire the appropriate coaches and support staff for each.”
“And you made the same offer to them that you did the professors?”
“We did. Though the coaches asked for more facility and resource type of things.”
“That’s all rather interesting, but I can’t imagine it being very profitable. In fact, from everything we gather, tuition will be almost nothing. That it’ll actually be affordable, provided a student is granted a seat.”
“You’re right about tuition. And no, this whole thing is not profitable, and likely won’t be. At all,” Felix said while laughing. “At least, not for a long while. Thankfully Legion is a private company, and I own all of it. Every loss is my loss. This year is going to be brutal for the bottom line. But worth it.”
Jessica didn’t say anything to that, but instead shifted her hand, re-angling the microphone.
He got what she wanted, and decided to give her it.
“I believe in the youth of our country. Tilen will be the first to go through this campus, but not the last. There is no expense so great that it would make the education of the next generation not worth it. Have you seen how much debt these kids are being saddled with as they head into the real world? It’s unimaginable. They won’t be paying that off any time soon. If ever.”
“Why put so much effort into educating them, if their first three years in the real world must be spent in Legion? Isn’t that part of their tuition agreement?”
“It is. And those three years will be paid at market parity. They’ll earn a healthy living, gain real world experience, and be given a job immediately after they graduate. Name any other college that can do that.”
“That’s a fair point. I can’t. Between you and me though, Felix,” Jessica said, her arm brushing up against his as she lifted her hand to his chin again. “What’s next for you?”
There it is, and here we go.
Felix wrapped a hand around Jessica’s hand and stared into her eyes.
“Let’s talk off the record for a minute. A little quid pro quo conversation, and a contract between you and me.”