New System, Who Dis?

Wednesday, April 17th, 2069

“First thing tomorrow morning, head over to Sparkle Legion. After discussing your circumstances—she opened brackets here to tell me that she didn’t discuss anything confidential, just the broad strokes the public already had access to,” I read, including Smegma, and my parents in the ‘conversation.’

From the time stamp on the email, Ms. Stovall had gone back to her office after our meeting last night and likely worked through the night on my behalf. Of course, that also meant whoever I was meeting with tonight kept late hours, or she had talked to them early in the night before deciding on what ‘package’ we should be getting. I kept reading wanting to know that decision myself.

“We believe that you need more than just a simple campaign aimed at gaining followers. You need a narrative, and the ability to tell your story. To curry public opinion, and hopefully, if it comes to that, outrage on your behalf. You’ll be meeting with Kristen Franzke and Geneva Agnos. They are a team I’ve worked with before, and are fantastic at their jobs.

“She then just lists the address and says I’m going for the full Sparkle package, whatever that is…”

I was already pulling up the website to see what options Sparkle Legion had, and what the chosen package offered. I scanned the title headers before arriving at the Premium, best value, option—meaning it was the most expensive of the bunch. My face obviously conveyed the sentiment because my dad whistled. “That good?”

“Well, I don’t know the name of the company, but it’s their premium package. Remember I tried to get Aesir Living to work with me a few years back but after the initial call they stopped picking up?”

“Yeah, your father and I were trying to figure out how we were going to be able to put up a couple thousand dollars a month for the videos they were going to help you shoot,” my mother answered over her coffee.

Running my tongue over my incisor behind closed lips, I once again chose to not tell them that it was not a monthly fee. It was a thousand dollars for four videos, which could have lasted anywhere from four days to, at most, two weeks. And that would have been with me cutting the videos to make quick attention-grabbing pieces in between the posts. Not to mention a thousand dollars was Aesir’s cheapest package. I think their premium was twenty-five hundred.

“Look here, they are going to write the scripts for videos, monitor the posts, adjust content, remaster audio and even color adjust. On top of that, they offer something called image Sparkle. It’s a hyperlink.”

I clicked it and heard my parents stand up to read over my shoulder. I flicked my hand and cast the screen onto the small TV, which turned the old contraption on. They made it to my back before I managed to use the slow technology to my favor. I stopped reading aloud though, allowing my parents to take in the information themselves.

“Does she think I need this?” I asked when I reached the bottom of the jotnotes-format description. The gist of it was that they were going to create a public facing image for me that would negate any bad rumors. I scrolled back up and read the first line, “—we offer a Targeted solution to targeted attacks.”

“That’s ominous, oooooooooo,” Smegma said, joining the conversation on his usual derisive terms. This time since my parents could see and hear him, they gave him a wide eyed look.

“I don’t think sarcasm is the best approach here,” my dad said, scolding the demon like it was me. I smiled, hearing words from Gary that I hadn’t heard since I was in my mid-teens.

Smegma made a rude gesture, and my mother scoffed. “We do not tolerate language like that in this house!”

“What are you going to do about it? I’m kind of stuck here, lady,” Smegma answered. My mother narrowed her eyes, clicked her tongue but then picked up her phone.

I started laughing, knowing that she was googling a way to deal with the incorporeal demon. I kind of even hoped she found something. It would be very helpful to have a punish option for the little—never mind—large shit.

His new size was going to take some getting used to.

To be honest, I’d woken in the early morning hours due to my bladder informing me it was time to be emptied. When I stood and made my way into the bathroom, I’d discovered a human sized, winged demon standing in the shower. It was embarrassing to admit but I lost bowel control for the tiniest of instances and may have peed a little in my boxers. It didn’t help that I’d heard my mother screech first thing in the morning as well—telling me that she had also, discovered a bathroom-demon.

There was a good possibility that was why she was in a bad mood.

“With all of this, I doubt I’m making it mining,” I said to change topics. I got some weird looks because I’d gone from laughing to semi-serious, but I shrugged them away. “Do you think you and Willa could use those other two picks in the trunk a bit today?”

My dad nodded but didn’t look at me. Instead, his eyes followed Smegma, as he subtly floated toward my mom. From her smirk I could tell she also noticed the demon as well.

Just before he hovered around behind her, she clicked the side button of her phone and responded to my question, “What pickaxes, Brodie?”

I felt my face break into a smile, and said, “I got two new ones yesterday, but they got pretty beat up—umm, mining ore. “

My mom’s eyes narrowed again, and she dove back onto her phone. Knowing it wouldn’t take her long to find an article that covered some of the events yesterday I hurriedly said, “Dad, she did say first thing this morning. Think we can get breakfast on the way?”

My dad nodded hurriedly and joined me in a ‘hurried’ walk out of the kitchen and back up our narrow stairs to change. I was back to the front door first, having not even considered what I was putting on. I’m sure my mentors in fashion over the years would threaten me with a knife if they heard, but I was trying to avoid a real knife.

“A golem! A golem was killed by five miners!” My mom shrieked from the kitchen. I heard Smegma start cackling. “You better tell me you had no part in this Gary!”

“Oh, your husband and son had more than a part in it,” Smegma crowed. I closed my eyes and adjusted the meaning of first thing in the morning. Surely breakfast and in by nine-ish was fine…

Right?

* * *

“I needed a day off anyway,” my dad said as he pulled into a spot beside a business high rise. “Plus, this way I get to hear about all the things Sparkle is going to do for my son.”

“Can we call it Legion if we’re going to shorten it?” I asked, morosely. This morning reassuring my mother that I was okay, and that stuff like that wasn’t common in Portal mines had taken all of my energy.

“I think Sparkle fits better,” Smegma said from the backseat, where only I could see and hear him. It turned out that he could only turn it on or off—not be selective of who was included. So, since we were out in public and a human-sized, bat-winged, demon would cause a few commuters to join me in the loss of bowel control department, Smegma was ‘invisible.’

“You’ve talked enough today,” I said angrily confusing my father. I pointed to the back seat as way of explanation.

It was thanks in huge part to the demon that we were late enough that my father had to call in ‘sick.’ The husker had literally egged on each and every one of my mother’s over-the-top reactions. “I really hope the next evolution in Demonic Vault makes you corporeal so I can punch you in the face!”

Smegma smiled evilly reminding me of his sharp ass teeth. I scanned down to his talons and decided internally to retract that wish. Smegma’s smile was joined by a contented growl from deep in his throat. He’d heard that admission, it seemed.

“Let’s head up,” I said, my tone losing any heat it had held with Smegma and returning to morose.

The exterior of the building was old—like pre-system old, which immediately made me a bit worried for what we were walking into. Still, with how expensive Aesir had been, I could get behind a cheaper brand that did the same thing. I guessed.

“Why is it such an ugly brown?” Smegma asked.

Now out of the car I switched to mental communication to respond. [It’s brick. Very old brick, at that. So, the color likely faded.]

“Are you saying that a large brown checkered building once had a nice coloring?” Smegma responded, sounding like he was questioning brown as a color choice as a whole.

I didn’t bother responding, considering that I somewhat agreed with the shit disturber. The lobby of the building wasn’t much better, with a small entryway, a drug store, and a coffee shop. The interior windows had bars on them for Selfless’ sake.

A bulletin board with white plastic letters gave a rundown of businesses in the building and where to find them. Sparkle Legion was on the second floor—another small hit to their standing in my books. To be in a shitty building like this, and not even be the penthouse…

We moved to the elevator bank. Four ancient looking contraptions, that were divided into two per side and pushed the up button. Only to discover that the button didn’t respond.

“Do you think the light is out?” my dad said.

“That guy behind the cardboard desk is sticking his nose a bit too high in the air,” Smegma interjected. Since I was getting ready to respond to my dad, it took me a moment to find the desk Smegma mentioned.

It wasn’t cardboard, but it was particle board. Clearly, someone had put together a cheap Rainforest or Aeki desk. The sign on top that read ‘security’ in computer generated font, had a black marker underneath that added, ‘& Information.’ I took it all in, my eyes finishing on the very smug looking worker. He was leaning back in his chair, and had even gone as far as putting his feet up on the desk. The particle board bowed under his old but newly shined ‘combat’ boots.

“I think we need a card or permission to go up,” I said, responding to my dad’s earlier question. He’d also noticed the worker. I heard a resigned exhalation from him, as he also realized we were going to have to deal with the man in the power tripping station.

He did take the lead, though, which made me appreciative. We’d both had a long morning, but only I still had to listen to Smegma.

Whether that was the reason or not I chose to take it as such.

“Hey!” Smegma said, his voice filled with mock outrage. He even went as far as to hold a taloned hand over his heart. “Okay, okay,” he said chuckling in response to my thought of, ‘point proven.’

“We’re here to meet with Sparkle Legion,” my dad said, as we approached the ‘counter’. The security guard ignored the question, waiting until my father was directly in front of the desk before slowly taking his feet down, and standing up.

“Can I help you with something?” he asked, overly sweetly.

“His smile looks like that of a snakes,” Smegma commented.

[You two have a lot in common,] I thought at the demon.

“Yes,” my dad responded to the man. His tone was stiff, and I could see his hand open and close itself a few times to dispel frustration. “We are here to meet with Sparkle Legion.”

“Oh, we have a company called Sparkle Unicorn here?” the man asked. “Let me just check the book and find out what floor they’re on.”

“The second floor,” my father said pointing at the sign. “And it’s Sparkle Legion.”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t understand your accent,” the security guard said smugly. My jaw clenched. We didn’t have an accent, which meant the asshole was essentially calling out what area of town my father grew up in. I rolled my neck dispelling my rising ire.

“Ahhh, here it is. Sparkle Leg-on, you’d think a company that worked on public image would make sure they spelled their name right in the directory.” At this I frowned. Even from here I could see that each entry was handwritten in the same style. Plus, the ‘I’ he was skipping could also be seen.

Still, the choice to insult a business in the building seemed strange to me. My father’s head tilted in confusion as well, but neither of us bothered responding. Not feeling more needed to be said.

“Honestly,” the security guard said, in a conspirator’s whisper, “I know a couple better options for Public Image if you want their contacts. From what I’ve heard Sparkle Legion is going under.”

There it was. The other shoe.

Why would he be bad mouthing a business in his own building? A business that likely paid a portion of his salary. Because he had an angle.

My father looked at me questioningly, unsure how to respond to the offer. I shook my head, willing to trust Ms. Stovall and at least meet with Legion. To the security guard, I said, “We have an appointment, but if it goes poorly, we’ll take you up on that.”

“Sure, sure,” the guard answered, giving me a up and down, before addressing my father again. “Just remember you want the best if you’re going to spend hard earned money. Someone like Aesir Living. My cousin works there, and she’ll get you in right away.”

“Could you make the call and let Kristen or Geneva know we're here,” I interjected, causing the guard to glance back at me. My dad stepped back slightly to show that he was ‘standing by me’ in that decision.

The man shrugged after my dad made the move and then handed over a keycard, without making any phone calls. “It isn’t like they have any other clients. Just head on up.”

Reaching out I took the card and spun away. Smegma made the comment I was feeling. “Did that seem off to you?”

I chose not to answer until we were behind the dinging elevator doors.

“That seemed very odd to me,” I said, including my father in the conversation—even though he couldn’t have heard the question.

“Me too,” he answered. “What possible reason could a security guard have for trying to poach clients?”

The ride up was short enough, that I didn’t get a chance to respond before the doors opened. Then the sliver of the floor I could see made my response catch in my throat. It looked like a floor undergoing renovations. Cubicle walls were stacked to a side, as were some office chairs, desks and even pizza boxes. “Is this the right floor?”

Both my father, myself and even Smegma checked the digital display to discover that this was in fact the second floor. I heard the sound of heels on carpet before I saw two women come into view. While they were only ‘walking’ it was quick enough to tell me that they were rushing to greet us.

Taking the initiative I stepped out from the elevator, and gave a slight wave to put them at ease. We weren’t about to ride it back down and let dickish McGee down there have the satisfaction of being ‘right.’ We’d at least hear them out.

“You sure?” Smegma asked in response to my stubborn thought. “Dickish McGee, may have a good reason for trying to get us better representation.”

My dad stepped out but stayed firmly behind me, trying to show the women without speaking who they should be greeting first. I appreciated the gesture, knowing that due to age, most people would speak to him first, even if they knew I was the ‘client.’

“Brodie Flacarrada?” one of the women greeted and asked with her intonation. I nodded and they both broke into wide smiles. “Glad you made it past ‘Security,’” she said.

Once the distance was closed she extended her hand and said, “Welcome, introductions first. I’m Geneva Agnos, and this is Kristen Franzke—we’re social media managers and are excited to start working with you.”

Hesitantly I reached out and shook her hand. “Thanks,” I started slowly then deciding on a tack continued. “This is my father Gary. You mentioned security, though. Does that mean you’re aware of him trying to poach your clients to go elsewhere?”

Kristen cursed under her breath even as Geneva’s face fell. I hadn’t realized at first, just how tired the two women looked. With make-up and their hair done up I had taken them to look like well-dressed business women. Now, I looked closer.

Geneva had dark red hair, bordering on brown. She wore a knee length black skirt and a pinstriped shirt that both accentuated her curves but made them business appropriate. All and all she looked like a woman who was in control of her outward appearance. At least she had looked that way when she was smiling. Now, with her face fallen into a frown—the dark circles under her eyes, and frown lines were a bit too apparent.

I scanned to Kristen and found the top of her blonde head. She was looking at the ground, and her pale skin was flushed from what little of it I could see. She wore dress slacks, and a white blouse that would have sparkled if she didn’t distinctly lack that characteristic in the moment.

Geneva corrected her expression almost instantly, when she saw my scrutiny and forced on a smile. With a nod she said, “Yes, we are aware. This is the eighth security guard that’s taken the job. Strange how they all have nieces, cousins or nephews who work for our competitors…”

My eyes went wide.

“I smell a juicy story,” Smegma crowed as he hovered around the two women. “Who do you think they pissed off?”

Frowning now, I sucked on my teeth. After the interaction downstairs, I was absolutely sure that the person they’d ‘pissed off’ was from Aesir Living. I took another look around the ‘office’ seeing it in a new light.

Seeing it for the fight, that these two women were waging with a bigger company. Sure, they were losing—but they hadn’t given up. My heart felt like it swelled on their behalf. I may later discover that it was misplaced, but I immediately felt a connection with the two.

I too was going up against someone who had too much money and powerful connections.

All I said though was, “Is there a place we can sit down to discuss strategy.”

Kristen’s red face became visible again. There was a moment of hesitation displayed by them both before they broke into wide grins. Were those tears in their eyes?

“This way,” Geneva said.