But now was not the time for pointless reminiscing. He had to figure what to do in the wake of Gosunkugi’s foolhardy actions. Of course, Anthracite wouldn’t be too harsh on his student—after all, it was really his fault for giving the boy instructions that could be interpreted that loosely. This didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be any consequences for the teenager; it meant that Anthracite would take the fact that he was partially responsible into account. But before all of that, he had some other business to take care of. His meeting was due to begin in about ten seconds, and if he’d read his visitor correctly….
“You wanted to see me, sir?”
“Have a seat, Bob,” said Anthracite, motioning the spiked demon toward a nearby chair. “Go ahead, lean back, relax—I can have the chair fixed later.” The reason for this last statement became apparent when Bob leaned back and punctured the leather on the chair with his vertebral spines.
“Would like anything to drink? I’ve got a pretty well-stocked bar in here…”
“Uh, no, thank you, sir.”
“Please, Bob, there’s no need for such formality. Call me Anthracite—or Max, if you prefer.” Of course, Bob would not be referring to him as “Max,” but this offer of accessibility was still somewhat comforting; it implied that the boss wanted the atmosphere to be informal.
“So the kid was working with you.”
“Yes, I’ve taken him on as a student.”
“I see.”
“But I didn’t call you here to talk about myself or my apprentice—I’d like to talk about you.”
Bob simply looked around nervously.
“Relax, you aren’t in trouble,” assured the Dark-General-turned-financial-titan. “I just wanted to make sure I had my facts straight. My ninjamarketers may be efficient, but your perspective will certainly be useful.”
“Alright,” replied Bob, who was genuinely relaxing a bit. Of course, he wasn’t totally off his guard—would-be despots like his employer were known to have radical mood swings, after all.
“I won’t bore you by having you recount the events—unless you think I may have some sort of misconception, that is.”
“Uh, no, I don’t think so.”
“Very good, then why don’t we jump right in, Bob—you don’t mind if I call you that, do you?”
The purple youma sighed and put his hand to his forehead. “You might as well. I’m pretty much stuck with it thanks to what happened.”
“I should say—it’s not everyday that a youma meets up with the Senshi and convinces them to help him. Most youma would just blindly attack them in a desperate attempt to get rid of them so they could finish their objective.”
“Well, I’m not most youma—I’m only in middle management, sir. I don’t know any magic spells or special attacks. The only reason I tried talking to them was because I figured it was my only shot at survival.”
“And in all likelihood, you were right. Still, I’d like to know how you managed to keep them from vaporizing you on the spot.”
“Well, a lot of it had to do with the context. Quite frankly, nobody in that part of Nerima has any sympathy for the target, so the Senshi were also busy trying to figure out why the crowd would be on my side. Also, I’m pretty sure that if I’d been trying to kill the jerk, I wouldn’t be here—but then, if the kid had wanted that moron dead, I would have delegated the job to someone better qualified.”
“Alright. And how did you convince them to let you fight him?”
“I didn’t really convince anyone, sir. It was their idea.”
“Weren’t you suspicious of their motives?”
“Sure, but no more than they were of mine. I mean, if I did exactly what they’d agreed to let me do, and they went and stabbed me in the back, it would pretty much ruin that clean cut, goody-two-shoes image of theirs, right?”
“I see.” Anthracite’s original opinion of Bob certainly seemed valid—this youma was pleasantly opportunistic and possessed a capacity for lateral thinking not usually found among front-line demons. Perhaps that’s why front-line demons tend to fail so miserably, he thought to himself. Dismissing his musings, he turned changed the subject slightly.
“What do you think of the Senshi?”
“I’m not sure I’m following you.”
“You are one of the few youma to meet up with the Senshi and survive—with only minor injuries, I might add. Thus, you have a rare perspective, and your opinions of them may come in useful.”
Bob nodded. “Gotcha. Well, basically, it seems that most of the rumors about them are true. As a leader, Moon tends to use her heart a bit more than her head, but that’s to be expected of someone whose stated goal is to defend the concept of love. Obviously, I didn’t get to see them in the heat of battle, though it does seem that Uranus and Neptune are of the ‘shoot-first-questions-later’ variety. By the way, getting hit by a Deep Submerge hurts like hell.”
Anthracite sighed. “Ain’t that the truth?”
Bob either didn’t hear the remark, or let it pass. “Anyway, from the discussion they had about what to do, it’s clear that they’d never encountered a situation like this. Pluto, in particular, looked particularly panicky—like she hadn’t expected this at all. Isn’t she supposed to be able to see the future or something like that?”
“Something like that.” If something was interfering with Pluto’s abilities, it was definitely worth looking into.
“Anyway, Pluto objected rather vocally to not dusting me right on the spot—said it set a ‘dangerous precedent’—but she eventually went along the plan, though it was ‘under protest’.”
Anthracite nodded, mentally filing away more information on the Senshi of Time. “What about Saturn?”
“She never showed up. Don’t have a clue why.”
“Hmm…”
“But, all in all, they seemed pretty friendly once they decided I wasn’t a threat. Pretty decent people, when you get down to it. Easy to see why they’re so likable.”
“Yes… well, that takes care of most of my questions… now let’s talk about you…”
“Uh, me, sir?”
“Specifically, your career. You seem like the kind of youma I can relate to—you’re intelligent, quick on your feet, and obviously you aren’t too shabby in a fight if it comes down to it.”
“Sir?”
“I’d like to offer you a position as one of my advisors—one of Anthracite’s advisors, I should say, not one of Gerald Stewart’s. Many of my short-term plans could use a second opinion. You’d have a lot more work to do, but you’d also be rewarded greatly. What do you say?”
Much to Anthracite’s delight, Bob didn’t answer right away. Instead, he leaned forward, putting his chin in his hand. While it was already obvious that he could make decisions quickly, it was now equally obvious that he would use whatever time he could to think through his course of action. The two of them sat in silence for several minutes before Bob spoke up again. “This isn’t one of those Godfather ‘offers you can’t refuse,’ is it?”
“No, you’re free to turn it down with no adverse consequences.” Several more minutes of silence.
Finally, Bob straightened up and spoke again. “Do I have to answer right now, or can I take some time to think about it?”
“Take all of the time you want—as long as I’m around, the offer will be open. Though I would like to know why you’re so hesitant.”
“Well, you see… it’s nothing personal…”
“Bob, quit stalling and just speak your mind.”
“It’s like this. We’ve had quite a few bosses over the millennia, and their track record… let’s just say it’s less than perfect.”
“In other words, they all failed abysmally.”
“Yes. And usually, when the guy at the top goes down, his inner circle goes down with him.”
“So, you don’t want to throw your hat in with me, because you’re afraid that I’ll make the same mistakes that everyone else has?”
“Uh, yes.”
Anthracite was silent for a few seconds, but that silence was broken when he burst into laughter. “HA Ha ha ha! I love it! Opportunistic, and a keen sense of self-preservation! Oh, if only more youma were like you, Bob.”
“So, you aren’t angry?”
“Of course not. After all, it’s like you said: folks like me have a horrible track record. If I were in your position, I’d be wary, too. But,” he said, changing his tone slightly, “you do have to keep in mind that any reward worth having is going to come with some risks. If I turn out to be the first one to succeed, you know you’re going to regret it.”
“But I’m serious! Nobody’s even come close before!”
“And before you came along, no youma ever managed to work with the good guys.” That gave the youma pause. Anthracite continued, “You’re free to go, Bob—and I wasn’t kidding about that being a standing offer. You can accept or decline at any time, but once I get your answer, that’s it. You won’t get another if you decline, and if you accept, you agree to the consequences if I fail like all of the others.
“However, in the meantime, I want you to enjoy your bonus. That doesn’t have any strings attached.”
“Uh, thank you, sir.”
“Don’t worry about it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other work to do.”
“Oh, right.” Bob disappeared dutifully.
Anthracite continued chuckling to himself as he stared at the place where Bob had been standing. Oh yeah, it’s definitely good to be back.
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(Posted Mon, 27 Feb 2006 03:50)
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