Alex stared at the mirror. Her reflection stared back.

The room wasn't exactly an interesting one. There was a single plain table, a pair of chairs across from her, and the mirror obviously doubling as a one-way window. It wasn't a welcoming place. Her own chair wasn't exactly of the comfortable variety, and she'd already been sitting in it for nearly an hour, now. Aside from the mirror and the chairs, there was nothing else in the room, just fluorescent lighting and beige paint. If boredom itself could have crafted a room, it would have looked similar to this one.

Despite that fact, Alex didn't let a hint of impatience color her expression. She knew better than to assume that she was alone; she'd have wagered nearly her entire previous salary that there were people on the other side of the mirror, watching her. It was right out of Regulation's playbook. Leave a suspect alone long enough for boredom to set in, let them stew, and when they were finally asked a question, they'd be desperate enough to say something, anything, to be released. It was an effective tactic against most subjects, from what she'd heard, and had led to far more information than harsh questions or… other methods of encouragement, if one had the luxury of time.

Of course, her future conversation partners had the misfortune of trying it against someone whose mother had helped write the manual on it. Alex couldn't count the number of times she'd been left to sit and marinate in her own thoughts before Muriel had gotten around to asking questions. She'd learned how to deal with the agony of time passing, and that had been before she'd gained Skills like Meditation. Moving around would have helped Motion Trance activate, but she didn't want to seem agitated or impatient.

So instead, she simply studied her own reflection and waited. The others would arrive, in time. All she had to do was—

The door swung open. Alex looked over to see two people walking through the doorway, both wearing nondescript suits and formal expressions. One was a younger man with a sharp haircut and a folder in his hands. He glanced at her before he looked back down at the papers in his hands. His partner was a woman with her hair drawn up in a tight bun and serious dark eyes. She studied Alex like she was evaluating a target on a shooting range, though she seemed mildly impressed that Alex just met her eyes, stare for stare.

"Alexandretta Morrison. Thank you for waiting." The man's voice was loud and self-satisfied. It grated on her ears. "My name is Thomas Gutierrez. This is my partner, Emanuelle Richter."

Alex gave the woman a nod. "Nice to meet you." She looked back at Gutierrez. "I was working with Agent Samuelson before."

Gutierrez nodded easily. He dropped the folder on the table and sat in the seat on her right, while Richter slid into the other chair. "Yeah, I'm afraid that Samuelson was reassigned to other duties. Agent Richter and I will be handling your case going forward."

She tried not to narrow her eyes. "It takes two agents from Regulation to approve an independent contracting license?"

He smiled. "No. Not in most cases." Gutierrez reached over and casually flipped open the folder. Alex could see her own picture on it, along with an impressive number of notations that ran down the page. "Most independent contractors don't have nearly as interesting a career as you do, Ms. Morrison. You've been quite busy for someone who just began as a Surveyor a year and a half ago."

Alex gave him a thin smile. "It wasn't nearly as fun as you make it sound, Agent Gutierrez."

Richter laced her fingers together and leaned in, her eyes still sharp and evaluating. "I would hope not, given the damage involved." She glanced over at the file, though it was obvious the agent already knew everything written there by heart. "According to what we know, you've been involved in no less than three major incidents, nearly two dozen homicides and several severe incidents resulting in the crippling of other Surveyors. Several of those bodies are specifically your own handiwork."

She looked back at Richter, trying to suppress a sigh. After the initial interrogations at Royal Purple, she'd hoped to have been done with this sort of thing. "I've cooperated fully with Regulation investigators in each of those incidents. I'm sure you have the details of each of my statements in that folder there."

Richter's eyebrow arched, and Gutierrez smiled. He cleared his throat as he picked up a page from the folder. "Ah, yes. Here's the first one, actually." The agent ran his eyes across the page while Alex watched him. "At Golden Swallow, you were employed as an E rank and… managed to stop an Escalation Event involving an Earth-based Anchor Point? That seems like it would have been rather dangerous. Never heard of that before."

Alex leaned back in her chair. "There was a non-disclosure involved. Regulation didn't want things to be in the news."

"Nor did you, I'm sure." Gutierrez' eyes returned to her and seemed to sharpen. "After all, before that Event, there was another incident that involved the injury of four Surveyors. One that resulted in their crippling and retirement." He set the page down. "They were your teammates, weren't they?"

She met his gaze without flinching. "The portal was an extremely dangerous environment. They weren't the only ones hurt by it."

"Yet you left the portal without a scratch on you." Richter's voice was flat, and Alex looked back at her as she continued. "That seems rather lucky on your part."

Alex shrugged and said nothing. The testimony of the other Surveyors involved could stand on its own; if Regulation had any proof they could act on, they would have by now.

Gutierrez picked up another page and continued, still in that idly curious tone. "And the luck continued in your next job at Red Blade Securities." The corner of his mouth quirked upwards for a moment. "Where you were one of the main instigators of the so-called 'Red Blade Revolution', an incident that resulted in several missing Surveyors, about a dozen more severely injured, and at least two confirmed fatalities, including your coworker and supervisor."

He paused and looked up at her, his eyebrows rising. Alex looked back at him in silence while Richter spoke up. "One of which we have actual footage of the murder. With you in the limelight."

Alex looked at her, finally deciding to respond. "Regulation agents at the time found that it was done in self-defense. Given his attempts to murder me and others, I was never charged."

Richter's eyes grew hard. "Perhaps that was a mistake."

Gutierrez spoke into the silence which followed. "I'm actually more interested in some of the supporting testimony around the incident. Specifically, several of the Surveyors claimed that you somehow managed to stay in the portal for longer than a day. Something no other Surveyor has ever done. Care to explain how you accomplished that?"

Alex looked back at him. "No." He raised an eyebrow, and she continued. "My colleagues must have been… confused."

He tilted his head slightly, but before he could speak again, Richter broke in. "All of which brings us to the present day, where you have once again been involved in a conspiracy that ended in multiple Surveyor fatalities, multiple missing persons, and a near-miss that could have resulted in a major Escalation Event. Just like before, you've been confirmed as being responsible for the death of at least one higher-ranked Surveyor, this time literally hurling her through the roof of a pizza restaurant from a helicopter."

There was no hope of restraining her smile at the memory of Rabbit's shocked face before she went tumbling out into the air. "Tiltrotor, actually." Richter gave her an incredulous look, and Alex shrugged. "Just like before, the Regulation agents involved concluded that my actions were the result of self-defense. You have multiple witnesses that testified that she was trying to kill me, and that she had intended to cause an Escalation Event."

Richter set aside the paper she had lifted and narrowed her eyes. "Yet we don't have any direct evidence of that fact. All of the surveillance footage and PAD data had been scrubbed before we arrived. Which is part of why several members of the Surveyor teams involved are still registered as missing rather than being confirmed dead."

Alex looked back at her, willing her face to remain calm and unrevealing. "I wouldn't know anything about that, Agent Richter. All I am is a Surveyor who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Just ask Mr. Warner."

Gutierrez sat back in his seat. "You'll excuse us if we don't trust Mr. Warner's word automatically. You may not be aware, but as an executive officer for Greylight Industries, he has a similarly checkered past himself. Having him vouch for you is not the best look."

It took everything in her not to nod in understanding. Warner had been an executive in the corporation that had nearly killed her mother; she had no idea how many shadowy projects he'd been involved in up to this point.

Of course, he'd also apparently been a mole, an informant that had helped her mother back when she was in Regulation. He'd also tried to help Alex, giving her clues that had pointed to what Greylight had been doing. Understandably, none of those details had made it into their testimonies about the incident.

Richter shook her head. "So I hope you'll understand our reluctance to give you a free license. After all, it seems like you have a habit of killing or maiming other Surveyors and dabbling in black corporate projects. How do we know you're not some kind of unofficial cleaner for Greylight?"

Alex closed her eyes for a moment and drew in a breath. The rational thing was to let the insult go. Neither of the agents had brought up anything new. They were just reaching for any plausible accusation, and seeing if she'd react. Another standard strategy of the toolbook her mother had taught her.

Then she let out the breath and opened her eyes. Richter was still watching her, her eyes almost predatory. The agent seemed to lean in a bit more and then blinked as Alex smiled.

"Probably because you guys haven't gotten a kickback to look the other way yet?"

The agents both stared at her, their eyes wide. Gutierrez found his voice first. "If you're implying that—"

Alex turned her gaze on him. "I don't think I'm implying anything, Agent Gutierrez. Let's face it, if I was some sort of corporate fixer, either you or your bosses would have had a quiet meeting with an executive, and I'd already be waltzing out of here with my license. Because that's all you're good for, isn't it?"

Richter's fingers tightened into fists on the tabletop. Her eyes narrowed into slits, and her lips twisted into a snarl. "You don't seem to understand your situation, Ms. Morrison."

"Oh, I think I understand it just fine." Alex looked back at the agent, feeling completely unconcerned. If they'd thought to unbalance her, she'd turned their strategy back on them easily enough. "No money has changed hands, so you think this is a good time to flex your muscles and look tough. Feel free to do so, but get to the point, please."

Gutierrez laid a hand on Richter's forearm. The woman gave him a fulminating stare, but leaned back as he turned his attention back to Alex. His voice was curiously businesslike now, as if he was hiding his own reaction to her words. "I'm sorry if you feel that is the issue, Ms. Morrison. My partner and I happen to take our commitment to monitor Survey activities very seriously."

"Right. 'Who watches the watchers.'" Alex raised her eyebrows and spread her hands. "That hasn't exactly gotten you anywhere. We've talked about my supposed kill count. How many Surveyors and normals did Wells put in the ground? How many did his little griefers murder or injure? I'm pretty sure you haven't even found all of them, have you?"

Silence answered her, and Alex leaned forward, her eyes burning. Her fist clenched, and it took an effort not to bring her axe into being. "Of course, that's not all, is it? You could at least pretend you didn't know about him, but at Golden Swallow? It wasn't me who covered that up. You knew what they were doing, you didn't 'watch' anyone, and people died for it—and for all I know, the same thing happened at Royal Purple. Only this time, you couldn't cover it up nearly as well. What happened to the Surveyors, what happened to us, was all over the news this time. Is that what you're mad about?"

Some of the fire seemed to have gone out of Richter's glare. The woman stared at her own hands while Gutierrez' eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth, but Alex continued in a voice that didn't allow any interruption. "So no, I don't feel like hearing about how messy my past is, because if any of you here at Regulation had been doing your jobs, I never would have had to do any of this. While you sat and 'watched', my people died. Good people, who deserved better. Who needed better."

Zach's face flashed into her vision unbidden. The sudden pang of grief took her breath away for a moment, and it made her pause. Silence fell across the room again, and she used the moment to try to wrestle her emotions back under control. Maybe the Regulation agents had gotten to her after all.

Neither of them spoke, however, before Alex leaned back in her seat. She hoped her words were steady enough to not reveal anything more. "But you don't need to worry about that, agents, if you ever did. As far as I'm concerned, you can have all the corporate intrigue and shadow projects you want. All I want to do now is do a little contracting work while I'm still furloughed at Royal Purple. I have no intention of sticking my nose into any active investigations or cleaning up anyone's messes but the ones inside the portals of my clients."

The agents exchanged a look, their expressions a mixture of professional neutrality and something else Alex couldn't parse. She unclenched her hand and sighed. "So, are you giving me the license or not? I have a train to catch."

"You really have no idea how to not piss people off, do you?" The irritation in Joanna's voice was only matched by a kind of resignation that made Alex give the Adept a look. Joanna rolled her eyes. "They actually still gave you the license?"

Alex nodded. "Well, yeah. If they didn't, they'd probably have to explain why they didn't give one to me when they already gave one to all of you. Especially since the news keeps giving me the credit for the Royal Purple thing."

Clara wagged a finger at her from her seat. "Ah, ah, ah, you should use the proper name. The 'Royal Scandal' is just too good to ignore."

She gave the Acolyte an irritated look as well. "I refuse to dignify that name by using it. They are making it sound like some kind of reality show."

Sam snorted. He scrolled a little on the tablet he was reading. "Well, you have to admit, at least they are playing you up as a hero instead of the villain. Things could easily have gone the other way."

"Especially after the Revolution." Joanna grimaced. "You really think that they couldn't have spun things to make you look like a mentally unstable serial killer?"

Beside her, Sam snorted again. He gave her a sly look. "Of course, we're not sure that isn't the case…"

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

Alex slugged him, though she pulled the force of the punch considerably. She ignored his chuckle and turned back to Joanna. "In any case, we're good to start contract jobs now. Emerald Bay knows we're coming?"

Joanna nodded, her expression serious. "They've been saying that the portal situation is… tenuous at the moment. We're supposed to contract with them for at least a handful of Surveys to bring it down to sustainable levels while they rebuild their Surveyor personnel."

It made sense; Emerald Bay had been one of the places worst affected by the conspiracy at Royal Purple. Alex leaned forward, her eyes intent. "Once we're done there, where are we headed?"

Clara was the one who answered. "Either Brownhat or Goldiron, I think." When Alex frowned at her, the Acolyte shrugged. "It depends on how the schedule works out. If we're quick enough, we might get to Goldiron first, but I think they'd be fine if they needed to wait. Brownhat definitely seems like they need the help."

Alex grunted. Brownhat hadn't exactly impressed her with their Survey techniques before. She could only imagine how things had declined in the meantime. "Well, at least we should get plenty of practice in there."

Sam spoke up from where he sat. "We'll need to." When Alex looked at him, he shrugged. "We aren't exactly facing small fry, Alex. None of the names on your list are below C rank, and most of them are quite a lot higher than that. We need to be stronger."

Alex blinked. She looked around the train car. It was empty, as usual; most normals seemed to not want to share a car with Surveyors, likely fearing some kind of magical traces that would harm them. It was just superstition, at least unless the Surveyors involved were carrying portal-harvested materials, but apparently nobody wanted to take the risk.

When she looked back at Sam, he grinned. "Already swept it for bugs. We should be clear."

Joanna smiled. "He means we bought a gadget that detects that kind of thing. I do think it should be effective, but all the same…"

Clara nodded. "Yeah, there's been way too many of those journalists trying to follow us around. Anyone else get occasionally ambushed by paparazzi every week or so?"

Alex winced. She'd been able to dodge most of the infamy for her role in the Red Blade Revolution, but the Royal Scandal had apparently cemented her as a person of interest for a certain number of bottom-feeders among the media. Her father had managed to discourage the most unscrupulous of them, but it had been extra stressful trying to conceal her mother's identity. All they would need was a photo taken at exactly the wrong time...

She'd reacted by trying to stay in her dorm on the Royal Purple campus, but Regulation had taken over the facility, so she'd been sent to a 'temporary' hotel instead. It had prevented most of the worst types from trying to camp out on her family's front lawn, at least, but she still had nightmares about the Crimson Blade being discovered by some guy hiding in a bush hoping for a picture of her.

As she shuddered over that possibility, Sam continued in a patient voice. He at least had the good sense to keep his next words a bit quieter than he'd been speaking. "Luckily, it seems like the remaining targets aren't aware of us as a threat, at least not that we've seen."

He pulled up an image on his tablet and turned it to face the others. Alex felt her breath catch as she saw what he had pulled up. It was the picture of a Surveyor, dressed in the formal uniform of Greylight industries. The grey and black went well with his dark hair and blue eyes; he looked out of the image with an imperious expression, as if silently judging the viewer. Alex didn't think it was an inaccurate impression; she'd heard him speak once, recently, and his words had been full of repressed contempt.

Sam spoke quietly. "First up, Ronald Emerson. He's an A rank employed by Greylight Industries, and from what Alex was saying, he was directly involved with Wells at Red Blade Securities."

Joanna grunted and shook her head. "Not exactly someone we want to tangle with."

He nodded. "Yeah. As a group, we barely managed to survive against a B rank like Rabbit. Ronald wouldn't even notice as he crushed us. Even Alex wouldn't last long, and Muriel…"

Sam fell silent, and Alex looked away for a moment. Ronald had been one of the griefers who'd almost killed her mother before; now, with Muriel wounded and him a full rank higher, he likely wouldn't need additional reinforcements to kill her. "I'll keep Mom out of it. She promised she wouldn't show up."

Joanna gave her a skeptical look, but Clara just nodded. "All right, so he's the worst one. Who else do we have?"

He gave the Acolyte a grimace. "I don't know if I'd agree, but…" Sam shrugged. "He's the one who might be the closest to knowing who we are and what we are up to. The fact that he's also employed by Greylight doesn't help, but he definitely isn't the only one to worry about."

The image on the tablet shifted, showing a smiling man in heavy armor, and Alex felt her eyes narrow as Sam continued. "We also have Aki Watanabe, a B rank who worked with Greylight Industries previously, but is now employed by Blue Moon Management. Also probably as dangerous or worse than Rabbit was."

Sam shifted to a new image, this time of a solemn woman with an elaborate costume of some kind. "Kira Petrov is also separated from Greylight, having moved to Greenaxe Solutions."

Clara frowned. "That one sounds familiar."

He nodded. "It's the same company that Brian and Tim went to, though it looks like she's at a different location." Sam shrugged. "I've gotten a message or two to them to tell them to keep their heads down, so hopefully they stay safe. She's an A rank, like Ronald, so we're a long way from facing her."

Alex grimaced, trying to fight down a feeling of worry and unease. "What about the last two?"

"They are some of the most dangerous, actually." Sam changed the image to another man, this time someone who was carrying a staff. "Rakesh Gupta remained at Greylight along with Ronald, though they shifted him to a subsidiary called Blackmist Enterprises. I haven't been able to find anything out about the place, but if Greylight put someone like Gupta there…"

Joanna nodded. "It's probably some kind of black project they have going on. We should probably steer clear of that for now." She hesitated. "And the last one?"

Sam paused for a moment. Then his hands moved, and the image changed yet again, and this time everyone went still. "Anders Alfson. S rank."

Alex stared at the image. It showed a man with blonde hair and eyes that were a pale grey. He wore the black and grey of Greylight industries, but the clothes barely registered. Even the image seemed to exude power and presence, to the point where she felt sweat break out on her back.

S ranks weren't common. Most Surveyors either settled into a lower rank or died long before they reached the apex of the powers available to them. The dozen or so S ranks that existed in the world were almost a law unto themselves; only the untested threat of modern military weapons and strategic weapons like airstrikes or ICBMs really kept them in line. It was rare for them to confront S rank portals, but when they did, it was always a major news event. Most of the time, they seemed to stick to attacking unruly A rank portals and showing off for the cameras.

Anders was one of the few that could boast of having attacked a handful of S rank portals and come away intact. As such, many had taken to calling him the Immortal Blade, both for his apparent untouchability, and his near-contempt for any challenges from fellow Surveyors. Regulation had no hope of confronting him for anything he did, and any possible information on his transgressions was likely covered up long before they reached a news station.

He was also very likely the person who had struck her mother just as she left the portal. Muriel had never confirmed it, but she always seemed to shy away from news that mentioned the man, and he'd been an A rank at the time. It fit well enough that Alex had always included him on her list.

Now she knew. Her enemies included one of the most powerful men in the world.

She also knew that one day, she'd see him face justice. No matter what it took.

Alex looked up to find Sam studying her. He gave her a forced grin. "Better to leave that one for last, wouldn't you say?"

She snorted, and Sam's grin grew a little wider. Then it faded. "Of course, it's never just going to be them. They'll all have their own supporters, and Greylight is probably going to have more griefers ready to help them, just like Laser and Poet's teams were ready to help Rabbit. Jester wasn't on the list, but he was just as bad."

"Same with Mushroom and Snickers." Joanna's voice was serious, and she looked back at Alex. "We'll need to be careful going forward. No more just throwing yourself at them."

Alex felt a flicker of offense at the warning. "I think I've been doing a decent job of staying quiet." They all looked at her; Clara was the first to start laughing, though the Acolyte at least tried to hide it. She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. I haven't exactly been announcing myself every time I meet one of them. I didn't even mean to fight Rabbit when I did. We did everything we could to avoid it."

Sam settled back into his seat with a sigh, turning the tablet away. A smile was still on his lips as he chuckled. "I suppose that's fair enough. Still, I'd be surprised if you weren't on their list as much as they are on yours. Forget what happened at Red Blade; you actually helped sink one of their subsidiaries."

"Two, actually." Clara held up a pair of fingers. "Don't forget Steel Sky. I'm pretty sure they lost all of their contracts even faster than Royal Purple."

Joanna grunted again, her lips twisting in what might have been a smile. "You've pretty much cost them several hundred million dollars, if not more. If that's not a reason to arrange an accident for you, I don't know what would be."

Alex nodded. "So we keep an eye out for anybody that even looks like they might be connected to Greylight, or any of these people—and in the meantime, we get stronger, like you said." She looked out the window, watching for the moment as the scenery passed them by. "They'll get what's coming to them, eventually. All we need to do is get ready."

The others exchanged a look and then nodded, clearly unhappy about their options, but Alex just settled in and tried to rest. They had a few more hours until they reached the Emerald Bay facility, and she wanted to be ready when she got there. Nothing was going to surprise her this time.

Alex was proved wrong just a few hours later, as the shuttle bus that had met them at the train station didn't take them directly to the facility outside the town that housed the portal.

Instead, Alex found herself staring up at an office building, one that had Emerald Bay's symbol on the sign out front. It looked the same as any other office building, with a bland, meaningless batch of shrubbery bordering a half-empty parking lot. The building itself was a structure of mirrored windows and steel, one that shone in the sun. Alex looked up at it and sighed.

Then she led the others towards the front door, where she could already see a group of people in suits waiting for them. Their clothing contrasted sharply with the slightly worn Royal Purple uniforms that Alex and her friends wore; they were technically still entitled to wear them, even if they were furloughed. They could have worn their own clothing, but given how a portal tended to destroy any cloth not from the other world, it would have been a… poor result when they returned.

She shook the thought aside as they pushed through the doors and walked into the office lobby. There were four people there waiting for them, with a fifth person sitting in a chair off to the side reading a tablet. Only one of them she recognized, a Surveyor by the name of Jonathan that had met her during her previous missions at the portal. He looked distinctly uncomfortable in a suit, and he gave her an uneasy nod as she crossed the title floor towards them.

The others who were standing were a pair of lawyers with briefcases, and an older woman with glasses and a pinched expression. She extended her hand as Alex drew close. "Ms. Morrison. Welcome."

Alex glanced at Jonathan and then shook the offered hand with a carefully measured amount of strength. "Good to be here. I don't believe we've met."

The woman nodded shortly. "My name is Angelica Murand. I'm the vice president in charge of this facility."

She heard Joanna make a soft noise behind her, but Alex kept her focus on Murand. The woman didn't seem nearly as welcoming as Jonathan would have been, and she suspected things were going to get a little unpleasant right off the bat. "We're here to help with your portal's situation. We were told that our help would be appreciated."

The executive glanced slightly towards Jonathan before she responded. "We were in an unfortunate situation, yes. Mostly because of your current employers."

Alex heard the accusatory edge in the woman's voice and restrained a wince. She nodded slightly. "Royal Purple is no longer our employer, at least not today. We're here on our own."

One of the lawyers spoke up, looking Alex up and down. "Not what your clothes would suggest."

She gave him a brief glance before dismissing him. Murand would be the one that mattered. "You work with what you have, especially when time is short."

Murand adjusted her glasses. "That is true. As long as you don't have other options." This time, she looked at the man in the chair, and Alex allowed herself to examine him a little more closely.

He was a Surveyor, that much was certain. Though he was still pretending to read an article, it was just as clear that he had his eye on Alex and her friends. Even though he wore a suit, it was clear that he was just as ill at ease as Jonathan was, and there were scars on his face and hands, just faint enough to be hard to see.

When she looked at him, the man looked back at her. Their eyes met, and he smiled.

Murand continued in an even tone. "To be frank, we have received another offer while you were in transit."

Joanna spoke up, her voice flat. "From whom?"

The executive looked back at the Adept, her eyebrows arching slightly. "From Blue Moon Management. They've offered their services here, in exchange for a contract like the one we offered your, ah, former employer."

The mention of Blue Moon, so soon after they reviewed the list of targets, made Alex tense slightly. She kept her voice calm and tried to relax as she responded. "So you're already taken care of?"

Murand studied her for a moment. Her eyebrows inched a little higher. "We are still negotiating."

There was a dismissive tone to her words that rankled, but Alex tried to keep a lid on her temper. "Well, if you have no need for us, we can always head elsewhere. You aren't the only one with options."

The executive blinked. Jonathan blanched, his face paling, and Alex heard the hint of a surprised cough from the man in the chair. She started to turn away, deliberately moving a little slower than she needed to. Her mother hadn't had very much experience as a contractor, but her father had, and one of his most repeated lessons had been the need to walk away from a bad deal—and whatever intrigue was happening here did not seem to be worth the time to figure out.

"One moment, Ms. Morrison."

Murand's voice wasn't exactly hurried, but her eyes had cut towards the man in the chair with a sudden amount of concern. She studied Alex for another moment, her lips pressed into a thin line. "We haven't made our decision yet. If you have the time to talk things over, we'll seriously consider whatever offer you make."

Sam grunted quietly. His expression was almost angry. "I don't know if I like spending time in a bidding war, Alex."

The other lawyer fixed him with a narrow glare. "Our decision-making process is not that delayed, Mr. Rysmore."

"That's good." Clara spoke almost absently, and her attention was fixed in the direction of the distant portal. Her eyes glowed green for a moment. "I'm already seeing a lot of magic coming off of that portal, and given how far away we are here…"

She let the words trail off, and the Emerald Bay employees grimaced. Jonathan was sweating through his collar, and he actually glared at the executive. "I've been telling you. It's already getting unstable. We can't—"

"We cannot afford to be hasty with our choices, Mr. Grissom." Murand cut him off with a glare of her own. "If we are going to save this facility, we need to be able to be certain that we've chosen the best option."

The man in the chair stood, setting his tablet aside. "Which is why you should choose the team with the most resources." He grinned and walked over, extending a hand. "I figured that I was basically part of the conversation, anyway. I might as well introduce myself. The name's Mahrez Lazaar, Deep Blue Management. A pleasure to meet you, Valkyrie."

Alex took his hand carefully. He squeezed gently, but firmly, and she didn't bother turning it into a struggle.

Mahrez released her and turned to look at Murand. "You know our reputation. We have three teams of D ranks available, plus a team of C ranks ready to go in if things go bad. You can't compare a single team of D ranks, no matter how skilled they are, to that kind of firepower. You want us in your corner, here. Don't take the risk."

Alex spoke before Murand could respond. "Have any of them been through this portal before?" He paused, and she tilted her head. "My team has already been here twice, and we've proven what we can do. Even more than that, we can start today, right now, while your Surveyors are still on the way. Unless they have air support?"

The other Surveyor blinked. An amused smile spread across his face. "No. We've never had quite the… revenue stream that Royal Purple did."

She ignored the dig at the corruption that had ended her previous job. Everyone had already heard about it, and she had a job to do. Alex looked back at Murand and folded her arms. "If you want this problem solved quickly, then you can trust us to get it done. Without tying you into some kind of long-term contract."

Murand's eyes narrowed. "That's a surprisingly generous offer, Ms. Morrison. Though perhaps not, considering that your previous employer caused the situation."

Sam spoke up, a half-grin twisting his lips. "And we're the ones who fixed it. Let us finish the job."

Mahrez snorted, but Murand simply continued to study Alex for a moment longer. Then she looked at Jonathan. "You're sure, Jonathan?"

The Emerald Bay Surveyor nodded quickly. "Yes. They've done it before, they can do it again."

"I should hope so." The executive's eyes grew sharper, and she looked at Mahrez. "Your best offer?"

He glanced at Alex before he responded. "Two weeks to bring the portal to desired levels, consistent support after that. Training space and accommodations while we are here. Contract at three quarters the rate Royal Purple was offering. One year commitment."

It was obvious the terms pained him, but Murand simply nodded and looked at Alex. A part of her wanted to glance back at Joanna, but something told her it would be a mistake. So instead, she shrugged. "We start today, and we'll have it under control in a week. We'll need a place to stay and train while we take care of it. No long-term contract."

She paused, and Joanna spoke up. "Three quarters the Royal Purple rate, with that same rate locked in for any future requests for the next two years."

Alex glanced back at the Adept, who met her eyes with a stubborn expression. She looked back to see Murand nodding seriously. The executive glanced at her lawyers, who nodded back to her.

Then she sighed. "Ms. Morrison, we'll sign with you. Mr. Lazaar, thank you for coming by today."

The tension went out of Jonathan's shoulders in a single explosive gust of air. Mahrez, by contrast, just shook his head and grinned. "It's always a pleasure—but remember, if things go south, our rates may not be the same as they were. Supply and demand and all that."

Murand nodded, and Mahrez shook her hand. When he turned to Alex, his grin took on a bit more of a predatory cast. "I look forward to meeting you again, Valkyrie."

She shook his hand anyway. "Until then."

The Blue Moon Surveyor nodded to the rest of Alex's team, and then sauntered towards the front doors. Alex watched him for a moment until Murand cleared her throat. "If you'll follow me, we'll go over the paperwork and make sure everything is in order. You should be familiar enough with the standard Surveyor's contract to…"

Alex turned back to face an even worse foe, and mentally sighed. She couldn't wait for the chance to just throw herself at some Grue.

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