Another Day at Unity (18) (Patreon)

It took well into the evening before Ilene finished her work. Just as she had promised, the crew of intruding criminals were now far better suited to cooperating with her house. Some would take time to be useful again—that engineer in particular was a troubling case.

But that was fine. A mythical pokémon could live for a very long time.

Her staff had to help them from the helicopter one at a time. Not that she needed to worry about the transformed criminals running away anymore. Even without intentionally erasing as much, the radical transfiguration of one's daemon (and through it, their essential nature) was a brutal process.

The old man now sat on the deck, hands wrapped tight around his shirt. His daemon curled up on the space beside him, burying her head in her body. But Ilene's mercenaries had not allowed him to turn around. Ilene stepped off the helicopter, removing both gloves and tossing them aside.

They were quite bloody now, along with her apron. "I take it you understand the nature of my arrival, criminal," she said. Ilene dropped to one knee in front of him, meeting his eyes. Rael sagged in the air behind her, clinging to her clothing for support. Killing so many would be easy, of course. But making them was so much harder.

"It's not possible," he said, eyes unfocused. She felt no resistance in him anymore, only terror. "What you did..."

She shrugged. "The last Eldest could do it. Lord Julian probably couldn't manage. But me—I'm an expert." She straightened, waving for him to do the same.

He did, head bowed and shoulders sagging.

"You would be surprised how many wishes amount to wanting to be someone else. But Rael and I never granted a wish from the same person twice. A soul is delicate, you see—one surgery, and it will scar over. Not two."

"I'm the last one left, then," he said. "Get it over with, I suppose. We took a chance, and lost."

She shook her head. "Not unless that's a request. I had not planned on it."

"Then what?"

"Tell me which island to leave you on. I expect you to relay what happened here to your boss. And give him this." She removed a slip of paper from her pocket. "This is my personal 'phone' number. Tell him I would like to talk at his earliest convenience."

She gestured down the stairs, towards the ship's interior. "I would be willing to allow a peaceful and orderly withdrawal from my territory. If he does not, make sure your other agents in Sevii know what I'll do to them. They may decide an alternative employment is more rewarding."

Ilene found Harlan in the secure part of their quarters, sitting quietly at his desk. She spent a few seconds silent in the doorway, watching him. Without her to supervise, her son had gathered his workbook from the shelf and reviewed the day’s missed assignments.

"Harlan. I hope today wasn't too exciting for you." She stepped into the room, easing the door gently shut behind her. She locked it for good measure, though she hadn't expected that would be necessary before.

But now her ship had a dozen more people aboard, each one a fresh experiment in the manipulation of humans and daemons. It would take time to see how stable their personalities became.

"Not very," he answered, shutting the book. "Less than yours, I think. There are already stories."

She joined him by the desk, resting her hand on his shoulder. "This is for the best. The greater the reputation, the less likely anyone aboard will think to betray us. It's a certainty the criminals will try to turn members of our staff against us. They're never eager to withdraw from territory, even if it was never theirs."

Harlan's daemon landed in his lap. He wrapped his hands around the jirachi, eyes closed. Not with tiredness, but Ilene didn't look into his mind. She could easily, her son's mental protections remained undeveloped. But no family could exist without some expectations of privacy and respect.

"Is it true?" he finally asked, voice very small. "What you did to those people."

She eased him from the desk, guiding him down the hall to his bedroom. With a gesture, the bed made itself, then opened. The lights dimmed, toys returned to the shelf, and his computer switched off. He had been playing video games at some point today, and forgotten to switch off the machine. No matter; Ilene could forgive a minor discretion.

He was still a child.

She said nothing, until she had him settled in bed and could rest in a little chair against the wall. "All of us can do it. The Great Families—we each have our own way. Some think it's how we built the great houses in the first place. But the one with the simplest reward to offer no longer has a house at all."

She rested one hand on his shoulder for a few seconds, watching his eyes. There was some fear there, but far less than she'd seen from any of the staff outside.

"All of them?" he asked. "Shaymin, Victini, Manaphy... even Mew?"

"Your aunt, you mean?"

He looked away, eyes on his hands. "Maybe."

"We both knew this would happen. The... opposition. Team Rocket thought they had themselves a little kingdom where no one would interfere. The mew were too busy governing two regions to notice whatever happened on these little island chains. They will hurt us if we let them."

He looked away, wrapping his arm protectively around his daemon. "Did you have to hurt them so bad?"

She touched his back, holding there for a few seconds longer. "The one who sent them knows better now. I know it's scary—but it means we won't have to fight more in the future. We have to make the Sevii Islands safe."

He said nothing more, curling silently in bed. Ilene stood after a few seconds, and switched off the light. She lingered by the window, staring out at the stars. A distant moon shone high above, reflecting silvery light down over the sea. By tomorrow, there would be land through that window again.

Soon they would be home—her new domain, and her family's future. Far less than the wealth of their ancient, ancestral lands. But if she couldn't ever retake those...

Something vibrated from the desk, rattling through the room. The sound repeated a few seconds later, insistent. Her “phone.” Someone must've heard. Maybe Hayden, maybe her husband.

She teleported it into her hand, eyeing the screen. "Unknown Caller?"

There weren't many people in the world who could get access to this number, let alone while somehow concealing their own identity. She pressed the key to answer it, then held it up.

"Ilene of House Jirachi," said a voice, with a thick, strange accent. A man's voice, though the technology restricted her from knowing more. No truth about the mind could reach through wires across space and time. "New regent of the Sevii Islands, bequeathed by the noble Mew House. Is that right?"

She floated the phone alongside her—holding it was too much effort. Probably more than the speaker deserved. "I take it my message arrived then, Giovanni."

He didn't answer at first, long enough that she wondered if he was going to hang up. Was he trying to distract her from something?

"Anyone who worked with me will tell you; I'm a reasonable man. I have no interest in wasting resources."

"Neither do I," she said, equally cold. "I know you were able to operate in these islands with impunity. You've built yourself a little empire out here. I appreciate the effort invested, and the resources you've amassed. I'm willing to negotiate for your peaceful withdrawal. Take your people, take your belongings, and go. I will do nothing to pursue you, or inform the authorities elsewhere of your presence. You may leave in peace."

The other end was silent for a long time. Ilene glanced at the phone more than once just to make sure it was still connected. All this modern technology was a fickle mistress—part of Ilene worried she would never fully understand it.

But the call remained, a little timer ticking away with every passing second. Eventually, a reply came.

"You're making a mistake with that demand, Jirachi. I've done my research, I know who you are. Dispossessed house, forgotten by history. All these years trapped in service to your betters. You're not ready to go alone yet. The world outside is cruel and unfriendly, even to you. The last thing you need is an enemy—you need a friend."

A friend who keeps the people of the islands fearful and silent? Who pollutes the natural world and captures wild pokémon for trade? He could use words like “friend” all he liked, but the proposal was absurd.

"I've seen the way you treated the Sevii Islands. I won't allow that to continue. Their people will be free."

"Free to your rule over mine," Giovanni said. "And perhaps you would be better at it. I never had the patience for it anyway. Building roads and schools and power plants—a waste of resources. Perhaps you would be willing to accept a withdrawal from public life, so long as my research is free to continue at a... few sites. It would be far cleaner that way. Fewer deaths, on both sides. Even if you can pry me away, I would make you pay dearly for it. But this way, both can prosper."

She spun slowly in place, glancing back at her son's shut bedroom door. The boy's terrified face still looked back in her mind, wondering what Ilene would do next. How many would she hurt to keep them safe?

"If I allow that, it would need to be complete. No spies showing up in my house. No explosives on public buildings or poison in the water supply. The first hint of hostility, the first suggestion that you aren't keeping up your end of the bargain, and your lease is terminated."

Giovanni took far less time to answer now. "Agreed. Total withdrawal from public life, no interference with your rule. In exchange, the black sites on Seven Island and Five Island stay operational. No interference. Our ships may come and go as they please. If you ever acquire a navy, their routes patrol elsewhere. Simple contract, with simple terms."

"Agreed," she said. "But only in those sites. No dumping poison that seeps onto the island, or radioactive runoff into the reef. You clean up your own mess, you leave the people alone. I indulge your presence."

"Signed," he said. "I'll have a copy delivered to the port on One Island, for your signature. A pleasure doing business with you." The line went silent.

Ilene slumped into the nearest chair, tossing her phone roughly to the ground. Rael floated gently down into her lap, his eyes on the distorted machine. "Will he keep his word?"

She shrugged. "Probably not. But everything they do to withdraw is a war we don't have to fight. Maybe he's scared enough to do what he said."

"Or maybe he's just found another resource, something even more valuable than drugs and recruits. Others have tried to take us before. We just showed him something princeless."

"Might have to reform him too," she agreed. "Whatever it takes. Jirachi House will survive."