DensityGodbyToraAKR
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MM - Chapter 50 - WHAT’S MINE IS MINE
🕑 Added 2025-01-03 16:01:30 +0000 UTCCeleste adopted a tender smile, “I'm terribly sorry for his rudeness. He acted without my permission and overstepped severely.” Turning to one of her three remaining bodyguards, she swapped to a venomous snarl, “Mr. Benson, from this moment, you may consider your contract terminated. Please take your luggage and get out of my sight.” She glanced down at the crumpled guard, then locked eyes with Benson again.
“I'm afraid that's impossible, young miss. Our contract was established by your father. Leaving your side under any circumstances would be seen as a breach and we would be subject to significant penalties.”
Raine noticed the telltale signs of Celeste’s focus shifting to her LinQ's AR display. A moment later, she spoke to someone only she could see, “Father, cancel the contract with Felitts Feris immediately! They've not only physically assaulted a friend of mine, but have slandered my reputation. I don't want to see them again.” There was a short pause as she listened to a response, “No, cancel it immediately. If they attempt to escort me home, I'll contact the authorities.”
Mr. Benson held a finger to his ear. His jaw creaked and his breathing became irregular. A triumphant smile spread across Celeste’s face. With a glare at Raine that promised retribution, Benson scooped up his fallen comrade and marched toward the door.
Celeste didn't watch them leave, her focus entirely on the tall, stone-faced stranger, “Again, sir. I'm terribly sorry for that man's impudence. I hope you can forgive me.”
Raine had no intention of falling for her cute and innocent act, “Apology accepted. Now piss off.”
Is this some kind of holodrama? What's she playing at? I don't have time to deal with a pampered corpo cast-off that everyone knows is a complete psycho. I need to finish here and get back into ZL.
Her smile faltered. [Cast-off huh? Okay, asshole. Bring it on.]
The receptionist somehow gathered the courage to speak softly in the utterly silent lobby, “Mr. KongRu, the president is ready to see you.” All eyes swiveled to her, causing her face to flush crimson.
Raine held in a sigh of relief, “If you'll excuse me.”
[Not a chance! He mentioned ZL. I'm positive that's short for ZionLine. Father gave me those two tickets. If I can’t lure a man when I can read his mind, I might as well give up any plans for my future!]
As Raine turned toward the elevators, Celeste stepped in his way with a charming smile, “I simply cannot let this matter slide with a mere apology. I happen to have a ticket for an auction tonight. If you would accept it, that would put my heart at ease.”
“No thank you. I've no interest in mundane auctions,” he tried to step around her but she matched his movement.
Innocently blinking up at him, she slowly reached out and placed her hand on his chest with her fingers splayed, “This is no mundane auction, sir. It's for a new game that's gaining popularity at an unprecedented rate. I believe it's called ZineLone or some such.” The glint in her eyes turned mischievous as Raine hesitated. She pressed on before he could change his mind, “Many members of the Societies will be there for the curiosity of the new products alone. I heard its announcement made a splash as the items will be sold for in-game currency and not credits. Are you sure you’re not interested?”
Wait, what? The Societies are already making a move? This is huge. Millions of gold are going to change hands tonight. I can't afford to miss this chance with all the loot I just picked up.
[Haha! Got you, little fishy. Squirm all you want, I’ll pick your secrets apart one by one and leave you gasping for breath.]
“No thanks,” Raine casually flicked his wrist, knocking her hand aside while brushing past her toward the elevator. He had absolute confidence in getting into the auction without any help, and taking anything from the family behind Ronexzera was begging for trouble.
Celeste watched him go with her jaw hanging open.
[What?! Fine, I see how it is. Keep playing hard to get. I’ve already learned about uncle, and I know your next move, Mr. KongRu. Don’t think you’ve won. I’ll be waiting for you tonight, and everything you know will be mine for the taking.]
The moment the elevator doors closed behind the man, the peanut gallery exploded into hushed whispers, “He rejected a Luu Rahn after all that?! No wonder she’s never had a boyfriend.”
“The sack on that guy!”
“What did we just witness? Please tell me you got it?”
“Of course! We’re going to be famous when we post this!”
Celeste completely failed to block out the vile comments, each eliciting a new vein that bulged from her neck. With a jaw tight enough to rapidly blossom a headache, she stormed to the receptionist with a polite request, then left.
Raine’s elevator ride was short. The doors opened on the top floor to reveal a sound padded suite of sectioned and sealed offices. A secretary bowed to him as he exited, “Mr. KongRu, President Ehrhardt will see you now.”
“Lead the way,” Raine’s eyes roamed, observing a lack of cameras. He glanced at his watch, which notified him that its recording functions were jammed.
What kind of schemes are you up to in here? Between the plummeting stock price, Ronexzera, and this floor blocking records while the rest of the building has terrible security… Smells like an inside job. I need to make my move before Ronexzera straight up steals the ReGen formula.
The secretary led him to the largest office, its walls made of duraglass. A thin man with a weedy mustache stood at his approach. He didn’t display any wealth, his suit and accessories made of simple materials. A friendly smile was hidden behind abundant facial hair, “Mr. KongRu. Can’t say I expected your arrival.”
They shook, the man’s grip nearly limp in Raine’s hand, “I wasn’t expecting it myself.” When he didn’t elucidate, Raine watched the muscles in Ehrhardt’s face twitch nervously.
“Is… there something I can do for you?”
Raine nodded, “Certainly. I want a complete tour of the facilities. Then, we can discuss security. Lastly, I want to speak with the lead pharmaceutical scientist for our up and coming product line.”
Each demand was met with a flinch, President Ehrhardt sweating by the end. He gulped loudly, “N-new product line? That's... ahhh, proprietary—”
Raine narrowed his eyes, his voice containing a warning bite, “Does it look like I care? Unless you want to be reassigned at the emergency board meeting next week, I suggest you not waste any more of my time.”
Ehrhardt took a step back, his features tightening with indignation, “That's no way to speak to me, young man. I—”
Raine cut him off again, “Twenty-eight percent.”
The thin man shook his head, “Excuse me?”
Raine adjusted his watch so a portion of its display would be visible to anyone nearby, “As of right now, I own twenty-eight percent of this company. There will never be another executive decision made without my approval. Do you know what that means?” Ehrhardt struggled to speak, let alone take a breath.
Raine closed the distance, towering over the man, “Last chance to keep your job.”
“Fine! I can see you're not a man to be reasoned with. I’ll be putting in an official complaint with the rest of the board. Mrs. Rasmusin, please escort Mr. KongRu to anywhere he wishes to go.”
I’d bet ten million creds this bastard is going to be on comms with someone at Ronexzera before I leave the floor. Which means I've got minutes before the corpus show up and either escort me off the property, or arrest me.
Raine turned and left with striding steps. He reached the elevator, the assistant from before scrambling to keep up. Every movement ached, but he pushed through it, far too much on the line to hesitate now.
The brown haired, mousy woman joined him in the elevator. She was shaking, her face a mask of repressed terror. Raine shifted to a more relaxed tone, “Show me the labs first, if you would, Mrs. Rasmusin.”
“A-as you say, sir,” she punched a code into her AR and the elevator smoothly glided downward.
Raine accessed his watch. His eyes danced across the display that appeared, sending a silent message, “Morty, I'm going to need your help.” The AI responded by sending a file containing information on a set of synthetic legs worth five million each. Raine didn't bat an eye, “Deal.”
The lab was in the third basement, dominating a space much larger than the above ground floors. White walls and obscured glass paneling blocked his view of the finer details of their ongoing research and development. Next to each numbered door were the names of the doctors who utilized the labs.
Not waiting to be directed, Raine marched to the door with the only name he recognized, the only name that mattered in the entire building: Dr. Krillian McLeary—the inventor of ReGen.
Mrs. Rasmusin chased after him, “S-sir, some of these labs are restricted for safety reasons. If there's anything in particular you want to see, I'll simply need a few minutes to request clearance from the associated pharmacists.”
A biometric scanner buzzed in the negative when he neared the door. Before the assistant could speak, Raine gently rapped on the metalic surface. He glanced at her from his peripherals, daring her to counteract him. She took a step back, swallowing hard.
A few moments passed and Raine knocked again, much harder. Muffled curses and stomping preceded the door sliding open. Raine pushed past the frazzled, unshowered man in a lab coat, his gaze dancing across the lab.
Complex beakers full of multi-colored fluids crowded every other flat surface, holographic displays covering the rest. The only other occupant was a woman with dark hair, her back turned as she hammered away at a keyboard that only she could see.
Raine stepped to the side as the doctor rounded on him, his face flushed, “What is the meaning of this?! I asked not to be disturbed. Is the building on fire? Because it had better be or there'll be hell to pay!”
Raine angled his wrist toward the large, highly secure mainframe in the closest corner of the room. A tight-beam communication directly delivered his surprise package into it. He leaned over the doctor, blocking his and the secretary's view, “Dr. McLeary, apologies for the sudden intrusion. I don't believe in wasting time either so I'll be brief. I'm Mr. KongRu. As of today, I own twenty-eight percent of Soulgen and I'm simply here for an update on your newest formula.”
The doctor's lip pulled up in a grimace, “Ugh. Mr. KongRu, with all respect, we're at a critical phase in our development and—”
A beaker full of green, bubbling liquid exploded. It was inside a sealed container, but it still caused both doctors to panic. They rushed to a hovering display that was scrolling through a vast chemical sequence so fast that only a skilled technician could have any chance of interpreting it.
While Raine was well versed in the composition of metals, that was where his expertise began and ended. Still, he took the opportunity to stride across the room to gain a better vantage, coincidently moving closer to something that caught his eye. A moment later, another vial—this one right next to him—exploded. Mrs. Rasmusin jumped and Raine did his best to hide a grin.
Good job, Morty!
Pretending to shy away in surprise, Raine stumbled into the counter the female doctor had been working at. When she ran past to the new catastrophe, Raine pocketed a sealed vial of brown and green liquid. Checking his watch, he sent another message, “Seal the servers. Not one byte of data gets in or out. I don't care if you have to torch them to do it.”
Having scored more than he'd bargained for, Raine headed toward the exit, grabbing Mrs. Rasmusin's arm on the way by, “I think we've overstayed our welcome. Take me back to the lobby.”
She collected herself when the elevator doors closed, blocking her view, “I'm so sorry you had to see something like that, Mr. KongRu. I've worked here for years and I can promise you that was a very rare occurrence.”
“You don't need to defend their work. I have complete faith in the doctors’ capabilities. That was enough excitement for me. I'll be in touch. I realize I was hard on President Ehrhardt, if he gives you any trouble after I'm gone, please let me know and I'll be sure you're compensated.”
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate that.”
The doors opened and Raine quickly headed toward the front entrance. The receptionist called out to him, her voice breaking, “E-excuse me Mr. KongRu.”
He tilted his head at her and she nervously waved him over. Curious, Raine complied. Not hearing any sirens yet, he figured he had a few more seconds. She handed him a slip of brightly colored paper the size of his palm, turning it over, his brows rose in surprise.
“She said she would ruin my life if I didn't hand this to you personally. I'm so sorry if-if.”
“You did fine. Thank you,” Raine dropped the invitation to the Societies’ auction in a separate pocket from his liberated vial of Regen. He left in a hurry, urgency driving his steps.
Comments
Judah Frankel
Fun times! Tsundere getto! Also, could Raine have given Doc McLeary a quick heads-up that Ronexzero is about to winkle her creation out from under her? Can he still do that in the time available before it all goes down? Getting that sort of biomedical expertise on his side would be all kinds of helpful down the line. EDIT: I spelled Ronexzera wrong earlier, but calling them zeroes feels right and I’m not sorry.
Matt
Love the MM chapters so far! Just wondering, is there a release schedule for them yet or no?
JTP
Raine ain't no simp! Interactions between these two are so fun to write.
