Conference room - Vi(c/k)tor(-/ia) (2/-)

For each action, there was an equal and opposite reaction. For example, saving my rear at the cost of my sister’s dignity resulted in her trying to set me on fire. No verbal warning, no loud foreshadowing, I simply noticed that the tip of my blonde head was quickly heating up.

One glance at Violet’s tearing up face which was like thousand red suns MK II and the way she looked at me as if I was her mortal enemy was enough to understand that I needed to quickly duck behind the rostrum to avoid the ignition of my hair.

“Vio I’m so sorry!”

Didn’t she say something about not planning to burn anyone alive?!

“Violet!”

With one sharp word, filled to brims with authority that made even me flinch, father instantly regained control over the situation. I hesitantly peeked from behind my defensive barrier and saw that both of my sisters were heavily affected. Well, in Violet’s case, she still managed to sit down and was continuously sending me a clear message ‘I will turn you into cinders later’, but in Viktoria’s… she was frozen solid.

Father almost never raised his voice, this was the first time I saw him doing it when my twin was present and it had a terrifying effect. She sat in a perfectly straight position, with both hands on her knees, looking blankly straight ahead. Her protuberant chest stayed almost motionless as she didn’t even dare to breathe too deeply. She was like a robot, even more perfectly mechanized than one of her zombie maids.

I always knew that father was trying to tie Viktoria to himself, but seeing her with all those invisible chains wrapped all around as if she was the mythical Prometheus chained to a rock, made me truly realize how dire was her situation.

“Viki, calm down. It’s not your fault.”

Gregory said calmly to her and broke the petrification spell. She was released from its grasp, resumed her normal functionality and tried to put on a very forced small smile. I wasn’t in a perfect condition myself, all sweaty and mentally exhausted after the prolonged state of tension and stress, but there was still a tiny bit of me left that pitied her a little.

She didn’t react to father’s voice so strongly back then in my flat.

“Victor, the interesting experience you’ve provided us with is indeed something that should have been kept hidden to respect our Violet’s pride and dignity, I hope that my new twins will resolve this minor conflict peacefully without burning anything or anyone. Do you agree with me Violet, Victor?”

“Yes…”

“Yes, of course, I will beg for forgiveness with all my power.”

“Eye opening indeed.”

Nero shut up, don’t add olive to the fire!

Gregory stood up and moved behind the rostrum. He made a small hand gesture at one of the empty chairs, giving me to understand that my time to talk was over and to hurrying me up to take a seat. I picked the rightmost chair of the second row, away from the shaken Viktoria and fuming Violet. The closest one to me was the sleeping Vincent.

How come that among us four I’m the one who barely kept his cool for the longest time? Something really strange is going on here.

"I really liked your attempt at thinking out of the box and providing yourself with as many options as you could think of so I will keep it simple. In exchange for using our family power and for almost everything else you've done and made me do, like backing you up with the temporary whitelist, you will only pay with the rest of the funding that you were going to receive. Victor, from this point onwards your financial situation is completely up to you."

I really wanted to try going to school instead of looking for a job... not that I'm going to voice any complaints about this.

“But there are some matters remaining.”

“What matters?”

“Like your deal with Viktoria about the weekly message, it is being enforced by law and has to be kept. Give her your new phone number.”

My twin was the one who reacted first, she came to me with a tiny warm smile and started inputting the number I dictated while at the same time she tried to tousle my hair gently, but I dodged her every attempt. I couldn’t allow myself to forget about all the needles kept in her pockets. Her smiling expression was switched with a sad one that looked surprisingly genuine, I wasn’t sure… but on her way back she might have been still shaking a little and did her best to restrain it.

She has managed to fool me twice with this approach in the past and I need to remember what she did to me in the flat. But damn, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

“That topic about the changes in your true self. Isn’t that just growing up? No one ever remains the same. Shapeshifting is a part of your power and you need to embrace the cost attached to it. As for the fake memories you have, just treat them as an additional source of experience. Judging from what you’ve shown us they may be affecting you in quite a positive way. Also, I’m really glad that you’ve resolved the problem with Rora Toril by yourself. But, like I’ve said to Violet, please remember that turning to me for help is always a valid option.”

Hearing those words was like a godsend revelation, filling me to brims with relief and happiness. This was exactly what I wanted to hear and didn’t care much if Gregory had noticed my attempt to redirect that key-phrase to Violet as long as he was willing to let it go.

“But, that screaming phone locked in the box you have. I could swear I last saw it in the hands of the old man Sun. You didn’t steal it from a grave, did you? It would be a big problem if my daughter turned out to be a graverobber. A really stupid one who robs from the very president of The Endless Travel corporation.”

That was no godsend revelation but the sign of an incoming armageddon.

“He… hehe… it’s never easy is it?”

I smoothed out the ruby circle skirt, corrected the delicate kneesocks and made some adjustments to the white shirt and pink cardigan. Keeping my ‘good girl’ armor in the perfect condition required a lot of attention to details, but allowed me to calm down.

“Actually, there are two very easy ways to resolve it. One, give it back. Two, keep it.”

Father mimicked my moves, smoothed out his black suit and corrected the red necktie.

Image’s important while fighting the information war.

“What’s the price of the second one?”

“Nero.”

While the three of us were talking, both Violet and Viktoria stayed silent, each due to her respective reasons, but it was obvious that they shared a common feature of not being in the mood to actively participate in our discussion.

“Working for TET. Sun’s my old friend, he won’t mind you keeping the phone. You know how to use it?”

“Yeah, more or less. Can you tell me more about this job?”

“Of course, it will revolve around using your esper powers in our research and other projects. The working hours are uncertain, but for sure you will have to come every Saturday for training. There is a minimum weekly pay of 1000$ but there may be additional bonuses included, everything depends on your performance. I cannot disclose too many details, but you will be working in a fast-paced environment. We may require some flexibility and ability to work in a team as those are essential. We highly value attention to details, cheerfulness and working with a get-it-done attitude.”

Nero read this from his memo pad while tapping with the tip of his ashen walking stick on the floor to accordingly accent each point. I had enough job seeking experience from my previous life to turn on the automatic job jargon translation.

Research and other projects - everything we think you can be useful at, cleaning floors and making coffee included.

The working hours are uncertain - be ready to answer phones and come to work in the middle of the night, on Sundays and holidays and at every other time.

Additional bonuses depending on your performance - if you work your ass off we may pat you on the back and say ‘good work’, maybe even give you a company’s mug.

I cannot disclose too many details - illegal or dangerous, possibly both.

Fast-paced environment - tight deadlines, lots of pressure.

We may require some flexibility and ability to work in a team as those are essential - be ready to do really strange stuff, listen to your leader and execute his orders without undermining his authority. Essential means, that this is a critical factor.

We highly value attention to details - no stupid mistakes, typos, it would be best to have the attitude of ‘better ask a stupid question then do it wrong’.

Cheerfulness and working with get-it-done attitude - no whining, no complains, be prepared for suffering.

However, with a pay of 1000$ per week, this was the best job offer I ever received and putting my esper powers to work might be fun. For sure it was way better than being a manual worker. Furthermore, the incoming financial crash was right behind the corner.

“I agree.”

“Good, come visit us at The Checker at 10 AM this Saturday, you will complete your registration while at it.”

I nodded. If this was connected with working directly under father then I would have rejected it with all my might, but despite tricking me once, when no flowers were involved, Nero seemed to be a good guy. Well, at least when compared to Gregory.

“Can I work there as well?”

Vio?

“Well, each willing esper is precious, what do you say Greg?”

“It’s her own decision.”

“Then I want to work there as well.”

“Come with your shapeshifting sibling together.”

Violet nodded with an expression saying ‘I will try not to break ALL of his limbs until then… well, he can still somehow crawl, right?’, or at least that was how I understood her gaze. Despite that, it seemed that she had cooled down somewhat and her redness level dropped to a non-blinding degree. I hoped that if I allowed her to take it out on me once, it would end quickly like our other arguments.

She may beat me to a bloody pulp, but thank the heavens she doesn’t know that showing this memory was my conscious choice. Though I really need to sincerely talk with her alone.

“And don’t forget to come this Sunday for the dinner.”

I looked at father surprised, Vio wasn’t better, we both thought that us being here today was enough.

“Those matters are separate, our deal from back then, when you took Violet into your flat, still stands. A family dinner every Sunday. She can’t drop out from school, keep an eye on her so she won’t burn it down either. On the other hand, I would love to see you in this form being called to the school to act as her guardian. Lastly, the point about me supervising any future serious conflict between the four of you can be enforced at any time, just let me know. Viki, your turn. Do you need some time to prepare? Want to say something? Or can you proceed with telling me if there’s anything you don’t want me to know about?”

My twin quickly collected herself and shook off the gloomy vibe.

I was incredibly curious what she was going to show us, but at the same time, doubted if there was anything important she wouldn’t want father to know.

“Father, the thing I don’t want you to know about is…”

And I was right. The vague scene she had shown us was about how she tried to organize our parent's wedding anniversary - which was next month. However, this experience was distant and lost clarity time after time as if Nero's power was struggling heavily with replaying it. The subsequent scenes and situations were merged with each other and blurred considerably. Only the most obvious and recognizable points were transmitted - she picked the decorations, bought presents, prepared invitations, ordered a cake, everything with a bright smile on her face.

On the surface, it looked sickeningly sweet and fakely heartwarming, but I couldn't understand even a word from her inner thoughts as if they were encrypted.

Her emotions… those as well were near impossible to get a grasp on.

And yet, underneath all that gibberish was something more, something so strangely familiar and filled with resignation - a feeling I never wanted to experience for the second time.

It resonated so strongly with the core of my soul that it involuntarily caused tears to flow down my cheeks and forced to say:

“Viki, just how many times have you tried to kill yourself?”