How to avoid something you don’t like? Offer something worse.

“Mana, good to hear from you. After some deliberation, we’ve decided you will be moving to Kaiba’s employee dormitory until we settle the issue with the raider attack and the expo next week. I need you to pack your personal things by today.”

The likelihood my boss is serious about this is 100%. I can probably surmise why given that grandpa mentioned regrets during our discussion. Did he purposefully leave this to the manager to handle with me or did he forget because of that prick Takeo? Well, it doesn’t change what I must do.

“Ma’am, I probably understand why, but may you share the reason for the decision?” I need to buy myself time to figure out how to get what I want. Knowing the reason behind the decision allows me to have time

“Hah? Did it not sink into that thick skull of yours you could have been killed yesterday? Yes, you lucked out, but that doesn’t mean next time you will be so lucky.” My manager looks frustrated having to explain what should be common sense.

“I understand and I definitely wouldn’t want to experience yesterday’s situation again, but there is a development that occurred that I feel would change-”

“Did you suddenly awaken magic powers? Because outside of that, I don’t see what could cause the decision made after careful consideration of reviewing the report and all prior incidents change.” She looks at me with such an agitated look.

I don’t blame her for her disposition. Given this situation forced a group of people to deliberate on what to do about me, suddenly changing the decision on a whim would be difficult for her. I look her in the eye, and steel myself

“No, something more serious than that.” I try and keep a straight face, but her intimidating look gets to me.

“Well, out with it. Don’t waste more time than necessary.”

“The creature that intervened, the one I reported about...is in my house.”

“WHAT? WHY WOULD YOU WITHHOLD THAT INFORMATION? DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY MANHOURS WE WASTED SEARCHING FOR IT AND HERE YOU ARE KEEPING IT FROM US? ” The rage-laced words make me shudder for a moment but I take a deep breath.

“Please hear me out. The creature showed up in the middle of the night to my residence. I have no idea why or how it even knew of my residence when there are a couple thousand residents in Settlement 24. However, my brother suspects it may be due to it having kissed me. But before you react, nothing has happened as far as I can tell. I’d like to ask that you allow me until EoD to research it so we can bring it in to Kaiba Corporation.”

For the brief few seconds, the stare of my boss’s eyes appears to be looking through me.

“Is this some kind of joke? What kind of research would you even conduct that we couldn’t conduct here in Kaiba Corporation? I’d have an easier time believing your proposal if you told me you wanted to try and sneak away with it.” She lets out a sigh.

“I assure you this is no joke. I would do a behavioral analysis to make sure the team charged with subjugation could bring in the creature with minimal collateral damage.”

“You aren’t a psychologist. Nor a zoologist. You aren’t even a Bestiatros. In what world does it make sense to leave it to an analyst to monitor a creature over sending in a specialized team that could actually subjugate it?” The accompanying look of shock from her reinforces how silly my proposal must have sounded to her. Still I can’t back down.

“I understand your point ma’am and if this were an ordinary beast, I would concur, but unless you send at least 5 fusion warrior and a support team, the likelihood of capture will be low. Not to mention, the damage to Settlement24, which supplies half the total food supply of the entire compound, could be irreparably damaged. With the big expo next week, that could jeopardize feasibility to make the conference happen without emergency measures. And there is a chance the creature could escape even with that force to contend with.”

It seems my last statement had some effect. Replacing the look as if I were some kind of clown is one of genuine thought. “I get the creature is powerful having fought off single handedly a fusion warrior who attacked you yesterday, but why do you assume it would take such a force to subjugate it? 5 fusion warriors for a 1 fusion equivalent creature seems like overkill.”

“5 may be indeed be overkill, but considering the creature was initially injured before it fought yesterday, and its natural magic diffusion capability, in addition to its estimated parameters, its better to err on the side of caution. However, I believe if you allow me to analyze it’s behaviors and reactions, we might be able to subjugate it with fewer agents, and possibly without incident. Please, isn’t that worth a little time to gather actionable intelligence with a little recon?” I clasp my hands together in an effort to plead with her.

She puts her hand to her chin. “I can’t deny your proposal has its merits. Indeed, if we cause irreparable damage and that monster manages to get away, all the settlements would lose confidence in us. Not to mention it would reflect poorly on our ability to deal with situations right before the expo would spread among our clients and competitors alike.” She releases her hand, sighs and stares at me. “Very well. I assume your brother will be helping you. However, I will have a tracker to observe the situation. If they decide to intervene, we’re moving in to bring in the creature, do you understand me?”

I straighten up. “Yes ma’am. Thank you ma’am for giving me a chance. I’ll make sure not to let you down.” I shake my head vigorously. “I trust this means the move is temporarily on hold?” I clasp my hands and close my eyes awaiting to hear the news.

She lets out a sigh. “Yes, it will be postponed until after we bring in the creature since this is of far greater priority.” Her look sharpens and she gives me a stern look “But...if I find out you intentionally withheld information to conveniently get out of this, you can expect you won’t be working in Kaiba Corp. I don’t care if you are the professor’s favorite.” The steely look in her eyes, even if it is just a projection, sends a shiver down my spine.

“No ma’am, I wouldn’t dream of deceiving you. Mahad can attest to my claim-”

“I’d like to believe you, but you did lie about your colleague Ken having feelings about me.” She lets out a huff of disgust.

Shit. I did lie about that in order to avoid getting in trouble yesterday and now I’m getting my just desserts. I guess honesty is the best policy. But is she honestly depressed about that? I know Ken is popular, but to think our boss actually has feelings for him.

“I-I’m sorry ma’am. He-He was hitting on me...and I just wanted to get him to stop. The way I went about it was wrong and I hope you can forgive me for that.”

“If he was harassing you, you can report him. We could even reassign him to a different team. Originally we paired you together due to your history, but if that is a problem, we can reconsider.”

“Uh, tha-that won’t be necessary. I’ll set him straight the next time.”

“Alright, see that you do. Can you present your ID as close to the terminal screen as possible?”

“I can, hold on a second.” I reach into my suit and take out my employee ID. I bring the area with my name engraved to the hole over the terminal’s projector.”

[Error, data transmission failed. The ID data chip is damaged]

“That’s inconvenient” says the manager as she bites her thumb.

“Can you provide me with an analyzer and a restraint collar? I can have the delivery bring back my ID to HQ so you can get the data on it.”

“An analyzer I can understand, but I’m hesitant on the restraint collar since you aren’t trained on using it.”

“I’d like to see how it reacts to something negative since the eventual confrontation will provoke it. If it goes wrong, I should be able to pacify it before it gets out of hand. If it works, this will make bringing the creature in much easier. Of course, to compromise, since you are sending a tracker, I would ask you to let them get in contact with me and allow them to decide if we should try this approach.”

“It’s true the security force will probably try the collar and if you can somehow get the collar on it, it is our best approach without incident. I will approve this request. However, this is still at the discretion of the agent who will monitor how you handle the situation. The analyzer is already on its way to your residence.”

“I understand. Thank you for putting up with me.”

“Don’t make me regret my decision Mana Viotto.”

The projection of my manager disappears and the sphere goes back to a metallic luster.

I let out a deep sigh and collapse to the floor. That was hard. How was an asshole like Takeo no problem but talking with my boss drained me? Did I exhaust all my resolve on him?
“Fucking Takeo, I’ll definitely make sure I’m a researcher you’ll be begging to have on your side. And then I’m going to say fuck you and work under another compound. Shit, if wasn’t already paying for this house…” I take a deep breath to calm down.

“SIS, I COULD USE YOUR HELP HERE IF YOU ARE DONE”. Mahad’s panicked ask for help gets me off my ass and I run downstairs.

I hear a roar followed by a crash downstairs.

When I get down, I see ‘Beast’ growling with fangs beared at Mahad who is pinned under him. Mahad's arms are struggling to keep ‘Beast’ from biting his head off. Did I just make the biggest mistake of my life?