Blurring The
Lines
Part
Two: Mick
sat with his picked apart muffin, cold coffee, and small mountain of paperwork
for a good ten minutes after Alec Orwick had left. The Ranvier Corporation owned
most of the city in one way or another and it was controlled by it’s iron
willed CEO totally. Everything he’d ever heard about Luke Henri Ranvier made
it clear he wasn’t a man to cross but little was said about his son. Mick
never followed gossip but Andy and Samson did and the only things other than the
man’s parentage that Mick knew was that his father was ferociously protective
of him. The opportunity to work for the family that had, debatably, more power
than the government was tremendous. It wasn’t an offer to take lightly and the
answer to accept or refuse would lie in the stack of legal papers before him. “Want
me to heat that up for you?” Jinny asked, she was close enough that it made
Mick jump slightly. He’d been so lost in thought that he hadn’t heard her
approach. “Thanks,
and Jinny, can I borrow a pen and some paper?” “Of
course love.” The twenty dollar bill disappeared as she gathered up the cold
cups of coffee. At
ten of ten, Alec’s phone range. “Yes?” “I’m
in, at least for the thirty days.” A
thousand pound weight suddenly felt removed from Alec’s shoulders. “Good,
from what I saw of your car you’re already packed up. Do you know how to reach
Darsell Plaza?” “Of
course.” “Use
the East Hansel Street entrance to the parking garage, the attendant will be
expecting you.” “Okay.” “And,
Mr. McKale, thank you for agreeing.” Alec only half listened to the automatic
‘you’re welcome’ Mick mumbled out before hanging up. His attention had
been drawn to the slight sign of movement near his open office door. He hung the
phone up and turned back to the papers on his desk. “It‘s taken care of.” “Wonderful.”
The less than enthusiastic reply came from the edge of the doorway. There was a
rustle of fabric but by the time Alec glanced up all that he could see of his
employer was a swish of long black hair. Alec
grinned to himself, quite pleased and returned to the morning reports. Darsell
Plaza was considered by most in the city as a sign of hope for the future and a
symbol of the chaos of the past. One of the makers of the virus that so ravaged
the world was Darsel Pharmaceuticals and anything bearing the name quickly
became a target. It didn’t matter that the Plaza that so closely shared names
was owned by a former transportation baron and hadn’t been anything more than
apartments and office space for decades, the building had been stormed. The
old news footage had captured a very medieval mob scene. Angry people, many of
them ill, burning and looting as they went, striking out at the only symbol they
could find. They hadn’t managed to tear the building down, but they did manage
to damage it beyond easy repair. And so it sat, empty, hollow, like the city
around it, as the years slipped away. Mick
had been a small child when the Containment Camp that had been established on
the outskirts of their town had been opened up. It was Ranvier Industries that
had won the contracts to privatize so many of the Camp’s day to day functions.
That hadn’t surprised anyone, what had was when Luke Henri Ranvier had moved
his corporate headquarters to their small city. It
had brought a fresh influx of money and jobs, not enough to fully reverse the
effects of the depression that had lingered since the plague years, but enough
to really brighten things. Things were still too costly, money was still too
tight, but there was money now and people were buying things again. Jobs were
scarce but there were jobs to be found. When
Ranvier had purchased the barren Darsell Plaza in the downtown district people
had laughed. When he tore it down a disconnected sense of cleansing swept the
city. Mick had been six when they’d broken ground to re-build. He was almost
twelve when they’d finished. It was the tallest building in the city, not a
huge boast given Darsell only had forty stories but it still dominated the sky
line. Modern, secure, it was reborn clean and fresh, a physical promise to the
better days Ranvier Industries were slowing bringing about. Than,
Luke Henri Ranvier had announced the buildings name would remain the same. A
small museum and gift shop was opened in the lobby documenting the original
buildings destruction. As he so often did, Ranvier had soothed and comforted
with one hand while slapping in a harsh reminder and forced responsibility with
the other. The community accepted it but they didn’t like it. To make matters
worse, the building was kept private. Several of the apartments were occupied by
high ranking Ranvier employees but none of the office space was directly used by
Ranvier Industries, as if he‘d been afraid to trust his company to the city‘s
unstable temper. It
was a building that represented a world that Mick didn’t belong in. He’d
watched it be torn down and recreated, a massive mirror for the city around him
but he was outside both changes. Never did he imagine he’d be visiting Darsell,
let alone planning to move in.
The attendant at the parking garage directed him to the private section and Mick
rolled past him. He followed the unmarked directions to a second series of
gates, this time not secured with an attendant but rather with locked keypads
and cameras watching everything. The gate swung open at his approach, confirming
that someone, somewhere was actually paying attention. The
cars inside the secured parking region were far nicer than the old heap Mick had
but the section he’d been directed to was oddly deserted. A nice, well
maintained motorcycle sat by itself in one the spaces. Built into the wall was a
locked door that Mick was willing to bet had a nice set of tools behind it. A
single, non descript, black car sat in another space, the kind of car that came
with a driver. Neither bike nor car looked like they received much use but both
looked well maintained. Near
by was an elevator and standing in front of it was Alec Orwick and a half dozen
men in work clothes. Mick pulled into one of the spaces close to them and shut
the car off. He gathered the legal papers from the seat beside him before he
popped the car door open. “Mr.
McKale, I’m pleased to see you again. If you don’t mind, these gentleman
will take your boxes upstairs. I’ll see to it that by this afternoon you have
access codes for the gates, locks and elevators.” Alec couldn’t help
grinning, and he offered his hand in welcome. Mick
glanced at the car where the workmen were quickly loading the numerous boxes
onto hand carts. It made his belongings look small and few. “It’s Mick, no
one calls me anything but Mick.” He accepted the hand. “I figured the thirty
days couldn’t do any harm and I’ve time on my hands. Your papers.” Alec
accepted them and led them to the elevator, the workmen obviously were lingering
to not take the same elevator up with them. “Fine, Mick it is, than please,
call me Alec. Let me show you your rooms and than we’ll see if we can find
Toshi-san to introduce you.” Alec
glanced over the papers once the doors of the elevator shut. “I’m surprised
you called so soon. I would have thought you’d have wanted a lawyer to review
these.” “What
I had questions on I ran past my brother.” “Your
brother’s a lawyer?” Mick
nodded. “Two of my sisters and one of my brothers. I‘m surprised you didn‘t
see that in your check of me.” “Well,
your family is extensive. If I’d followed up on every member I’d still be
researching.” “True.
Some times even I forget what they all do.” “Another
advantage to being an only child.” Alec’s grin widened and the doors opened
saving Mick from replying. Alec
stepped out and held the door. “This is the private entrance to our floor.”
He pointed down the hallway. “That’s my apartment door and over here is
yours. I almost never come in this way.” There wasn’t a lock but a keypad
and he quickly moved to tap in the code. The door clicked and opened. Inside he
flipped on the lights and stepped aside. “It’s furnished but you have a
redecoration budget if you’d like to change it. Just let me know, anything you
want tossed in storage can be easily removed.” Mick
walked into a living room that opened directly to a kitchen. The single room was
larger than half of the apartment he’d shared with two, sometimes three or
four others. The furniture was neutral, well made but with no personality. The
kitchen was cutting edge and functional. It was too much space for one person. “In
here,” Alec moved toward one of the two other doors in the large main room.
“Is the bedroom.” Mick
followed to a bedroom almost as large as the main room, set with a huge bed, a
closet bigger than a bedroom should have been and a small work station off to
the corner. “Bathroom’s
in here. Only real downside to these apartments is no windows, they’re
internal rooms but you really don’t notice it too much.” Mick
kept his mouth shut over the bathroom, set with separate shower from the soaking
bath tub, large mirror and counter. The entire apartment was finished in blues,
tans and gold, making it pleasant but impersonal. “Who
stayed here before?”
“No one, it was meant to be a guest quarters but it’s never been used.”
Alec hurried out to the main living room as the first of the handcarts of boxes
was arriving. “That door there leads to Mr. Ranvier’s main living space.
Come on, I’ll show you around.” Mick
paused, uncertain about following. “I should wait, I’m not really dressed to
meet my new boss.” He’d forgotten the old clothes he’d been wearing until
the newness, the crispness of the apartment reminded him. “Nonsense.
Come on, let me show you around.” Alec
opened the door that lead to the main living area. “Most days my door stays
unlocked. There’s little worry of either Toshi-san or myself entering your
rooms without permission. This is the main living space.” Mick
followed into what would have been an up scale, if normal, living room. The
furniture had an extra touch of style that only items of expense carried but
other wise looked soft, comfortable and lived in. The large panel television
attached to one wall would have been impressive to most anyone else but Mick had
grown up around technology addicts and was used to seeing such things. There was
next to nothing personal about the space. No newspapers or magazines lay
scattered about the end tables, no photos hung on the wall, there were no
mementos sitting on the bookcases. The closest thing to personal were the dozens
of books that lined the shelves along the wall. The
space was split in two and like in his own rooms the kitchen opened directly to
the living space, an informal arrangement Mick was surprised to find repeated.
The kitchen seemed smaller than it should have been for the grandness of the
room, scaled down and again, informal. The
room was dominated by the outer wall. Floor to ceiling the wall was a sheet of
windows. Tinted but without blinds, they stood forty stories up and gazed out
over the city below them. It was an awesome sight and seemed out of place with
the casualness of the room it in cased. “Wait
until the sun goes down, the view is astounding.” Alec nodded to the windows
before pointing to a third door on the same wall as the one that held the
doorways to their apartments. “Toshi-san had that suite turned into a
mini-gym. It’s not extensive but it serves our needs. I talked him into a lap
pool last year. Door on the other side leads to Toshi-san’s rooms. Stairs
there lead down to the offices and public space.” Mick
followed Alec to the well disguised but oddly unadorned spiral stairwell. It
occurred to him that the entire collection of rooms had an almost minimalist
approach to things and the stairs continued the trend. Just styled enough to be
less than Spartan but a far cry from ornate. The
stairs turned them down to a repeat of the living space above. Only this time
the furnishings were classically elegant and far less comfortable. The colors
went from tans and soft earth tones to rich, deep blues and greens accented in
dark woods. Chairs and sofas clustered together in convenient conversational
groups, highlighting the still impressive view out the wall of windows. A formal
dining room with a large dark wood table so highly polished it shined sat behind
half closed French doors. “There’s
a second kitchen back behind the dining room. In theory this is where Toshi-san
does his formal entertaining. That’s Toshi-san’s office. My office is the
front half of his.” Alec pointed to the closed door. He’d left it open when
he’d gone down to meet Mick. “This here will be your office.” Alec
led them to the door closer to the one that lead out into the main hallway and
opened it. “Again, if you want to redecorate feel free. I took the liberty of
setting it up. We’ve been using it mostly for storage.” The
room wasn’t large but it was certainly more space then he needed. There was a
small round table off to one side with several generic office chairs around it.
A wide, dark wood desk was set so the person using it would face the door, file
cabinets were placed within easy reach. A tv screen was again mounted to the
wall and a computer workstation was set up. The colors and style reflected the
same general, classic rich tones and styles of the bottom floor. “It
should work fine. Thank you.”
“I’ve filed the mail we’ve received by date. I’m sure you’ll work out
your own system from there.” “How
does the mail work? Do you receive it all or is it sorted?”
“The building mail room sorts and scans for obvious threats. Than we receive
it in two stacks, those on the list of personal contacts and those not.” “I’d
like to receive the second stack directly.” “Of
course. I,” Alec had developed a sense of where his employer was. It was
almost essential with how quite Toshi moved around. “Well, looks like you’ll
get to meet sooner than later. Toshi-san?” He barely heard the suppressed sigh
and the quiet footsteps moving from office to kitchen froze. “Yes,
Alec?” Mick
turned surprised that anyone was behind them. His hearing was excellent but
there’d been nothing to give the other man away. He saw the man standing
between the offices and the dining room. In one hand he held a stone ware mug
obviously heading to find a refill of whatever had been inside, the other,
curled into a loose fist. Mick could see little of the man he’d now be
expected to keep alive expect a waist length curtain of black hair so glossy it
reflected the light. He quickly noted the simple dress pants and casual button
down shirt both finely made but the man’s feet were clothed in tabi socks. “Behave.”
Alec warned in a voice too soft for Mick to hear but knew Toshi would catch the
very softly whispered warning. “Mr. McKale, I’d like to introduce you to Mr.
Toshi Ranvier.“ It was a force of will not to grin and darken Toshi’s mood
further. His friend was so glum looking at having been caught slipping like a
thief for another mug of tea that he nearly laughed. “Toshi-san, this is Mr.
A.R. McKale, the security agent I spoke to you about.” Mick
kept his hands at his side and bowed to nearly thirty degrees. “Hajimemashite.” Toshi
found himself bowing back on instinct. Caught off guard and surprised, some of
his unhappiness at the entire situation was put on hold. “Ohayo gozaimasu. You
aren‘t Japanese.” “No,
my command of the language is limited too, sir.” Mick stood from his bow and
it was only from long exposure to the I/S community that kept any visible sign
of how startled he was from his face. Mick
wasn’t sure if he was expecting a half breed to simply look more human or less
but there was little doubt the I/S heritage was dominate in the man before him.
The eyes were far too large, nearly double the size of a standard humans and
they carried the extreme colors of an I/S. Toshi’s eyes were clear, sky blue,
nearly crystal and combined with the larger than human size it was the feature
that dominated his face. The shape had just the hint of an Asian form, coming to
a slight almond point and only accenting the color and size. His skin was golden
but several shades too light to be purely Asian. He was a handsome man, strong
featured and exotic. Not tall but neither short, Mick guessed they were of
similar heights. The
oddest thing was his hair. While it may have become trendy for many in the I/S
community to dye their hair in shades of dark brown and even black, their
eyelashes and eye brows still showed their natural colors. Toshi’s hair wasn’t
a dye job. The midnight black length of his hair matched his eyebrows and
eyelashes and was the only outward sign of his mixed blood. He was a stunning
man. Powerful, graceful and Mick found himself startled by the sheer presence of
the half breed. Mick was suddenly very grateful that he knew the other wore an
inhibitor so his very uneasy thoughts wouldn’t cloud the first impression he
presented. “Well,”
Toshi glanced from Alec to the far younger than he’d expected security
officer. “It was nice meeting you. Now, you’re fired, go away.” He caught
Alec’s harsh look as he turned away to continue to the kitchen for more tea.
The amusement he found in Alec’s reaction to his rebellion was almost going to
be worth the lecture it was sure to produce. “Don’t
listen to him, he can’t fire you.” Alec forced out when Toshi had cleared
the dining room and disappeared into the kitchen. He turned to face their new
recruit, expecting to find uncertainty, worry or even anger on his face but
found only the same unreadable distance the other man wore so easily. Mick
drew another slow, easy breath and deliberately forced himself to relax. “I
thought he was my employer.” “Well,
he is but I run his household. Technically, you work for me because other wise
we’d never be able to hire anyone. Toshi would fire them all on the spot. Why
don’t you go back upstairs and get settled in?” He forced the warm smile
back on his face and had little doubt the other man saw through it. “Sure.”
Mick wandered back to the stairs. “This is going to be fun.” He mumbled to
himself as he made his way out of sight. | 