Chapter 41: Indecent Proposals

The first fifteen minutes with Damian were a whirlwind, riding along with him in an expensive limousine into the city. Thankfully, the women he used as accessories didn't try to engage with Rick in any way. Damian was perfectly on point as a vapid and self-absorbed Birthrighter. Given his salary with the GLA, he could likely do so even more effectively.

Eventually, however, they ended up in a restaurant. Rick felt a flicker of worry about the price, though he suspected that Damian would cover it. The restaurant looked far too prestigious for them, but Damian showed his GLA identification and they were escorted to a private room.

"Okay, girls, we need to do a bit of business now." Damian kissed one of the women on the cheek and gestured to a booth just outside the room. "Get whatever you want, on me."

They laughed and moved away, leaving Rick watching them in irritation. He didn't like Damian treating them that way when they just wanted to compete in their bikini contest, yet he couldn't deny that part of him wanted to look for different reasons. Though he'd been consumed by training for a long time, he was still human.

Still smiling lazily, Damian reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a small black device. It emitted some sort of aura field that surrounded the table, the sounds from the restaurant immediately falling away to nothing. Damian's smile dropped away as well, and he removed his mirrored sunglasses to reveal hard eyes.

"There, now we have our privacy. I also have a good reason to be here for business and personal alibis, so if you're going to suggest something stupid, it won't blow back on me." Damian regarded him seriously. "So, are you going to suggest something stupid?"

"Uh, I hope not. I was just going to suggest wrecking the world economy."

Damian rolled his eyes. "I regret ever telling you anything."

"How has that gone, by the way?" Rick asked. "You seem to have done a good job convincing everyone in the GLA that you're no one to be concerned about."

"What I want is for them to believe I buy into the whole system. I'm not advancing as fast as I'd hoped, but I'm making progress. It's all about seeing how the system works together."

"I'm sure that it is."

"Cut the bullshit." Damian abruptly sat forward, eyes moving directly to Katenka's tattoo, even though it was covered by Rick's sleeve. "What demon are you bringing into this? I didn't think you the type for a partial fusion, so you have to admit this is suspicious. If you've been forced into the meeting, you need to tell me now, so I can sever the b-"

"Calm down." Rick glanced to the side and found Katenka manifested there, regarding Damian coolly. More coolly than normal. "I chose to get this and Katenka is... my partner, I guess. I couldn't have developed this bond proposal without her."

All at once Damian's tension faded and he instead fixed Rick with a smirk. "Partner, is it? Not a very good choice, considering that you can't really touch each other."

Though Damian's concern had been valid, Rick wasn't really in the mood for any more games. "Do you want to hear about it or not, Damian? I couldn't give you all the details because I assumed the message might be read, but this is important. Maybe not to you, but it matters to me."

"If we're going to have this conversation, we all need to be able to talk to each other. Take this." Damian removed a small box from his suit jacket and pushed it across the table. Inside lay a single black flake that instantly struck Rick as reminiscent of the ground in the demon realm. "Eat that and you'll be able to manifest her visually. I hope this is worth the expense."

Rick carefully picked up the flake, feeling lucrim throbbing against his fingertips. He saw Katenka give him a nod, so he stuck it into his mouth and swallowed.

Searing power shot through him, but he couldn't grasp any of it. His instincts were to try to fold it into himself or to improve the Triune Golden Spheres, but the lucrim slipped from his fingers. Instead they flooded down his throat and into his right arm, soon concentrating on the tattoo so that he could feel every line. It was so cold that he felt his arm should freeze off, yet there was no pain.

Something shimmered over Katenka. She looked no different to him, but Damian's gaze shifted to look at her the way no one else ever had. His eyebrows rose. "A Siberian rusalka? That's not exactly what I expected."

"Rick has told me about you," Katenka said calmly. "I heard you intend to replace the world economy with a hellscape ruled by warlords."

Damian raised an eyebrow. "Just what have you been telling her?" Before Rick could answer, Katenka continued sharply.

"He was more positive, but I have my own opinion of your plans to break capitalism."

"I'm not about to debate economics with you. Either of you. If you want my help, you need to tell me exactly what kind of bond you have in mind."

Though they hadn't planned a formal pitch, they'd discussed the bond idea enough between themselves that it came easily. Rick started with his experience with the Golden Lucore, Katenka took over to explain the appeal of small bonds to demons, and they traded off talking about the new structure.

Putting it all together and explaining it aloud to another person, Rick was actually a bit surprised. It sounded impressive to him, and beyond that, it sounded like something far too complex for him to have ever figured out. Even if Katenka had done much of the contract and bond structure work, he would have had a hard time imagining being part of something like this.

Damian listened the entire time without the slightest flicker of emotion crossing his face. When they finished he remained silent, but Rick played the same game and waited. Eventually Damian sat back in his seat and sighed.

"Your idea is sound. You'd need some input from a lucrim engineer and more testing, but I think it would work."

"Really?" Rick knew he sounded over-eager, but he was honestly just glad to hear it. "Do you think the political side would work out? Would the GLA disapprove?"

"They wouldn't, and that's the problem. This doesn't really move the needle." Damian slowly shook his head, playing with the glass of wine he had yet to drink. "Even if your bond idea was wildly successful, it will only help a few people. Poor people, yes. But it will only keep propping up the system by making their lives a little more bearable, when what they need to do is overthrow it."

"I am sure," Katenka said precisely, "that all those waiting on your grand change are happy to apply the same logic."

"I didn't say that I rejected it completely. I absolutely can't help you myself, of course, as even this idea is too revolutionary for the persona I need to portray. But I can give you the contact information for several people in sub-organizations of the GLA. Check your spam folder over the next few days and you'll find some people who can help the bond get finished and approved."

Suddenly Rick's mind was racing with the possibilities. If the idea wouldn't work, Damian would definitely have shot him down, so this was actual validation instead of wishful thinking. They'd still need to work out the details, but then they could go to Bftgage and Ythsil with the new bonds. It might start with just a few, but people like him would have less terrible ways to improve their lives.

The silence stretched as it became clear that their business was done. Eventually Rick raised an eyebrow at Damian. "Did you really come across the world just to grope a few models and have a brief conversation with us?"

"Well, you know how much our deep, life-long friendship means to me." Damian smirked at him and finally took a drink. "No, I've been wanting an excuse to investigate South America anyway. It's a curious situation... Brazil is the modern world power that attracts all the attention, but the remnants of the Incan Empire have many old secrets. So I'll be quite busy and we probably won't be able to meet again."

"I guess we should do as much chumming around as possible now, then."

"Hah. This needs to last a little longer to seem like a business meeting, plus you don't want your demon visible to everyone, but I'm not much for small talk. Anything else?"

Rick glanced over to Katenka, but she shook her head almost imperceptibly. What they really needed was Damian's contact info, which wouldn't come until later, so he decided to take a different approach. "What do you actually do at the Global Lucrim Authority? I assume they don't let a junior employee broker agreements between nations, so is it lucrim anomalies all the time?"

"There's much less of that than you'd expect. There are lucrim fall simulations and a great deal of math, but the GLA gets qualified PhDs to handle that sort of thing." Damian waved a hand idly. "Part of the job is interacting with national and corporate leaders, and I'm taking that role. But there's more blue sky research than you'd expect. Not just looking into harvesting lucrim, but studying lucrim itself."

"Huh. I would have thought it was pretty well understood by now."

"You might think so, but some aspects of it remain mysterious. For example, there was a group of three immortals that used their endless wealth to build a rocket and take themselves out to Jupiter. They figured they could cut the GLA out of the equation that way and absorb even more lucrim than on Earth."

"And... it didn't work? I assume not, or we'd have heard about it."

"It was strange." Damian looked uncharacteristically troubled for a time. "One lucrim should be one lucrim, no matter where you go. But though those immortals were extremely experienced, one of them died during his training and the other two... they were stronger, but their Lucores were disrupted. They came back to Earth and didn't leave again."

Rick considered that for a moment, not sure what to make of it. "Maybe you don't know the reasons, but how does it work? The further away you get from Earth, the worse it gets?"

"We're not sure, because it's difficult to measure. There was actually an attempt to send several GLA employees out beyond the solar system several generations ago. They simply never came back. Honestly, I think that's for the best, because if the lucrim out there is really so exotic, I don't want to know what it would do to a person."

They discussed some more of Damian's work for a while longer, which gradually turned into Damian taking the opportunity to complain about how much he hated his coworkers. Eventually Katenka began to fade, still clearly visible to his eyes but somehow less solid. Once she was nearly entirely gone, the meeting was clearly over.

"I need to stay here, but I'll get you a car back to your hotel." Damian paused, then gave him a real smile for once. "And I was too hard on you earlier. This bond thing... it won't change the world, but it will help a few people. You've done good, Rick."

He wasn't sure how to respond to that. Then Damian slipped his mirrored sunglasses back on, called for the bikini models, and the real Damian was gone.

They were silent as they left the restaurant, and in the limousine they only discussed the next steps regarding their demonic bond idea. Yet he could tell that something else was on Katenka's mind. When they were finally back in their building and alone, she spoke quietly.

"That man... he has more demonic connections than he lets on. Not bonds, but... I can't put my finger on it, but I'm sure."

"When he was in Branton, he was up to something in the demon realm." Rick could only shrug. "I don't know what it was and I think it would probably be healthier not to get involved."

"Possibly so. But for now, I think it was good that you called him. His contacts could be the breakthrough we need."

After the tense meeting with Damian, a day of training felt both dull and relaxing. After sparring with H one more time, Rick was sent over to the medical wing for one more checkup. They took a few blood and skin samples, and while he waited he looked over his portfolio.

[Name: Rick Hunter

Ether Tier: 10th

Ether Score: 545

Lucrim Generation: 95,050

Enhanced Generation: 243,450

Current Lucrim: 8,700]

[Rick Hunter's Lucrima Portfolio

Foundation: 3800 (Lv VI)

Dark Blood Kettle: 19,400 (Lv IV)

Triune Golden Spheres: 148,400

- Defensive Sphere: 52,250

- Absorption Sphere: 46,300

- Sensory Sphere: 49,850

Offensive Lucore: 14,900 (Lv IX)

Defensive Lucore: 40,400 (Lv XII)

Bunyan's Step: 16,550 (Lv IX)

Demonic Fusion (Katenka): 33,000 (Stage I)

Graham's Stake: 43,350 (Lv IV)

Economic Bond (Bftgage & Ythsil): 2200 (Stage II)

Total Lucrim: 173,100

Enhanced Total: 321,500]

The improvements in raw numerical strength were nothing shocking, but he was glad to see that his defensive core had finally increased its Level classification. After being stuck at IX for so long, he had exploded up to XII. His Lucore might not contain more raw power, but his new skin must offer a significant boost in efficiency. Hopefully that was one more advantage Birthrighters had over him eliminated.

Abril walked into the room with her tablet and a polite smile. "You have a completely clean bill of health, Rick. There's no need for any more checkups: your new skin has completely settled and your new blood is stable. You can train as normal and enjoy the benefits."

"Thanks for all your work." Rick smiled back at her. "So is that it for us?"

"You are no longer my patient in any way, shape, or form." Abril's smile broadened to something real. "Which means that it would no longer be unethical to ask you this: do you want to hook up sometime?"

"Uh..." Rick stared at her in shock, trying to figure out if she could possibly have said what he thought she just did. She was smiling in amusement, but he didn't think she was mocking him.

"I don't mean anything long term, but I need something to take me away from work and I think you do too. Really, I'm serious. I've worked on a lot of fighters with nice bodies, but they're idiots. I like that you can laugh at yourself."

"That's, uh, flattering, I just really didn't expect it..." Yet Rick found that he was now thinking of nothing else. It was true that he didn't know Abril very well, but she wasn't asking him to marry her. Based on the glimpses of her he'd seen when she wasn't being polite, he thought that she'd be fun. And though her clothes were baggy, there was no question that underneath...

"Absolutely not!" H stormed into the room as if he had somehow sensed Rick about to get lucky, grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out. "My trainees are off limits, Abril. Under no circumstances will I allow this."

Sighing, Abril threw up her hands and turned away. As Rick was pulled from the room, he realized that his chance was definitely gone. He swatted H's hand off his arm and glowered at him. "Really?"

"Yes, really." H regarded him with a flat gaze. "I've seen how you interact with the people in your life. You'd just fall into the relationship, then invest too much into it. I'd turn around and then you'd be running off or starting a blood feud or something worse."

"Oh, come on."

"No. If you insist upon having sexual desires, prostitutes can be hired. They're less likely to carry diseases, if properly curated, and more efficient in terms of time wasted."

Time efficiency and careful curation: potent aphrodisiacs indeed. Giving up on the idea, Rick rubbed his eyes and looked away from his mentor. "Fine, message received. Just go away and let me train."

"That's all I wanted to hear."