Chapter 25.1: A New Assignment

Pacing an upper walkway of the Thaumacore complex, Skixx exhaled sharply, an attempt at blowing away the putrid stench of bog that filed his nostrils. It didn't work.

The warm stonework beneath Skixx’s bare feet and the sultry air pressing its moisture against his face were so close to perfect, he could almost enjoy this return to a familiar environment. Brisban wasn't home, of course, but it was closer than anything he'd experienced of late, if only it weren't for that horrible swamp. Seemingly every time he came to the cusp of satisfaction, the breeze swept in again from the south, wafting the noxious fumes of the Toxal Bog (that was literally what the locals called it) up the complex walls. He sneered, trying to ignore the odor that filed his nose. It was as if Kikka, that malfunctioning excuse for a krewe chief, had managed even to turn the landscape into an affront to him.

Skixx had come to Kikka two days prior. After half a season of pursuing a band of halfwits across the continent, Skixx had finally arrived at Thaumacore with those Alchemy-cursed jade shards. He made several requests to see Kikka, and when finally received, he'd presented her trophy and his request to join her krewe. Of course he followed that with both the carrot and the stick; if she was to both avoid losing his information and continue keeping her secrets from Inquest command, she would have to take him. She agreed begrudgingly, of course, but Skixx was fine with that. He was here to secure a place of greater importance for himself; he was not here to make friends with some self-obsessed overlord. One day, he would work for her respect, but at the moment her acquiescence was enough.

Today, though, standing alone on that walkway in the open air, he couldn't shake the sense that he might have neither.

Since their initial meeting those two days prior, Skixx hadn’t seen ear or toe of Kikka, not once. She clearly had no idea how important to her process he and his information really were. Instead of being brought into a sub-krewe and put to work weaponizing the power locked in those stones—as he was certain she was attempting to do—Skixx was left to aimlessly wander the grounds of the complex, constantly turned away from labs and engineering stations he was told he had no clearance for. That burned at him more than the stinging fumes off that disgusting bog.

Skixx felt the breeze kick up and brush past him. He coughed and scowled again, just catching the sound of footfalls approaching from behind him. By instinct, he snapped around to find Comakk.

Without so much as blinking, Kikka's dome-bald lackey strode toward him, stopping just beyond arm's reach. He stood, with a data tablet in hand, showing about as much emotion as a deactivated security golem. It was one of the few things Skixx could respect about him.

“Yes?” Skixx asked, crossing his arms indignantly. “Do you want something?”

Comakk held silent a moment longer. His eyes ran Skixx up and down assessingly, and he grimaced. “Mistress Kikka requires you.”

“Oh, does she?” Skixx snapped. He caught himself, though, and took a deep breath. Perhaps, he thought,  it was time to ingratiate himself with her after all. Maybe risking being at odds with her was not the best play right now. “Excelsior,” he said. “Where do I find her?”

“You don't,” Comakk said flatly. “You come with me. I take you to her.”

Skixx worked to keep the edge off his tone. He's spent far too long relating with the idiotic sylvari and his band of morons, just to find himself currying favor with this new one and his insulting krewe chief. But that didn't change the situation. “Fine,” he said, as calmly as he could. “Take me to Kikka.”

“Mistress Kikka.” Comakk set his jaw as the correction left his lips for the umpteenth time since Skixx’s arrival.

Skixx still didn't know how Kikka had gotten anyone on her krewe to take that honorific seriously. She wasn't the first asura to give herself an over-inflated title, but she may have been the first to get anyone else to use it. Skixx, however, wasn't here to pander to her self-aggrandizing whims—not completely anyway. It simply wasn't an asuran thing to do.

“Kikka,” he repeated, returning the same glare he received.

Comakk ground his teeth and turned, and the two short figures made their way along the level roofs of the many buildings that made up the research complex. The bright sun shone down on them, warming the machine-hewn stones beneath their feet and very nearly driving Skixx to roll up his sleeves. He had to leave them down, though. No, he wouldn't over-pander to Kikka, but it was important he look the part of a skilled addition to her team.

They passed only a few other asura who worked in the open-air chambers at the very top of the complex or performed maintenance on the plentiful automated defenses. Outwardly, Thaumacore was as much a fortress as it was a research facility. Most of the work done at this location transpired in the darkened interior, down on the first and second floors and below—or so Skixx concluded. He'd seen the primary research lab, a massive, cavelike chamber filled with workstations and scurrying technicians, but despite his best efforts, he hadn't yet seen much farther inside the complex. Up here, though, at the top of everything, there was much less scientific activity: more disputes and discussions than real, tangible work.

A shrill voice rose from the stone room atop the next building. “No!” it shrieked. “That is not satisfactory!” It was Kikka; even a building away, Skixx could tell it was Kikka.

Skixx and Comakk continued toward the now ranting cries. They crossed the final bridge and ascended the few stairs into the open chamber. It was cooler here, shaded from the sun, but the glassless windows that wrapped the full circumference of the space allowed enough of a warm crossbreeze as to make it comfortable.

Some fool was here with Kikka: a scrawny asura trying desperately to backpedal both out of his words and off the deck, but she wouldn't let him leave, grabbing his collar to force him stationary again. His narrow frame grew even more so as his shoulders fell defeatedly.

“I don't give a norn’s wit what pathetic pace another team is producing at,” she barked, putting a finger in his chest with her free hand. “And I care even less how ‘unruly’ the synthetic energy becomes at high output. Are you charr? Are you human? Do you need me to hold your hand to complete this project?”

The slender asura shook his head quickly. Narrow dreadlocks and thin ears flopped with each shake. “No,” he stammered. “No, Mistress. As I said, we’re experimenting with the stabilizing effects of the organic jade shard you provided. Limm is making notable headway, but a single stone is proving to be—”

“Enough,” Kikka huffed, still glaring at him intently. “I’ve heard your complaints, and I’ve had enough of it! We have very limited time, and your team will perform at the determined capacity, without faltering and as instructed. Or would you rather face the same additionalchallenges I've presented Jezzi’s team with?”

The other shook his head aggressively.

“Good. Return to your lab and continue immediately, Vadd,” Kikka demanded, turning away from him and back to something at the table behind her. “I’ll be joining you when we have what we’re waiting for, and I will ensure there are no further delays. Now go!”

Bowing quickly, the other asura skittered past Skixx and Comakk and shot out the doorway into the sunlight. He disappeared down the ramp and around the upper room of a neighboring building.

Skixx shook his head, disgusted with the display of subservience, and he set his attention back on Kikka, who stood still at her work table with her back toward them. She didn't even seem to realize they were there.

“Mistress,” Comakk said. “I’ve brought the thief.”

Silence hung in the tepid air for a moment. Kikka continued to work, poring over a neatly arranged collection of schematics, mechanical components, and what looked like scaled models of some kind.

“Mistress,” Comakk repeated, “I’ve—”

“Yes, I heard you the first time,” the little female growled, rotating slowly and sweeping her two braids behind her ears. When her eyes fell on them, the slightest upturn of a smile dressed her tightened mouth. “Skixx,” she said, barely faking a greeting.

“Kikka,” he replied.

Comakk shot him a look to kill and corrected him yet again. “Mistress,” he insisted.

The female shared his hateful expression for a moment, but let it evaporate into something intentionally more muted. She and Comakk exchanged a knowing nod, and the latter settled into a more comfortable posture, clasping his hands behind his back as Kikka took control of the conversation. “You demanded an assignment,” she said hotly, looking once more at Skixx. “I have one for you.”

It was well past time for this to happen, and Skixx had to admit it brought him a healthy dose of pleasure to see the great Kikka finally acknowledging her need for him. “Excelsior,” he said, crossing his arms. “I have not been as well utilized since my arrival as I’d expected. I was beginning to wonder if you’d taken my skills, or my offer seriously.”

“Offer?” Kikka repeated. “Offer?” She bit her lip, spun, and slammed a fist on the table behind her. The bits of equipment and models nearest to her hand rattled against the surface of the stone. “You mean threat. Bribe. Blackmail. I warned you before, Agent Skixx. Don’t muddle words with me, and do not take me for an idiot. I can appreciate your ambition, but—”

“I hope so,” Skixx interjected. He imbued the words with the slightest hint of menace, shaking his head. “Don’t forget that our arrangement means nothing if my contact doesn’t continue receiving my communiques. As soon as he doesn’t, command will know what you’ve been doing behind their backs, and all this—” he gestured around them, “is pulled right out from under you.”

She glared at him now, her jaw tightening as she clearly worked to withhold her rage. Skixx enjoyed watching her half-successful attempts at self-control. They were almost worth the mind-numbing boredom he’d suffered waiting for this audience.

“Of course,” Skixx went on, more pleasantly now, “with me on your krewe—actively, I mean—and my knowledge of your jade construct now in your hands, we have a wide array of opportunities before us. I theorize there’s much to gain in understanding the cycling and distribution of power in this type of construct. If it could remain operational as long as it has, it must mean—”

Kikka cut him off. “Remind me again what your expertise is?” She stepped closer, still glaring, though even more confidently now.

He puffed his chest. It had been far too long since his studies had been relevant to his day-to-day work. “Metallurgy and magical conductivity,” he said.

“No it isn’t,” Kikka snarled, scoffing through gritted, deviously grinning teeth. “I didn’t ask what your school studies were. I asked what your expertise is, your professional expertise. What have you spent your post-collegiate time mastering, Agent Skixx? What does the Inquest use you for? It isn’t metallurgy, and it isn’t anything related to energy. In fact, it isn’t anything in a research or applied-sciences capacity at all, is it? So what is it? What do you do exactly? Tell me, please.”

Now Skixx glared back at her. He balled his fists, feeling his knuckles pop. “My expertise has been in infiltration: spycraft and theft,” he admitted begrudgingly.

“Precisely.” Kikka grinned something dark as she began to pace, her words coming faster with each step. “Whatever your college thought you might become—I assume it was Statics that took you in, you ridiculous wretch—you are not a practiced engineer, researcher, theoretician, or anything of real use. You are a thief, just another pitiful pickpocket, too stupid to create anything of your own, so you’re assigned to stealing the work of others.”

His face grew hot, and his mouth snapped open to rebut, but she carried on, biting off the words that followed. “As the Alchemy would have it, though, I need a thief.”

“No,” he shot back. “I’m not taking another field mission for you or anyone else until—”

“Until you receive a lab position. Yes, I know, you idiotic toady. You’ve said it more times than even I can ignore.”

Skixx’s eyes grew wide, and the fists at his sides tightened again. “Idiotic toa—”

“Shut your insensate mouth!” she screeched suddenly.

That took him back a step. Skixx knew Kikka’s reputation, but the force with which the command erupted from her was still enough to throw him off balance. She stood no taller than he did, but in that moment, he fought to keep from shrinking away from her. He glowered, as much at himself as at her.

Kikka’s face calmed, but only a hair, and she went on. “You want a lab position? Fine. But let me be painstakingly clear, Agent: this is my complex, my krewe, my project, and no one controls any of those things but me. You are my subordinate, whatever leverage you foolishly think you hold over me. Forget your role, and I promise you,” she nearly growled, leaning forward and gripping his shirt, “you will be made an example so quickly and so profoundly, you won’t even have time to regret the long series of simpleminded choices that brought you to that point. If you remember your own name, it will be an accomplishment. Do you understand me?” Her widened eyes were aflame with such a proud rage, Skixx couldn’t look away.

He shook his head to clear it. “Yes, I— yes.” He caught himself, just before the imposed subservience found its root in his mind. “I understand. But don’t you forget,” he said, trying to force his voice into a growl. “I hold information critical to everything you’re—”

“We’ll see about that,” Kikka cut him off, crossing her arms. That dark smile touched the edge of her lips again.

Scowling at the interruption, Skixx continued. “I’m no idiotic toady, and I’ll prove it, so long as you maintain your side of this agreement.” He felt a grin touch his lips as well. “Really, I enjoy a little theft. I’ll do the work you’re demanding, as long as I know—as long as we both know—I’m coming back to a position of respect when I return.” Neither of the other asura immediately responded, and Skixx assumed he’d made his point.

Kikka assessed him silently, that smirky upturn at the side of her mouth still there; it appeared there was something in his positioning that amused her. Skixx had known he’d fit in on this advanced and cutthroat krewe, and it looked like Kikka was realizing the same thing. Standing aside between them, though, Comakk wore a different expression. It was harder to read than Kikka’s fusion of disgust and entertainment, but it was certainly displeased.

“Are you finished?” Kikka asked, gritting her teeth.

Skixx nodded. “What’s the infiltration assignment?” he asked.

“Comakk will give you the detailed instructions,” she said, looking to her assistant, “but at a high level, you’re robbing the Rata Sum stacks.”

Affronted, Skixx raised an eyebrow. “The stacks are publicly accessible,” he complained. “Students use them every waking minute of every day. That’s not a theft assignment; it’s a library visit.”

“Only if you’re the dean of Synergetics,” Kikka growled, glaring at him once again. Her balled fist was shaking as she approached him again. “Are you the dean of the College of Synergetics? Because, if so, then theft really is beneath you. If not—” She seemed to get a grip on her growing tension. Then shrugging, she let it loose. “If not, then you’d better listen closely to Comakk’s instruction, because entering a College’s vaults without proper clearance will be a very long coercion or a quick and substantive failure, and I don’t have time for either! Do you comprehend?”

Before he realized it, Skixx was nodding.

Kikka turned her attention to Comakk and cooled only slightly. “Give him his orders and get this underway. I want my schematics by end of day tomorrow. Our imbeciles couldn’t recreate what I instructed, and we’re not wasting any more time in this phase of development.” Comakk nodded, but before he’d even had the time to turn, her scowl had deepened. “Go!” she yelled, pointing the two of them sharply back toward doorway.

Comakk bowed his bald head, Skixx quietly nodded again, and they made their way back toward the handful of stairs that led down into the sunlight.

“And Comakk,” Kikka added, calling after them. “No more of this avoiding-confrontation nonsense. I want it messy and confusing, as we discussed; I want Agent Skixx causing a stir.”

Skixx let a grin spread across his lips, a sickeningly pleased grin. It had been too long since he’d been freed to make a mess,as Kikka put it. The power a person felt when literal lives were in his hands—it was a rush just to think about it. So, if Kikka wanted a mess on this assignment, he would gladly oblige.