He figured she was probably trying to figure out what he wanted to talk about, and what had happened previously.
“Eva…” Felix said. Her eyes snapped up to him, her body going rigid. “Calm down. Nothing’s wrong, first and foremost. Yes, I wanted to talk, but it’s all positive. I promise.”
Eva gave him a flat smile and bobbed her head. “Ok.”
“So… yes. Kit’s right. I treat you differently and I worry over you. Perhaps a bit too much, but I do. I’m not really able to express it in words any better than that. But there it is,” Felix said.
“I kinda get it. I’ve been thinking on it. Is it how you’d worry over a family member? Like a niece or… or a daughter?” Eva asked.
Feeling the awkwardness settle over him like a blanket, Felix wasn’t sure how to answer that.
“I don’t know. I don’t have any family. All my life my family members have vanished or died around me. I think so, though? I mean, it seems like it? I don’t quite understand it myself,” Felix admitted.
“Ok. Uhm. It feels like you worry over me the same way Evan did when we were younger. So… I think I’ll go with that,” Eva said.
Felix wasn’t any good at this sort of thing. He could help develop people into whatever version of themselves they wanted to be. But explaining his own feelings and emotions?
Not a damn clue.
“Alright. With that in mind, and that I do worry, I’ve been… modifying… your powers,” Felix said. His volume was low, and his speech slow.
This was much harder than he thought it would be.
“You’ve been modifying me?”
Felix nodded as an Andrea laid a plate down in front of him. It had a toasted sandwich of some sort on it with a small salad to one side. She laid a napkin down next to the plate and put down a tall glass of water as well.
“It’s a grilled cheese sandwich with ham, tomatoes, and thousand island dressing. You’ll like it. Promise,” said the Andrea practically in his ear.
Then she was off and away, serving up a meal to another Andrea before he could even say thanks.
Prime was eating already, watching the conversation without saying a word.
“Yes. Well, no. They’re all one use activation powers. They’ll last for a period of time, then fade away. I’d have to put them back for you to use them again. Because they’re single use, they cost very little in the way of points.”
“What kind of powers…” Eva said. She picked up a french fry from her plate and started chewing at it. He’d hadn’t even noticed an Andrea had dropped her off a hamburger with fries.
Eva, though, never broke eye contact. Her eyes were drilling holes through his skull.
“More or less every power that my inner circle has. I have a list somewhere in my office if you want to read it over,” Felix said. He picked up the sandwich and then took a bite of it. Eva looked like she was figuring out what she wanted to say next, so he’d give that time.
Damn. Andrea was right. It’s pretty good.
Felix eyed the sandwich and took another bite, enjoying this lunch quite a bit.
Whenever he tried to take lunch in the cafeteria, or a restaurant, he got beaten down with stares and whispers. Eating amongst the Andreas was weird, but not unpleasant.
“What’s the activation?” Eva asked, her eyebrows drawing down.
“One is permission from me to utilize them. Which I now give you. The second is knowing the power you want to use and thinking the name of it in your head. Followed by the desire to use it. That’ll activate it.”
“How long does it last?”
“Not really sure. When I made the powers I was shooting for twenty-four hours, but this was all experimental at the time. Yours are the strongest, tailor-made versions of the powers I’ve been handing out. For all I know, you might be able to focus all of a power into a few minutes for a massive use. Or maybe slow it down and use it for months. Dunno.”
Eva grunted and set down the hamburger. “Why make me a guinea pig? What if it went wrong?”
“Then you’d have a power I never authorized you to use, and you’d never have known about it. As for why you… because… I worried. I worried what would happen to you or what could happen or if someone tried to kidnap you and use you against me or—”
“Ok, ok, I got it. Just… just in the future, ask me?” Eva said, looking down at her plate.
“I promise. I will,” Felix said. He felt better coming clean about it.
“So, could I take Ioana or Miu in a fight?” Eva asked
“Power to power? Definitely. Skill and experience? Dream on, kid,” Felix said, grinning at her.
Andrea clapped her hands together in a happy way and then leaned forward over the table.
“You’re like his daughter!” she whispered loudly. “When I have my first litter, will you be their big sister?”
Eva started at that, her hands freezing in mid air. Then she started to laugh.
Reaching out she grabbed Andrea’s hands with her own. “Sure. I can do that, but it’ll be a while before I call you mom.”
Andrea grinned and bounced in place at the table.
All around, the Andreas were bouncing in place, clapping, or reaching over to pat Eva.
Litter?
First litter?
Chapter 16 - Rapport -
Felix watched the screen mounted above him.
He was sitting in a green room, waiting for them to call him up to take his place.
The moderator was going through introductions and explaining the format, and what everyone could expect. As far as he could tell, Felix thought everything was fairly generic.
“You’re not nervous at all, are you,” Lily said from his side.
“Not really. It’s no different than spending a few days at a management summit. Those are pretty brutal,” Felix said, still watching the monitor. “Everyone argues about the best way to do things. About why they’re right and you’re wrong. More often than not they’ll spend more time arguing one point than talking about what their actual policy is.”
“I take it your goal is to stick to your policy points then. Try and keep the back and forth to a minimum?” Lily asked.
“Somewhat. I’ll look for any opportunity to debate a point when I have a superior idea that fits the voters. Otherwise, yeah. I might spend some time addressing their issues with a sentence, but nothing more than that. I’m sure a portion of the audience, both here and at home, will be watching for the drama of it. They want to see the back and forth. Watch the candidates draw blood and argue. Our goal, Legion’s goal, is to get our message out.”
Felix paused as the female moderator of the pair finished introductions and then started to address the audience directly.
“Commercials and ads get skipped in today’s world. Record, watch later, fast forward. We’ll buy just as many ads as everyone else of course, but it doesn’t have the same impact it did, say, fifty years ago. This debate though… people will tune in to watch specifically. Then there will be reviews, summations, opinion papers, forum posts. No, we’re here to make sure our message is loud and clear.”
“And put yourself in harm’s way. We didn’t have to do this debate. They invited us more as part of the spectacle than anything,” Lily said with a touch of annoyance in her voice.
“We’ll take the opportunity for what it is. As far as danger… not really. I have my charm, my ring, and all of you,” Felix said. “Besides, we both know everyone is here and on guard.”
“Yes. Miu and Victoria are both in the audience, working the crowd. Legion security forces are spread out around the building in plain clothes, and Kit will be on the side of the stage,” Lily said.
“Good. That means all I have to worry about is all the bloodsuckers up on the platform with me who are out for blood,” Felix said.