Despite all the changes.
Being trained in combat and guns.
Even changing his mindset to be proactive.
He still enjoyed spreadsheets and data.
They made sense.
Chapter 2 - Now Hiring -
Several days later and everything was up and running.
Now it felt almost as if he were in the Skippercity HQ.
Minus Andrea and Lily.
Felix shook his head to clear the thought. It didn’t help any, and it would only make the situation worse for him to dwell on it.
The best cure for morose thoughts was work.
And work we have aplenty.
Looking to his display he called up his itinerary and began to read through it.
Andrea had marked out everything he needed to take care of for the week.
Lily had updated his points calendar to reflect his upcoming meetings and Legion needs.
Kit had sent him all the appropriate documents and talking points.
Everything was prepared in advance for him. Now he just had to start hiring for the pawnshop, recruiters, and their other ventures.
The overarching goal was to make the lives of Legionnaires comfy.
This of course was actually all secondary.
Yes, these were all valid things that they wanted to accomplish. But the real reason they were here in Tilen was that it had an active Heroes guild location.
During her time as a prisoner, Kit managed to siphon a good bit of information off of her captors. Unfortunately it was all done through conversation and being observant.
Nothing was ever directly confirmed.
That device they made her wear really did a fair job of keeping her locked in her own mind, unfortunately.
From everything that they’d been able to piece together, their enemies wanted Kit herself.
Felix was a means to an end for them. They’d even gone and deemed him as necessary collateral damage.
Their goal was simple. They were going to kill him to break the contract. Once that was done, Kit would be put into a limbo state with the government.
Beyond that, nothing was said. The assumption everyone in Legion was working off of was that they wanted to secret her away before anyone was the wiser. Before the government of Skippercity could reclaim her.
And yet, there really was no reason stated for this whole thing. At least that they discussed. No clue, no hint. Nothing. Not a word.
Or even how Kit had ended up with Skipper, and then been sold.
It didn’t make sense.
The guild only wanted Augur. No one, and nothing, else. She was apparently so important, no one had even bothered to simply ask Felix if they could purchase her.
That’s the world though. Full of fools. Supers, Villains, and unpowereds alike.
Wouldn’t have sold her anyways. Too damn important to me.
Have I told her that?
Standing up, and chasing his thoughts away before he could settle on any one, Felix buttoned his coat and gave his lapels a quick tug.
“Need to tell her how important she is to me,” Felix muttered. Lifting his hands up he smacked his cheeks with his hands. “Time to go put on a show.”
Walking out of the small office they’d let him prepare in, Felix set off for the school gymnasium.
The halls were quiet as he passed, but up ahead was a roar and crash of noise. He knew it was hundreds of excited teenage voices talking at the same time.
This assembly had been scheduled by Lily in advance. All she’d had to do was promise a few things. The first was that all applicants of Tilen High would be given preferential status over other applicants for Legion entry level positions for the next six months.
Second was of course a small donation that the school didn’t ask for, but didn’t decline.
All to test a contract, and how to teach people quickly.
Pushing the double doors open, Felix stepped out into the gym.
Plastering on his best customer service smile, remembering to crinkle his eyes slightly at the corners in the parody of a genuine smile, he headed for the center.
Standing there were Victoria, Lauren, Miu, and Kit.
No wonder there’s so much discussion. Every guy here is probably wondering how to get a chance to talk to them.
“Everyone, settle down,” said a man in a suit with a microphone. He was fairly average in all things, with brown wavy hair and blue eyes.
He apparently did have some credit with the student body though, as they all quieted down in decent order.
“We have a guest speaker today. He’ll be talking to you about his company branching into our fair city of Tilen, and an offer he’s making to Tilen High specifically. Please help me welcome Felix Campbell. Owner and CEO of Legion.”
There was a moment of silence, followed by a respectful amount of applause.
Smiling, Felix bowed his head incrementally to the principal and shook his hand when he got close.
“Thank you. And thank you, Tilen High,” Felix said, taking the microphone and holding it up. “I’m here today because Legion is expanding. We’re setting up a branch right here in Tilen.”
Several hands shot up into the air and Felix couldn’t help but grin.
“We’ll save questions for the end, but I’m sure I can guess a few.
“Yes, I’m from Skippercity.
“Yes, I own slaves.
“Yes, the beautiful woman standing next to me is Augur.
“Yes, Mab is in my employ, as well as War Maiden, and Myriad.
“No, they aren’t here today.
“How many questions did I answer with that?”
Looking around, he saw almost all of the hands drop down.
“Great, save those questions for the end though, as I might answer a few as we go. Have no fear, this’ll be a quick assembly. Even though some of you might wish it was longer,” Felix said with a chuckle.
There was a collective snicker at that.
Everyone loved assemblies. It meant they didn’t have to do anything.
“Legion is hiring. We’re looking to hire many of you. This’ll not just be pawnshop jobs either. We’re hiring into all departments and aspects of Legion,” Felix said. Moving to the other end of the gym, he made sure to look to both sides of his audience. Trying to bring them all in.
“Because of course some of you are wondering how you could ever work at Legion with no experience. We’re going to be showcasing a new training methodology we’re perfecting. Should you be hired on, this is something you’d be given access to. Miu?”
Turning to look to his internal security chief he gave her a smile.
With a glance to the other set of double doors that led out to a patio, Miu said something into her headset.
The doors swung open, and four men and five women came into the gym, wheeling in a large platform. It looked like a bathroom stall with a roof and only a single door.
“Inside of this is that very same methodology we just spoke of. I’ll first need several volunteers. I won’t be selecting anyone though. In fact, you can elect your own volunteers and send them up. Those lucky volunteers will get to see it firsthand, and experience it.”
Felix turned away from the crowd. With a few swift steps he reached the spot his people were setting up.
“We all set, Kit?” Felix asked, thumbing the mute button on the microphone.
“Yes. I’ve also been scanning the area. There are several Heroes spying on us. It would seem choosing this location really was ideal. Picking the high school directly across from the Heroes guild hall was a solid idea,” Kit said with a smirk.
“Hey… before we go any further in this. I just wanted to say, you’re important to me. Very. Don’t ever think you’re not,” Felix said, catching Kit’s eyes with his own.
“O-oh. I see. Yes. Thank you,” she said, breaking her gaze away after a second.
Lifting the microphone back to his mouth, Felix turned around to his audience. Two young teenage boys and a girl were walking his way.