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“I’m afraid I wouldn’t be willing to allow your worship as a god or goddess. For the same reason you wouldn’t wish ownership, I wouldn’t wish a future power problem. I think putting myself in a beholden position to someone else would do that,” Felix said with a smile.

Abera and Desh both looked annoyed at that, but unsurprised. Felix had the unfortunate feeling that he was only catching up to where they thought the conversation might go.

“We didn’t think you’d allow it, but we still wanted to try,” Abera said forlornly. He wasn’t sure who she was talking to.

“Let’s not be hasty,” Felix said quickly before they could vanish as quickly as they’d come. “Let’s discuss something else. I’d like to learn a bit about you. From where I hail, there were no gods previous to the portal opening. I know little of your needs and wants.”

Desh and Abera were more human than he expected, as they shared a moment to look at each other before turning back to him.

“Keep in mind, anything you tell me will be kept in confidence, and I’ll not move against you, unless you move against me,” Felix offered up. “I can also make that oath on the mediator of our previous pact.”

There was a pregnant pause as the two deities seemingly waited for something to happen.

“Is there a problem with that? I’ve only spoken with himit is a him, right?twice but he seems reasonable. I’d be happy to abide by his mediation,” Felix said.

He knew he was pushing it. Whatever this entity was, it was powerful enough to cow an entire pantheon.

“That… I suppose that’s alright. We are empowered, and live, through the power of worship. It is directly proportional to the amount, and belief, of that worship. We know you’ve taken no action to hinder our religion in any way, per our arrangement, but nonetheless, we are no longer confident in our ability to survive the storm,” Desh explained.

Ok, that all kinda lines up with what I was expecting.

“If you do not allow worship of us, and we won’t allow ownership, we appear to be at an unsolvable impasse,” Desh continued.

Abera nodded her head, her right hand resting on the axe-head at her side.

Desh noticed where Felix’s gaze had landed and he smiled apologetically. “Forgive my wife. She’s a warrior. Things of this nature are not in her disposition. As I’m no warrior, we compliment each other quite well.”

Chuckling at that, Felix couldn’t help but relate on a few levels. He had a number of people who filled out the gaps he had.

“Don’t go anywhere. I’m going to make a quick call. I’ve got a crafter in my employ who… honestly she’s a genius. Her only limitation is her own creativity, which is somewhat lacking, unfortunately,” Felix said, turning his wrist over. “This should be quick, but I think it’ll be enlightening for both of us.”

With the number of signal repeaters and towers the construction teams had been putting in, there were few places in Fort One that were off network.

There are few places within thirty miles that are off network, in fact. They went overboard.

Tapping in a command to dial Felicia, he lifted his other hand to his earpiece.

It only took two rings for Felicia to answer.

“What?” she said in a flat tone.

“Hey Felicia. I have a new challenge for you,” Felix said, his tone of voice bright and chipper.

Felicia responded to challenges, and if you were happy about it, it only made her angry.

Angry Dwarves were determined Dwarves.

“I just finished up your last challenge, you pox ridden sex toy,” Felicia grumbled.

“You’re right, of course. If you need a break and can’t handle this, I could see about spinning up a second team so you can—”

“What the fuck do you want!? Spit it out already,” Felicia shouted through his earpiece.

“I want a machine that converts all the faith, energy, and worship that people seem to place in me, and send it elsewhere. Think of it as a magical power source, and we need an adapter to change the flow and direction,” Felix said.

The line went absolutely dead. He imagined Felicia was standing there as that beautiful mind of hers melded with her power and began spinning off as many possibilities as it could.

“Huhn. Well… that’s definitely a challenge,” Felicia said after several seconds. “Did you have a specific destination in mind?”

“I did indeed. It would be to certain contract holders. You could easily use the agreement as a target point.”

“Uuun. That’d work. I can do this but I want an off-cycle budget increase,” Felicia said, her tone changing rapidly.

“Oh? What’s the price tag?” Felix asked. He was curious where she’d go with it. Her pursuits were different than most.

“Points, and some of your time. I want to use your power to start combing through future builds and plans. You’re a walking time machine if we do it right. So… that’s what I want.”

Now it was Felix’s turn to freeze.

She was right. With the right application and a healthy dose of points, Felix was a time machine to a limited degree. Especially with things that would have a set value. Like the Fist.

“Done. Put in the request and kick it up the chain. Gotta go. I should probably have those contracts to you later today, or tomorrow. Need to have Lily take a look at ‘em,” Felix said.

“Be sure to have the princess take a look at your sausage while you’re at it,” Felicia responded, then promptly disconnected the call.

“She’s a vulgar thing,” Abera muttered. Her face showed nothing but disgust at the moment. “A disrespectful creature.”

“And incredibly loyal for all her faults,” Felix said, pulling up another contact in his wrist device. “There is something to be said for that trait outweighing every other. I’d take a loyal psychopath over a disloyal warrior.”

“And what are you doing now?” Desh asked, watching Felix closely.

“Calling up my lawyer so we can begin the negotiations on a contract. I’d like to get this put away as quickly as possible. If possible, I’d really like to walk away from this with you two as allies and partners to Legion. You’d receive your power from Legion based on how much my people are invested in me. I think that’d be the best way to play the middle for us both. You’d be free to seek worshipers outside of Legion, but gain power from it simply for supporting it. And I’d keep control over my own company without a concern.”

Abera snorted and Felix wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

Desh, on the other hand, nodded his head, laying a hand on Abera’s forearm. “I think that’d be something we could work out. This all seems… negotiable,” said the god of trade. “And negotiable is a great way to start a deal.”

Chapter 28 - The Way It Is -

It was late in the evening, everyone else had turned in for the night, gone to bed, or gone off watch.

Here, with only Eva, Felix had no need of guards or assistants. Originally he’d been alone until Eva asked if she could just work in his office with him.

The quiet scratch of Eva’s pen was the only sound Felix could hear. The soft scritch of it as she swept it back and forth across the page.

Having been around constant noise, sound, and people moving around for so long, Felix couldn’t do very well with absolute silence.

It was deafening.

So quiet that you could actually hear the silence. That it throbbed in your ears and made your ear drums ache.

That it grew so loud you could swear it was the roar of thunder.

“Felix?” Eva asked, the sound of her pen stopping.

“Mm?” Felix responded, staring at the window he’d called up.

“The assignment I’m working on is arguing for a point of view that I don’t hold,” Eva said.

Nodding his head, Felix dismissed the window.